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Bills’ depth chart reveals who is in line to start at safety in Week 1

It looks as though Damar Hamlin will start alongside Taylor Rapp at safety for the Buffalo Bills in Week 1.

Kyle Silagyi

Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The Buffalo Bills have seemingly determined the winner of their ongoing safety battle, and it’s a name that was likely the least likely of the bunch at this time two months ago.

Damar Hamlin is penciled in as the starter alongside Taylor Rapp on Buffalo’s depth chart as it's currently listed on its website. The fourth-year defender competed with free agent signee Mike Edwards and rookie Cole Bishop for the role throughout the summer, spending the most time alongside Rapp after Edwards and Bishop suffered early hamstring and shoulder injuries, respectively.

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Hamlin missed the final few training camp practices and the team’s Week 2 preseason game with a hamstring injury of his own, but he still saw the most reps alongside Rapp throughout the summer. Though ‘by default’ is part of the reason why it looks as though he's won the job, he didn’t necessarily look out of place with the starters; he earned consistent praise from Buffalo’s coaching staff throughout the entire offseason and made frequent plays throughout the early days of training camp.

In addition to having received the most reps alongside Rapp throughout training camp, Hamlin has considerable regular season first-team experience, starting 13 games and recording 91 tackles for the team in 2022 in place of an injured Micah Hyde; his season concluded prematurely that year when he suffered a cardiac arrest during the Bills’ Week 17 clash with the Cincinnati Bengals. He miraculously made a full recovery, playing on 156 total snaps (defense and special teams) throughout the 2023 campaign.

Buffalo’s coaching staff knows it can trust the 26-year-old, and if he builds on the potential he flashed in 2022 and successfully executes his 1/11th, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him start in the defensive backfield throughout the entire season. That said, both Edwards and Bishop figure to be healthy shortly after, if not ahead of Week 1; if Hamlin struggles against opposing starters, the team may look to either the reigning Super Bowl champion or its second-round draft pick to provide a defensive spark. 

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Kyle Silagyi

KYLE SILAGYI

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