After months and months of waiting, football is finally back. The Buffalo Bills will face off against the Detroit Lions in the preseason opener and, even though the score doesn’t matter, there is still quite a bit to watch in Friday’s contest. Roster battles are won and lost on the field, and this game will go a long way in determining roles for the 2021 Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo Bills Preseason Opener: Battles and Players to Watch
Emmanuel Sanders vs Gabriel Davis
Gabriel Davis was one of the biggest surprises on last year’s squad. A fourth-round pick, the rookie took over for the injured John Brown and made quite a few big plays throughout the course of the season. While he was clearly the third receiver on the depth chart, he possessed the ability to stretch the field, and some believed he could earn a bigger workload in Year 2.
However, if early training camp reports are to be believed, Emmanuel Sanders is giving him a run for his money. The former New Orleans Saint isn’t the player he once was, but he was still a solid option last year. Sanders has reportedly outplayed Davis in practice, but you can’t know that for sure until you see it on the field. No matter how this depth chart ends up sorting out, both players should see plenty of work in the regular season. Buffalo used a ton of four-receiver sets last year, and that should continue in 2021.
Young Pass Rushers
Entering the NFL Draft, just about everybody expected the Buffalo Bills to address the cornerback position with one of their early picks. Instead, the team doubled-down on edge support, grabbing Greg Rousseau in the first round and Carlos Basham in the second. While this was surprising at the time, both players have reportedly impressed early in the offseason.
If this success translates to the game, then Buffalo could have one of the more dangerous defenses in the league. The Bills have usually possessed a solid defense under head coach Sean McDermott, but the 2020 unit was slightly below-average. If Rousseau and Basham can lead to an improved pass rush, then the Bills defense should return to an above-average rank. With Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs on offense, above-average should easily be good enough to win the AFC East and make a deep playoff push.
Second Cornerback
Of course, the weak link on this defense is still the second cornerback spot. Tre’Davious White is a fantastic player and the safety duo of Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde might just be the best in the league. However, Levi Wallace leaves something to be desired, and there is a chance that an unknown player could take the spot with a strong preseason.
As the biggest Rachad Wildgoose truther in the world, I’d love to see what the sixth-round rookie can do in game action. His physical style of play doesn’t always work out in practice, but could translate on an actual NFL field. You could obviously do worse than Wallace as a starting cornerback, but you could also do a lot better.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
