Getty Defensive end Boogie Basham goes through a drill at Buffalo Bills practice.
The deepest position group for the Buffalo Bills just got unexpectedly thinner, and a little-used rookie could see a big opportunity arise from the crisis.
The team announced on Thursday that defensive lineman Justin Zimmer has been placed on injured reserve after he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Zimmer had been part of the deep rotation that head coach Sean McDermott utilizes on the defensive line, making eight total tackles including two tackles for a loss and one sack while appearing in six games. With Zimmer out, the Bills could lean more heavily on their second-round pick who so far has only appeared in two games.
We’ve placed DT Justin Zimmer on Injured Reserve and signed CB Cam Lewis from the practice squad.
Details: t.co/S05dZ0jzn9
Zimmer’s Season Comes to an End
As the Bills announced that Zimmer was moving to the season-ending IR, they also elevated cornerback Cam Lewis from the practice squad and onto the 53-man roster. Lewis has appeared in five games over the last two seasons including one start, making the most of that opportunity. As Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons noted, Lewis had an important impact in his Week 4 start against the Houston Texans, recording a pass breakup, a forced fumble, and a tackle for a loss in the 40-0 win.
We’ve placed DT Justin Zimmer on Injured Reserve and signed CB Cam Lewis from the practice squad.
Details: t.co/S05dZ0jzn9
For the hole that Zimmer leaves in the defensive line rotation, the Bills could turn to rookie defensive end Carlos “Boogie” Basham. The second-round pick has played in only two games this year, but in those limited appearances showed a knack for getting to the quarterback. He recorded a sack against the Texans and a half-sack the next week against the Kansas City Chiefs while playing just 49 percent and 34 percent of snaps in those games respectively.
Basham’s Big Potential
The slow start to Basham’s career may come as something of a surprise to insiders, some of whom believed he would have a faster start than first-round pick Gregory Rousseau. The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn had identified Basham as having the best chance among Bills rookies to have an immediate impact, noting that he was more experienced than Rousseau through 45 games at Wake Forest.
Basham’s inability to get onto the field had started to raise concerns. Dan Lavoie of SB Nation’s Buffalo Rumblings questioned this week whether the Bills may have made the wrong call going with another pass rusher with their second-round pick when there were more glaring needs to address, namely the offensive line.
“Picked directly after Basham in the draft? Ohio State center Josh Myers, who started five games for the Green Bay Packers before suffering a knee injury. Picked after him? Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey, who’s played every snap for the Chiefs (and earned plenty of praise for it),” Lavoie wrote.
Brandon Beane’s bet on Boogie Basham backfiring for Buffalo #Bills
Lavoie added that the pick could be better for the team’s long-term prospects. The Bills will have to make decisions on some veteran defensive linemen headed to free agency, including Jerry Hughes, and Basham could become the eventual replacement. But Buffalo is more immediately concerned with this season and the prospect of winning the first Super Bowl in franchise history, which meant that addressing needs at offensive line would be more pressing.
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