By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills are back in 2019!
Albeit, there’s no pads and thus, not much real football.
But it’s May, people. We’ll take what we can get and what we got were some organized team activities.
With that, here are four noteworthy takeaways from it:
How the OL looked
Each and every year during offseason workouts (and during the season if things go to hell), the depth chart on the offensive line is always watched. This offseason, the Bills decided to add near double-digit new faces along the trenches, so the microscope on the unit will be even larger.
So on the first organized team activities of the offseason, how did things unfold. Per NYUP.com, veterans took the first-team reps. Worth noting, big-money and presumed starting center Mitch Morse (core) missed the practice session. From left to right on the line, the starting group was as follows: Dion Dawkins, Spencer Long, Jon Feliciano, Quinton Spain, and Ty Nesekhe.
On the second squad, things were as follows from left to right: LaAdrian Waddle, Wyatt Teller, Ike Boettger, Jeremiah Sirles, and Cody Ford.
Interesting things to consider here are Feliciano playing center instead of Long, who was the Jets’ starting center last season. Spain also lined up at right guard after spending his entire career at left guard with the Titans. Ford, Buffalo’s second-round pick, was not a starter. This isn’t new, defensive tackle Ed Oliver was as well. Typically head coach Sean McDermott makes rookies “earn” their roles.
Plenty of players missing
Starting with the good news, multiple players showed up for the first time since being hurt. The top one was starting linebacker Matt Milano. The excitement starts and stops there, though. The other two returners were Corey Bojorquez and Cory Carter, both punters (no offense, punters).
Defensive backs Taron Johnson and Rafael Bush also returned, but were not a full-go. They wore non-contract jerseys.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there was a laundry list.
Here’s who missed practice:
WR Cole Beasley (core)
C Mitch Morse (core)
TE Tyler Kroft (foot)
RB Frank Gore (foot/ ankle)
RB TJ Yeldon (groin)
WR John Brown (unknown)
C Russell Bodine (shoulder)
TE Jason Croom (left during session)
It’s early… so no reason to worry.
2-minute offense good early
One thing that’s famous in Bills’ lore in recent years are some down-right ugly two-minute drills. The team works on them all throughout the offseason and training camp. It’s tough to imagine how much more pressure there actually is during an in-game moment, but the team does their best to try and replicate it. The Bills will hope at some point in the 2019 that the offense can replicate the two-minute offense they had on Tuesday.
Several reports indicated that the Bills’ offense scored on the attempt as the clock clicked near zero. After a deep ball to Robert Foster, the offense eventually scored in the red zone on an Allen pass to Zay Jones per the team’s website. The QB was even asked about it following the session.
“At the end of the half, you want to make sure that you have the ball last and use as much time as possible. At the same time, you want to be aggressive and try to score. We went down there and tried to take what the defense was giving us. Zay made a play in the back of the end zone and that’s kind of how that one went,” Allen said, ending it on a kind of, “it’s only OTAs” kind of way.
Levi retains spot
There will be a push for the second cornerback spot across from Tre’Davious White this offseason. Buffalo’s Levi Wallace had a successful rookie campaign, but the team still brought in notable veteran free agents such as EJ Gaines and Kevin Johnson. But during the OTA session, Wallace took that place across from White, per the team’s website. Gaines and Johnson were with the second unit.
But also mentioned was an interception Johnson had on backup QB Matt Barkley and eventually Johnson even subbed in for Wallace and then White with the first team. With that, it appears he’s the No. 3 with Gaines behind him, for now.
As prior mentioned, McDermott likes to make rookies earn starting spots, but the same can be said for new free agents as well. In many cases during OTAs, returners, who have much more experience within the team’s schemes, likely get the edge in regard to first-team reps.