Which young Bills are poised for a big season? Players under 25 years old with breakout potential

New York Times

2 days ago

As the Bills prepare for the next wave of players to become the key pieces to franchise quarterback Josh Allen's prime, a youth movement is undoubtedly happening in or very near to their starting lineup. The slashing of several prominent long-term members of the Bills during the 2024 offseason helped bring this all along.
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Those necessary decisions put a focus on the development of those young players to help the Bills hit their ceiling of winning the Super Bowl. Because of that essential component, it's time to take a look at the young players who could become a breakout asset for the team in 2025 and shape the team's outcome.
This list is for players who will begin the 2025 regular season under 25 years old and have yet to fully break out during their NFL careers. We define a breakout as someone who has yet to become a well-established starter and has some lingering uncertainty, whether due to inexperience or performance, about their long-term outlook as a core piece of the roster.
For example, Christian Benford, who will still be 24 years old when the season begins, will not be considered for this list because the Bills signed him to a long-term extension this offseason.
Listed in the order of who is the likeliest to break out in 2025, here are nine names to monitor for breakouts of varying levels this year.
Coleman, the team's top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, has the strongest case for a breakout this season due to the combination of experience and expected role in 2025. Even if he wasn't a massive hit statistically as a rookie, Coleman pretty much jumped into a high snap role as a 21-year-old rookie who plays a difficult-to-acclimate position. That, in itself, was impressive, and usually not the case for how the Bills utilize their young players.
Coleman, before he suffered a wrist injury in Week 9, took the most snaps of all Bills wide receivers in seven of his first nine games and was only two snaps shy of adding an eighth to that list. Even after his Week 15 return, Coleman had the highest snap total of the receiver room from that game through the end of the playoffs. In total, Coleman took 70 percent of offensive snaps in the games he played, which was higher than Hollins (65) and Shakir (59). Along with all the time on the field, especially before his injury, Coleman showed several promising moments as a receiver. Even though his route running and separation needed some work, Coleman showed the ability to be a trustworthy target for Allen, even after some drops.
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Even though the Bills added new pieces to the receiver room in Joshua Palmer and Elijah Moore, neither are direct competitors for Coleman's position atop the depth chart at the X receiver role. If anything, Coleman's runway cleared out even more as Mack Hollins moved on in free agency, and the team chose not to re-sign Amari Cooper — two players best suited to that X receiver spot. If Coleman doesn't face much competition for that spot, there is a distinct possibility his on-field role could rise from his already lofty 70 percent. More time on the field means more potential target opportunities, especially if his separation skills improve slightly in the offseason. And more target opportunities mean a distinct opportunity to break out in his second season.
Although it took Bishop, the team's 2024 second-round pick, a long time to find his footing as a rookie, the progress he made over the second half of the season was noteworthy. After an early injury in training camp derailed his chances of winning the starting job outright in 2024, Bishop showed both poise and ability in starting four of the team's final seven games of the season — and in two of the games he didn't start, he took over half of the snaps. The progress was enough for the Bills to decide against making any significant additions at safety, instead only bringing back Damar Hamlin on a one-year prove-it deal, likely to be the top backup in 2025. Unless Bishop regresses by quite a bit, he is very likely to be the opening-day starter along with Taylor Rapp. And if he progresses from the solid starter he showed to be down the stretch, there is a chance he will graduate from this list by this time next year. If it weren't for Coleman having more experience as a rookie, Bishop would be at the top of this list.
The first rookie to make the list and the team's top pick in 2025, Hairston will have to overcome a pair of veterans with vast amounts of experience in the Bills' defensive scheme to become the starter this season. Collectively, Tre'Davious White and Dane Jackson have 122 starts for the Bills, and in the past, the Bills have favored experience outside of when they drafted White back in 2017. Even with the Bills usually operating that way, the current versions of White and Jackson are not as daunting as they were in the past. White wasn't the same player in 2024 as he was during his prime with the Bills. There's a chance being further removed from his torn Achilles in 2023 will help White return to better form, but it's no guarantee. If Hairston shows a good enough understanding of his responsibilities in the defense, there is breakout potential here. But if the Bills follow their past plans, that opportunity could be delayed until later in the season.
Williams became an unexpected starter through the first few months of the season due to Matt Milano's injury in August, which kept Milano out until December. Upon Milano's return, Williams went back to a full-time bench and special teams role. Entering 2025, Williams remains a clear backup to Milano, but some things have changed that could help push him toward a breakout. Milano remains on the roster, turns 31 in July, and the Bills not only had him agree to a pay cut for 2025 but also removed the final year of his contract. Milano is now scheduled to become a free agent after this season. Williams is signed through 2026, so if there are any extended struggles with Milano this season, the Bills could consider pushing Williams into the starting lineup. On top of that, the NFL has been trending toward being more run-heavy recently, which could bring on heavy offensive formations to attack the Bills' usual nickel look. Considering Williams' starting experience, the Bills could consider using more three-linebacker formations. There are a couple of outs for Williams to break out in 2025.
The Bills moved up to select Sanders in the second round, and without a lot of outstanding depth at defensive tackle, it creates an opportunity for Sanders to earn snaps very quickly. The only difficult piece to his 2025 projection at the moment is that there isn't a clean path to hitting the starting lineup. The Bills likely view him as more of a three-technique in their scheme, and there is a defined in-prime starter at that spot in Ed Oliver. He does have good run-defending ability, so he could play some one-technique as well, but it's likely that DaQuan Jones hangs on to that starting job as long as he remains healthy. However, Sanders could become a big-time contributor on third downs next to Oliver, which could contribute to them feeling like they have to play him more and a possible rookie-year breakout. Sanders will have a massive opportunity during the first six weeks with veteran Larry Ogunjobi suspended to secure a key high snap role in their defensive tackle rotation.
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The prospects for Jackson to start, even with the current injury status to Joey Bosa, are not all that strong. Jackson would need to overcome several players at defensive end to earn a high snap role — one of them being next on this list. After Greg Rousseau, the team still has A.J. Epenesa and Michael Hoecht at the position. Regardless, Jackson has the size and length the Bills love at the position, and probably feel like they got a steal in the early third round for him to still be on the board. Like Sanders, Jackson will have a chance to earn more snaps later in the year if he plays well during Hoecht's six-game suspension to begin the season. The investment level in Hoecht is far greater than what the Bills put into Ogunjobi, but Jackson's talent put him in at least some position for a first-year breakout.
A fifth-round selection in 2024, Solomon stood out after he showed some legitimate pass-rushing skills all summer as a rookie. There is a natural blend of speed and power to Solomon's game despite being a tad undersized, and if he develops correctly, there is some hope he could be an every-week rotational rusher at minimum. In the meantime, Solomon proved that he's one of their core special teams assets moving forward and remains signed through the 2027 season. For him to hit his breakout on defense, he'll need to show some significant improvements against the run and with setting the edge. If he does that, he'll open up some chances to get more defensive snaps in 2025, as he's likely to be active every week for special teams purposes. Like Jackson, Solomon could have some more opportunities due to Hoecht's suspension, and could even take some snaps from Jackson. This is a critical season for Solomon to earn a rotational role, though, as the Bills have two key free agents in 2026 at defensive end in Bosa and Epenesa.
Although he didn't get many opportunities as a rookie, the 2024 fifth-round pick has a chance to catapult up this list for 2026 if he plays well enough in 2025. As a current backup, he'll likely have to show most of his progress during training camp and in the preseason, but that could go a long way to earn him some opportunities during the regular seasonVan Pran-Granger is a natural center, and should any injuries happen to Connor McGovern during the season, there is a legitimate possibility it's Van Pran-Granger getting the first call into the lineup. He'd battle Alec Anderson for those honors, as Anderson has some experience as a center, though Anderson's more natural position may be at guard. Van Pran-Granger's progress this summer is humongous to his potential future as a starter, as McGovern is a free agent after the season.
It was a tough offseason for Carter's future. The Bills moved up to draft someone to his three-technique position in Sanders in the second round, and if Carter had a future as a starting one-technique, that also took a hit with the Bills moving up to select Deone Walker in the fourth round. But Walker will presumably need more time to acclimate to the NFL than Sanders, which presents a chance for Carter to show he can be a starter one day. His best chance will be at one-technique in a rotational role behind Jones or as a starter if Jones suffers an injury. As it stands, the odds are not in his favor, and he'll have to really prove himself in 2025.
Just missed the cut: DT Deone Walker, DB Jordan Hancock, CB Dorian Strong
Players who 'aged out' of consideration: O'Cyrus Torrence, TE Dalton Kincaid, RB Ray Davis, IOL Alec Anderson, OT Tylan Grable, LB Joe Andreessen
(Top photo of Keon Coleman: Gregory Fisher / Imagn Images)