In the fourth of a 32-part series, we are featuring all National Football League teams with a prediction of where each team will finish within their division, key off-season acquisitions and their top fantasy stars. Here are the Buffalo Bills.
Key Off Season Acquisitions
The Bills had three significant free agent signings in the offseason. They came to terms with guard Connor McGovern of Larksville, Pennsylvania (three years, $22.4 million), wide receiver Deonte Harty of Dallas, Texas (two years, $9.5 million), and outside linebacker Leonard Floyd of Atlanta, Georgia (one year, $7 million).
McGovern spent the last three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and even had a solo tackle in a 54-19 Cowboys win over the Indianapolis Colts on December 4. Harty spent the last four seasons with the New Orleans Saints. This past season, he had only two catches for 13 yards, and missed most of the year with a turf toe injury. In Harty’s rookie season of 2019, he was selected to the Pro Bowl. Known as a kick return specialist, he led the NFL with 338 punt return yards.
Floyd had 59 combined tackles (31 solo tackles and 28 assisted tackles), 22 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for a loss, nine sacks and one fumble recovery in 2022 with the Los Angeles Rams. He was also part of the Rams team that won the Super Bowl a year before.
Fantasy Stars
Bills quarterback Josh Allen of Firebaugh, California is ranked the second best quarterback in fantasy. He is only behind Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. This past season, Allen completed 359 passes in 567 attempts for 4283 passing yards, 35 touchdown passes, and 14 interceptions. He also had 124 rushes for 762 rushing yards, and seven touchdown runs.
Stefon Diggs is fifth in fantasy football at wide receiver. Last year the native of Gaithersburg, Maryland had 108 catches for 1429 receiving yards, and was selected to the Pro Bowl for the third straight season. Meanwhile, Tyler Bass of Columbia, South Carolina is ninth in fantasy football at the kicker position. A year ago, he made 27 field goals in 31 attempts and 48 of 50 converts.
At defense, the Bills are ranked sixth. The addition of Floyd should help a D that needed a spark after being unable to stop Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals in the playoffs. Buffalo gave up only 286 points against in 2022. Only the San Francisco 49ers at 277 points, gave up fewer points last season than the Bills.
Projected Finish
There were great expectations for the Buffalo Bills a year ago. In fact many, including us, had the Bills winning the Super Bowl prior to the start of the season. However, a poor performance in the AFC Divisional Playoff against the Cincinnati Bengals saw the Bills be eliminated from the postseason. There are prognosticators who actually believe the Jets may win the AFC East this year with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. I am not one of them. Take the Bills to win this division title.
