5 Buffalo Bills who are most likely to lead the team in sacks in 2021

3. A.J. Epenesa

The discussion at defensive end will likely center a lot around Greg Rousseau and Carlos Basham Jr. during training camp and the preseason because they were the top draft picks this year. However, the Bills used their first pick in last year’s NFL Draft on the defensive end position when they selected A.J. Epenesa in the second round.

Epenesa didn’t make much of an impact as a rookie but there were a number of factors that were likely working against him. The first was that he didn’t have a full offseason of workouts or preseason games due to the pandemic which could have increased the learning curve.

The other factor was that the Bills asked him to lose some weight but he may have actually lost too much weight as he went from 280 at Iowa down to 260 last season. He has since put some of that weight back on and Dion Dawkins talked about the change he has seen this offseason and said that “he is not a feather anymore“.

That little extra power, along with the experience he gained last year, could set up A.J. Epenesa to have a breakout season and lead the team in sacks.