Buffalo Bills camp to sort out revamped WR group: Who will step up?

Sean McDermott comparing the Buffalo Bills’ revamped wide receiver group to utensils in the silverware drawer provided quite an interesting start to training camp at St. John Fisher University Wednesday morning.

I asked the head coach whether he thinks this might be the most eclectic group of receivers he’s had since he came to Buffalo in 2017, and in a roundabout way, he said yes.

“It’s kind of like, you know, you open the drawer to your silverware at home and you’re like, ‘Okay, tell me what this does,’” he said with a smile. “And sometimes I open the drawer - or I try and put the dishes back in and I’m like, ‘I don’t even know where this goes.’ I think we can all relate.

“So anyway, that’s how I see it, honestly. We don’t really know what we have, but we know what we have. And it’s interesting to see that they’re a very diverse group. I know a lot of people talk about we don’t have a true number one and this and that. I think these guys will rise to the occasion. I really do.”

Wide receivers on the Buffalo Bills roster

As the Bills took the field Wednesday, they did so at Fisher for the first time since 2019 minus Stefon Diggs, heretofore their clear-cut superstar No. 1 receiver. But Diggs was traded to Houston in April, Gabe Davis signed a free agent contract with Jacksonville, Trent Sherfield and Deonte Harty were let go, and the Bills will spend the rest of the summer trying to figure out which receivers will become the most reliable weapons for Josh Allen.

And the mix is interesting with Curtis Samuel and Khalil Shakir, two players who can lineup inside or out; Marques Valdes-Scantling who brings deep speed to the group; Chase Claypool who is a big, physical specimen; and rookie Keon Coleman who has to learn the offense and find his niche.

Add in longer shot candidates like Justin Shorter, Tyrell Shavers, Andy Isabella, Mack Hollins, and K.J. Hamler, and fans will have quite a buffet - or as McDermott said, silverware drawer - to sift through as they watch practice.

“I know Josh has put in a lot of time with those new pieces over the offseason,” McDermott said. “Been very intentional about that and I think he’s done a great job of taking ownership with that. And really, it’s trying to expose those guys to get on the same page as much as we can and then their understanding of what they’re going against from a defensive standpoint. So that is a big intention of ours at camp.”

Buffalo Bills news

Be sure to return to democratandchronicle.com for daily updates throughout the Buffalo Bills training camp. You can also sign up for Bills Blast, Sal Maiorana's newsletter which will follow the Bills action all season long. Here are stories previewing what to watch for in camp:

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out every other Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills wide receiver group will start to take shape during camp