Despite Dawuane Smoot signing a one-year, $2.5MM deal during the summer, the veteran defensive end worked his way into the Bills’ starting lineup. The AFC East leaders have turned to the former Jaguars regular as a first-stringer in each of the past four games.
Buffalo’s edge-rushing depth will take a hit, however, with Sean McDermott indicating (via The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia) Smoot is headed to IR with a wrist injury. The veteran EDGE needs surgery, and while McDermott said the team hopes this is not a season-ending issue, no return timeline exists right now.
The Bills dropped A.J. Epenesa back to a place as a rotational rusher, doing so even after giving the former second-round pick a two-year, $12MM deal. This brought a Smoot move into the starting lineup. While Buscaglia indicates Epenesa’s run-game work leaves a bit to be desired, Pro Football Focus had graded the Iowa alum as better in that department compared to Smoot, who served as a starter during Von Miller‘s suspension.
Miller has not started for the Bills since his 2022 ACL tear, but the future Hall of Famer has more closely resembled his pre-injury version this season after a concerning 2023 showing. Back from a four-game ban, Miller carries three sacks into Week 10. Epenesa and Gregory Rousseau have four and 4.5, respectively. Smoot has 1.5 this season and has long been a rotational player, though he frequently supplied Jacksonville’s pass rush with support during Josh Hines-Allen‘s run.
Smoot, 29, totaled between five and six sacks in each season from 2019-22. A late-season Achilles tear in 2022 hurt his 2023 market, leading to a one-year, $3.5MM Jags deal just before last season. Smoot only notched one sack in 12 games as a backup, and the Bills brought him in as a depth piece in May. Only Smoot has managed a healthy workload as of late. He played between 47% and 68% of Buffalo’s defensive snaps from Weeks 4-8, notching three tackles for loss in that span.
With this injury occurring two days before the trade deadline, it will be interesting if the Bills — who have seen their defense hurt by key injuries in each of the past four seasons — add at least a depth player. Miller is now 35 and has two ACL tears on his medical sheet. The team is carrying six D-ends on its 53-man roster, however, with offseason pickup Casey Toohill and fifth-round rookie Javon Solomon residing behind the Miller-Epenesa duo on the depth chart. With one of those two set to start moving forward, the Bills will need to assess whether their current EDGE group is sufficient.
That is really concerning.
He has been one of our best.
Just in time fir KC and SF.
Dawuane can help out Floyd,
running the
HOOTERVILLE CANNON BALL