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Buffalo Bills: Top takeaways from first unofficial depth chart

By Brandon Croce

FOXBOROUGH, MA - DECEMBER 21: Ryan Bates #71 of the Buffalo Bills looks on before a game against the New England Patriots Gillette Stadium on December 21, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MA - DECEMBER 21: Ryan Bates #71 of the Buffalo Bills looks on before a game against the New England Patriots Gillette Stadium on December 21, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images) /
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BUFFALO, NY – DECEMBER 16: Harrison Phillips #99 of the Buffalo Bills walks off the field after their victory against the Detroit Lions during NFL game action at New Era Field on December 16, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Harrison Phillips not listed as a starter

Another surprise for the Buffalo Bills defensive line was Vernon Butler and not Harrison Phillips, was listed as the starting defensive tackle alongside Ed Oliver. Entering training camp, another question for this team was who would replace Star Lotulelei, who was the team’s starter last year.

However, Lotulelei elected to opt-out of the 2020 season and the Bills did have some options, including Harrison Phillips. The former third round pick was actually starting to surpass Lotulelei last season but suffered a torn ACL in Week 3 and was forced to miss the rest of the season.

All signs pointed to Phillips being recovered from that injury and it made sense that he would be the starter. The coaching staff instead elected to go with Vernon Butler as their starter which could be due to Butler having a great training camp to earn the starting job.

Another possible scenario is that the coaching staff wants to slowly work Phillips back and didn’t want him to have to take on a full workload right from the start of the year. This is a position worth watching over the next few weeks and the playing time split between Phillips and Butler.

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