Do the Buffalo Bills have the NFL's best offensive line? Maybe – but they certainly have a big advantage
An offensive line has to be in sync. And this year, as the Buffalo Bills get set to make another run at a championship, they have a major advantage: They’re returning their starting five intact for a second straight year, all five at the same five positions.
Sometimes, the cues are nonverbal: a hip-bump, a tap, a jostle. Other times, the cues are verbal, but not as spell-able.
“There’s a specific sound make that guys make when Dion is expecting a certain block,” left guard David Edwards said.
“You know, the truth about the O-line, right?” Dawkins said in July. “It's the heartbeat of a team, right?”
More so than any other unit on a professional football team, an offensive line has to be in sync. And this year, as the Buffalo Bills get set to make another run at a championship, they have a major advantage: They’re returning their starting five intact for a second straight year, all five at the same five positions.
It’s a rare feat at any level of football. And it sets the tone for the Bills offense.
“We know how each other move, just how each other interact with each other – like the little calls, like we know each other's thinking,” center Connor McGovern said. “So, it just makes things a lot simpler.”
Communication and camaraderie
With right guard O’Cyrus Torrence and right tackle Spencer Brown added to the mix, the Bills offensive line is set to run it back.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) and Spencer Brown (79) look on from the sidelines against the Chicago Bears during a game at Soldier Field on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025.
Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Brian Baldinger, a former NFL offensive lineman and current analyst for NFL Network, sees the big men up front propelling MVP quarterback Josh Allen.
“It's always a starting point for and it's always the biggest area of need, and the biggest concern for every team is to have that continuity at that (the offensive line),” Baldinger said.
“That group is a really good group. I mean, the MVP of the league is not the MVP of the league without that group. And that's no knock on Josh, but that group protects him really well. They run the ball really well. Like, it's really significant.”
Allen’s march to MVP indeed was boosted by the Bills’ offensive line. The Bills allowed just 14 sacks last season, leading the league. They gave Allen time to operate, and with that, he cut back on his turnovers. In the run game, running back James Cook tied a team single-season record of 16 rushing touchdowns in a year.
Allen, a beneficiary of likely his best offensive line yet, saw the group mesh up close.
“They can communicate and talk like, ‘Hey, remember when we ran this concept against 'X' back in 2022?’ Like, they just have that, that communication, that camaraderie,” Allen said.
It gives Allen confidence to maximize his game. And it showed.
Sure, a lot of that low sack total has to do with Allen's quick release, as well as his nearly supernatural ability to evade pressure and scramble for gains, turning potential sacks into gains. But that's partially the point: Allen works well because the line works well with him.
“To come back into another season with all five guys that did a great job last year … That's huge," Dawkins said. “So, to come back in for Josh's mental, to know that his protectors are there and just are planning on repeating that every year, it's a good day.”
Buffalo Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer talks with linemen during practice during training camp last month at St. John Fisher University.
The Bills have all five starters back at the same five positions this season.
Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Another strength of the offensive line is coach Aaron Kromer, who’s returning for his fourth season this time around with the Bills. He previously coached in Buffalo from 2015-16, and after that, he coached Edwards with the Los Angeles Rams.
During Kromer’s first stint with Buffalo, he coached then-center Eric Wood, who now serves as a radio analyst for the Bills. Wood saw first-hand how Kromer would adapt his coaching to each individual player.
“I think what he does an extremely good job of is, when he gets a player, it's not, ‘How do I fit this guy into what I teach?’ ” Wood said. “It's, ‘How do I teach this guy to maximize his skill set, no matter what that may be?’ And so, on any given pass play, you might see different technique from either guard or either tackle.”
Kromer’s reputation extends beyond players he’s coached.
“Aaron's a special guy. He's a special coach,” Baldinger said. “All those guys know that he has their back regardless of what happens. He knows how to coach; he knows how to start players, he knows how to develop players. He knows how to fix things on Sunday.
“If you're going to list the top five offensive line coaches in the NFL, you can't make the list without mentioning Aaron Kromer.”
A rarity at any level
“I’m trying to think, it’s probably the first time in my career that we’ve had the whole starting five back,” Edwards said.
That dates to college, where the closest Edwards came at Wisconsin was one season returning five players, but switching their positions.
“First year it’s been from left to right the same,” Edwards said of his current situation.
“It’s great, because you already have established communication and understanding of blocks and how guys want to hit it,” Edwards added. “So, I think it’s just invaluable.”
Wood knows from his playing days how hard it is to keep an offensive line intact.
“With free agency and the draft and guys moving on and whatnot, it's rare that you would have all five guys back,” Wood said.
Baldinger echoed: “One, it's rare because it's hard to keep five good offensive linemen all under contract. It's rare because it's hard to keep five guys all healthy, and then it's rare to get five guys that play at a really good level, where you have that type of continuity.”
Health will be critical in keeping the line together. The Bills already dealt with a few injuries during training camp, as Brown dealt with a nagging back injury and McGovern nursed a hamstring injury.
Brown missed one game to injury last season, with Van Demark stepping in for him. Other than that, the starting five played 15 games together, and the group got to rest in Week 18.
Even with all that time on task, Edwards felt it took most of the season to truly be on the same page.
“I really felt like we got into a groove after we lost to the Rams,” Edwards said.
That two-point loss came in Week 14. But Edwards felt it made the guys lock in on what truly worked for them as a unit.
“I felt like after that game, it really took another step,” he said.
Still a work in progress
Even with all the time together last season, and all the invaluable reps as a group, Edwards is cautious to say what that could forecast for this year.
“Then for this year, I still feel like it’s a work in progress,” Edwards said.
“Like I know that we have all five guys back, but to some extent, you’re still restarting. So, yeah, we had these protections last year, or this was our plan, but that could change. So, how do we evolve similarly, with the continuity that we have and the chemistry in a way that reflects putting our best stuff out there consistently?”
Still, there’s plenty of good to build on. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady sees the group’s ability to make up for flaws elsewhere on an offense that navigated a number of preseason injuries.
“When we have that continuity with our starting five, we know what they kind of bring in the run game and the pass game,” Brady said. “It allows us to be able to – I don’t want to say you can make up for some of the injuries and some of the issues that we’ve had on the back end, but it’s allowed you to kind of work on some other things knowing the type of offensive line we have.”
The group is better than ever at identifying what opposing defenses are trying to do.
The margin for error is extremely thin.
“The one thing about offense is, if there's a mental error on offense, usually the play doesn't work,” Baldinger said. “You can make a mental error on defense and still sack a quarterback or intercept the ball. Generally, if you make a mistake on the offensive line that goes the wrong way, the play is blocked incorrectly. Usually, the play doesn't work and so, mistakes get magnified quickly.
“Protection breakdowns usually lead to the quarterback running for his life. So those things are critical.”
Tangible goals
This year, there’s a more quantifiable way than ever to know who’s making an impact on an offensive line: The Protector of the Year Award.The award will go to an offensive lineman that stands out for their ability to take care of their quarterback. Its creation was spearheaded in large part by Dawkins.
“Come on, look, the big boys have finally got something to hold on their shoulders,” Dawkins said in July. “And there's so many great offensive linemen that I wish we could just grab a trophy and just hand it to them, right?
“Like, I am just blessed that the words were heard and the actions were made behind the words, and now we have something to show it and to prove, that there is and will always be a Protector of the Year, from this year, moving forward.”
Dawkins also sees the award having an impact on lower levels of football, with kids now getting more excited to play on the offensive line.
“Don't nobody ever say, ‘I want to be a protector. I want to protect that guy.’ No, everybody wants to score touchdowns and dance in the end zone and be cool,” Dawkins said. “But now you got kids that are like, ‘Cool. I want to be the best lineman, and I won that award.’ ”
The award would be a happy byproduct if any of the Bills were to win it; their ultimate goal, of course, is a Super Bowl. But to work at that high caliber of play would indicate things are going well.
Even with all the advantages that come from the overall continuity, each player still wants to make a notable improvement.
“We all want to take that next step forward, because we didn't finish off the year the right way, the way we wanted to,” McGovern said. “So, I think we're really feeding off that and just continue next to that next stride.
“Make sure the whole offense is just one unit, not just the offensive line, Josh is doing a great job being with us. I think we're just ready to take that next step forward.”
