The Buffalo Bills are heading into their first preseason game Saturday at 1 pm against the Carolina Panthers with a handful of players trending in the right direction after training camp at St. John Fisher University.
That stretch also gave the Bills a chance to officially celebrate the new Highmark Stadium during the Red and Blue intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday, but the bigger takeaway from camp was which players made real noise and which ones still have work to do before the final 53-man roster is set in September.
One of the clearest risers has been DE/DT T.J. Sanders.
He came into his first full camp with plenty to prove after an unproductive and eventful rookie season in 2025, and he answered with a much stronger showing. Sanders flashed quickness off the line and showed off a powerful spin move at 6-foot-4, 297 pounds on his way to getting to the quarterback.
There’s also the sense that the defensive setup may be helping him. Under new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, the more aggressive 3-4 scheme could be a better fit for Sanders than the 4-2-5 look Sean McDermott previously used.
If he carries that into the three preseason games, he looks like a safe bet to start at defensive end in the regular season.
S C.J. Gardner-Johnson has also been making an impression, and not just because of his reputation.
Under McDermott, the Bills usually steered away from Gardner-Johnson’s past drama, but Joe Brady is willing to embrace the edge he brings. Brady understands that championship defenses often have that one player who is a headache for opponents but a favorite in the locker room.
So far, Gardner-Johnson has mostly let his play do the talking. He has been hard-working and physical in coverage, doing as much as he can without full tackling in practice.
Once the hitting ramps up, the expectation is that he’ll get under receivers’ skin and maybe deliver a big shot or two. At 5-foot-11, 208 pounds, he plays with the kind of loud bark and big bite that opponents notice fast.
On offense, D.J. Moore already looks every bit like the true No. 1 receiver Josh Allen has been missing since Stefon Diggs in 2023.
Moore’s ability to create big plays should help steady the offense and let Allen spread the ball around while defenses are forced to account for him. At 6-foot, 213 pounds, he brings size, toughness, and the ability to win contested catches in man coverage.
He also has the speed to work as a gadget player on jet sweeps, similar to CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys. Moore knows how to be used in that role, too, since he and Brady ran those plays together with the Carolina Panthers and again last year with the Chicago Bears.
The skill that really sets him apart from the rest of the receiver room is the clutch gene, the kind that shows up in game-tying and game-winning touchdowns.
Then there’s RG O’Cyrus Torrence, whose rise has already paid off in a big way. Brandon Beane extended him on a 4-year, $78.4 million deal with $46 million guaranteed through 2030, making him the seventh-highest-paid guard in the NFL.
The contract looks like a bargain for a player who has already established himself as a force in the run game and kept improving as a pass blocker. Torrence was a major reason James Cook won the rushing title last season, and while he still hasn’t made a Pro Bowl, he’s clearly moving toward that level with a strong second contract and room to keep growing.
In Other News...
Bills Camp Battles Are Defining Jim Leonhards New Defense
Training camp has become a proving ground for the Bills' defense, and Jim Leonhard is making it clear that jobs will be earned, not handed out. Buffalo is moving away from Sean McDermotts familiar 4-3 look and installing a more aggressive 3-4 under its new defensive coordinator, which has created a wide-open feel across the unit as first-team reps keep cycling through different players.
The early competition has given rookies and second-year players a real chance to stand out, and several have already drawn positive attention as the staff searches for the right fits in the new scheme. For a defense that has long been tied to McDermotts system, the bigger question now is not just who looks good in camp, but which of these battles will shape the front seven once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Just Unveiled A New Role For D.J. Moore
The Bills added D.J. Moore in an offseason trade with the Bears, and the early plan for his role points to a clear shift in how Buffalo wants to deploy him. According to ESPN, the team is preparing to feature Moore mostly on deep and intermediate routes in the 2026 season, a usage pattern that fits the kind of downfield threat the Bills have been looking to pair with Josh Allen.
Moore arrives in Buffalo with a track record built in Carolina and Chicago, and he already has something valuable in place before taking a regular-season snap: a rapport with Allen. The quarterback has praised Moores talent and team-first approach, and if that connection carries over into the offense, the Bills may have found a more direct way to stretch defenses without asking Moore to do everything. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Allen Debate Puts Bills Offensive Balance Back In Focus
Josh Allens standing inside the Bills offense has long been one of the defining features of the teams modern run, and it is back in the conversation after Mike Sando of The Athletic raised the possibility of internal tension over how much influence the quarterback has on play-calling and other offensive decisions. The discussion also touched on concerns from some league sources about Allens role in pass protections and how that fits with the shift from coordinator to head coach on the staff.
For Buffalo, the bigger issue is not a single rumor so much as the larger question of offensive balance and who ultimately steers it. Local reporters have not backed up the claims, and the picture remains speculative, but it is the kind of chatter that tends to follow a team with a franchise quarterback as central to everything it does. How the Bills handle that dynamic will keep drawing attention as long as Allen remains the face of the operation. [Read more 🡒]