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The Buffalo Bills roster is mostly set heading into the dog days of the NFL offseason. Now, the next time we truly see the 2023 squad will be at Bills training camp in Rochester when players start fighting for positions. After a solid Bills NFL draft, there are several Bills rookies who will push veterans for playing time and maybe even starting roles. First-round pick, tight end Dalton Kincaid, is obviously one of those players, but there are several more as well.
Dawson Knox vs. Dalton Kincaid
The tight end battle in Bills training camp will be the top battle to watch. Buffalo traded up to grab Dalton Kincaid out of Utah because he can be a dynamic TE in the league. Dawson Knox has been good for the team so far, but he’s not a difference-maker on the level of players like Travis Kelce or George Kittle.
One of the biggest reasons the Bills NFL draft started with Kincaid is that the offense wants to play with more two tight end sets this year, so both Knox and Kincaid will be on the field a lot this season.
However, there can only be one TE1, and Dalton Kincaid will vie for that spot right away and possibly even win the job because of his skills as a route-runner and pass-catcher.
Ryan Bates vs. O’Cyrus Torrence
With the second pick in the draft, Buffalo took O’Cyrus Torrence, the mauling guard out of Florida. Torrence has first-round talent, but his size and skillset weren’t a fit in all NFL systems. As a Bills rookie, though, he’s exactly what they need on the interior of the offensive line.
The Bills roster includes a solid starting offensive line, consisting of left tackle Dion Dawkins, free agent left guard Conner McGovern, center Mitch Morse, right guard Ryan Bates, and right tackle Spencer Brown.
It’s that right side of the line, though, that could use an upgrade. Torrence comes in as a potential Week 1 starter, so don’t be surprised if Bates gets a seat on the bench and the Bills rookie takes over that position.
Spencer Brown vs. Richard Gouraige
Speaking of the right side of the offensive line, Spencer Brown has been good but not great during his first two years in the league. And while the team didn’t take a tackle in the seven rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft, they did son one as an undrafted free agent.
O’Cyrus Torrence’s Florida Gators teammate, Richard Gouraige (pronounced “garage”), started games at guard and tackle down in The Swamp and is a talented and versatile offensive lineman.
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At Bills training camp, look for Gouraige to first challenge veterans like David Quessenberry, Tommy Doyle, and David Edwards to become the sixth offensive lineman on the Bills roster. The Bills rookie can legitimately back up four spots on the line, which should allow him to make the team as an undrafted free agent.
After that, though, there’s a real chance that Gouraige could push Brown for the starting right tackle spot. The Gators lineman played on the same line as Torrence for two years, and their chemistry and comfort with each other could remake the right side of the offensive line.
Gabriel Davis vs. Justin Shorter
This list of Bills rookies who could challenge veterans for spots on the depth chart is almost exclusively a list of former Florida Gators, save for Dalton Kincaid. The third Gator on this list is Bills rookie wide receiver Justin Shorter.
Shorter is big (6-foot-4, 223 pounds), fast, and has solid hands. He can go up and get the ball in traffic and overpower smaller cornerbacks.
The competition for this fifth-round pick to make the roster will be fierce. Buffalo has a bunch of solid veterans at the WR position in Stefon Diggs, Gabriel Davis, Khalil Shakir, Trent Sherfield, and Deonte Hardy. However, the Bills will likely carry at least six wideouts, so Shorter should get a shot.
Once he gets on the Bills roster, Shorter could compete for some serious playing time and ultimately unseat Davis as the team’s WR2 (or even WR1 if Diggs missing mandatory minicamp is cause for great concern as coach Sean McDermott says).
Davis was supposed to have a breakout season in 2022, but his campaign was largely disappointing. He didn’t crest 50 catches or 900 yards, and he made some big drops in key moments.
The Bills roster desperately needs a WR2 to compliment Diggs, and while it doesn’t seem like Davis is that guy, maybe Shorter could be.
