Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - As the Buffalo Bills open training camp on Wednesday at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, there are a number of questions in regards to the defense and special teams unit.
Let's start with the defense:
1.) Who will call the defense?
Back in January, the Bills promoted linebackers coach Bobby Babich to defensive coordinator, but we still don't know if he will call the defense during games, or if head coach Sean McDermott will handle that job for a second-straight season.
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2.) Will Von Miller return to form?
The Bills' big-ticket pickup two years ago in free agency struggled through the 2023 season. Coming back from a torn ACL, last year was pretty much a wash for Miller, who probably came back too quickly and never looked like the Von Miller the league has known.
In 12 games played, Miller did not record a single sack, and had only three quarterback hits. It was the first time in his career that Miller had zero sacks in a season. His previous career low was five, but that was in a 2013 season where he only played in nine games.
That is in stark contrast to his first season with the Bills when the, then, 33-year-old registered eight sacks in his first 11 games before being injured.
In his 10 seasons prior to joining the Bills, Miller averaged 11 sacks.
Needless to say, the Bills need the now 35-year-old to come back strong. That would help offset the loss of Leonard Floyd to free agency. Floyd led the Bills with 10.5 sacks last season.
3.) Will Matt Milano return to form?
The Bills' super talented, do everything linebacker suffered a serious season-ending injury in the fifth game last season.
There is no replacing a guy like Milano in the lineup. He brings so many different skills to the field, and is a huge piece of the defense.
In Milano's absence, Terrel Bernard had a breakthrough campaign and became a key playmaker for McDermott's group. Bernard led the team in tackles, was second in interceptions, and ended up tied for third in sacks.
Bernard more than made up for the loss of Tremaine Edmunds in free agency.
4.) How will the new look secondary perform?
For most of the last seven seasons, the Bills were able to lock in Tre'Davious White at one of the starting cornerback spots, and the last line of defense were safties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde.
All three are gone. Gone with them are a combined 284 regular season games started and 56 interceptions in addition to invaluable leadership skills.
I think the Bills will be fine at cornerback.
Rasul Douglas proved to be a tremendous pickup last October, and there's no question Christian Benford can play the position. It remains to be seen if he can do it consistently over a full campaign.
Meanwhile, Taron Johnson remains one of the best nickel corners in the NFL.
I'm concerned about the safety position, where it appears Taylor Rapp and Mike Edwards will take over for Poyer and Hyde.
The good news is both have plenty of NFL experience. Rapp has started 52 games in his NFL career, while Edwards, who played in every game for the Kansas City Chiefs last season, has started 28 games.
Rapp was also here last season, so obviously he is familiar with the scheme.
Now we can move on to special teams:
1.) Will Tyler Bass bounce back?
It felt like Bass took a step back last season, but his numbers weren't really that bad.
Yes, his field goal percentage was a career low 82%, but he only had five misses during the regular season, and two were from 50-plus yards. Bass also connected on 49-of-50 extra points in 2023.
It must be recency bias because of his 2-for-5 field goal showing in the two playoff games, which included the big miss from 42 yards out in the loss to the Chiefs.
2.) Who handles kick and punt returns?
Keep in mind, the NFL has made some big changes to the kickoff rules, which they hope will bring the return game back to life.
The Bills averaged just one kick return a game last season, but those new rules should lead to an increase in that number.
Ty Johnson, who re-signed in the offseason, had the most kick returns with eight. Khalil Shakir was next on the list with five.
In 2023, Deonte Harty was the main punt returner, while Shakir had five returns. However, Shakir now has a much bigger role on offense, so I'd rather not see him back there on punts.
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