Before the 2024 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills have put themselves in a bit of a bind. In 2025, the team traded Stefon Diggs for a ham sandwich; hence, they will almost certainly select a wide receiver in the first round. Though wideouts like Texas’ Xavier Worthy or LSU’s Brian Thomas Jr. may tempt general manager Brandon Beane, he must resist the urge.
Despite the dramatic declarations, Beane and the Bills were most likely going to select a wide receiver in the first round of the draft, regardless of whether Diggs or not. Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins, Khalil Shakir, K.J. Hamler, Andy Isabella, Justin Shorter, Tyrell Shavers, and Bryan Thompson are the players in the Buffalo WR room right now. Josh Allen can’t be too confident after that group.
The Bills are in dire need of a wide receiver, and sure enough, this year’s NFL draft features one of the best receiver classes in recent memory. Who ought to be selected for draft? That response will have to wait for another day. We’ll examine the three guys the Bills need to pass on in the 2024 NFL Draft here.
Brian Thomas Jr., WR for LSU
It’s hardly a slight on Brian Thomas Jr. to suggest that the Bills should pass on him in the NFL draft. It is an insult to the Bills and Beane.
Thomas is a great receiver who doesn’t get the attention he deserves since at LSU, he lined up opposite Malik Nabers. There would be a lot more talk about the 6-foot-3, 209-pound pass-catcher with a 4.33-second time to nearly any other school commentator than there is right now.
Nevertheless, Thomas is attracting the attention of NFL scouts, and he will not be far behind Nabers, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Rome Odunze when they are cut. Beane must stay away from him because of this.
Please hurry to the stage and give Roger Goodell a card with Thomas’s name on it if he slips to No. 28. Having said that, Beane frequently trades up in the draft to acquire a player he really wants, which is a poor decision.
The value of the Diggs trade would be entirely nullified if Beane had to give up either multiple seconds or next year’s first-round selection in order to acquire Thomas, which would undoubtedly require going up to the teens.
The Bills need to add as many players as possible to their roster after cutting through a large portion of it, so trading away assets to move up for a player like Brian Thomas Jr. is not a wise decision when players like Troy Franklin of Oregon, Keon Coleman of Florida State, or Adonai Mitchell of Texas should be available at 28.
Thus far, we have discussed Adonai Mitchell, Troy Franklin, Keon Coleman, and Brian Thomas Jr. What connects them all together? They all have the frame and talent to be wide receivers (WR1) in the NFL, and they are all six feet or more.
Xavier Worthy, a wide receiver for Texas, is also an exceptional athlete. At the combine, he ran a scorching 4.21-second 40, demonstrating his legitimate ball abilities. Worthy, who is five feet eleven inches and weighs 165 pounds, will be a deep ball specialist in the NFL; therefore, the Bills must avoid selecting him in the 2024 NFL Draft, especially in Round 1.
Worthy is an alluring speedster, particularly when you consider that he might be covering passes for Josh Allen with his lightning-fast arm.
Having said that, Allen’s first instinct is to go deep frequently, and it is a mistake to find a receiver who supports that. The Bills need wide receivers who can play at all three levels, and Worthy is not one of those players, especially without Diggs.
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