NFL writer questions new Bills DC's ability to 'elevate' tweaked defense

The Athletic has laid out the "pressing question" facing new Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich entering the 2024 NFL season.

Bills cornerback Dane Jackson (30) eyes in the ball as he is hit by linebackers coach Bobby Babich during interception drills on day nine of Buffalo Bills training camp at St. John Fisher University in Rochester Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. Sd 080422 Bills Camp 1 Spts / Shawn Dowd / USA TODAY NETWORK

The adjustments made to the Buffalo Bills’ defense in the 2024 NFL offseason were not limited to the locker room.

Several alterations were made to the team’s defensive coaching staff in the spring, among them the promotion of linebackers coach Bobby Babich to defensive coordinator. The move, executed to prevent one of several circling teams from poaching the 40-year-old as their own defensive coordinator, was the culmination of Babich’s steady ascent up the ranks in Western New York; he was a member of head coach Sean McDermott’s initial staff in Buffalo, joining the Bills as an assistant defensive backs coach in 2017.

Babich inherits a Buffalo defense in transition—though the unit has been stout through much of McDermott’s tenure (finishing as a top-10 unit in six of his seven seasons in charge), it did see significant turnover in the 2024 offseason, moving on from stalwart starters in Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, and Tre’Davious White. Several pundits have also questioned the team’s pass rush and the health of former All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano, who missed the vast majority of the 2023 campaign with a fractured tibia.

Related: New Bills DC says he'd be 'a fool' to not lean on 'mentor' Sean McDermott

The Athletic’s Mike Jones questions whether Babich can help the unit overcome its perceived shortcomings and succeed despite alterations. In a recent article breaking down one “pressing” question for every new defensive play-caller in the 2024 campaign, the writer posed the following query: “Can the rising assistant help elevate a revamped unit despite subtractions?”

“The Bills’ defense has consistently ranked among the NFL’s better units under head coach Sean McDermott’s watch, but it has undergone a good deal of change this offseason following the departures of safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer and cornerback Tre’Davious White,” Jones wrote. “The Bills used draft picks on safety Cole Bishop (second round), defensive tackle DeWayne Carter (third round), linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, defensive end Javon Solomon and cornerback Daequan Hardy. 

“So Babich must work to integrate these prospects, and he must help solve a big question at pass rusher, where the aging Von Miller went without a sack last season opposite of A.J. Epenesa (6.5 sacks). Babich’s unit could endure some growing pains in 2024.”

Related: Bills DC says Von Miller showed 'flashes' of former dominance at end of 2023 season

The analysis is generally sound; the Bills are losing a combined 284 starts with the departures in their secondary, but the team appears to have supplemented their departures well with the additions of Bishop and free agent signee Mike Edwards. The unit, as a whole, is returning nine starters; there’s indeed been an injection of youth, but those playing the bulk of the snaps have been in the system for some time.

Jones’s doubts about Miller are also warranted, as the 35-year-old looked like a shell of his former self in his return from an ACL tear last season; he notched just three tackles and a career-low 17 total quarterback pressures, per PFF. The writer’s analysis, while mentioning Epenesa, fails to bring up Greg Rousseau, an ascending defensive end who started every game he appeared in last season. Miller does not project as a starter in Buffalo, instead slated to serve as a rotational piece with no real expectations attached to him.

While it’s fair to question Babich’s ability to elevate a tweaked unit, the more pressing question is perhaps whether he’ll be the one calling plays. McDermott has not yet made a decision on the matter; he plans to give the first-time coordinator the opportunity to call the defense throughout training camp and the preseason.