{"id":909070,"date":"2026-06-03T18:09:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/909070\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T18:09:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:09:23","slug":"deone-walker-scared-for-what-ed-oliver-can-do-to-opponents-in-new-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/909070\/","title":{"rendered":"Deone Walker \u201cscared\u201d for what Ed Oliver can do to opponents in new defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have assessed from every angle the Buffalo Bills defensive overhaul from Sean McDermott to new coordinator Jim Leonhard<\/a> this offseason, now it\u2019s time for the players to provide their thoughts.<\/p>\n

In a scrum with media following OTA practice, second-year defensive lineman Deone Walker<\/a> had plenty to say, including some foreshadowing about his linemate, Ed Oliver.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The full interview in video-form can be found in The Feed right here<\/a><\/p>\n

And this was the exact exchange I want to highlight:<\/p>\n

Sal Capaccio: \u201cCoach talked last week about Ed (Oliver) being a little more free\u2026 what\u2019s that going to do for Ed, being able to do that in this defense?\u201d<\/p>\n

Walker: \u201cI\u2019m just going to say I\u2019m scared\u2026 I\u2019m going to be happy\u2026 but I\u2019m scared for what he\u2019s going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right before Capaccio\u2019s question, Walker specifically explained the difference in responsibilities between playing 3-technique and 4i, saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is different\u2026 4i is playing a little bit more passive, while 3-tech is going out and gettin \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

*picture courtesy of PFF<\/p>\n

That is an important distinction to hear directly from a Bills defensive lineman. Because conventional wisdom suggests bigger, almost oversized trench players are needed in odd-man fronts, Oliver originally began the offseason as someone many believed could be traded, cut, or simply phased out of Leonhard\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Oliver\u2019s still a member of the Bills, and Walker\u2019s comment suggest the opposite of the latter.<\/p>\n

Oliver will retain his familiar, attacking 3-technique position in this scheme, and there will be more variation across the defensive front around him with Walker, Landon Jackson<\/a>, T.J. Sanders<\/a>, and Co.<\/p>\n

When healthy, Oliver has become a pass-rushing force<\/a> on the interior, with a crazy-high pressure rate (17.8%) in his short stint on the field in 2025 that followed back-to-back disruptive, higher volume seasons in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

In this new Leonhard scheme, next to Walker inside, it\u2019ll be fascinating to watch Oliver work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We have assessed from every angle the Buffalo Bills defensive overhaul from Sean McDermott to new coordinator Jim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":909071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2048],"tags":[215,214,53,2086,3126,752,3350,12776,7,90259,278,17589,14285,255,6,3026,591],"class_list":["post-909070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-buffalo-bills","tag-bills","tag-buffalo","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-buffalobills","tag-defensive-lineman","tag-deone-walker","tag-east-rutherford","tag-ed-oliver","tag-football","tag-jim-leonhard","tag-landon-jackson","tag-metlife-stadium","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-sean-mcdermott","tag-t-j-sanders"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116687520924567891","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=909070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/909071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=909070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=909070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=909070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}