The Buffalo Bills could be undergoing a sizable personnel turnover on their special teams units this season, and in this case, change can only be for the better.

The Bills had what can succinctly be described as a rough 2023 in the kicking game, and for a coach like Sean McDermott who takes great pride in that phase, upon reflection that was a bone of contention for him.

“There were certainly some things that we can do better from this past season,” McDermott said when he was asked specifically at the NFL scouting combine about why he retained special teams coach Matt Smiley. “Through two seasons (with Smiley calling the shots), we’ve had one that I thought was pretty good and one where I thought that we could have done some things better there. In (2022) we didn’t have the kind negative splash plays like we did in (2023) so we’ve got to get that out of our game.”

Veteran sports writer Rick Gosselin has produced his annual and industry-respected special teams’ rankings for more than two decades and they are based on where teams rank in 22 kicking game categories. In Smiley’s first season as coordinator, the Bills finished fifth in 2022 and then plummeted to 28th last year.

The problems began on opening night against the Jets when the Bills got walked off in overtime on a punt return touchdown which set the tone for a rocky season. They also gave up a kickoff return touchdown in Week 17 to the Patriots.

The Bills ranked 26th in kickoff return average (20.5 yards), and sixth in punt returns (11.6) though that was greatly influenced by one play in the final game of the year at Miami, Deonte Harty’s 96-yard TD return. Covering kicks, the Bills ranked 29th against punts and 13th against kickoffs.

And beyond the return and coverage units, kicker Tyler Bass suddenly became unreliable in big moments, and punter Sam Martin’s net average dipped to his lowest mark since 2018, though that could at least be explained by the punt return TD and the fact that he did have 24 punts - nearly half of his 51 attempts - downed inside the 20.

“It just came down to a lack of execution in some spots” said Reggie Gilliam, who played a team-high 84.9% of the special teams snaps last season.

Here are five questions the Bills must answer on their kicking teams.

1. How will the Bills handle the drastically revamped kickoff procedure?

One of the biggest things that happened in the NFL during the offseason was the owners’ approving the overhaul of the kickoff play. It’s hard to think of a change the league has made to the playing of the game that is more outside the box than this.

“The returns dipped significantly this year, they became dead plays,” said McDermott, who had a role in the procedure change as a newly-minted member of the league’s Competition Committee. “Those plays need to happen in an exciting way, at least for a significant amount of the time.”

Not only will it bring the kickoff return back into the game following a year when 18 teams had kickoff touchback percentages of at least 75% (the Bills had the third-lowest at 57.5%), it will impact how teams choose which players make the bottom of their rosters because now they will need bigger bodied players on kickoff coverage rather than speed players.

“There are personnel conversations that have to take place because it’s a different type of play than it was before,” McDermott said. “Any rule change, you’ve got to be aware of that, but in this case, you’re going to find some different types of personnel now making teams … a certain type of body weight, size, whatever it is, speed. Coach Smiley’s trying to find different ways to look at it.”

2. Who will be the primary return men?

With the new kickoff setup, now the role of the returner becomes a key decision. Last season, the kickoff was irrelevant for Buffalo as it returned only 19 all season, by far the fewest in franchise history. Ty Johnson led the team with just eight for a 20.1 average.

Because the kickoff return will be very much like a scrimmage play, offensive players as opposed to defensive players could be the frontrunners because being able to read blocks will be a key, and that’s a skill running backs and receivers already have.

Thus, Johnson should be in the mix, but Khalil Shakir has returned kickoffs in the past, and maybe this is the path wide receiver Justin Shorter can take to a roster spot as he battles veterans like Chase Claypool, Mack Hollins and Andy Isabella at the bottom of the receiver depth chart.

Harty usually handled punt returns last year and he did very little until nearly one-third of his total season return yardage came on the 96-yard TD. Shakir has a little experience on punts, too, but with his expected snap count increase on offense, the Bills will probably want to keep him out of the return game.

The player to watch is sixth-round draft Daequan Hardy, a cornerback from Penn State who had success in college as a return man. His chances of making the roster as the fourth outside cornerback over someone like Ja'Marcus Ingram or Kyron Brown will be greatly enhanced if he can return punts, even more so if he can also handle kickoffs which would be a tremendous situation for the Bills.

3. Can kicker Tyler Bass bounce back?

Last year, Bass’ postseason meltdown culminated when he missed a 44-yard field goal in the final two minutes that would have tied the divisional round game against the Chiefs, his third playoff miss in five attempts. All the other kickers in the postseason missed a combined five kicks so yeah, Bass’ performance was awful.

“There were some kicks we need to make, no doubt about it,” McDermott said. “He knows that. He’s deeply invested in his teammates and this team, and I’m very confident that he’s gonna do what’s necessary this offseason to get himself just right.”

It’s not great timing given that Bass’ four-year contract extension, which will make him the seventh-highest paid kicker in the NFL this season, starts in 2024 so there will be obvious pressure on the fifth-year player.

Across his first four years he has made 84.9% of this regular-season field goals including 24 of 29 last year (two of the misses from outside 50 yards, but only 70.6% of his postseason attempts.

4. Who will be the punter in Week 1?

Martin will have to win his job. During the spring the Bills had three punters before they cut Matt Haack, the man who Martin replaced in 2022. They will go to Pittsford with rookie Jack Browning set to compete.

Interestingly, Browning took over the job at San Diego State for 2021 Ray Guy Award winner and 2022 Bills’ sixth-round draft pick Matt Araiza. As great as Araiza was in college, Browning is now the school’s all-time leader in career average at 45.8 yards, and he also had success as a placekicker so his versatility is impressive.

If he punts well in camp and the preseason and proves to be a reliable holder for Bass, it’s very possible that he’ll beat out Martin which would also save the Bills a little salary cap space.

5. Which players will be the core special teamers?

The Bills said goodbye to stalwarts, Tyler Matakevich, Siran Neal and Tyrel Dodson who had the second-, third-, and seventh-most special teams snaps last season. They still have Gilliam, Cam Lewis, Quintin Morris, Dorian Williams and Baylon Spector, but they will need some new players to step up.

In particular, Williams is a key player because with Matt Milano back, Williams’ playing time on defense figures to be greatly reduced, but his athleticism gives him a chance to be a great special teamer.

Hollins was signed primarily for special teams, second-round pick Cole Bishop could help there, and fellow rookie draft picks like Hardy, Edefuan Ulofoshio and Javon Solomon could secure roster spots via special teams. Even players like defensive lineman Casey Toohill, linebacker Deion Jones, and safety Damar Hamlin − all of whom will have challenges to make the roster as defenders − could tip the scales in their favor if they play well in the kicking game.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out every other Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills training camp questions: Can special teams rebound in 2024?