Bills observations: Deone Walker flashes potential in Year 2, injury list shuffles

The Buffalo Bills have a busy week ahead of them. Not only did they host another open practice on Tuesday at their brand-new home, Highmark Stadium, but they’re also taking their operations on the road for much of the week.

The team takes part in a joint practice with the Cleveland Browns Thursday afternoon, followed by the teams’ preseason matchup on Saturday. Before heading to Ohio, the Bills saw some of their injured players return during their stadium practice, while adding a bevy of names to the injury list.

On the plus side, the Bills welcomed back starting cornerback Maxwell Hairston and starting safety Cole Bishop to practice participation. Both players had missed about a week of action and did not play in the preseason game against the Panthers, and were full participants Tuesday.

The same goes for reserve offensive lineman Tylan Grable, who did not play against the Panthers after leaving Thursday’s practice early with an injury.

But with their returns, the non-participant list grew — most notably at wide receiver. The Bills were without the trio of Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and rookie Skyler Bell. There is no injury distinction on Shakir yet, as head coach Joe Brady doesn’t meet with the media until Thursday in Cleveland. However, Coleman wore a walking boot on his right foot, while Bell is dealing with a lower-body injury that has kept him out for over a week.

Another big injury addition is starting defensive lineman Ed Oliver. Oliver took every single first-team snap against the Panthers on Saturday, making his absence from practice on Tuesday slightly surprising. Along with Oliver and the receivers, running back Ty Johnson, center Connor McGovern, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and rookie safety Jalon Kilgore also did not practice.

Although the Bills have had some injury woes, the never-ending roster grind continues as Aug. 30 — cutdown day — draws closer. We’re at the part of the summer when we see some real depth chart jostling as we start to see how the Bills’ 53-man roster could take shape.

After going back and watching the film of the Panthers game, combined with what we saw during Tuesday’s practice, here’s what stood out and some of the things the Bills are going to have to decide in the next two weeks.

Walker’s whoa potential

Even though the Bills’ first-team defense had nine snaps total, the massive impact second-year player Deone Walker had on the game was noticeable at first. When you watched it back on coaches’ film, it was even more impressive. Walker was a dominant force against the Panthers on Saturday and really showed some elite growth from his rookie season to this one.

While you don’t want to jump to conclusions over preseason reps, seeing this type of ability on film at least gives you an idea of what is possible with an emerging young player. Whether it’s taking advantage of one-on-ones, being a nuisance in the run game, or setting the table for his teammates, Walker showed that his ceiling could be extremely high in this Bills defense.

The Bills have been consistently searching for game-wrecking defensive linemen that force opponents to gameplan for them. Since general manager Brandon Beane arrived, the closest thing to that has been Ed Oliver. And while Oliver is a very good player who provides splash plays and does a lot of great things that go unnoticed, his consistency in those flashy reps hasn’t been there as much throughout his career. What Walker showed on film in a small sample size is the type of talent they’ve been searching for at that spot for a long time. What Walker showed Saturday and throughout training camp, along with the baseline ability we saw in 2025, makes him becoming the Bills’ defensive focal point squarely in the range of outcomes. Plus, he’s still only 22 years old.

With that said, Walker has a long way to go before he reaches that level. He’s already vastly outplayed his fourth-round pick and has quickly become one of their most important defenders. However, seeing the types of things Walker is capable of, if harnessed and proven to be consistent throughout the season, has to have the Bills feeling extremely hopeful for what he could become, possibly in the not-so-distant future.

Elarms-Orr learning as he goes, but the Bills seem encouraged

In his NFL debut, the Bills gave rookie inside linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr all he could handle with a ton of time on the field. He mixed in next to Terrel Bernard with the first-team defense, then played a lot of snaps with the second-team defense, and even got a handful of snaps with the third-team defense. It was pretty obvious that the Bills, who have been extremely pleased with Elarms-Orr so far, were trying to get him a lot of experience before the games actually matter.

“He plays fast, he plays physical,” defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard said. “I mean, the athleticism always pops with him and physicality,” Leonhard said. “He’s gonna be a great player.”

Buffalo Bills rookie linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr (52), pictured during minicamp, could be in line to start for Week 1. (Gregory Fisher / Imagn Images)

The physicality piece stood out watching the game back, especially in how he engaged with blockers and held at the point of attack to keep in the play. That’s something the linebacker room was missing in 2025.

However, the rookie’s roughest rep was when he took a pass interference penalty, though Leonhard said it had all to do with Elarms-Orr’s positioning, which allowed a teachable moment for the young linebacker.

“Honestly, it was more pre-snap,” Leonhard said. “He just did a little bit too extra pre-snap with what he was trying to disguise, which put him in a tough spot, and you know, he ended up panicking a little bit down the field.”

However, even with that lesson learned, the Bills aren’t running from the idea that Elarms-Orr could be an early contributor, and possibly even a starter. In Tuesday’s practice, it was Elarms-Orr, not Dorian Williams, getting the first set of first-team reps next to Bernard. Williams mixed in later with a series of his own, too. However, the Bills are giving Elarms-Orr every opportunity to win the starting job outright.

OL decision is getting tougher

One of the biggest things that stood out in the film over the final three quarters was our first real glimpse of how their reserve offensive linemen looked against opponents. What makes it so compelling is that the Bills have a blend of veterans and players they picked over the last three drafts, all vying for roster spots. At this point, both veterans Austin Corbett and Lloyd Cushenberry III appear pretty well insulated, leaving the Bills to potentially make a tough call on cutting or trading players they drafted. Rookie tackle Jude Bowry, a fourth-round pick, is a roster lock due to his draft status.

That leaves the quartet of Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (2024 fifth-round), Tylan Grable (2024 sixth-round), Chase Lundt (2025 sixth-round) and Ar’maj Reed-Adams (2026 seventh-round), all picks of the Bills, competing for one or two spots on the 53-man roster. It’s become a tougher decision because three of those four, Van Pran-Granger, Grable, and Reed-Adams, have shown real growth and promise this summer.

Although Grable didn’t play on Saturday, he’s a super athletic offensive tackle with potential, and those are heavily sought after by teams, and the type the Bills don’t often give up on early. With how well Van Pran-Granger and Reed-Adams performed against the Panthers, it complicates things. If they have to cut one or two in that young trio, the chances they sneak past waivers and get to their practice squad in an offensive line-starved NFL likely reduce.

After Tuesday’s practice, starting center Connor McGovern remarked that this summer has been the best camp he’s seen from Van Pran-Granger, as he’s learned how to utilize his positioning against defenders better.

However, the real recent surprise has been Reed-Adams, who had an excellent game on Saturday, to the point that his stock is rising. Reed-Adams only plays guard, which hurts his case, but his strength and long arms have shown there’s more there than first thought. As McGovern said, if Reed-Adams gets his “big stone hands” on a defender during a rep, “it’s over.”

Without question, it’s a good problem for the Bills to have. However, because of the sheer numbers at the position, they may be forced to move on from someone they would rather see develop internally for another year.

A special teams role that could impact many roster choices

The Bills’ punt return role was unsettled in 2025, and with most of training camp over, it’s safe to say they’re in a similar spot in 2026.

The team has tried many options in practice, but only two have been consistently present and have a realistic shot at making the team. The first is wide receiver Mecole Hardman, who held the role for a time last season but plays minimal offensive snaps. The other is running back Ray Davis, a roster lock but short on experience doing the job. Although this may not seem like a big deal because it’s just a handful of snaps each game, if the Bills give the job to Hardman, it could take away a valuable spot the Bills may want to use to keep a promising young player elsewhere.

Davis solved that same conundrum as the primary kickoff returner, but catching kickoffs and punts is a different skill set entirely, as the ball comes in differently. Plus, to catch a punt, you have to be aware of your surroundings, both where you are on the field and how close defenders are to you, and then secure the catch on top of it. Davis has struggled with some bobbles while trying to catch punts, even though he is so fluid at catching them on the go on kickoffs. It brings up the question of how confident they would be in him when the games actually matter.

If they aren’t, then they likely have to keep Hardman at a potential onesie position. That’s why Davis’ acclimation to the role is so important to watch during the remaining practices and games.