NFL Training Camp Tour: Bills’ Only Hole Might be at Punter

The AFC East champions are loaded with talent as they work to sort out playing time at corner, wide receiver, defensive line and running back.

My training camp tour is underway, and I’ll be sharing five quick-hitters from each stop. We start with Bills camp, where I spent Tuesday and Wednesday …

1. There really aren’t many holes on the roster. The biggest question actually might be who will punt. Veteran Matt Haack had an up-and-down 2021 (42.9 average, 18 punts inside 20) and will try to hold off sixth-round pick Matt Araiza, who averaged 51.2 yards per punt last year at San Diego State.

2. Corner is a spot to watch. Veteran Dane Jackson and first-round pick Kaiir Elam are running with the first team. How they play could wind up being important, with Tre’Davious White on PUP recovering from torn ACL, and not a sure thing to be back for Week 1. After White does return, either Jackson or Kaiir will likely end up bookending him at the position.

The Bills are without White, who is recovering from a torn ACL :: Rich Barnes/USA TODAY Sports

3. Gabriel Davis looks bigger and leaner going into Year 3. He was under 220 pounds at the end of last year, and now checks in around the mid-220s. The opportunity in front of him, with Emmanuel Sanders gone, is obvious. And what should help facilitate his taking advantage of that opportunity is the level of trust Josh Allen has in him. I’d say, at this point, who will play the slot between Isaiah McKenzie, Jamison Crowder and Khalil Shakir, is a bigger question than whether Davis works as the No. 2 receiver.

4. The defensive end rotation will need to be sorted out. Von Miller joins three young veterans drafted the past couple seasons in the first two rounds—A.J. Epenesa, Greg Rousseau and Boogie Basham. Ideally, the Bills would use that depth to manage Miller’s workload during the early stages of the season, and also to create more athletic fronts (perhaps moving Basham inside next to Ed Oliver) on passing downs. Rousseau, in particular, looks ready to take a big step, having worked to change his body this offseason.

5. My rookie to watch would be James Cook. He’s maybe 12 pounds lighter and a tick slower than his brother Dalvin with the Vikings. But, stylistically, the Bills see a lot of similarities in the two, and believe James can be more than just a pseudo receiver out of the backfield. I think the Bills will be creative in finding ways, both in the passing game and run game (and maybe in particular on zone-stretch runs), to get him the ball.