Khalil Shakir put some encouraging play on film during the Buffalo Bills’ two-game postseason run last January and has begun showing signs of life in 2023 over the last two games. Given his recent boost in involvement, should fantasy football managers consider investing a roster spot on the speedy second-year receiver?
Should Khalil Shakir Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 9?
The modest momentum Shakir seemed to be building when the Bills’ postseason run came to a rather abrupt end in the Divisional Round against the Cincinnati Bengals last season, combined with the inconsistent play of WR Gabe Davis in his first season as a starter, had some fantasy circles buzzing about a potential breakout campaign for the former in 2023.
However, that potential ascension didn’t come close to materializing over the first six games of the current campaign. Shakir posted a combined 4-40-1 line on just five targets.
The Boise State alum ran just 29 routes over 91 snaps in that span, while Davis did just enough to hold on to his WR2 spot. Additionally, since both RB James Cook and rookie TE Dalton Kincaid garnered a fair amount of QB Josh Allen’s attention, there wasn’t any light at the end of the fantasy tunnel for Shakir.
This began changing in Week 7 against the New England Patriots when Shakir saw what was a season-high four targets. He turned them into four receptions for 35 yards, over a then-season-high 24 snaps.
What transpired in Week 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a nationally televised Thursday night affair served to officially put Shakir on the 2023 fantasy map. He finished with six receptions for a team- and career-high 92 yards on six targets.
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Shakir is a more talented option for the WR3 role than veteran Trent Sherfield and the fast-but-diminutive Deonte Harty, who’s certainly dangerous in space, but he sports a five-foot-six, 170-pound frame that makes him much more suited for the occasional gadget play than a true full-time WR3 role.
Consequently, Shakir shouldn’t have an issue maintaining a hold of his current depth chart slotting behind the starting duo of WR Stefon Diggs and Davis. Nevertheless, his week-to-week target count will inevitably fluctuate, given how much of the offense flows through Diggs, and increasingly, Kincaid. Davis is coming off a 12-target game against Tampa Bay and also has seven- and eight-target tallies in two other instances this season.
The Bills will always lean a good bit into their air attack as long as Allen is healthy, but it’s worth noting Buffalo is ranked No. 15 with a 58.4 percent pass-play rate thus far — a slight decrease from last season’s 59.4 percent.
As a result, fantasy managers in deeper formats, such as 12-team leagues and above, are the best candidates to pounce on Shakir.
Those in 10-team-and-under leagues would likely be best served utilizing their waiver claims on wideouts with more trustworthy roles for the time being — with the caveat that any injury to Diggs or Davis would naturally up Shakir’s value exponentially regardless of league size.
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