Buffalo Kept Only Five Wide Receivers — Who Becomes Josh Allen’s No. 2 Target?

Buffalo's final wide receiver decisions gave fantasy managers something useful: clarity.

The Bills kept only five receivers on their initial 53-man roster:

• Keon Coleman
• DJ Moore
• Joshua Palmer
• Khalil Shakir
• Skyler Bell

Tyrell Shavers was placed on reserve/PUP.

Five receivers is a relatively tight room, particularly for an offense quarterbacked by Josh Allen. The question is no longer whether Buffalo has too many receivers to evaluate.

The question is which player becomes the second-most important target in the offense.

And the answer may not actually be a wide receiver.

Khalil Shakir Has the Strongest Existing Connection

Shakir remains one of the easiest players in this offense to trust.

In 2025 he led Buffalo with 95 targets and 72 receptions, finishing with 719 receiving yards.

The underlying usage tells us exactly what his role is.

His average depth of target was only 3.7 yards, while he generated 541 yards after the catch.

Buffalo uses Shakir to create efficient completions and let him work after the football arrives.

That role is valuable in full PPR because it produces catches even when he is not winning deep downfield.

Shakir is therefore the safest bet to remain heavily involved.

But "heavily involved" does not automatically mean he leads the team in fantasy points among receivers.

DJ Moore Changes the Ceiling of the Room

DJ Moore gives Buffalo something it has frequently lacked: a veteran receiver with a long history of handling major NFL target volume.

The Bills do not need Moore to dominate 150 targets for the acquisition to matter.

They need him to provide a reliable outside option who can win in multiple areas of the field while Josh Allen creates explosive plays.

That makes Moore the receiver with the easiest path to becoming Buffalo's highest-scoring fantasy wideout.

Shakir can retain his underneath role. Keon Coleman can continue developing on the perimeter. Joshua Palmer can function as a complementary vertical receiver.

Moore can connect those roles.

The key fantasy question is how quickly Buffalo treats him like a featured target rather than simply another member of the rotation.

Keon Coleman Still Has a Major Opportunity

Coleman's 2025 season was not a breakout.

He played 13 games and caught 38 passes for 404 yards on 59 targets.

But the roster construction is still encouraging for his development.

Buffalo did not overload the receiver room with veterans. Coleman remains one of only five active receivers and should have every opportunity to earn perimeter snaps.

His fantasy path looks different from Shakir's.

Coleman needs higher-value targets: downfield opportunities, contested catches and end-zone work.

If his route participation remains high, he can matter on fewer receptions than Shakir because his targets can be more valuable.

The question is whether DJ Moore's arrival limits Coleman's ceiling or helps him by pulling defensive attention elsewhere.

Joshua Palmer Is the Forgotten Name

Palmer is easy to overlook because Buffalo's other receivers generate stronger narratives.

That can be useful in fantasy.

He has enough NFL experience to earn meaningful snaps immediately and gives Buffalo another outside receiving option.

In standard leagues, he is probably not worth drafting unless his role becomes clearer.

In deeper formats, however, his playing time matters.

A Josh Allen offense can create fantasy-relevant weeks for secondary receivers even without elite target shares. If Palmer is running a full complement of routes, he becomes a player worth monitoring.

Dalton Kincaid Could Be the Actual Answer

This is the most important part of the discussion.

The Bills' No. 2 target might not be a receiver at all.

Dalton Kincaid had only 49 targets in 12 games last season, but he caught 39 of them for 571 yards.

That is an extremely efficient 14.6 yards per reception.

His 9.5-yard average depth of target was significantly higher than Shakir's, and Buffalo carried four tight ends on the initial roster.

If Kincaid stays healthy and earns a larger route share, he can absolutely finish second on the team in targets.

That possibility matters when evaluating every Buffalo receiver after Moore and Shakir.

Fantasy managers often analyze position groups in isolation. Targets do not work that way.

Kincaid, Dawson Knox and the running backs all compete for Josh Allen's attempts too.

Joe Brady's Offense Has Favored Distribution

Joe Brady is now Buffalo's head coach after spending 2024 and 2025 as offensive coordinator.

One of the defining traits of Buffalo's recent offense has been its willingness to distribute opportunities rather than force every throw through one alpha receiver.

That makes Allen excellent for real football and occasionally frustrating for fantasy receiver projections.

The condensed roster can help, but it does not necessarily mean one player suddenly gets a 30-percent target share.

Buffalo can still rotate production among Moore, Shakir, Coleman, Palmer and Kincaid.

That is why price matters so much.

How I Rank the Buffalo Targets

For full-PPR fantasy, my preference is:

DJ Moore has the strongest combination of established talent and potential high-value usage.

Khalil Shakir has the safest reception-based role and the strongest continuity with Allen.

Dalton Kincaid has the biggest chance to disrupt the WR rankings because the tight end could become one of the offense's central targets.

Keon Coleman is the upside swing if his perimeter role expands.

Joshua Palmer is a deeper watch-list option.

Skyler Bell is a developmental rookie and special-teams piece until his offensive usage tells us otherwise.

My Fantasy Read

Buffalo's five-receiver roster is good news for fantasy because it reduces the number of players competing for routes.

It does not automatically create one massive target hog.

I want DJ Moore first because he has the most complete path to high-end receiving production. Shakir remains a strong full-PPR option because Buffalo already knows exactly how to use him.

The player I would watch most closely is Kincaid.

If his route rate and health cooperate, the conversation about Josh Allen's "No. 2 receiver" could miss the point entirely.

Buffalo may have a No. 2 target who plays tight end.