ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five thoughts on the Buffalo Bills’ offense as the team gets ready to report to training camp July 24 at St. John Fisher University:
1. Now that the offense is fully in Joe Brady’s hands, it’s going to be so interesting to see how these practices unfold.
This will be different than what was happening in the OTAs. This is more intensified, more game-plan specific, and really targeting that Sept. 8 opener against Arizona in terms of how the Bills are installing the playbook. You’ll get a feel for what this offense will look like now that it is all about Brady and no longer has the feel of his predecessor, Ken Dorsey.
There won’t be wholesale changes, because it’s the same quarterback and the new talent that has been brought in is expected to fit what Josh Allen does best. Brady understands as much, but I also expect him to blend his vision with what already exists. I expect the result to be a more power-oriented attack that should resemble what Kyle Shanahan does with the San Francisco 49ers.
James Cook could be a guy that I think will look a bit different not only because of his physical and mental development at this stage of his young career, but also in an offense that’s going to emphasize physicality. We’re also going to see how the collection of receivers, these big guys that they brought in who can not only win those contested passes, but also block downfield, will impact the run game. I think that’s going to be quite noticeable in this training camp.
Now that Brady’s running the show, putting his stamp on it, I expect the atmosphere to be highly energized, highly competitive. He also has got so many new pieces with which to work, so a great deal of this camp will involve Brady, a hands-on teacher, guiding their learning and transitioning to his offense.
2. The many newcomers at wide receiver will undoubtedly steal the spotlight at camp.
Make no mistake, this is a major transition for Josh Allen and for the offense. You don’t just say goodbye to Stefon Diggs and to Gabe Davis and think the receiving corps will be every bit as good, if not better, than before. When Diggs left, he took away a lot of receptions and a lot of yards and a lot of great chemistry with his quarterback. The Bills became a serious, consistent Super Bowl contender largely on the strength of the Allen-to-Diggs combination.
Where is that coming from now? That is unknown. The Bills brought in a committee of veteran receivers to go along with rookie Keon Coleman, and there’s no telling what or when the passing game will get the kind of production it had at its most recent best.
The veteran receiver who will draw most of my attention will be Curtis Samuel because of the experience that he has with Joe Brady, going back to their time with Carolina when Brady was the Panthers’ OC. There are going to be components of this passing game that are familiar to Samuel. It involves more than just running routes and catching passes. There’s a blocking component that he understands and executes well. I think he will show that he might be the most consistently effective of those newcomers and a good teacher in the meeting room.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs, is coming from a program with a championship pedigree. There’s something to that. Yes, he has had some problems hanging onto the ball but straightened out his game toward the end of last season and then made some crucial plays in the playoffs that helped the Chiefs win a second Super Bowl in a row. Camp should provide some signs of whether Valdes-Scantling can build upon that.
Incumbent Khalil Shakir showed last season that he has what it takes to be a top-flight slot receiver, which is a crucial part of an offense because in most cases you're putting the greatest pressure on likely the opponent’s third cornerback. Shakir also has been highly impressive with his precise route-running and instincts when it comes to finding openings in the secondary.
It will be on Josh Allen to do whatever he can to elevate the entire group. That’s what this team must count on. Throughout this training camp, I’m going to be looking for how Allen will respond to that challenge.
3. It’s crucial that the Bills get Dalton Kincaid to be absolutely a key part of this offense, if not the central part of the passing game.
As the Chiefs and Travis Kelce have demonstrated, an exceptionally talented pass-catching tight end can be a consistent game-changing threat because of the mismatches created in coverage. Kincaid is a long way from being mentioned in the same breath as the Hall-of-Fame-bound Kelce, but he does show the route-running skills and athleticism to make dynamic plays and could very well emerge as the Bills’ No. 1 receiving threat.
Kincaid started to make significant progress toward the end of his rookie season and was becoming more incorporated in the Bills’ offense and showing consistent effectiveness with that. In Year Two, though, Kincaid is expected to take a giant leap. I think the offense will be designed to get the ball in his hands as much as possible.
When you look at the Bills’ passing game, there really isn’t anyone in the entire group of receivers that you say is going to step up and be the guy. I think there are a lot of complementary pieces there. But Kincaid gives the Bills the elevated level of pass-catching talent that could separate him from the other receivers.
His targets should increase significantly, in part because of his ability to gain separation from coverage and in part because of the design of the offense that will have him stretching the defense as well as running traditional short and intermediate tight end routes. There’s also the chemistry Kincaid has developed with Josh Allen. It was steadily improving through last season and will likely take another step because of Allen's better understanding of what Kincaid is all about and because of the work they’ve done in the offseason.
4. The offensive line is probably the most critical area that I’m looking to see develop in camp.
There will be a lot of focus on all these new faces at wide receiver, but this offensive line lost a critical piece in Mitch Morse. The entire team lost a critical piece with his free-agent departure. The Bills decided to move on from him but did so when he was playing his best football for them and with the line being one of the strengths of this football team last season. Now, we’ve got to see how it comes together.
The Bills are replacing Morse with Connor McGovern, who is being moved from left guard and will tell you he’s more comfortable at center than he was at guard. However, I still think this is going to be a transition for this entire group, just to see how well McGovern can pull everything together, show that he is that glue, that leadership piece and all the signal-calling that comes from the center position. Maybe McGovern can do that, but replacing Morse won’t be easy.
There’s going to be competition to see who fills that left guard spot, with David Edwards, Alec Anderson and Keaton Bills in the mix. Right guard O’Cyrus Torrence should be able to build on the impressive rookie season he had last year. But the cues he was able to take from Mitch Morse factored into Torrence’s performance. That changes with a new center in McGovern. Though I have a lot of faith in Aaron Kromer to pick the five right guys to start, filling two new positions puts the line in a bit of upheaval. There is a chemistry piece to that that must be resolved. For now, the two most stable positions are both tackles, with Deion Dawkins, the most talented member of the group, and Spencer Brown, who came into his own last year.
When you’re transitioning at multiple spots on the line, time is not a friend. But time is going to be needed during training camp for that to happen, and it won’t necessarily be enough for all of it to come together. This is something that could easily take upwards of a quarter of the regular season before you get a unit playing together and trusting each other.
5. I thought one of the most honest comments made by Brandon Beane came during the offseason, when he basically tapped if not pumped the brakes on all the excitement and enthusiasm about Keon Coleman taking a lead role as a rookie in the Bills’ receiving game.
Coleman might very well step up and show that he’s a superstar right away. I’m not expecting that. I’m not so sure that the Bills are seeing that, either. I think they see a very young, raw player who needs to learn this offense and learn the pro game.
Though he comes from a big program at Florida State, Coleman still must find his way within the Bills’ scheme. And there’s a lot to learn. It’s a complicated offense and the role of a receiver is not limited to just running routes and catching the ball. There is a blocking component to this for the run game. Coleman has got to be disciplined and ready to do that. I also think training camp will introduce him to more of the competitive fire that you don’t necessarily feel during those shirt T-shirts and shorts offseason workouts. When the pads are on in training camp, it’s going to be a bit of an awakening.
Yes, Coleman is fun-loving. He’s popular with fans. He’s the kind of guy that you want to see have success, to give credibility to all that personality that has made him infectious and a joy for fans to look forward to seeing play. But there is a big learning process.