Breakout Boogie? Bills' Carlos Basham Ready For Vital Third Season
Upon his NFL entry, Carlos Basham Jr. quickly learned that everything has to be earned ... even his nickname.
In a recent interview with Syracuse.com, the Buffalo Bills' second-round choice from 2021 recalled that defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier refused to refer to him by his playful moniker of "Boogie," which followed him from childhood, until he upped the pressure in last year's season opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
"I can remember my first sack of the season against L.A.," Basham recalled. "He called me Boogie then. He’s like, ‘I’m going to call you Boogie when you make a big play.’”
In that 31-10 win over the defending Super Bowl champions, Basham earned a sack, an interception, and two further quarterback hits. Alas, that opening output became an outlier, as Basham saw noticeable regression in both conventional and advanced categories.
To his credit, the third-year man knows that the coming season carries a make-or-break aura, especially with the Bills poised to save over a million in cap space if they bid farewell to him next offseason, one year before his rookie contract expires.
“This year can either set you up for life or set you up somewhere else,” he said. “I got that mindset, whether it’s (in) Buffalo or somewhere else, I got to set myself up to be great somewhere.”
If there's one thing that hasn't been a problem for Basham, it's putting in the offseason work. Last year proved prophetic as he attended a "pass-rush summit" led by future Hall of Famer and teammate Von Miller, working with fellow Buffalo edge men Gregory Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa. Miller became an on-field mentor to Basham last season and that role will be burdened with a greater spotlight with Frazier taking a leave of absence from his defensive duties.
“I remember the first day we’re sitting there watching film and Von is like, ‘Yeah, he has a weak left leg,’” Basham said. “I’m like, ‘What you mean?’ He’s like, ‘He’s an outside puncher versus a puncher to the inside.’ It was like 10 seconds and he just said that right away. He’s been doing this for a long time so he can pick up on stuff like that.”
Basham does carry some momentum going into his vital junior year. Though the Bills disappointed in a two-game postseason appearance, he raised the intensity in the Wild Card win over the Miami Dolphins to the tune of a sack and two quarterback pressures before he was later credited with creating a sack for Matt Milano in the Divisional loss against the Cincinnati Bengals.
It'll be interesting to see how Basham responds to a season where he has to prove himself in both Buffalo and beyond, especially with his competition for snaps including a recovering Miller and a first-round choice in Rousseau. But even with his prophecy of the year taking on a special meaning, he claims it's business as usual for a late second-round pick like him.
“I’ve always had something to prove," he said. "Coming in here as a second-round pick, you always got to have something to prove. That’s my mindset about everything.”
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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