2 Bills first-stringers in danger of losing starting jobs ahead of 2025 NFL season

The Buffalo Bills entered training camp with their roster mostly solidified. The 2024 AFC finalists bring back MVP Josh Allen, one of the most cohesive offensive lines in the NFL, and skill position depth charts that are mostly set, especially at the top. Still, there are a few Bills first-stringers in danger of losing starting jobs ahead of the 2025 NFL season.

There aren't a ton of candidates here, as the Bills will pretty much start 10 of the 11 players they started on offense last season, with the sole exception being Josh Palmer taking over for Amari Cooper at wide receiver. Sure, there should be some interesting battles down the depth chart, with promising young players like Frank Gore Jr. and Tyrell Shavers battling for spots, but the starters are locked, barring injury.

On defense, there is a little more room for movement. Buffalo went heavy on defense in the 2025 NFL Draft, so there are plenty of young players hungry for spots. The safety battle is particularly interesting with Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin, Cole Bishop, and Cam Lewis all fighting for the starting nods. However, that is not the most likely spot for a starter to lose their job, as all those safeties got starts last season.

Finally, the most intriguing starter in danger isn't in offense or defense, and this competition could have major implications for the Bills late in the 2025 season.

DT DaQuan Jones

Eleven-year NFL vet DaQuan Jones did an admirable job last season, starting 16 games next to Ed Oliver. In fact, he's started all 39 games he's suited up for in Buffalo over the last three seasons. At 6-foot-4, 320 pounds, Jones has been responsible for trying to stuff the run next to the undersized Oliver.

The problem is, the Bills have been terrible against the run the last few seasons. They finished 12th against the run last season, but that doesn't tell the whole story as they would have finished much worse if Allen's high-powered offense didn't jump out to big leads on so many teams.

That's not necessarily Jones' fault alone, but general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott obviously realized that they need an upgrade at DT2. The front-office duo spent two of their first four picks on DT in the 2025 draft and even traded two premium second-round picks to move up to take one of them.

With second-round pick T.J. Sanders and fourth-round selection Deone Walker in the mix, along with last year's third-round pick DeWayne Carter, Jones' job is definitely in jeopardy.

Obviously, this will be a major rotation for the Bills this season, so who gets the actual “start” each game doesn't really matter. Still, if the massive 6-foot-7, 330-pound Walker can become a little stronger against the run, he'll have a real chance top become the true DT2 next to Oliver.

K Tyler Bass

Since Scott Norwood went wide right back in 1991, the kicker position has always been in the back of Bills Mafia's mind. In fairness, the team wasn't good enough for the kicker to matter for nearly two decades, but now that he does again, Western New York lives in fear of Wide Right III.

Tyler Bass has been OK overall for the Bills in his five seasons. He has a career 84.5% field goal percentage and is 96.4% on extra points. That's slightly above league average (~94%) on extra points and slightly below league average (~85%) on field goals.

Plus, he's missed some big kicks in his career. Wide Right II against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 AFC Divisional Round stands out above all others.

Right now, Bass is missing time with a pelvis injury, although he is targeting the final preseason game as his return date. And going into the new Bills season with an injured, league-average kicker on the roster doesn't seem ideal for Buffalo.

While running back Ray Davis is gunning for the job, successfully kicking an extra point in the first preseason game, the real competition right now is undrafted rookie out of Ole Miss, Caden Davis. And if not Davis, there should be several kickers on the open market in the next few weeks as kicker battles get resolved around the league.

Bass had a nice run kicking for the Bills, but missing time in training camp is tough, and the Bills should, and likely will, take a good hard look at other kickers. Bills Mafia knows what Bass is at this point, and while there is always a chance the new starter will be worse, with Bass' track record, it's worth a shot to see if they can get an above-average kicker in the mix.