Bills selected Wake Forest DE Carlos Basham with the No. 61 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Basham (6'5/285) received a three-star ranking by all three major scouting outlets before taking a redshirt season in 2016. The well built Roanoake, VA product didn’t flourish until 2018 when he recorded a robust 52 pressures, 64 tackles, 4.5 sacks and a 80.4 overall defensive grade from PFF. “Boogie” didn’t stop there, as he actually increased his production to 60 pressures, 57 tackles, 11.0 sacks and three forced fumbles while boasting first team All-ACC honors in 2019. He has a well developed set of pass rush moves and tends to rely on playing angles than overwhelming opponents with his bull rush, and has deceptively agile for his size and often wins with technique. Basham wasn’t quite as productive in 2020, but he showed up ready for his pro day workout, recording a big time 4.64 second 40-yard dash along with an excellent 4.25 shuttle to propel his profile to an exceptional 9.54 RAS. Basham has shown the ability to anchor against the run game and deploy an arsenal of pass rush moves over his four years at Wake Forest. He figures to move to the three-technique in Buffalo’s 4-3 scheme.