PFF top 10 defensive lines

[Starr Almighty]

Brandon Beane must of called in to complain about how they grade the DL's and had them change the way they grade 

[Sierra Foothills]

Someone had to do it... from the posted link:

 

"The Bills' unit might lack a true star — none of their defensive linemen ranked among the top 10 players at their positions in PFF overall grade in 2024 — but there are no obvious weak links and it is one of the NFL's deeper defensive lines.

Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones have formed a reliable interior defender duo for the past couple of years, and the Bills added veteran Larry Ogunjobi to the mix this offseason. Similarly, the team signed veteran edge defender Joey Bosa, who could be a significant addition if he can stay on the field. Opposite of him is Greg Rousseau, who ranked as a top-20 edge defender in PFF overall grade in each of the past three seasons."

 

[hondo in seattle]

6 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Thats a rank list. Texans #4??? They might have the worst pair of starting dtackles in football. They have great edge rushers, sure, but they are awful inside.

 

Similarly the Lions... sure they have Hutch. The DTs are serviceable starters but nothing more at this stage and Davenport isn't even that. 

 

And the Bills have two proven good players and two question marks. 

 

Bad list.

 

And no great players, unless they're weirdly looking at Bosa as a 17-game player in the prime of his career?    

[Chandler#81]

Is this in reverse order?😲

[JerseyBills]

9 hours ago, BigAl2526 said:

I'm skeptical.  Buffalo is depending on rookies to make the D-line work.  Those rookies (Jackson, Sanders and Walker) may work out and be terrific, but until we see them on the field in games we're not going to be sure that the Bills have elevated their defensive line to anywhere near that level.  

Hoecht and Ogunjobi should be big time additions. I know the suspensions suck but they're nice vet additions,  Hoecht has potential to be really good long term but ultimately these rookies will be the deciding factor,  I love the moves. 

Lost nobody of significance and added a ton of potential 

[Buffalo716]

2 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

And no great players, unless they're weirdly looking at Bosa as a 17-game player in the prime of his career?    

Rankings are subjective and purely opinion 

 

But Oliver is a damn fine football player... And so is Greg..  and so is hoecht and bosa

 

Not to mention our potential guys in relief 

 

I'm not putting an arbitrary number on it but watch hoecht become a fan favorite very quickly

[Thurman#1]

12 hours ago, FireChans said:

Bills being 5th is kinda bizarre tbh.  Rousseau and Oliver are plus starters but not superstars. Is this based on rookies?

 

 

Yeah, that really is kinda strange. It must be based on rookies, as they surely didn't deserve that based on last year's performance.

 

 

5 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

Someone had to do it... from the posted link:

 

"The Bills' unit might lack a true star — none of their defensive linemen ranked among the top 10 players at their positions in PFF overall grade in 2024 — but there are no obvious weak links and it is one of the NFL's deeper defensive lines.

Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones have formed a reliable interior defender duo for the past couple of years, and the Bills added veteran Larry Ogunjobi to the mix this offseason. Similarly, the team signed veteran edge defender Joey Bosa, who could be a significant addition if he can stay on the field. Opposite of him is Greg Rousseau, who ranked as a top-20 edge defender in PFF overall grade in each of the past three seasons."

 

 

 

Ah, yeah, they're including Bosa. Clearly does include the new guys, Hoecht, Ogunjobi, etc. Particularly later in the year, the rookies should be a major factor as well.

 

Defensible, then. One opinion, not much more than that, but it would certainly be just as defensible to say you think they won't be top ten. But not unreasonable.

 

 

Edited 13 hours ago by Thurman#1

[Sierra Foothills]

46 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

Ah, yeah, they're including Bosa. Clearly does include the new guys.

 

Here's the actual PFF link (not the Twitter link). It's not behind their paywall which is good because I see better content produced here daily by many of our excellent posters. I can't imagine having to pay for this drivel:

 

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2025-nfl-defensive-line-rankings

 

PFF doesn't give any criteria other than to state "We're ranking the best defensive fronts in the NFL heading into the 2025 NFL season."

 

For the Steelers they include new draftee Derrick Harmon and for the Browns they include rookie Mason Graham.

 

While new veterans Ogunjobi and Bosa are included in the Bills summary, new veteran Michael Hoecht isn't mentioned nor are the three highly-drafted and highly-regarded defensive linemen Sanders, Jackson, or Walker mentioned.

 

The summaries are so arbitrary and incomplete as to make the whole work virtually worthless.

 

[billsfan714]

I actually think the Chiefs should be on that list somewhere with Chris Jones and Karlaftis, etc.

Edited 13 hours ago by billsfan714

[Thurman#1]

21 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Here's the actual PFF link (not the Twitter link). It's not behind their paywall which is good because I see better content produced here daily by many of our excellent posters. I can't imagine having to pay for this drivel:

 

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2025-nfl-defensive-line-rankings

 

PFF doesn't give any criteria other than to state "We're ranking the best defensive fronts in the NFL heading into the 2025 NFL season."

 

For the Steelers they include new draftee Derrick Harmon and for the Browns they include rookie Mason Graham.

 

While new veterans Ogunjobi and Bosa are included in the Bills summary, new veteran Michael Hoecht isn't mentioned nor are the three highly-drafted and highly-regarded defensive linemen Sanders, Jackson, or Walker mentioned.

 

The summaries are so arbitrary and incomplete as to make the whole work virtually worthless.

 

 

 

Can't say I'm going to do a deep dive here. Not interested enough.

 

But this time of year, predicting the future, I don't find this non-germane or inappropriate. It's a time of year when people are looking for content that might be interesting and useful. This doesn't really pass the interesting test for me personally, but I don't blame them for trying.

 

If they are incomplete, that's another matter. But hard to be complete when you're trying to include rookies who've never seen an NFL field.

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Here's the actual PFF link (not the Twitter link). It's not behind their paywall which is good because I see better content produced here daily by many of our excellent posters. I can't imagine having to pay for this drivel:

 

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2025-nfl-defensive-line-rankings

 

PFF doesn't give any criteria other than to state "We're ranking the best defensive fronts in the NFL heading into the 2025 NFL season."

 

For the Steelers they include new draftee Derrick Harmon and for the Browns they include rookie Mason Graham.

 

While new veterans Ogunjobi and Bosa are included in the Bills summary, new veteran Michael Hoecht isn't mentioned nor are the three highly-drafted and highly-regarded defensive linemen Sanders, Jackson, or Walker mentioned.

 

The summaries are so arbitrary and incomplete as to make the whole work virtually worthless.

 

Probably created by AI

[hondo in seattle]

3 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

Rankings are subjective and purely opinion 

 

But Oliver is a damn fine football player... And so is Greg..  and so is hoecht and bosa

 

Not to mention our potential guys in relief 

 

I'm not putting an arbitrary number on it but watch hoecht become a fan favorite very quickly

 

For me both Oliver and Rousseau are at the good-not-great level.  After that things get interesting.

 

Bosa could return to his former glory.  Or he could spend the season on IR.  Who knows?

I never watched Hoecht very much, but I know that he's a very smart and versatile player who can play DE, DT, and LB.  That means when he's on the field, the offense doesn't necessarily know what defensive alignment we're in, assuming we switch him around.  He could be an interesting X factor.

 

Ogunjobi seems like he could be a good depth piece though PFF only graded him a 49.4 last season.

 

And then there's the rookies.

 

If everyone is as good as we hope, this will be the best DL we've had in a while.  But if our fears materialize (Bosa is hurt, the rookies play like rookies, Hoecht's versatility is misused, Ogunjobi deserves his 40s PFF score, etc.), then our entire defense will struggle.  I'm hoping for the best but right now it all feels iffy to me.  

[Buffalo716]

47 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

For me both Oliver and Rousseau are at the good-not-great level.  After that things get interesting.

 

Bosa could return to his former glory.  Or he could spend the season on IR.  Who knows?

I never watched Hoecht very much, but I know that he's a very smart and versatile player who can play DE, DT, and LB.  That means when he's on the field, the offense doesn't necessarily know what defensive alignment we're in, assuming we switch him around.  He could be an interesting X factor.

 

Ogunjobi seems like he could be a good depth piece though PFF only graded him a 49.4 last season.

 

And then there's the rookies.

 

If everyone is as good as we hope, this will be the best DL we've had in a while.  But if our fears materialize (Bosa is hurt, the rookies play like rookies, Hoecht's versatility is misused, Ogunjobi deserves his 40s PFF score, etc.), then our entire defense will struggle.  I'm hoping for the best but right now it all feels iffy to me.  

Unless you're a perennial All pro.. I think the line between good and great is squarely the scheme and the people around you 

 

If we put the right people around ed he will be great..

 

When we get thin and he's forced to play the one technique he gets banged up and he's not as effective 

 

Somebody like Kyle Williams could be good to great depending on his scheme and the people around him throughout the course of his career.. but he had some help... Marcus Stroud was a former pro bowler, Marcel Dareus was all pro... Mario Williams was collapsing the pocket 

 

When the line was just Kyle Williams he's not as effective tho he was still the same guy

 

Ed needs a true 1T to take pressure off of him.. because if he doesn't he's forced to play it.. because he's a beast.. but he's not big enough to withstand that punishment throughout a whole NFL season

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Buffalo716

[BillsVet]

PFF grading on a curve...that reflects who invests the most into their DL?  

 

 

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

PFF

 

[SCBills]

If you take injuries out of the equation (which you can’t, but maybe PFF does for true comparison sake)..

 

A starting DL of Bosa-Jones-Oliver-Rousseau is pretty legit.

 

The depth of two premium picks in Sanders and Jackson, along with a solid rotational piece in Epenesa and the addition down the line of Hoecht & Ogunjobi is potential depth most teams don’t have.

 

To enter the season we’re dependent upon guys like Solomon and Carter to make a jump as rotation pieces, but if you look at our season as a whole and realize we’re entering it with:

 

Bosa, Rousseau, Hoecht, Epenesa, Jackson & Solomon

 

& 

 

Oliver, Jones, Sanders, Ogunjobi & Walker/Carter

 

I don’t really think this coaching staff has much of an excuse if this isn’t a Top 10 DL.  

[hondo in seattle]

9 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

Unless you're a perennial All pro.. I think the line between good and great is squarely the scheme and the people around you 

 

If we put the right people around ed he will be great..

 

When we get thin and he's forced to play the one technique he gets banged up and he's not as effective 

 

Somebody like Kyle Williams could be good to great depending on his scheme and the people around him throughout the course of his career.. but he had some help... Marcus Stroud was a former pro bowler, Marcel Dareus was all pro... Mario Williams was collapsing the pocket 

 

When the line was just Kyle Williams he's not as effective tho he was still the same guy

 

Ed needs a true 1T to take pressure off of him.. because if he doesn't he's forced to play it.. because he's a beast.. but he's not big enough to withstand that punishment throughout a whole NFL season

 

 

 

DL is one of the position groups I'll watch most in preseason (along with the WR group) because I'm excited for it, but anxious and uncertain too.  

 

I get the Kyle analogy and hope this season proves you right about Ed.  

[Buffalo ill]

22 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

We must be in PFF's "Generate Clicks in the Offseason" 

 

They're just saying controversial crap to get clicks.

And tbd members can't help but link these articles and/or feed them clicks.  They do it for Nick Wright too.

 

They never learn.