Buffalo Bills: 3 Players to watch in Preseason Week 2 vs. Panthers

The Buffalo Bills hope to see more big-time performances in the second week of the preseason as they take on Carolina and these are the players to watch.

When it comes to the Buffalo Bills, things are seemingly turning for the better. Josh Allen submitted an uneven but impressive rookie season at quarterback last season. Now, the Bills front office made a strong effort to put Allen in a better position in the 2019 season and beyond. They’re trying to showcase that in their preseason efforts, which continue on Friday with a trip to play the Carolina Panthers.

The Panthers were quite impressive last week and should provide a strong test for the Bills on both sides of the ball. A fierce, deep pass rush will likely put some heat on Allen while the linebackers make running the ball difficult. Then, a versatile offense will test Buffalo’s highly touted defense.

Thus, there will be a lot to see from the Bills in this game as they go on the road against this NFC South foe.

So then, let’s see which players should be in the spotlight for Buffalo on Friday night.

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3. Devin Singletary, RB

The ages of the Buffalo Bills running backs is one of the more common jokes throughout the league right now. At the top of the depth chart are LeSean McCoy and Frank Gore, two of the older running backs in the NFL. However, it was a rookie that made waves last week as Devin Singletary, the third-round pick out of Florida Atlantic, far out-performed T.J. Yeldon.

While it seemed like Singletary might have an uphill climb for playing time, that may not be the case. He showed that he can both be a productive runner and a pass-catcher out of the backfield, the latter of which he wasn’t asked to do hardly at all during his time at FAU. If he can show that again against Carolina, that could be good for his fortunes moving into the regular season.

2. Ed Oliver, DT

Ed Oliver was one of the standout rookies in the entire NFL in the first week of the preseason. He came out and proved to be the pressure creator that the BIlls hoped they were getting when they made him a first-round pick. The Houston product is an absolute terror up front already and it’s going to be exciting to see what he does in his first professional season.

Honestly, Oliver isn’t a player that has anything to prove in this game. What should be fun is that the Panthers offensive line was quite up-and-down in their first matchup of the preseason. If that continues against a player like Oliver, the rookie is going to absolute feast and put up some incredible numbers in a short period of time. Put simply, that would be fun to watch.

1. Cody Ford, OL

Many people watched the 2019 NFL Draft and wondered why Cody Ford wasn’t being taken in the first round as he kept sliding down the board. Ultimately, the Oklahoma Sooners product ended up being one of the biggest steals in the draft when the Bills took him in the second round. Now it’s all about how Ford performs in his biggest test to date, particularly when he moves outside to tackle.

Though the Colts have a strong overall defense, the Panthers have a group of fearsome edge rushers with rookie Brian Burns, veteran Mario Addison, rookie Christian Miller and several others. That will put the rookie offensive lineman to the test to see how he performs against a good group of pass-rushers.