Fantasy football implications of Stefon Diggs joining the Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills exceeded expectations by finishing 10-6 in 2019, and they’re ready to take another step forward in 2020. They sent three 2020 NFL Draft picks and one 2021 pick to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for Stefon Diggs and a 2020 pick earlier this week, bolstering their receiving corps. Will this move be the driving force behind Buffalo’s push to win the AFC East? We’ll take a look at the Bills’ fantasy players for the 2020 season.

Stefon Diggs

Diggs is a very good, but not yet elite receiver who has been productive for his last two seasons — eclipsing 1,000 receiving yards in 2018 and 2019. Diggs notched a career-high 1,130 yards last year after growing frustrated with Kirk Cousins early in the year. But will Josh Allen be able to help him produce at a higher level?

Diggs hovered around the top 20 as fantasy receiver and caught six touchdown passes in 2019 while Adam Thielen missed significant time. He wasn’t far from Buffalo’s top receiver — John Brown — in terms of fantasy impact. Diggs having to compete with Brown and Cole Beasley doesn’t bode well for his value in 2020. He should hover around the same area, but could also be worse.

John Brown, Cole Beasley

Brown and Beasley both joined Buffalo in 2019 and become reliable weapons for the team’s second-year quarterback. Brown led the team in receptions (72) and receiving yards (1,060) last year while hauling in six touchdown passes. Beasley trailed him with 67 receptions for 778 yards and six scores.

The Bills gave up some valuable assets to land Diggs, so it appears like he should be their top wideout. This means Brown will likely be demoted to the team’s WR2 while Beasley becomes a WR3. Diggs and Brown should have their fantasy rankings change too much, but Beasley could see a drop off in production. Even then, Beasley should still have solid upside as a WR 3.

Josh Allen

Josh Allen cracked the top 10 as a fantasy quarterback last year, and his team’s latest acquisition makes it more likely for him to accomplish that again in 2020. He struggled with accuracy as a rookie, only completing 52.8% of his passes. But a year of maturity and better personnel out wide helped him improve upon that mark in 2019. The 3,089 yards he threw for in year two beat his rookie total by more than 1,000 yards. Allen also doubled his previous personal best for touchdown passes by throwing for 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Allen is still improving as a passer, but his ability to run separates him from most quarterbacks. The only quarterbacks he trailed i rushing yards last season were Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray. He tallied 509 yards on the ground and ran for nine scores last year, giving him a grand total of 15 regular season rushing touchdowns. Allen will be more dangerous with more weapons around him, so expect another solid campaign in year three.

Devin Singletary

Singletary knocked off Frank Gore in his rookie season to become Buffalo’s feature back in 2019. He rushed for 775 yards and two scores on 151 carries while appearing in 12 games. It’s safe to say that he’ll get more touches in 2020, as the Bills were a top 10 team running the football last year.

Singletary ranked around 30th among fantasy running backs and could be poised for a breakout year. He averaged more than two catches per game in his rookie campaign and notched 29 receptions for 194 yards and two scores. He should rank higher than 30th in 2020, as he’ll get a chance to showcase his full skill set. How high he can climb is unclear, but he could definitely be a 1,000-yard rusher.