These 4 Bills need to step up for Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense

Even before Josh Allen’s elbow injury, which held him out of practice on Wednesday, there were some small reasons for alarm about the Buffalo Bills offense. The unit had its worst week of the season against the New York Jets in Week 9.

The Bills scored their fewest points (20). Josh Allen threw for his fewest total of passing yards (205) and Stefon Diggs failed to crack 100 yards for the first time in four weeks. He also failed to score a touchdown for the first time in four weeks. To make matters worse, Allen threw two turnovers to go along with zero passing touchdowns and a pair of rushing touchdowns. All was not well. It wasn’t a disaster by any means. But the Bills lacked the same composure they had against the Chiefs in Week 6.

With Buffalo (6-2) hosting the Minnesota Vikings (7-1) on Sunday, the Bills are in a difficult spot. Their offensive playmakers need to step up. And if Allen cannot play — which seems very possible — then the skill players will have to elevate their play to an even higher degree.

“We’ve gotta make sure we’re doing a good job of staying balanced in how we’re attacking defense with our personnel,” offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey said Tuesday.

So let’s dive into the four players who are underachieving.

WR Gabe Davis

Diggs has 60 catches this season and leads the team. The second-leading pass-catcher? Devin Singletary, with 27 catches — just a fraction of what Diggs has produced. And in terms of targets, Diggs leads the team with 83. Gave Davis is second with 38.

That’s troubling. The Bills offense has so far run through their top receiver. And they’ve been unable to make use of their other wideouts. Isaiah McKenzie (20 catches) and Davis have not seen the uptick in targets that you’d expect.

Why is that?

“I think we’ve just got to do a good job getting them in the right positions to help us — make plays for us. They’re playing their tail off,” Dorsey said.

It should — and likely will — be Dorsey’s top priority to get Davis more involved. The wideout has proven to be lightning in a bottle, with an average of 25.1 yards per reception. He also has four touchdowns in seven games. When they get him the ball, good things happen. It’s just that he’s only catching 47% of his targets. Perhaps it’s time to find ways to get him a higher volume — and on targets that aren’t all deep balls.

TE Dawson Knox

The tight end is supposed to be a security blanket, and to a degree, he has been. Knox has 20 catches, hauling in a whopping 71% of his 27 targets. It seems that Allen is using Knox, who averages 9.1 yards per catch, as a checkdown. But he’s not using the tight end very often — nor is Dorsey getting Knox involved in a big way.

“That’s part of the tight end position,” Dorsey said. “You’re asked to do a lot of different things and sometimes that’ll affect the number of catches that you’re getting and the opportunities that you’re getting. Dawson — I just believe he’s one of the better all-around tight ends in the league with what he can do from a blocking standpoint and with what he can do with a route-running standpoint.”

What’s interesting is that Knox struggled to take ownership of the middle of the field in 2021 — and I wrote a few months ago that he and Dorsey might see that as an opportunity to increase his targets. He is, indeed, on pace to see more targets in the short middle (passes between the numbers within 10 yards from the line of scrimmage). But just about everywhere else on the field? He’s projected to see a decline in targets at the end of the season.

Knox can absolutely become a bigger part of this offense.

RB James Cook

The rookie started the season with an unceremonious debut. He fumbled on his first carry — and the team immediately benched him. He logged just that one 2-yard carry. But they went back to him in Week 2: 11 carries and 53 yards. That day, he put up a 33-yard run that served as a reminder of why the Bills drafted him in the second round.

The truth is that Buffalo hasn’t made use of him in the ways that I thought they would. He didn’t seem like an every-down back, but he has not topped that Week 2 total of 11 touches. Cook’s playmaking abilities in college — along with his small stature — made it seem like he’d be a great fit in the Bills’ passing game. And yet his single-game high in receptions is just four (for 37 yards). He has only seven catches on the year.

“We definitely have to make sure we do a good job with the backs to be creative and making sure that we’re getting them the ball and allowing them to do some of the things that they do extremely well,” Dorsey said.

That’s where he’s not getting enough work, and he doesn’t seem likely to get a ton more. Buffalo traded for Nyheim Hines, who is likely to serve as the third-down back. Hines will eat into Cooks’ already short supply of touches.

Still, Cook is averaging 5.3 yards per carry and 13.7 yards per reception. It’s strange that the Bills felt like they needed Hines. And it’s stranger that they haven’t been able to get Cook more involved in his rookie season.

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RB Devin Singletary

Speaking of running backs, Singletary is one player who needs to help Buffalo in the red zone. With Zach Moss traded to the Indianapolis Colts, Singletary is the goal-line back and the power runner. And Buffalo needs more from its rushing attack. Right now, they’re overly reliant on Allen as their top rusher. The quarterback has led the team in rushing yards for five of their eight games. Allen has four of the team’s six rushing touchdowns. In fact, Cook is the only running back who has scored a rushing touchdown.

Singletary has none.

It’s no wonder the Bills are having issues getting the ball into the end zone from inside the 5-yard line. That’s where they’re among the worst in the NFL at converting for touchdowns.

Maybe it’s a square-peg-round-hole situation to ask Singletary (5-foot-7, 203 pounds) to take over as a top-tier power runner. But the Bills don’t have anyone else. Singletary needs to be better and more effective in finding creases. He needs to play with poundage he doesn’t have, because Buffalo is in dire need of power in their rushing attack.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.