Khalil

Shakir

Shakir came out cooking on the Bills’ opening drive, catching passes of 26 and 18 yards to immediately move the ball into Ravens territory. A few plays later, Shakir would haul in a five-yard pass that was initially ruled a touchdown, only to have the call overturned after review when Shakir was shown to have stepped out of bounds near the one-yard line. He would have a quiet afternoon after that first drive, as DJ Moore and Dalton Kincaid were the preferred targets of Josh Allen with both back healthy. Shakir, whose fantasy stock is already fairly low, can likely be left out of lineups in Week 9 against a stout Vikings defense.

Shakir didn’t have an overly productive day through the air in this one, but he did manage to find the end zone for his first touchdown of the season. Shakir scored on a nine-yard screen pass in the second quarter to put the Bills up 13-7. Shakir has now gone for double-digit PPR points in three straight games but will be hard to trust as anything more than a WR4/WR5 in Week 8 when the Bills return from their bye to face the Ravens.

Shakir’s modest target total was primarily a product of a ground-heavy approach from the Bills, who were playing without both DJ Moore and Joshua Palmer. His quiet fantasy outing was quickly remedied through a 57-yard, catch-and-run reception on the team’s second possession of overtime to set up the game-winning, Tyler Bass field goal. Shakir remains a shaky fantasy bet ahead of a Week 6 meeting with the Raiders.

Shakir served as Josh Allen’s safety blanket for much of the first half, but he was quiet for much of the second half. Most of his production came on a 51-yard catch-and-run, where he broke a few tackles and got the Bills into the red zone. On another catch-and-run opportunity, he had the ball punched out by two Patriots defenders for a crucial fumble. Shakir and Allen were also not on the same page on a key third-down pass that led to a punt. The Bills are going to need more from Shakir if DJ Moore (Shoulder) misses any time, but Shakir did play the second-most snaps of any receiver and ran the most routes, so his role is still there.

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.