The Athletic: Buffalo Bills training camp: Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s spot on shaky ground, and more

Bills training camp: Marquez Valdes-Scantling's spot on shaky ground, and more

Plus, Dorian Williams looking much improved, and some challenges with new starting center Connor McGovern.

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As the days have gone on at Bills training camp, the most wide-open starting competition of the summer has remained at safety. The Bills will enter their first campaign under coach Sean McDermott without one of Jordan Poyer or Micah Hyde on the field, which has left things up in the air through the first five practices.

However, an all too common occurrence with training camp practices, sometimes an injury to one player can yield a massive opportunity for another. And with McDermott’s announcement that veteran safety and starting hopeful Mike Edwards is “week-to-week” with a hamstring injury, second-round rookie Cole Bishop saw his odds of starting this season increase dramatically.

The Bills had been deploying a day-by-day, three-person rotation with the first-team defense, with Damar Hamlin, Edwards and Bishop all getting their own day to pair with starting safety Taylor Rapp. And on Monday, Bishop spent his second total day with the first unit.

With a handful of practices wrapped up, Bishop is beginning to make an impression on the Bills.

“One of the bigger things I’ve seen, and one of the bigger things you hope for, is growth over the course of the break,” McDermott said Monday morning about the rookie safety. “It’s been clear that he put time in, on the mental end of things with the scheme and mastering the scheme.”

McDermott has not been shy about how difficult he believes the switch from college to the NFL is for the safety position, mentioning quarterback and middle linebacker as the three most difficult for young players. But at minimum, Bishop is pushing for the opportunity.

“He still has a lot of work to do. But he’s improving in that area,” McDermott continued. “He’s improving with his understanding of how necessary it is at that position to communicate and get everybody lined up and on the same page.”

Until Edwards returns to full health, Bishop’s lone combatant at the moment for the starting job is Hamlin, who took the first-team reps on Days 1 and 4.

As the Bills concluded their first fully padded practice, here’s what stood out from Day 5 at St. John Fisher University.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s roster hold is shakier than first thought​

To begin training camp, the Bills appeared to have a pretty well-defined top five of the wide receiver group. That included Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Mack Hollins. But as camp has gone on, there are clear signs that the top five may only be four, with Valdes-Scantling needing to battle his way back into it. Valdes-Scantling has faded into the background in the last few practices. He has yet to make a strong impression in the passing game during team drills, and his opportunities with quarterback Josh Allen and the top unit have dwindled.

It was to the point that when the Bills split their roster in half for one session of team drills, leading the first-team offense to take on the first-team defense on the main field, with a few subs for each side of the ball, Valdes-Scantling was over on the other field with the second and third units. It was even more noticeable due to Chase Claypool missing practice with a toe injury.

Perhaps it was merely a message for Valdes-Scantling to pick things up. It’s still early, after all. But it’s clear that he has not been one of the top five receivers this summer thus far. Second-year player Tyrell Shavers has outplayed Valdes-Scantling and offers more versatility than the former Packers and Chiefs receiver. Chase Claypool has also had his moments before getting injured and has worked in with Allen more consistently than Valdes-Scantling more recently.

However, if the Bills wanted to move on from Valdes-Scantling, it’s not a clean-cut. The receiver’s $1.125 million base salary is guaranteed, and he would be a $2.25 million dead cap hit for the Bills to release him. But the Bills have shown in the past that they won’t let the threat of some dead cap get in the way of not keeping their top 53. This situation is reminiscent of tight end O.J. Howard, who lost a roster spot in his first year with the team to second-year, former undrafted player Quintin Morris. There’s a long way to go, and plenty of time for Valdes-Scantling to turn it around. But if the current trend continues, he could be at risk of being the next O.J. Howard in Buffalo.

New Ty Johnson injury gives Ray Davis a big opportunity​

Running back James Cook returned to training camp following a one-day absence as the team excused him for personal reasons, and immediately resumed his top role on the depth chart. But early on in the practice, the running back room took a hit when Ty Johnson left practice after a collision with linebacker Terrel Bernard. Johnson went to the ground, immediately flexed his leg and then was quickly surrounded by the team’s athletic training staff. Johnson stayed on the ground for several minutes, before limping off the field and to the locker room. He did not return to practice, which yielded a huge opportunity for rookie runner Ray Davis.

From that point forward, Davis was the clear second back on the field after Cook, working in with Allen and the first-team offense when Cook wasn’t on the field. Depending on the severity of Johnson’s injury, it could yield a massive opportunity for Davis to secure the top backup role to Cook for the 2024 season if he performs well enough. The rest of the Bills running back depth chart features players who seem unlikely to make the 53-man roster. Veteran runner Darrynton Evans popped for a couple of big runs on Monday, and was the clear third back after Johnson’s injury ahead of undrafted rookie Frank Gore Jr. The Bills will need to assess the Johnson injury and see what Davis can do with the chance. But if Johnson has to miss any extended time, the team could look to add a free-agent running back at some point this summer.

Connor McGovern (66) is experiencing some challenges as the Bills’ new starting center. (Tina MacIntyre-Yee / USA Today)

Some issues with exchanges between Josh Allen and Connor McGovern​

The Bills offense has gotten off to a good start through the first five days, though there seems to be at least one thing they’re still working through. Here and there over the first four days, new starting center Connor McGovern delivered some low shotgun snaps to Allen that didn’t throw the offense off their timing too much. It was just a footnote on mostly successful practices. But on one rep Monday with Allen under center, the exchange yielded a bobble and a fumble that hit the ground, which had coaches whistle the play dead immediately. It’s too early in the process for the quarterback-to-center exchange to become a major concern, but it’s something they’ll need to iron out well before the start of the regular season. It’s merely something else to track to see if it continues to be an issue or if it was just two players going through some early blemishes on their way to finding their groove.

La’El Collins and where he might be best utilized​

When the Bills signed veteran offensive lineman La’El Collins, they were hoping to get a trustworthy and veteran blocker who could line up at several positions along the line. Early on in camp, the versatility vision was executed, as Collins has spent time both at the offensive tackle positions and inside at guard. However, if the early camp reps are an indicator, Collins has had trouble dealing with the speed to the edge on a handful of reps throughout camp so far, which can be a tad concerning. Collins has had several injuries throughout his career, and that may slow him down in his age-31 season compared to what he used to be as a player. However, Collins remains a good-sized blocker who can likely be effective on the interior, which may be his best path to playing time if an injury occurs. At this point, last year’s top backup offensive tackle Ryan Van Demark is well ahead of Collins for the role behind Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown.

Back-end defensive ends all making a push​

The Bills held out defensive end Von Miller during Monday’s practice, which created an opportunity for more reps throughout the group. Three players vying for the 53-man roster each had their moments. Rookie and fifth-round pick Javon Solomon had one of the best wins during pass rush one-on-ones, catching sixth-round rookie offensive tackle Tylan Grable without a sturdy base and timing up an inside power punch to dump the blocker on the ground for an easy win. Kingsley Jonathan, who made the 53-man roster in 2023, zoomed past guard Kevin Jarvis during team drills for a sack of backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Then there was Casey Toohill, who has continued to get some notable time with the second-team defense even with Miller practicing. He stayed over on the main field with the top units when the roster split into two sections. The Bills are quite likely to keep at least five defensive ends on the roster this year which will likely include one of these three. Solomon and his status as a draft pick has an inside track to that spot. A sixth kept is entirely plausible if one of the other two wins a spot outright through both defense and special teams.

Dorian Williams looked much improved in fill-in work for Milano​

The Bills mentioned early in training camp that linebacker Matt Milano would get some vet rest days here and there, and the first of those occurred on Monday. So, without Milano available, it provided an opportunity to see the Bills’ early thoughts on their linebacker depth chart, which brought second-year linebacker Dorian Williams onto the first-team defense. As his rookie year unfolded, Williams was identified more as a sub-package player on defense rather than someone they wanted on the field every snap. But the early trust from coaches in getting the Milano reps next to Bernard was a good sign of Williams’ progress. He rewarded them with some excellent reads in the run game to get a stop at the line of scrimmage during the 9-on-7 drill and during team drills. The Bills have several questions about their linebacker depth, but Williams continuing with days like this one will go a long way in giving the Bills some more roster flexibility at cutdown day if they need it.