Once-promising Bills WR ‘needs to prove himself’ at 2024 NFL training camp

Chase Claypool’s professional football career has traversed a path many thought unfathomable at this time three years ago.

The wide receiver, at the time, was viewed as one of the best young pass-catchers in football, a big-bodied boundary presence who was coming off a breakout 2020 campaign with the Pittsburgh Steelers in which he totaled 889 scrimmage yards and 11 total touchdowns. The stage for a year-two breakout—and solidification amongst the ranks of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL—was set.

He failed to answer the call.

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Though his scrimmage yardage total increased from 889 to 956, his scoring regressed past the mean and into ‘vastly underwhelming’ territory, falling from 11 total touchdowns to just two. His lack of on-field progression was complemented by off-field character and effort concerns, prompting many to quickly sour on the player who was once viewed as an integral part of Pittsburgh’s future.

Additional concerns—and the emergence of rookie receiver George Pickens—made Claypool an expendable asset as the 2022 season progressed, with the Steelers dealing him to the Chicago Bears at that season’s trade deadline. Questions persisted as his on-field impact dwindled, with Chicago’s offense not benefiting at all from his presence. The team ultimately traded him to the Miami Dolphins midway through the 2023 campaign, where he again made little impact.

It was more than a fall from grace for Claypool—it was a sudden descent. He’s caught just 54 passes for 528 yards over the past two years—a total he initially usurped over the first 10 games of his professional career. He’s coming off a season in which he caught just eight passes on 21 targets.

Claypool—now a member of a revamped Buffalo Bills receiving corps that moved on from Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis in the offseason—needs a strong spring and summer in order to not only make the roster, but maintain a place in the NFL. Bleacher Report shares this sentiment; in a recent article looking at several disappointing NFL players who “need to prove themselves” in training camp, analyst Alex Ballentine touched on Claypool, writing that he’ll need to stick out amongst a crowded receiving corps in order to earn a spot on Buffalo’s roster.

“Chase Claypool desperately needs a career resurgence,” Ballentine wrote. “The Buffalo Bills desperately need a few young wide receivers to fill vital roles on their offense. Training camp is where we’ll get to see if both parties can help each other out.

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“At 6’4″, 238 pounds, he’s a massive target with the potential to at least be a red-zone weapon, but he has to prove he can jell with his teammates and the coaching staff first. The receiver competition in Buffalo might be his last chance to do it. There’s a definite path to a role in an exciting Bills offense, but there are other options who will be looking to create the same role for themselves.”

Some of the “other options” Ballentine alludes to include Tyrell Shavers, Justin Shorter, and K.J. Hamler, who are some of the wideouts Claypool is competing with at the bottom of the depth chart. Shavers and Shorter, two sophomores who spent their rookie years on Buffalo’s practice squad and injured reserve list, respectively, are also big-bodied boundary threats who offer a bit more special teams upside than the former Notre Dame pass-catcher. Though stylistically very different than Claypool, Hamler, too, is a reclamation project; selected three picks before Claypool in the 2020 NFL Draft, the former Penn State Nittany Lion has been plagued by various injuries throughout his career.

Claypool, however, perhaps has a leg up on his competition thanks to what was reportedly a strong first impression at the team’s voluntary organized team activities. If he can build on this start with an impressive minicamp, the stage could be set for a real run at not only the roster—but at a significant offensive role—at training camp.