Buffalo needs youth on the interior defensive line. Does Deen fit the Bills?
The Buffalo Bills rotate heavily along the defensive line. They also have two very distinct positions within their defensive tackle ranks. One player, the “one-tech,” is meant to anchor the line and eat blocks, generally by occupying two gaps along the offensive front. The other, the “three-tech,” is meant to occupy one gap, and he’s also the player asked to penetrate the offensive line and make stops in the offensive backfield.
That’s definitely an oversimplification of the team’s philosophy, but it’s a Reader’s Digest version of the kinds of players the Bills look for up front. They want long-armed, thick-bodied players to hold down the one-tech spot, and they’ll take more explosive, compact players to shoot the gaps at the three-tech.
With that in mind, we have to view every interior defensive line player through that lens. Is he a one-tech or a three-tech? I’ll give you bonus points if you asked that question in your head using the voice of “Glinda the Good Witch” from The Wizard of Oz. Regardless, trying to determine how the Bills plan to use a defensive tackle prospect is essentially to understanding his chances at making the roster or practice squad.
In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss an undrafted rookie defensive tackle who profiles as a three-tech player in Buffalo’s defense.
Name: Branson Deen
Number: 53
Position: DT
Height/Weight: 6’2”, 280 pounds
Age: 24 (25 on 2/12/2025)
Experience/Draft: R; signed with Bills as UDFA on 5/5/2024
College: Miami (FL)
Acquired: UDFA signing
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Deen’s three-year contract is worth a total of $2.84 million overall, the standard for UDFA deals this offseason. His contract carries a $10,000 signing bonus, which is also the dead-cap figure Buffalo will carry if he’s released. If Deen makes the team, he’s set to carry a cap number of $798,333 for the 2024 season.
2023 Recap: Deen transferred to Miami from Purdue last season, and he instantly became an impact defender for the Hurricanes. In 11 games (five starts), Deen made 18 tackles, 5.5 of which went for a loss. He also had 2.5 sacks, giving him 10 for his career in 50 NCAA games. Deen’s numbers might not be eye-popping, but he had more tackles for loss and more sacks than teammate Leonard Taylor III, who was initially projected to be drafted anywhere as high as the third round before he fell to the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent.
Positional outlook: Deen joins a crowded defensive line group, one that has plenty of veterans and some new faces as well. Eli Ankou, Ed Oliver, Austin Johnson, DeWayne Carter, DaQuan Jones, DeShawn Williams, and Gable Stevenson are the others.
2024 Offseason: Deen is healthy and he has participated in OTAs to date.
2024 Season outlook: The pecking order here seems to be fairly well-established, as the Bills have Oliver and Carter set to man the three-tech spot once the real games start. However, Deen has a great shot at a practice squad spot given that his other competition is Steveson, who has never played football before.
Of this group, I think the team will take upwards of five players, with one of them (my guess is Williams) inactive on game days. Barring a huge summer, Deen is going to be on the outside looking in here.