Training Camp 2025

[Ethan in Cleveland]

1 hour ago, astb41 said:

I read most every post in this thread, did I miss a bunch of injuries?!?

Perhaps they were talking about the players that didn't practice. Not new injuries.

[Not at the table Karlos]

36 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

First off, no offense, but you are coming across as if you seem pretty vested in just selling the negative take away you have from day 1 here. As far as the trailer goes, doesn't really matter when they happened, they are clips of him making some impressive plays was the takeaway.  So its ok if people want to see that as a positive and have optimism we can hopefully see more of that kind of stuff from him as camp goes on.   And he's been in the whole offseason program, and the reports about him have been positive all off season.  So today isn't the "first real look" at him this offseason just because it was your first real look at him.  

 

And like I said up thread, guys who have a physical game are not the type of player that shines in shorts.  This isn't the time where Keon is always going to pop because a lot of his best traits come with being physical.  Just like its silly to over value some speedy guy looking good in shorts, its the time they should shine.  

 

Not to mention its day 1 of camp and guys will have good and bad days throughout camp.  

I was correcting you saying the highlights were from this offseason when they weren’t. Saying there hasn’t been any video of him and this is the real first look was saying you were incorrect on the video being highlights from this year. I added the it wasn’t great because you aren’t going to be getting any highlights from today. 
 

I haven’t really tried to sell anything besides you being incorrect. 

10 hours ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

Keon and Shakir fielding punts 

 

I like Keon with the ball in his hands.

To add to this neither player fielded a punt during team portion. Disappointing because I think Keon could break a few. 

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

10 hours ago, HappyDays said:

I guess I understand White getting 1st team reps to start camp but I really hope the plan is for Hairston to win the job. Need him on the field ASAP for the upside.

Sure. Hairston has to learn McDermotts complex zone defense first.

 

This takes time and Elam never really learned it and could never use his natural athletism to fit in. That's why he's gone.

 

Hopefully Hairston is a cerebral enough player to pick it up and fit in and doesn't fall into that same Elam trap.

 

Until that happens White will be the starter. 

 

Same reason Hamlin is the starting safety. He's a "cerebral" player but certainly not athleticlly gifted

[RoscoeParrish]

24 minutes ago, JakeFrommStateFarm said:

Sure. Hairston has to learn McDermotts complex zone defense first.

 

This takes time and Elam never really learned it and could never use his natural athletism to fit in. That's why he's gone.

 

Hopefully Hairston is a cerebral enough player to pick it up and fit in and doesn't fall into that same Elam trap.

 

Until that happens White will be the starter. 

 

Same reason Hamlin is the starting safety. He's a "cerebral" player but certainly not athleticlly gifted

Hamlin may the most out of position cerebral player I have ever seen.

[Buffalo716]

40 minutes ago, JakeFrommStateFarm said:

Sure. Hairston has to learn McDermotts complex zone defense first.

 

This takes time and Elam never really learned it and could never use his natural athletism to fit in. That's why he's gone.

 

Hopefully Hairston is a cerebral enough player to pick it up and fit in and doesn't fall into that same Elam trap.

 

Until that happens White will be the starter. 

 

Same reason Hamlin is the starting safety. He's a "cerebral" player but certainly not athleticlly gifted

Hairston literally played in a combination zone scheme at Kentucky 

 

They do what Sean McDermott does alot

[MasterStrategist]

35 minutes ago, JakeFrommStateFarm said:

Sure. Hairston has to learn McDermotts complex zone defense first.

 

This takes time and Elam never really learned it and could never use his natural athletism to fit in. That's why he's gone.

 

Hopefully Hairston is a cerebral enough player to pick it up and fit in and doesn't fall into that same Elam trap.

 

Until that happens White will be the starter. 

 

Same reason Hamlin is the starting safety. He's a "cerebral" player but certainly not athleticlly gifted

Elam lost confidence and his game became inconsistent, thats why hes gone.

 

We came into the Chiefs playoff game with a mostly man to man defensive gameplan, which should favor Elams skillset once he stepped in for Benford.  Somehow Elam cant play man, or this supposed complex zone defense.  Elam just flat out lost whatever confidence he had.

 

Hamlin is what he is...a mid rounder drafted to be a backup, which hes held onto the starting job because we lacked any competition LY.  But yes, safety is much more complex in our system to pick up.  Bishop will be ready this year to take over a starting role.

[Ralonzo]

7 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

I'm not ok w triple negatives

I've never not been not ok with that.

[Goin Breakdown]

1 hour ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

I was correcting you saying the highlights were from this offseason when they weren’t. Saying there hasn’t been any video of him and this is the real first look was saying you were incorrect on the video being highlights from this year. I added the it wasn’t great because you aren’t going to be getting any highlights from today. 
 

I haven’t really tried to sell anything besides you being incorrect. 

To add to this neither player fielded a punt during team portion. Disappointing because I think Keon could break a few. 

This not a jab at you or even Keon. He's young and I hope for the best for him and the team. That being said it's hard for me to have much faith in him catching a punt and with all his speed issues I'd be concerned with his breakaway speed if it came to that point where he could break away. I'm cheering for the guy and I hope this can be a way for him to find success. I'm just nervous about it. It's a good thing I don't make these decisions and I'll leave that to the pros. 

[Ayjent]

38 minutes ago, MasterStrategist said:

Elam lost confidence and his game became inconsistent, thats why hes gone.

 

We came into the Chiefs playoff game with a mostly man to man defensive gameplan, which should favor Elams skillset once he stepped in for Benford.  Somehow Elam cant play man, or this supposed complex zone defense.  Elam just flat out lost whatever confidence he had.

 

Hamlin is what he is...a mid rounder drafted to be a backup, which hes held onto the starting job because we lacked any competition LY.  But yes, safety is much more complex in our system to pick up.  Bishop will be ready this year to take over a starting role.

Elam never had the consistency on display in college and that is a much lower bar in the NCAA than NFL.  It wasn’t about confidence it was about ability.  It was a bad pick and as a Gator fan I said before the draft he was way overrated and was the one player I’d avoid - he was a highly questionable tackler, bit far too often on moves he should know better on, got lost in schemes and lost his man, and relied on his athleticism to get out of bad situations.  Penalties weren’t even an issue I would’ve put on the list but he added that to his repertoire as a pro. I said the same thing about Anthony Richardson. Neither played consistently against far inferior competition but had a lot of athleticism and promise.
 

The Bills have made average players look good at CB with good coaching and development so I think it’s fair to say Elam had every shot to take the starting role but never earned the trust of the staff because he couldn’t be effective doing what they needed him to.  But Benford and White started as rookies.  So I don’t buy narratives that young guys can’t get a shot.  They can but they have to earn it and I think Hairston will.  He’s a good corner from what I’ve seen.  I think the verdict is still out on Bishop and I wouldn’t count on him getting the starting role or ever being a starter.  I hope so, but too many think that it will just fall into place. I don’t see it, and I think the staff is hoping for that but I think they were hoping that last year too. They saw what we saw with the safeties last year. They know more talent there shores up a problem area on D, but Bishop may not be the answer. 

Edited July 24 by Ayjent

[julian]

1 hour ago, JakeFrommStateFarm said:

Sure. Hairston has to learn McDermotts complex zone defense first.

 

This takes time and Elam never really learned it and could never use his natural athletism to fit in. That's why he's gone.

 

Hopefully Hairston is a cerebral enough player to pick it up and fit in and doesn't fall into that same Elam trap.

 

Until that happens White will be the starter. 

 

Same reason Hamlin is the starting safety. He's a "cerebral" player but certainly not athleticlly gifted

Hairston is the fastest player from the draft who has a ton of zone experience where he excelled, I love Tre White like everybody else but he’s just keeping the seat warm. 

[Dablitzkrieg]

5 hours ago, JerseyBills said:

😂😂😂

 

https://x.com/BrandonPerna/status/1948131844643586259?t=oiXWAfbyGATKCExDd9MEGg&s=19

[BillsFooteball]

Couple former Bills tidbits:

Caleb’s first pass today was picked off by Edmunds 

 

Although so early, Elam has been getting a ton of praise in Dallas . Picked off Dak today and reports he’s putting himself in position to start 

[HomeTeam]

Thank you everyone for the updates. I'm really looking forward to how the new additions to the defensive line look this year. Specifically please let us know how TJ sanders and Landon Jackson look. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

8 minutes ago, BillsFooteball said:

Couple former Bills tidbits:

Caleb’s first pass today was picked off by Edmunds 

 

Although so early, Elam has been getting a ton of praise in Dallas . Picked off Dak today and reports he’s putting himself in position to start 

I am actually rooting for Elam. I actually think this wasn’t the right situation for him, and I am not sure the coaches here properly developed him like they should have. 

[27yankees]

Man; get the 53 on paper; line them up and lets play some football. 🎆🎆🎆

[Sierra Foothills]

2 hours ago, Goin Breakdown said:

This not a jab at you or even Keon. He's young and I hope for the best for him and the team. That being said it's hard for me to have much faith in him catching a punt and with all his speed issues I'd be concerned with his breakaway speed if it came to that point where he could break away. I'm cheering for the guy and I hope this can be a way for him to find success. I'm just nervous about it. It's a good thing I don't make these decisions and I'll leave that to the pros. 

 

Your fears are unfounded.

 

Keon Coleman was an excellent punt returner in college.

 

He had 25 returns for 300 yards... 12.0 yards per return which is elite.

 

Punt returners don't actually have to be fast because most of the time, they're running against the flow of the coverage team.

 

[Alphadawg7]

3 hours ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

I was correcting you saying the highlights were from this offseason when they weren’t. Saying there hasn’t been any video of him and this is the real first look was saying you were incorrect on the video being highlights from this year. I added the it wasn’t great because you aren’t going to be getting any highlights from today. 
 

I haven’t really tried to sell anything besides you being incorrect. 

To add to this neither player fielded a punt during team portion. Disappointing because I think Keon could break a few. 

The only thing incorrect is you accusing me of claiming when the clips happened.  I literally never said they were from anytime in my OP.  You went on some mission about “when” they were, all I said was for those concerned about today there are some a couple nice catches in the trailer.  
 

You then you went on and asked about when the clips are from in the Hard Knocks trailer and I just said probably OTA’s or from Bills Embedded footage.  Also, I literally told you “when” was even irrelevant, point was there were a couple nice grabs on the trailer for encouragement amongst all the negativity a few of you were focused on about today.  
This whole tangent is a bit ridiculous lmao 

 

Edited July 24 by Alphadawg7

[strive_for_five_guy]

22 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Your fears are unfounded.

 

Keon Coleman was an excellent punt returner in college.

 

He had 25 returns for 300 yards... 12.0 yards per return which is elite.

 

Punt returners don't actually have to be fast because most of the time, they're running against the flow of the coverage team.

 

That’s the kind of 4D chess that McD is playing.  When Keon is running against the flow of the coverage team, it will actually look like he is running with the flow and confuse everybody.

[That's No Moon]

2 hours ago, BillsFooteball said:

Although so early, Elam has been getting a ton of praise in Dallas . Picked off Dak today and reports he’s putting himself in position to start 

Let's see how he does when refs start throwing flags. He CANNOT defend without holding.

[Big Blitz]

Going into year 3 of Josh Allen, Joe B wrote a piece in July of 2020 about how the Bills will consider moving on from Josh Allen if he continues to play like he was.  
 

I respect Joe Bs opinion.  But he ain’t batting 1.000