Back in July, we gave our predictions for some totally real Buffalo Bills regular season awards on The Crowd Assist Podcast. The awards we predicted the recipients for include:
- Best Newcomer
- Most Improved
- Offensive MVP
- Defensive MVP
- Team MVP
When it came to selecting players we thought would improve on last season, we all keyed in on the run game. Obviously, that’s an area of this football team that has the most room for improvement. The focus on that dimension of this Bills offense genuinely made sense. What didn’t make sense is that there’s one player who somehow didn’t even get a mention in this segment. He’s in a position that you could also argue has the most room for improvement. This young man had a difficult first offseason as a rookie in a COVID year. He was a raw prospect with outstanding athleticism, who Mario Addison now says “…is ready. Hands down. Watch out.”
Brandon Beane and co. have built a roster that’s hard to crack. There’s competition at every corner, and someone ready to steal your job. This player has two outstanding young defensive ends behind him on the depth chart right now in Rousseau and Basham. The idea that these three Buffalo Bills could terrorize offensive lines for the next few years on their rookie deals is something Bills Mafia dreams of and opposing offenses fear.
I said that none of us on The CAP chose to talk about this guy. And that’s criminal. But Trainwreck Sports writer Cullen Tonge did in his article that inspired us to do the aforementioned award predictions episode.
We’ve written about him before. I was going bananas in my basement when we drafted him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Guys. It’s A.J. Epenesa.
The projected first-round pick who fell to the Buffalo Bills in the late second round just over a year ago had a forgettable rookie campaign. He began the season on the inactive list in Week 1. I remember where I was when the inactive list came out. I was driving past my girlfriend’s old elementary school out on Long Island. Like all Bills fans, I have tweet notifications on for Sal Capaccio. The Bills elected to go with a veteran-heavy DE group for week 1, and that means that Sal included A.J. in his tweet. Addison, Hughes, Darryl Johnson, and Trent Murphy were in the rotation and A.J. was out.
I called my friend and immediately complained. “Is this the first slip up by this new front office? Having your first overall pick being a healthy inactive? I know it’s a weird offseason, but come on!” Sure enough, he progressed as the season went on. By the time we saw Stefon Diggs standing in Arrowhead, alone, watching the Kansas City Chiefs celebrate a second consecutive Super Bowl birth, while I was reeling from a disappointing loss, I was much more confident in A.J.’s future than I was at the beginning of his rookie season. He was an efficient pass rusher who made the most of his limited time in Leslie Frazier’s defensive end rotation.
That’s why I’m not surprised to see Mario Addison warning people about the havoc Epenesa will wreak in 2021.
Some people say to take training camp press conferences with a grain of salt. I don’t do that with these Bills. When players compliment other players publicly, it’s not to throw them a bone. It’s not for a confidence boost. If A.J. had more work to do, Mario probably would’ve said “He’s not satisfied with his first year. He’s hungry. He’s determined. He works every single day to be better.” McDermott, Beane, and these players are great with the media in Buffalo. It always feels like a conversation. Answers aren’t forced. Players are honest.
Cullen made his case for AJ Epenesa as the most improved player for the Buffalo Bills this year, and instead of restating a similar argument, read what he had to say:
As I mentioned before, the depth of this defensive line is incredible. We know that Head Coach Sean McDermott and Defensive Coordinator Leslie Frazier like to run a heavy rotation, so when the players are on the field, they have to make the most of it to see time in the rotation. A.J. Epenesa didn’t play to the level that most people expected him to last season as a rookie, but luckily for him and the team, he didn’t necessarily have to.
This season, however, he needs to solidify himself as a clear-cut starter because he is going to be the guy once Jerry Hughes leaves. We have already seen the fight in Epenesa with his pick-six at OTAs, so it is quite clear that he knows what he needs to do to earn his time. I don’t know if he is going to rack up the numbers in sacks or even tackles for that matter, but it would be great to see him getting after the quarterback and being where he needs to be on every play.
Hughes doesn’t get a ton of sacks, but he is a great defensive end because he knows how to contain and how to get after the quarterback. Sacks aren’t the end-all-be-all of the defensive end position. Yes, they are great and Epenesa certainly has the potential to get them, but if he can be the edge-rusher we used a second-round pick on, he will be the most improved player on this team.
You can find the rest of Cullen’s Buffalo Bills Preseason Awards here. And be sure the check out the episode of The CAP where Kevin, MereKat, and I made our predictions! We’ll be live every Wednesday and Friday through the end of the preseason, so tune in. Follow us on Twitter and subscribe on YouTube. Thanks for reading. Go Bills.
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