The Buffalo Bills have signed OLB/DE Mike Danna, formerly a member of conference rival Kansas City. With the Bills’ coaching change being what it is, a defensive facelift was a pretty predictable outcome for this season. What do the Buffalo Bills see in Danna? Kansas City has won a big game or two during Danna’s tenure and in no small measure due to dominating defense. A starter for the last three seasons, surely Danna brings something to the table for Buffalo. Let’s take a peek…
The Film
Looking at Danna’s
stat sheets shows he’s had some pretty good years with 11.5 sacks over a two-year span (5.0 and 6.5 in 2022 and 2023 respectively). The NFL is a “what have you done for me lately” league and 2025 was statistically not a good year for Danna. Does that mean he’s hit “bum” territory? No. But take the stats, the fact he was available at this point in the offseason, and a lengthy history of soft tissue injuries and you land officially in the zone of “tempered expectations.”
I try to get at least two games in for these reviews, and if one of those is against the Bills, all the better. For Danna, we had a Bills game to review. I took a look at that one and his statistically best game of the season against the Tennessee Titans and some snippets from the rest of the year.
I came away liking Danna’s ability to process the field. I enjoyed watching him tackle. I saw some good signs in run support. Danna was playing on either side and even on the center of the defensive line at times (like we see above). On the other side of the ledger, I didn’t see anything that excited me in the pass rush department. I didn’t see him bully guys. Against the Bills, he was not remotely disruptive.
Mike Danna is a steady veteran who shouldn’t be a liability if he takes the field, but isn’t going to elevate the defense. About what you’d expect from a signing such as this one. And let’s be candid, even championship level teams need these kinds of players.
The plays
- This is what you’d call a “lowlight” in my opinion. Before I hammer that home, I will point out that Danna is playing 1-tech meaning he has some versatility. Connor McGovern trips on the play, and you might expect the opponent to be exploit the mistake. Danna does not. McGovern does employ a pretty good long arm this should have been a rep belonging to Danna.
- Now on the right side 6i-tech, Danna is matched up with Jackson Hawes. This was Danna’s highlight of the game, dipping to make Hawes lose leverage, Danna slips around to make the tackle.
- Play 3 shows Danna’s entire season of sacks. The clip cuts in after the snap, but we can see Danna is unblocked.
- As Danna comes into the play, he’s tackling from a weird angle and makes it work. If anything flashed for me, it was Danna’s ability to make the tackle.
- Danna’s instincts take him through the clutter for another tackle that limited the opponent’s gain. On this play, he prevented a touchdown.
- In our final clip, Danna attempts a rip move, but it’s not incredibly effective. There wasn’t a ton of attempts to get too fancy with pass rush moves by Danna either.
