Thank God It Was Cloudy-Day 3 Bills’ TC Notes

After blinding sunshine and searing heat for the first two sessions, I’ve never been happier for an overcast day than today! It was 77 degrees at 9:45 a.m., and the light rain from 11-11:30 bothered no one.

Here we go:

If you are curious about the possible story lines for Hard Knocks in such a drama free camp, Buffalo Joe is getting lots of coverage for a backup LB.

We haven’t spotted as many retro jerseys or creative t-shirts this year, but there were Flutie and Kelly jersey sightings today. I guess as time marches on, Kyle Williams is now vintage. It was great to see the Pegula truck pull up bright and early and stay for the whole session.

Following the Astro tradition of noting extra effort in warm-ups, today’s winners were Curtis Samuel, Shane Buechele, Zach Davidson, Baylon Spector, Dane Jackson, and Christian Benford. The leadership aspects that have developed in every area of Benford’s approach stand out daily.

I miss the old school sleds, but we did get to see the OL moving individual sleds today. For the overwhelming majority of time on the main field there was plenty of work between QBs and WRs. For the most part, Josh looked sharp all day, especially for the first week of training camp. I had hoped to get more of a chance to compare arms between Mitch Trubisky and Mike White, but neither had any throws anywhere as challenging as #17. Both took off on an impressive broken play scramble; the legs look pretty even. All four QBs took plenty of reps; I wonder what the “pitch count” was on day three?

With Knox still not on the field, Zach Davidson, Jackson Hawes, and Keleki Latu are getting extra work. Zach Davidson really flashed in his work with the first team. He is a strong candidate for most improved through the first three days while Hawes is already wowing people with elite blocking skills. It’s unlikely both can make the 53, but both belong on an NFL Roster opening day.

Kincaid had another good day. I expect to see in the regular season some of what we saw today: Kincaid lined up outside and Keon lined up in the slot. That produced a nice 30 yard completion from Allen to Kincaid. That might have been the 3rd best completion of the day. I really loved a simple double crossing pattern with Josh Palmer and Ray Davis that went to Ray in stride, for a tie at spot #3.

It was a close competition with all the passes thrown today, but my 2nd favorite offensive play today was a throw 20 yards down the middle from Josh to Keon, with perhaps the most impressive run after catch I have ever seen at Fisher. Keon Coleman might not be there yet as a “boundary” WR, but he looks like a monster in the middle of the field. Watching Coleman juke Rapp down the field made me think “Why not let him return punts?” Say what you will about his separation abilities, but he is elite after the catch.

The pass and catch of the day was a beautiful deep corner route from Josh Allen to Khalil Shakir that was well covered, but an absolutely perfect throw landed in Shakir’s sure hands. Much more of Shakir running outside routes this season, please! As we look to Joe Brady to exploit matchups, he really has an embarrassment of riches to work with. While they didn’t make the top 3 plays, Palmer, Moore, and Samuel have all impressed all three sessions. WR6, if there is going to be one, will be decided by special teams’ considerations, but if you want a sense of the pecking order right now 6. Shavers 7. Virgil 8. Hamler The rookies haven’t gotten a good enough look yet.

The defense was unhappy with only one takeaway on Thursday, so Taylor Rapp took matters into his own hands with three interceptions! He may be the early leader for most improved defensive player. Being comfortable in the system is allowing him to display his enormous talent. Cole Bishop hasn’t done anything flashy yet, but I feel much more comfortable about the safety position than going into 2024. I’m pretty confident of Hamlin’s spot on the team. At least once every practice Max Hairston makes a play with his speed.

You won’t hear much about line play before the pads come on next week, but I did get my best look at Joey Bosa today. He looks 100% to me, which is bad news for the rest of the AFC. Some other players looking very healthy so far are Matt Milano and Shaq Thompson.

Remember to thank all the bus drivers and SJF volunteers early and often!

Editor’s babble: I’d like to thank you, Joe Reagan, for going above and beyond in finding tickets to training camp. We cannot express our gratitude in words for how much it means to have your reports, along with Dean’s AstroNotes. You can also find Joe on Xwitter @joer869.