Boogie

Basham

The Giants continue to revamp their pass rush with a little more than a week to go until the start of the regular season. After acquiring linebacker Isaiah Simmons from the Cardinals last week, they have now added Basham, a former second-round pick from the 2021 NFL Draft. Since entering the league, Basham has totaled 4.5 sacks in 23 games and could serve as a situational pass rusher in Wink Martindale’s blitz-heavy scheme.

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 Roanoke, 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 rather than overwhelming opponents with his bull rush, and has deceptive agility 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 forty-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.

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.

"[Basham’s] versatile. He can play a lot of different defenses. He’s kind of that outside/inside guy,” a longtime AFC scout told Pelissero. Another insider who spoke with the reporter -- this one an AFC executive -- was more guarded in his appraisal of the Wake Forest edge rusher, noting that while Basham “could be very good if he wanted to,” his evaluation is marred by what this exec views as a lack of physicality and passion. If Basham is unable to sneak his way into the Day 1 proceedings, he figures to go off the board very soon thereafter once Round 2 gets underway.

In addition to the 40 time, Basham (6'3/274) also clocked in at 7.13 seconds in the three-cone shuttle and 4.25 seconds in the short shuttle, and he recorded 20 reps in the bench press. The former Wake Forest standout has been viewed by some as a bit of a “tweener” up front, but the explosiveness should translate at either defensive end of defensive tackle depending upon the scheme. Wednesday’s Pro Day performance should only help Basham with regard to when his name is called next month.

Jeremiah named Basham one of the best players during the first day of practice to kick off the week. As it turns out, Basham carried that momentum throughout the rest of the week’s practices, earning himself one of 10 spots on Jeremiah’s “winners” list here. Basham was one of just two DL to make the list, with Miami’s Quincy Roshe being the other. Jeremiah applauded Basham for his quickness for someone who is 6-foot-5 and 285-pounds. At that size, Basham is a bit of a tweener between an edge and an IDL, but he’s got the explosiveness to be a threat from both spots and could prove to be a weapon for a creative defensive coordinator.

Basham (6'5/285) had an excellent career at Wake Forest, and likely would have been a top-100 pick had he turned pro after the 2019 season. He instead returned to school for one more year, further distinguishing himself as one of the top EDGE prospects in the 2021 draft class. And Basham is off to a good start in Mobile, with Jeremiah praising him for his work in team drills. “Boogie made it clear that he knows how to work through the edges of offensive tackles,” Jeremiah wrote. “His power was too much for the offensive linemen (Tuesday). I’m excited to see how he finishes the week.” Basham is projected to be a second round pick in this spring’s draft, and a good week at the Senior Bowl would help solidify that.

If he had wanted to, Basham probably could have gone top-100 in last year’s class. Not only does Basham have a dangerous 6-foot-5, 285-pound with a good deal of athleticism behind it, but he earned 10 sacks and 18 tackles for loss last year. Basham was both productive and talented. He decided to go back to school, however, and ended up with a COVID-shortened season in a program that is worse overall this year than last. Hopefully Basham can re-assert himself as a high-end prospect at the Senior Bowl. Teams looking for a tough, athletic strong-side end in even front will have their eye on him.

Bothroyd (6'4/275) started six of the 12 games in which he appeared as a redshirt freshman, tallying 31 total tackles (14 solo, 4.0 for loss), 1.5 sacks and one fumble recovery. The redshirt sophomore was injured during Wake Forest’s 2019 finale at Syracuse, and he’s been on the mend ever since. Bothroyd is listed second on the depth chart behind redshirt senior Carlos Basham Jr. ahead of Saturday’s game vs. Virginia, and he’ll give the Deacs a welcome boost depth-wise.

Feldman ranks Basham as his No. 2 “freak” in the country, second only to Michigan EDGE Kwity Paye. What does the first-team All-ACC performer -- 11 sacks, 18 TFL in 2019 -- have in his athletic toolbox? More or less everything. Feldman passes along that Basham is capable of bench presses exceeding 400 pounds and squats exceeding 700 (!) pounds. Plus an absurd short shuttle time of 4.21 seconds, plus a 36-inch vertical jump. Writes the esteemed reporter, “The dude runs so well that Wake even has him on its kickoff team.” By PFF metrics, Basham put up a pass-rush grade of 90.6 last season.