T.J. Sanders
Buffalo BillsModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
STM Take
Rookie tier 8 STTM finish for a 41st overall 2nd-round pick is on the year-one band for 2nd-round IDL prospects. The South Carolina SEC 2024 First-Team All-SEC honors plus the structural Bills anchor role give him real college foundation. The 2026 question is whether Sanders crosses into tier 6-7 territory in his year-two jump or whether the structural rookie tier 8 finish becomes the stable baseline.
Sanders came out of South Carolina as the Buffalo Bills' 2nd-round pick (41st overall) in 2025 after earning 2024 First-Team All-SEC honors. The Bills installed him in the interior rotation as a rookie alongside Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones.
Strengths
- South Carolina SEC 2024 First-Team All-SEC honors plus the 41st overall draft slot establishes real elite college foundation.
- Year-one rotational reps for the Bills at age 22 alongside Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones gives him the developmental runway.
Concerns
- Rookie tier 8 finish is on the year-one band for 2nd-round IDL picks but caps the breakout-tier expectations.
- Buffalo's cap structure around Josh Allen's QB contract limits the structural support runway if the developmental ceiling caps below the expected outcome.
What to watch: Whether Sanders crosses into tier 6 (top 50) in 2026, the standard year-two threshold for 2nd-round IDL picks on Pro Bowl trajectories.
Comps
T.J. Sanders Injury StatusQuestionable
T.J. Sanders is listed Questionable, reported Oct 6. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.
Draft & College
He went about where consensus had him.
Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.
Of the 320 players taken as a second-rounder between 2012 and 2021, 63% earned a second contract and 58% became starters. The median one started 44 career games.