Intriguing guard with fitting name dubbed Bills' UDFA with best shot at roster

It has the makings of an Abbott and Costello-esque bit the quality of which could rival “who’s on first?”

“Who are the Bills playing at guard?”

“Yes.”

We’ll workshop the joke, but there’s definitely something there, a sentiment the Buffalo Bills share with regard to former Utah guard Keaton Bills. The team has reportedly agreed to sign the 6-foot-4 offensive lineman after he fell through the cracks of the 2024 NFL Draft, setting the stage for what is perhaps the funniest marriage between a prospect and team since running back Ricky Williams and then-New Orleans Saints head coach Mike Ditka tied the knot on the cover of ESPN: The Magazine in 1999.

There may be something more to Bills than a humorous pun, however; he started a bevy of games in Salt Lake City, earning honorable mentions on the All-Pac 12 team in the 2022 and 2023 seasons as he established himself as a reliable, if unspectacular stalwart.

Though he enters a Buffalo offensive line room that’s quite deep, the idea of Bills carving out a depth role in training camp and preseason is not too egregious. That’s how Bleacher Report’s Ryan Fowler feels, at least, as he recently identified Bills as Buffalo’s undrafted free agent signing with the best chance at making the 53-man roster.

“Keaton Bills provides a physicality at the guard spot that offensive line coaches covet,” Fowler wrote. “A team captain during his time under Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, Bills was a mainstay along the Utes' front five. He accrued 2,621 snaps at left guard in five seasons and allowed only three career sacks against Pac-12 competition, according to Pro Football Focus.”

It’s not an outlandish idea, and there are signs that suggest that Buffalo’s front office has watched a lot of Bills’ snaps; the team selected fellow Ute Dalton Kincaid in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and Bills started at guard in Utah throughout two of Kincaid’s three seasons with the team. The Bills also aren’t opposed to keeping previously undrafted offensive linemen around on their roster—for evidence of this, look no further than Alec Anderson and Ryan Van Demark.

Once-undrafted linemen typically don’t crack Buffalo’s roster until their second years, however; both Anderson and Van Demark spent their rookie seasons on the team’s practice squad before making the 53-man unit in the 2023 NFL season. This, combined with the team’s solid depth across the unit, perhaps make Bills a more realistic immediate practice squad contender, despite his ability.