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Bills select Boogie Basham in 2nd round

The Buffalo Bills selected former Wake Forest defensive end Carlos "Boogie" Basham with the 61st overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on Friday night. He is the sixth player from Dave Clawson's tenure to be selected in the draft and the second defensive lineman following the man he replaced in the Wake defense and his former teammate Duke Ejiofor who was drafted in 2016 by the Houston Texans.

"Everyone will tell you that they want guys who love football, but Boogie Basham lives it, breathes it, and wants to be great. His work ethic on the field, in the weight room, and in the classroom over the course of his career at Wake Forest was special. Not to mention, he's a great teammate and a joy to coach. Athletically, the Buffalo Bills are getting a playmaker who runs extremely well for his size and he has a relentless motor. I am excited to see his game translate to the NFL," Clawson said in a statement.

Basham finished his career with 20.5 sacks (4th most in school history) and five sacks in an abbreviated senior season that was cut short due to COVID.

Basham will be his pass rush to Buffalo
Basham will be his pass rush to Buffalo (Andrew Dye/Journal via ACC Media Services)
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Basham said he is excited for the next step and joining the Bills Mafia.

""They definitely are hard-nosed defense," said Basham on the Buffalo Bills defense. "Just watching those guys, playing is fun to watch. When I play Madden I'll play with the Bills. The defense is something that I really love you know. I'm glad to be a part of it now. When I was getting picked I was thinking dreams finally come true. Now, it's time to take over," he said in a statement.


From WAKE FOREST:

The #ProDeacs family added its newest member when the Buffalo Bills chose defensive lineman Carlos "Boogie" Basham Jr. with the 61st overall pick in the second round.

Basham is just the third Wake Forest player to ever be chosen by the Bills. The only others came in 2005 with cornerback Eric King in the fifth round and in 1986 with defensive lineman Tony Garbarczyk in the 11th round.

This is the sixth defensive player selected in the Dave Clawson era and the second defensive lineman, joining former teammate, Duke Ejiofor, who was selected by the Houston Texans in 2016.

Basham hopes to become the next in a long line of talented second round draft picks in Wake Forest history including Hall of Famer Bill George, All-Pro selections Billy Ray Barnes and Jessie Bates, and Super Bowl Champions Bob Grant and Fred Robbins.

Wake Forest has now had at least one pick in every NFL Draft since 2017. That streak matches the program's record of now five-straight bowl berths. Basham is the highest drafted Demon Deacon since Jessie Bates went 54th overall to the Cincinnati Bengals.

From Coach Clawson

"Everyone will tell you that they want guys who love football, but Boogie Basham lives it, breathes it and wants to be great. His work ethic on the field, in the weight room and in the classroom over the course of his career at Wake Forest was special. Not to mention, he's a great teammate and a joy to coach. Athletically, the Buffalo Bills are getting a playmaker who runs extremely well for his size and he has a relentless motor. I am excited to see his game translate to the NFL." – head coach Dave Clawson

From Boogie Basham

"They definitely are hard-nosed defense," said Basham on the Buffalo Bills defense. "Just watching those guys, playing is fun to watch. When I play Madden I'll play with the Bills. The defense is something that I really love you know. I'm glad to be a part of it now. When I was getting picked I was thinking dreams finally come true. Now, it's time to take over."

From Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network

"He is a really talented interior rusher," said Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network on Carlos "Boogie" Basham Jr. "This guy makes a lot of plays down the line of scrimmage and spends a lot of his time on the other side of the line of scrimmage very disruptive. He wins with quickness. You see some power to knock someone back. He's got some balance when he's working in between doubles. He's always trying, he's always fighting. He's always trying to get home. Here's another example of that pursuit. He is another one who plays extremely hard that Sean McDermott style of player. Basham, what a great name for a defensive end."

From Mel Kiper of ESPN

"He has some versatility at 285 pounders," said Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN on Carlos "Boogie" Basham Jr. "He slimmed down a little bit, but you look at that guy inside on nickel he is effective, quick and agile for his size. He is 6-3 and a quarter and goes anywhere between 274 and 285 with a 34-inch vertical, very athletic and strong. We talk about a kid with a burst. Dave Clawson came on the Dari and Mel Show and raved about this kid. He loves his athletic ability, loves his hustle and the kid never quits. He plays within the framework of the scheme. He was a productive player in 2019, finishing second in the ACC with 11 sacks. He also had three forced fumbles. He has good explosiveness, polished as well, with a great attitude."

More on Basham

During his five years in Winston-Salem, Basham Jr. became not only one of the most feared defensive linemen in the ACC but the entire country.

During the first five games of the 2020 season, Basham recorded a sack in each game. Over his last 17 contests as a Demon Deacon, the Roanoke, Va. native has at least one sack in 13 games. He finished fourth on Wake Forest's all-time sack list with 20.5 total sacks just 3.0 away from third all-time.

Against Syracuse this season, Basham Jr. saw his streak of 23 games with a tackle for loss come to an end. Over the course of the nation's longest streak, he had a total of 29.5 tackles for loss and 112 total tackles for loss yards. By the end of the streak he was the only player in the country to have a streak of double digits in the nation.

Prior to his redshirt senior campaign, he earned All-American honors from the Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News, Athlon Sports, Lindy's Sports, Street & Smith and Phil Steele.

After his career finished at Wake Forest, he accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl. He was also one of three Demon Deacons to receive an invitation to the NFL Combine.

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