Bills draft: T.J. Sanders on ‘exhilaration’ of making plays, Landon Jackson is a dog, and more

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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – T.J. Sanders dumped football as a middle schooler because he just “wasn’t feeling it.”

He was a junior when some buddies and coaches finally persuaded him to give it another crack. Oh, then he felt it. So did the opposing quarterback.

“There’s just something about D-line,” Sanders wistfully said of his football rebirth. “I remember getting my first sack in high school, and I just felt alive, getting that first sack, and after that, I just wanted more and more sacks.”

But that attitude wouldn’t have been enough Friday night for the Buffalo Bills to trade up 15 slots and select Sanders, a defensive tackle from South Carolina. What likely made general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott jump for Sanders at 41st overall was his desire for the often thankless work of stonewalling runners.

“I actually enjoy getting TFLs more than sacks,” Sanders said on a video call with Bills reporters. “I just like getting a guy as soon as he grabs the ball to get started to run. He thinks he got a gap, and I’m just shutting it down immediately. That also brings me the same type of exhilaration.”

Well, hello, then.

The Bills have a crying need for interior defensive line help. They haven’t been good enough at chasing quarterbacks or stopping runners. We won’t know for months – maybe even a couple years – how truly successful Sanders can be, but a prospect of this type has been pressing.

At 6-foot-4 and about 305 pounds, Sanders doesn’t have prototypical run-stuffer dimensions. But he forecasts as a versatile lineman who can play over the center or farther down the line. Beane said Sanders will primarily line up between the guard and tackle.

“Wherever Coach wants me to play, I feel comfortable,” Sanders said. “I don’t have no problem moving from a one-(technique) to a five and just getting reps at it throughout my years in college, whether we were in practice or whether we were in the games.”

Sanders recorded 93 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 8.0 other tackles for losses and five pass breakups over the past two seasons.

The Bills made Sanders the first Friday night defensive tackle off the board. To get him, Beane sent the 56th, 62nd and 109th overall picks to Chicago for the 41st, 72nd and 240th selections.

“A guy with inside rush we just didn’t feel would last very long,” Beane said of the trade. “This made a lot of sense to go get a guy we had a really good grade on and be able to get (a third-round pick).”

The Philadelphia Eagles demonstrated the value of an elite interior D-line in the Super Bowl by wrecking the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense despite not blitzing the entire game. Eagles defensive tackles Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Milton Williams and Moro Ojomo combined for three sacks, another quarterback hit, a forced Patrick Mahomes fumble, a recovery and a rushing tackle for loss.

Whereas Eagles GM Howie Roseman took Davis 13th overall in 2022 and just a year later drafted Carter ninth overall and Ojomo in the seventh round (Williams was a 2021 third-round pick), Beane hasn’t drafted many defensive tackles at all.

The Bills eschewed the position through four complete drafts between selecting Ed Oliver ninth overall in 2019 and DeWayne Carter in the third round last year. Oliver is closer to ordinary than dominant on a game-by-game basis, while DeWayne Carter was a healthy scratch in the playoffs.

Landon Jackson’s one comparison

Buffalo’s D-line overhaul continued in the third round with Arkansas edge rusher Landon Jackson.

The move produced a lot of “dog” talk. Beane called him a dog. Jackson called himself a dog — repeatedly.

“The SEC only recruits dogs,” Jackson said. “We’re consistently playing against dogs every week. So it just leads to dogs going into the NFL. It’s super cool.”

Then, in explaining how he’s all about handling business, Jackson said he simply wants to work hard and go home to his wife and dog: a micro goldendoodle named Honey, who wasn’t at the draft party in Texarkana and unavailable to comment.

“What’s always made me a step ahead of everybody,” said Jackson, “was my motor and the way I play with relentless effort and love playing the game of football.”

The Bills have veteran defensive ends on the roster. They re-signed Gregory Rousseau, still have AJ Epenesa and added free-agent Joey Bosa.

But Jackson declared he’s going to make an immediate impact.

“I feel like I’m going to go in and play instantly and show them that I’m a great pick for them,” Jackson said. “I love the way they have me schemed up. They got me playing true D-end, 5-technique all the way to wide-9. Man, I’m just excited to get out there and get ready to ball.”

Asked about inspirations, he named Las Vegas Raiders star Maxx Crosby and Hall of Famer Jason Taylor.

Jackson is 6-foot-6 and 264 pounds. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds. The LSU transfer became the first Arkansas defender in 30 years to lead the team in sacks and tackles for losses in consecutive seasons. He started 31 of his 37 games and notched 16 sacks, 10.5 other tackles for losses, two forced fumbles, a recovery, five pass breakups and two blocked field goals.

“A lot of sacks, and he went against a lot of premium talent in the SEC,” Beane said. “This guy is smart. He knows how to rush. He has feel in there. He’s not just an athletic guy. He knows when the quarterback’s stepping up. He just has feel, instincts, awareness.

“He’s tough. He’s a dog. He’s everything we want in the DNA of a D-lineman.”

Beane addresses Maxwell Hairston accusation

Beane said the Bills were aware that first-round pick Maxwell Hairston was accused of rape when he was a 17-year-old freshman at Kentucky. In 2022, a female student posted on social media screenshots of a complaint and police report, which alleged that Hairston raped her in her dorm room. The university’s daily crime log shows that offenses of first-degree rape and first-degree burglary were investigated, but criminal charges weren’t filed. The accuser also posted on social media that a Title IX hearing resulted in no action taken by the university.

“He’s an impeccable kid, and we did a lot of research,” Beane said Friday night. “I think all teams were aware of the Title IX thing. That was fully investigated by the school. There’s everything out. He even volunteered to a polygraph and had notes. It was one of those where there was zero information saying this actually happened to what the accusation was.

“Just like anything in this world, you can’t just take someone’s account and think ‘That’s the truth.’ We fully investigated that. If there was anything to it, he wouldn’t have been invited to the (NFL Scouting) Combine. He was at the draft (in Green Bay) last night. Every person you talk to at Kentucky, teammates, staff there, plus what we’ve done, I would say this is a heck of a young man.”

Through her attorneys, the accuser declined to comment.

A Kentucky spokesperson said in a statement: “Sexual assault allegations are thoroughly investigated and can involve police, Title IX, student conduct officials and other legal entities. If and when charges are warranted, or if a student is found to have violated our Code of Student Conduct, such charges and disciplinary measures are filed and pursued aggressively to protect our students.”

(Top photo of T.J. Sanders: Bryan Terry / Imagn Images)

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