Bills DC says that overlooked veteran DE has ‘a chip on his shoulder’

Buffalo Bills defensive end Dawuane Smoot has "a chip on his shoulder" at training camp.

Kyle Silagyi | Aug 1, 2024

Bills Dawuane Smoot tries to get away from Von Miller during an edge drill. / Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

In this story:

Buffalo Bills | News, Scores, Schedules & Standings

Very rarely do early May signings steal national NFL headlines, and this was the case when the Buffalo Bills inked veteran defensive lineman Dawuane Smoot to a one-year deal late in the 2024 offseason. Few were too significantly moved by Buffalo’s acquisition of the now eighth-year pass-rusher, his onboarding doing little to move the proverbial needle in either direction.

Fast forward to training camp, and Smoot has been a frequent point of discussion given his ascent up the team’s depth chart. The defensive end has seen consistent time with the first team, the Bills perhaps signaling a relatively prominent role for the 29-year-old by pushing him inside on obvious passing downs. Buffalo has given him opportunities, and the veteran has made the most of them; he’s already made an impact on his teammates, with defensive tackle Ed Oliver describing him as a “playmaker” who will prove to be a “big” acquisition.

He’s even made an impact on his coaching staff, earning additional admiration from Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich on Thursday. The first-year defensive czar spoke about the defender ahead of practice, saying that he’s eager to prove his doubters wrong.

“I think the biggest thing, and I’ll never put an expectation on a player of what to expect on tape and all that, I have an idea but I’m not going to do that,” Babich said. “[Expecting] a veteran presence who is a smart football player, who has seen a lot of football. Guy that plays the game the right way, he plays like he has a chip on his shoulder.

“He probably does have a chip on his shoulder, matter a fact, I know he does. The expectation is that he brings that; not that he gets this many sacks, or this many tackles, this many TFLs, this many quarterback hits, but that he comes every day in a consistent manner in the way that we’d like him to show up to work.”

Dec 31, 2023; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars offensive linebacker Dawuane Smoot (91) and outside linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson (45) celebrate a tackle against the Carolina Panthers during the third quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-USA TODAY Sports / Morgan Tencza-USA TODAY Sports

Buffalo hopes that Smoot will continue his strong play into the regular season and provide consistent juice as a pass-rusher; he’s coming off a seven-year stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars in which he tallied 23.5 sacks, 64 quarterback hits, and 27 tackles for loss. His May availability was perhaps due to his comparative lack of production throughout the 2023 campaign, as he recorded just four quarterback hits and one sack—this can be chalked up to the fact that he was still recovering from a 2022 Achilles tendon tear throughout the campaign.

Regardless of the reasoning for his falling through the cracks of free agency, the result is the same: Smoot is eager to prove himself, something that should only bode well for the Bills this fall.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Bills from Buffalo Bills on SI —