Carucci Take 2: With second-round pick, Bills stay true to D-tackle profile

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.

So much for the Buffalo Bills choosing a behemoth defensive tackle in the early rounds of this year's NFL Draft.

Not that T.J.

Sanders, who played high school basketball before a switch to football carried him to the University of South Carolina, is small.

Six-foot-four and 297 pounds, his weight at the February-March NFL Scouting Combine, isnt small by normal standards.

It just isnt massive, at least not by NFL standards.

It just isnt the type of guy that you can see consistently stuffing the run and tying up multiple blockers to help free up edge rushers to get to the quarterback.

It just isnt what we saw in the middle of the Philadelphia Eagles defensive line as it dominated the Kansas City Chiefs O-line in Super Bowl LIX.

As it provided an overwhelming reminder to the rest of the NFL that games are, indeed, won (or lost) in the trenches.

As it made one of the all-time great quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes, and one of the all-time great coaches, Andy Reid, look pathetic.

In selecting Sanders after trading up 15 spots in the second round Friday night (41st overall) while also picking up a third-round choice that they used on former Arkansas defensive end Landon Jackson the Bills pretty much stuck to their profile for a defensive tackle.

They want a player who offers more speed and athleticism than sheer strength and power.

Think 6-foot-two, 287-pound Ed Oliver.

Think other frontliners who have occupied the interior of the defensive line during the Sean McDermott-Brandon Beane era.

Behemoths who can overpower need not apply.

Bring your quick feet.

Bring your ability to shoot gaps.

Bring everything that says you have a knack for finding the path of least resistance to the quarterback.

We like the idea of adding another inside rusher, another guy to pair with Ed on clear passing downs, General Manager Brandon Beane told reporters after the Bills made their second day draft picks.

It was quite a contrast to what the Bills did Thursday night in making former Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston their first-round choice.

This team prefers physical defensive backs who excel at tackling, yet that was a well-known flaw in Hairston's game.

The football definition of Sanders projected primary role with the Bills is three-technique.

The opposite of that is one-technique, the larger, stronger player who can hold his own against ultra-powerful running backs like Baltimores Derrick Henry and tie up more than one blocker.

We could still play him at one if we wanted to, Beane said of Sanders.

I would just say position one would be three-tech.

At the moment, the only true one-technique the Bills have is DaQuan Jones, a veteran who is 6-foot-four and 320 pounds.

Beane said DeWayne Carter, a third-round pick from Duke last year, is the best bet to be Jones understudy.

You have to wonder if the significant maneuvering done to get Sanders is enough of an upgrade for the Bills, despite going all defense with their first three picks.

For the record, two spots after the Bills selected Sanders, the San Francisco 49ers drafted Alfred Collins from Texas.

At 6-foot-six and 332 pounds, he is what you call a behemoth.

Yes, the Bills have reason to be happy with adding Sanders.

They see him as a player of good character.

They seem as intelligent.

They like his instincts and awareness and toughness.

Sanders described himself as a high-motor guy, a guy who gets after it every snap someone who doesnt quit on games, quit on plays.

If the games out of reach, anything like that, Im always playing to the hardest, highest capabilities that I have.

And its a non-stop mentality, honestly.

Admirable, to be certain.

But is it exactly what the Bills needed at a place in the draft you're expecting to get an immediate impact player? Havent they had defensive tackles with similar qualities in the past several years who have fallen short of providing a dominant pass rush, especially in the postseason? Especially when Mahomes or Joe Burrow have the ball in their hand and just enough time to complete those knockout-punch throws? Or when they give up that first-round run that closes out another loss and leaves them short of the Super Bowl? Sanders said his college career was a pretty even split between three- and one-technique.

He said he has gained somewhere between three and eight pounds since the Combine, putting him somewhere around 300 or 305.

Thats where Ive been training at that the last couple weeks, you know, feeling good, feeling explosive, Sanders said.

Dont feel like I lost a step.

Then, he offered that there was more room to add weight.

So, maybe five pounds heavier, he said.

Maybe 310 range.

I feel like that would be OK, too.

Make no mistake, though.

This isnt a natural power guy.

This is a player who is more about finesse.

This is someone whose first love was basketball, which he played for the Marion High School Swamp Foxes.

Football didnt grab his interest until his junior year.

Surprisingly, Sanders didnt follow the typical path basketball players take to football: Tight end or some other position that was more glamorous.

It was just something about the D-line, Sanders said.

I remember when I got my first sack in high school, and I dont know.

It made me feel alive.

Like, I just felt alive getting that first sack.

And after that, I was wanting more and more sacks.

The question is, are the Bills still going to be left wanting more of what the Eagles have rather than replicating their championship formula? They have more picks to make in this year's draft.

They still could add that behemoth defensive tackle many of us were expecting them to get, but the one they wanted badly enough to climb 15 spots to get him isn't it.

That's because they remained true to their profile for the position..

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