Bills DE A.J. Epenesa finishes rookie season with strong second half

[You Dirty Rat]

 

“A.J. played at a much heavier weight at Iowa. We asked him to get his body weight down, make it a better body comp from a fat percentage and he really, not only did he get it down he went way down. He came in probably a little too light, lighter than we wanted but that showed how hard he worked his offseason,” Beane said during his end of the season zoom call.

“I think he came in and started a little slow and we were a little worried how he was gonna hold up against the run early on. He added a little bit but he just couldn’t move the needle.”

Epenesa overcame a slow start after being inactive for the season opener against the Jets. It’s also natural for the Bills to expect an acclimation period for these rookies given the obstacles they had to overcome with the virtual offseason. Especially for a defensive player. It even took the veterans time to come together as a defense, which we saw early on in the season.

 

https://www.wivb.com/sports/bills-de-a-j-epenesa-finishes-rookie-season-with-strong-second-half/

[You Dirty Rat]

I know some people don't like the selection BUT this guy will turn out to be a good one. The guy didn't even have a training camp. 

[GG1]

On film, his performance in 2nd half was night and day from the 1st.   He'll grow into a decent rotational player that McDermott loves.  Can't realistically ask much more from a mid 2nd round pick.

[Ann]

https://youtu.be/myCwQdEwqlo

 

[Ninety-4]

On 2/2/2021 at 1:53 PM, HOUSE said:

 

“A.J. played at a much heavier weight at Iowa. We asked him to get his body weight down, make it a better body comp from a fat percentage and he really, not only did he get it down he went way down. He came in probably a little too light, lighter than we wanted but that showed how hard he worked his offseason,” Beane said during his end of the season zoom call.

“I think he came in and started a little slow and we were a little worried how he was gonna hold up against the run early on. He added a little bit but he just couldn’t move the needle.”

Epenesa overcame a slow start after being inactive for the season opener against the Jets. It’s also natural for the Bills to expect an acclimation period for these rookies given the obstacles they had to overcome with the virtual offseason. Especially for a defensive player. It even took the veterans time to come together as a defense, which we saw early on in the season.

 

https://www.wivb.com/sports/bills-de-a-j-epenesa-finishes-rookie-season-with-strong-second-half/

 

I watched him win the Illinois HS state championship in discus and shot in 2016.  He was a very big kid in comparison to so many of the track athletes although not fleshy.  Hard to think of him as too skinny. 

https://il.milesplit.com/videos/143534/aj-epenesas-discus-throw-of-2036

 

[KD in CA]

Boy, what a big difference it could make if this kid could develop into something.

 

[Foxx]