After a fifth straight AFC East title, a third season in five with 13 wins (and 11 in the other two), and third straight #2 seed, with the league’s 11th-ranked scoring defense and a top-two offense led by an in-his-prime Hall of Famer, the Buffalo Bills are the envy of virtually every other franchise. Of course, they’re also coming off a fifth straight pre-Super Bowl loss as a top-three seed.
The most glaring takeaway from Super Bowl LIX is the paramount importance of pressuring Patrick Mahomes—any quarterback, really, but especially Mahomes—without blitzing. It’s safe to assume that the Bills, who blitzed at one of the lowest rates in the NFL in 2024, already subscribe to this line of thinking.
Three weeks removed from Super Bowl LIX, NFL “silly season” is officially underway. The conversation is now all about roster construction—or re-construction—cap casualties, roster holes, the start of free agency on March 12, and potential draftees’ pro days, and, of course, the NFL Draft, April 24-26, 2025, in Green Bay. As things currently stand,the Bills will arrive at Lambeau Field with the #30, 56 and #62 overall picks.
GettyGreg Rousseau of the Buffalo Bills
Is a Retooled Rush the Bills’ Missing Ingredient?
Entering his age-36 season, Von Miller is no longer the perennial All-Pro who averaged over 12 sacks and 15 tackles for loss (TFL) and nearly 25 QB hits over his first eight seasons. That version of Miller was gone after an ankle tendon injury cost him the 2020 season. Unfortunately for the Bills, his last two seasons suggest even his post-peak 2021-23 form—8.3 sacks, 13 TFL, 16.3 QB hits per season for the Broncos, Rams, Bills—may also be gone.
Miller did markedly improve on a catastrophic post-ACL injury 2023 season, during which he managed a combined six QB hits and total tackles (three each) in 12 games. However, 6 sacks, 7 TFL, and 8 QB hits in 13 games as a rotational pass rusher is not a great return on the Bills’ second-biggest cap hit ($23.8 million).
As laid out by The Athletic, the team could “negotiate a pay cut with Miller equal to or greater than how much they’d save on the cap to cut him”—$8.4 million in 2025, with a $15.4 million dead cap hit. In the absence of such a deal, the Bills would likely cut him. Add to this the impending free agencies of defensive end Dawuane Smoot and tackles Quinton Jefferson, Austin Johnson, and Jordan Phillips, and there’s suddenly lots of slack to pick up. While none of these five was a regular starter, let alone an above-average role player, each played in between nine and 15 games last season.
Defensive ends Gregory Rousseau (8 sacks, 17 TFL, 24 QB hits) and A.J. Epenesa (6 sacks and 11 QB hits) and Ed Oliver (3 sacks, 13 QB hits) provide the Bills a solid, if unspectacular foundation. DeWayne Carter, a 305-pound tackle from Duke selected in the third round last year, should also. Barring a trade for the ultimate difference-maker—or even in light of one—they will need help.
The reality is the Bills need both top-end quality and quantity along the defensive line. Not coincidentally, both NFL.com’s Chad Reuter and Gordon McGuiness of Pro Football Focus, identified defensive line among the Bills’ top needs.
This week, we’re running through possible options—based on mock drafts at ESPN, PFF, The Athletic, and The Ringer—for the Bills at their first three picks. We’re kicking off here with the edge rushers, with the interior D-line on deck.
Day 1 Edge Options
As the “stress reaction” in his right foot seemingly won’t require surgery, Penn State’s Abdul Carter—who was already not going to work out at the combine due to a shoulder injury suffered in the College Football Playoff—still figures to be snapped up within the draft’s first couple of picks. Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart, Tennessee’s James Pearce, Marshall’s Mike Green, and Georgia’s duo of Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams are all also decent bets to go before #30. That still leaves the Bills an intriguing trio of Day 1 edge options.
Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama (Junior)
Mocked as a mid-second-rounder by The Athletic’s Nick Baungardner as recently as February 10, the 6’3”, 235-pound Campbell is now an almost certain first-rounder. The one-time five-star recruit played off-ball linebacker for the Crimson Tide, leading the team in tackles, TFL, sacks, and forced fumbles despite, as Dane Brugler (who has Campbell #23 on his big board at The Athletic) says, lacking “top-tier instincts as an off-ball player” and deriving production largely from “sideline-to-sideline speed and explosiveness.”
Campbell tested impressively at the combine, running the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds (second in his position group) and broad jumping 10-foot-7. Per PFF, he cemented himself as LB1 in this class. However, The Athletic’s Josh Kendall points out that Campbell—the top edge rusher in his high school recruiting class—“is athletic enough to play on the edge,” while Brugler notes that some teams “have him as part of their edge-rusher stack.”
Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College (Senior)
Though he ranked top-three in the FBS in both sacks (16.5) and TFL (20.5), there are questions about Ezeiruaku’s lack of size (6’2”, 248 pounds) and inconsistent on-field discipline. On the latter, Danny Kelly says “Ezeiruaku needs to play a little more under control at times and too often ends up on the ground. His aggressiveness can be used against him.”
However, excellent length (34.5” arms), athleticism, motor, and an array of pass rushing moves, combined with added refinement and top-level coaching, should help Ezeiruaku’s effectiveness against the run and in one-on-one matchups.
Nic Scourton, Texas A&M (Junior)
A 6’4”, 260-pound powerhouse who doesn’t turn 21 until August, Scourton is coming off of two excellent college seasons: 2023 at Purdue, where he earned a 90.9 PFF pass-rushing grade; and this season at Texas A&M, where he generated 36 total pressures on 318 pass-rushing snaps.
“A high-energy rusher” who “brings tons of power as a rusher and puts opposing tackles on skates” is how Scourton is described on Danny Kelly’s big board at The Ringer, where he sits at #30.
Brugler, who’s got Scourton at #53, shouts out his quickness and power in wearing down blockers, writing “his aggressive worker-bee play style should translate to NFL starting snaps.” However, he raises concerns about a lack of top-end explosiveness that makes Scourton’s game plan “overly reliant on effort because of his average athletic tools, which keeps his approach relatively basic.”
GettyDefensive end Jordan Burch of the Oregon Ducks.
Day 2 Edge Depth
Should the Bills go a different direction with their opening pick, including trading out of the first round, another wave of pass rushing talent awaits. This group has some question marks, but also offers an enticing array of potential game-wreckers and floor raisers.
Jordan Burch, Oregon (Senior)
What Burch lacks in top-end explosiveness and refinement, he makes up for with a uniquely athletic, massive frame. Brugler, who has Burch #51 on his big board, describes him as “somewhat of a one-trick pony as a pass rusher,” creating pocket push predominantly with power.
A 6’6”, 285-pounder could do worse than lean on pure power while improving his setup, hands, and repertoire of moves.
Landon Jackson, Arkansas (Senior)
Jackson, #53 on Brugler’s big board, is cited for “tall pads and lower-body stiffness” that could cause him issues when setting the edge. However, he also “has NFL size (6’6”, 273 pounds) and attacks blocks with physical hands and active feet… and maintains his vision to clean up plays and constantly be around the action.”
Ohio State Edges JT Tuimoloau (Sr.) and Jack Sawyer (Sr.)
Both ranking in the 40s on both Brugler’s and The Ringer’s big boards, this Buckeye duo looks poised to fall in between the Bills’ first and second-round picks—or offer some value should the Bills trade down.
Brugler calls Tuimoloau a “flexible, long athlete” who “creates lift and extension through contact and uses his football GPS and short-area agility to close on the ball carrier.” However, “he needs to develop more seamless counter sequencing when left one-on-one on the edge.” For Kelly, Tuimoloau “would be a plug-and-play contributor on the line” but is “a jack-of-all-trades and master of none who lacks the burst and bend to threaten the high-side edge as a rusher.”
Defensive captain Sawyer, meanwhile, profiles as a depth piece. Brugler, who has him at #44, says he has an “activity level and the strength in his hands [to] make him an every-down factor.” Kelly, meanwhile, sees “a high-floor edge defender with proven pressure production (22 to 37 to 64 over three seasons), natural playmaking instincts, and run-defending chops.”
There are questions about how Sawyer’s athleticism, with Kelly noting that Sawyer (343 on his board) “lacks explosive burst and is stiff as a rusher,” and questions whether his game, “built on power more than speed… could cap his ceiling in the pros.”
Princely Umanmielen, Ole Miss (Senior)
Though he could stand to expand his pass rush repertoire, the biggest knock on Umanmielen is inconsistency against the run, with Burgler noting that “he needs to play with more violence and refinement with his shed hands.”
However, the Nigeria-born big man (6’4”, 250 pounds) is tough, explosive, and (in Kelly’s words) “converts speed to power on his bull rush and uses an effective spin, often leaving offensive tackles lunging”— to the tune of 17.5 sacks, 26 TFL, and a fumble return for a TD over his last two seasons with Florida and Ole Miss.
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