The Buffalo Bills had a fairly well-established pecking order at linebacker last year when the entire group was healthy. That order was easy to see right from the jump—the Bills had two players who would always be on the field when they could play, a third who would join the base package, and then a fourth who would be on the roster but serve as a special teams ace. After that, everyone was fighting for roster space and playing time that was left.
Thanks to injuries at linebacker, there were some opportunities for younger players to earn that playing time last year.