One of the big stories to keep an eye on as the Buffalo Bills draw closer to the season is who will take over as the starting middle linebacker after Pro Bowler Tremaine Edmunds left to join the Chicago Bears. 

In football circles, it’s often said that the middle linebacker is like the quarterback for the defense — relaying play calls and making adjustments before the play. For five years, that role was entrusted to Edmunds. Now, with perhaps a handful of players vying for the spot, communication will be key.

"The operation and making sure that our defense can function through the way the mike linebacker gets us into a defense, potentially sets a front, sets this, sets that, so we can operate at a high level — that’s the hardest thing," said linebackers coach Bobby Babich.

"It’s really the middle linebacker’s show," added safety Micah Hyde. "If you make a call and it’s wrong, we’re all playing that wrong call. No matter what we’re on the same sheet of music. I think it’s just about being confident and having those young guys being precise, make a call and let’s go out there and play fast."

When it comes to which player will ultimately win the job, Babich believes it’s less about physical traits like size and strength — while those do help — it’s more about knowing where to be to make the play.

"If you talk about the instinctual aspect of things, or just having that feel for the game and that knowledge…so they can play fast and play free once they master those operation type things," Babich said.

Among the names trying to secure the position are veterans who’ve been in the Bills system like Tyrel Dodson and A-J Klein, and some younger guys like Terrell Bernard and Baylor Spector, both in their second year, and rookie Dorian Williams, who Babich studied extensively leading into the draft.

"He is an intelligent player, and he’s a physical player,” Babich said. “He showed that on tape. Now, he’s got to show that in the NFL and OTAs isn’t a time to do that. It’s not a physical time. All those things we kind of lump and look for, I think Dorian had most of them if not all of them.”

Ideally, Babich said, one of those linebackers will win the job outright rather than have some type of rotation among them, but they won’t put a timetable on when they need to make that decision.