Josh Allen lifts Bills to spot on list of NFL’s best ‘offensive cores’

It’s all about the quarterback.

All NFL fans have heard this phrase—or some close variation of it—an abundance of times throughout their football-watching lives, and that’s because it’s largely true. Quarterbacks are often the difference-makers in games and can singlehandedly win contests for their respective teams. The presence of an elite signal-caller can—and often does—lift a team from ‘barely a playoff contender’ into 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 several years, leading his team to five consecutive postseason berths and four straight division titles as it’s emerged as a perennial championship contender. He’s already third in Buffalo franchise history in passing yards (22,703) and is responsible for four out of its five best seasons ever constructed by a quarterback. He’s the only signal-caller in NFL history who has totaled over 40 touchdowns in four consecutive seasons, and he looks primed to accomplish the feat yet again in the 2024 campaign.

His presence elevates a Bills offense that saw significant turnover in the 2024 offseason; the team allowed Gabriel Davis to depart as a free agent before trading four-time Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans, eliminating a combined 152 receptions, 1,929 yards, and 15 touchdowns from its receiving corps. Buffalo figures to spread this production out amongst second-year tight end Dalton Kincaid, third-year contributor Khalil Shakir, rookie Keon Coleman, and free agent signee Curtis Samuel; though the team’s receiving corps is still talented, it’s objectively not as intimidating as it once was.

Allen still manning the revamped offensive unit, however, dramatically raises its floor. This sentiment has been echoed in The 33rd Team’s recent ranking of the top eight offensive cores in the NFL; writer Marcus Mosher lists Buffalo’s core of Allen, Coleman, Kincaid, and running back James Cook as the league’s seventh-best, its position largely fueled by the presence of Allen.

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“The Bills are on this list rather than some other talented teams because of Josh Allen,” Mosher wrote. “He is productive and incredibly durable, considering the workload the Bills have put on his shoulders during the last five seasons. Allen has missed just one start since 2019* and has scored 202 touchdowns (passing + rushing). That averages out to 40.4 total touchdowns per season in a half-decade.”

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

The Bills’ placement on the list seems generally fair given the question marks associated with its skill position players—they’re objectively talented, but their talent needs to consistently translate to the field before the team can justifiably be ranked any higher. The Kansas City Chiefs top Mosher’s list on the backs of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, with the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, and Atlanta Falcons occupying spots No. 2–6.

*Editor’s note: Allen has not missed a start since 2019. He’s listed as having only 16 starts in the 2022 NFL season, but that’s because Buffalo technically only played 16 games that year. Its Week 17 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals was ruled a no contest.