Josh Allen places Bills on list of best ‘offensive cores’ in NFL

It’s all about the quarterback.

Every NFL fan has heard this phrase – or a close variation of it – many times in their football watching life, and that’s because it’s mostly true. Quarterbacks are often the difference in games and can single-handedly win contests for their respective teams. The presence of an elite signal-caller can — and often does — take a team from “barely a playoff contender” to a “Super Bowl favorite.”

And the Buffalo Bills certainly have themselves an elite signal-caller.

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Josh Allen has established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in professional football over the past few years, leading his team to five straight playoff berths and four straight division titles as it has become a perennial contender in the championship. He is already third in Buffalo franchise history in passing yards (22,703) and is responsible for four of its five best seasons ever by a quarterback. He is the only signal-caller in NFL history to total 40-plus touchdowns in four consecutive seasons, and he appears poised to accomplish that feat once again during the 2024 campaign.

His presence elevates a Bills offense that has seen significant turnover during the 2024 offseason; the team allowed Gabriel Davis to leave as a free agent before trading four-time Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans, stripping a total of 152 receptions, 1,929 yards and 15 touchdowns from its receiving corps. Buffalo plans to split that production between second-year tight end Dalton Kincaid, third-year contributor Khalil Shakir, rookie Keon Coleman and free agent signee Curtis Samuel; While the team’s receiving corps is still talented, it’s objectively not as intimidating as it once was.

Allen, still at the head of the revamped offensive unit, however, raises his floor considerably. That sentiment was echoed in the 33rd team’s recent ranking of the NFL’s eight best offensive cores; writer Marcus Mosher lists Buffalo’s core of Allen, Coleman, Kincaid and running back James Cook as the seventh best in the league, with its position fueled largely by Allen’s presence.

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“The Bills are on this list over other talented teams because of Josh Allen,” Mosher wrote. “He’s productive and incredibly durable, considering the workload the Bills have put on him over the past five seasons. Allen has only missed one start since 2019* and has scored 202 touchdowns (passing + rushing ). That’s an average of 40.4 total touchdowns per season in half a decade.

The rest of Buffalo’s “core,” while inexperienced, possesses immense promise and, in theory, should develop well with Allen distributing the ball to them. Mosher specifically mentions Kincaid and Cook, writing that Kincaid “could quickly become one of the best tight ends in the NFL” and that Cook is “one of the best dual-threat running backs in the league.”

The Bills’ placement on the list seems generally fair given the question marks associated with the players’ position: They are objectively talented, but their talent must consistently translate onto the field before the team can rightly be ranked upper. The Kansas City Chiefs top Mosher’s list behind Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, with the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons occupying the No. 2 to 6.

*Editor’s Note: Allen hasn’t missed a start since 2019. He’s listed as having only had 16 starts during the 2022 NFL season, but that’s because Buffalo has technically only played 16 games that year. His Week 17 game with the Cincinnati Bengals was ruled a no contest.