Buffalo Bills’ key player to watch in 2025 training camp and top storylines to follow

Buffalo Bills’ training camp and preseason dates

Camp opens on July 23rd, ending on August 7th. The Bills will play the following preseason games:

vs New York Giants, Sat Aug 9th, 1pm

@ Chicago Bears, Sun August 17th, 8pm

@ Tampa Bay Buccaneers, August 23rd, 7:30pm

Buffalo Bills’ main camp storylines

For the Bills, 2025 will be all about the same things 2023 and 2024 were — how do they get past Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs? Two straight playoff losses to Andy Reid’s juggernaut (and four in the last five) have made an obsession in Buffalo not seen since the 90s Super Bowl reverses at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys.

What’s missing? That’s a more difficult question, as the team’s built an excellently talented roster over the last few years, led by MVP quarterback Josh Allen. It appears that the team, at least, thinks defense might be the culprit, spending their first-round pick on Kentucky defensive back Maxwell Hairston and making their top four draft picks defensive players to boot. How they perform could change the narrative and feeling around Buffalo very quickly.

They will miss long-time hero Micah Hyde, who has retired, while veterans such as Amari Cooper and Von Miller leave something of a void to fill, although not as big as they might once have. Veteran additions Joey Bosa and Elijah Moore bear watching, as any juice the team can get out of these prove-it deals could be enough to push them over the hump.

The offense, meanwhile, should continue to function at its usual pace, but they need their three new receivers in Josh Palmer, Laviska Shenault Jr. and the aforementioned Moore to fit in quickly with Allen and the rest of the offense.

They also have a potential contract dispute with running back James Cook to resolve.

Buffalo Bills’ training camp player to watch – TE Dalton Kincaid

The Buffalo Bills offense, led by the aforementioned Allen and offensive coordinator Joe Brady, has been a scoring machine, particularly in 2024. The surprising element of it, though, is that’s come despite the largely average play of Kincaid, a former first round pick.

After initially impressing in 2023, setting the franchise record for rookie receptions with 73, an injury-hit 2024 season put him behind schedule, and saw him ultimately sharing the starting job with Dawson Knox, who is both well thought of and well-paid in Buffalo.

If they are to finally slay their Chiefs dragon, they need Kincaid, among others, to fire on full cylinders throughout the season. Moreover, in such a high-octane, pressure situation, the Bills can’t afford for any of their draft picks to be failures.

Kincaid’s not there yet, but they need more from him in 2025. If he and fellow youthful pass-catcher, Keon Coleman, can take steps forward, Buffalo may finally have the armory to win its high-powered shootouts in the playoffs.