The Buffalo Bills are in the midst of their bye week following a 5-1 start to Joe Brady's first season as a head coach.
While the Bills are the NFL's highest-scoring team (32.8), they are surrendering the fifth-most points per game (28.5) to opponents.
Although Brady and franchise quarterback Josh Allen have admitted that across-the-board improvement is needed, Buffalo enters Week 7 as the No. 2 seed in the AFC behind only the Kansas City Chiefs (5-0).
As for individual performers, we've singled out five players in our bye week stock report. Here are three players rising and two falling.
RISING: RB/KR Ray Davis
Don't look now, but Ray Davis is leading the NFL in kick return average (31.0) through the season's first six weeks.
After a slow start, the 2025 All-Pro has rebounded heading into the bye. In addition to huge opening kickoff returns that created points in back-to-back weeks, Davis has also seen a slight bump in offensive snaps.
"But the running back right now, I got to get Ray playing more," said Brady late last month. "He's too good of a player."
Davis, who averaged six offensive snaps per week over the first four outing, totaled 19 reps on offense over the past two games. He had a key 31-yard catch-and-run down to the 1 against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football.
FALLING: S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
Between the extracurricular nonsense and his subpar performances, the Bills needed to show safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson the door, yesterday.
Already on the decline, Gardner-Johnson's stock dropped like a rock in Week 6. After missing two tackles on Raiders' tight end Michael Mayer, he was ejected from the game due to spitting on tight end Brock Bowers.
It's just one distraction after another with Gardner-Johnson, who has shown to be a selfish player with little situational awareness. Following the Week 4 loss to the New England Patriots, he insulted wide receiver Efton Chism in his childish postgame comments.
During training camp, he violated the sanctity of the locker room by live streaming on social media. Even if he played like Ronnie Lott, he wouldn't be worth the excess baggage, and right now, he's not even playing as well as Damar Hamlin.
RISING: WR Keon Coleman
Keon Coleman was written off by everyone from the fans to the owner, but as Geno Smith once famously said, the Bills' wide receiver "ain't write back."
Instead Coleman has quietly done his job through the season's first six games, and he's done it well. With DJ Moore unavailable, Coleman has answered the bell.
“He's where he needs to be. He's handling everything like a pro," said Brady. "There's so much trust we have for him as the player, the development, and he continues to just make plays."
The 6-foot-3 wide receiver has touchdown receptions in each of his last three outings. For the season, he's averaging a robust 14.9 yards per reception while accounting for a 79.2 catch percentage.
FALLING: CB Maxwell Hairston
The Bills' 2025 first-round pick earned the starting nod opposite Christian Benford in Week 1, but his struggles in coverage have resulted in a reduced role in Weeks 5 and 6.
He was not in the starting lineup against the Rams and the Raiders. During the two-game road swing, Hairston saw only 29 percent of defensive snaps.
Hairston has already allowed two touchdowns while opposing quarterbacks post a 96.2 rating when targeting the slightly-undersized defender. He also owns an alarming 21.4 percent missed tackle rate.
While he hasn't approached Kaiir Elam bust territory, Hairston is clearly falling out of favor due to his performance.
RISING: CB Davison Igbinosun
With Hairston's fall comes second-round rookie Davison Igbinosun's rise. The Ohio State product has earned back-to-back starts, playing with high effort and infectious energy.
According to PFF, Igbinosun has three pass break-ups playing man coverage to lead all rookies in that category. He has seven total break-ups to go with 27 tackles.
"I think what he's done the last couple weeks, he's definitely earned a high majority of the snaps at the corner position," said defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. "I know what I'm getting, play in and play out. I think he's stepped in and done a great job handling more volume in this defense."
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