Orchard Park – The worst time of the calendar year is now on football fanatics which cannot have enough of their favorite sport, and consequently, their favorite team which in these parts is, by an overwhelming margin, the Bills Buffalo.
The compulsory minicamps of the league ended on Thursday, including one Bills Drive, and now it’s a vacation in the NFL. For the next six weeks, there will be a big void in football news as players, coaches and executives, as well as the media, take holidays before falling in late July for the training camp.
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The Bills underwent an interesting offseason as they licked their injuries following another heartbreaking elimination of the playoffs in the hands of the Chiefs of Kansas City. In addition to locking several members of their young nucleus with contract extensions, they looked at a long, hard and honest where they needed to improve – indicates, it was the defense – and attacked the problem with ferocity, both in free will and to the project.
They added 13 players on this side of the ball, who all have a very good chance of making the final list of 53 men, and if most ends up contributing and performing the way the Bills hope, and if the offensive led by Josh Allen continues to hum, it could very well become the team that ends the quest forever from Buffalo for a Super Bowl championship.
Ah, but “if” is a tripicky little word, and there are so may thing that could derail the bills on their way to levi’s stadium in santa clara, california, site of super bowl 60, not the least of which is health, an afc east that should First-Place Schedule to Conten With, and of Race the Looming Specter of the Chiefs in January.
Here are five questions about the list that appeared in my head during spring training.
1. Will Joey Bosa be worth $ 12 million?
Currently, it is a difficult call to make because I certainly have visions of Von Miller 2.0, a player formerly large in decline because of injuries and age. The best thing I can say is that at least it is only a year’s commitment at this price rather than all the dead that the bills had to swallow on the original 120 million dollars of Miller de Miller, today published.
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It was not a pleasant development that Bosa injured his calf during the OTAs and was sidelined from most of spring. He was in the NFL nine seasons, all with the loads, and in just three, he played in 16 games. Bosa, who will be 31 years old at the start of the training camp, missed 23 games in the previous three seasons, and it seems that his health problems followed him on the other side of the country.
If he recovers and is ready to go to the camp, then somehow avoids the injury bug, he can certainly be a boon for a rush towards the pass of the Bills which lacked explosiveness and finish. And with the signatory of the free agent Michael Hoecht suspended for the first six games, the Bills really need Bosa to be on the field and have an impact.
2. Will young people be served on the defensive line?
Landon Jackson was subject to exercises by the defensive line coach Marcus West.
It was there that the Bills took their greatest oscillations during the offseason because they made big changes in advance, correctly recognizing that this should happen. No more overhaul like Jordan Phillips, Dawuane Smoot, Quinton Jefferson and Austin Johnson, who were all players in terms of backup in 2024.
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The Bills need more creators ravage both in the rush to the pass, but also against the race, therefore in free agency, they signed Bosa to help the rush to the pass, Hoecht to become a piece of chess and Larry Ogunjobi to join the DT rotation. And then they plunged head first into a deep defensive draft swimming pool by choosing DTS TJ Sanders and Deone Walker, and Edge Rusher Landon Jackson.
However, with the health of Bosa always a concern and Hoecht and Ogunjobi both released the first six games on PED’s suspensions, children must quickly gain speed, and this includes the choice of third round in 2024 Dewayne Carter which was disappointing as a recruit.
I guess Sanders will be ready to be a key contributor earlier than Walker who suffers from a back injury that affected most of his last university season in Kentucky. Jackson should also be able to jump directly into the edge of the edge and he could even skip AJ Epenesa in snaps if he has a large training camp and a pre-season. And if Walker is becoming healthy and occurs, his unusual athletics for a man, his size could make him the ideal player to give more click Daquan Jones.
McDermott clearly indicated when he spoke to journalists on Tuesday that the guys who win the right to play are those who will play, whatever their experience. “Young guys play like anyone else,” he said. “It is who wins the right to play.
3. Can Cole Bishop gain departing security work?
Cole Bishop, who missed the end of spring training sessions, must be healthy and gain safety work.
Like Bosa, Bishop missed the end of spring with an undisclosed injury, and it was an even more disappointing development than Bosa, a proven veteran who did not need to grind in ota. Bishop needs all the time on the task he can get.
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THE Bills has invested in a second round of 2024 in Bishop And his recruit season was largely reduced by a shoulder injury of the training camp which ended his chances of beating Damar Hamlin for a starting job. He finally made his way in the programming and after some difficulties, stabilized and in fact had one of his best games of the year during the loss of match for the title of the AFC.
The belief of Bills in Bishop was clear when she did not sign a large free agent, nor selected real security in the project, but now, he must meet their expectations. Bills have a depth of veterans because Hamlin re-signed as a free agent, and they also called on the free agent Darrick Forrest, but that’s what they are supposed to be, players of depth. Bishop is the man on which invoices count to play next to Taylor Rapp at the back, but the questions about his ability to stay healthy are now on the table.
4. Keon Coleman is capable of more than two years?
Keon Coleman made promising progress during the OTA and the mini-camp.
Coleman was the first of the two choices of Buffalo in the second round in 2024, and like Bishop, he wasted time due to an injury. The difference is that, while Bishop was starting to climb by the end of the season, Coleman went in the other direction, quite where McDermott and Brandon Beane said it publicly.
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Coleman heard these words and he said this spring a few times that he worked hard to improve all aspects of his game – physical and mental. Coleman also noticed that the Bills had brought three large receptors of the free veteran agent and drafted one to make this position one of the most interesting to watch this summer.
Coleman had trouble separating as a recruit, he must therefore become a better road runner if he hopes to improve, and he knows who is encouraging. “You must be more effective here (in the NFL),” he said. “You have to get out of this break, you have to stack your database, you have to give Josh more space to launch the ball, you have to catch this, you have to do this block. Calling everything you do to go well.”
If Coleman brings these improvements, he can really complete an intriguing group which also includes the return of Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel, and the new arrivals Josh Palmer and Elijah Moore.
5. Will Mike White be the backup of Josh Allen?
Mike White has a good chance to dislodge Mitchell Trubisky as a quarter of backup of the Bills.
The media only come a few spring practices, generally one per week, so we have no idea what is happening in these other sessions. But this week, we had access to the three and I noticed that White shared the representatives of the second team with Mitchell Trubisky.
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I do not know why the Bills felt forced to bring Trubisky last season, especially on a two -year agreement which guaranteed him $ 3.7 million. There were cheaper options, especially since Allen never misses a match.
When I look at the two players, I see practically no difference between Trubisky and White. In fact, sometimes white looks better, so that wouldn’t surprise me at all if White wins the backup work and Trubisky is sent packaging. White’s ceiling has hit this year is 1.3 million dollars less, although a dead ceiling of $ 750,000 on Trubisky would reduce savings, but its savings are nevertheless.
I expect that one of those guys will be gone, and that Shane Buechele would be preserved as Squad QB.
Sal Maiorana covered the Buffalo bills For four decades, including 35 years as a full-time editor for the D&C, he has written many books on the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the Beav show in Bills Podcast / Youtube. It can be attached to [email protected], and you can follow it on X @Salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills Minicamp is finished: 5 questions emerging while the training camp is approaching
