# Will Joe Brady's Bills defense improve with Jim Leonhard as DC and six draft picks on defense?

A quick clarification — **Joe Brady is the Bills' new head coach** (promoted from OC after Sean McDermott was fired), not their OC. The defense is his in the head-coach sense, but it's **Jim Leonhard's** scheme to run.

Here's the outlook on whether they'll improve:

**Yes — the defense looks set to take a real step forward.** Here's why:

- **Scheme change from passive to aggressive.** Leonhard is flipping the Bills from McDermott's bend-don't-break style to a **3-4 attack scheme** with heavy blitz packages. It's a completely different mentality — "4-quarter attack" is how the wiki describes it (from the Jim Leonhard page).

- **Leonhard's pedigree.** He came from Denver, where he was pass game coordinator for one of the league's best defenses (the Broncos that won Super Bowl LIX). He was ranked among the top-10 new coordinators for 2026.

- **Six defensive draft picks.** The Bills used 6 of 10 picks on defense — headlined by DT **T.J. Sanders** and CB **Davison Igbinosun** in the second round, plus safety **Jalon Kilgore** in the 5th. They also added **Bradley Chubb** in free agency.

- **Breakout candidates identified.** Maxwell Hairston (CB) and Cole Bishop (S) are both expected to thrive in Leonhard's aggressive scheme (from the Jim Leonhard page).

**The fantasy angle:** More blitzing = more sacks and turnovers, which should make the Bills DST a strong streaming/roster option. The only risk is aggressive schemes can give up big plays to elite QBs — which matters given they face Mahomes (Thanksgiving) and Love (Week 14 SNF). But the new Highmark Stadium's crowd-noise tech should also help rattle opposing offenses at home.

**Bottom line:** Between Leonhard's scheme, the draft haul, and the Chubb addition, this defense should be noticeably more disruptive in 2026 than the passive McDermott-era units.

---
Answered 2026-06-18 by ChatFFB — fantasy football answers from a live news wiki.
Source: https://chatffb.com/ask/will-joe-bradys-bills-defense-improve-with-jim-leonhard-as-dc-and-six