It wasn’t how the Buffalo Bills wanted to end their preseason schedule, losing 31-26 to a moribund Carolina Panthers team. Regardless, the Bills managed to do some good things on Saturday at Highmark Stadium, and there’s plenty of takeaways from the game; here’s 7 to get you started.
The Bills’ quarterback room (outside of Josh Allen) is a bit precarious. After injuries to Shane Buechele in week 1, and Mitchell Trubisky in week 2, the Bills scrambled to find a pair of QBs they could use for this preseason finale. While DiNucci played in the Steelers game in week 2, it was clearly a very difficult game for him to work through with how little time he had to get into the offense. A week later, he looked very comfortable, with his touchdown pass to Darrynton Evans coming off a mesh rail concept they ran earlier in the preseason. Overall, it was a solid game from DiNucci and with the rest of the Bills’ QB situation in doubt in some form or another, DiNucci seems capable enough to be the Bills 2nd QB until Mitchell Trubisky returns.
A surprising start came along the offensive line, as Ryan Van Demark started at right tackle, and Richard Gouraige started at left tackle. Both have been on this roster since 2023, and both have been clearly favorites of offensive line coach, Aaron Kromer. Van Demark has shown good technique and ability in back to back preseasons now, and even subbed in for Dion Dawkins in the regular season finale against the Miami Dolphins for a drive. All of that experience for Van Demark has been on the left side, not the right side, which makes this seem like the Bills and Kromer are experimenting a bit with him to see if he can really be a swing tackle at both spots, or just the left side.
It seems clear that the Bills’ top two options at running back are pro bowler James Cook, and rookie fourth-round pick, Ray Davis. After that, it gets very tricky to see how this room will shake out. Darrynton Evans had a great preseason in 2023, and even though he didn’t make the team, he played well enough to get claimed by the Chicago Bears and get playing time with them during the regular season. Evans is having another good preseason in 2024, but he’s not the only one, as Frank Gore Jr. has been making his name known. On top of that, the Bills still have, and like, Ty Johnson who played a pivotal role for them as the 3rd running back last year. There will be no easy decisions for this team, and it’s easy to imagine that whoever is not rostered or brought back to the practice squad, will get picked up by another team rather quickly.
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Tyrell Shavers is having the same sort of offseason he had last year: strong training camp, up and down in the preseason. He had a pair of catches on the opening drive, and had a chance to close out the drive by catching the Bills’ first touchdown of the preseason, but came up just a little short of the score. Deon Cain, who was recently added after the Bills reached an injury settlement with Chase Claypool. While Cain certaqinly didn’t run the most diverse route tree today, he made the most out of his catches, which is something that Shavers has struggled to do. At the end of the day, Shavers is someone who helps on special teams, and someone that has been on this team for a while, so it seems likely that he’ll be one of the depth wide receivers they keep. Regardless though, Deon Cain made a good push for his case in the preseason finale.
“Buffalo Joe” continues his strong summer, and is looking to angle his way onto the roster. He got the “start” with the 2nd team unit, playing alongside veteran Deion Jones today, and again, showed enough to not look out of place. He won’t ever be a game changing sort of linebacker, but he’s aggressive, and fills space as downhill linebacker well for someone who is undersized. What started as an interesting, fun story has now turned into a real storyline where he has made a legitimate case for himself to be on this roster. It will always be an uphill battle to stay on an NFL roster for someone like Andreesen, but the fact that he can force a difficult decision for this front office one way or the other (for a roster that is quite good) shows the work he has put into the summer.
This is one of the deeper rotations at defensive line that the Bills have had under Sean McDermott since he’s taken over the Bills. With Von Miller, Greg Rousseau, AJ Epenesa, Ed Oliver, Daquan Jones, DeWayne Carter, and Austin Johnson being virtual roster locks, it only leaves a few positions along the defensive line available. Guys like DeShawn WIlliams, Casey Toohill, Kingsley Jonathan, Eli Ankou, and even longshot Gable Steveson on the outside looking in. The play from the defensive linemen in the preseason has made it difficult to separate one from the other, and good players will likely be lost to waivers or other teams willing to offer a little more money to veterans. testament to the construction of this current roster that they’re in this position anyways.
While the secondary doesn’t have quite the same wide net to cast for players that the Bills want to keep, there’s a difficult decision to make between Kareem Jackson, Dee Delaney, and Daequan Hardy. Jackson is a long time safety with plenty of good seasons under his belt, but his play speed is wanting, and he was suspended multiple times last season for personal foul penalties, hitting the head and neck area too often. Dee Delaney is a player who offers versatility on the back end, showing ability to play as a deep safety, and closer to the line of scrimmage (Though he did sustain an injury near the end of the game). We know the Bills love versatility and experience from their defensive backs, and this may be what the Bills want given their current youth movement. Daequan Hardy also brings versatility, but more on special teams as a returner, which is where he’s gotten the most consistent run during the preseason. Again, this is a case of someone talented not being on the team come cutdown day, and while it’s not fun to see talent walk out the door, it’s a testament to the construction of this current roster that they’re in this position anyways.
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Tyler Bass has been very good this preseason from 40 yards or less, hitting on all his field goal attempts from that range. He also connected on both of his PATs today, which is the first he’s been able to attempt all preseason. The Bills also gave Bass a chance at a long, 51-yard field goal late in the game, which hooked right of the goal posts. It’s been a struggle for Bass for more than a year now, but the Bills can’t really do anything about it as they’re tied to him financially. On the plus side, Bass is making kicks that he has to make. There aren’t misses from short distances, it’s the long kicks that are the problem. This may not become a major issue, as Sean McDermott may simply elect to be more aggressive at a certain area of the field past the 50 yard line. But it’s still disappointing to see what was once of the best kickers in the league, regress to a kicker that has to have his attempts managed.
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