Buffalo Rumblings
Heading into the 2025 NFL season, there were serious questions about whether Cole Bishop was ready to take on a starting role at the back of the Buffalo Bills’ secondary. And with good reason. Bishop was coming off back-to-back inconsistent performances and had endured injuries during both his rookie season (a shoulder injury suffered during training camp) and last year (a quad injury that sidelined him for a portion of the offseason workout program).
But this year, for the first time in his young NFL career, Bishop enters training camp as an unquestioned starter at safety, and big things are expected of him in new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard’s defense. Today’s edition of Buffalo Rumblinks leads off by discussing what Bishop could do for an encore performance following a breakout 2025 campaign.
After the Buffalo Bills selected Bishop with the 60th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Utah, injuries kept the safety from realizing his full potential. He suffered a shoulder injury during training camp that plagued him for much of his rookie season, and last year, Bishop again was hurt, this time with a quad injury that forced him to miss part of the 2025 offseason workout program.
Confidence wasn’t high among Sean McDermott and Buffalo’s coaching staff after Bishop failed to play well in a preseason loss to the Chicago Bears, with McDermott saying that the rookie hadn’t yet won a starting safety role. But once the regular season began, Bishop demonstrated his value and quickly proved he was the top safety on the roster. He started all 17 regular season games and both playoff games, logging 99 tackles to go with four interceptions, eight pass breakups, and two sacks.
Pro Football Focus reported that Bishop had an impressive 29.6 passer rating allowed in coverage, the lowest of any safety who’d played 300-plus snaps, and Bishop’s PFF grade improved from 52.0 as a rookie to 70.7 last year, which was 24th among 98 qualified safeties. In coverage, he earned the 16th-highest grade of 73.7.
How does Bishop, who dealt with a knee injury earlier this offseason, feel heading into his third year in the league?
“I’m excited,” he said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say more freedom, but this year I think Jim’s got a lot of good things. I’ll be able to be down (in the box) and be back (deep). Definitely a lot more confident (in his third season), more so just comfortable. Obviously we’ve got a new scheme and everything, but when you’ve already been here, I feel like it makes it easier.”
With his athleticism and versatility, if Bishop continues to develop, he could easily take that next step forward and prove himself to be one of the most talented all-around safeties in the NFL.
