The Buffalo Bills selected defensive end A.J. Epenesa with the 54th overall pick and the general consensus on Twitter was this was a great pick.
The Buffalo Bills were one of the last teams to select a player due to them trading the first round pick for Stefon Diggs last month. However, this didn’t mean they missed out on a top player and were able to select defensive end A.J. Epenesa with their first pick at 54th overall.
Pro Football Focus had Epenesa as the 20th best player on their big board and notes that there hasn’t been a “true power end prospect in quite some time”.
With the 54th overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills select...
— PFF (@PFF) April 25, 2020
A.J. Epenesa, EDGE, Iowa pic.twitter.com/zXoG9Rf5py
Matt Parrino for syracuse.com agrees with PFF that the Bills got a steal at this point in the NFL Draft.
The #Bills have selected edge rusher A.J. Epenesa with the No. 54 pick in the draft. Crazy that he fell towards end of the 2nd round. The Iowa product was a first-rounder in January. Finished last season with 11.5 sacks.
— Matt Parrino (@MattParrino) April 25, 2020
The Big Ten Network shared one of Epenesa’s plays from a season ago that should have Bills’ fans excited about what he can do in this defense. He was a key part of that Hawkeyes defense with 26.5 sacks and 36 tackles for a loss in three seasons.
https://twitter.com/BigTenNetwork/status/1253853709873942529
The Buffalo Bills got exactly what they needed with Epenesa in a player that was productive at the collegiate level, is a locker room first type player and can create mismatches across the defensive line.
A.J. models his game after J.J. Watt. He led the Big Ten in sacks in 2017, 2018,and 2019. He’s quiet, and lets his game do the talking. Epenesa's a fit for the team-first ethos in the Bills’ locker room, and his speed and burst at 280 pounds is mismatch #BillsMafia
— Dean Kindig (@TCBILLS_Astro) April 25, 2020
The Buffalo Bills will now have one more pick tonight, at 86th overall in the third round, as well as four picks tomorrow in the final four rounds. There is no question that this team got off to a great start with the addition of A.J. Epenesa.