The Current and Future State of the Bills Defensive Line

The Buffalo Bills are clearly planning for the future of their defensive line.

The Buffalo Bills used their first two draft picks of the 2021 NFL Draft on defensive ends Gregory Rousseau and Carlos Basham Jr. They used their first draft pick of the 2020 draft on the position as well, selecting AJ Epenesa.

There are four starting spots available on the Bills defensive line, as they run a 4-3 defense. The Bills don’t have a superstar pass rusher, as no one on the roster garnered more than five sacks in 2020, and the team finished 26th in quarterback hurry percentage at 7.8%. However, the Bills do have solid depth on the front four, as they finished 15th in the league in sacks with 38.

In the past, having depth on the defensive line has been important for teams who make Super Bowl runs. Given the solid depth that the Buffalo Bills have on the defensive line, it is certainly worth looking at what the position may look like beyond the 2021 season.

Before getting started with this exercise, let’s eliminate the members of the roster who will more than likely not make the 53 man roster for 2021: Bryan Cox Jr., Mike Love, Brandin Bryant.

The Bills’ starters on the defensive line in 2020 were Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison on the edge, and Ed Oliver and Vernon Butler on the inside.