Which Bills Players Have Stood Out in Training Camp?

Now that we’re reaching the end of the Buffalo Bills’ training camp, it’s the perfect time to see who has stood out. From rookies having an impact to D.J. Moore and Josh Allen finding their rhythm, training camp has been eventful.

It’s easy for a lot of players to look good early in training camp, but once the team puts on pads, that’s when the real progress starts to show. 

While training camp isn’t an end-all, be-all for a team, it serves as a great benchmark for the season. For teams with new coaching staffs, it gives fans an early taste of football for the year. In the Bills’ case, a new coaching staff, schemes, and players have revealed quite a few standouts.

Rookies Showing Out Early

Throughout the entirety of training camp, many of the Bills’ rookies stood out right away. Between linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr and safety Jalen Kilgore, the team has seen immediate impacts from their rookie class.

President of Football Operations Brandon Beane took a lot of flak for this year’s draft. However, if he hits on multiple picks on the defensive side of the ball, he’ll win fans over again.

Elarms-Orr, the last of the Bills’ three fourth-round picks in this year’s draft, has been arguably the biggest standout on the entire team. The rookie linebacker made life difficult for Josh Allen and the offense all training camp.

Reports say that he kept up with running backs James Cook and Ty Johnson stride-for-stride and was responsible for some big pass breakups.

The other rookie who has gotten out to a fast start is safety Jalen Kilgore. Kilgore was the first of the Bills’ two fifth-round picks. While Kilgore hasn’t seen many first-team reps yet, his impact has been felt.

The South Carolina product most notably had a day with three pass breakups, then followed it with two interceptions the next day.

Take it with a grain of salt because it’s training camp, but the Bills’ rookies are showing out early.

Allen and Moore are Clicking

The connection between Josh Allen and newly acquired wide receiver D.J. Moore was one of the biggest storylines going into Bills training camp.

When the team gave up a second-round pick to get Moore from the Bears, some viewed it as an overpay. Moore was coming off statistically his worst year, had a big contract, and lost favor in Ben Johnson’s offense. Still, the Bills took a swing on him.

This year, the former Bears and Panthers receiver will have the opportunity to get back on the right path. He’s pairing up with his former offensive coordinator, Joe Brady, and the best quarterback of his career.

At 29, Moore still has a lot left in the tank, and he’s proved that so far in training camp. As expected with a new offense and quarterback, it took him a few days to get adjusted, but now Moore and Allen have built a great connection. 

On day five, Moore and Allen connected on one of the best plays of training camp. Allen dropped a pass right into Moore’s hands as they beat triple-coverage for a beautiful touchdown. 

Seeing a wide receiver with Moore’s talent will be a breath of fresh air for Bills fans. Even if the team gets just 1,000 yards out of him, that’ll be a significant step up from the previous two seasons for both Moore and the Bills.

Josh Allen and D.J. Moore will look to build on this new connection in the coming weeks so they can hit the ground running against the Texans in Week 1.

Keon Coleman‘s Resurgence

A story as old as time: football teams hyping up a struggling receiver they spent an early draft pick on. While Keon Coleman falls under this category, his situation is different from last year.

The team isn’t asking the former second-round pick to be the first-option receiver this year. They’re asking Coleman to be patient and play to his strengths. With D.J. Moore, Khalil Shakir, and Josh Palmer ahead of him, he won’t have the pressure he did before.

For this year’s training camp, he came in and has done what he used to do best. Coleman went 4-for-4 against Maxwell Hairston in one-on-one drills. While it’s a small sample size, doing this against someone of Hairston’s talent shows there’s still something there for Coleman.

If he can build off this and regain the trust of the coaching staff, he’ll see more opportunities. The ball is in Joe Brady’s court, and he’ll make the right decision.

Be patient, put Coleman in one-on-one chances, and allow him to use his athleticism. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. If anyone can figure it out, though, it’s the Bills’ new coaching staff.

What This Training Camp Success Means

As training camp comes to a close, it leaves the Bills with a lot of difficult decisions. Do they give the young guys a chance or do they roll with the veterans?

The answer won’t come for quite some time, but there’s a lot to look forward to. One thing for certain is that the team has gotten an influx of talent this offseason.

On paper, it might not seem like the best roster ever. However, they have everything needed to make another run at a Super Bowl.