ORCHARD PARK – Perhaps more than at any time since he beat long odds and made the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster as an undrafted free agent in 2023, the start of the 2025 season had Ben VanSumeren feeling like he was finally about to be part of something special.
After suffering a season-ending knee injury midway through 2024, VanSumeren missed the Eagles’ run to the Super Bowl championship. Sure, he got a ring but it sure felt a little empty considering he played only 235 combined snaps as a fullback and special teams contributor.
Having rehabbed his way back to full health, VanSumeren won a roster spot in training camp after making a full-time switch from linebacker to fullback, and Eagles coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo were excited about utilizing him in a certain package of plays.
Ben VanSumeren’s comeback was over on the first play
But VanSumeren never played a single snap as a fullback in 2025. As the defending champions, the Eagles hosted the league’s season-opening Thursday night game at home against archrival Dallas and as a core member of the kicking teams, VanSumeren was on the field covering the opening kickoff. It was literally the first play of the NFL season, and it was VanSumeren’s last.
As Dallas’ KaVontae Turpin was breaking off a 27-yard return, VanSumeren was engaged with Dallas’ Marist Liufau when his right knee caught in the Lincoln Financial Field grass and bent in a direction it wasn’t supposed to. He was carted off the field with a torn patellar tendon, and all the excitement about getting to play in an offense that included quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Saquon Barkley and wide receivers AJ Brown and Devonta Smith was blown up just like that ligament.
“I don’t really think about it much anymore,” said VanSumeren, fresh off the practice field Tuesday at One Bills Drive where he is trying to win a roster spot with the Buffalo Bills. “It was really challenging for me, really for the past eight months or so, I’ve kind of just tried to disassociate myself from that moment.”
Can’t blame him, especially after he’d worked so hard to not only get back from his first knee injury, but changing sides of the ball in the process.
“There was a lot that had gone into that,” VanSumeren said. “I felt like I was in a position where I was really involved in the offense and we obviously had a good team going into the season. I was optimistic about what was to come. I was given a lot of feedback going into that game about how the season was going to look for me and what their plan was for me to do big things. And it was taken from me on the first play. So yeah, it’s difficult; I still try not to think about it much.”
VanSumeren was released by the Eagles in late February and the Bills signed him on April 29 at a time when the only fullback they had on the roster was undrafted rookie free agent Jackson Acker.
Last year, Reggie Gilliam played a career-high 20% of the offensive snaps as Buffalo’s fullback as offensive coordinator Joe Brady used him primarily as a lead blocker for James Cook. Gilliam did an outstanding job and Cook won the NFL rushing title with 1,621 yards.
When Gilliam signed a three-year free agent deal with the rival Patriots at a price point the cap-strapped Bills couldn’t compete with, it felt like a big loss for Buffalo’s offense.
Bills are deciding whether fullback still matters
However, when the draft ended and the Bills still hadn’t replaced him, Brady – now in a new role as the team’s head coach – was asked if there was a need for a fullback and he said, “I don’t think we necessarily have to have a fullback. We have such a unique tight end room that you can do a lot of different things with those guys. That’s part of our job as coaches is to figure out what type of skill sets and the type of run schemes that you can kind of get creative with, without (a fullback). There is plenty of time for us to figure that out.”
Well, it was barely hours after that comment that Brandon Beane signed both Acker and VanSumeren, and now they will compete for a roster spot, assuming they give Brady a reason to have a fullback.
“At the end of the day you don’t just keep one to keep one, they’ve got to make the roster,” Beane said. “And if not, maybe you keep an extra tight end or you keep an extra receiver. You can’t just have a guy out there and the defenses aren’t worried about him, or he’s not a factor and he’s getting in the way of James Cook.”
How Ben VanSumeren made the move from linebacker to fullback
VanSumeren played linebacker and special teams at Michigan State but in his rookie 2023 season Sirianni saw that the athletic 6-foot-2, 231-pounder could have a future at fullback and started giving him practice reps. Those increased in 2024 and he eventually played 22 snaps at the position before getting hurt.
“Originally, we were low on tight ends so it was going to be a game day thing where I could play defense and in the event that something happened on offense, I’d play offense,” he said of 2023.
“I took that opportunity to rep it a little bit in practice and ran with it, and ended up making the full transition to fullback (in 2024). This will really be my third season going into it, because I did it in year two in Philadelphia as well. It’s not foreign, it’s something that I’ve been doing and studying so it’s been a good transition and I like it and I feel natural.”
Obviously, his injury history is a concern, but as Beane said, “Nothing’s without risk, right?”
Beane thought it was worth taking a swing because VanSumeren is a player he had noticed on film, particularly his work on special teams.
“You’re tracking players that could or could not make the squad and the dude just stood out on teams,” Beane said. “We medically checked him out, but you get the risk, you do. At the same time, he’s a football player. Now you’re trying to figure out how good can he transition to fullback?”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills newcomer fights to overcome brutal injury setbacks
Reporting by Sal Maiorana, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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