Can the veteran slide right into Shaq Lawson’s role this season?
The Buffalo Bills deploy a heavy rotation along the defensive line, making what would normally be mundane camp battles something much more. As someone covering the team, I definitely appreciate the talking points throughout the otherwise dry summer months, and as much as the players want to be on the field, I’m sure they appreciate the chance to be well-rested throughout games.
That extra rest, in theory, leads to fresh legs chasing after quarterbacks in the fourth quarter of big games, and it should allow for players to be even more effective come the postseason. Admittedly, that hasn’t come to fruition through head coach Sean McDermott’s tenure. This isn’t the place for a discussion on the merits of the rotational system Buffalo uses, but it is the right place to talk about some of the players within that system.
In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss a veteran looking to break into the rotation in his first year with the Bills.
Dawuane Smoot
- Number: 94
- Position: DE
- Height/Weight: 6’3”, 264 pounds
- Age: 29 (30 on 3/2/2025)
- Experience/Draft: 8; selected in the third round (No. 68 overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars
- College: Illinois
- Acquired: Signed with Bills on 5/3/2024
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Smoot signed a one-year contract with Buffalo for this offseason, his first outside of the Jaguars’ organization. That contract is worth a total of $2.5 million, of which $1.75 million is guaranteed. His cap hit for the season is just $1.486 million, however, because general manager Brandon Beane included four void years on the deal. If Smoot doesn’t make the squad, Buffalo will carry a cap hit of $1.75 million in dead money for this season.
2023 Recap: Smoot’s role in Jacksonville’s defense continued its downward trend under head coach Doug Peterson, resulting in him playing on just 43% of the team’s snaps. That was his lowest output since the 2019 season. Smoot had little impact on the Jaguars’ defense, recording only 10 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, and four quarterback hits last season.
It was a disappointing campaign after he had three straight years of double-digit quarterback hits and four straight years with at least five sacks. Last season was also his first year after rehabbing an Achilles tendon tear he suffered in Week 16 of the 2022 season. He missed the first month last year on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list as a result of the injury.
Positional outlook: Smoot is among a group of 10 players who profile as defensive ends in the Bills’ defense. Von Miller, Greg Rousseau, A.J. Epenesa, Casey Toohill, David Ugwoegbu, Rondell Bothroyd, Kingsley Jonathan, Javon Solomon, and Kameron Cline are the others.
2024 Offseason: Smoot has been participating in offseason work to date. Prior to signing with Buffalo, Smoot opened the Elsie Academy, a bilingual preschool that educates over 200 students in Jacksonville. He and his wife, Aumari, opened the school.
2024 Season outlook: Smoot has the feel of a high-floor, low-ceiling signing in the sense that he’s unlikely to become a Pro Bowl player after what he showed in Jacksonville combined with his Achilles injury. However, there’s an argument that he actually has a higher ceiling than I’m giving him credit for thanks to that injury.
A return to form of 12 quarterback hits and five sacks would be solid work out of DE4 or DE5 in a rotation, and Buffalo would be happy with that kind of production. Smoot is definitely more a Shaq Lawson replacement than he is a Leonard Floyd replacement, so expecting something like the double-digit sack total Floyd earned last year is a wild bet.
However, expecting Dawuane Smoot to come in, set the edge, and play around 20 snaps in each game isn’t out of the realm of possibility. This is a good, solid signing that keeps Buffalo’s edge depth strong.