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Locked On Bills - Daily Podcast On The Buffalo Bills

RESET: Jim Leonhard Takes Charge—Will Bills’ DEFENSE Thrive With Vet Additions and Youth Movement?

Locked On Bills - Daily Podcast On The Buffalo Bills

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4.81.4K Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Buffalo Bills overhaul their defense—can Jim Leonhard finally unlock a Super Bowl run for Josh Allen? With Sean McDermott out and a new defensive philosophy taking root, the spotlight turns to fresh coaching and the development of young talent such as Deone Walker, Dorian Williams, Cole Bishop, and Maxwell Hairston, among others. Joe Marino breaks down how the Bills' revamped scheme and infusion of athletic prospects such as Terrel Bernard, Maxwell Hairston, Deone Walker, and Davison Igbinosun raise the unit’s ceiling. Key storylines include Christian Benford’s prime, C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s playmaking at safety, and a potent group of outside linebackers and defensive linemen drafted for this system. Will this youthful, explosive core finally push Buffalo past its playoff heartbreak and transform the league’s most scrutinized defense into a championship-caliber group?

Transcript

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0:00.0

The arrival of new coaching and the development of young players will define if the Bill's defense can elevate in 2026.

0:15.2

You are locked on bills. Your daily Buffalo Bills podcast.

0:20.7

Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.

0:27.0

What's up, Bill's Mafia? It's Joe Marino. On today's episode, we're breaking down pathways

0:33.3

for the Buffalo Bills defense to improve in 2026.

0:39.2

And there are so many different things that we have to discuss,

0:42.3

including the infusion of young talent.

0:45.0

But I want to start with the coaching element.

0:48.7

Obviously, the bills made a huge, huge, huge decision to move on from Sean McDermott, who had an outstanding run as the

0:58.0

head coach of the Buffalo Bills. But unfortunately, as a defensive-minded head coach,

1:05.0

it's tough to have the lack of playoff success defensively

1:12.6

that has really spoiled these runs put together by Josh Allen.

1:21.3

And that's where you start the conversation.

1:25.5

It is a situation that has been studied and observed,

1:31.5

and the powers that be said, we can't continue with Sean McDermott as this team's head coach,

1:40.5

especially since this is a defensive-minded head coach that can't get his side of the ball right when it matters most.

1:49.7

I'll bring up the numbers that I think everyone knows at this point.

1:54.8

Ty Dunn has done a good job of emphasizing these.

1:58.4

But when you go back to the bill's last six playoff losses since 2020,

2:02.6

so we're not talking about the Jacksonville playoff loss,

2:06.1

where we're happy to be there.

2:07.1

We broke the drought.

...

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