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Posted

I'm wondering if maybe their plan was for him to cut some bad weight and add some of it back as added muscle, but the limited offseason prevented the latter from happening. Either way, I'm sure the weight loss is a big reason why he's had limited snaps so far. Losing 15-20 lb definitely changes the way you have to play as a lineman.

Posted

I'd be wary of any major weight loss this year due to covid. Maybe it was planned, maybe it wasn't. Maybe he was just looking out for his own health. 

Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, Azucho98 said:

Hope he doesn't end up like Aaron Maybin - that dude was way too light and couldn't keep weight on.

Completely different body type. Maybin struggled to stay at 240. AJ was 280 and looks to be told to lose weight. 
 

 

AJ always looked soft to me, as in muscle/fat. He doesn’t look powerful, more like a basketball player than a DE. 

5 hours ago, gobills404 said:

I'm wondering if maybe their plan was for him to cut some bad weight and add some of it back as added muscle, but the limited offseason prevented the latter from happening. Either way, I'm sure the weight loss is a big reason why he's had limited snaps so far. Losing 15-20 lb definitely changes the way you have to play as a lineman.

I’m hoping an nfl weight program will transform his body. Same with Ed Oliver. If they can lose some fat and replace it with muscle I think it would help them both a lot.   Ed is country strong atm. Imagine getting him to train like Donald and be a shredded monster. 

Edited by Not at the table Karlos
Posted
8 hours ago, Rigotz said:

I know we've mentioned this before, but guys ... very, very rarely do you see a rookie DE come in and dominate.

This kid is 22 years old and he's playing against grown men. He has a big frame and we know he can put on the weight.

 

I pulled up the stats of a few former Bills for comparison:

Bruce Smith's rookie year (22 years old): 6.5 sacks

Aaron Schobel's rookie year (24 years old): 6.5 sacks

Jerry Hughes's first 3 years TOTAL: 5 sacks

Kyle Williams first 3 years TOTAL: 4 sacks

Mario Williams rookie year: 4.5 sacks

 

Is this a Buffalo BIlls phenomenon? Nope. 

JJ Watt had 5.5 sacks his rookie year and 20.5 his second year.

TJ Watt had 7 sacks his rookie year and 13 his second year.

 

It takes time. We won't know what we have in Epenesa until year 2.

Don't worry too much about the weight... it's his first year doing 24/7 weight training, professionally.

 

agree.  I'm not worried about him.  He'll be a monster next year.  they get all buffed up to be fast at the combine, then the reality of the NFL has them gain 20 lbs.  by year 3 

Posted

does anyone know why he simply does not participate in special teams?  like, can he not be coached up to contribute?  old man lorax was on ST at least some of the time, certainly AJ doesn't get winded or not have the running range that lorax did.

Posted

Maybe the plan is for him to eventually play CB2?! 

 

Joking, but he does look smaller than he did even from that video where he plowed over Winters. 
 

I hope, we don’t have a Maybin 2.0 here. I doubt it, can’t see Beane making that big of a swing and miss.

Posted

As I said in another thread, Epanesa reminds me of Super Mario Bros when the magic mushroom wears off and Mario shrinks in size.  He looks shockingly different than he did in college and he’s being totally washed out of most plays by the opposing lineman.

  • Like (+1) 1
Posted
10 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Was this talked about at all after the draft or in training camp?  I looked up his draft profile and he was at 275 lbs.  Other sites had him listed as 280 lbs at Iowa.

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/49ers/2020-nfl-draft-profile-why-iowas-aj-epenesas-fits-49ers-no-31

 

The Bills site has him at 260 lbs.  I thought he looked a little smaller but thought maybe he was around bigger dudes and was wearing a tighter jersey with smaller pads.  I was wrong.

https://www.buffalobills.com/team/players-roster/a-j-epenesa/

 

I'm guessing when Beane stated they might want to kick him inside in some situations...those plans changed.  I can't imagine him losing 15-20 lbs without direction from McDermott.  

Maybe they want to keep him out in the edge?  Lorax was about 250 lbs I believe and would rush inside on certain packages.  But.....I think Lorax was more powerful.

 

@Giuseppe Tognarelli

 

 

I agree he looked smaller but he had a burst off the line that was impressive. He needs to get more playing time because Murphy is just garbage.

Posted
7 minutes ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

I agree he looked smaller but he had a burst off the line that was impressive. He needs to get more playing time because Murphy is just garbage.

Murphy is better than Espenesa right now. He gives the OL man a tougher time when he also gets pushed out of the play.

Posted
10 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Murphy is better than Espenesa right now. He gives the OL man a tougher time when he also gets pushed out of the play.

This is why I miss S. Lawson the most of all our FA losses. I would like to see AJ get some more reps, maybe on passing downs. I really think AJ will be the starter as some point within the next few weeks.

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Posted
10 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

His speed has picked up though.  On the Goff play action to the flat pass....AJ got to Goff very quickly.  Almost had the sack but Goff got it off.  

The bigger AJ wouldn't have gotten there.  

 

Great point.  He is def faster and had another nice play vs Titans that was speed related.

I still think he would be an upgrade over AJ Klein to fill Lorax shoes.

Posted

His snap count was 4 Tuesday.  Overall only played 17% of snaps.  Would think keeping his weight down would be more of a struggle while riding the pines.

Posted
2 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

I didn’t really understand the pick when it happened. Now it’s just as if it was completely pointless. You can see how disappointed Mcd is with him. Watch how he called him off the field after that Offside. 

 

He was pissed at the moment.  3rd and 7 now became 3rd and 2.  That basically sealed the game for TN.

Posted
11 hours ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

I feel like his game is supposed to be power, and I've heard analysis saying they think his problem right now is he needs to get stronger. So I really don't understand the weight loss. He looks slight out there.

Agreed. He was more of a bull rush, strong hand punch style player in college.  

  • Like (+1) 1
Posted
10 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

That's kind of the implication of the "slim down, train for speed, then build up muscle" recipe.

Lorax converted successfully from DL to LB

 

But

 

He had a real head for the pro game as well

 

Epenesa TBD

 


He’s clearly ona short leash... that one Offside and Sean yanked him right back out

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