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As quarterback Josh Allen enters the 2024 NFL season in hopes of leading the Buffalo Bills to their first Super Bowl win, he has the full support of his teammates, including wide receiver Khalil Shakir.
Shakir told ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg on Saturday that Allen is “probably one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around just because of the fact that [if] Josh was like, ‘Hey, grab your shield and your sword and let’s go to war,’ I’m no questions. I’m gonna grab it and go.”
Allen, 28, is entering his seventh NFL season, and he is looking to add Super Bowl champion to an already impressive list of accolades.
The two-time Pro Bowler has led he Bills to five consecutive playoff appearances and four straight AFC East titles, marking the first time Buffalo has accomplished those feats since the late 1980s into the early 1990s.
Allen is the first player in NFL history to have accounted for 40 or more total touchdowns in four consecutive seasons, and he has a chance to make it five in 2024.
Doing so won’t be easy, though, since Allen’s group of pass-catchers was overhauled in a significant way during the offseason.
In addition to losing wideout Gabe Davis in free agency, Buffalo surprisingly traded No. 1 receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans after he struggled mightily during the second half of 2023.
Shakir is the only wide receiver on the active roster returning from last year’s team, and he is joined by rookie second-round pick Keon Coleman and free-agent signings Curtis Samuel, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Mack Hollins.
However, there is some continuity at other spots with four of the five same starting offensive linemen from last season, as well as running back James Cook and tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox.
Knox is one of Allen’s longest-running teammates, having played alongside him since 2019, and he expressed to Getzenberg that JA17 is as locked in as ever, saying: “He’s stuck his head in the tight end room a couple times, ‘What do y’all see here?’ … and then also, he’s getting a lot of extra work into practice too. Seems like he’s just dialed in as soon as he steps out there to the second he comes off after everyone else has left.”
Getting to the playoffs hasn’t been an issue for Allen, but going on a deep run has, mostly due to the presence of the Kansas City Chiefs, who have eliminated the Bills from the postseason three times in the past four years.
Outsiders tend to place blame on the quarterback for those shortcomings, but Allen has been one of the best quarterbacks in playoff history statistically completing 64.6 percent of his passes for 2,723 yards, 21 touchdowns and four interceptions, and rushing for 563 yards and five scores in 10 games.
Arguably no quarterback has more on their plate than Allen, but he will need help from his supporting cast on both offense and defense to finally get over the hump come playoff time.
The Bills’ quest for a fifth consecutive AFC East title and sixth straight playoff berth will begin Sept. 8 when they host the Arizona Cardinals in their regular-season opener.