The Buffalo Bills took one fantasy football-relevant player in the 2026 NFL Draft, wide receiver Skyler Bell. And I truly don’t understand the pick. Let’s get into that with the Buffalo Bills 2026 NFL Draft roundup!
Round 4, Pick 125 Overall: Skyler Bell, WR
TALENT
Bell doesn’t really strike me as anyone to write home about, which is strange, given that I am trying to write home about this particular player. He has prototypical size and speed for the current wide receiver paradigm. But, there isn’t much that he does that I would classify as “winning” along the way. He’s a robotic route runner who can beat his man that way, but unless he is getting open underneath, he doesn’t convert this into long breakaway touchdowns with any consistency. He is also just an average receiver at the point of the catch, and he rarely catches the ball away from his body. He’s like if someone tried to make the most average, balanced wide receiver possible; he has no real carrying trait (though he’s decent enough after the catch), but he isn’t bad at anything.
NFL Comparison: Diontae Johnson
Draft Grade: Round 5
2026 OPPORTUNITY
There’s a subset of the fantasy football cognoscenti that wants to tell you that Skyler Bell is a good fit for the Bills. Yes, I agree! That’s why they already have a better version of Skyler Bell in Khalil Shakir. There’s nothing that Bell does that Shakir doesn’t do better, and they work in the same area of the field. He had a bunch of spreadsheet folks getting up in arms because he dominated teams like UAB, Rice, and Central Connecticut State while already being 23 years old. He will be 24 when the season starts, and he is already ancient for a rookie.
But this section isn’t about slandering the spreadsheet warriors; it’s about gauging his opportunity with the Bills. Again, there’s nothing that he does that Khalil Shakir doesn’t already do better, except maybe getting yards after the catch. He’s a slot receiver who has to beat out one of the best and most reliable slot receivers in the league to find his way to getting significant opportunities to produce in this offense in a consistent basis.
Will he get a bunch of targets? Sure, but Khalil Shakir averaged just six targets per game last year. Let’s say he gets five targets per game, just behind Shakir. This is consistent with what the #2 wide receiver target on the Bills received, on average, per week, in 2025 (82 targets, or 4.8 per game).
Let’s start there, and assume that Bell, not DJ Moore, is the WR2 on this team. That comes out to 85 targets, and 85 targets puts him in the top-45 in the position in targets… barely. He also doesn’t get the type of targets that will turn into a lot of fantasy football production (end zone and deep depth of target looks).
2026 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Let’s dive more into the type of receivers who can produce on 85 targets in a season. Last year, Alec Pierce finished as WR27 on 84 targets. He also led the NFL in yards per reception. Quentin Johnston was WR33 on 85 targets, but ranked ninth in touchdowns. DJ Moore and Romeo Doubs finished the season at WR36 and WR37 at 85 targets apiece. Those are all the receivers inside the top forty in fantasy points last year on fewer than 90 targets. If you think that Skyler Bell, in his rookie season, will surpass Khalil Shakir at the same role, then that is what your click bets on. If you think that he will be DJ Moore or Romeo Doubs, on a Bills team that runs the ball more than 52% of the time, then go for it. I won’t be clicking that button.
