INDIANAPOLIS — Throughout his two decades as an offensive line coach in the NFL, Aaron Kromer has forged a reputation for improving the run-blocking skills of his troops.

For proof, look at the two seasons he spent with the Buffalo Bills in 2015 and 2016 under Rex Ryan. The Bills led the league in rushing both years with LeSean McCoy as the primary running back following paths carved out by the likes of Eric Wood, Richie Incognito and Cordy Glenn.

So, when Sean McDermott brought Kromer back to Buffalo last month to replace departed line coach Bobby Johnson, naturally, warning signals exploded above the fieldhouse at One Bills Drive.

Does this mean the Bills are going to scale back their otherworldly passing game in favor of trying to establish a stronger running game, Bills fans wondered?

After all, it seemed apparent that McDermott had some issues in 2021 with former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s inability in some games to get anything going on the ground and relying too heavily on Josh Allen’s arm, especially after the loss to the Patriots at home when the wind howled.

McDermott dumped a cold bucket of water on that potential brush fire at the NFL Scouting Combine this week when he was asked about the Kromer hire.

“No, there’s no hidden signal,” he said. “What I want to do is play well up front, and I want to protect our quarterback. We had an opportunity to land coach Kromer and we were able to strike and do that, and that’s a big piece to developing that position, right? It’s having the right guy in the room to do that.”

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Kromer has coached offensive lines for the Bills, Raiders, Buccaneers, Saints and Rams, and he was also the Bears offensive coordinator in the two years prior to his first stint in Buffalo. Two of his New Orleans teams ranked in the top 10 in rushing, and in Los Angeles, the Rams were top 11 three times, including third in 2018.

The 54-year-old - who was out football in 2021, the first year he didn’t coach since his career began in college at Miami of Ohio in 1990 - has found success teaching a variety of schemes and concepts based on personnel and that’s one of the things that made him so attractive to McDermott, his ability to adapt.

“I like his background … that was also a draw to me because I like to be able to do what our players do best,” McDermott said. “And then, philosophically, make sure we’re doing what’s best for our quarterback and then also what’s evolving in the game. So the inability to see it through a two-dimensional lens was not what I was looking for.”

Wood, for one, was thrilled when he learned that Kromer was coming back to Buffalo and he tweeted so. He made his only Pro Bowl in 2015 when Kromer was his coach.

Wood, who is now the analyst on the Bills’ radio broadcasts, may have been whispering in McDermott’s ear because McDermott has never been on the same staff with Kromer.

“When you’re in the league long enough – and I’m not as young as I used to be – you have a chance to track people and also play or coach against other coaches, in this case,” McDermott said. “So people develop reputations of doing things well when their players are playing at a high level. So that’s kind of how it came to be.”

The Bills’ offensive line has been average at best for most of McDermott’s five years as head coach. In its season-ending rankings, Pro Football Focus had the Bills slotted at 17th in 2021. In 2020, PFF had Buffalo 10th, in 2019 they were 21st, in 2018 they were 26th, and in 2017 they were 7th.

The unit began coming together late in the season, though, after Ryan Bates took over at left guard to join left tackle Dion Dawkins, center Mitch Morse, right guard Daryl Williams and right tackle Spencer Brown.

That group could return intact if the Bills don’t lose Bates as a restricted free agent, and/or they don’t release Williams to save space on the salary cap. It would be interesting to see what Kromer could do with that fivesome, and perhaps just as interesting, maybe he can resurrect the sagging career of 2019 second-round pick Cody Ford.

“I feel so good about Aaron in terms of the level that he’s coached at,” McDermott said. “A big, big emphasis for us is protecting our quarterback, and you guys know why, I don’t need to tell you why. So making a big-time hire at that position was important for me this offseason so that those players are developing the right way. I know Aaron’s had a track record of developing players at that position and I expect that he’ll do a good job for us.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills hire Aaron Kromer to improve offensive line