Ed Oliver enters the 2026 season with a chance to look more like the player Buffalo envisioned when it took him ninth overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
That opportunity comes with a major shift around him. The Bills are moving into a new 3-4 aggressive scheme under defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, a setup built to generate pressure on the quarterback and lean more on man coverage than zone. For a defense that kept running into the same playoff wall under Sean McDermott’s old 4-2-5 look, the hope is that this change finally helps produce the kind of late-down stop that has been missing.
Oliver could be one of the biggest beneficiaries.
At 6-foot-1 and 287 pounds, he has long been a smaller interior defender, but his game has always been about burst and disruption. He was frequently compared to Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams because of that quick first step and the ability to shoot gaps before blockers can settle in. Oliver is not headed for Canton like Donald, but the similarity in style is obvious: he can explode into the backfield and wreck a run play before it gets started.
Health, though, has been the issue. After a productive first seven years in the league, injuries limited Oliver to just three games and no starts in 2025.
Now he’s entering his eighth season with a new head coach in Joe Brady and a new defensive coordinator in Leonhard, and the role should look different. Instead of being asked to hold down the middle as a 4-2-5 defensive tackle, Oliver is expected to work as either a 1-tech or a 5-tech defensive end in the 3-4.
That lines up with what Leonhard believes suits him best, especially since Oliver played a 1-tech and a 5-tech defensive end in Houston’s 3-3-5 scheme. The idea is simple: let him play freer, attack the ball, and get after the quarterback with his speed.
Leonhard also sees Oliver as the kind of player who can adapt to different systems, which is part of why the coach views him as a coachable piece in this defense.
If Oliver stays healthy through all 17 games and shows he was being used the wrong way before, the projection for 2026 lands around 40-45 combined tackles, 5.0-6.5 sacks, 9-11 TFLs, and 1-2 forced fumbles.
Those numbers would point to the same conclusion: Leonhard’s defense may be a much better fit for Oliver than McDermott’s old 4-2-5 setup.
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One name drawing attention is T.J. Sanders, the second-round defensive tackle from last year who had a modest rookie season but now looks like a possible leap candidate in the new system. His ability to line up inside and spend time at defensive end gives him a path to more snaps, and if the scheme unfolds the way some around the league expect, Buffalo may be hearing a lot more about him by 2026. [Read more 🡒]
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Bills Fans Already Know This Final 53 Cut Will Sting
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That matters even more with Jim Leonhard installing a new base 3-4 defense, because scheme changes tend to reshape the back end of the roster as much as the top. There will be plenty of attention on the usual training camp standouts, and rookie receiver Skyler Bell is one name drawing early buzz, but the real sting for Buffalo could come from how many familiar faces end up squeezed out once the competition gets serious. [Read more 🡒]