Bills optimistic Khalil Shakir will play in Week 1

Neither did Ty Johnson (knee), with both players still having plenty of time to get back before next Sunday’s Week 1 game against the Texans. It’s hard to tell how seriously to take these because Joe Brady has been a brick wall on injury questions, but we’ll get a better indication next week when injury reports start to hit.

Shakir was sidelined from Tuesday’s special practice at Highmark Stadium and hasn’t suited up since. Coach Joe Brady did not divulge the nature of the injury. Like most ailments this time of year, it’s probably a minor issue where the team is opting for caution, but it’s good to “timestamp” these things, so to speak. Barely going in the WR5 range, 26-year-old Shakir could easily outproduce his ADP, though probably not to the extent he cracks the top 36.

Taken by Buffalo with the 125th pick in the 2026 draft, Bell — a hyper-productive wideout at UConn — joins DJ Moore, Khalil Shakir, Josh Palmer, and Keon Coleman in an underwhelming receivers room. Bell, Helman said, enters the NFL with a multifaceted skill set that is highly valued among most NFL front offices. “This is probably the most reckless thing I’ll say on this show,” Helman said. “This is Ja’Marr Chase lite. He’s a freak athlete, he’s explosive, but he’s very powerful and strong. And watching him, I was just like, obviously, he’s not Ja’Marr Chase ... but he does all that type of stuff. He can take it to the house. He can just body people out of the way. He can high point the ball. If I was trying to get Ja’Marr Chase’s skillset on late day two or even into day three, I’m all the way in on this guy.” Helman wasn’t alone in his praise of Bell, who last season was second among all college wideouts in yards per route run. Ryan Fowler of NBC Sports Philadelphia said in March that Bell, 23, was close to a Round One prospect. The Bills took him late on the third day of the draft.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero confirmed the picks involved. Given that many believed Chicago would cut Moore this offseason, landing a second-round pick is a massive win for the Bears. With the additions of Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland, and Luther Burden, Moore had been slowly phased out of the Chicago passing game over the past two years. He caught just 50 passes for 682 yards during the regular season. Both marks were career-lows for the eight-year veteran. Moore’s effort and attitude were also pain points for the Bears, which new head coach Ben Johnson hinted at last offseason. Despite his declining numbers, Moore likely still has something left in the tank. The hope for Buffalo is that a change of scenery will revive Moore after a pair of down years. He is now the favorite to lead Buffalo in targets this year, with Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid both working as secondary options.

Joe Brady said he was one of the team’s best football players and said that there are other ways to get the ball in his hands than just in the screen game. We’re not sure how seriously to take this at the combine, before the Bills bring in what the actual competition will be — we don’t think Shakir is going to take on a bigger role if A.J. Brown or D.J. Moore show up — but it’s at least worthwhile to note that Brady loves Shakir and he seems ticketed to have a major role in the passing offense in 2026.

Shakir led the Bills in catches and targets, as he has for much of the season. Shakir made a few big catches, including one for 46 yards, but the Broncos’ defense is fast and hard-hitting, and prevented him from ripping off chunks of yardage on most of his receptions. Shakir finished the regular season with 72 catches on 95 targets for 719 yards, all of which led the team. He also had four touchdowns, but the Bills’ lack of other receiving weapons forced them to use him as a quick-hitting screen receiver more often than you’d like to see. Hopefully, a more dynamic receiving room in 2026 will open up more opportunities for Shakir to be a trustworthy WR3 in fantasy.

Facing a stout Jacksonville run defense, the Bills chipped away at the Jags with check-downs and screens to Shakir. His 12 catches in this game are three more than his previous career-high. No one on the team other than Shakir logged more than five targets. All in, Shakir earned a 34 percent target share. With Josh Palmer on IR and Gabe Davis now banged up, expect to see plenty more of Shakir in the Divisional Round. He will be a strong play on full PPR slates.

Once again, Shakir led the Bills in targets and catches but had little to show for it with a long gain of just 13 yards. Essentially, everything the Bills throw to Shakir this season is a screen behind the line of scrimmage or a short crosser, and then they ask him to make defenders miss. He also got himself wide open on a two-point conversion that would have won the game, but Josh Allen simply missed him. The 25-year-old is a talented receiver, but he’ll have to hope the Bills bring in some weapons around him next season so that he can go back to being more than a short-yardage safety blanket.

In a game that resulted in just 130 passing yards for the Bills, Shakir led the team in receptions, yards, and targets. His biggest gain of the day came on an 18-yard reception to help set up James Cook for an eventual touchdown, but this was easily one of Shakir’s most forgettable outings of the season. He’ll be hard to trust as anything more than a WR3 in Week 17’s game against the Eagles.

The Bills weren’t able to get much going through the air, throwing for just 193 yards in the entire game, but Shakir was a big part of that, consistently making tough catches over the middle of the field. Sadly, given the state of Buffalo’s passing attack, Shakir needs to do almost all of his damage after the catch, which makes his fantasy ceiling a bit risky. He’s more of a low-end WR3 against the Browns next week.