When the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Carlos “Boogie” Basham at 61st overall in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, it certainly turned some heads.
Not only because the team had just picked a player in the first round at the same position in Greg Rousseau, but also because Basham was seen by some as a “steal” in terms of improving the Bills pass rush.
So while he’s training to begin a third pro season, he’s aware his previous campaign left a lot of room for improvement and fell short of that goal.
“This year can either set you up for life or set you up somewhere else,” the young DE said via NYup.com. “I got that mindset, whether it’s at Buffalo or somewhere else, I got to set myself up to be great somewhere.”
Despite playing nearly twice as many snaps in 2022 compared to his rookie year, it included fewer sacks and less than 20 snaps in five of the 15 games he appeared in. Basham experienced a lack of consistency overall.
“You kind of question yourself sometimes, but you can’t do that,” he added. “If you question yourself then you’re not gonna play at your full potential.”
He is now looking to build on last offseason’s visit to his new teammate Von Miller’s Las Vegas-based pass rush summit in Las Vegas with fellow defensive ends Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa learning from the league’s elite pass rushers about concepts and opposing offensive linemen tells that they allow them to gain an edge in winning their defensive matchups.
The results showed for Basham in a few of the Bills regular-season games, including their opener against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angles Rams, logging a sack, two quarterback hits, a season-high four pressures, and an interception.
Miller was also able to continue his tutelage of his mentees by way of the Bills defensive line room meetings throughout the 2022 season.
“I remember the first day we’re sitting there watching film and Von is like, ‘Yeah, he has a weak left leg,'” Basham shared. “I’m like, ‘What you mean?’ He’s like, ‘He’s an outside puncher versus puncher to the inside.’ It was like 10 seconds and he just said that right away. He’s been doing this for a long time so he can pick up on stuff like that.”
He knows after struggling with consistency much of his second year that he’ll still need to be better to improve a Bills pass rush that was scrutinized at season’s end.
At that time, Basham met with GM Brandon Beane and HC Sean McDermott, who wanted him to continue to show progression. He’s currently focused on getting his weight down while adding power.
“The speed was good, changing direction, winning on all levels of the line, but they want to see more power rushes and physicality on my rushes,” he continued. “In my first year, I didn’t really know what moves I wanted to use or what I was doing, but I feel like last year I honed in on speed rushes and counters and I feel like I did a great job of showcasing that I’m a bigger guy but I can still move fast. Once I’ve got both the speed and power on film, it’s really gonna throw tackles in a bind because they don’t know what I’m gonna throw at them.”
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