If the Bills want to finally get over the hump and make it back to the Super Bowl, it’s their defense that will need to step up this season. And for that to happen, they’ll need several young players to have career years to improve the overall depth of the unit. One such example is Cole Bishop, the second-round safety from Utah.
Bishop appeared in 16 games for the Bills last season, but only played 358 snaps on defense as he was a part-time player behind Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp. He really struggled in coverage, allowing a passer rating of 127.4 and 9.3 yards per target, according to Pro Football Reference.
However, there is a lot of optimism surrounding Bishop in Year 2 as the Bills believe he could end up being one of their starting safeties this year. He has had a strong training camp as the starting safety opposite Taylor Rapp, and the hope is that his 4.45 speed will begin to show up more often in his sophomore season.
Cole Bishop has experts believing in a sophomore breakout
In a recent article by Benjamin Solak of ESPN, he wrote about Bishop and why he believes he could be in for a big season. He was named one of the top 20 young defenders who could positively impact the 2025 season. Here is a snippet of what Solak had to say about the former Utah star:
"Bishop's coverage instincts need work if that range is going to show up in big plays, and as the final line of defense, he must become a more consistent tackler. But it's fair to expect both of those things to improve the further he gets from the shoulder injury that robbed him of critical reps and experience."Benjamin Solak, ESPN
In theory, Bishop and Rapp work well together as Rapp’s best role is as an in-the-box safety who can make plays in the run game, while Bishop can use his speed and explosiveness to make plays in coverage. But as Solak mentioned, Bishop needs to show more consistency and anticipation in coverage if he’s going to work as a free safety.
The Bills are counting on Bishop to take a big leap this year; otherwise, we could see the pairing of Hamlin and Rapp again this year. And as we saw in 2024, that safety duo was one of the worst in the league, and neither player is particularly strong in coverage. But if Bishop can take that next step and give the Bills some adequate safety play, there is no reason why this defense cannot be much improved in 2025.