Our roster of coverage players underwent some pretty drastic changes this offseason. Just looking at who we lost, there are a ton of snaps from last year.

Mathieu - 998 snaps (led the team in defensive snaps)
Ward - 753 snaps
Sorensen - 698 snaps
Niemann - 557 snaps
Hughes - 508 snaps

I look at that list and look at who we signed and I feel fairly confident that our secondary will be better next year, especially during the second half as new players get more comfortable in the scheme. The talent, youth, and athleticism traits are there.

Mathieu -> Reid
Ward -> McDuffie
Sorensen -> Cook
Hughes -> Fenton, Williams, Johnson Jr.

I just thank the gods I won't have to watch ****ing Sorensen and Niemann look like complete morons anymore.

Does Jermaine Carter Jr. take Niemann's snaps? Or someone else?

Don't forget Mike Hughes tripping over himself to give up the lead in what was, up to that point, the most important defensive series of the season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gabriel Davis just ended Mike Hughes’ career💀 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BillsMafia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BillsMafia</a> <a href="https://t.co/nc6jRjDXdt">pic.twitter.com/nc6jRjDXdt</a></p>&mdash; 3rd and Forever (@3rd_forever10k) <a href="https://twitter.com/3rd_forever10k/status/1485440162876182528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

All you have to do is watch both Bills games to see how absolutely catastrophic this secondary was as well as Neimann.

Now they’ve got some guys who can cover, provide size against taller receivers and tackle.

God it’s gonna be nice seeing young guys fly to the ball and tackle instead of whiffing and making business decisions with their hands in the air.

It’s gonna take a on time for them to get going but it’s worth it

Presumably.

8 now, counting Lonnie Johnson

What are you picking to say these players are better???

Mathieu was graded higher at coverage but lover that Reid in run defense, plus Reid is younger and faster.
How is Sorenson better than Cook.. this alone makes me question your decision making. Sorenson was the worst safety in the NFL until a few lucky interceptions improved his ranking.

The season will show if our secondary is better or not. To me, the only real loss here is Ward, other than that I feel we have improved. If McDuffie is at the Sneed level or better we are much better.... I did notice you left Snead off of your list... coincidence?

Those aren't greater than signs, just makeshift arrows. Sneed isn't on the list because he's still on the team.

Unless they can cover for 4 or 5 seconds it may not matter if the pass rush doesn't come around.

I think I blacked out after that play yelling at Mike Hughes

Chiefs Defense 2021 (according to Pro Football Reference):

Hurries - 4th
Hurry % - 3rd
Knockdowns - 8th
Knockdown % - 8th
Pressures - 6th
Pressure % - 5th
Sacks - 29th

I think Veach believes the pass rush only needs a bit of a boost and the problem was that the secondary wasn’t holding up quite as long as it needed to.

No matter how many times i watch it i still cant figure out how he got put on his ass so badly.

It wasn't even that great of a double move. Hell, that HS kid i played ball with last weekend had a better double move.

That looks like a guy who was EXTREMELY nervous

It's kinda funny maybe ironic but we've upgraded this backfield with mostly rooks and younger talent and of course they need experience. You would think that teams are going be thinking that we are playing a bunch of rookies but even without the experience I can see game one our defense is going to show up. This defense can cover mistakes by speed and chase guys down so that big play not going happen as much and if it does in one game it won't happen again same game. This is the most stoked both sides of the ball I've ever been.

If only we can beef up the lintier with Jones to penetrate and win in the trenches that would go a long ways and help our DBs. We got guys that can and will lay the wood in our secondary hell our Linebackers too. This is going be the most physical defense compliment the physical offensive line just tenacity on both sides of the ball. I think we got guys that can hit like Deron Cherry.