Buffalo’s preseason win in Cleveland came with the usual August caveat, but it also delivered a real roster storyline: undrafted receiver Ja’Mori Maclin may have just forced his way into the conversation.
Maclin needed only three targets to make the night count. He turned those chances into two catches, 108 receiving yards and a touchdown, easily leading the Bills in production. The big one came on a 71-yard score from Shane Buechele, a throw that only paid off because Maclin blew past the coverage and created the separation himself.
Buechele has been watching that kind of growth for a while.
"He's been balling," Buechele said. "He's been doing a good job, he works hard, he's got some juice to him, so it's fun. It's fun playing with him."
That outburst looked a lot different from Week 1 against Carolina, when Maclin saw just one target and finished with nine yards. Week 2 brought a much bigger opportunity, and the 24-year-old made the most of it with the kind of vertical burst Buffalo has been trying to develop behind Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman. With Josh Allen and DJ Moore set to lead the passing game, that final receiver spot comes down to who can run, separate and help on special teams.
Maclin knows exactly what these snaps mean.
"This is definitely a blessing, man," Maclin said. "I haven't really fully soaked it in yet because I'm trying to shower, trying to get on the plane, go see my family.
But man, I'm definitely grateful, man. God has blessed me with this opportunity."
His path to this moment has not been smooth. Maclin came to Buffalo undrafted and then lost valuable practice time to injuries during OTAs, a brutal break for any player trying to carve out a job without guaranteed money. Those missed reps were the chance he needed to stack.
Even so, Joe Brady said the Bills had already seen enough to keep him in the picture.
"If you're undrafted and you're battling injuries in OTAs, you better hope that you show something early to be able to continue to stick around; and he showed us a lot," Brady said. "… It was a lot of fun seeing him celebrate."
Brady also pointed to what Maclin did when he couldn’t be on the field, noting that he stayed around the building through the offseason instead of disappearing to rehab elsewhere.
"He took advantage of the time when he was off and stuck around in the off season, making sure that when his time was going to come, he was going to be ready," he continued.
Maclin still has one more preseason game to strengthen his case. At this stage of August, that kind of buzz can go a long way, and the Bills now have one more chance to see whether the explosive night in Cleveland was a flash or the start of something more. If he keeps creating plays like that, he’ll give Buffalo a real decision to make when roster cuts arrive.
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