The Buffalo Bills possess one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL, led by quarterback Josh Allen. He has an excellent supporting cast around him with wide receivers Stefon Diggs, Gabriel Davis and Jamison Crowder. At tight end, Dawson Knox has come into his own and the team added running back James Cook in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft to Devin Singletary.
This is an offense that should once again be near the top of the league in every metric. They began finding more balance toward the end of the season, becoming as dangerous of a running team as they are through the air.
Now, imagine adding a player such as San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel to the mix. Samuel has asked for a trade from the 49ers, but Buffalo hasn’t been linked to him at all; they are pretty set at the wide receiver position.
However, they did bring on a player that compares his style of play to what Samuel does. Buffalo signed Raheem Blackshear as an undrafted free agent and he is confident in his skills as a football player; categorizing him as only a running back wouldn’t do him justice.
“I look at myself as like a Deebo Samuel,” Blackshear told Mike Kaye of profootballnetwork.com. “A person who can play running back and slot receiver. Also, I can play special teams, so kick return [and] punt return. Teams have said they want to utilize me all over the field as a running back who can catch the ball out of the backfield and run downhill.”
Blackshear certainly fits the Samuel mold with his skill set. He isn’t nearly as big, standing three inches shorter and weighing 17 pounds less than Samuel, but what he brings to the field is certainly in the same vein.
Across five seasons with Rutgers and Virginia Tech, Blackshear had 1,912 rushing yards for 14 touchdowns on 410 carries. He added 123 receptions for 1,213 yards and seven more scores to showcase his versatility on offense.
He can also be deployed as a return man, gaining 713 yards, averaging 19.3 yards per return, as a kick returner. That kind of versatility will eventually find its way onto an NFL roster and the Bills could be lucky enough to benefit from that after signing him as an undrafted free agent.
