Albert Breer Empties His Bills Notebook From Training Camp

Veteran receiver DJ Moore has carved out a nice role in a Buffalo offense that already had a high ceiling. Meanwhile, Bills defense adapting to change to a 3–4 base.

DJ Moore was traded to the Bills in March following a subpar 2025 season, by his standards, with the Bears. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — In the shadow of the new Highmark Stadium (which is nicer than people on X have described it), we have five takeaways from my 18th and final stop of the first swing of this NFL training camp trip.

• DJ Moore has the look of a real difference-maker—which new head coach Joe Brady expected, having been with the star receiver in Carolina. Moore has the chip on his shoulder of a guy who just got traded, and he has brought speed, physicality, an ability to run the whole route tree, versatility, durability, juice after the catch … there has been a lot to like. The other thing his presence has done is allow the Bills to move guys into complementary roles that should make them more dangerous, with defensive coaches having to plan coverage around Moore.

To that end, Dalton Kincaid looks like he’s going to be a problem, provided the tight end can stay healthy after becoming stronger and sturdier this offseason. The Bills offense’s production with Kincaid on the field vs. not shows he has a ton of value.

Moore’s work mentoring the younger receivers has been noted, too, with Khalil Shakir settling in as the No. 2, and Keon Coleman and Josh Palmer fighting for snaps behind him.

• I’d expect Joe Brady’s aggressive offensive approach to be apparent all over the field—both on his side of the ball and in how DC Jim Leonhard, who counts Rex Ryan and Vance Joseph among his coaching mentors, attacks the other side. That’s not to say Brady was held back in any way under Sean McDermott. More so, it’s that the vision for the Bills is now his, and we’ve seen glimpses, going back to LSU, of what that might look like. And Brady’s relationship with star quarterback Josh Allen has helped expedite building that, in that Brady can coach Allen hard, which allows the staff to be tough and detail-oriented with everyone.

Another thing that should help Allen, who has looked like you’d expect him to look in camp, will be having a more defined pecking order at receiver with Moore aboard, after what became a revolving door at the position late last year (obviously, that’s health-dependent).

• The defensive scheme change, from a 4–3 to a 3–4 base, will affect the guys along the front the most. Defensive tackle Ed Oliver is the first guy who has stood out as a potential beneficiary; after playing his career previous to this in a four-down front, playing in an odd front looks like it’ll make it tougher to throw double-teams at him. Second-year guys Deone Walker and TJ Sanders are trending toward starting alongside him.

Sanders, an ex-basketball player who didn’t start playing football until midway through high school, has gotten stronger and looks more physical, with Leonhard moving him around the front. Meanwhile, Bradley Chubb has been valuable, given his experience in the scheme—as I’d heard it, there’s a good shot he’s a team captain—and helping Gregory Rousseau coming along opposite him.

Josh Allen INFATUATED with Bradley Chubb: “I love what Bradley Chubb has brought to our defense. The way he has brought in the defense (and connected) it’s awesome to see that… the veteran leadership”

Chubb was signed to boost the Bills pass rush and early reviews are great pic.twitter.com/ZuiKqw3JPM

— alex brasky (@alexbrasky) August 13, 2026

• Maxwell Hairston will play a vital role in the secondary, provided he can get and stay healthy (he should be back on the field next week). Christian Benford is steady opposite him, and Dee Alford has proven to be instinctive and tough with good ball skills at nickel. Hopes are high for second-year man Cole Bishop, now entrenched at one of the safety spots, and the question will be who’s next to him. Right now, C.J. Gardner-Johnson is the guy, but he’ll have to fend off Damar Hamlin, Geno Stone and Jalon Kilgore to nail down the job.

• Finally, there are a couple of other big position battles to keep an eye on in the middle of the field. One would be at left guard, where Austin Corbett and Alec Anderson are competing. The other is who will be at linebacker next to Terrel Bernard, with veteran Dorian Williams trying to hold off promising rookie Kaleb Elarms-Orr, a fourth-round pick out of TCU who looks the part, plays angry, is smart and, most importantly, can stay on the field in the passing game. Outside of that, the biggest questions would be whether the team keeps a fourth tight end or a fullback, and who the punter’s going to be. Which is to say, things are in pretty decent shape here a month out from the season opener at Houston.

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