Buffalo Bills' youth movement disproves longtime Sean McDermott narrative

Hairston played 50% of Buffalo’s defensive snaps against Kansas City, a 6% increase from the week before during his NFL debut. With the Bills now dealing with the absence of starting S Taylor Rapp, Hancock has stepped into a more prominent role defensively, seeing a 17% increase in defensive snap share on Sunday compared to the week prior. For the third straight game, Walker led all Bills DTs in defensive snaps with a 42% share.

As the weeks go by, Buffalo has ushered in a new era defensively, and it is starting to pay dividends.

The Bills put forth perhaps their best defensive effort of the year on Sunday, limiting the Chiefs to their second-lowest offensive output of the season (305 total yards) while stifling Patrick Mahomes to the worst passing performance of his NFL career. With three rookies at the forefront of the team’s success, the future now appears brighter than ever for the Buffalo resistance.

Also worth consideration, second-round defensive tackle T.J. Sanders remains on Injured Reserve, but before he went on the mend, he was playing a whopping 49% of the defensive snaps. In addition, on the offensive side of the ball, fifth-round tight end Jackson Hawes has been a key cog in what the Bills have done in both the running game and passing game.

McDermott has taken the chains off several members of Buffalo’s rookie class to allow them to spread their wings early in their careers, but there may be more meat on the bone.

Cornerback Tre’Davious White and safety Jordan Poyer have shown their age in the back end over the past few weeks, and with Hairston and Hancock gaining steam, it would behoove the Bills to insert both into the team's starting lineup. With nine weeks remaining in the regular season, the time is now to get the two young players entirely up to speed before the playoffs come around.

At that time, Buffalo will want its speediest, most athletic options in the back end in order to counter some of the best pass catchers in the AFC down the stretch.

Second-year safety Cole Bishop is coming into his own, and with several members of the rookie class taking steps each and every week, there is no better time than the present for the Bills to dive headfirst into their youth movement, beginning in Week 10 against the lowly Miami Dolphins.

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