Sean McDermott says it will be “important” for the Bills to get these two defenders going

The Buffalo Bills have rotated their defensive linemen frequently in the past under head coach Sean McDermott, and the constant rotation of players up front was supposed to provide consistent energy and power in the trenches. However, the team didn't really implement that strategy in its Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals, particularly at defensive tackle, where Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones led the way, playing 82% and 74% of Buffalo's defensive snaps, respectively.

Oliver and Jones' constant presence on the field kept primary rotational defenders Austin Johnson and DeWayne Carter on the sidelines, with the tackles tallying just 13 and seven snaps, respectively. Their limited playing time was perhaps surprising given McDermott's penchant for rotating linemen, especially considering the sideline boss stated in August that Carter — selected by the Bills in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft — was in line for a “key role.”

However, it doesn't look like the lack of a significant rotation on the defensive line in Week 1 is a sign of a philosophical shift for McDermott, as it's more a result of Johnson and Carter being new to the defense. Although he's been in the league since 2016, Johnson just signed a one-year deal with the Bills in the spring and played just 35 defensive snaps in the preseason. Carter is a rookie again, and initial growing pains are to be expected with both players.

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Speaking to the media on Tuesday, McDermott reiterated his confidence in the two center-backs and expressed his eagerness to get them acclimated to the unit so they can flourish in their roles.

“Those two and their development are going to be important to us as a team,” McDermott said. “I think they've done some good things in their limited time. They'll continue to grow, I'm confident of that. There's Austin, a veteran player, and DC, a younger player, but they're both playing the primary backup roles, so to speak.”

“Their development is going to be huge. Austin is going to learn how we want our guys to play and he's going to be really comfortable with that and playing freely and then DC is going to really elevate his game. You're going to feel a lot in the first year in the NFL. If he can just keep going and block out some of those interference and focus on getting better every day, he's going to be fine.”

Johnson has long been one of the NFL's most underrated defensive tackles, so his role shouldn't be too worried; Carter faced over 120 quarterback pressure situations during his college career, so there's no real doubt about his ability. Expect their share of snaps to increase as the season progresses; fortunately, Buffalo has one of the league's most feared defensive tackle pairs in Oliver and Jones to carry the brunt of the load until then.

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