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Buffalo Bills: Joseph Ossai could be the answer at edge rusher

By Kendall Mirsky

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 26: Linebacker Joseph Ossia #46 of the Texas Longhorns runs down the field after a fumble that was later overturned during overtime of the college football game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on September 26, 2020 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 26: Linebacker Joseph Ossia #46 of the Texas Longhorns runs down the field after a fumble that was later overturned during overtime of the college football game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on September 26, 2020 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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According to Cover1 on Twitter, the Buffalo Bills have interest in Texas edge rusher prospect, Joseph Ossai. Apparently the Bills director of player personnel Dan Morgan was in attendence at Texa’s Pro Day on March 11th. Furthermore, it seems that he Morgan was very focused on Ossai.

After the Buffalo Bills had agreed to terms on a pay cut with Mario Addison, the dreams of signing a younger edge rusher in free agency withered away. Therefore, if the Bills want to get younger on the edge of their defensive line, the draft is the best option.

At 6’4″ and about 255 pounds, Ossai is a high effort player with an undeniable motor. That isn’t to say he doesn’t have the physical tools to succeed at the next level because he does, but his motor was the root cause for a lot of his production at Texas.

Ossai was slightly more porductive in a two point stance rather than the tradtional three point stance for 4-3 edge rushers. Although he might project best as 3-4 outside linebacker, his ability to set the edge against the run and pass rush from the edge should be intriguing enough for the Buffalo Bills to explore the idea of him fitting into their defense. After all, Jerry Hughes was another player that was pegged as a 3-4 outside linebacker, but he didn’t break out in the NFL until he was used as a traditional 4-3 edge rusher.

Ossai jumped onto the scene in 2019 with 90 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, and 5 sacks. He then replicated that production from 2019 this past year in just 9 games played, recording 55 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, and 5.5 sacks. In addition to pure sack numbers Ossai is extremely disruptive to opposing quarterbacks. In his last two season’s as a Longhorn, Ossai recorded 19 quarterback hits and 41 hurries on 540 pass rush snaps. Including his 10 sacks in the past two seasons, that puts Ossai at a pressure rate of almost 13% on those 540 pass rush snaps.

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Ossai is currently projected as a late day one or early day two pick. It wouldn’t shock me to see the Buffalo Bills draft him at 30th overall, but I think it would be smarter for them to hope he slides to their second round pick at 61st overall. However, Brandon Beane has shown a tendancy to trade up in the draft for prospects he likes. Maybe Beane executes a trade to move up in the second round for Ossai.

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