Stefon Diggs Still Seen as No. 1 WR by Bills, GM Brandon Beane Says

Paul KasabianFeatured Columnist IIJanuary 24, 2024

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Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane has full confidence that Stefon Diggs is still a No. 1 wide receiver despite a disappointing second half of the year.

“Stef’s, he’s a No. 1 receiver. I firmly believe that, not wavering off of that,” Beane said, per ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg.

“… Listen, we have to continue to put weapons out there to keep teams from bracketing him or, you know, locking him down in different ways to take him away. They know you are going to want him. Stef can still play, I’m sure he would love to have that deep ball again, he’d be the first to tell you. He’s super competitive, he’s going to work his tail off this offseason. I know there’s various reasons or questions on this or his production, all that, but I still see Stef as a No. 1 receiver.”

Over his last 10 games (including playoffs), Diggs caught 47 passes for 422 yards and just one touchdown. It was a far dip from Diggs’ first nine games, which saw the three-time Pro Bowler snag 70 passes for 834 yards and seven scores.

Beane’s comments after Diggs struggled in a 27-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional round. Diggs caught just three passes for 21 yards on eight targets and dropped a potential 80-yard touchdown pass off a long bomb from quarterback Josh Allen in the fourth quarter.

It was clear that Diggs didn’t look like the same receiver in the back half of the season. As for why that was the case, head coach Sean McDermott didn’t have an answer, but he also heaped praise on the 30-year-old.

“I can’t say in particular why specifically [Diggs’ production dropped],” McDermott said. “If I could, we would flip it back that way, right? To the way it started earlier in the year. Sometimes defenses evolve, sometimes there are more things on tape through the course of the season and people copy them, what’s on tape.

“Listen, Stef is a great player. I love Stef. He was a phenomenal teammate. I like how the offense found some rhythm, though, under [interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady], and Stef got back involved at times, especially down the stretch, at least in the last two or three games, so to speak.”

In fairness to Diggs, his overall production in 2023 was exceptional. He began the year with 100 or more yards in five of six games and finished the regular season with 107 catches for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s a three-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro who has now amassed at least 100 receptions and 1,000 yards in each of his four seasons in Buffalo.

Ultimately, Diggs was a big reason why the Bills were able to win their fourth straight AFC title and make their fourth consecutive AFC Divisional round. It’s fair to wonder what happened in the back half of the year, but he still excelled for the most part en route to another productive season.