Buffalo Rumblings
Apart from team health, what does “success” look like in the coming weeks?
The Hall of Fame Game is upon us, and while the Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions may be kicking off the 2025 NFL preseason schedule, the Buffalo Bills will be following soon after on August 9 at 1 p.m. EDT. This year, Buffalo only plays one home preseason game — coming against the New York Giants to open the final season at Highmark Stadium before moving to their new digs in 2026.
Outlining what an optimal preseason for the Bills would look like, the most obvious answer is “no injuries.” This priority becomes even more salient when the most recent practices come into the conversation, where they’ve seen player after player miss practice or leave the session earlier with some ailment. But apart from avoiding a continuation of that trend, what else makes the preseason successful for the team?
Here are a few considerations...
Football fans want their team’s highly drafted players to be key contributors at some point early in their rookie contract. After a good start to his rookie season, wide receiver Keon Coleman suffered a wrist injury in Week 9 on a hit from then-Miami Dolphins and former Bills safety Jordan Poyer. Coleman had amassed 22 catches, 417 receiving yards, and three touchdowns up to that point, but puttered his way to seven more catches the rest of the regular season after missing multiple games.
Fast-forward to this spring, when Buffalo invested in the wide receiver position early during free agency, signing Joshua Palmer to a three year, $29 million contract. A Bills overabundance of better-in-the-slot receivers was a common talking point last year, and Palmer immediately steps in as an outside receiver for the team.
With Khalil Shakir racking up 100 targets in 2024, Coleman has a spot open for him to seize as the second outside receiver in 11 personnel sets and potentially the second wide receiver in 12 personnel.
Seeing whether Coleman is consistently running with the starters only in 11 and 12 personnel groupings will be a key in projecting Coleman’s role for the Bills early in the regular season. If he’s on the field consistently with quarterbacks named Mike White and Mitchell Trubisky, it may point more to an early season timeshare for Coleman coming into his second season.
Some rookies step off the bus as starters. The first draft pick of Sean McDermott’s tenure as Bills head coach was one such rookie. In 2017, Tre’Davious White stepped in as the 27th overall pick out of LSU and became a starter for the team right away.
Maxwell Hairston has had an up-and-down first training camp with the team while White (returning to Buffalo after a brief absence) is getting positive reviews after suffering through multiple lower body injuries in the last few years.
Hairston represents the future...
