It’s that time again!
The Buffalo Bills kick off the 2024 NFL season on Sunday by hosting the Arizona Cardinals. It’s a sneaky-good matchup in the early window of games, as the Bills are looking to make it five straight AFC East titles this year while the Cardinals are looking to rebound after some underwhelming seasons.
I say the matchup is a good one because, while the Cardinals’ record has been awful of late (they’re 8-26 over the last two seasons), they still have a ton of talent on the offensive side of the ball. In the first week of a season, anything can happen, and there are often some completely unexpected results that come out of the first real game.
All of this is a long-winded way of saying that, while we might be tempted to circle this game as a win for the Bills, it isn’t going to be easy. The Bills themselves are in a state of flux, and Sunday is the first chance for a new-look roster to prove its mettle.
Here are five players to watch in the season opener.
WR Keon Coleman
This pick is less about who I think will be the team’s top wideout and more about how excited I am to see this year’s top pick in action. While I think that Khalil Shakir will be the nominal WR1 in Buffalo’s offense, I certainly think it’s important that Coleman has a good start to his pro career. Can he shake the assumption that he’ll find sticky man coverage difficult to, well... shake... in the pros? Or will his lack of burst lead to those separation issues that have caused some to speculate will lead to struggles? One game isn’t going to provide a definitive answer to those questions, but it will give Bills fans a look at the future of the wide receiver position. Expect some designed looks for Coleman early in the game, especially if the team is able to make it to the red zone, where the 6’3” wideout can use his frame and contested-catch skills to shine.
C Connor McGovern
The only minor worry up front that I have is how the team’s new center will transition from left guard. After five seasons of steady play from Mitch Morse, Buffalo moved in another direction this offseason, clearing the way for McGovern to move from left guard to center. Josh Allen has evolved enough as a quarterback where he doesn’t necessarily need a center helping him to read blitzes, so that part doesn’t worry me much. How will McGovern handle snapping the ball 70 times in a game? How will the under-center QB-C exchange look? Will the shotgun snaps come out in a way that lets Allen flow naturally into a throwing motion? These are little things that, if they go poorly, could have a huge impact on the game. McGovern needs to be clean this year.
DE Von Miller
Is there a player on the roster who has more pressure to succeed this season? Miller came back last year after suffering an ACL tear late in the 2022 season. He was a complete non-factor in 2023, totaling five tackles and three quarterback hits across 14 games — including two playoff games. Miller is a huge X-Factor on defense. If he can return to his pre-injury form, then the Bills have an All-Time Great lining up across from Greg Rousseau. If he can’t? They have a player with a $15 million cap hit living off performances that are just a memory. Again, one week won’t answer whether Miller is all the way back or a shell of himself, but if he can generate consistent pressure on quarterback Kyler Murray, it will go a long way towards giving the team a boost in an incredibly important part of the game.
LB Dorian Williams
With Matt Milano out for the foreseeable future, it’s up to the second-year man to fill his shoes. Williams showed promise at times last season, but far too often it was his limitations in pass coverage that were exploited by opposing defenses. With tight end Trey McBride lining up for the Cardinals, that’s a difficult challenge right out of the gate. Williams has the athleticism to make plays at all levels of the defense, but he still isn’t reading things quickly enough where he can just flow and let that athleticism shine. That part takes time. If he can figure it out quickly, it will certainly help the Bills on defense. This is a great early test for him.
S Damar Hamlin
I fully intended to write about Taylor Rapp here, less because I’m worried about him specifically, but more because I didn’t know who would start next to him at safety. Then, head coach Sean McDermott announced Hamlin as the starter, and I didn’t need to discuss Rapp as a vessel for discussing the position as a whole. Hamlin has experience as a starter, as he was forced into duty during the 2022 season thanks to an injury to Micah Hyde. However, those starts came prior to his cardiac arrest and subsequent recovery. For Hamlin to have worked his way back from the brink of death to a starting spot on a professional football team is nothing short of amazing. Sure, one could say that he’s once again starting thanks to injuries, as rookie Cole Bishop (shoulder) and free-agent signing Mike Edwards (hamstring) both missed nearly all of training camp, making Hamlin a safer choice given his knowledge of and time in the system. It lessens the magnitude of the accomplishment a bit to pin it all on that, however. Hamlin has a tremendous opportunity this week, and a tremendous challenge given the Cardinals’ talent on offense.