Travis Clayton has been climbing a steep hill to realize his dream of playing in the NFL ever since he graduated from the International Pathway Program and was picked in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft
by the Buffalo Bills.
Before an injury cut short his 2025 season, Clayton spent his first two years trying to learn the intricacies of playing offensive line. As you might imagine for someone born in southern England in a town just west of London who didn’t start playing football until he showed up at the NFL Academy in 2019, that was a difficult endeavor.
Now, in his third training camp with Buffalo, a mutual decision between Clayton and the coaching staff was made to switch him to defensive line, and the 6-foot-7, 350-pounder is loving it.
Why the Bills moved Travis Clayton to defensive line
“It was like a little bit of me and a little bit of them,” he said of the discussion that was held back in the OTA portion of the offseason to have him change sides in the trenches. “I was kind of saying I feel like I can use my attributes better on the defensive side of the ball. I think I have a little bit of a fast twitch which helps me on the D-line. They're both very aggressive positions but you’re very much more on the balls of your feet on D-line for sure.”
And that’s a good thing for the 25-year-old Clayton because during his days growing up playing rugby in the United Kingdom, being nimble on your feet and mobile was important.
“In some sense I'd say it's pretty similar to rugby being on the D-line, purely because you’re always on the balls of your feet,” he said. “You're striking straight away which is kind of similar to rugby. You're getting off the ball, trying to get through the guy in front of you and trying to get to the quarterback.”
When he was asked about the position switch back in June, president/GM Brandon Beane was excited to see what Clayton could do.
“It's not that we gave up on him as a tackle, but he's still learning the game,” Beane said. “I think he's seen a piece of the defense and is like, ‘Man, I’m 350 pounds, I'm athletic, I want to know if maybe that's even better for me.’ I think he feels like it might give him a better shot to earn a spot on the club.
“It’s obviously a transition. The plan is to let him get through pads and see how it goes. If we feel like it's not going well, we can move him back (to offensive tackle), but hopefully it's one of those things where he starts figuring it out.”
Why defense feels more natural for the former rugby player
On the offensive line, Clayton said he wasn’t able to use his athleticism in quite the same way, partly because when you’re playing the O-line, there’s a whole lot more thinking going on.
“With my fast twitch, I couldn’t really use that on the O-line because I was kind of thinking about other stuff rather than using what I had,” he said. “The most difficult thing that I kind of struggled with on the O-line is a lot of counting, like the combination blocks and who you're going to, or if that person leaves the box, who you're going to then.”
Like he was on offense, Clayton remains buried on the defensive depth chart. Taking Ed Oliver out of the equation, he’s trying to beat out players like Deone Walker, T.J. Sanders, Landon Jackson and Zane Durant, all players who were picked in the fifth round or higher in the 2025 and 2026 drafts.
Clayton is the second player the Bills have given a chance to out of the Pathway Program. The first was running back Christian Wade, an English rugby player like Clayton who spent a couple years on the practice squad but never dressed for a regular-season game.
After his first exposure to the game in 2019, Clayton progressed to the point where he spent 10 weeks in Florida at the NFL’s IPP training facility in the winter of 2024 preparing for the NFL Draft. Even though he had never played a second in an American football game, his athleticism caught the Bills’ eye enough for them to take a flier on him.
“I was in the NFL Academy in 2019, so I always had the dream of playing in the NFL,” Clayton said after he was taken in the seventh round. “So hearing my name called out, that's the main goal. That's exactly what I wanted. I didn't have visits with the Bills, but look it's the NFL, man. Buffalo came to me. Buffalo wanted me. I'm just ready to work.”
Realistically, if he can stay healthy, his best hope is probably to secure a practice squad spot where he has been his first two seasons.
“Look, it's the NFL, any position they're going to put me in, I'm going to take it with two hands and run with it,” he said. “I’ve just got to remember to use what they're trying to teach me every single day and add all of it together, rather than forgetting what I learned yesterday, if that make sense. Use everything that everyone's teaching me and put it all together.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Former rugby player gets fresh opportunity with Bills defense
