Bills Rumors: BUF Wanted to 'Ease the Burden' for Josh Allen With 2023 NFL Draft

The Buffalo Bills reportedly made a concerted effort to make life easier for quarterback Josh Allen during the 2023 NFL draft.

Speaking Saturday on SportsCenter, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler divulged what a Bills source told him regarding the organization's draft strategy: "Dalton Kincaid with the Bills, this is significant because of what it does for Josh Allen. I talked to somebody with the Bills who said this draft was all about helping Allen to ease the burden, where he doesn't have to be superhero all the time."

Despite ranking third in the NFL in total offense and second in the league in scoring offense last season, the Bills largely focused on offense with their draft.

They moved up from No. 27 to No. 25 in the first round to select Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid and then saw arguably the best pure guard in the draft fall to them at No. 59 in the second round in Florida's O'Cyrus Torrence.

Over the past three seasons, Allen has firmly established himself as one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.

Buffalo has won the AFC East in each of those seasons, and Allen has averaged 4,411 passing yards, 36 touchdowns and 13 interceptions per year.

He has also arguably been the driving force behind the Bills' running game, running for 763 yards in 2021 and 762 yards in 2022. He has rushed for at least six touchdowns in each of his five NFL seasons as well.

Allen has had an elite wide receiver in Stefon Diggs for the past three seasons, but it can be argued that the supporting cast around him has been lacking otherwise.

Buffalo has not had a 1,000-yard rusher during Allen's tenure, and there was no reliable receiving threat on the roster outside of Diggs last season, as No. 2 wideout Gabe Davis struggled with consistency and tight end Dawson Knox fell off from the career year he enjoyed in 2021.

Things got so bad for the Bills last season in terms of finding secondary pass-catchers that they brought back veterans Cole Beasley and John Brown during the year. Neither of them made much of an impact.

Retooling the offense has clearly been a top priority this offseason, as the Bills let wide receivers Isaiah McKenzie, Beasley and Brown leave in free agency. They were replaced by versatile speedsters in Deonte Harty and Trent Sherfield, as well as the 6'4" Justin Shorter, who was a fifth-round pick out of Florida.

While Kincaid is technically a tight end, it seems likely that he will often operate out of the slot, which is something he did with regularity in college.

Kincaid was one of the most surehanded pass-catchers in the draft, and having a safety valve of his caliber could go a long way toward allowing Allen to get the ball out faster and removing the need to run with it so often.

Buffalo's protection was also inconsistent last season, and the Bills have addressed that issue by drafting Torrence and signing guards Connor McGovern and David Edwards.

Assuming Torrence and McGovern earn the starting guard spots, it will allow Ryan Bates to become the primary backup at both guard positions and center, which would strengthen the offensive line significantly.

It also stands to reason that Buffalo's running game should be better in 2023 with a mauler like Torrence on the O-line.

Running back James Cook should make should make strides in his second season, and the Bills now have a couple of backs who excel in short-yardage situations in Damien Harris and Latavius Murray, which will lessen the need for Allen to bulldoze his ways to first downs as often.

The Bills arguably already had the best offense in the NFL outside of the Kansas City Chiefs, but they are now more diverse thanks to the moves they made in the draft in free agency, and that could lead to the best season of what has already been an excellent career for Allen.