Defense? Again? For the Buffalo Bills, it's about the bigger picture in 2026...
Loud and clear, this organization is again telling you what they believe was the problem the last decade. (Now, the pressure heightens.)
We’ve been reporting on the Bills transition since the 2026 season ended. Links below if you missed anything.
Joe Brady two-parter:
The hiring:
The firing:
Draft grades are here! Hoard supplies. Take shelter. Hug your loved ones. Barring an Amish-extreme media blackout, nobody is safe… and, oh no. What’s that lurking on Instagram? 2027 mocks have arrived to eat your brain cells.
Of course, it’s impossible to accurately assess how any of the 257 players selected over the course of 72 hours will perform with their new NFL teams.
Here’s what everyone should do, however.
Pull up the draft history of your favorite team on Pro Football Reference, look back five years and judge accordingly.
The assumption for the Buffalo Bills heading into the 2026 draft was that they’d prioritize defensive pieces for new coordinator Jim Leonhard — especially after shipping a second-round pick for veteran wide receiver DJ Moore. There’s a strong argument for acting exactly as Howie Roseman does in Philadelphia by trading up. To hell with future picks in the name of chasing a premier talent in the top 20. Instead, Brandon Beane traded down three times, back into the second to select Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker and Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun. Many constituents are not pleased.
Rather than draw blanket conclusions on these two prospects, let’s look back.
The Bills have been hammering defense for ages. Last season, they went D-D-D-D-D with their first five picks. Before that, they’ve been investing heavily into the defensive line.
Watching the voracious discourse melt down X brought back memories of our chat with Bills GM Brandon Beane exactly one year ago. When I brought up Philadelphia’s beatdown of Patrick Mahomes — the Chiefs QB didn’t cross midfield until his team was down 34-0 — Beane was very quick to point out that building a dangerous pass rush has always been a focus of his. He’s been investing both draft capital and free agency dollars in defensive line since Year 1. Elite quarterbacks can, in fact, bleed. To him, the carnage inside the Superdome was not revelatory. Nor was Tampa Bay chasing Mahomes around for 497 yards worth of scrambling before sacks and throws a few Super Bowls prior. He cited the Carolina Panthers teams past he witnessed up close and said he knew what needed to be done.
When asked what gives him confidence Sean McDermott and the Bills staff could use the new pieces on defense to get different results, he was matter of fact.
“Yeah, I mean that’s what we have to do,” the GM said. “Everyone’s on board and that’s how we’re attacking it.”
There were highs, lows, injuries and the same January bellyflop.
The Bills fired Sean McDermott.
Beane stayed.
Joe Brady was promoted to head coach.
This organization is basically plastering its belief in gigantic letters across new Highmark Stadium.
Go Long is your home for longform in pro football.
They believe McDermott was the problem even more than anyone thinks. Specifically, in this case, his ability to coach defensive football. Agree. Disagree. For nearly a decade, a defensive coach was supplied resources on the defensive side of the ball and owner Terry Pegula expected more in the games that matter most. There was no daring leap up the board for an April splash, no Micah Parsons- or Maxx Crosby-level blockbuster trade for a singular superstar/savior in March. The Bills spread some cash around in free agency (Bradley Chubb, Dee Alford, C.J. Gardner-Johnson), added more potential contributors in the draft and identified the overall philosophy of the defense as the true infection. Stagnation. Predictability. Bend-don’t-break logic that works vs. Geno Smith and Tua Tagovailoa but never in the postseason.
It’s why we’ve heard the word attack so relentlessly.
It’s why Brady was the choice. His approach to the sport is different.
All of which ratchets up the pressure to deliver this year. Nothing has changed in that regard. Buffalo will not be judged on a random weekend in April. When it’s time to get a stop vs. Mahomes or Burrow or (God forbid) Bo Nix, will the 11 players on defense be instructed to play on their heels? Or attack? A mentality shift is required. By law, we’re required to again repeat those non-kneeldown stats in the team’s last six (of eight) playoff defeats.
They’re as pleasant as a 2x4 to the face:
52 non-kneeldown drives
25 touchdowns
13 field goals
12 punts
1 missed field goal
3 turnovers
199 points allowed … good for 3.83 points per drive. (Higher than the 2007 Patriots.)
Numbers this bad demand consequences. Watching the Eagles defense in ’24 or the Seahawks in ’25 before flipping over to Buffalo’s defense induces a Sopranos-to-Bluey whiplash. Rather than clean house with a team that’s won 66 percent of its regular-season games under this HC and GM, Pegula removed the defensive coach from the equation. We’ll see if it works. The other option is thinking McDermott will get it right the ninth time around in the playoffs.
As nine interviews for the HC vacancy raged on, Pegula was likely thinking that he made the right choice. Through those conversations, the Bills learned a lot about themselves. One enlightening tidbit of information? Around the NFL, offenses viewed their defense as elementary by modern standards. Pre-snap, candidates said they knew what McDermott was trying to do and effectively audibled into the correct play.
Architectural design, gameplanning and playcalling were re-confirmed as major problems.
This year’s draft struck me as just another step toward Buffalo’s hope of an entirely new vision on defense.
With the Bills leading 27-23 in the AFC divisional round — and 55 seconds to go — Sean Payton and the Broncos saw Tre’Davious White go down, saw Dane Jackson enter the game and realized the Bills were leaving that ice-cold replacement in 1-on-1 coverage. Nix found Marvin Mims for a 26-yard touchdown. These are the decisions that win or lose playoff games.
The inverse of this all is what Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo did to Buffalo on fourth and 5 in the AFC Championship one year prior. All game, the Chiefs threatened to blitz the right side of the Bills’ line… and backed off. This time, “Spags” sent the house and flustered Josh Allen into a prayer of a heave. A ruthless ambush that guard O’Cyrus Torrence admitted took everyone by surprise. One Chiefs assistant coach told us during the subsequent Super Bowl week that the Chiefs designate one person to study the offensive line’s protections. That’s it. That’s all this person does. Each down and distance, he tracks their movement patterns.
Intel is relayed to Spagnuolo and Andy Reid in real time.
When it’s time, KC pulls the trigger.
This is what high-level coaching looks like.
What high-level coaching does not look like is Greg Rousseau noting in the same game that the Chiefs ran plays they never saw before. Such as pulling a tackle left and running a QB keeper right in a diamond formation.
There’s two ways to interpret the January failings. McDermott would argue he needs players capable of winning 1-on-1’s across the board. He took not-so-subtle shots at the roster frequently last season. Beane would argue that he’s been supplying players of all shapes and sizes. There’s been hits and misses. Buffalo was talented enough to beat the Chiefs in the regular season five times before the four playoff defeats. Something is amiss.
Onto this ‘26 class, I see no problem in trying to enrich the two most critical positions on defense at No. 35 and No. 62 overall. Parker joins Chubb and Rousseau in that ongoing effort to make quarterbacks finally sweat in the postseason. Igbinosun will play more than anyone thinks. The most telling part of Beane’s post-draft presser was when he was asked about drafting a cornerback vs. a player at a position with a clearer path toward starting sooner.
“Corners are premium positions,” Beane said, “if you look at who makes the top dollars in the league. If you look at our season last year—and it’s happened before—those guys are all going to play. It’s a long season. When you have corners who are not capable, they get bull’s eyes on them. Real fast. Especially when you’re playing the primetime quarterbacks, the primetime offenses in this league.
“Think of how many guys we went through last season that played in the playoffs for us — or helped us get to the playoffs. You’re going to need those guys.”
He later labeled cornerback the team’s No. 1 need headed into the draft.
With Christian Benford and Maxwell Hairston slated to start, this may sound odd.
That is, until you remember how those last two playoff games ended.
In ’25, Denver immediately targeted Jackson on that critical play. He was called up to the 53 one week prior. Denver also went after safety Darnell Savage for a touchdown when Cam Lewis went down. In ’24, Kansas City abused Kaiir Elam when Benford suffered a concussion. The former first-round pick, an abject bust, should’ve never been in this position. Further, Benford admitted to Go Long he also should’ve never been playing in this game after suffering the same brain injury seven days prior against Baltimore. (“I was cooked,” he told us. “I was barbecued.”)
Too often, all of us fail to look beyond the 22 starters. Cornerback is too valuable. Several bodies are required.
For what the Bills are trying to construct — an attacking defense — combative corners are a must. At Ohio State, Igbinosun excelled on the boundary in Matt Patricia’s Cover 3 scheme. Penalties were a concern. The good news is that after committing a startling 12 penalties in ’24, he cut the figure down to four last season. “IGB” enjoys the sport’s violence, a trait that surely stood out to Buffalo.
“My mentality,” Igbinosun said. “I tackle with my whole life. I’m not afraid of anybody. That’s one of the reasons that separates me from the other corners in the country. That’s what I take pride in.”
All after going all-out on defense last spring.
Buffalo is banking on production from this injury-riddled crew, too.
Disguise and deception must make a comeback in this Bills defense. It’s been a while. The tricky part is not going Full Rex. Eleven years ago, the bodacious blatherskite inherited one of the NFL’s best defenses and his house was on fire by mid-October. Mario Williams openly protested his role. Marcell Dareus, the team’s $100 Million Dollar Man, was asked to drop into coverage. Penalties and chaos and mass confusion reigned supreme. Preston Brown, the linebacker with the green dot, articulated the predicament perfectly. Checks on checks on checks on checks zapped instinct. Many times, players were subbing onto the field late. Buffalo tried to find the perfect play call based on an offense’s formation. Into Year 2, Rex Ryan’s solution was to hire his twin brother. Rob Ryan, the true alpha in this relationship, made everything worse.
Those ’15 and ’16 Bills felt as if they were solving X for Y with quadratic x-squared polynomials.
The game’s changed a lot since then. Jim Leonhard is his own man. He’s also one of Rex Ryan’s favorite players ever. His challenge as Bills DC is striking a balance. The field shouldn’t transform into a calculus-level math equation.
This is a run-and-hit profession. Predictable alignments also cannot fly.
It’s also laughable to suggest the Bills didn’t do anything personnel-wise this offseason. Leonhard clearly targeted a handful of players he views as fits.
Now, Brady’s football life comes full circle. Exactly 13 years ago, he was a college senior at William & Mary dying for a job. The head coach, Jimmye Laycock, told him he’d fill a vacant assistant linebackers position with one of three candidates. And rather than go home after graduation, as Laycock advised, Brady stayed on campus to obsess over all of the Tribe’s opponents that season. He authored individual scouting reports — with an offensive flair. Brady didn’t know a lick about defense then, but the collegiate receiver could apply offensive acumen to the gig.
He got the job and, all fall, William & Mary coaches could tell Brady was seeing a different game.
Scott Boone, the DC, recalled Brady kindly correcting them on the opposing offense’s intent behind plays all season long. “That’s not really what is happening,” Brady would say. “They’re doing this to create this matchup.” William & Mary held opponents to 10 points or less in six games and Brady’s coaching career took off like a rocket ship. Boone was struck by Brady’s desire to evolve daily.
“That’s probably why his track has been as fast as it has,” Boone told us.
All the way to taking over the Buffalo Bills at age 36.
Fresh off the Denver loss, these Bills desperately needed a fresh perspective on defense… that offensive eye. Brady, more than any candidate, presented that vision.
In his interview for this job, Brady applied the same logic. He told everyone at the table what drove him mad as a playcaller. When headset communication shuts off at the 15-second mark of the play clock, he cannot talk to Josh Allen. Safeties start moving. Cornerbacks take a foreign step. A linebacker stunts. The alignment of those 11 defenders shape-shifts, and the quarterback is left to his own devices. Brady made it clear that he wants opposing playcallers paralyzed by this same helplessness.
One well-timed blitz. One confusing simulation. Anything that makes that quarterback hesitate on a critical down. Back to “13 Seconds,” the Bills have lacked a postseason knockout punch.
The best defensive coaches live for this moment.
Think Devon Witherspoon blitzing off the edge to batter Drake Maye in the Super Bowl.
This does come at the expense of loading up on offense. Beane has spent the least draft capital on offense of any team in the league since 2020. Granted, the next two teams on that list are the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs. All three clubs are piloted by MVP quarterbacks. On Day 3, at No. 125 overall, Beane did get around to drafting a wide receiver the second-highest he ever has. UConn’s Skyler Bell caught 101 balls for 1,278 yards and 13 touchdowns last season and he’l have a chance to play. Hall-of-Fame finalist Steve Smith called him his favorite receiver in the entire class.
Overall, the GM’s bet is that the best way to maximize Josh Allen is by refueling on defense.
Consider Moore part of this draft class, too. He essentially counts as the Bills’ 57th overall pick. Before free agency even began, the Bills wanted to lock in a No. 1 wide receiver.
Buffalo’s wide receiver unit now features Moore, Khalil Shakir, Joshua Palmer, Keon Coleman, Bell and Tyrell Shavers. It also wouldn’t hurt if tight end Dalton Kincaid could stay healthy. This is a massive season for Beane’s top pick in ’23 (Kincaid) and ’24 (Coleman).
Picks need to hit. Let’s say Beane had 18 to 20 first-round grades. Buffalo could have packaged present and future picks together to climb up the board for a player who’s got the best chance to wreck a game in January. They could’ve beat Roseman to the punch on a prospect like USC wide receiver Makai Lemon. In each of the last three drafts, the Bills have opted for bundles of players. Logic being, you’ve got darts to throw. Cole Bishop took a giant step last season. Deone Walker may be the answer at nose tackle. To get to the Super Bowl, they’ll need one of those darts to hit the bull’s eye. Be it the lights turning on for Coleman… or T.J. Sanders busting out as a disruptive force… or Hairston staying healthy blanketing receivers.
Patience and depth ruled the ‘26 draft for the Bills.
A draft that reminded everyone of the new ethos for this team.
You heard it all from Brady in our 1 on 1. The team’s new head coach doesn’t want Buffalo being reactive on either side of the ball. “They’ve,” he makes clear, “got to play us.” Nor does anyone have to worry if the two people running the show are seeing eye to eye. There’s no guesswork on who’s behind which picks and there’s no separate press conferences for head coach and GM.
Beane and Brady are genuinely aligned.
Good or bad, save the draft grades.
All that matters now is what happens when Brady, Leonhard and the Bills face third down with less than two minutes left in the playoffs.
Great article, as always. Yes, McD was the gym coach/wrestler whose innate conservatism made his defense staid and beatable in the playoffs.
But it amazes me how much that picture still covers over the equally uncomfortable fact that the offense was on the field against Denver with a chance to win simply by getting a few first downs to get in FG range. I know everyone knows this but think about it per this article: last year in the playoffs, the D actually did its job in OT, got the ball back, and then watched as the O faltered. Worse, it faltered in a way that was absolutely predictable (how many commentators all season said the Bills' receiving corps scared NO ONE?). We should all play Bean's WGR blast over and over while watching Allen's last two passes to substandard receivers fall flat. Can't get those plays out of my head. So I will wait until this year is over before thinking a change has truly come to One Bills Drive. Indeed, the draft did nothing to tell me otherwise.
Blatherskite. Has a more appropriate word ever been written?