Green Bay, WI (WGR Sports Radio 550/WBEN) - The Buffalo Bills decided not to wait until pick 56 to make their first selection of the second round. Instead, they traded with the Chicago bears to move up to pick 41 and select defensive tackle T.J. Sanders out of South Carolina.
Standing at 6-foot-4 and 297 pounds, Sanders was a two-year starter at South Carolina. He recorded four and a half sacks and nine and a half tackles for loss in the 2023 season before tallying four sacks with seven tackles for loss in the 2024 season.
Sanders tallied 51 total tackles in his final year at South Carolina with 29 of them being solo efforts. He appeared in all 13 games as well.
NFL analyst Lance Zierlein says:
"Sanders is a powerful road block with heavy hands and a strong core. He rarely touches the ground. Despite a lack of knee bend, he usually gives better than he gets and blockers have a hard time keeping him sealed. He punches and locks out quickly with a twitchy shed to tackle a gap over. His rush features average first-step quickness, but sudden hand swipes and play-through power in his lower half open pathways to the pocket. Sanders' blend of power and pressure should put him on the board for both odd- and even-front defenses as a potential three-down solution."
Buffalo traded No. 56, No. 62, and No. 109 to Chicago for No. 41, No. 72, and No. 240.
