5 Buffalo Bills breakout candidates in 2022 NFL season
![ORCHARD PARK, NY - OCTOBER 03: Gabriel Davis #13 of the Buffalo Bills catches a pass before a game against the Houston Texans at Highmark Stadium on October 3, 2021 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images) ORCHARD PARK, NY - OCTOBER 03: Gabriel Davis #13 of the Buffalo Bills catches a pass before a game against the Houston Texans at Highmark Stadium on October 3, 2021 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/d9719aea940ae466cb374f4b69329701cc577e036c49158c74cbb4dc9b97fd60.jpg)
Buffalo Bills breakout candidate no. 1: Gabriel Davis – WR – 3rd season
John Brown- Gone. Cole Beasley- Gone. Emmanuel Sanders- Gone.
The Bills have signed and experimented with several receivers over the past two seasons. With each move out of the receiver room Gabriel Davis becomes more and more relevant to the Bills passing game.
Last year he was on the field for nearly 50% of the offensive snaps according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. Looking at his previous production there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic.
In 2020 and in 2021 he had nearly identical stat lines- 35-599-7 in 2020. 35-549-6 in 2021. This year should see a significant uptick in his on-field presence. In such a prolific offense that should translate to more production.
Davis is projected to start on the outside opposite Stefon Diggs, (leaving Isaiah McKenzie and rookie Kalil Shakir to battle for the slot.) Whether the Bills stick with multiple receiver sets or go more 12 personnel (1 running back and two tight ends) is up for debate.
With both Dawson Knox and OJ Howard in town you figure they will both see the field often and at times together. Either way, it should not affect Davis’ chance to breakout.
The only real question is are there enough catches to go around? Davis should still see his fair share of single coverage, and with his size and speed, there is a solid case to be made that he can easily hit 70 catches and 1,000+ yards this season.