The Buffalo Bills defense has zero excuses

Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott opted to reconstruct the defense in the 2025 NFL Draft. Did they finally create the big, bad bully for Mahomes? This all came at the cost of weapons for their MVP QB.

Getty Images

ORCHARD PARK, NY — Forty-eight hours after the team’s 2024 season ended, Sean McDermott gently directed everyone’s attention over to the offense. The final drive. That’s the first visual he brought up, the fact that this Buffalo Bills offense had the ball in a position to tie or win the game and “we weren’t able to get it done.”

A fourth-and-5 lob did flutter off a diving tight end’s fingertips.

Technically, he wasn’t wrong.

But… it was odd. Any criticism of the offense should’ve been interpreted by all as cockamamie nitpicking considering it’s the defense that’s been a repugnant re-run vs. Patrick Mahomes each January.

The next three months of action have resembled a virtual rebuttal from the GM. In free agency, Brandon Beane was aggressive in free agency on the defensive line. To begin the 2025 NFL Draft, he then selected five straight defensive players. When the Bills finally got around to the offensive side of the ball, they selected… drumroll please… a blocking tight end with 16 receptions to his name last fall. (Albeit the brand of cro-magnon badass we appreciate around here.)

“People forget,” Beane said, “our offense, look at the ranks last year. I don’t think we’ve regressed. Time will tell. The team is on paper. The offense is on paper. But I didn’t leave last season on offense going, ‘Man, this didn’t work. We didn’t get the job done.’ I didn’t see us coming up short in games or in the playoffs on the offensive side of the ball.

“The best player on the board’s a receiver? I promise you, we would’ve taken him. At the time, that is not how we valued it. Right or wrong, that’s how I feel like you build a team.”

This is an offense that averaged 30.9 points per game, an offense that became the first in NFL history to rush for 30 touchdowns and throw for 30 touchdowns. MVP quarterback. Best offensive line in the league. But that doesn’t mean a team should get content. This draft was a chance for the Bills to flood Josh Allen with more weaponry, to innovate, to cannon-blast opponents back to their home cities. Allen is at his absolute peak.

And since selecting Allen in 2018, Beane and McDermott have selected one wide receiver in the first 100 picks. Over the same span, they’ve taken eight defensive linemen. They’ve thrown millions of dollars around. Results haven’t changed at the end of seasons. Instead of crossing their fingers that new players supply new results, the thinking here was that Beane should add weapons and lean into this team’s identity: Allen.

Instead, Beane opted to eliminate all possible excuses for the defense by bringing McDermott and his defensive staff Christmas in April.

Come January? This defense sure as hell better look different.

We’ll look back at the last 72 hours one of two ways.

This could be the sledgehammer. One more obsessive surge of DEFENSE could smash down that Super Bowl door with cornerback Maxwell Hairston blanketing Xavier Worthy on third and 8 to allow T.J. Sanders or Landon Jackson to whack the ball out of Mahomes’ hand on a pivotal drive late.

Or, this could be another giant missed opportunity.

---

Go Long is completely independent.

Thank you for joining our community.

---

Ends and tackles couldn’t win 1 on 1’s? Buffalo took a hacksaw to the defensive line. In March, Beane signed Joey Bosa (12.6M/one year), Michael Hoecht ($21M/three years) and Larry Ogunjobi ($6.7M/one year). This weekend, Beane selected T.J. Sanders (41st overall), Landon Jackson (72nd) and Deone Walker (109th). All three prospects have vastly different body types. Further, 270 miles west, the Detroit Lions’ first-round pick Tyleik Williams told local reporters he believed the Bills would’ve taken him in the first round if he trickled down.

The AFC Championship turned into a humiliating game of “Find Kaiir!” for Mahomes? Beane tried to rectify this error by delivering a trio of DBs, starting with Kentucky’s Hairston in the first round. Nickel/safety Jordan Hancock and cornerback Dorian Strong followed on Day 3.

Getty Images

Nobody in the draft was faster than Hairston. In theory, he sticks with Chiefs receivers on those deadly crossers. Give McDermott credit. He was willing to alter his cornerback blueprint. It’s wise to sacrifice size/tackling for a player one scout described as “electric as far as change of direction, movement, speed.” This scout sees a cockiness in Hairston that reminded him of Janoris “Jackrabbit” Jenkins back in 2012 — “but faster.”

The Bills met with Hairston both in Indianapolis and on a Top 30 visit.

Beane conceded that their first-round pick won’t win jump balls against bigger wideouts such as Mike Evans, but the Bills were sorely lacking a player who can cover quick, slippery receivers that’ve given them so much trouble.

“What you do love is his recovery speed,” Beane said. “He doesn’t panic with the ball to his back. He anticipates. He’s an instinctive player. He’s got a lot of good qualities. If he would’ve had that (size), too, he probably wouldn’t have been down at 29. He would’ve been in the top 5 or 10.”

In the second round, the Bills were enamored with the athleticism of the 6-foot-4, 305-pound Sanders.

His first day as a Bill in Orchard Park, Sanders credited his first love: basketball. Back in high school, he was a 220-pounder with a self-described “Nikola Jokic” game. By his junior year, a handful of mid-major colleges expressed interest. But all along — from eighth grade to 10^th grade — one of his best friends (Kyheim Bethea) tried to convince him to pick up football. They went 2-9, then 1-7. Finally, Sanders caved and when South Carolina offered him a football scholarship? That was a wrap on his hoops career.

He believes those “Jokic” days supply an edge on the D-Line because he’s so smooth moving laterally and vertically. All of that dribbling on a court also helped his hand-eye coordination.

Beane offered one promising visual: Ed Oliver and T.J. Sanders working in tandem on third down. Sanders was virtually licking his chops at the possibility of a 1-on-1 matchup. At South Carolina, when singled up, Sanders flashed an ability to trash blockers. “I know that slide’s not coming my way with Big Ed over there,” he said. “A lot of double teams these past few years. They’re all on him now.”

When presented with a Bills vs. Chiefs hypothetical, he wasn’t shy. Perhaps Sanders can bring this defense something different.

“Someone who can come in and be a playmaker,” Sanders said. “Someone who can get those crucial stops in time of need. Force pressure on the quarterback whenever things seem like he’s getting too comfortable back there.”

In Round 3, the Bills added Jackson and how can you not love his phone call with Beane after the pick? Through tears, he promised the GM that he’s “getting a fucking dog.” The Arkansas edge rusher with 6.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons faced premier SEC competition and also registered the best vertical leap at his position in Indy. And into Round 4, the Bills added a plug in Kentucky’s mountainous Deone Walker: all of 6 foot 7 ½ inches and 328 pounds. There aren’t many defensive linemen this tall in the sport but he has looked up to one of the best to ever do it at this height.

There’s a reason Calais Campbell has lasted 17 seasons in the NFL, as we explored.

“He is all of 6 foot 7, 310 but his hands are flawless,” Walker said after the pick. “His hands have been flawless for years. For the longevity, hey, that’s getting in when everybody else isn’t. That’s investing money into your body. As for pad level, I’m going to be doing a lot of bear-crawling. A lot.”

They’ve chatted before. Campbell played with Walker’s academic advisor at Kentucky, Ricky Lumpkin, and gave him a peek into his 24/7 obsession with the sport. If the Bills get anything remotely close to Campbell out of this rookie, it’s a monster win.

Beane believes Walker would’ve been a first-round pick if he came out last year and expects the rookie to play both the 1-tech and 3-tech in this defense.

Getty Images

This could all work out beautifully.

Or not.

For all the pageantry of draft weekend across all 32 cities, for all the face paint worn by NFL-paid fans at these live drafts, there are lowlights that ESPN and NFL Network will not broadcast after picks. There were scouts who didn’t see much in these three selections. One ripped Sanders attitude, labeling him a “big-time underachiever” who never put it together in college and isn’t ready for the pros. (“They tolerated him … but he underachieved there.”) Scouts loved Jackson’s temperament and DNA — easy to see why the Bills fell in love — but question his ceiling. His bio is eerily similar to a player already on the roster, in AJ Epenesa. (“You’re getting a tightly-wound defensive end who plays hard.”) One scout saw Walker getting stood up and pushed back too often. During his interview with reporters after the pick, Walker detailed nagging back issues in college.

Aside from the physical limitations on the field, Hairston was accused of sexual assault at Kentucky in 2021. (Beane said the Bills investigated the matter and that there was “zero information saying that this actually happened.” The GM called him an “impeccable kid.”)

Since Day 1, the Bills have devoted premium resources to the defensive line. At no point has this unit ever been neglected. Back to Star Lotulelei ($31,823,568), Trent Murphy ($23,508,950) and Mario Addison ($19,938,337), right on through Von Miller’s $47,297,028 in career earnings, they’ve signed vets. And through this regime’s eight drafts, they’ve now taken Harrison Phillips (96th), Oliver (ninth), Epenesa (54th), Greg Rousseau (30th), Boogie Basham (61st), DeWayne Carter (95th), Sanders (41st) and Jackson (72nd) all in the top 100.

More help is on the way.

The Bills coaches must take it from here.

Because all of this attention comes at a cost: wide receiver. The only Top 100 selection was Keon Coleman last year. Obviously, they’ve exhausted all avenues. The Stefon Diggs trade worked out. The Kelvin Benjamin and Amari Cooper trades, not so much. Tight ends and running backs factor into the passing game, too. For whatever reason, the Bills are not in a rush to feed Allen weapons at this particular position on draft day. Conversely, the Chiefs have drafted four wide receivers for Mahomes in the top 100: Mecole Hardman (2019, 56th overall), Skyy Moore (2022, 54th), Rashee Rice (2023, 55th) and — yes — Xavier Worthy (2024, 28th), a player motivated by Buffalo’s snub.

Getty Images

Ahead of the draft, Beane reiterated that both he and McDermott believe you win with a strong defensive line.

Problem is, the front four has disappeared when it matters most. They’ve been able to slap around the inferior teams in its division, but fade in the playoffs. Fans have every right to be skeptical that anything’s going to be different because this isn’t the first time the Bills have focused on the defense.

OK, OK. The #board is the #board is the #board, #stickToTheBoard.

Maybe the Bills sincerely selected the top name available on their list. Cliches can be true.

In going defense-heavy, potential playmakers slipped by. Iowa State’s Jayden Higgins and Missouri’s Luther Burden III were available in the first round. Into the second round, names like Mississippi’s Tre Harris, TCU’s Jack Bech and Washington State’s Kyle Williams were on the board. A year ago, they declined to trade up for Brian Thomas Jr., a bonafide star as a rookie in Jacksonville. This year? Texas’ Matthew Golden might’ve been worth parting with a pick or two.

History will be the judge on all the above. The Bills’ lone addition of significance to the receiver room this offseason was free agent Joshua Palmer.

While it’s true that Buffalo’s offense was a powerhouse in 2024, it’s also true that every season is different.

It’ll be awfully difficult for the Bills to duplicate their +28 turnover differential and insanely good health on the offensive line. Explosion is always in-demand. And the most explosive skill-position player on this roster — running back James Cook — isn’t in the building at the moment. He’s been unhappy with his contract. The NFL is a big-play league. All teams need threats on the outside. It probably wasn’t the plan for Mack Hollins to lead Buffalo’s wide receivers in snaps last season. No wonder Beane and McDermott challenged Coleman publicly. They’ll need the second-year pro to toughen up and start playing bully ball because he’s not going to dust corners with speed. Coleman’s 2.0 yards of separation, per Next Gen Stats, tied for the worst in the NFL last season.

It’s possible that by October or November the Bills are in need of a receiver who can get open.

Other teams load up for their franchise quarterback. The Green Bay Packers have been drafting wide receivers nonstop since placing their Jordan Love bet in 2020. This spring, they took two more: Golden at No. 23 overall and TCU’s Savion Williams at No. 87. Since McDermott imposed his will on the offense — post-Daboll, post-Dorsey — the Bills have been more intent on winning with more of a run game, more defense.

Draft decisions reflect this evolving philosophy, and maybe they’re proven correct to go D-D-D-D-D in 2025.

Pressure’s on. It’s time to actually win with defense in January. A unit that has surrendered 22 touchdowns and nine field goals on 40 non-kneeldown drives its last four postseason exists — creating all of two turnovers — cannot be vanquished so easily, cannot be treated as nothing more than a stroll through the farmer’s market by Mahomes. Because the very next round? In Super Bowl LIX? Mahomes was hurled into a sharknado.

McDermott, in Year 9, must take all of these new pieces and create his own version of what Philadelphia’s Vic Fangio unleashed in New Orleans vs. the Chiefs. As noted, the list of head coaches who’ve won a Super Bowl this deep into a tenure with one team is short: Bill Cowher (in Year 14), Tom Landry (in Year 12) and Hank Stram (in Year 10).

If there was a wide receiver Beane wanted, he said he would’ve taken him. There was not. (At least until Pick. 240.)

The D-Line is now gushing with different types of pass rushers.

The cornerback room now has speed… and options! That wasn’t the case last year when injuries struck. The return of a sensei in the room, Tre’Davious White, ought to help all this youth.

Terrel Bernard, Christian Benford and Rousseau were all identified as cornerstones and re-signed.

The GM poured the resources into this defense. Again.

When McDermott sits inside his office to devise a gameplan for the elite quarterbacks in this conference, he’ll have a full catalog of options. And he’ll need to deliver.