Bills position preview: Defensive tackle depth chart underwent a makeover
The Buffalo Bills’ front office significantly rebuilt the interior of the team’s defensive line this offseason.
This is the seventh in a series looking at the status of each position before the Buffalo Bills report to training camp on July 23. This installment: Defensive tackles.
Bills defensive tackle Austin Johnson will be counted on to provide depth behind starters Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
The Buffalo Bills’ front office significantly rebuilt the interior of the team’s defensive line this offseason.
That starts with the coach who will lead the bigs in the middle. Eric Washington is out, having departed to become the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator. In his place is Marcus West, who was promoted from assistant defensive line coach to defensive line coach.
It will be on West to get the most out of a defensive line that has underachieved in each of the last two playoff losses. Partially because of those performances, the Bills swapped out veterans Jordan Phillips and Tim Settle at defensive tackle, electing not to re-sign either player in free agency.
In their place, general manager Brandon Beane signed Austin Johnson and DeShawn Williams. They’ll join projected starters Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones, who was re-signed, as the top four at the position entering training camp.
“Bring energy every day, and I promise you we’ll get there,” West said. “Our fundamentals will take care of themselves. Our fundamentals will consistently continue to develop every single day. What I ask of them is their energy. I don’t speak of effort because there are professionals. Effort is a given.”
Defensive tackle is a position with great variety in the NFL. The Bills employ Gable Steveson, an Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler who is 6-foot-1, 265 pounds. They also employ Eli Ankou, who checks in at 6-3, 325.
“I think each one of them, you think they bring a different thing, but they don’t. We bring the same thing,” West said. “We’re the same front. Our first fundamental is getting off the ball. That’s what this defense has been great in doing. That’s what this defensive front has been good for. I’m not here to necessarily change anything that they’ve done, the success we’ve had in the past. Each one of them are the same to me.”
Returnees: Oliver, Jones.
Newcomers: DeShawn Williams, Austin Johnson, Ankou, Steveson, DeWayne Carter, Branson Deen.
Departures: Settle, Phillips, Linval Joseph, Poona Ford, Andrew Brown.
Top battle: Carter vs. Williams.
The Bills used the third-round pick they acquired in a trade down with Kansas City on Carter, a three-time team captain at Duke. As a third-round pick, he is pretty much a roster lock, but it remains to be seen whether he will be active on game days. Williams is a player the Bills pursued last offseason before he signed with Carolina, so there is a clear investment there made by the front office.
From a roster-building standpoint, the coaching staff has to decide whether it can carry four or five defensive tackles on the 53-man roster. The thinking here is that five will be the call, with Johnson the No. 3 at the position behind Oliver and Jones. That leaves Williams and Carter to battle over the fourth active player at the position.
What to expect: Oliver took a monster step last year, finding the consistency that he sometimes lacked early in his career.
“There obviously was a step,” West said. “You can’t deny it. I mean, he had his best season. He had one of the best seasons by a defensive tackle in the NFL. The next step is even more consistency and being consistent mentally. Being a student of the game, understanding himself as well as his opponent, and diagnosing his opponent. Ed has taken that on personally, and he’s grown. I’m proud of him.”
As the season went on, the Bills used Oliver at higher rate of snaps than any defensive tackle since Kyle Williams. That shows a trust in him, and maybe also a concern about what they were getting from the players behind him, which explains in part why the depth chart was reconstructed.
Jones was on his way to having his best season last year before suffering a torn pectoral muscle. He gutted his way back onto the field by the end of the year, but admittedly wasn’t close to 100%. He is back to that now, however, which should mean good things for the entire defense if he can recapture the form he showed from the first month of the 2023 season.
Johnson, who is a close friend of Jones, comes over from the Chargers and should serve as Jones’ main backup. They are nearly identical in size, and are former teammates with the Tennessee Titans.
