As Sean McDermott takes over the Bills' defense, here are 5 key questions he faces

ORCHARD PARK - The specifics surrounding the departure of Leslie Frazier at the end of the 2022 season have never been revealed. Was it his decision to walk away per the company line, or did Sean McDermott ask him to bow out gracefully so he wouldn’t have to fire the respected defensive coordinator?

It was all very hush-hush which leads you to believe it might have been the latter rather than the former, but in the end the reason doesn’t really matter. It was probably time for a change.

The Bills have fielded one of the NFL’s stingiest defensive units since the moment McDermott came to Buffalo in 2017 and hired Frazier to run his defense. But all the good work they’ve done in the regular season came unglued in each of the last four years with poor defensive performances in the last game that helped eliminate the Bills from the playoffs.

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However, even with Frazier leaving there really isn’t much change at all. This has always been McDermott’s defense, the one he developed during his days as DC in Philadelphia and Carolina, and now he’s going back to his roots and will call the plays on game day.

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What that means remains to be seen. Will McDermott stay on the same course and continue to rely on the bend-but-don’t-break philosophy that has helped the Bills earn high rankings across the board? Or has he heard the talk that some believe the Bills defense has become predictable and, given that, will he be more aggressive than Frazier when it comes to dialing up pass rush and perhaps some man-to-man coverage schemes?

Here are five questions I have for the defense as the Bills get ready to open the 2023 season Monday in New York:

Will the pass rush be more impactful?

Last year, based on NextGen Stats data, the Bills had a pass rush win rate of 43% which was 11th-best in the NFL. It sure didn’t feel like it, and once Von Miller went out for the season on Thanksgiving Day, it wasn’t nearly that good.

The Bills won’t have Miller for at least the first quarter of the season, so as they wait for him to get back, Greg Rousseau and Leonard Floyd have to make their presence felt. Rousseau is in his third season and he could be primed for a breakout, while Floyd has been a consistent QB sacker throughout his career, particularly his last few years with the Rams.

Beyond them, it’s also proving time for A.J. Epenesa who heads into the final season of his rookie contract needing to at least match the 6.5 sacks he had last season. And the pass rush can’t all come from the edge - the Bills need more from their tackles, not necessarily sacks but pushing the pocket with the intent of funneling the opposing QB into the arms of the edge rushers or blitzing defensive backs.

“A lot of playing D-line is about just being coordinated and knowing like … I’m playing next to Ed (Oliver), he likes to play this. I’m playing next to DaQuan Jones, he plays like this. So just knowing who you’re next to can really help push your game to the next level because everything you’re doing is happening faster because you understand who you’re playing next to.”

Will Ed Oliver be worth the big contract he received?

I was fully on board with letting Oliver test free agency after 2023 because to date, he hasn’t lived up to being the No. 9 overall pick in the 2019 draft. Instead, the Bills signed him to a gaudy contract extension because they believe he’ll finally emerge as a true difference maker.

You will see a true difference-making DT on Monday and his name is Quinnen Williams of the Jets. Oliver has not played to that level, and I wonder if now that he’s really been paid, will he be motivated to get into that neighborhood. He says that won’t be an issue and in fact, he’s more motivated than ever to prove his doubters wrong. OK, it’s time to see it.

Of the 125 DTs who played at least 100 pass rush snaps last season, Pro Football Focus graded Oliver 54th in that group. His 31 QB pressures were tied for 31st. He fared better as a run defender, grading out 28th. The talent is there, the consistency has been lacking.

“I want Ed to compete like he’s trying to get the contract,” defensive line coach/assistant head coach Eric Washington said. “I expect Ed to continue to grow. Ed’s the type of player that has to really dominate situations, and little telltale signs that will help him to play ahead of the play as opposed to playing with the flow of the play. He’s got to separate himself. He’s capable of doing that. And he’s going to take his game to the next level primarily with just processing situations, and really anticipating what he can do in terms of impacting the play when we need it.”

Are safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer slowing down?

This will be something to watch because the 32-year-old Hyde is coming off a serious neck injury that forced him to miss all but two games last season, and the 32-year-old Poyer is coming off a year when he suffered multiple injuries.

All indications are that both are healthy heading into the season - Hyde’s back problem during the week is not a concern, at least not to him. However, there’s a lot of mileage on these two players and at some point Father Time wins the race.

My sense is that they are still outstanding athletes who will successfully continue their long-running partnership in the deep secondary, but it’s not out of the question that their impeccable reliability wanes just a bit.

The good news is that the Bills have quality depth behind them in case either gets hurt with Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin ready to step in. Rapp, in particular, could be a very useful addition to the defense and not just as a backup but someone McDermott can deploy in dime coverage schemes.

Are the Bills vulnerable at cornerback?

Tre’Davious White missed the first 10 games last year while recovering from his ACL surgery, and while it took a few games for him to get going, he was starting to regain his Pro Bowl form by the end of the year.

With a full offseason to heal even more and get stronger, the expectation is that he’ll be back to being a lockdown corner. On the other side, just as it has been for almost the entirety of White’s career in Buffalo, there is uncertainty.

Christian Benford won the three-man battle with Dane Jackson and Kaiir Elam, but his starting position is tenuous at best. In fact, it may turn out that like last season, McDermott rotates at CB2 with two or maybe all three of those players getting snaps. Regardless of who is out there, that can’t be a weak spot for Buffalo, not with the amount of great passing teams they face this season.

And at nickel cornerback, Taron Johnson has been a terrific player, but he took a slight dip in 2022 and PFF pinned seven touchdown passes on his ledger as he also gave up, per their charting, career highs in receptions (69) and yards after catch (376).

Can Terrel Bernard come close to replicating Tremaine Edmunds?

Yeah, he can come close, but that’s an awfully tough ask, especially for a player who is four inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter than his predecessor who has moved on to the Bears.

Bernard has the most pressure on him of any player on the defense. He has to be the signal caller and the player who makes adjustments on the fly, and he has almost no experience doing either at the pro level, let alone taking care of his own responsibilities on each play.

Bernard has the athleticism to be effective in pass coverage even though he won’t close as many windows as the lengthy Edmunds, and he’s also a tenacious and willing tackler. Beyond inexperience, the biggest issue he may face is will the 222-pounder be able to get off blocks when offensive linemen climb to the second level and get their hands on him? This is where stout play by the middle of the Bills defensive line can help Bernard in that area.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during training camp, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Five questions Buffalo Bills defense must answer in 2023