Did the Bills do enough to improve on defense?

Yahoo Sports NFL analyst Nate Tice and fantasy analyst Matt Harmon discuss Buffalo’s moves in the 2026 NFL Draft and how the team is looking for the upcoming season. Check out the full conversation on “Football 301” – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

Did the Bills do enough on defense?

And really this is not a want, this is truly a question.

It is not a, “Oh, I have some cool stats here,” or something to throw out here.

I am just keep looking at it ’cause I do have– Again, I, I, I can only talk about Jim Leonard so much.

Everyone knows I like Jim Leonard, but I, I kinda know what his defense looks like.

I kinda know what these players are on this roster as well, even the vets that they sign.

I know what Dee Alford is, I know what C.J.

Gardner-Johnson is, I know what Bradley Chubb is, I know what Geno Stone is.

So they drafted T.J. Parker with their first pick ’cause they moved back into the second round.

I understand why they drafted the corner, Davison, from, from Ohio State.

We addressed that.

We talked about that Saturday night, being actually a decent answer, adding some depth at corner, depth at corner.

But it’s, to me, their issues were a lot of, you know, stopping the run.

Did they have pass rushing juice?

They didn’t really add to pass rushing juice, so I’m gonna guess that they’re betting on Leonard being able to game it up, which he can.

H- history has shown he’s- he has a defense that can do that.

But this is the– this is what’s given the Bills issues in the past, is that when it came to, you know, the elite games, the playoff games, the tight games, they didn’t have that closer.

That’s why they signed Von Miller.

Joey Bosa did a good job for them last year, but then Joey Bosa just had a horrid game in the playoffs against the Broncos and was just making a bunch of mistakes, which has always been a little thing with Joey.

but I don’t think they really have that ace, and I was curious ’cause I thought they might go for it.

I know they’re in a weird spot in the draft that they’re, those guys aren’t really there.

They instead went for T.J. Parker, which I did not hate ’cause I like T.J. Parker, heavy-handed guy.

So are they saying Bradley Chubb’s gonna get some juice?

You know, he’s never been like a 15 sack guy.

He’s pretty good pass rusher.

He kind of does everything well, nothing exceptional.

so I, I really am just looking at them and just going like, where is that kinda, that heat coming from or is it just gonna be gamed up?

But do you have any thoughts on the Bills defense?

Yeah.

their whole off season, man, it’s basically just two big bets on two t- like two guys that teams were kind of ready to get rid of.

Bradley Chubb- Yeah as a pass rusher.

D.J.

Moore, wide receiver.

they made some auxiliary additions, you know, guys that you listed off in the secondary.

obviously you didn’t have a, you, you traded out of the first round this year.

I, I think T.J. Parker’s a guy that probably could have gone in the first round.

But I mean, so like in this year’s draft for sure, but still you don’t, don’t have a first round player so you kind of are looking at a death by a thousand paper cuts type of edge rusher group.

You know, they don’t have one real ace, right?

It’s just we’re gonna try to throw waves at you which can totally work by the way and just feel like that what the Bills said at that kind of bizarre or maybe said, implied at that bizarre post McDermott firing press conference was that we think this is a really good roster and we don’t think it was coached all that well.

And it kind of feels like that, that again, that was, that was what they implied.

I know that they retain- they, they promoted one of those coaches to be the, the new head coach, Joe Brady.

Yep.

But maybe it was talking about the defensive side of the football.

Like hey they, it– Do you, do you feel like these are guys, Nate, this is a question, do you feel like T.J. Parker, Davison, these guys they drafted like are they big departures from the guys that Brandon Beane brought in, brought in previously?

You know?

Like I mean I think that the, what they’re looking at here is like we think Jim Leonard’s gonna be a better coach than Sean McDermott was, eh, from a defensive side of it.

And by the, maybe they’re right, I don’t know but that, that’s, that’s what they’re telling us.

Did the Bills do enough to improve on defense?

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