5 NFL Teams and the Key Offensive Positions They Neglected in the Draft

Buffalo Bills: Wide Receiver

The Buffalo Bills' wide receivers combined for 1,474 receiving yards in 2017, easily the lowest of any NFL team. No wide receiver had more than 27 receptions posted by both Deonte Thompson and rookie Zay Jones. Jones was quite historically bad in his first NFL season. His 27 receptions came from 74 targets, on his way to posting -0.17 Target NEP per target. This was the seventh-lowest tally of all wide receivers seeing at least 30 targets.

Of the Bills' wide receivers, only Jordan Matthews showed anything noteworthy on a per-play basis. His 0.43 Target NEP per target was tied for 20th among all wide receivers with at least 30 targets. He signed with the New England Patriots in free agency.

To supplement a less-than-inspiring corps of Jones, Kelvin Benjamin, and Andre Holmes, the Bills waited until the sixth round of the draft to act. They selected Ray-Ray McCloud. NFL.com's Lance Zierlein described him as "a man without a position" and also added that "it will be up to an NFL team to best decide where to utilize him."

A round later, they selected the son of former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Ricky Proehl, Austin. Proehl battled injuries in two of his college seasons and finished his time with North Carolina Tar Heels with 91 receptions for 1,265 yards and 5 touchdowns.