What AJ Espensa peers say about facing him...

[Alphadawg7]

I already posted this in the AJ draft pick thread, but that thing is a beast and I think this deserves more eye balls as its quite telling.  Its their opinion on AJ Espensa, and its quite impressive and high praise from some pretty good college players.  

 

FROM HIS PEERS:

 

That's what we saw. But what we heard during interviews with the offensive players who faced him was a very different story.

Michigan left tackle Jon Runyan, who provides deeply technical insights into his opponents, said Epenesa was tied with Ohio State's Chase Young as the two toughest defenders he ever faced.

 

"A.J. exploits the weakness of what I play," Runyan said. "I'm a vertical setter, and the weakness of a vertical set is what A.J. loves to do: bull rush with a one-armed stab. He's able to catch me leaning a lot, catch me off guard. Early in the [2019 Michigan vs. Iowa] game, the first three or four drives, I wasn't really keying on his shoulders. He started running downhill, and I wasn't able to get my hips down and react to the bull rush."

 

Purdue tight end Brycen Hopkins also singled out Epenesa as one of the toughest defenders he ever faced, adding a most unusual compliment to his scouting report: "I thought he was a great player. He was physical, but at the same time he's a cool guy. He wasn't a jerk out there. ... So I thought he was a great player, great guy. He came off the ball with an explosive power."

 

And then there's teammate Tristan Wirfs, one of the stars of Friday night's offensive line workouts. Wirfs didn't hesitate to name Epenesa as the toughest defender he ever faced. Sure, he may be a teensy bit biased, but players rarely single out teammates when answering "toughest opponent" questions. 

 

"We had some battles," Wirfs said. "When I met with the Broncos, they said a scout was there [at Iowa practice] and I didn't lose to A.J. So I said, 'I'm glad you were there on that day.'"

 

"It goes back and forth, me and him," Wirfs added. "He was one of my best friends on the team. We will try to help each other get better. If he sees something that he beat me on, he'll tell me what he saw. And when I beat him, I tell him what I saw."

 

So Epenesa earned glowing endorsements from a first-round-caliber teammate and two of the guys who had to block him, and those were just the remarks we heard while making the interview rounds. If you don't believe Runyan, Hopkins and Wirfs, there's also the production across two seasons against major competition.

 

And also there's the tape, which shows opponents redesigning their offenses to corral him. At one point against Minnesota, for example, Epenesa was chipped by the tight end before a route, and then chipped by a running back before a route, with the left tackle backing up to engage Epenesa after he worked his way through that whole bag of chips. (It's at the 2:09 mark on this cutup.)

[Bob in STL]

Thanks for the info.  This kid might play like a first rounder.  McD will get him going.  

[Penfield45]

just hope that power translates to the NFL 

 

won't be long until he is a captain on that defense along with White, Edmunds and Oliver. 

[JOE IN HAMPTON ROADS]

im on board

[Jerome007]

Well he is a Bills now. I thus hope he is a superstar. But yeah, spring brings hope eternal

[Logic]

I just watched all the AJ Epenesa highlights I could find. 

He reminded me of someone, but it wasn't JJ Watt. I realized it was another #94, Justin Smith. Smith was a 5T, but truthfully, one could argue that that's Epenesa's best position, anyway. Besides, McDermott's defense often has his DEs aligned at 5T anyway.

But that's AJ...a classic strong, tall, powerful 5T, base end that can kick inside on passing downs.

Justin Smith made 5 Pro Bowls and was a two time 1st team All Pro and two time 2nd team All Pro .... all without ever having 10 sacks in a single season.

If bending the edge and tallying sacks is the measure, he may never be elite. But in terms of defending the run, taking on double teams, collapsing the pocket, controlling the edge, and pitching in 6-10 sacks a season...I think he's going to be dominant.

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by Logic

[Coach Tuesday]

Justin Smith or maybe Aaron Smith.

 

I wonder if AJ has trained in ju jitsu - he seems to use martial arts-based leverage concepts in his attack strategy.  Looking forward to watching him.

Edited April 29, 2020 by Coach Tuesday

[BurpleBull]

*Epenesa*

 

Finally have a top notch rotational lineup on the D-line.

[Gugny]

This kid's gonna be great as long as they fit him up.

[Augie]

42 minutes ago, Logic said:

I just watched all the AJ Epenesa highlights I could find. 

He reminded me of someone, but it wasn't JJ Watt. I realized it was another #94, Justin Smith. Smith was a 5T, but truthfully, one could argue that that's Epenesa's best position, anyway. Besides, McDermott's defense often has his DEs aligned at 5T anyway.

But that's AJ...a classic strong, tall, powerful 5T, base end that can kick inside on passing downs.

Justin Smith made 5 Pro Bowls and was a two time 1st team All Pro and two time 2nd team All Pro .... all without ever having 10 sacks in a single season.

If bending the edge and tallying sacks is the measure, he may never be elite. But in terms of defending the run, taking on double teams, collapsing the pocket, controlling the edge, and pitching in 6-10 sacks a season...I think he's going to be dominant.

 

 

I trust McD to know what he needs in his defense. If we have a better, cheaper, younger Shaq we filled a need. We need youth at DE in a big way. Maybe not “flashy”, but sometimes you need “solid”. 

[ALLEN1QB]

Dude will have 5 sacks against the Pat's alone.

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

I just watched all the AJ Epenesa highlights I could find. 

He reminded me of someone, but it wasn't JJ Watt. I realized it was another #94, Justin Smith. Smith was a 5T, but truthfully, one could argue that that's Epenesa's best position, anyway. Besides, McDermott's defense often has his DEs aligned at 5T anyway.

But that's AJ...a classic strong, tall, powerful 5T, base end that can kick inside on passing downs.

Justin Smith made 5 Pro Bowls and was a two time 1st team All Pro and two time 2nd team All Pro .... all without ever having 10 sacks in a single season.

If bending the edge and tallying sacks is the measure, he may never be elite. But in terms of defending the run, taking on double teams, collapsing the pocket, controlling the edge, and pitching in 6-10 sacks a season...I think he's going to be dominant.

 

Dude that is a really good comparison IMO, spot on

[Buffalo Junction]

48 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Justin Smith or maybe Aaron Smith.

 

I wonder if AJ has trained in ju jitsu - he seems to use martial arts-based leverage concepts in his attack strategy.  Looking forward to watching him.

“My dad taught us from a young age to get our hands on people and throw them to get off blocks. I was pretty lucky to have a mentor like him in the house all the time, someone who knows the game of football and played the same position.”
 

His old man played DL at Iowa as well. 

Forgot to link for quote.....

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/sports/story/2020-04-16/nfl-draft-aj-epenesa%3f_amp=true

[FeelingOnYouboty]

We’re so lucky to have this player. Get him with our training staff and I think they’ll get him to shed 5-10 pounds.

 

I’m elated man! Got this dude at #54. Unreal!

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

I just watched all the AJ Epenesa highlights I could find. 

He reminded me of someone, but it wasn't JJ Watt. I realized it was another #94, Justin Smith. Smith was a 5T, but truthfully, one could argue that that's Epenesa's best position, anyway. Besides, McDermott's defense often has his DEs aligned at 5T anyway.

But that's AJ...a classic strong, tall, powerful 5T, base end that can kick inside on passing downs.

Justin Smith made 5 Pro Bowls and was a two time 1st team All Pro and two time 2nd team All Pro .... all without ever having 10 sacks in a single season.

If bending the edge and tallying sacks is the measure, he may never be elite. But in terms of defending the run, taking on double teams, collapsing the pocket, controlling the edge, and pitching in 6-10 sacks a season...I think he's going to be dominant.
 

 

I can see Justin Smith. Michael Bennett was the other guy I threw out there that I saw. I think he only reached 10 sacks once and averaged 6/7 per year over a 12 year career and went to multiple pro bowls. Now personality wise I doubt AJ is quite as much of a diva as Bennett who ended up on 5 teams and wore out his welcome on certainly 3 of them but if you got that level of production out of Epenesa over that period of time and the flexibility Bennett gave in terms of inside and outside rush (I remember in the Malcolm Butler Superbowl it got to the point where the Patriots blocking scheme just became "wherever he lines up... double Michael Bennett and we will live with everyone else 1v1") that would be one hell of an output. 

[MarlinTheMagician]

Love the player's character from all I have gathered.  I trust that he is a good player now, and I trust the Bills will make him better.

[BruceVilanch]

I was legitimately shocked that he made it to us in the second round. Great for us, two years in a row we have an elite player at a position of need falling to us (Oliver being the first). 

[TL30]

I watched every game this kid played in his college career.  This kid was robbed like no other.  I think it's absolutely BS that the NFL scouts will disregard years of video footage dominating in one of colleges elite conferences for a few hours of working out.  Inexcusable..  Bills.....  Y'all one and I'm willing to bet his numbers will be better than Chase's.  AJ and Chase played the same teams and 2 of the 3 years AJ out performed him.  And AJ only started one of those years.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

14 hours ago, Logic said:

I just watched all the AJ Epenesa highlights I could find. 

He reminded me of someone, but it wasn't JJ Watt. I realized it was another #94, Justin Smith. Smith was a 5T, but truthfully, one could argue that that's Epenesa's best position, anyway. Besides, McDermott's defense often has his DEs aligned at 5T anyway.

But that's AJ...a classic strong, tall, powerful 5T, base end that can kick inside on passing downs.

Justin Smith made 5 Pro Bowls and was a two time 1st team All Pro and two time 2nd team All Pro .... all without ever having 10 sacks in a single season.

If bending the edge and tallying sacks is the measure, he may never be elite. But in terms of defending the run, taking on double teams, collapsing the pocket, controlling the edge, and pitching in 6-10 sacks a season...I think he's going to be dominant.

 

exactly... Defense was good last year with Shaq filling this role. AJE looks like he should be able to step in and at least do the same. 
 

Doesn’t look like speed issues in the highlight reel

Edited April 29, 2020 by Over 29 years of fanhood

[Logic]

1 minute ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

exactly... Defense was good last year with Shaw filling this role. AJE looks like he should be able to step in and at least do the same. 

I think Epenesa will even wind up being an upgrade over Shaq.

I liked Lawson, but he was 6'3", 260 lbs. Epenesa is 6'6", 280 lbs. He's just a larger -- and based on the film, stronger -- human being. 

You're right that even if he winds up just filling Shaq's role at about the same level of production, it's still a win for the Bills, because we got him on a cheap rookie deal for four years instead of paying $10mil+/year to Shaq. But I think AJ will represent an upgrade.