ORCHARD PARK — Brendan Rice had two seconds before impact.
Cole Bishop was 9 yards from the line of scrimmage when the ball was released and he needed just two seconds to diagnose the play, come back to the line of scrimmage and obliterate the USC receiver, separating him from the ball. The Buffalo Bills second-round pick made several plays like that last year at Utah, including in the season opener, when he motored from the opposite hashmark to force a fumble on a scrambling Florida quarterback Graham Mertz.
Without stepping onto the field, Bishop is already one of the most physically gifted safeties coach Sean McDermott has had to work with, at 6-foot-2, 206 pounds and can run a 4.45-second 40-yard dash. But Bishop’s ability to blend his physical attributes with all of the mental aspects of playing safety in McDermott’s defense will be key in seeing immediate action as a rookie.
Although Bishop was indeed drafted to be an eventual replacement for Micah Hyde or Jordan Poyer, the Bills have veterans Taylor Rapp and Mike Edwards who can bridge the gap until Bishop is ready to play, but that might not be Week 1. Not only will Bishop need to communicate coverages between the linebackers, but with the rest of the secondary, and that’s in addition to the pre-snap disguising and movement the Bills used with Hyde and Poyer for seven seasons.
“He will have a lot to learn but we think his DNA, his intelligence, super smart by all accounts at Utah when we spent some time with him, our coaches did and this guy knows ball and seems like he’s a quick processor and understands that he’ll have work to do,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said. “… He’s going to have a hard time starting at the beginning of the season, but we’ll see how it all shakes out. We told him today, just learn the playbook, follow the vets and your time will come.”
Bishop is thrust into a defense led by two former defensive backs, with McDermott not only playing safety at William & Mary, but coaching defensive backs with the Philadelphia Eagles. New defensive coordinator Bobby Babich was a cornerback for North Dakota State and coached Buffalo’s safeties from 2018-2021.
McDermott’s affinity for safeties is no secret, being quick to praise Hyde and Poyer perhaps more than any other players and his eyes light up when asked about his time coaching Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins with the Eagles. He has a high and unrelenting bar when it comes to safeties, which, along with the complexity of his scheme, is why he’s rarely played rookie safeties.
In his 15 years as an NFL play-caller, McDermott has started 27 different safeties and only seven have started as rookies, with the last being Tre Boston when McDermott was defensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers in 2014. Only one safety, Nate Allen with the Eagles in 2010, started more than half a season.
Rookies, in general, have a difficult time starting for McDermott and it’s hard to imagine him lowering his standards for Bishop, even though Beane said he was one of the more consensus picks the Bills had, with the coaches and scouts valuing him equally.
“Playing the safety position is different than playing any other position on the field,” McDermott said at the NFL scouting combine. “Not only do you have to be able to play the position, but you’ve got to be able to lead and communicate back there and be able to see the game, big picture, and then be able to cut it down to a smaller picture. And that doesn’t always occur to all those other positions on defense.”
When Bishop does eventually get on the field, Beane indicated that it might be part of a package. Bishop played free safety, strong safety and slot cornerback at Utah and the Bills used Poyer as a linebacker in passing situations last season, but that was when Matt Milano was injured and they struggled to find a replacement linebacker who could hold up in coverage.
The next question is whether Bishop is a strong safety or free safety, where he played last season at Utah. The traditional free safety/strong safety is dying and they are often interchangeable, but there are a few differences.
While the Bills frequently played two-high safeties, Poyer played in the box — the area occupied by defensive linemen and linebackers 3-5 yards from the line of scrimmage — on 34.8% of his snaps in seven seasons with the Bills, compared to Hyde’s 24.3% of snaps in the box.
Bishop played nearly half his college snaps in the box, making 21 ½ tackles for a loss. He also recorded more sacks (7 ½) than interceptions (3) in college, but Beane feels Bishop has instincts to be more productive in Buffalo’s scheme.
“I played in the same playbook for my three years at Utah,” Bishop said. “… Coming out of high school you only know pretty basic stuff. So I’m excited (to learn Buffalo’s playbook). I love to study football, it’s something I’m passionate about so being able to have a new challenge would be fun. I like to watch a lot of film.”
Regardless of where Bishop plays, he’s likely to see the same amount of targets in coverage over time. Bishop feels covering tight ends was one of his strengths in college, but draft analysts felt he was a liability at times due to struggles to change directions and an over-aggressive nature in zone defense.
Bishop was targeted 91 times on 767 coverage snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, allowing 59 receptions for 591 yards and seven touchdowns. Yet, Bishop feels one of his strengths is covering tight ends, something bolstered by covering Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid in practice for two years.
Kincaid thought so highly of Bishop that he confirmed to Beane that he was bested more often than not in practice and attempted to vouch for Bishop multiple times to Beane and Bills draft personnel.
“I think I can do a lot of those different things well,” Bishop said. “Being able to cover Dalton Kincaid every day my first two years definitely helps you get better at covering tight ends, as he’s one of the better route runners out there, so he was super helpful in my growth.”