NFL: Breaking down the 2015 Buffalo Bills

Wide Receivers—Tight Ends

WR Starters: Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, Percy Harvin

TE Starter: Charles Clay

WR Depth: Marquise Goodwin, Chris Hogan, Deonte Thompson, Marcus Easley, Justin Brown, Marcus Thigpen, Tobias Palmer, Caleb Holey, Dezmin Lewis (rookie), Andre Davis (rookie)

TE Depth: Chris Gragg, Nick O’Leary (rookie), Chris Manhertz, Clay Burton (rookie)

From a receiver standpoint, the Buffalo Bills are in pretty good shape. Sammy Watkins had a solid first season, just missing 1,000 yards on 65 catches with five touchdowns. That’s impressive considering his quarterbacks were an uninspiring Kyle Orton and a struggling EJ Manuel. Watkins was heavily involved in the offense from the start and was impressive for the most part. We expect Matt Cassel or Manuel to look for him even more this season.

Robert Woods has played well for the past two seasons, and he has a knack for taking advantage of attention shifting towards a guy like Watkins. He caught as many balls as Watkins did in 2013 (65) and on 24 less targets. He might actually see even less targets this year depending on how the offense utilizes Percy Harvin and Charles Clay and in a run heavy scheme at that.

What will be interesting is seeing what the Bills do with Harvin. Previously Harvin has almost always been a slot receiver, but he told BuffaloBills.com that he expects the team to move him into several roles, as was the case often with the New York Jets. He could eat into everyone’s touches.

Clay is a solid tight end who took a step back last year but is overall a very talented ‘move’ tight end who can attack the seam. As with everyone above, he could be hampered by a lack of targets in a run-heavy scheme, but the team has to throw at some time and Clay will be a solid option then.

With all the players ahead of him on the depth chart, Marquise Goodwin could get lost in the shuffle. He’s a deep threat who will probably do more damage on special teams than in the offense and it’s possible the Bills might even move on from him. Chris Hogan was a slot guy last season and with the guys they already have on the team, it seems likely that he will not see much action.

Deonte Thompson was signed off the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad in December of 2014, but while he has 4.3 speed, he has had few catches and is likely on the roster bubble or could be back on the practice squad if he has eligibility left.

Virtually the rest of the remaining guys on the roster are special teams players or camp bodies save the two rookies. Dezmin Lewis hails from Central Arkansas where he dominated lower-level competition. He has a lot of upside, but it will take time for him to adjust to NFL defenses. Andre Davis was a street free agent who can make a tough catch but isn’t known for being a tough competitor, which is why he wasn’t drafted. Lewis has a better chance to make the roster, but both could be on the practice squad or cut by the end of the summer.

At tight end, Chris Gragg will get overtaken by rookie Nick O’Leary as Gragg has done virtually nothing in two years and he had issues making third string last year. At least O’Leary has upside, though he is so similar to Gragg and Clay that it was surprising the Bills picked him up, even in the sixth round. He might emerge as the starter in a year or so if he can prove reliable. He’s not as athletic as Clay, so it won’t happen this season.

Next: Offensive line