The Buffalo Bills’ wide receiver group was a much-maligned unit last season. Constant talk of their struggles to separate from man coverage played out in multiple ways, as fans’ concerns played out in real time on multiple Sundays. Buffalo’s decision-makers might not have acknowledged that there was an issue with wideouts, but they have added a number of players whose skill sets indicate that the team knows what they need to do.
Throughout his career, quarterback Josh Allen has always thrived with receivers who are smaller, shiftier, and more agile; he seems to prefer throwing to speedsters and route-running technicians like Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, John Brown, and Khalil Shakir over big-bodied types like Kelvin Benjamin and Keon Coleman. With that in mind, the Bills have added multiple receivers this offseason who are smaller, quicker players who excel against man coverage.
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In today’s installment of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss a smaller receiver who quickness might give him an edge this summer.
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Name: Deven Thompkins
Number: 38
Position: WR
Height/Weight: 5’8″ 155 lbs.
Age: 26 (27 on 12/23/2026)
Experience/Draft: 5; signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following the 2022 NFL Draft
College: Utah State
Acquired: Signed with Buffalo on 6/11/2026
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Thompkins signed a non-guaranteed, one-year contract worth a total of $1.215 million. Thanks to the veteran’s minimum cap exception, Thompkins will carry a slightly lower cap hit than that, $1.075 million, if he makes the 53-man roster.
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2025 Recap: Thompkins did not have a team for the off-season, but he signed with the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad on September 23. He made his season debut during Atlanta’s Week Six win over the Bills, appearing on three special teams snaps. He returned one kickoff in that game for 16 yards. Overall, he appeared in seven games for the Falcons, as he was elevated from the practice squad three times before being signed to the active roster in December. He played 22 snaps on offense and 47 snaps on special teams. In that limited action, he caught all three of his targets for 27 yards, carried once for a five-yard rush, returned 12 kickoff for an average of 23.4 yards per return, and returned six punts for an averaged of nine yards per return.
Positional outlook: Thompkins is one of fourteen receivers on the current roster, joining Khalil Shakir, Tyrell Shavers, DJ Moore, Skyler Bell, Keon Coleman, Joshua Palmer, Trent Sherfield, Mecole Hardman Jr., Max Tomczak, Jalen Virgil, Ja’Mori Maclin, Stephen Gosnell, and Mac Dalena.
2026 Offseason: Thompkins impressed at a minicamp tryout, making a great catch on a deep pass from Shane Buechele that was widely reported as the “wow” play of the workout. Thompkins signed with the Bills immediately thereafter.
2026 Season outlook: Buffalo clearly has a need for speed at the receiver position, and Thompkins ran a 4.35-second forty-yard dash at his Pro Day back in 2022. He also displayed a 38.5″ vertical and a 132″ broad jump. Speed, explosiveness, and agility are not the issue for Thompkins; it’s his slight frame that has prevented him from sticking around in the NFL. Can his show enough burst on offense and versatility on special teams to make a push for the roster this summer?
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My gut says that he absolutely can, as the Bills have few sure things at receiver. Shakir and Moore are roster locks, and Bell is as close as one can be given that he was the only receiver the team drafted this spring. After that, the group has far more questions than answers, and while it’s easy to see Palmer and Coleman making the team, I could just as easily see the Bills trying to find a trade partner willing to work on a reclamation project (Coleman) or just cutting ties (Palmer) and moving in a different direction if the summer shows us that different players need larger roles.
Thompkins may be small, and he may not have much of an NFL pedigree, but he has traits that the Bills can use. You can’t teach speed and burst like his, and there is definitely a scenario where he makes the roster as a gadget player on offense and a return specialist on special teams. It’s equally likely that he ends up one of the final players cut in August and the Bills try to keep him around on the practice squad.
Ultimately, with Shavers still working back from a January ACL tear, I think Thompkins will be in a dogfight with Virgil, Sherfield, and Hardman Jr. for the final receiver spot, with Max Tomczak serving as the deep sleeper to make a push for that sixth spot. If Thompkins shows that he can succeed in multiple roles, he’s someone who could break camp with the team and add a dynamic element to an already potent offense.
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