When the Buffalo Bills selected Greg Rousseau in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, he was viewed as a bit of a project. Dripping with raw athleticism and length, Rousseau has a standout year in 2019 at University of Miami where he registered 15.5 sacks. It was his only year as a starter at the college level before opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns.
Buffalo selected him anyways despite taking a year off from football. Now entering his fourth season, it certainly looks like "Groot" is hitting his stride and capitalizing on his enormous potential.
In Preseason Week 2, Rousseau had a monster game , living in the Pittsburgh backfield while stockpiling 2.5 sacks in the first three drives on defense. It was an enormous showing.Rousseau carried that momentum into the regular season, getting to Kyler Murray for 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble in Week 1. For his efforts, Rousseau was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
Rousseau carried that momentum into the regular season , getting to Kyler Murray for 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble in Week 1. For his efforts, Rousseau was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
It was a huge showing, and Rousseau developing into a top-tier pass rusher would do wonders for the Buffalo defense. Head coach Sean McDermott is certainly happy to see the growth taking place.
"Greg [Rousseau] is so conscientious and he's always been that way since we drafted him, and I'm sure before that. He's a phenomenal person, number one, and a person of high character. And you know, you watch him grow on the field, you watch him grow off the field, and the way he's developing on the field is impressive," McDermott said.
McDermott also said it's important to manage expectations. Rousseau is off to a great start, but he's not going to get three sacks every week. "I'm not a math major, but I think 17 times three would be like a record," McDermott quipped.
Still, this performance and his growth as a player continues a trend of a talking point. Von Miller offered high praise on Rousseau last week.
"Each and every time Greg [Rousseau] goes out on the football field, he's taking another step. You know, he's never the same player that he was. He's not the same player this week that he was last week. And, you know, with his size and his length, that's just – I can't replicate that. I'm 6'3", Greg is 6'12" all of that, you know, he's all of 6'12", he has long arms, that's just something that I can't do, that's not what God gave me," Miller said.
"And he's, he has that. He's the same size as the offensive lineman, you know, so he can go out there and bully guys, and he can also speed rush and finesse rush and power rush. He has the whole gambit of whatever it takes to beat off his O-lineman. So he's still tapping into that. And each and every week, he is better and better and better," He continued.
"I sit right next to him in meetings, and, you know, we're speaking the same language. It's no more me, you know, translating to him or showing him stuff. We just sit there having a conversation about football now and to be with Greg and A.J. [Epenesa] for for these, uh, these three years going on, like we all speak in the same language. Now it's no more like mentorship or trying to show them stuff, they already passed the class and graduated. Now we're just sitting down talking football and pass rush and trying to be the best players that we could possibly be," Miller finished.
He waxed on poetically about Rousseau, which says a lot coming from one of the greatest pass rushers of all time and a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer. Rousseau has massive potential, and it looks like he's finally starting to tap into it.
Related: Buffalo Bills final injury report confirms availability speculations on key players for TNF against Miami Dolphins
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