One Thought on All 11 Buffalo Bills Position Groups Before Training Camp

There are many thoughts to share from the Buffalo Bills portion of my peabrain as we approach training camp in a few weeks.

The hiring of a new head coach breeds uncertainty surrounding one of the most consistent teams in the NFL over the past near-decade. Buffalo has been a perennial playoff contender, advancing to the playoffs for seven straight seasons under former head coach Sean McDermott.

When the Bills fired McDermott on Jan. 19 and subsequently overhauled their roster, that created a few question marks moving forward that will be answered beginning when the team hits the field at St. John Fisher University on July 29. Starting with the quarterback position, where a training camp competition for the backup role is brewing with a month to go before the bullets start flying.

Who will win Bills’ QB2 competition?

Buffalo brought back two familiar faces in the offseason, signing Kyle Allen to a two-year, $4.1 million deal on March 12 after they inked a reserve/future contract with Shane Buechele on Feb. 10. It will be interesting to see which player comes out on top in an expected battle for the role as the team’s backup behind future Hall of Famer Josh Allen.

The hope is that the Bills will not need Kyle Allen or Buechele for anything more than mop-up duty in 2026, as neither player has started a game over the past three seasons. After Mitch Trubisky signed a two-year, $5.25 million free-agent deal with the Tennessee Titans on March 12, the Bills were forced to move on from their backup of the past two seasons. When Trubisky made his exit, I felt it would have been wise to use one of their 10 selections in the NFL Draft to potentially lock down a more suitable backup not only for this season, but into the future.

Nonetheless, the Bills will forge ahead with Kyle Allen and Buechele, whose talents will be on full display throughout training camp and the preseason as each player looks to lock down the No. 2 job.

Ray Davis needs more touches

As OnSI’s Khari Demos wrote about previously, Ray Davis has expressed his desire for an increased role out of the backfield this season. And rightfully so. Davis’ workload decreased significantly from his rookie season to Year 2 in 2025, which didn’t fit with what the numbers revealed about his performance.

Despite carrying the ball 55 fewer times last season, Davis recorded 20 more yards over expected, while his rushing EPA improved from -9.1 in 2024 to -0.6 a year ago, according to Next Gen Stats. He was named a first-team All-Pro after averaging 30.4 yards per kick return and now craves expanded duties offensively, which the Bills should offer him this year.

Joe Brady has already hinted at their being more of a timeshare between the Bills’ top three running backs than we saw a season ago, when James Cook finished as the NFL rushing champion. That will likely mean more Davis and Ty Johnson, which should help keep Cook fresh and healthy while also allowing two other talented ball carriers to spread their wings and help the team.

Keon Coleman is toast

I wish the Bills would give it a rest with the Keon Coleman propaganda. Not only was he a locker-room headache due to his reported tardiness a season ago, his performance on the field was abysmal. With Buffalo using a fourth-round pick on Skyler Bell, I would much rather see the team give the rookie a crack as becoming its third wide receiver behind DJ Moore and Khalil Shakir.

Through two seasons of uninspiring play, I have seen enough from Coleman and think it would be prudent for them to unload him via a trade before we reach the end of the preseason. The former second-round pick’s Pro Football Focus receiving grade fell from 68.8 his rookie year to 64 this past season, which was ranked 62nd among 81 players graded at the wide receiver position.

Let’s face it: this was an obvious swing and miss from the Bills' president of football operations/general manager Brandon Beane when the selection was madein the second round in 2024 and all Coleman has proven since is that he is a flat-out bust of a draft pick. It’s about time the Bills cut bait.

Remove Dalton Kincaid’s training wheels

After Beane hinted at the Bills considering load management with Dalton Kincaid this season, I wrote that they must take the chains off the fourth-year tight end if he or Buffalo’s offense is to ever realize its full potential. Kincaid was the Bills’ top pass catcher a season ago, receiving a PFF receiving grade of 86.7, which led the team. His five touchdown receptions were also the most on the team, while he finished second with 571 receiving yards despite playing just 12 games.

A lingering knee injury is the issue that Kincaid has been dealing with for quite some time. However, with reports from the team’s offseason workout program pointing to the former first-round pick appearing as healthy as he has been, it’s time Buffalo stopped babying him and allow him to battle through some of these injuries on his own.

I understand the Bills’ goal is to keep Kincaid healthy throughout the regular season and into the postseason. He was stellar for Buffalo in two playoff games last year, finishing with nine receptions for 111 yards and a couple of touchdowns. But the offense sputtered without him at times throughout the regular year, costing Buffalo an AFC East title and better seeding for the playoffs.

Three of the Bills five regular-season defeats were games in which Kincaid did not play. Coincidence? I think not.

In a make-or-break year, Buffalo needs to push things to the limit, including allowing Kincaid to forge his way through whatever he continues to deal with regarding his knee ailment without having to spend so much time on the sideline.

I don't believe he should play through the injury if he is significantly hampered. But the Bills should no longer be resting Kincaid when there is a chance he could go at slightly less than full strength. Even 85% of Kincaid is better than much of what the team has elsewhere as far as targets in the passing game.

Hand the keys to Alec Anderson at left guard

The Bills signed free agent Austin Corbett to a one-year, $1.4 million contract on March 26 to add more competition as the team seeks a new starting left guard in 2026. However, Buffalo already has its answer in house as Alec Anderson has earned the opportunity to prove himself as a full-time first-teamer for the Bills.

Anderson’s ascension began in 2024, when he served as the team’s jumbo tight end, playing 27% of the Bills’ offensive snaps before that number fell to 17% in 2025, when he made a couple of starts, including one at left guard in Week 18. During that matchup with the Jets, he earned an offensive grade of 76, which was the third-highest of his career, while allowing just a single quarterback hurry and a run blocking grade of 80.3, the highest of his career, according to PFF.

Anderson appears ready to take the next step in his career and if the Bills don’t allow him to do so, it will only stunt his growth. Corbett is a viable option, but I think he would be better suited as a backup behind Anderson, who is four years younger and could represent the team's future at the position.

The Bills’ defensive line is worrisome

Buffalo Bills linebacker T.J. Parker (99) trains during Buffalo Bills Minicamp. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Despite the free-agent addition of Bradley Chubb, who signed a three-year, $43.5 million deal with the Bills on March 11, and the second-round selection of rookie pass rusher T.J. Parker, I don’t think Buffalo has enough up front defensively to produce the level of improvement the team is hoping for this season.

Some believe a scheme change might help jumpstart him, but it seems Greg Rousseau is what he is at this stage of his career. And while Michael Hoecht’s performance in a brief stint a season ago was inspiring, he is coming off an Achilles tear and there’s no telling how he will bounce back.

On the interior, Buffalo refused to add a big-bodied defender to help plug running lanes, which they struggled to do a season ago. Not only that, their most imposing defensive tackle, 2025 fourth-round pick Deone Walker, has actually lost about 10 pounds this offseason. Buffalo is stocked with a plethora of undersized, pass-rush first DTs, but when it comes to stopping the run, they could be in for a whole heap of trouble this year.

One free-agent signing I would still like to see them make is 29-year-old Greg Gaines, who measures 6-foot-1, 312 pounds and could help out at nose tackle. He isn’t the perfect option, but Gaines would be another piece added to what I think will prove to be an inferior group of players in the defensive trenches.

Bills need to sign a veteran linebacker

After Dorian Williams was lost due to injury during the Bills’ offseason workout program, the door swung wide open for rookie Kaleb Elarms-Orr to take over as the team’s new starting inside linebacker next to Terrel Bernard. Even if Williams returns to full health by the time training camp begins, it would be wise of the Bills to bring in a veteran piece to compete alongside the two neophyte starters.

The most obvious name that comes to mind is Shaq Thompson, who remains a free agent. According to Spotrac, Thompson’s projected market value is $2.3 million. The Bills currently have just over $10 million in available cap space.

Thompson would be a quality, low-cost option to help fill out the team’s linebacker corps. Along with his solid performance during his lone season in Buffalo a year ago, his familiarity within the locker room and veteran leadership would also be big advantages for the Bills as they transition to a new culture with Brady as head coach.

Why haven’t the Bills signed Tre’Davious White yet?

I posed this question in a recent article and laid out a few reasons why Buffalo may not have brought back Tre’Davious White quite yet. However, that doesn’t mean the Bills won’t reunite with their former first-round pick at some point down the road.

White performed admirably for the Bills last year, allowing an opposing passer rating of 66.3 over the 42 times he was targeted in coverage, according to Next Gen Stats. That was his best mark since the 2021 season.

White is still a free agent as he is likely seeking an opportunity as a potential starter, which may be hard to come by in Buffalo considering 2025 first-round pick Maxwell Hairston and 2026 second-round pick Davison Igbinosun are expected to compete for a first-team role. With that said, if either player goes down with an injury during training camp, Beane should immediately pick up the phone and get White in Western New York posthaste.

Too many cooks in the kitchen at safety

Having too many good players at one position is often referred to as a “good problem to have.” However, what happens when you have a handful of mediocre talents at a given spot?

That’s what the Bills have at safety, where C.J. Gardner-Johnson is expected to start alongside the ascending Cole Bishop. Bishop recorded a breakout season for Buffalo in 2025 and his future appears bright. However, Gardner-Johnson is a journeyman who has proven to be a locker-room cancer everywhere he’s been, while other free-agent additions Geno Stone and Damar Hamlin are uninspiring at best.

Not only are all of the options beyond Bishop a bit lackluster, that leads me to believe we may be dealing with a season filled with questions regarding who is the right fit to line up next to Bishop. Last year, the Bills had a problem at both safety positions entering the season. While Bishop appears to have solidified one of those roles, the other might become a significant issue for Buffalo in 2026.

Tyler Bass needs competition at training camp

After a sports hernia that led to surgery, which wasted his entire 2025 season, it’s tough for me to wrap my head around the Bills having complete faith in Tyler Bass. The former A 41-year-old Matt Prater stepped into the starting role a season ago and did what Bass has never been able to do throughout his previous five years kicking for the Bills: produce a field goal percentage of 90%.

Bass’ career-high is 87.5%, which came back in 2021. Over his past two seasons in 2023 and 2024, Bass made just 82.8% of his field goal attempts. And that's when he was fully healthy.

Now, with Bass coming off an injury, it would be wise for the Bills to find some competition for the 29-year-old. Otherwise, they should at least have Prater on speed dial if things go awry over the next few months.

Tommy Doman Jr. should be the Bills' punter in 2026

I wasn’t completely disappointed with Mitch Wishnowsky during his time punting for the Bills in 2025. However, I simply think that Buffalo can do better while also getting a bit younger at the position.

To do so, the Bills should hand over the reins to their 2026 seventh-round pick Tommy Doman Jr. As long as the rookie doesn’t completely blow his opportunity at training camp, he should earn the job come Week 1.

Then, if things go south, Buffalo can reach back out to Wishnowsky or another veteran punter, who are a dime a dozen, to step back in.

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