Buffalo Bills: Takeaways from Week 1 snap counts

These were the top takeaways from the snap counts for the Buffalo Bills in Week 1.

The Buffalo Bills took the field for the first time in 2020 and came away with a 27-17 victory over the New York Jets. This game was particularly interesting because with no preseason it was hard to get a full understanding of player’s roles and how the team may utilize their roster this season.

After the first game, there were a number of things that stood out for the Buffalo Bills snap counts and ways this team may look different from previous years.

Buffalo Bills stick with the same starting offensive line

There were some questions entering this game of what the starting offensive line would look like. When the Bills offensive took the field they had Cody Ford line up at right guard and Daryl Williams at right tackle.

However, once the game got started there was no question about the five the coaching staff felt most confident in as Dion Dawkins, Quinton Spain, and Mitch Morse, along with Ford and Williams played every offensive snap.

There were times last year that the Bills would rotate Ty Nsekhe in with Cody Ford at right tackle. That doesn’t seem to be the case this year and this should be the offensive line for a few weeks and the team will have to make a decision once Jon Feliciano is ready to return.

Buffalo Bills go four-wide more

Another surprising development for this offense was that the Buffalo Bills went with four wide receivers much more than they have in the past. Last year, the Bills only had four wide receivers on the field for six total plays all year, according to Sharp Football Stats.

Against the New York Jets, they went four wide more than six plays in just that game and the addition of Stefon Diggs, but more important Gabriel Davis, allows them to use this formation.

Stefon Diggs played 94% of the offensive snaps followed by John Brown at 93% and Cole Beasley who was on the field for 63% of the offensive snaps. The surprise was certainly Davis who played 49% of the offensive snaps and even Isaiah McKenzie was on the field for 18% against the New York Jets.

Now that the Bills have the talent at wide receiver, this is a formation that they will utilize much more this season.

Mario Addison out snaps Trent Murphy

While Trent Murphy got the start, and he played pretty well, Mario Addison actually finished the game with more snaps than Murphy. The former Carolina Panther played 62% of the defensive snaps while Murphy played only 45%.

The rotation at defensive end is certainly worth watching over the next few weeks, especially if A.J. Epenesa is active. The team elected to make their second round draft pick inactive for Week 1 but he is too talented to not be part of this defense at some point this year.