PITTSFORD — What happens when a team drafts a return specialist with kickoff rules so new that few are willing to discuss them definitively?
Daequan Hardy is finding out.
In an attempt to shift kickoffs from being a throwaway play, they have adopted rules created by the XFL in order to entice more returns. The Buffalo Bills have practiced kickoffs and returns sporadically during training camp, but didn’t show any inkling of their plan while the media was present during minicamp, a departure from past years.
The kicking team will have 10 players line up at the opposing 40-yard line, with five on each side of the field. The return team will have at least nine blockers lined up in the setup zone between the 30- and 35-yard line, with at least seven touching the 35 and two returners will be allowed inside the 20.
Only the kicker and returners are allowed to move until the ball hits the ground or is touched by a returner inside the 20. Touchbacks will be taken out to the 30.
Got that?
Bills coach Sean McDermott said Sunday that he didn’t watch the NFL’s first preseason game pitting the Chicago Bears against the Houston Texas Thursday, but plans to check out the kickoffs. Hardy also didn’t watch the game, but saw clips of the returns.
The game featured eight kickoffs, seven of which were returned for an average of 22.7 yards, which was actually down from 22.9 league-wide a year ago, although 73% of kickoffs resulted in a touchback in 2023. There were also two illegal formation penalties on kickoffs, one by each team.
“I think every week, especially during the preseason, you’re going to get different looks, different schemes,” said Hardy, who only returned three kickoffs in college, but had two punt returns for touchdowns. “You can’t really just hone in on one thing. You just got to take it for what it is.”
McDermott acknowledged that the “main reason” Hardy was drafted in the sixth round out of Penn State was to be a returner. The Bills worked on kickoffs and kick returns during practice Sunday, with Andy Isabella and Darrynton Evans going as the first group of returners, followed by Hardy and K.J. Hamler.
“We’re still trying new things out there,” McDermott said. “The players are trying to get comfortable with some of the timing that goes along with it. And that’s still time on task as we move forward.”
While Hardy’s main responsibility is slated to be as a return specialist, whether he makes the final roster may depend on his ability to play as a slot cornerback. The Bills have frequently carried six cornerbacks, making three outside cornerbacks active on game day, in addition to slot cornerback Taron Johnson and Siran Neal, who was used as a backup in the slot and on special teams.
With Neal gone, there appears to be a vacant spot. Cam Lewis is Johnson’s primary backup, but they use him at safety also. Hardy and Buffalo alum Ja’Marcus Ingram have gotten time in the slot with the first-team defense when Johnson gets a break.
Ingram has also been the team’s No. 4 outside cornerback during training camp, while Hardy is actually the only cornerback on the roster with extensive college experience in the slot. But at 5-foot-9, 178 pounds, Hardy only played at Penn State against passing formations.
Johnson has become integral to Buffalo’s defense and is an All-Pro because he can defend the run as a hybrid linebacker without the Bills having to make substitutions. McDermott said Hardy would have to adjust to playing a more physical style.
Hardy also said he’s not afraid of the contact. His adjustment is learning all of the pre-snap and post-snap reads and adjustments that come with Buffalo’s defensive scheme.
“There’s a lot more different reads,” said Hardy, who had 7 ½ tackles for a loss and five interceptions in college. “At Penn State, it was more so vision and break on the quarterback. Here you got to kind of read and fill routes.”
Receivers body defensive back
The Bills receivers had a big day against the defense Sunday, using size and body position to get an edge throughout the day.
Rookie Keon Coleman dueled with cornerback Christian Benford all day. In 11-on-11 work, Josh Allen rolled to his right when the pocket collapsed and threw a pass to the back corner of the end zone, allowing Coleman to leap up and snatch it over Benford’s head.
Later in practice, Benford locked up Coleman on a fade down the sideline, but Coleman came right back. Coleman beat Benford across the back of the end zone on a goal line play from the 1-yard line and then he punted the ball into the stands to celebrate.
On the play before Coleman’s touchdown, the Bills were faced with a fourth-and-long situation and Allen hit tight Dalton Kincaid, who simply ran 12 yards downfield and boxed out Johnson for a first down at the 1. At 6-foot, 196, Khalil Shakir isn’t as big as Coleman nor Kincaid, but he was able to snatch passes on Johnson and Rasul Douglas.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling got more No. 1 reps than emerging second-year receiver Tyrell Shavers, but he made the most of what he was given. Shavers shielded Johnson from the ball as Allen fit a dart into Shavers for a 15-yard gain and then came open underneath for a catch-and-run play later on.
Reserve tight end Zach Davidson also got into the mix and Allen found him on a corner route between Benford and safety Taylor Rapp for a 20-yard gain.
{h2 style=”text-align: center;”}Oliver, Miller cause havoc{/h2}
Even though receivers bested the defensive backs, the Bills’ defensive line had the edge in the trenches, specifically with defensive tackle Ed Oliver.
Oliver continued a solid camp, joining Von Miller for a sack on Allen. He also nearly got to Allen on a screen and the play probably would have been blown dead if the purpose wasn’t to draw the defensive line in and dump the ball off to a receiver.
He wrapped his day by stuffing running back James Cook in the hole on back-to-back plays on a day that featured a couple big plays by the interior. Reserve defensive tackle Eli Ankou notched a pair of sacks.
Allen’s pass to Coleman also could have been blown dead, as Miller and Dawuane Smoot flushed him out of the pocket and got a hand on him. Miller now has three sacks during training camp.
{h2 style=”text-align: center;”}Injury report{/h2}
Defensive end David Ugwoegbu left practice early Friday with an undisclosed injury and he was released with the waived/injured designation. If he clears waivers, Ugwoegbu reverts to the team’s injured reserve list.
The Bills signed linebacker Shayne Simon to replace him. Simon was released Tuesday to clear room for safety Kareem Jackson.
McDermott announced safeties Mike Edwards (hamstring) and Cole Bishop (shoulder) were still week-to-week. Wide receiver Chase Claypool (toe), offensive tackle Travis Clayton (shoulder), offensive tackle La’el Collins (knee), tight end Dawson Knox (groin/vet rest), running back Ty Johnson (hamstring), linebacker Nick Morrow (groin) and linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio (rib) all did not practice and are listed as day-to-day.
