Boogie

Basham

"[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.

Zero surprise here, especially since the other candidate -- quarterback Jamie Newman -- transferred to Georgia. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound tackle had 11 sacks for the Demon Deacons last year, and flirted with the NFL Draft before deciding to return for his final year of eligibility to the Demon Deacons. Treash notes that he posted an “elite” 90.6 pass-rush grade in 2019, and had multiple games with 10-plus pressures. As he summarizes: “Quincy Roche and Chris Rumph are the top two edge rushers in the [ACC] conference, but Basham is right behind them.”

Basham (6'5/275) announced on December 21 that he would be returning to school for his final season of eligibility, and that’s big news for HC Dave Clawson. Michigan State was able to keep the redshirt junior in check for much of the afternoon, something that more than a few of the other teams on Wake Forest’s schedule weren’t able to say. Basham finishes the season with 57 total tackles (18.0 for loss), 11.0 sacks, three forced fumbles and 13 quarterback hurries. After earning first team all-ACC honors this season, Basham should be mentioned among the top defensive ends in college football heading into the 2020 campaign.

We wouldn’t blame Wake Forest HC Dave Clawson from strutting a little as he goes about his weekend, as the Demon Deacons received two huge pieces of happy news on Saturday. Not only is Basham going to be returning to the program in 2020, so will star WR Sage Surratt. For his part, the 6-foot-5, 275-pound Basham logged 53 tackles (17.0 for loss), nine sacks and three forced fumbles while playing in all 12 of Wake Forest’s regular season games this fall. He will have one more chance to impress before turning his attention to 2020, as Wake Forest has a Pinstripe Bowl date with the decomposing entity that is Michigan State on Dec. 27.