The Buffalo Bills have been known to roster plenty of “special teams only” players throughout the tenure of head coach Sean McDermott. Often, those players are linebackers. That doesn’t mean that these linebackers can’t contribute on defense, but it has meant that the team tries very hard to prevent them from actually playing on defense if they can help it.
This offseason, it seems that the Bills have ditched that strategy somewhat, especially at linebacker. After dealing with a slew of injuries last season, it makes sense that the club would pivot and try to build the kind of depth that can step in and fill roles on defense rather than just contributing in the game’s ever-important third phase.