Last year in the NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills surprised some people by drafting two defensive ends with their first two picks. They would select Greg Rousseau with the 30th overall pick in the first round but then went back to the position in the second round with the selection of Boogie Basham out of Wake Forest.
After the NFL Draft, the thought was that Basham would be the one that could contribute right away based on how much he had played at Wake Forest while it might take Rousseau some time to develop into a consistent contributor after missing the prior year and having really only one season as a full-time starter.
The season obviously didn’t play out that way as Rousseau would start every regular season game for the Buffalo Bills while Basham had trouble finding consistent playing time. This raised concerns about Basham and if he could be a key part of this defense.
Boogie Basham should be a bigger part of the Buffalo Bills defense moving forward
It doesn’t appear that general manager Brandon Beane shares those same concerns and he said it really came down to depth and more specifically veteran depth at the top of the position:
"“Boogie fell out of the numbers and it wasn’t anything we were disappointed in him but we got some vets and you’re honestly going to rely on those when it’s close, you’re going to rely on experience,” Beane said."
The Bills general manager went on to say:
"“I thought Boogie really did some good things when he got his opportunity and this will be a big offseason for him to come in and as I’ve told him fight for a starting job.”"
Basham would finish the year playing in only eight games but as Beane notes, he played well when given the opportunity. In the first two games he was active for, Week 4 against the Texans and Week 5 against the Chiefs, he had five total tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Then at the end of the season, Boogie would be active for the final three games, including the two playoff games, and had two sacks and seven total tackles with two tackles for a loss. If Mario Addison and Jerry Hughes, who are both free agents, move on to other teams it wouldn’t be surprising to see Basham end up as a starter because the talent is certainly there.