Buffalo Bills stock watch: Khalil Shakir on the rise, fellow WR Hamler moving down

ORCHARD PARK - Trying to find positives for the Buffalo Bills based on what took place at Highmark Stadium Saturday afternoon is akin to understanding quantum physics.

No matter how many times I run things through my head as I ponder the 33-6 blowout inflicted by the Chicago Bears, not much is happening in my brain.

The Bills were terrible in every way imaginable, and coach Sean McDermott admitted, “If you’d had a blood pressure cuff on me during that game, it would probably have exploded.”

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Yes, it’s only preseason, but McDermott was clearly perturbed by the performance his team put forth because the Bills were dominated in every phase.

“That's probably one of the more irritating things of this, is I don't care who it is, where we're playing, what time of day we play, or in this case preseason game No. 1, there is a standard and an expectation when you put on the colors of the Buffalo Bills to come out and play a lot better than we did and coach a lot better than we did,” McDermott said, remarks that are about as pointed as he’ll ever offer.

It was just a slog from start to finish, and as he said, as horrifying is the film review is going to be, there’s going to be plenty to learn from. Now the hope is that he and his staff can make the corrections and get the Bills headed back in the right direction as they head to Pittsburgh next week for a joint practice, and then preseason game No. 2.

Here are three players I thought saw their stock rise:

WR Khalil Shakir

He was already starting in a strong position because he is clearly going to be a starter on this team, but Shakir continued to do everything he’s done during training camp: When the ball is thrown to him, he catches it.

Three passes came his way and he caught all three for 28 yards including a pretty play where he took a short pass from Mitch Trubisky on a fourth-and-2 and used his quickness to run away from Bears DB Josh Blackwell, turning it into a 19-yard gain. He also caught the only ball to thrown to him by Josh Allen for a seven-yard gain.

K Tyler Bass

The last time he kicked in a game situation at Highmark Stadium, yeah, it didn’t go well. But on a gusty day in Orchard Park, he made both of his field goal attempts including a 49-yarder in the third quarter that got the Bills within 13-6.

Bass needs to rebuild his confidence after his poor postseason performance in 2023, and he’s been pretty solid during training camp, though he did miss twice the other day in a live field goal drill.

LB Dorian Williams

The second-year player is battling for a backup spot behind Matt Milano and he had an active day as led the defense with six tackles and recorded a three-yard sack.

Williams was also on the kickoff team and that’s where he’ll likely have his biggest impact this season, assuming Milano - who did not play in the game - can stay healthy. Williams played with his hair on fire last year as a rookie, but he seems to be much more under control regarding his assignments so far in year two.

Here are three players whose stock dropped:

The entire starting offensive line

OK, I cheated here because it’s pretty tough to single out one player up front, but no one played well, and that was most evident in the complete lack of a running game. When the starters were in there, RB’s James Cook and Ray Davis carried six times and gained only three yards.

Both McDermott and Allen acknowledged that there were only a few simple runs in the game plan, and the Bills obviously did not put together a plan to specifically attack the Bears. Still, winning physical battles up front takes no game-planning - just man against man, and the Bears owned the line of scrimmage.

“There is not much more to say other than we didn't control the line of scrimmage from the jump,” McDermott said.

WR/KR KJ Hamler

He is buried on the wide receiver depth chart, so his only chance to make the team will be if he shines on returns, and he did not do that. And on offense, he also dropped a pass that was right in his hands.

He returned one kickoff for 19 yards, then fumbled his second attempt and wound up with just two return yards, leaving the Bills with a drive start at the 17. He did manage a 15-yard punt return in the second quarter where he made a nice move to avoid the first tackler, but he’s going to need to be much better if he gets a chance in the last two preseason games.

“I thought the returners, especially the ones that are new to our team, got a feel for the weather and Buffalo, right?” McDermott said. “It's a beautiful day, but that wind kicks up out there from time to time, and I think the gusts were pretty significant at times. Both K.J. and (Daequan Hardy) were having a little bit of trouble tracking the ball.”

Hardy made a bad mistake when he fair caught a punt inside his own 5-yard-line.

OG Gunnar Britton

The undrafted rookie free agent isn’t making the team, and his chances of possibly returning to the practice squad took a hit because like the rest of the guys up front, he was not effective, but he also committed a holding penalty and a false start penalty.

Again, singling him out probably isn’t fair because the Bills had 11 penalties for 75 yards, but Britton put some sloppy tape out there, tape that every team will see, and it’s game like this that can get you expelled from the NFL in a hurry.

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills roster watch: Khalil Shakir locked in, KJ Hamler is not