Last week, we went over the Buffalo Bills offensive roster
with this same exercise. This piece will follow the same methodology, which will be repeated below:Every fanbase thinks their team is better now than it was last year at this time.
Their favorite team (likely) added draft picks. They (likely) added free agents. Those people they lost to free agency? They were losers anyway. They certainly weren’t worth the contracts they signed elsewhere. If a player got traded away, it’s addition by subtraction.
Even if the team isn’t better on paper, surely a coaching change will mean that the carryover players will perform better this year than they have recently. Almost regardless of how we felt in Feburary, March, and April, by the time June 1st rolls around, almost everyone capable of hopium-based mood swings is in full optimism mode.
But strictly on a player-in, player-out basis, are the Bills legitimately better right now than they were on June 1st of 2025? Owner Terry Pegula pretty clearly laid out in his media availability this winter that he believed the team had a great roster and needed better coaching, outlining his methodology for firing previous head coach Sean McDermott. How good is that roster he’s banking on versus the way it was at this time last year? Let’s go position room by position room and see how the 6/1/2026 Bills match up to the 6/1/2025 Bills. Important for this exercise: it does not assume development from any player. Just because you have young players on your team does not mean that linear growth is guaranteed and that they’ll be better in year two or three than they were in years one or two. Having cornerback Maxwell Hairston in 2025 and Maxwell Hairston in 2026 is a net neutral in this conversation (we all remember former first-round cornerback Kaiir Elam not taking a step forward in development in year two); trying to guess which players will develop positively and which will plateau or take a step backwards is not the purpose of this piece.
Each position room will be categorized with one of the following labels, using only a “player talent added minus player talent subtracted” opinion calculation. We’ll keep a point total running in our heads and we’ll add up the net additions and subtractions at the end of the exercise.
Significantly improved (+3 points)
Moderately improved (+2 points)
Slightly improved (+1 point)
Push (no points added or subtracted)
Slightly impaired (-1 point)
Moderately impaired (-2 points)
Significantly impaired (-3 points)
There are numerous ways to slice this information. You could look at the roster as a whole. You could isolate just the starting lineup. You could slice either of those views into offense/defense.
You could also go by “role” and apply weighting (the most weight to a starting quarterback, the least weight to a 53rd man who’s inactive on game days), but that injects two additional layers of subjectivity into an already-subjective piece (one for the definition of a role, another for the value of that role).
We’ve elected to go by position rooms and then roll up by side of the ball (offense/defense) for these purposes.
As mentioned above, we already took a gander at the offensive position rooms. This week, we’ll look at the defensive position rooms. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and isolate just the players in and players out:
Defensive Line:
Note: for the purposes of this conversation, 3-4 Edge players will be considered defensive linemen. It will help us get a better year-over-year look at the players who will be the primary pass rushers on the defense this year versus their closest counterparts last year. Next year when we do this, 3-4 Edge players will count as linebackers in both 2026 and 2027 categories.
2025: Daquan Jones, Greg Rousseau, Ed Oliver, Joey Bosa, Michael Hoecht, Larry Ogunjobi, TJ Sanders, AJ Epenesa, Landon Jackson, Deone Walker, DeWayne Carter, Javon Solomon, Hayden Harris, Zion Logue, Devin Brandt-Epps, Paris Shand, Casey Rogers
2026: TJ Sanders, Deone Walker, Ed Oliver, Greg Rousseau, Bradley Chubb, TJ Parker, Landon Jackson, DeWayne Carter, Zane Durant, Mike Danna, Javon Solomon, Travis Clayton, Zion Logue, Phidarian Mathis, Michael Hoecht, Kody Huisman, Tommy Akingbesote, Cade Denhoff, Andre Jones Jr.
Verdict: Slightly improved (+1). Daquan Jones out, AJ Epenesa out, Joey Bosa out. Bradley Chubb in, TJ Parker in, Zane Durant in, Mike Danna in. None of the additions the Bills made to this group since this time last year profile as elite-level pass rushers for 2026, but Danna and Chubb represent higher floor veterans, while Parker backfills a similar archetype the team already had in Rousseau. I can see an argument for a “push” here, but I think Parker is more talented than Epenesa was and the recent acquisition of Danna (who I’d expect to make this team based on the contract provided to him by the Bills) pushes it into positive territory.
Linebacker:
2025: Matt Milano, Terrel Bernard, Dorian Williams, Baylon Spector, Edefuan Olufoshio, Joe Andreessen, Keonta Jankins
2026: Terrel Bernard, Dorian Williams, Kaleb Elarms-Orr, Joe Andreessen, Keonta Jenkins, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, Theron Gaines, Jimmy Ciarlo
Verdict: Slightly impaired (-1). Of all the Buffalo 2026 draft picks, the one I’m most excited about is Kaleb Elarms-Orr, but until he plays, I cannot in good conscience place his acquisition at a higher value than the loss of Matt Milano who, while clearly not the same player as in previous years, represented an incredibly high floor for this team at the linebacker position.
Defensive Backs:
2025: Christian Benford, Maxwell Hairston, Tre White, Ja’Marcus Ingram, Dorian Strong, Dane Jackson, Taron Johnson, Brandon Codrington, Daequan Hardy, Daryl Porter, Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin, Cole Bishop, Cam Lewis, Jordan Hancock, Darrick Forest, Te’Cory Couch, Wande Owens
2026: Christian Benford, Maxwell Hairston, Davison Igbinosun, Dee Alford, Jordan Hancock, Dorian Strong, Toriano Pride Jr, Jordan Dunbar, Te’Cory Couch, Kani Walker, Cole Bishop, CJ Gardner-Johnson, Jalen Kilgore, Geno Stone, Damar Hamlin, Sam Franklin, Wande Owens
Verdict: Moderately improved (+2).
Despite losing veterans Tre White and Taron Johnson, both of whom played meaningful minutes in 2025, the 2026 defensive secondary for the Bills is more talented. Gardner-Johnson has historically proven to be a playmaker at the safety position in addition to being someone who can wear out his welcome (a factor not taken into account for this exercise). IGB and Pride provide depth at corner and an aggressive skillset that can assist in the defensive change the team is undergoing. Dee Alford slots in (pun intended) to the nickel role but also allows for more outside usage than Johnson did previously. Safety depth with the additions of Kilgore means that veteran Geno Stone, a starter for the last few seasons in the league, may not even necessarily be a lock to make the team. That type of depth, allow with the versatility, gives the 2026 room the nod.
Overall:
Verdict: moderately improved (+2 overall). The Bills focused on defense with their free-agent signings. They focused on defense with their draft picks. So I’d sure hope they’d come out of this exercise with a more talented group overall than they had previously and in year one of a new defense under Jim Leonhard, that’s exactly what they’ve done. Adding more versatile defensive players who can play multiple positions will assist in the scheme transition, and adding defensive backs who can play man coverage more aggressively will certainly give Bills fans something to be excited about on this side of the ball.
…and that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I’m Bruce Nolan with Buffalo Rumblings. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @BruceExclusive and look for new episodes of “The Bruce Exclusive” every Thursday on the Rumblings Cast Network — see more in my LinkTree!
