Opinion: Comparing 2024 Buffalo Bills Defensive Position Margin to 2023

For many national pundits, the departure of Buffalo Bills veterans Tre’Davious White, Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde gave them all the ammunition they needed to predict a decline in Buffalo’s defense in 2024. What is often left out in this conversation is the State. of play for each of these three players over the past two years, including age and injury issues.

The Bills have strengthened their spots on the defensive side of the ball this offseason, but will rely on younger, less proven players to take on significant roles this upcoming season. But exactly how much will the team focus on internal development? As we do every year, we’ll take a deeper dive into the changes to the team from year to year.

We will take each defensive position piece and assign it an increased or decreased talent label on paper compared to the depth chart as it existed as of 06/01/2023.

No development hypothesis for 2024 will be formulated. These labels will be “significant upgrade”, “more of an upgrade”, “more of a downgrade”, “significant downgrade” and “push”.

Defensive line in 2024

• Grégory Rousseau
• Daquan Jones
• Ed Olivier
• AJ Epenesa
• Dawuane Smoot
• Austin Johnson
• DeWayne Carter
• Von Miller
• Casey Toohill
• Eli Ankou
• By Shawn Williams
• Javon Salomon
• Kameron Cline
• Branson Deen
• Gable Steveson
• Kingsley Jonathan
• David Ugwoegbu
• Rondell Bothroyd

Defensive line in 2023

• Grégory Rousseau
• Daquan Jones
• Ed Olivier
• Von Miller
• Shaq Lawson
• Poona Ford
• Tim Settle
• AJ Epenesa
• Boogie Basham
• Jordan Phillips
• Eli Ankou
• Kingsley Jonathan
• Kameron Cline
• Kendal Vickers
• Cortez Broughton
• DJ Dale
• Shane Ray

Verdict: Push.

Veteran Shaq Lawson is out and has been replaced by free agent Casey Toohill. Poona Ford is out and rookie third-round pick DeWayne Carter is in. Salvage project Shane Ray is off the roster and intriguing fifth-round rookie Javon Solomon is there to fight for playing time. He was too close to call without any significant needle-moving trades in the future. absence of projection.

Linebackers in 2024

• Matt Milan
• Terrel Bernard
• Dorian Williams
• Baylon Spector
• Edefuan Ulofoshio
• Joe Andreessen
• Nicholas Morrow
• Deion Jones

Linebackers in 2023

• Matt Milan
• Terrel Bernard
• Dorian Williams
• Tyrel Dodson
• Travin Howard
• AJ Klein
• Tyler Matakevich
• Baylon Spector

Verdict: push.

Dodson played well in relief last year and is replaced by veteran Morrow. Deion Jones isn’t what he was a few years ago, but can fight for a spot on the team with rookie Ulofoshio and holdover Baylon Spector. Matakevich was a mainstay on special teams during his time in Buffalo, but Ulofoshio projects well in that department and while there may be a drop-off there, the veteran’s added depth makes up for the potential loss.

Defensive backs in 2024

• Christian Benford
• Taylor Rapp
• Cole Bishop
• Rasul Douglas
• Taron Johnson
• Mike Edwards
• Kaiir Elam
• Dee Delaney
• Ja’Marcus Ingram
• Cam Lewis
• Kendall Williamson
• Keni-H Belle
• Daquan Hardy
• Damar Hamlin
• Kyron Brown
• Te’Cory sofa

Defensive backs in 2023

• Tre’Davious White
• Jordan Poyer
• Micah Hyde
• Kaiir Elam
• Taron Johnson
• Christian Benford
• Taylor Rapp
• Dean Marlowe
• Danish Jackson
• Siran Neal
• Alex Austin
• Damar Hamlin
• Jared Mayden
• Ja’Marcus Ingram
• Cam Lewis
• Zayne Anderson

Verdict: a slight downgrade.

The truth is, I don’t think it’s as bad an exodus as many think. Poyer and Hyde were both significantly showing their age during the 2023 season, and White’s injuries have clearly clouded his future with the team after suffering serious lower leg injuries in two of the last three seasons. However, the loss of veteran presence in a weak link system like the McDermott secondary is significant, and we hope the loss of “names” does not translate into a significant drop in unit effectiveness .

Overall verdict on defensive positions: a slight degradation.

In order to become younger and cheaper at positions, teams must take risks on young players and their development. It’s just part of the value proposition. The last time the Bills did this with a significant part of their defense, they relied on Terrel Bernard to replace former starting linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

It worked pretty well.

Can we count on this in all cases? Of course not, and until that happens, there will be question marks regarding potential young pieces of this defense that the team (and its fans) hope can step up and become impact contributors . Christian Benford may be the NFL’s best-kept secret at cornerback. Bernard may have something to say about this at the second level. They were both willing to answer the call and step forward when the “on paper” best player in front of them was unavailable. And the Bills are particularly looking for forward movement from defensive ends Gregory Rousseau and AJ Epenesa to help them generate a pass rush that may or may not come from Von Miller.

The team doesn’t need all these gambles to be successful. But they probably need a few. And if they get what they need, we can all expect another Buffalo Bills defender to appear on many “all underrated” teams in 2025.

…and that’s how the cookie crumbles. I’m Bruce Nolan with Buffalo Rumblings. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @BruceExclusive.