Part 3 of our annual Buffalo Bills’ season review deals with the defense and special teams. Despite head coach Sean McDermott’s specialty being on this side of the ball, the defense has been mostly responsible for the team’s playoff failures over the years. In his first year as coordinator, Bobby Babich can take pride in the fact that his unit was a machine in causing turnovers, but needs improvement in stopping the run, pass rush ability and percentage of third down conversions against. Toward that end, the Bills have made a few additions to the defensive coaching staff to help Babich. They also replaced the special teams coordinator with a much more experienced coach.
Here is a position-by-position look at the defense and special teams:
Defensive Line
Overall, and especially in the conference title game, this unit underachieved. They were gouged against the run too many times and produced too few sacks on passing downs. After a stellar 2023 season, tackle Ed Oliver regressed, and his fellow starting tackle, Daquan Jones, began to show signs of his age. At the backup tackle spots, rookie DeWayne Carter, like most of the draft class, was slowed by injuries and never developed as he should have. Austin Johnson was a free agent signee who made some plays in limited snaps as the team used a rotation system. Quinton Jefferson and Jordan Phillips were in-season stopgap signings that likely won’t return as they were on one year contracts. The production of the edge rushers/ends was also limited by the rotational usage. Von Miller has not produced the expected results since he was signed, and his snap counts being as low as they have been may signal his end. Like Oliver, Greg Rousseau was decent but inconsistent, and the same can be said for A.J. Epenesa, although he produced more splash plays in less playing time. Veteran Dawuane Smoot had a decent season, and he has the added versatility of being able to play inside and out on the line. It sounds like a broken record, but rookie Javon Solomon, just like the other draftees, showed tremendous potential at times but needs experience to grow into what he can possibly become. The D line could use an infusion of size and power on the interior next season, and a star pass rusher would help also.
Linebackers
The duo of Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard should be a force for opponents to reckon with. The problem is Milano has trouble staying on the field, as he has dealt with multiple injuries the last couple of years. Bernard has grown into the leader of the defense, and was named a team captain last season. He is one of the few playmakers on the unit. Dorian Williams is a capable starting linebacker, as he proved while filling in for Milano last year. The rest of the reserves are a mix of a special teams guy, Baylon Spector, and 2 young, inexperienced rookies, Joe Andreessen and Edefuan Ulofoshio.
Defensive Backs
After being the most solid unit on the team in 2023, alarm bells need to go off for help for the secondary next season. Buffalo routinely plays a 5 man nickel defense as their base unit, and as of now only 2 of those spots, border corner with Christian Benford and slot corner with Taron Johnson, can boast competent players. The concussion Benford suffered in the championship game looked severe enough to even worry about his future as a player. At the other CB spot, Rasul Douglas was a great trade acquisition in 2023, but his play slipped noticeably this past season. Both starting safeties, Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin, are adequate at best. Rapp is also prone to injury. Among the reserves, Ja’Marcus Ingram is a more than capable backup, while Kaiir Elam is now officially a first round bust who won’t be back. Cam Lewis is a player whose value is important to the team, both as a backup to all the secondary positions and as a special teams player. It’s conceivable, maybe even expected, that rookie Cole Bishop will play his way into a starting safety spot in 2025. He ended the year there as a replacement for Rapp, who was injured. The secondary is a prime spot for both new starters and added depth for next season.
Special Teams
After 2 seasons of the special teams not only not being special but being a hindrance, the Bills parted ways with ST coach Matt Smiley. His replacement, Chris Tabor, is a much more experienced and respected coordinator. It will be interesting to see what he bring out of these units. Those units include a solid long snapper in Reid Ferguson, a potential game-changing return man in rookie Brandon Codrington, an aging punter, Sam Martin, and an inconsistent placekicker in Tyler Bass. There are useful bomb squad contributors like Reggie Gilliam, Cam Lewis, Mack Hollins (if he re-signs), Baylon Spector and Quinton Morris. Competition for Martin is already on the roster, as Jake Camarda inked a futures contract right after the season.