Buffalo Bills: Early look at key position battles during 2023 offseason

Linebacker

Tyrel Dodson vs. Terrel Bernard vs. Baylon Spector

Without question, the biggest position battle for the Buffalo Bills this offseason is at middle linebacker. The Buffalo Bills lost Tremaine Edmunds in free agency, who signed with the Chicago Bears, and the coaching staff must now determine the best option to replace their starter from the past five seasons.

This is also a position battle that is probably guaranteed to have at least one, maybe two, more players enter the discussion. It would make sense for the team to use one of their early draft picks on one of the top middle linebackers in the 2023 NFL Draft but they could also add another veteran free agent linebacker, like Zach Cunningham.

As it presently stands, there are three players competing for the job to replace Edmunds with Tyrel Dodson leading the way. He has the most experience of the three linebackers on the roster and has started in place of Edmunds when he has missed games due to injuries.

The other two players, Terrel Bernard and Baylon Spector, are two players entering their second year in the NFL and are very different players. Bernard is much more athletic and can do a better job in pass coverage but might be a liability in run defense at only 224 pounds.

As for Baylon Spector, he is about 10 pounds bigger than Bernard and could make more of an impact against the run but won’t have the range in pass coverage.