Last week, the Las Vegas Raiders signed former Bills 2nd rounder Boogie Basham to their practice squad and the 28 year old pass rusher could provide something to be worked with under Raiders DL coach Rob Leonard. Leonard has gotten knocks this season for the Raiders underperforming defensive line but the coaches track record with rejuvenating careers remains strong as does his track record with development. Basham stands 6’4/275 and coming out of Wake Forest posted an impressive 9.38 RAS score including a 4.62 40, 34” vert, 10-02 broad, 4.32 shuttle, and 1.63 10 split. Basham was an elite athlete with high end production in college along with being a consensus top 50 selection so when available 61st overall the Bills jumped on the opportunity. In 45 collegiate games, Basham logged 76 tackles, 37 TFL, 21 sacks, 8 PBU, 4 FF, and 3 FR along with 152 tackles, 37 QB hits, 101 stops, and a 19.7% win rate.
In his now 5 year career, Basham has logged just 1012 snaps across 43 games with 61 tackles, 6 TFL, 4.5 sacks, an INT, 3 PBU, a FR, and 9 quarterback hits. Additionally, he’s logged a win rate of 13.1%, 45 pressures, and 29 stops. Basham’s biggest weakness has come with consistency where not only has he struggled to stay on the field suffering a calf injury in 2022, thumb/UCL surgery in 2025, and heat related issues in 2024 but Basham has also struggled with his consistency as a player seeing inconsistent marks in snap counts but his run and pass rush traits. Basham is an elite athlete but the technical skills lacked at times allowing him to win mainly off his pure AA, lower body power, and upper body strength. So far in the NFL his lack of technique has been an issue as well where he’s consistently flushed out in the run game at times and can be pushed off the ball with average to below average LBP in the run game off the edge. Additionally, as a pass rusher Basham doesn’t display a ton of pass rush technique but his ankle flexibility, twitch, and bend remain present allowing him to be a highly juiced up pass rusher that’s able to turn the corner and win with speed to power conversions. Basham’s strength has come in his IQ at the position which paired with his AA does allow for him to be a competitive player along with having good versatility on the defensive line. Basham has logged 63 snaps at 1-Tech, 61 at 3-Tech, and 882 split between 5 and 7 tech.
While Basham might not have the best track record production wise he does hold elite athletic skills, which is similar to what K’Lavon Chaisson and Charles Snowden situations have been before coming into play with Rob Leoanrd. Chaisson currently boasts 45 pressures, 7.5 sacks, and a 17.5% win rate with the Patriots this season after a career revival in 2024 with the Raiders seeing 30 pressures, 6 sacks, and a 16.2% win rate. Snowden has served well in rotational roles and is boating a 17% win rate across 88 pass rush attempts this season largely in part to his massive frame and elite athletic traits. The expectation for Basham to be similar to either of them, and if he is its much more likely Snowden than Chaisson, should be kept to a minimum but with Rob Leoanrd’s track record of developing pass rush talent such as Chaisson, Maxx Crosby, Malcolm Koonce, Jaelan Phillips, and Odafe Oweh among many others he should have an interesting player to work with in Basham who provides a ton of athletic upside that can be played with. The Raiders are searching for fresh faces at EDGE where outside of Maxx Crosby, the room as been weak and despite Basham not recording a season over 150 snaps since 2023 there’s a world he could make a small impact for the team down the stretch after providing 4 pressures, a TFL, and 14.7% win rate this season in just 41 snaps for the Panthers (weeks 4-7 and 8). Las Vegas will need to address their pass rush issues this off-season both via the draft and free agency but in a losing season, attempting to develop forgotten prospects is well worth the chance.
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