If healthy, Ed Oliver says he can be ‘ just as dominant as any D-tackle’ in the NFL
Ed Oliver is sticking around with the Buffalo Bills but some have questioned the circumstances.
Oliver was slated to play out the final year of his rookie contract this season after the team picked up the fifth-year option on it. Now he’s gotten an extension.
Oliver signed a new four-year deal with the Bills. During his career, the 26-year-old has had some ups and downs, but there’s one person that has been in his corner: Brandon Beane.
After agreeing to terms with the defender, the general manager did not falter from that.
“I think he is aware that some people question whether he earned that or whether he was worth that, but we don’t. We think his best football’s ahead of him. Just because you leave plays out there, doesn’t mean you’re down on him. It just means there’s more meat on the bone, and Ed wants to prove it,” Beane said via video conference.
Oliver certainly does believe in himself. He put the bar high.
Oliver believes if he stays health, he can prove he’s amongst the best defensive tackles in the NFL.
For most of his career that has been the case. It was not last year as Oliver was held to 13 games and even when he was out there, he was not 100 percent.
“It was a hard year,” he said.
A touted pass rusher from the interior of the defensive line when drafted in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft, Oliver’s rookie year was his best in terms of sacks. He put up five that season and has 14.5 in four years. Not eye-popping numbers.
But in adding Leonard Floyd post-Oliver extension, perhaps Oliver’s fortunes can change. While the sacks aren’t there, the pressures are, so Floyd’s addition could be profitable.
Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Oliver’s 11.6 percent pressure rate since 2020 is the fourth-highest among all D-tackles in the league.
Even if some aren’t to sold on Oliver, he might soon prove some doubters wrong.
For more from Oliver on his post-extension confidence, see the attached Batavia Daily clip below:
Ed Oliver after the #Bills signed him to a four-year contract extension: “I feel like I can be just as dominant as any D tackle in the league.” pic.twitter.com/MOVYrvPbCE
— alex brasky (@alexbrasky) June 6, 2023
