Buffalo Bills: Ranking the strongest positional groups entering 2020 season
By Daniel Bruce
4. Linebacker
The Buffalo Bills boasts two Pro Bowl caliber linebackers in Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano, the only thing keeping this group from being near the top is the lack of depth, with the likes of A.J. Klein, Tyler Matakevich, Corey Thompson and Vosean Joseph.
The starters are projected to be Edmunds playing in the middle with Milano on the weak-side and Klein on the strong side. Edmunds enjoyed a Pro Bowl season last year with 121 tackles, along with 2 sacks, 2 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles, while Milano added 101 tackles. 1.5 sacks and 1 forced fumble.
Edmunds and Milano will barely leave the field, with the bills relying heavily on their nickel defense which only requires the two linebackers. Klein compiled 69 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 interception and 1 forced fumble. Klein will most likely play a similar role to how the Bills used Lorenzo Alexander last season, playing around 50 percent of the snaps.
Tyler Matakevich is a permanent special teamer who shouldn’t see any snaps on defense, just being relied upon to be a special teams “ace”. Corey Thompson is highly regarded and should be on the roster as a key backup to Milano, seeing limited time on defense and playing special teams. Vosean Joseph, the Buffalo Bills fifth-round selection from the 2019 draft, missed the entire 2019 season with a shoulder injury, and will look to show the potential the Bills saw when they selected him.
Tyrel Dodson, Mike Bell, and Del’Shawn Phillips look to be practice squad candidates, while Dodson does have the best chance at the roster after nearly cracking the Bills roster last year.