Is this the season Zion Logue steps into key rotational role?

Sep 14, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Zion Logue (93) after the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

The Buffalo Bills have a plethora of options along the interior defensive line. Whether those options are any good or not depends on one's view of the group as a whole, and it's based almost solely on conjecture given the Bills' change to a new scheme this season.

Will some of the holdovers from last year's club fit into Jim Leonhard's defense? Or will they have to find a team that plays something more similar to former head coach Sean McDermott's defense in order to find NFL success? In today's installment of 91 players in 91 days," we discuss someone who has been on Buffalo's practice squad for two seasons, a player looking to make the 53-man roster outright this year.
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Name:Zion Logue

Number:93

Position:DT

Height/Weight:6'6" 325 lbs.

Age:24 (25 on 7/13/2026)

Experience/Draft:1; selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the sixth round (No. 197 overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft

College:Georgia

Acquired:Signed with Bills' practice squad on 8/27/2026

Financial situation (per Spotrac):Logue signed a reserve/futures deal in January. That two-year pact is worth $2.272 million in total with $7,000 guaranteed. If he's released, Buffalo will carry the total of the guarantees in the form of a dead cap charge this season. If Logue makes the 53-man roster, he carries a cap hit of $1,078,500 this season.

2025 Recap:Logue spent the offseason with Buffalo last year, and he participated in training camp and all three preseason games. He totaled two tackles in those exhibition contests. Buffalo released Logue as part of their final roster cuts at the end of the preseason, but they re-signed him to the practice squad the following day. After Ed Oliver suffered an injury in Buffalo's 41-40 season-opening victory against the Baltimore Ravens, Logue was the practice squad call-up to replace him in the lineup for games against the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, and New England Patriots. Logue earned half a sack in the win over the Jets, his first career sack. He had a tackle against the Jets and a tackle against New England. After his third and final practice squad elevation was used, Logue was not signed to the active roster, so he did not appear in another game for the Bills last season.

Positional outlook:Logue is one of eight defensive tackles on the roster. Ed Oliver, Tommy Akingbesote, Phidarian Mathis, T.J. Sanders, Zane Durant, DeWayne Carter, and Deone Walker are the others. Landon Jackson and Kody Huisman are listed as defensive ends, but they both will play a similar role to most of the defensive tackles here. Logue, for his part, is likely a nose tackle, so his direct competition includes at least Walker, Mathis, and Carter. Offensive tackle Travis Clayton has spent time working out as a defensive lineman this summer, as well.

2026 Offseason:Logue is healthy and he participated in offseason work to date.

2026 Season outlook:Logue has played in five games for the Bills over the last two seasons, and while he hasn't exactly made a splash, he hasn't been a total washout, either. Logue played the last two seasons at a slightly lighter weight, playing in the 310-pound range, so adding bulk and trying to play at 325 pounds this season signifies a change in his expected role. With new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard taking over and implementing an odd-front defense, this added bulk could benefit Logue-and the team-if he proves that he can anchor the middle of the defensive line.

Logue had a chance to stick with the gameday roster last year, but he was surpassed by fellow practice squad member Phidarian Mathis, who not only saw some call-up action midseason, but was signed to the 53-man roster by the end of it. If we assume that Mathis, who re-signed with the Bills this offseason, is still ahead of Logue, then that might spell trouble for Logue in making the team this year. After all, Mathis is also a nose tackle, and the Bills are clearly keeping Deone Walker. Will Buffalo keep three nose tackles on the 53? Can Logue surpass Mathis this summer?

The five defensive linemen I feel confident in saying will be on the roster when Buffalo makes its final cuts are Oliver, Sanders, Walker, Jackson, and Durant. That leaves room for maybe one more given that some of Buffalo's edge players-Greg Rousseau, Bradley Chubb, and TJ Parker, for example-could very well put their hand in the dirt and play like a defensive end in certain packages. I would probably put Mathis ahead of Logue given his success last season, but there is definitely some room for doubt here given Logue's length (his wingspan is 6'8") and the uncertainties of a new defense. We also haven't even thrown Carter, who has bulked up to around 330 lbs., into the conversation yet, and the former third-round pick will definitely have a good chance at making the team this summer.

Buffalo has a lot of options along the interior defensive line, and while none of them are necessarily household names, they each have some traits that could help. Logue's likely best path to making the 53 includes playing so well at the nose that someone like Walker, who is slated to start at that spot despite his greatest success coming as a 3-tech slash and penetrate player last season, can move to a different position. Ultimately, I think it's going to be another year on the practice squad for Logue, though injuries and uncertain transitions to this new scheme could provide an opening for him to make the team in September.