After four straight days of practice to open training camp at St. John Fisher University, the Buffalo Bills have an off day on Thursday. The start of training camp is about knocking some of the rust off from the offseason and is just the beginning steps as teams ramp up their preparation for the upcoming season.
While it is still early in training camp and players have not put pads on yet, there are a few players that are making some noise over the first four practices this year.
5 players that are off to a great start at Buffalo Bills training camp
James Cook
Since the Buffalo Bills drafted James Cook in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the excitement has been building around the former University of Georgia running back. He is one of the best pass-catching running backs in this year’s draft class and for an offense like this one that relies heavily on the passing game, he is seemingly a perfect fit.
The notes from training camp have been overwhelmingly positive as Cook has been as good as expected. Matt Parrino with syracuse.com wrote this about the rookie running back after Tuesday’s practice:
"The speed has been evident since rookie minicamp, but now that Cook is starting to play against the entire roster it’s becoming clear he has a different burst."
A big question for Cook is how he will hold up once the pads and in particular how he handles blitz pickup. Right now, he should see plenty of work on passing downs but if he struggles with blitz pickup it could limit his snaps as a rookie.