Shakir has 82 yards receiving, fumble in loss

The Bills’ offense was totally out of sorts in this game, and Shakir was hurt by their inability to get anything going through the air. Still, he played on 45 of their 62 snaps and ran a route on 23 of their 33 dropbacks, the second-most of any wide receiver. He’ll be in for a better game against the Patriots next week, but he remains just a desperation FLEX play right now unless the Bills are headed for a shootout.

Shakir continued in a gadgety role for the Bills, primarily working the short areas of the field in addition to receiving snaps out of the backfield. That could change in the immediate future after lead receiver DJ Moore departed in the second quarter with what appeared to be a significant shoulder injury. Even so, Shakir is best left on the waiver wire in all but the deepest fantasy leagues.

The good news is he was healthy enough to play after he was seemingly sidelined towards the end of training camp with something the Bills never disclosed. He played 30-of-57 snaps. The bad news is that if Dalton Kincaid is going to be this involved, it’s not likely that Shakir will be targeted enough to crack the WR3 ranks. A lot can change — and Kincaid isn’t known for his durability — but it was a “meh” debut for Shakir as he fell behind Kincaid and DJ Moore in the passing pecking order.

This is good news. Shakir has been sidelined for multiple weeks, rehabbing an undisclosed injury. His return today puts him on track to play in Week 1 against the Texans’ top-tier defense. Whether Shakir can be a reliable FLEX with WR DJ Moore now in Buffalo and TE Dalton Kincaid reportedly set to take on a larger role remains to be seen. Getting back on the field is the first step, though.

Shakir has been held out of practice for multiple weeks with an undisclosed injury. He has gotten some work off to the side, though it’s becoming more concerning with each day he fails to work in with the team. According to Zenitz, the team is simply being cautious with Shakir. We’ll learn more about his ailment when the first official injury report comes out next week. Like the Bills, fantasy managers should take a cautious approach with Shakir in the final week of drafts.

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.