Pro Football Focus overlooks Buffalo Bills DL in recent position rankings

One of the headlines of the Buffalo Bills’ 2023 season has been the number of injuries on defense. Throughout their season, the Bills lost many valuable players for an extended period of time, if not the entire season. In Week 4, Tre’Davious White tore his Achilles tendon, which was his second season-ending injury for the Bills in two years. The following week, DaQuan Jones and Matt Milano both suffered serious injuries. Jones tore his pectoral, which kept him sidelined until the end of the regular season, and Milano suffered a season-ending leg injury. Not to mention, Von Miller was rehabbing his knee after tearing his ACL the previous season and missed the first four games, but wasn’t the same player when he returned.

Down the stretch, it seemed like the Bills had injuries every week on defense that kept players out for a while or even out of the game. Despite all the adversity that Buffalo’s defense faced, the Bills still managed to have a competent defense that helped them reach the playoffs and steal the AFC East from the Miami Dolphins. One unit that played a significant role in this success was the defensive line led by Ed Oliver.

Even though Miller was not at all himself throughout the season and DaQuan Jones missed the majority of the season, the Bills defensive line still managed to hold on and make teams win by the tunes. In five of the first six weeks, the Bills’ run defense has been atrocious, no question. Then, starting in Week 7, they only allowed over 100 rushing yards in four games. Additionally, they helped create a pass rush to make life easier for the secondary that was also battling injuries.

Heading into the 2024 season, the Bills defensive line will look a little different, but nothing much has changed. The biggest change was the departure of Leonard Floyd to join the San Francisco 49ers (who the Bills will host on Sunday night in December). Other than that, the Bills will have the same core as before, while adding a new rookie in DeWayne Carter, who they drafted in the third round of the NFL draft.

While there is continuity within this unit, Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus seems to think Buffalo’s defensive line sits in the middle of the pack in the league heading into next season. Out of 32 places, Monson ranked the Bills defensive line 16th, behind the New York Jets (No. 1) and New England Patriots (No. 15).

“Buffalo’s defensive line is a stronger group in terms of name recognition than consistently impactful play. Von Miller looked like a shadow of himself in 2024 and may have simply been at the fair too long.

Ed Oliver had the best season of his NFL career, but that only earned him a 67.8 overall PFF grade due to his 55.4 run defense grade.

Greg Rousseau has become a very good player, and re-signing DaQuan Jones was a big move, given the play he displayed before getting injured last season. »

– Sam Monson, Focus on professional football

Seeing how the Bills defense can handle adversity and how Ed Oliver and AJ Epenesa are coming off their career years, Buffalo’s defensive line (as long as they stay healthy) will be a key contributor to their success this season. If Sean McDermott and Bobby Babich can take this unit to the next level, not only will it take pressure off the secondary, but it will also allow Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard to grow even more in their game.