Bills DC details the 'challenge' ahead for intriguing rookie safety

Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich spoke about the challenges that rookie safety Cole Bishop must overcome at training camp.

Jan 31, 2024; Mobile, AL, USA; National defensive back Cole Bishop of Utah (8) sets the play during practice for the National team at Hancock Whitney Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports / Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Bills are looking for new key contributors across their entire roster, with the safety position being one of its most glaring with regard to needed leaders. Buffalo is currently searching for not one, but two new starters after the offseason departures of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, who combined for 202 starts throughout their seven years in Orchard Park.

Taylor Rapp, who spent the 2023 season as a niche defender with the Bills, seems penciled into a starting role, with the other job firmly up for grabs. Fourth-year professional Damar Hamlin, free agent signee Mike Edwards, and rookie Cole Bishop are competing for the role alongside Rapp, with the defensive backs seeing first-team reps on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, respectively. 

Bishop is perhaps the most intriguing long-term name of the three, as Buffalo invested significant capital into him in the 2024 offseason; the team selected him in the second round of the 2024 draft, indication that it views the versatile safety—who tallied 198 tackles, 12 pass deflections, and three interceptions throughout his time at Utah—as a future starter. The Bills’ brass has said as much in subsequent press conferences, and though their future aspirations for the 21-year-old are lofty, he may not be an immediate contributor.

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Hamlin, who has been in Buffalo’s defense for three years, and Edwards, who won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs last season, aren’t going to simply roll out the red carpet for Bishop and give him a starting role. The defensive back is going to have to earn the role, something that, per defensive coordinator Bobby Babich, will only happen if he operates with a day-by-day mindset.

“When you say the word ‘challenge’ with Cole, I think the biggest challenge is making sure he stays in a day-by-day mentality,” Babich said. “You can’t think too far ahead, you literally have to take it drill by drill, rep by rep, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, meeting by meeting. That’s how you have to go about your day in this league, otherwise, it is such a long season, it’ll chew you up and spit you out. Cole’s extremely talented as I said, there’s a reason we took him where we took him. I think the biggest thing, like I said, is that he’s a rookie, he needs to grow up fast. The ball is in his court to be able to do that.”

Bishop seems like a tailor-made fit for a Buffalo defense that likes to deploy its safeties interchangeably, as he’s a 6-foot-2 defender who is as comfortable in deep coverage as he is in the box. He’s certainly a long-term option for the team, but given the fact that the Bills expect to be quite competitive this season, one could easily envision the team rolling with a player with more scheme or general NFL experience than the rookie. That said, he’ll have every opportunity to carve out a starting role throughout training camp—as Babich said, the ball is in his court.

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