Bills DE Greg Rousseau: Bigger, Stronger and now Being Tutored by the Best
The way last season ended for the Buffalo Bills, it was only natural to focus more on the offense in terms of projecting how quarterback Josh Allen and his cast of talented playmakers still haven't reached a ceiling that may be approaching infinity.
In particular, Gabriel Davis caught four touchdown passes against the Kansas City Chiefs that night and finished with 201 receiving yards on eight catches in the greatest game of his short career. All were career highs for a player who was just 22 years old at the time.
Tight end Dawson Knox and running back Devin Singletary, each in their third year, were more productive than ever in 2021, and Davis is entering his third year this season.
Yet the player who may experience the biggest breakout season in 2022 is defensive end Greg Rousseau, their first-round draft pick a year ago.
Rousseau did become a starter right away and showed brilliant flashes throughout. He proved to be outstanding against the run but finished with just 4.0 sacks, though his nine pressures tied him for third with Odafe Oweh among rookies, behind Osa Odighizuwa (10) and Micah Parsons (15), according to Pro Football Focus.
Now that he's entering his second season, there are many reasons to believe Rousseau is poised to show what kind of complete player he is projected to be.
Here's why:
Body change
Rousseau showed up at OTAs this week looking yoked compared to the same time a year ago. He claims to have added only around 5-7 pounds, but his focus on improving his eating habits has helped the 22-year-old become stronger.
"You've just got to keep getting stronger year in and year out," he said, "and your body kind of just naturally fills out, and you kind of get a feel for where you move the best and where you're most comfortable when it comes to the weight you have on and how fast you move."
New tutor
Signing Von Miller in the offseason could benefit Rousseau the most. Miller, the greatest pass rusher of his generation already has begun working with Rousseau to add to his repertoire and sharpen what he already has.
"You know, a player like the caliber of Von, the number he's put up over the years, two-time Super Bowl champion, you all know his resume," Rousseau said. "But it was great. He's really helping us out already, his first day out with us with us in OTAs, and I already learned some good nuggets from him."
Beyond that, Rousseau wasn't interested in revealing many details.
"I can't tell you guys too much because I don't want to air myself out," Rousseau said, "but I'd say like counters, you know the secondary moves. And I feel like I already have a good mindset ... and just having more moves to rely on and more moves to work towards like late in games. So being able to set stuff up early in a game and being able to come back to it like in crunch time, third, fourth quarter."
Repetitions
What may have been forgotten in this whole process is that Rousseau is still just a pup who essentially played only one season in college (at Miami) two years before taking his first pro snap.
He played just one game in 2018, followed by a full season in 2019. Rousseau then opted out of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic before entering the NFL Draft.
What this means is that if he stays healthy this year, it will be the first time he's played back-to-back full seasons since high school in 2016-17.
Upgrades
Rousseau also is likely to benefit because Miller will be rushing from the other side and because the Bills believe they've upgraded their interior rush by adding players like Jordan Phillips and Tim Settle.
Phillips already likes what he's seen from Rousseau.
"I like Greg," Phillips said. "You know, I'm not going to speak on anybody I haven't played with because we don't have pads on, you know what I mean?. I've watched his tape, and from what I see from his tape, I like. He's big, he's fast, he's still young. And once he figure figures out who he is, he's going to be up there with Von."
Bills offseason schedule
OTAs
May 26
May 31-June 2
June 6-7
June 9-10
Mandatory minicamp
June 14-16
Training camp
TBA at St. John Fisher College and ADPRO Sports Training center
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Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
