The 2025 Buffalo Bills made it to the Division round of the playoffs, and their offense frequently hung 30-plus points on some of the league’s best defenses. But the team fell short of where the roster is meant to land them.
GM Brandon Beane has been piecing together the receiving corps and supporting cast in and around the passing game to gradually create a powerful offensive unit around QB Josh Allen.
This offseason, he made multiple moves like trading for Elijah Moore and drafting Skyler Bell to enhance their receiver group. Moore is a true separator who gives them their first WR1 since Stefon Diggs. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady, under whom Allen won the league MVP, is now the head coach and play-caller.
With those changes and more, here are three reasons why the Bills’ offense will improve in 2026:
Top Targets
For two years, the same issues have surrounded Buffalo’s offense- not enough separation, not enough explosive plays outside the numbers, too much Shakir, and too many screens. Resulting in too much predictability. It hasn’t stopped Josh Allen and company from racking up points. But it has presented the QB with limitations in a passing game that, with the right weapons, could be dominant.
Elijah Moore is the headlining addition. He’s the closest thing this room has had to a true X-receiver since the Diggs era as a route-runner who wins off the line, can gain leverage at the top of the route tree stem, and gives Allen an elite target on the first read. Behind him, Keon Coleman is going to have his chance to show out if he can play to his billing and role for which he was drafted. He enters year three with a leaner and more agile, strong build, and a clear runway to the contested-catch and red-zone role. Shakir will continue to thrive in the slot where his YAC numbers are explosive, but also time at different receiver positions as well. Beyond them, they are supported in the rotation by Josh Palmer and rookie newcomer Skyler Bell, who could have an immediate impact.
If Dalton Kincaid stays healthy, with him and Dawson Knox in two tight end sets, along with their receiving running backs group, Joe Brady suddenly has a couple of handfuls of legitimate playmaking target distributors. That’s not just a checkdown offense that might get you yards after the catch; that’s a problem for opposing coordinators.
Reinforced Offensive Line
The power of friendship alone will not protect Josh Allen. It also takes five formidable fronts, along with real depth in the line rotation. Buffalo’s 2026 offensive trenches have both.
O’Cyrus Torrence will help man the interior with Alec Anderson and veteran free-agent signee Austin Corbett replacing David Edwards. Connor McGovern is back at center, and Dion Dawkins at left tackle with Spencer Brown on the right. Re-signing McGovern will help give Allen cleaner pre-snap communication, while the current pool of depth offers rotation support and interior insurance.
When Allen has a clean pocket, he is statistically the most dangerous quarterback in football. The 2026 front is built to keep that pocket clean.
Joe Brady
Brady’s 2025 play sheet was conservative by design to protect a defense leaking pressure rate and receivers that couldn’t always win. With the offseason additions, those guardrails come off. Expect the deep-shot rate and the pre-snap motion volume — already top-five league-wide — to increase. More empty sets, and RPO menu, more Allen taking the six-layered shots a game this offense was built to attempt. This could all be in the cards.
Brady’s scheme has always been built around the quarterback’s strengths. In Buffalo, with Allen, it means unlocking and unleashing his elite abilities while continuing to refine and develop rough edges. An offensive playcaller and system where the players know the language, and the run-game and execution rhythm is second-nature, is where Buffalo’s offense can live.
Jim Leonhard’s defense could make it so the offense doesn’t need to overcompensate for weaknesses on the other side of the ball, which would give Brady, Allen, and the offense more autonomy in 2026 to execute a higher and more efficient level than they did during Allen’s MVP campaign.While last year’s team lost games that mattered because the margins were too thin, Beane made moves to widen the margins with Allen in his prime, surrounded by the most complete supporting cast he has ever had. The Bills’ offense is set up to improve in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: 3 reasons why the Bills’ offense will improve in 2026
Reporting by David Benjamin De Cristofaro, Bills Wire / Bills Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
