Buffalo Bills release initial 2024 depth chart + top storylines in preseason opener vs Chicago Bears

the Buffalo Bills released their initial 2024 depth chart plus we've got a preseason game to get ready for today on lock on bills you are locked on bills your daily Buffalo Bills podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what's up bills Mafia it's Joe Marino author go bills and Buffalo's run also the co-host of the lockon NFL scouting podcast and I'm your host of lockon bills want to thank you for making lockdown bills your first listen every day and a big welcome and shout out to our every dayers you know who you are those of you who never miss a single episode I appreciate y'all being here very very much I'd also like to invite you to subscribe or follow for free on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts we're part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn LinkedIn jobs helps you find the qualified candidates that you want to talk to faster post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon NFL that's linkedin.com lockon NFL to post your job for free terms and conditions apply well folks welcome in we got a lot to cover today the bills released their initial depth chart for the 2024 season yesterday and so I want to share my top 10 takeaways regarding that plus the Bills play a game on Saturday while it's a preseason game it's a game and I'm excited to take that in on Saturday and I want to get ready for it I want to share with you the top things that I'm looking for in this preseason opener against the Chicago Bears so that's what we're doing today let's start by examining this depth chart and I'm not going to go through where all 91 players are listed I think there's a lot of things that you can assume would be about the depth chart and they were true I want to focus in on the things that kind of stood out to me and maybe some surprises along the way so let's get into it I want to start by looking at the wide receiver position and I'm not surprised to see Mt Hollins khil Shakir and Curtis Samuel listed as the starting three wide receivers I thought the item that stood out was Chase Claypool not looking good for him Chase CL Claypool was a hot name coming out of the spring and on this initial depth chart He's listed as fourth now I should have already said this but it's the initial depth chart you shouldn't overreact to it it's meaningful the team knows that the players are going to see this and there's a ton of new information that's going to come between now and cutdown day but Chase gla's fourth team and I guess that's not to be unexpected I mean he hasn't really practiced during training camp had a toe injury early on and he's missed several practices and he's been listed as dayto day but that toe injury is obviously not positioning him to make this team and it feels like he went from a lot of hype in the spring to kind of an afterthought right now and so dude's got to get his toe right he's got to get on the field and he's got to do something that's going to force his way into this conversation because these wide receiver spots are tight there's a chance to bills only roster five potentially six and with four spots locked in potentially five if you think mvs is a lock based on the contract Chase Claypool has an uphill climb so he's got to get back on the field and do something here to help his cause now I don't think it's crazy to think that chase Claypool could be back on the practice squad the guy was a free agent forever nobody wanted to offer him anything the bills give him a minimum type deal it's not like there's teams lining up for Chase Claypool but he's he feels like a long shot to me at this point the next thing is on the offensive line kind of talked a lot about the starters and the depth I thought it was interesting that Richard garage was listed as the second team offensive tackle along with Ryan vandemar behind the starters on Dawkins and Spencer Brown and Richard garage certainly has the benefit of being part of the team last year on the practice squad that's positioned him well but what surprises me about it is as you're watching training camp practices like I did last week took in five practices Tylan grael was very clearly the guy that ran with the second team offensive line at tackle very clearly out snapped him with the twos and so I'm not sure if this is a situation where the bills are making sure that rookies earn it but I was a little surprised to see garage over grael now we'll talk more about offensive line and the competition is there in the next segment but you know Richard garage is a guy that I thought had a good preseason last year and Tylan grabl a recent draft pick that has a lot of tools and we'll see but the depth chart says one thing the way guys are lining up says another we'll see what happens during the preseason games now on defense there's two things that stood out first is Dwayne Carter being listed ahead of DeShawn Williams at defensive tackle I I didn't really see that be the case uh once again kind of like what I just talked about with grey buing garage I felt like deshun Williams ran second team defensive tackle alongside Austin Johnson in the practices that I watched and Dwayne Carter was third team I don't think Dwayne Carter was bad I mean he's a third round pick and he certainly had some flashy moments where the athleticism showed up but I never really saw him run with the twos in the way that the depth chart indicates but I think that's a good thing I think you want that third round pick to be able to earn it over DeShaun Williams who I think is a good player a fine rotational depth player but right now Dwayne Carter appears to have the upper hand I think on the flip side of that when your third team pair of defensive tackles is elonu and deshun Williams makes you feel pretty good about the defensive tackle position that's been an underrated storyline in my opinion is how much better I feel like the depth behind Ed Oliver and dayquon Jones is this year at defensive tackle how about this one Cole bishop and cam Lewis were listed as the second team safeties behind rap and Hamlin and I guess the notable piece here is that Mike Edwards is listed as third team and obviously Mike Edwards has only practiced like two or three times during training camp and he didn't practice at all during the spring so this guy's had like a couple of practices with the team I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that he's listed as third string but it felt like he was very much in contention to start and you know Cole Bishop's hurt too but obviously Cole Bishop did practice during the Spring and practice a little bit more so far during training camp so Mike Edwards potentially a guy that could be on the outside looking in I think if anything this is what I would expect to happen with Mike Edwards I I would think he's placed on injured reserve and now you can you can now place two players on injured reserve during training camp and preseason and you can activate them during the season and they don't count against your initial 53 like in the past if you put a guy on injured reserve before the season they were out for the year that's not the case anymore you can you can bring back two of those players now they do count against your eight players that you can return from injured reserve so you have to be mindful of that but I feel like that's probably the the path we're headed on with Mike Edwards and I think that's helpful you know as we've had roster discussions and you know who's going to stay who's going to go and you try to figure out these numbers if the bills can roster four safeties instead of five that obviously makes it a little bit easier to beef up some of the other position where you had harder decisions to make so you you put Mike Edwards on on injured reserve and that opens up that roster spot to go with a 10th offensive lineman or a 10th defensive lineman or an extra outside corner extra receiver fourth tight end whatever you want to do and then the last thing here is KJ hamler listed as the top kick and punt returner I've said multiple times over the last few weeks that who wins this punt returner job is going to be a big Domino and sorting out this overall roster picture and so you've seen that camp three guys really get work as the punt returner KJ hamler dayquon Hardy and Andy Isabella and I'll be honest with you I'm not sure that there's room on the roster for more than one of those players so who is it GNA be I think preseason like when you talk about the results of preseason and how guys perform I think you can really glean a lot from how these punt returners perform right like do they make good decisions with the ball do they handle it cleanly all of that's going to really matter and it's going to be a big part of like I mentioned unlocking this puzzle for who's going to make the roster so right now KJ hamler kind of has the upper hand he's coming off of a hot practice on Wednesday a lot of good reports of how he looked and so that's going to go a long way in him making this roster but you also feel like dayquon Hardy as a draft pick with speed four years of rookie control on a six round deal and the opportunity that he has to also provide depth at corner and the slot in particular that's going to make him attractive as well but it will sort itself out during the preseason and I'm excited to see it all right folks speaking of preseason let's get ready for it the bills host the Bears on Saturday we're going to talk about that and all the story lines that I'm looking for here on the other side of it be sure to stick with me when you're hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role and that's why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help you find the right Professionals for your team faster and for free LinkedIn isn't just another job board LinkedIn helps you hire professionals that you can't find anywhere else even those who aren't actively searching for a new job but might be open to the perfect role in a given month over 70% of Link L users don't even visit other leading job sites so if you're not looking on LinkedIn you're looking in the wrong place on LinkedIn 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours and over two and a half million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring so hire professionals like a professional on LinkedIn post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon NFL that's linkedin.com lockon NFL to post your job for free terms and conditions apply all right folks preseason opener just hours away Saturday August 10th 1 pm Eastern Time High Mark stadium in Orchard Park the bills host the Chicago Bears and if you're in Buffalo or Western New York the game will be broadcasted locally and if you're not there it's on a national Broad broadcast live on NFL Network so everyone should have the opportunity to watch this football game and there's plenty that I'm interested in we'll we'll spend this segment really focusing in on the offense there's three things in particular that pop for me that's going to stand out but before I dive into that this is a great opportunity to invite you to join the locked on bills subex Community something we've been doing for almost two years now and it's been so much fun I haven't talked about it a lot during the summer um but it's time to put that back on your radar and it's something that's really been awesome it's it's allowed me to connect so much more with with you with the people that consume this podcast and so here's what you get with the lock down Bill subtext Community I send out updates on all major Bills news I give you my first reaction to all of it you get one-on-one texting with me so access to me send me a text message we could talk bills and go back and forth and I've really enjoyed that piece of it is just kind of getting to know uh you guys moreor and and what you're thinking about and some of my some of my uh I think best ideas for the podcast have actually come from just text exchanges with people as uh you guys inspire me to get into different talking points so that's been awesome and here's where it kind of the preseason angle really ties in is you get live texts from me during the game with my thoughts so very regularly I would guess after every single Drive you'll get Thoughts From Me sent right to your phone uh which I love doing and of course that continues all throughout the preseason and regular season for every game and one of my favorite Parts is that you get access to the lockdown bills Discord Channel which is a community of over 700 Bills fans and we're all in there it's kind of like a big group text and there's different channels where you can talk bills Sabers the NFL Life Fitness Nutrition music grilling whatever you want we got channels for it with a bunch of Bills fans and it's a great way to connect and in the Discord channel is the all 22 film review Clips so as the Bills play games so this game is coming up against the Bears I spend the next day reviewing the all 22 film and then I send clips into the Discord Channel where I play the clips and I do voiceover commentary and really break things down um so that's a really fun feature that you get as part of being in the locked on bills subex community so check it out I also have another really cool feature that actually nobody knows about that's coming in a few weeks and um you'll unlock that with a lock down bills subex Community subscription so check it out there's a link in today's show notes and everyday show notes that you can join I'd love for you to be part of it all right let's get ready for this preseason game three things on offense that really stand out to me that I'm looking for I don't want to go position by position I'm interested in all 91 players and what they do so there you go I'm interested in all of it but three things really stand out for me on offense number one is wide receiver competition and mentioned it already the bills only rostered five receivers last year people forget this they only rostered five Shakir Diggs Davis Hardy sherfield that was it that's all they rostered was five and so I know there's an assumption that they're going to roster six I'm not so sure and so who's it going to be like I mentioned I think the four top four are locked in Holland Coleman Samuel Shakir those those guys are locked in not a math guy but if they roster five there's only one more spot available of course if they roster six there's two you've got some contenders here Tyrell Shavers is very much a hot name there's been a lot of hype for who he is as a person work ethic first guy in last guy out putting in the time versatile Shan mcder said if you look up consistent in the dictionary you see a picture of tibell Shavers lot of glowing remarks for this guy has a big-time special teams pedigree from his time in college he's the hot name then there's KJ hamler who we just talked about it he's the number one return guy right now plus what I think KJ hamler has going for him is a very unique skill set the bills have a lot of size at the receiver position they don't have the kind of jitterbug small guy that has the wheels that you can do gadgety stuff with now you certainly can do a lot of that with Curtis Samuel but Samuel's like the only one and plus I think there's a lot of differences between KJ hamler and Curtis Samuel so can KJ hamler be that guy if he's gonna be the returner I think he's gonna make the roster obviously Andy Isabella is part of this mix who is like a true slot player with 4-3 speed can he force the issue what about Justin shorter as a draft pick with a lot of size a guy that's been running with M Hollands on the first team punt team as the other Gunner things that matter and so there's not room on this roster for all four of those guys much much less adding in the other players including Chase Claypool so how is this going to sort out that's going to be fascinating to find out definitely paying attention to that the next thing is the end competition Dawson Knox Dalton conade those guys are tight end one and two but tight end 3 feels like a wide openen Battle of course Quinton Morris has been the tight end three I think Quinton Morris is a good tight end three occasionally makes a catch but I think where he's really provided value to the bills as he's been on this active roster for a couple of Seasons now is as a developing Blocker in special teams he plays a lot of special team teams he's a proven player in that regard and I think his ability as a blocker has really really grown in significant ways that's something I pointed out quite a bit on our um in our Discord channel in the all 22 Clips is like every week I find a rep a really high quality rep of Quint Morris blocking and so I feel like he's the favorite because he's been the guy but Zack Davidson just continues to make plays during training camp that's impossible to ignore imposs it just keeps happening and so I'd like to learn more about Zack Davidson and like what he is as a blocker which I think we'll get an idea of during preseason how much opportunity does he get with special team snaps that's all gonna gonna matter a lot and so can he force the issue can he unseat Quint Morris's tight end three will he make this a conversation of rostering a fourth tight end if he continues to do what he's been doing and it's impossible to ignore I mean that's exactly why you have training camp in preseason is for guys like that to force the issue how much can he force it he's a fascinating player has a lot of size and athleticism had unbelievable production in college also was a punter in college there's just a lot of layers to Zack Davidson that we cannot Overlook as the bills try to figure out who's going to make the roster at tight end the last thing on offense is the offensive line depth I'm going to spend a lot of time on this uh in our all 22 review that's going to come on Monday and of course the the film that I'm going to break down last year I don't know if you remember this it was impossible to ignore how good Ryan Van Demar and Alec Anderson looked in the case of Anderson he played like every position and played well Ryan vandemar really came along at tackle I think they made the team last year with what they did in preseason and I think they're going to make the team this year I think that's your Sixth and your seventh offensive lineman pretty comfortably so with five starters and those two guys at seven you're going to roster nine maybe 10 offensive linemen and you've got a cast of characters here that are all trying to make this team you think about tyon gyel seventh round draft pick has played both tackles spots for the bills during Camp has played some guard a lot of length a lot of athleticism relatively new to playing offensive line I'm sure there's a lot that the bills like there in terms of a piece of moldable clay with a lot of tools how does he look how about Cedric vanran Granger loved him at Georgia I'm excited for him to be part of the mix I don't think he's really turned heads during training camp that's that's not necessarily a bad thing I don't think he's done anything wrong but we're going to get a better feel for [Music] Cedric van pan Granger during preseason and obviously a big storyline with him is that all of his college time came at Center and so there's been questions about whether he's a center only or if he could play some guard I've never thought of him as a center only the bills have played him a lot at guard during training camp but these game reps are going to matter a lot I think he's probably safe I think the team likes him but I want to truly understand where he's at and when you're at training camp and you're watching from the sideline and you get one look at the play I can't watch 22 players at once and the hardest ones to watch are the interior offensive lineman this is going to be a great opportunity for us to have a nice checkpoint with s van PR Granger how about will clap will clap is by far I mean by far the most experienced interior offensive lineman that the bills have in terms of depth on this roster and so as you have some moving Parts on your interior offensive line and for as much as I like Alec Anderson he's a bit unproven you know can Will Will clap show versatility and show consistency that forces himself onto this roster how about Lyall Collins you not really heard a lot of great things about Lyall Collins coming out of Camp I mean anybody that's seen him can tell that the movement skills are lacking whether it's heavy feet or just struggling to bend you know he labors is he going to be exposed in preseason can he function is he a gamer right I mean there's some guys that are just they play best in games and their best is not seen at practice I don't know is Lyall Collins gonna be one of those guys he's had a great career what's he got left in the tank and then the last guy is Richard garage who udfa out Florida not a lot of athleticism I thought he had a good preseason last last year I really liked him at the Senior Bowl where's he at I know he's played some some guard for the bills during training camp and so sounds like maybe it's him versus gyel for one spot might be gyel versus Collins versus garage for one spot I just listed Five Guys in gyel said vanan pran Granger will clap Lyall Collins and Richard garage that's five players for two maybe three spots I think preseason is going to decide it just like it did last year when Al Anderson and Ryan vandemark entered the chat and made this roster so offensive line plays going to be really fun to sort out all right I got a lot to talk about on defense a lot more individual players than position groups so be sure to stick with me folks it's here the NFL season I'm excited you're excited I know you want to get to some games at High Mark Stadium maybe you want to go to a road game maybe you want to attend a game that's not the bills well if you do you got to download the game time app game time is the fast and easy way to purchase tickets for all the sports music comedy and Theater events near you the app is awesome it's easy to navigate they specialize in last minute ticket specials they give you Flash Deals they give you a seat view and I also love this the Allin pricing you get the full price from the beginning of the purchase no surprise processing fees coming at the end so take the guest work out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code locked on NFL that's lck Ed n NFL for $20 off download the game time app today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed all right folks let's talk a little defense here I want to start with Edge I think there's a fun battle brewing for Edge five I think the bills will carry five edges your top four rouso Miller epinesa dwan SM one other guy can make this team in my opinion who's it gonna be I think you got four contenders Javon Solomon as a draft pick and there's plenty to like there I mean great college career unique pass rushing skill set probably a player you want to hold on to I think that's that's going to help him but he's a rookie we'll see late round pick he can certainly claim this spot with a good preseason then there's Kingsley Jonathan who made the team last year after being a udfa and kind of being on the practice squad the year before I think Kingsley Jonathan's had the best Camp of any of these players that I'm going to talk about and so does he force the issue Casey two Hills a veteran certainly the most experienced player of the guys in the mix I'm underwhelmed by Casey two Hill I didn't love his tape at Washington but he's a high effort guy has some special teams ability you know I think the best the most compelling thing with Casey two Hill is his experience and his high motor and then I think Cameron Klein is part of this conversation I think Cameron Klein has been a better player in Camp than Casey two Hill I think he's got more versatility than Casey two Hill and um I'm curious to see how he performs I think he had a strong like offseason last year as well and can he Force himself into this I think it's most likely either Javon Solomon or Kingsley Jonathan but we'll see let's let it play out let's let the the the cream rise to the top and and find out so all four of those guys are going to get plenty of run and I'm excited to see what happens on the interior defensive line not that I I question this player's spot on the roster but I just want to get a better feel for him and that's Dwayne Carter and like I said Dwayne Carter had some flashy moments um but again kind of an interior player one look from the sideline doesn't really give you everything you need to really assess a player preseason film uh the all 22 is not gonna lie we're gonna get a chance to see it and he's a player that needs reps and so I'm very excited to just see where he's at and see what type of um impact he can make and I I I have high expectations for like a third round pick defensive tackle against Reserve offensive linemen in the NFL like that should be advantage defensive lineman want to see where Dwayne Carter's at how about Dorian Williams Dorian Williams going to make this roster third round pick year two has been very clearly the lb3 during camp but the the talking point that I keep going back to with Dorian Williams is I like the downhill ability fast physical I mean he loves to play downhill and just mix it up I love that about him it's the coverage reps and when you watched him at two lane he's a very experienced player at two lane but everything was forward downhill downhill downhill right very rarely was his first step backwards and I think that Dorian Williams has struggled to defend play action and misdirection stuff where he just he bites so hard on play fakes gets sucked up and the next thing you know there's crossers that are going right by him and he's got to cap those routes he's got to carry those routes and he's out of position all the time then it's just also just regular Zone coverage drops where doesn't have a lot of feel for what's happening in terms of Route combinations and where to leverage routes and how to space and how to squeeze a lot of times he's just covering grass and not really feeling where the eligibles are I want to see good cover repops from Dorian Williams so I can feel comfortable about him being the lb3 a lot to like but a lot for him to develop I want to I want to check in on Jamarcus Ingram you know I think Jamarcus Ingram has right now I think he's the fourth outside corner he's had some flashy moments in the slot I want to see where he's at I think he's got a good chance to make this roster I think I wouldn't say comfortably going to make it but I think there's a a better chance that he does than he doesn't he's PO for me in preseason last year want to see how he's how he's building upon that and what type of comfort he can Inspire if he has to play regular season games at all how about KY elim I'm curious to see when KY elim plays how much he plays you know is he really going to rotate in with the ones is he cb3 that plays if there's an injury to Benford or Douglas want to find out he's had a great Camp very confident making a lot of Splash plays that's kind of the thing with KY Elum is the big play ability that he brings that corner can he find some consistency and coverage to go with that he'll definitely be a player I'm paying attention to so that's the defense and then of course their special team stuff I already kind of got into the punt returner conversation KJ hamler Andy Isabella day Hardy you know how do they do you go out there and muff a punt that could be it for you I like the pressure that's baked into this it's good competition I thought they all looked good in practice the only guy that I saw really mishandle a ball was One Time by dayquon Hardy I felt like they for the most part really caught the ball confidently how does that show up with a crowd and uh television audience and all the pressure valuable reps are going to matter so need the bills defense to get some stops so we can get plenty of punt return opportunities and the last thing is Tyler bass what can you say really struggled down the stretch last year and it feels like the offseason you know camp and OTAs have been kind of Hit or Miss had some good days had some bad days had some misses his misses are just like really wild and erratic he's a handsomely paid pun a kicker and I want I want to have confidence when Bas Go's out there to kick a field goal that's going to go in and does anybody feel that way right now from any distance this guy's getting kicks blocked from like 30 yards and missing from 40 and God forbid he makes something from distance I don't know I want to see him true and confident on these field goals and I get a lot of questions I have several questions recently in the lock down Bill subex Community where people are asking is it time to bring in competition for Tyler bass you certainly have an argument for that but I think there's two contributing factors first of all there's no good kickers out there right now a lot of teams do have competition for their kicker so like right now there's just not great options that could change once cuts are made but like are you really going to have an opportunity to assess and then secondly obviously the bills are financially committed to Tyler bass so like you would need to comfortably believe that that player would be better than Tyler bass and there's no sense in cutting an in inconsistent kicker to hire another inconsistent kicker while you accumulate a bunch of dead cap space along the way at least there's a resume of Tyler bass doing good in the NFL there's a reason he got the contract that he did so I think the bills are committed to Tyler bass for a number of reasons one of them being Financial but one the other one of them being like do you really believe that you can upgrade you'd have to really you'd have to be right about that but also I've kind of asked around and I've gotten zero indication that the bills have any appetite for Tyler bass not being the kicker so what do we need to happen we need Tyler bass to find his Groove and be a good kicker for the bills all right folks there you have it talked about the initial depth chart we got ready for the preseason game the key stuff that I'm looking for our next conversation is going to come after the game on Saturday so we'll watch the game I'll send out all my texts during the game on to the subtech subscribers and um afterwards I'll give you my reaction to the game and then the next conversation after that will be all 22 review and we'll do herd mentality all the stuff that we do we're kind of kind of getting into the Rhythm here folks I'm excited I'm very excited um would love it if you took a second to subscribe join the lockon bill subtext Community would also love if you took a second to rate review and share the podcast have a great rest of your day go bills and I look forward to catching up with you again after the game