Buffalo Bills tackle Dion Dawkins has been a mainstay on the offensive line for years, and he’s continued to play at an extremely high level.
According to NFL Pro Insights, Dawkins allowed a 7.5% pressure rate in 2025, the seventh-lowest among left tackles with at least 200 pass-block snaps. As a result, he’s landed on the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2026 at No. 57.
Bills’ Dion Dawkins Receives Career News With Message From AFC Rival
Dion Dawkins has earned the respect of many veterans around the league, including Pittsburgh Steelers pass rusher Alex Highsmith.
“I got a lot of respect for him because he’s physical and he’s an athletic tackle,” Highsmith said. “You got to do a good job of getting his hands off you. Or even if you’re doing, like a long-arm move against him, he’ll throw it in, he’ll chop your arm down and whatnot.”
Dawkins also received some praise from some of his teammates.
Dalton Kincaid: “What you see is kind of what you get. That’s who he is every day. The Snowman. I think all of Buffalo kind of knows him by that.”
Spencer Brown: “Just an absolute massive freak of a human. I mean, his calves are the size of basketballs.”
James Cook: “Just the way he open the holes, you know, just being the leader on the team.”
It’s telling that the praise from his teammates focuses less on technique and more on presence, the kind of gravitational pull a player has in the locker room just by being himself.
Kincaid’s “what you see is what you get” might be the highest compliment a teammate can give a veteran: no performance, no mood swings, just the same reliable force every single day.
Dawkins Snubbed on Other List, Lost 45 Pounds To Player Faster & Better
Despite all the praise Dawkins received for his efforts in 2025, he did not make ESPN’s top ten offensive tackle list, which is determined by input from league executives, coaches, and scouts around the NFL.
Instead, he was just an honorable mention:
“A solid starter, plays with an edge, can be good in both phases but shows inconsistent effort,” one NFC executive said regarding Dawkins.
That NFC executive’s critique about Dawkins’ “inconsistent effort” doesn’t add up to everything his teammates just said about him. Personally, I’m trusting with his teammates said over some executive from the NFC.
Well, the Bills’ longest-tenured player isn’t just sitting around this offseason. Speaking to USA Today at the 2026 ESPYs, Dawkins revealed he lost 45 pounds in an effort to up his game.
“I’ve told [everyone] in the world that this will be the lightest season that I ever play,” Dawkins said. “To play a little faster, play a little better because something is not getting over that hump. So I want to be at the best that I could possibly be. So I said, f*** it, let’s lost some weight.”
The 45-pound drop feels like Dawkins’ direct answer to that doubt: not with words, but with action. If he can keep his signature power while playing lighter and faster, that honorable mention could look pretty silly by midseason.
Bills’ Dion Dawkins Receives Career News With Message From AFC Rival