Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane went into the 2025 NFL Draft with a seemingly obvious need – get better on defense.
After a 2024 season in which Bobby Babich and Sean McDermott’s unit once again let down its offensive counterparts against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game for the second time in five years, Beane and the rest of the front office shifted their focus on vastly improving that side of the ball, particularly the defensive line.
Following the selection of University of Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston in the first round, the Bills went on to select consecutive players along the defensive front with their next three picks in the second, third, and fourth rounds of the draft.
South Carolina defensive tackle T.J. Sanders, Arkansas defensive end Landon Jackson and Kentucky defensive tackle Deone Walker were the aforementioned choices in each respective round, and it’s clear to see that Buffalo has big plans for the trio as their careers wear on.
However, following an unexpected ankle injury to veteran defensive tackle Ed Oliver in Wednesday’s practice, the Bills may be more reliant on Sanders and Walker sooner than anyone expected.
While fellow rookie defensive lineman Landon Jackson was inactive for his first regular-season game, Sanders and Walker saw a decent amount of action against Baltimore.
Sanders, who mainly spelled Oliver on the night, was on the field for 31% of the plays (16 snaps), while Walker managed to get 13 of the team’s 51 snaps (25%) for the game.
It was certainly a good first step for both players to get their feet wet, but the Bills will be counting on both rookies for much more moving forward – at least for the foreseeable future.
With Oliver and fellow defensive tackle tackle DaQuan Jones both getting 69% of the snap share in the opener, Sunday’s game against the New York Jets will surely see both rookies, and possibly even second-year man Zion Logue, eating up the reps in the injured Oliver’s absence.
In Jones’ opinion, it will take everyone along the defensive line – not just the young players – to get the job done against New York.
“You’ve got Joey (Bosa). You’ve got Greg (Rousseau). (You’ve got) Zion – I mean, Zion’s a heck of a player, too. I’m happy for him to get an opportunity this week,” Jones said on Friday.
“There’s so many people you can rely on – (you’ve got) AJ (Epenesa) – I mean, everyone knows what we have to do. We have to pick up our game a little more with Ed being out. Not doing too much where we’re kind of out there chasing stuff, but to make sure we’re doing our jobs to the standards that we require and making the plays that come our way.”
Logue, a former Georgia Bulldog and sixth-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2024, was claimed off Atlanta’s practice squad at the beginning of October last season, seeing game action in week 5 against the Houston Texans and week 6 against the Jets. The 6-foot-6, 314-pound Tennessee native finished the season with just two tackles before eventually being released and brought back to the practice squad.
On the practice squad once again this year, Logue will likely see a similar snap count to what his rookie teammates saw against the Ravens if he is elevated by Saturday’s deadline.
With Oliver being one of the main reasons for Buffalo’s improbable comeback in week 1, some may think that the shoes to be filled by the young players might seem enormous, so to speak.
Not for TJ Sanders.
“Just waiting on my opportunity, you know? Whenever my number is called, (I’ll) be out there ready. I feel like I had a great week of practice,” Sanders said on Friday.
“(The Jets) probably watched the game last week and feel like they can have success against us, as well. So, just coming in with our hard hats on knowing what type of game it’s going to be … I think you just approach it with the same mindset, you know? Coming out here, put your best foot forward and just take everything you’ve done throughout the week and put it on display in the game. I don’t think it’s too much to overthink.”
The Bills traded up in April’s draft to make Sanders the 41st overall pick, and it appears he’ll be in line to start opposite DaQuan Jones on Sunday – undoubtedly an earlier starting debut than anyone envisioned.
As for fellow rookie Deone Walker?
The 6-foot-7, 331-pound former Wildcat will likely relieve both Jones and Sanders throughout the game, being counted on to provide juice in pass rush situations as well as using his massive frame to clog up running lanes against a Jets team that piled up 182 rushing yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers one week ago.
Walker, though, wasn’t necessarily touted as a top-notch run defender coming out of college despite his deceiving size.
However, the 21-year-old showed flashes toward the end of the summer that were encouraging, especially after a spring that saw him take limited snaps in OTAs and minicamp due to a pars defect – a type of spine fracture – that was revealed during NFL combine medical evaluations.
Walker dominated the preseason finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, posting four tackles, a half a sack, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit in just 21 snaps.
Once named to the All-SEC second team as just a 19-year-old freshman in Lexington, Walker amassed 132 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks in 36 career starts while at Kentucky.
Needless to say, he’s no stranger to being an early contributor. The SEC, however, still isn’t the NFL, and he knows it.
“It is a morale booster to say that we came back and won (against Baltimore) … I feel like we’ve got a little bit more swagger after that comeback, but no matter what – we’re still in a hard league,” Walker said earlier in the week.
“We’ve got the New York Jets now. That’s our number one priority.”
The defensive tackle and his fellow teammates know the tape they put on film against the Ravens wasn’t good enough despite the victory.
Now, with arguably their best player from last week no longer in the fold for at least the next two games according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the defensive line will be under a microscope by fans and media alike.
Walker believes everyone will be up for the challenge, though, and after a tough week of practice – he thinks they have the confidence of their head coach.
“He sees the vision with us. He sees how good that we can be. He sees how far that we can go, especially with me and T.J.,” Walker said.
“Just pushing us to be the best players that we can be as fast as possible.”
Bills fans will be looking for that vision to come to fruition when the team squares off against the Jets in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Editor’s babble: Many thanks to John Green for his contributions to our blog. You can also find John on Xwitter @JGreen_PRsports.
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