Every team has its players who shine below the radar. The Buffalo Bills have a gigantic one (literally) who has recently been named their ‘best kept secret’
The Buffalo Bills had one of the best offenses in the NFL in 2024, scoring 30.9 points per game, reaching the AFC championship contest and catapulting Josh Allen to his first MVP. None of that happens without an outstanding offensive line.
The most well-known Bills offensive lineman is left tackle Dion Dawkins — an excellent player with a camera-ready personality, making him ineligible for a “best kept secret” tag. The Bills’ right tackle Spencer Brown, however, is the perfect candidate and was thus named so by Matt Holder of The Bleacher Report.
Dec 29, 2024; Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown (79) prepares to block New York Jets linebacker Quincy Williams (56) / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
“Offensive line is an unsung position group as a whole, and most people focus on left tackles, especially after the movie and book The Blind Side. But protecting the other edge is important, and Brown is one of the best at it, despite having never made a Pro Bowl or All-Pro team.
Brown was a diamond-in-the-rough going all the way back to high school in Iowa — 8-man high school football. He was big (6′ 8″) and athletic, playing tight end and defensive end as well as baseball, basketball and golf. The perfect mix of size, coordination and toughness wtih room-to-grow that college football programs love. Northern Iowa smartly moved him to tackle, put some weight on him, and Brown was a third-round draft pick four years later.
After a couple injury plagued seasons, Brown was healthy for 15 of 17 games last season and was ranked right behind Dawkins at #15 on ESPN’s Top 20 tackles in pass-block-win-rate. Based off the statistics for 2023 and 2024, the Bills made an excellent mid-round draft choice yet again. And he’s certainly no “secret” to the organization — they extended his rookie deal early last season for four-years $72 million. Money well spent for a key component keeping Josh Allen upright with eyes downfield.
