There were many people leading up to the NFL Draft who thought that Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker would go off the board in the first round. Maybe not exactly in the top ten, but definitely in the middle to the end of the round. Surprisingly, he fell out of the first round and landed right into the lap of the Buffalo Bills who selected him with the No. 35 pick.
Buffalo is moving to a 3-4 defense under Jim Leonhard and they needed to bring in someone who can rush the quarterback opposite of Bradley Chubb. With Greg Rousseau moving to outside linebacker but more as a run-stopper, Parker will have the opportunity to play immediately and prove why he should have been a first round pick.
When you look at his final season at Clemson, there is clearly a drop in production from the year prior. In 2025, Parker finished with 39 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 pass breakups and he recovered 3 fumbles. In 2024, he had 64 tackles to go with 11 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries. If the Bills can get Parker back to his 2024-version of himself, he should make a quick impact for this defense.
Bills fans have high hopes for Parker and will be looking to see if he can become the team’s next franchise edge rusher that they have been missing for a long time. While Bills fans are believing that Parker will deliver big-time right away, Ben Solak from ESPN doesn’t seem to think so.
T.J. Parker left off Rookie of the Year candidates list (and fans should be furious)
Solak ranked candidates for both the Offensive Rookie and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards and not one single Bill found themselves on Solak’s list, including Parker. There were five players who were drafted after Parker that were on Solak’s list; LB CJ Allen, LB Josiah Trotter, LB Jacob Rodriguez, LB Anthony Hill Jr., and LB Jake Golday.
I’m not saying that no one on Solak’s list should be considered for this award, but to leave Parker off of it considering what he did in college and now getting Jim Leonhard as his defensive coordinator is laughable.
It’s a good thing that the only thing that matters is what happens on the field. Parker is walking into a great situation on a team that has their championship window open. Expectations will be high and if Parker produces right away for this Bills defense, people will wonder why he fell out of the first round and right into Orchard Park.
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