One Member of Buffalo Bills Facing More Pressure Than Joe Brady in 2026

There is plenty of change coming for the Buffalo Bills in 2026 after they promoted former offensive coordinator Joe Brady as the team’s next head coach, and with that change will bring increased pressure spread throughout the organization.

Not only will this be Brady’s first year in a new role, it will also be the first time that Buffalo’s new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard will call the defense for an NFL team. That places an immense burden on Leonhard, even more so than Brady this season.

Leonhard is taking over for Bills legend

Whether some Bills fans like it or not, former head coach Sean McDermott will forever be remembered for helping the Bills end their 17-year playoff drought in his first season at the helm. That will leave Leonhard with big shoes to fill in his first season in Buffalo.

It wasn’t long ago that McDermott led the Bills’ defense to become the best in the league during the 2021 season, when Buffalo allowed the fewest points per game in the NFL [289]. That may be a high standard to set for Leonhard in his first season as the team’s DC, but a repeat of the team’s 2025 performance, when it allowed its opponents to score 30 points or more on five occasions, certainly won’t be acceptable.

This is Leonhard’s first time as an NFL defensive coordinator

Wisconsin head coach Jim Leonhard, center, is shown during the first quarter of their game Saturday, November 26, 2022 at Camp Randall Stadium. | Mark Hoffman / USA TODAY NETWORK

Leonhard previously served as the University of Wisconsin’s DC from 2017-2022 along with its interim head coach during the ’22 campaign. However, he has never had his hands on an NFL team quite the way he will in 2026, a pivotal year for the Bills in which they are expecting their defense to display signs of significant improvement.

This past season, the Denver Broncos led the NFL with 68 sacks with Leonhard serving as the team’s defensive passing game coordinator. It will be interesting to see if some of the magic he worked with that team the past few years will translate in his first season in Buffalo.

A lot of moving pieces on the Bills’ defense

For the second straight year, the Bills spent their first two selections of the 2026 NFL Draft on defensive players. They finished the draft with six picks on that side of the ball, which was also the second straight season that was the case.

Buffalo selected edge rusher T.J. Parker at pick No. 35 in the second round, while it traded up for second-round cornerback Davison Igbinosun at pick No. 62. The Bills also brought in free-agent EDGE Bradley Chubb, while safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson is also expected to have quite the impact on Buffalo's secondary.

There are a lot of moving pieces for the Bills defensively, especially when compared to the offensive side of the ball, where Brady has the benefit of having Josh Allen under center. There is no player of that caliber residing on the defensive side of the ball for the Bills, which makes Leonhard's task exponentially more difficult.

Leonhard will be under the gun to help that group display vast improvement in a new, multiple-front defensive scheme, which is expected to feature a 3-4 base look. Otherwise, heads could roll in Year 1 of this new era of Bills football.

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