ORCHARD PARK – When Buffalo Bills training camp began a few weeks ago at St. John Fisher University, Boogie Basham was in a bit of a precarious spot.
During his first two seasons in the NFL, the 2021 second-round draft pick had not come close to the type of production and performance one would expect from a player selected that high and the edge rusher’s position on the team certainly seemed tenuous.
Remember, the Bills have Von Miller, Greg Rousseau, A.J. Epenesa, Shaq Lawson and Basham all returning from 2022, and now veteran Leonard Floyd is on the team. If the Bills keep five again, one of the holdover group probably isn’t making the 53-man roster, especially if Miller is able to get back in time for the season opener. And even if Miller isn’t ready at the start, he will be soon enough.
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If Basham seemed to be the prime candidate to be the odd man out when the summer began, his standout game last Saturday against the Colts has thrust him back into the heat of the competition.
“Boogie came to play the other day, period,” assistant head coach/defensive line coach Eric Washington said Tuesday.
Basham was in on three tackles including a sack, and he was a menace on several of the 19 snaps he played. On one first-quarter snap he stuffed Colts running back Evan Hull on a third-and-2 and on the next play Damar Hamlin stopped Hull to create a turnover on downs. Later, he sacked Gardner Minshew for a loss of six yards, and he tackled Jake Funk on a run play that gained only a yard.
“I feel like I did pretty good that game,” Basham said. “You know for me it’s just all mindset and confidence. Going through camp, anything I do I just pride myself on my confidence. With a good confidence, you’re bound to have a good game so that’s pretty much my whole demeanor going into every game.”
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That’s exactly what Washington believes has been the difference so far in Basham’s play that was missing in his first two seasons. He has confidence because he knows the defense, knows his role, and is realizing what it takes to win on individual snaps.
“He looked confident which is important to me,” Washington said. “Really happy for him and encouraged moving forward. I’m starting to see consistency with certain things that are just really foundational aspects of what we have to do.”
Coach Sean McDermott said that one of the things that held Basham back was understanding the importance of lowering his pad level to help him gain leverage on an offensive lineman. Basham took that to heart and in the offseason that was one of the things he focused on.
“Oh, yeah, for sure, that’s something at the end of the year, that was one of the main things we needed to work on for this season,” Basham said. “So I took accountability myself into just the whole offseason, doing little stuff to help my knee bend, help my hips just so that my pad level is always consistent, never playing high.”
Last year Basham played 391 defensive snaps across 15 games and made two sacks, one fumble recovery and 19 tackles. As a rookie when he played in only eight games, he was on the field 201 snaps and made 2.5 sacks and 18 tackles. Not great for a second-rounder.
The Bills’ hierarchy, both McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, made it known after the playoff loss to the Bengals that the Bills needed more from their pass rush. To that end, they brought in Floyd late in free agency and also added tackle Poona Ford who will help with the inside push.
Basham was on notice at that point: Be better, or you might not have a job. Washington said that lit a fire under the 25-year-old.
“Often when you acquire players or players come in and they’re established (Floyd), all of a sudden now what does that do?” Washington said. “Is that person kind of looking over his shoulder a little bit? Not at all with Boogie. He has been focused on improving his game, his training camp at Rochester was consistent, you saw flashes, and then in the ballgame the other day, wherever we sent him out he went out determined to execute, to be physical, and he really made a difference.”
Basham knows he does not yet have a spot secured. In fact, there has been some speculation that he could be a trade chip in the next few weeks if the Bills have an opportunity to upgrade at another position. One that comes to mind is backup offensive tackle.
“You gotta embrace it and go about how you’re doing it today,” he said, echoing that favorite of all McDermott cliches, taking it one day at a time.
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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills’ Boogie Basham shines in preseason as he battles for roster spot
