ESPN thinks this Buffalo Bills rookie found himself in a ‘perfect landing spot’

Don’t write your Buffalo Bills depth chart predictions in pen.

The team, as a whole, has seen significant turnover during the 2024 NFL offseason, moving from solid starters to multiple positions in an effort to reset the team’s on-field and financial clocks. Perhaps no position group has been more heavily affected by maneuvering than the secondary; the team moved on from veterans Tre’Davious White, Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, who totaled 284 starts for the Bills over the past seven seasons.

There is continuity at the cornerback position in the form of Christian Benford and Rasul Douglas, but there appears to be a bit of uncertainty at safety; Taylor Rapp returns to Buffalo after serving as a depth option last season, with he and recently signed Mike Edwards seemingly set to handle the Bills’ defensive line.

But don’t get too comfortable with that assessment.

Buffalo selected Utah safety Cole Bishop with the 60th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, adding an intriguing chess piece that not only immediately serves as the team’s strongest depth option. team, but almost assuredly slots in as a long-term starter. The versatile athlete, who had 197 tackles, 12 pass deflections and three interceptions throughout his time in Utah, appears to be a tailor-made blueprint suited to the Bills’ defense, an interchangeable safety who can be deployed from several areas of the land. .

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Bishop’s talent and presumed fit with Buffalo’s defense has led many to project him as an immediate starter for the team, potentially pushing out Rapp or Edwards immediately. That sentiment is echoed by ESPN’s Matt Bowen, who recently highlighted Bishop in an article outlining the best rookie fits and landing spots in the 2024 draft; The writer is a fan of the safety’s versatility and feels he has the opportunity to make an immediate impact in Buffalo.

“Bishop is at his best when playing with forward vision at the second and third levels of the field, and he joins a Bills defense that has lined up on two levels with 56.3 percent coverage snaps the last season, the most in the league,” Bowen wrote. “This will allow Bishop to run the ball up and down and attack the fairways as a run defender.

“When the Bills hit single coverage, Bishop can play the role of an enforcer underneath. Buffalo moved on from safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, so the door is open for Bishop to play an impact role as a rookie. He had 59 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions last season, doing a little bit of everything.

It will be interesting to see how Buffalo immediately uses Bishop, who logged 247 snaps at free safety and 181 in the box for the Utes last season, according to Pro Football Focus. Likely a starter in 2025, he could play an important role as a rookie if he is able to replicate some of the prowess recently displayed by Hyde and Poyer; the 21-year-old has already watched tapes of both to find out what they brought to the defense.

“Every play you try to learn, you watch it on film and those are the guys,” Bishop told reporters after the first day of the Bills’ 2024 rookie minicamp. “They’re obviously great players They’ve done a ton of good things here for a very long time, so it’s good to watch.