Bills’ Tyrell Shavers trying his best to stay at WR

She earned her degree from the University of Alabama in three and a half years in creative media. She then transferred to Mississippi State for a year before going to San Diego State for her final two years of college.

He earned a master’s degree in national security and conflict resolution from San Diego State University.

“They are two different things,” Shavers acknowledged Saturday. “But this is 2024. Media and security are very important issues in the world.”

Shavers will be fine when his professional football career is over, but he shouldn’t have to worry about that for a while.

The 6-foot-4 Shavers capped a strong spring and summer by making two receptions in the Bills’ 31-26 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Saturday. He also should have had an 18-yard touchdown after being left completely open in the end zone on a clever play against Panthers cornerback DiCaprio Bootle. But quarterback Ben DiNucci threw him a pass too long.

Will Shavers make the 53-man roster? It’s a long shot.

“I think I had a good summer, good organized team activities, a good training camp and a pretty good preseason,” Shavers said. “This was like my Super Bowl, honestly. Coming in, I knew this was going to be my last chance to prove myself and make the team.”

Last year, the Bills kept five wide receivers. In any given year, about half of NFL teams keep six. The top four for the Bills are Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, Keon Coleman and Mack Hollins. Marquez Valdes-Scantling is likely locked into the No. 5 job. Samuel (injured toe) and Valdes-Scantling (sore neck) are both battling injuries.

It looks promising that both will be ready for the season opener against Arizona, but their availability won’t be assured when the Bills make their cuts on Tuesday. That’s likely to help Shavers’ chances hold up, at least for Week 1.

Still, a reasonable argument can be made that the Bills should keep Shavers as their sixth wide receiver anyway.

The main reason: We are far from sure how good the top five are.

Shakir, who came up in the second half of last season, looks like a surefire slot asset. The Bills expect big things from the speedy Samuel, and they need him to at least match his production with Washington over the past two seasons (64 and 62 catches). Coleman is promising, but instant success is far from assured for rookie receivers. MVS is coming off a 21-catch year with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Shavers brings an asset (his height and length) that could carry over from practice and the preseason into the regular season, when he’ll be facing starting cornerbacks. Shavers made several nice catches “above the rim” both in the middle and on the wing in training camp. He showed good blocking against Pittsburgh.

“Because of my height, there aren’t a lot of people my size that will guard me,” Shavers said. “So being able to turn a 50-50 into a 90-10 or an 80-20, things like that, that’s what I bring to the table.”

Another advantage Shavers has is that he plays on special teams. He can play as a gunner on punt coverage and as an outside blocker on punt returns.

It’s something he learned to accept at Alabama, where he struggled to get targeted. In 2019, Shavers was in the Crimson Tide’s wide receiver room with Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Henry Ruggs and John Metchie. It’s one of the best college receiving corps ever. The first four were top-15 overall picks in the NFL draft. Metchie was a second-round pick.

“Special teams is what helped me get to this league,” Shavers said. “I was never a 1,000-yard receiver. Special teams is what opened the door for me. I love it. I don’t have a different opinion on special teams than I do on offense. I look at it as another opportunity to make a play.”

The two starting punt coverage guys will likely be Hollins and Ja’Marcus Ingram, so Shavers is on the chopping block from that perspective, too.

Shavers will be difficult to cut if general manager Brandon Beane doesn’t retain him.

• Rookie sixth-round pick Tylan Grable finished a quality preseason at offensive tackle. Grable got plenty of work: 35 snaps against Chicago, 34 against Pittsburgh and 28 against Carolina. He was solid in pass protection.

“For me, the big thing is watching Dion (Dawkins) and Spencer (Brown) and how they operate and seeing their fundamentals and their technique,” ​​Grable said. “It’s understanding that you can’t give up sacks or pressures and still have bad technique. You have to make sure you have good technique and let that take care of everything else.”

This 6-foot-5 Central Florida product was a high school quarterback who started college as a tight end. He put up extraordinary numbers at the NFL combine. He can be seen sliding fluidly and maintaining his balance when blocking passes.

“I’ve always considered myself a great athlete, even when I was a quarterback and now I play offensive line,” Grable said. “It’s something I take pride in and I think it helps me on the field.”

• Safety Kareem Jackson played the entire first half of Saturday’s game, and the uncertain injury situation at his position may help keep him on the roster. He has 193 career NFL starts, and he played his first nine seasons in Houston as a cornerback. Nowhere on defense is experience more important than at safety. The Bills might want to use more three-safety packages because of Matt Milano’s injury, and that could make Jackson an asset, too. If Jackson is on the roster for Week 1, his season salary is guaranteed. If he is released and then signed for Week 2, the Bills can pay him week-to-week, which would be preferable.