Damar

Hamlin

The Bills also declared S Damar Hamlin, CB Rasul Douglas, LB Matt Milano, WR Curtis Samuel, DT DeWayne Carter and T Tylan Grable inactive. The Bills’ defense will be without both starting safeties, its No. 2 perimeter CB and its lynchpin LB. The Patriots’ offense should be able to provide at least a few usable fantasy outings in this one.

Douglas, Rapp, and Hamlin comprise three of the four regular starters in the Bills’ secondary, so these are some huge losses going into a game on the road in Detroit. This game was already likely to be a shootout, but the Lions’ pass catchers could all be in for a huge game.

Hamlin will play alongside S Taylor Rapp to start the season against the Cardinals. Hamlin was medically cleared for football activities last August after he collapsed on the field and narrowly avoided death in December 2022. He played limited defensive snaps in 2023. Pro Football Focus graded Hamlin as last year’s 59th best cover safety.

Nothing of note to see here. Hamlin has been inactive for the majority of Buffalo’s games this season, and all fantasy relevant players are good to go for this divisional showdown.

Hamlin has been active just once this season and did not record a defensive snap, but mounting injuries to the Bills’ secondary will have the third-year safety vaulted into a potential key role against the Broncos. Inactive for the Bills are S Micah Hyde, CB Christian Benford, OG Germain Ifedi, OT ALec Anderson, DT Poona Ford, and LB Baylon Spector.

There was quite the storyline this week with Damar Hamlin returning to Cincinnati to face the Bengals less than a year after his devastating incident in Week 17 of the 2022 season, but the second-year safety will not be active in Week 9. The Bills appear otherwise close to full strength for the AFC showdown on Sunday Night Football.

It will be Hamlin’s first game since suffering a cardiac arrest on the field in Week 17 of last year. He made Buffalo’s final roster after training camp but has been a healthy scratch for the first three weeks of the season. With safety Jordan Poyer out for Week 4, Hamlin will be on the game-day roster as a depth option. It’s an incredible turnaround from the most harrowing moment the NFL has seen in decades.

Hamlin is once again a healthy scratch. The Bills emerged from the Week 1 loss to the Jets without any major injuries and will look to get back on track against the Raiders.

No real surprises here as the Bills enter Week 1 relatively healthy. Josh Allen and the rest of the offense will have their hands full with the ferocious pass rush from New York, but they do so with all starters active.

Hamlin should serve as depth in the secondary while also contributing on special teams for the Bills. One of the better “feel-good” stories you will see in sports continues his journey in the NFL on one of the better rosters in the league. Hamlin was cleared to resume football activities earlier this summer just three months after his heart stopped during the team’s Week 17 contest against the Bengals.