Buffalo Bills: 5 players with the most to prove entering training camp

Buffalo Bills guard Ike Boettger

Ike Boettger rode the bench his first two years with the Buffalo Bills. He played just seven percent of the team’s snaps in 2018, and five percent in 2019. Had things gone according to plan for the Buffalo offensive line in 2020, it would have been more of the same for Boettger.

Things didn’t work out that way, however; Cody Ford suffered a knee injury midway through the 2020 season, and Boettger was the guy who stepped in for him.

Boettger played surprisingly well. He earned a 65.3 grade from Pro Football Focus (PFF) and didn’t allow a single sack in any of the 623 snaps he played. Boettger’s snap count jumped from five percent in 2019 to 57 percent in 2020; over a thousand percent increase.

The fact that Boettger was able to step into Ford’s role and hold the fort down should be very encouraging for Bills fans because that means the Bills likely have one of the deeper units in the league.

Boettger will have to fend off a returning Ford and 2021 third round draft pick Spencer Brown to maintain the momentum he created for himself in 2020. Ford was a second round draft pick for the Bills in the 2019 NFL Draft, and he was in the middle of a transition from tackle to guard when he got hurt.

It is unsure who will be starting at the second guard position for the Bills entering training camp, but it is a sure thing that Ike Boettger will have to prove his worth to the coaching staff in order to maintain his role from 2020.