Buffalo Bills Coach Eric Washington Reviews Dorian Williams' New Role in Defense

Buffalo Bills assistant head coach Eric Washington tried something new with linebacker Dorian Williams on Monday. Can fans expect the adjustment to stick moving forward?

The Buffalo Bills’ offensive struggles have stolen the spotlight—and the consequences—this season, but the defense is bearing the burden of its injuries, regardless of the attention it has gotten.

The pass rush hasn’t been the same without defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, the linebackers have been a mixed bag, and the secondary has struggled. Since Week 5, Buffalo’s defense ranks 30th in expected points added per dropback. The Bills have also lost linebacker Matt Milano and cornerback Tre'Davious White for the season.

However, it’s apparent the Bills are willing to mix and match their way to improvements. One such adjustment was the deployment of linebacker Dorian Williams.

Williams attempts to get in the way of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew / Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Williams has been inconsistent this season but found himself as a critical aspect of Buffalo’s game plan against the Denver Broncos. Although the Bills lost, 24-22, it was a fairly encouraging show from the defense.

Faced with containing quarterback Russell Wilson, Williams was asked to play closer to the line of scrimmage and spy Wilson. At times, he masqueraded as a fourth pass rusher, only to step back and ensure Wilson didn’t scramble up the middle.

Here, Williams played fairly well, though the Broncos began to adjust, seeing that he wasn’t intending to rush the passer. In all, Wilson was sacked four times and ran six times for 27 yards. On multiple occasions, Wilson began to scramble before flipping it to a well-positioned running back.

Assistant head coach Eric Washington spoke about that usage on Thursday.

“Yeah I thought he did a nice job,” Washington said. “And … there is a couple of things that we’d like to improve or tighten up relative to his position as a spy if you will. Especially when the protection declares itself and they start to see, they start to take the remaining members of the offensive line out to the three active rushers.”

Defensive ends A.J. Epenesa and Greg Rousseau both played well, finding a sack each in the loss. It was a notable improvement from Week 9’s contest against the Cincinnati Bengals. Linebacker Terrel Bernard and safety Taylor Rapp also found their way into the box score by taking down Wilson.

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In part, Williams deserves some of the credit.

“For the most part he gave us exactly what we needed and that was speed on the field,” Washington said. “Also gave our other three rushers some flexibility in what they were doing.”

The adjustment was made largely in part to counter Wilson’s mobility and tendency to scramble. He may not be asked to spy much on Sunday against the New York Jets (rushing with four should be more than enough to stifle the offense). However, with the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles left on the schedule, it is only a matter of time before fans see Williams spying again.