EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second installment in a series breaking down each position ahead of the opening of Buffalo Bills training camp July 29.

ORCHARD PARK — Quarterbacks tend to make bad decisions when they have been hit enough times. There’s one decision to make on the way to the turf for a sack: don’t let go of the ball.

Seems simple enough, right?

But putting quarterbacks on the ground before the ball was thrown wasn’t a high priority during the Sean McDermott era. Instead, his defense focused on confusing quarterbacks, making them think longer than preferred and banking on them making a bad decision.

The Bills ranked in the top-10 in takeaways eight times in nine seasons under McDermott, including five in the top-five. They ranked in the top-10 in sacks once during that span.

It worked for the Bills during the regular season, ranking in the top-five five times in pass defense. But in the playoffs, it’s much harder to fool good quarterbacks and it showed in their inability to create pressure and make quarterbacks uncomfortable.

In the AFC divisional round, Denver quarterback Bo Nix was the only playoff quarterback in the last 25 years to attempt 45 passes, complete fewer than 60% of them and not get sacked. In McDermott’s playoff wins, the Bills had a 42.8% pressure rate, compared to 25.8% in losses, with average for last year’s playoff winners being 36.8%.

Enter defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, whose blitz-happy scheme is as hyper-aggressive as McDermott’s was when he first arrived in Buffalo. And the man charged with flipping Buffalo’s edge rushers from watchmen to predators is his former co-defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Bobby April III.

The last time April coached for the Bills, the expectations were through the roof. He was the outside linebackers coach for Rex Ryan in 2015 and 2016, but the pass rush fell flat.

After getting fired with the rest of Ryan’s staff, April spent a year out of football and has since spent his time in college, most recently as Stanford’s defensive coordinator.

April has coached big-time college edge rushers like Eagles linebacker Zack Baun, Pittsburgh’s Nate Herbig and the Jets’ No. 2 overall pick David Bailey. But now he must apply it to the NFL.

“I took everything I was teaching the NFL player to the college level,” April told GNN Sports. “I felt like I was using the tools that I was using with grown men initially. … Luckily we had success. We had good kids too that bought in. … And that’s really the NFL, just having guys buying and believing what you do.”

April is tasked with elevating 2021 first-round pick Greg Rousseau, who was good enough to net a four-year, $80 million extension, but still hasn’t logged more than eight sacks in a season. April has already said the Bills intend to unleash Rousseau rather than forcing him to set the edge all the time.

Alongside Rousseau is veteran Bradley Chubb, who inked a three-year, $43.5 million contract in March. And second-round pick T.J. Parker. April says it’s like having three first-round picks and an ideal scenario.

At 30, Chubb is the veteran with two Pro Bowls on his resume. Rousseau is only 26, but he’s played 78 career games. And Parker is the hungry young upstart looking to carve a niche in the NFL.

“It’s kind of like being a foster dad a little bit,” said April, whose father was Buffalo’s special teams coach from 2004-2009. “You’ve got three big brothers and they’re all trying to compete for the same, whatever it may be. … I think there’s a fine line of turning it into a competitive I-want-to-beat-you battle to an I-want-to-get-you-better battle. And that’s where we’re at right now.”

Rousseau is playing a position similar to the one he played at the University of Miami. Chubb played for Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph when he was Denver’s head coach and Leonhard spent the last two seasons working for Joseph.

In Chubb’s experience, the Bills won’t be deploying a passive rush when the game is on the line.

“Just playing fast, playing physical, getting off the ball, putting fear in the tackle’s feet,” Chubb said. “If you’ve got guys who have been in this defense in the past like (Denver’s) Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, they do the same things. They just get off the ball and ask questions later.”

Training camp battles

Rostered outside linebackers (8): Bradley Chubb, Mike Danna, Cade Denhoff, Michael Hoecht, Andre Jones Jr., T.J. Parker, Greg Rousseau, Javon Solomon.

Chubb, Rousseau and Parker are going to get the bulk of the snaps. Hoecht, who expects to be ready to start training camp coming off a torn Achilles, may not have a big role early in the season as he continues to heal, but should eventually find a spot as an early-down edge defender and an inside rusher on passing downs.

That makes Danna’s situation intriguing. Danna isn’t a big pass-rush threat with 21 ½ sacks in 87 career games with the Kansas City Chiefs, but he can set the edge against the run. Whether Danna can play 3-4 defensive end at 261 may determine his roster fate.

Solomon is also interesting because general manager Brandon Beane mentioned him multiple times during the offseason as possibly being a better fit in the 3-4 than McDermott’s 4-3.

Solomon never found a consistent role defensively under McDermott during his first two seasons, but he was a core special teams player. That likely puts him ahead of Danna in the pecking order.