The changes to the Buffalo Bills’ roster since early March have been well-documented.
But kind of/sort of under the radar was the significant turnover on the Bills’ coaching staff.
The Bills open their voluntary offseason program on Monday. Here's a look at five storylines.
Four coaches have new roles: Joe Brady (quarterbacks coach to full-time offensive coordinator), Bobby Babich (linebackers coach to defensive coordinator), Marcus West (assistant defensive line to defensive line) and Al Holcomb (senior defensive assistant to linebackers coach).
Five coaches are new: Ronald Curry (quarterbacks), Jahmile Addae (cornerbacks), Scott Booker (nickels), Matt Edwards (assistant defensive line) and Christian Taylor (defensive quality control).
It is up to head coach Sean McDermott to set the tone for how he wants things done.
“I’ve been very impressed,” he said on Thursday. “When you look at the way people collaborate, (they) are unselfish, respectful and team-centered, the staff is off to a great start. Very good additions. They keep their heads down and they work.
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“Everyone’s got a role and they have all been anchoring in their role. The coordinators have been leading.”
Rattling up the decks can be a good thing for a coaching staff – new hires bring new ideas and new approaches and it keeps everything fresh and current.
The players were back at the facility on Monday for the start of the voluntary offseason program and McDermott estimated the attendance at 95%. That type of participation will help the new coaches connect with the players so they aren’t playing catch-up when training camp starts in late July.
“Now it’s time to do what we do, which is coach and working on developing players,” McDermott said. “My challenge to the coordinators and the position coaches has been, ‘Make sure our terminology and our message is the same from the coordinator to the position coach.’ ”
Quick hits
1. No play-calling clarity. If McDermott knows who will call the defensive plays, him or Babich, he isn’t dishing yet.
“It’s on my radar,” McDermott said. “Probably the best thing to do is ask me about it in training camp. I’m not going to make a decision before then.”
An interesting strategy. McDermott said he has “full confidence,” in Babich. I expect Babich to call the plays in Week 1 because it needs to be remembered that he was in the running for other coordinator jobs when the Bills announced his promotion from linebackers coach.
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott discusses the job done so far by new defensive coordinator Bobby Babich.
2. Oliver deal revisited. Last June, the Bills signed defensive tackle Ed Oliver to a four-year, $68 million contract ($17 million average) that kicks in this year. That per-season average is looking Bills-friendly after an offseason of spending at the position.
New defensive tackle deals include Seattle’s Leonard Williams ($21.5 million average), Indianapolis’ DeForest Buckner ($23 million), Carolina’s Derrick Brown ($24 million), Baltimore’s Justin Madubuike ($24.5 million), Miami’s Christian Wilkins ($27.5 million) and Kansas City’s Chris Jones ($31.75 million).
The Bills own the 28th pick. It’s common for NFL teams to have no more than 18 to 24 players with first-round grades in any given year.
3. GMs get bored. Trades will be frequent in the NFL draft and general managers slide up and down the board to target a player or gather more picks.
Last year, the largest gap between trades was only four picks – Nos. 57-60 (second round), 196-199 (sixth) and 253-256 (seventh).
Two years ago, the largest gap was six picks – Nos. 1-6 (first round) and 131-136 (fourth).
4. Six-quarterback first round. I see six quarterbacks going in the first 13 picks on Thursday night.
Caleb Williams (Chicago, No. 1), Drake Maye (Washington, No. 2), Jayden Daniels (New England, No. 3), J.J. McCarthy (Minnesota, No. 4 after a trade with Arizona), Bo Nix (Denver, No. 12) and Michael Penix Jr. (Las Vegas, No. 13).
The Vikings move from 11 to take McCarthy, which allows the Broncos and Raiders to stay put and take Nix and Penix, respectively. Denver doesn’t have a second-round pick, so it must go quarterback, and Las Vegas shouldn’t pass, then try to trade back into the later part of the first round.
5. Recruiting Fletcher. Last week, Canisius introduced Jim Christian as its new men’s basketball coach and I asked him what was the coolest phone call or text message he had received post-hiring.
“Coolest text message was (from) London Fletcher,” Christian said.
Fletcher, whose 16-year NFL career as a linebacker included five years with the Bills (2002-06), played basketball as a college freshman at St. Francis (Pa.) in 1994.
“I signed London Fletcher,” Christian said. “I was an assistant, and the head coach (Tom McConnell) said, ‘Jim, you have to get me a tough point guard, just physically tough. I want the toughest guy you can bring back.’ I brought back London Fletcher and he played for us for a year.”
Fletcher transferred to John Carroll in Ohio to play football and finished his NFL career with 2,039 tackles in 256 games, never missing a game.
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Ryan O'Halloran
Sports Reporter