The Buffalo Bills’ top three defensive players ranked among the worst in the NFL

The Buffalo Bills defense was expected to be strong in the 2023 NFL season, finishing ninth in the league in total defense and fourth in points allowed. Strong defensive play has become a hallmark of Buffalo in recent years; the team finished with a top-10 defense in five of head coach Sean McDermott’s seven seasons at the helm, finishing with a top-five unit four times and with the league’s best defense twice.

The sustained excellence can be attributed to several factors, with continuity among the coaching staff and the consistent excellence of the team’s defensive players being among the most paramount. The Bills defense once again looks strong in the 2024 season, as the team, despite experiencing significant turnover in the spring, returns nine defensive starters.

That sentiment wasn’t necessarily reflected in Sports Illustrated’s latest NFL “defensive triplets” rankings, in which writer Gilberto Manzano identified the three best players on every defense in the league and ranked them one amongst others ; the analyst picked defensive tackle Ed Oliver, linebacker Matt Milano and cornerback Rasul Douglas as the team’s three best defenders, ranking the group as the 29th best – or fourth worst – defensive trio in the league .

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“Oliver has been a consistent force in the middle of the Bills’ defense over the past few seasons, but the Bills could use a star player to help out on the defensive front,” Manzano wrote. “Milan will look to return to All-Pro form after an injury-riddled season. Douglas immediately improved the Bills secondary after being traded by the Green Bay Packers midway through the year.

To borrow a quote from famous comedian James E. Carrey in the intellectually stimulating drama Ace Ventura: Pet Detective“OK then.»

Manzano certainly identified three talented and deserving players as the best on the defense (although we’d like to recognize standout nickel defender Taron Johnson, linebacker Terrel Bernard and defensive end Greg Rousseau). Oliver established himself as one of the league’s best interior passers during the 2023 season, notching a career-high 9.5 sacks and an impressive 72 total quarterback pressures, according to PFF. Milano was on track for another stellar year before fracturing his tibia in Week 5, while Douglas was strong after being acquired at the trade deadline, totaling eight pass deflections and four interceptions.

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Buffalo’s positioning relative to the rest of the league is a bit strange, however…29? There is certainly excellent defensive talent in the NFL, and it could be argued that the Bills defense has long succeeded primarily through scheme and overall cohesion rather than individual elite talent; That said, saying 28 other clubs have three better defensive players stronger than Buffalo seems like a stretch.

Only the Arizona Cardinals, Washington Commanders and Minnesota Vikings rank below the Bills on Manzano’s list. Questionable teams ranked significantly higher than Buffalo include the Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos and New England Patriots, among others.

It’s certainly an odd ranking for the Bills, but it’s fair for an outsider to be skeptical of the team as a whole given its offseason maneuvers. Buffalo will simply have to prove their doubters wrong throughout the 2024 season.