2022 Top 25 Buffalo Bills 25 and Under: No. 9 Boogie Basham
While the defensive end position has been one of the more talked about this offseason for the Buffalo Bills, second-year defensive end Boogie Basham has flown under the radar a bit. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if he ended up being the third-best pass rusher this season behind Von Miller and Greg Rousseau. This is the reason he is ranked number nine in these rankings looking at the Top 25 players who will be 25 or under to start the 2022 season.
Basham was a second round pick by the Buffalo Bills in last year’s NFL Draft and entered his rookie season with high expectations. He played a lot during his time at Wake Forest and while he didn’t have the ceiling of Greg Rousseau, he was considered the more NFL-ready player between the two.
However, Basham had a quiet rookie season as he was inactive for six of the first eight weeks of last season. Although in the two games he did play, Week 4 against the Houston Texans and Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs he had 1.5 sacks.
This was a constant theme for Boogie Basham in that he didn’t see regular playing time but when he did play, he was productive. Towards the end of the season, he did become a bigger part of the defense and was active for five of the final six games, including the playoffs, and had 12 total tackles, two sacks, and two QB hits.
Boogie Basham could have a breakout year in 2022 with the Buffalo Bills
While the hope is that Greg Rousseau has a breakout year this season due in part to the presence of Von Miller, for his impact on and off the field, Boogie Basham could also benefit from the All-Pro’s presence with the team.
Earlier this year, it was reported that there was a great deal of optimism within the organization around Basham as he brought his weight down and had been training in Buffalo during the offseason.
During training camp and preseason, Boogie Basham will have a chance to show off that hard work, and as previously mentioned it wouldn’t be surprising to see him be that third player in the rotation at the position this year.