Kicking Bass
One very highlighted training camp battle for the Bills was their kicker one between rookie Tyler Bass and incumbent Stephen Hauschka. The rookie won… Beane called it a “very tight competition.” The GM added that he wanted to give Hauschka, who’s still unsigned but had a workout with the Titans, a chance to land with another team, that’s why that roster decision came a few days before roster cut-down day.
“Steve did a lot of good things for us,” Beane said. “He made some big kicks for this organization.”
But Beane certainly stood by the team’s selection, and a larger part of the team’s decision to pick Bass than we expected might’ve been because of an overlooked part of the special teams game: Kickoffs.
“They both hit some big kicks. Just beyond the field goals… the ‘weapon’ if you want to say is the kickoffs,” Beane said. “We know how windy and how crazy this [Buffalo] weather could be, to have a weapon like that, to be able to do that, is also part of the evaluation process.”
Later in his career with the Bills, Hauschka struggled with both touchbacks on kickoffs and placekicks from 50-plus yards.