{"id":181350,"date":"2024-07-11T15:30:38","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T19:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=181350"},"modified":"2024-07-11T13:04:30","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T17:04:30","slug":"2024-buffalo-bills-fantasy-football-tyler-bass-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/11\/2024-buffalo-bills-fantasy-football-tyler-bass-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 Bills Fantasy Football Primer: Kicker, Defense\/Special Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Both kicker Tyler Bass and the Buffalo Bills defense have attracted a lot of fantasy football attention in recent years. That might not be the case in 2024, however.<\/p>\n<p>Bass struggled mightily in 2023. It was a significant setback after he was trending toward becoming one of the NFL&#8217;s top kickers early in his career. Defensively, the major questions surround whether the unit can replace <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/03\/07\/bills-release-veteran-players-morse-white-poyer\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">multiple key contributors<\/a> who exited during the offseason.<\/p>\n<p>This marks the final look at the Bills fantasy football forecast for the upcoming campaign. Here&#8217;s a look at the previous installments:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/02\/2024-bills-fantasy-football-josh-allen-quarterbacks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Quarterbacks<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/04\/2024-bills-fantasy-football-james-cook-running-backs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Running Backs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/08\/2024-bills-fantasy-football-khalil-shakir-wide-receivers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Wide Receivers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/10\/2024-bills-fantasy-football-dalton-kincaid-tight-ends\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Tight Ends<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Bills Kicker\/Defense 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook<\/h2>\n<h3>Tyler Bass<\/h3>\n<p>Buffalo not bringing in serious competition for Bass was a surprise amid its <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/06\/01\/2024-buffalo-bills-53-man-roster-projection-june-otas-minicamp\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">widespread roster overhaul<\/a>. It felt like an obvious move after he missed five field goals during the regular season and another three in the playoffs. The latter included a failed game-tying attempt late in the team&#8217;s 27-24 season-ending loss to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/chiefs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While it appears the Bills are going to give the 27-year-old Georgia Southern product every chance to reestablish himself, that doesn&#8217;t mean he&#8217;s a safe fantasy selection. In fact, he&#8217;s probably the biggest boom-or-bust option at the position.<\/p>\n<p>If Bass returns to form, he&#8217;ll have a reasonable chance to finish inside the top five among kickers. The Buffalo offense still has a lot of firepower despite the departures of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/06\/07\/stefon-diggs-josh-allen-trade-bills-texans\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Stefon Diggs<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/03\/11\/report-gabriel-davis-signs-contract-with-jacksonville-jaguars\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Gabe Davis<\/a>. Having <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/09\/josh-allen-buffalo-bills-lwos-2024-top-nfl-players-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Josh Allen<\/a> keeps any unit in the upper echelon.<\/p>\n<p>That said, if he gets off to a sluggish start there&#8217;s a realistic chance the Bills front office opts to move in a new direction at kicker. While it&#8217;s not a major deal at a less important fantasy spot, it&#8217;s still a wasted waiver position when you have to pick up a new one. So, there&#8217;s risk involved with taking him.<\/p>\n<p>Bass finished as the K17 last year despite the issues. It makes the climb back into the top 12 quite manageable if he&#8217;s more consistent, and the top-five upside is real if he&#8217;s in peak form. It all comes down to how much risk-reward a manager is willing to manage at a secondary position.<\/p>\n<p><em>2024 Projection: 152 points (K9)<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Bills Defense\/Special Teams<\/h3>\n<p>Buffalo&#8217;s defense will need to build an identity in 2024 after losing the heart and soul of the unit: safeties <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/04\/18\/hyde-hinting-retirement-amid-rumors\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Micah Hyde<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/03\/12\/jordan-poyer-signs-contract-miami-dolphins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Jordan Poyer<\/a>. That tandem roamed the secondary together for seven years, erasing a lot of mistakes and becoming perhaps the best safety duo in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>The Bills also lost cornerback <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/06\/04\/buffalo-bills-free-agent-targets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Tre&#8217;Davious White<\/a>, defensive end <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/03\/11\/leonard-floyd-signs-contract-san-francisco-49ers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Leonard Floyd<\/a>, and a sizable group of defensive reserves. It puts a lot of pressure on head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/06\/20\/bills-sean-mcdermott-hot-seat-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Sean McDermott<\/a> and defensive coordinator Bobby Babich to quickly reshape the unit.<\/p>\n<p>From a fantasy perspective, there are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/40210902\/buffalo-bills-defense-new-players-draft-sean-mcdermott\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">legitimate concerns<\/a>. The loss of Floyd hampers the team&#8217;s sack potential\u2014he led the team with 10.5 quarterback takedowns last year\u2014and the rebuilt secondary doesn&#8217;t feature quite as much playmaking ability.<\/p>\n<p>That said, there are still reasons for optimism, led by the dynamic linebacker pairing of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/06\/11\/bills-news-matt-milano-buffalo-defense-minicamp\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Matt Milano<\/a> and Terrel Bernard. Top corner Rasul Douglas was also a force after being acquired from the Green Bay Packers last season, tallying four interceptions in nine games.<\/p>\n<p>Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa hold the key to exactly how high the Bills defense can climb the fantasy rankings, though. If the edge-rushers can combine for 15-plus sacks, Buffalo could crack the top five again this year. If they don&#8217;t, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/05\/22\/bills-may-release-miller\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Von Miller<\/a> remains virtually useless for a second straight season, the unit could slide quite a bit in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Buffalo will hold a competition throughout training camp and the preseason to determine its kick and punt returner(s). It&#8217;s unlikely the winner(s) will massively improve the fantasy unit&#8217;s outlook, though.<\/p>\n<p><em>2024 Projection: 135 points (D\/ST12)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo: [Jamie Germano\/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle] &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can Tyler Bass bounce back? Is the Buffalo Bills defense still a reliable option? Key questions answered for 2024 fantasy football managers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5175,"featured_media":181383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,3],"tags":[7705],"class_list":["post-181350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-bills","tag-buffalo-bills-news"],"modified_by":"Michael Zimmelman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}