Bills 2024 Draft Pick Makes Drastic Position Change at OTAs

The Bills drafted Travis Clayton as an offensive lineman, but he is set to move to the defensive side of the ball.

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Travis Clayton (67) looks on during joint training camp practice with the Chicago Bears ahead of Sunday's preseason game. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

A former Buffalo Bills draft pick has made a position change at OTAs.

The Bills’ former seventh-round pick, international pathway player Travis Clayton, was selected at pick No. 221 in 2024 to play offensive line. However, reports stemming from Tuesday’s OTAs showed the former rugby player shifting to the other side of the ball, as he practiced with the defensive line group throughout the session.

“Travis Clayton is making a position switch for the Bills, moving from offensive tackle to defensive line,” posted the Buffalo News’ Jay Skurski, accompanied by a video, to X. “Here is today going through individual drills with his new group.”

That’s a stark transition for the 6-foot-7, 301-pounder, who could be better suited as a run-stuffing nose tackle, a position where Buffalo could use a boost.

Bills throwing everything at the wall, hoping it sticks

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Travis Clayton shakes hands with defensive tackle Deone Walker as Walker takes then field before practice at the Buffalo Bills training camp at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford on July 24, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

At this point, the Bills are doing whatever they can to beef up a defensive line that struggled mightily both in run support and in pass-rush situations a season ago. Buffalo allowed the fifth-most rushing yards [2,31] of any defense in the league in 2025 while it was tied for the 12th-fewest sacks [36].

To bolster its trench unit, Buffalo selected edge rusher T.J. Parker in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft and followed that up with the fifth-round selection of defensive tackle Zane Durant. Those two selections came a year after Buffalo used three of its picks on defensive linemen, including second-round DT T.J. Sanders and fourth-round DT Deone Walker, who is the team’s starting nose tackle as it stands in early June.

Additionally, Buffalo has also shifted 2024 third-round pick DeWayne Carter inside to help provide another option at the nose. Last year’s third-round pick, Landon Jackson, has joined Carter in bulking up considerably, and he will take on a new role at the 4i technique within first-year defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard’s new system.

Will it be enough for the Bills to improve?

Buffalo Bills defensive end Landon Jackson (94) warms up during training camp at St. John Fisher University. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

It’s never ideal to change a player’s position before the start of their third NFL season. Some may go as far to say the Bills are scraping the bottom of the barrel. However, that’s what the Bills have elected to do with Carter, Jackson and now Clayton. It’s certainly a bold strategy, given the lack of production it received from a lackluster unit a year ago.

Buffalo also added free-agent EDGE Bradley Chubb, who should help improve its efforts up front. Still, Bills fans are left wanting more with just a few more months of the offseason remaining.

It will be interesting to see if Brandon Beane and his front office staff elect to continue to pursue potential free-agent options. But it appears likely that the Bills are pretty much set at this point and ready to move forward with what they have while making some minor tweaks with a few young players that they hope will pay off in the long run.