Kicking Specialists
This is one area that necessarily isn’t clear at this point is an improvement but there certainly will be competition. The Bills still have their starting kicker, Stephen Hauschka, and their starting punter, Corey Bojorquez, under contract but unlike year’s pasts brought in two players that could legitimately win the starting jobs.
Shortly after the end of the 2019 season, the Bills signed Kaare Vedvik to a reserve/futures contract. Vedvik has bounced around the league starting with the Baltimore Ravens in 2018 and then was traded to the Minnesota Vikings last year.
However, he was waived before the season and joined the New York Jets. For Bills fans, they may know him best from a missed extra point in the first game of the season that was a key moment in that game as the Bills won 17-16.
While Vedvik has experience as a placekicker, he likely will be competing with Bojorquez for the starting punter job.
As for kicker, the Bills drafted Tyler Bass in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft and could surpass the veteran Hauschka this offseason. The biggest advantage Bass has is his leg strength, something that has diminished for Hauschka in recent years as he has connected on only one of five attempts over 50 yards this past year.
Even if the Bills go into 2020 with Hauschka and Bojorquez as their starters, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. If they are the starters, that means they performed well enough to earn the starting job and that should be a nice boost to this group.