Despite letting some big-name players walk this offseason, the 2024 Buffalo Bills roster is still packed with headline names. Josh Allen, James Cook, Matt Milano, and Von Miller are still on the team and going for the big prize this season. Along the way, though, these household names will need some help, and there are a few hidden gems on the 2024 Bills roster who could help.
WR Justin Shorter
Everyone knows that Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, Allen’s top two wide receivers the last three seasons are now gone. Diggs went in a trade to the Houston Texans and the Bills let Davis walk in free agency to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Both these players ended up on good AFC teams, which means the Bills could see their old wideouts in the playoffs (and they play both in the regular season). That should tell you at least a little about how the franchise thinks about those two and the WRs they now have.
Second-round pick Keon Coleman, incumbent slot receiver Khalil Shakir, and free-agent signing Curtis Samuel are currently slated to start at the WR positions for the Bills in 2024.
That said, there is a potential hidden gem in the wide receiver room with 2023 fifth-round pick Justin Shorter.
Shorter was the No. 1 WR in the country coming out of his New Jersey high school in 2018. Behind him were Amon-Ra St. Brown (No. 2), Jaylen Waddle (No. 5), and Ja’Marr Chase (No. 15) among others.
In two years at Penn State, the now 6-foot-4, 223-pound Shorter struggled with weight issues and got buried on the depth chart behind future NFL pass-catchers like Jahan Dotson and KJ Hamler.
He transferred to Florida and performed better — catching 95 balls for 1,495 yards and eight touchdowns in three seasons — but was still never better than a second option behind the likes of Kadarius Toney, Kyle Pitts, and Ricky Pearsall.
Despite never living up to the hype, the Bills still took a shot on Shorter. He suffered a hamstring injury in the 2023 preseason, and Buffalo essentially redshirted him, putting the pass-catcher on IR and shutting him down for the year.
Now, heading into the Bills’ 2024 campaign, Shorter will get a chance to compete for a spot not just on the roster, but in the starting lineup as well as none of the spots are set in stone after the offseason turnover.
If Justin Shorter can rediscover some of that old magic that made him a superstar coming out of high school, maybe he can do the same with the Bills.
DL Gable Steveson
This gem is real hidden right now, but this is another case of a former superstar who could possibly make something of himself in the NFL. The difference here is that while Justin Shorter was a star football player a few years ago, Gable Steveson has never even laced up cleats until recently, let alone played the sport.
What Steveson is, though, is arguably the greatest wrestler of all time.
Gable Dan Steveson was destined to become a wrestler. Not only did his two older brothers wrestle, but he was named after NCAA champion, Olympic gold medalist, and legendary Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable.
And become a wrestler he did.
After winning four Minnesota state titles and a racking up a 171-match win-streak, Steveson decided to stay in-state and wrestle in college for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. As a collegiate athlete, Steveson’s dominance didn’t stop. He lost just two of his 87 matches in college and was the first two-time heavyweight winner of the Hodge Trophy (wrestling’s Heisman).
Steveson excelled on the international stage, too, winning numerous competitions in his freestyle wrestling career, including the gold medal at 124 kg at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Now, the grappler is trying his hand at football after a failed stint in WWE.
Wrestlers often make excellent linemen in the NFL on both sides of the ball. Players like Bob Golic, Steve Wisniewski, Warren Sapp, Mark Schlereth, and Tony Siragusa, among others, were state champs in high school and a few — like Stephen Neal Lorenzo Neal, and Carlton Haselrig — were NCAA champs.
It's also worth noting that Bills head coach Sean McDermott was a two-time national prep wrestling champion with a 61-0 record in his last two years of high school.
Gable Steveson is 6-foot-1, 285 pounds. That’s a little light of a defensive tackle and a little short for a pass-rushing defensive end. Plus, as someone who has never played football, we have no idea how fast he is or how he will be able to process the game mentally.
What we do know is that Steveson can take large men and throw them around as good or better than anyone who has ever done it.
If the Bills coaching staff can figure out a way to translate that skill to the football field — maybe as a pass-rushing DT or a base 3-4-style DE — the team could have a real hidden gem on the roster.
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