Should Khalil Shakir take the Bills’ starting job in the slot?

01/21/2023
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Wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie sat out of the Buffalo Bills’ Wild Card round win last Sunday with a hamstring injury. Fifth-round rookie Khalil Shakir stepped in for the veteran slot receiver, just as he did when McKenzie missed the team’s Week 5 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Across those two games, Shakir racked up 126 yards on six catches and was an overturned catch away from having over 150 yards in his two games as the primary slot option. With McKenzie being a full participant in practice this week, the question is, has Shakir shown enough to justify taking over McKenzie’s role? Can he be a difference-maker for the Bills in what is hopefully a deep playoff run? The Numbers  Let’s start with McKenzie, as he has a bigger sample size to pick through. Isaiah McKenzie lined up in the slot 80.2% of the time. He racked up five drops resulting in a drop rate of 10.6%, which is eighth worst among qualifying receivers in the entire NFL. McKenzie was targeted within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage 64.5% of the time, which was by far his most efficient area of the field, with a 103 passer rating when…

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Teacher by day and runner by day. Cover 1 Writer by night.

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