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Next up on our free-agency tour is Buffalo Bills defensive end A.J. Epenesa. In my spirit of not BSing the readers, I’ll cut to the chase up top here. It’s not like you haven’t already clicked into the article anyway. I like Epenesa but we need to approach this from a business stance.
There’s no compelling reason to not let Epenesa test the market. He struggled to break 50% of snaps on Buffalo Bills teams that were known for creating pressure through scheme, not individual effort. Speaking of which, had Sean McDermott remained with the team, that would have increased his value. At least then you could argue “he knows the scheme.” That won’t be the case now.
Since you’re here, let’s watch some film anyway.
The Film
I went with highlights for A.J. Epenesa because the man has always flashed high upside. All of these plays have some fantastic elements. That said, the difference between good and great in a professional league is often just a matter of frequency. I wouldn’t be shocked to see a comment about Epenesa’s rate stats, and that’s a good argument.
Epenesa had two seasons with 6.5 sacks where he also hovered around 40% of snaps on the defense. Assuming Epenesa could handle a doubled workload, putting him in rarefied air for a defensive end, you could argue the extrapolation to a 13-sack season profiles a drastically different player. That would indeed be considered an elite season for a single player. That bring up the question maybe you want to debate in the comments.
Do you believe that Epenesa’s rate would hold up with a drastically higher workload?