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AJ Epenesa weight loss


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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

 

 

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That's interesting.  I had the same observation about thinking Epenesa looked smaller but not being sure if it was just because he was surrounded by NFL players now compared to his college days.  His bread and butter as an edge rusher was brute strength and power so I would be surprised if McDermott wanted him to play at a much lighter weight in the NFL.

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2 minutes 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.


I think management wanted him to drop some weight to improve his speed around the edge. It hasn’t made any difference. My main concern with AJ was his speed and bend when we drafted him. I want a player that can bend and cut, not someone getting swept to the outside. 

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This is weird. So so so weird. He’s not the same guy I thought we drafted.  I wonder if his combine was soooo bad that he or the coaches decided he had to get faster and more explosive.  I remember watching his combine thinking. 23 better not draft this dude

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He may be small, but he’s slow! 

 

I kid, I’m sure they have a vision for him. I hope he lives up to that vision and draft spot. I thought he was going to be another Shaq, stout at holding the edge but not much of a threat as a rusher.  Let’s hope he develops as that’s one of our greatest needs with a bunch of guys aging out.  

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39 minutes 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

 

 


glad you started a thread about this. He was not recognizable out there. I was actually expecting him to be a beefier 3-4 DE, like a Cam Heyward. 
 

I am wondering if they are thinking of shifting him to a hybrid LB at this point. 

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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.

 

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45 minutes 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.  

He did have a sack vs the Rams. Chased Goff down on a rollout to (Goff’s) right.

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15 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

He definitely looks thin. I thought the same thing about Joey Bosa on Monday night . He looks like he’s auditioning for Dallas Buyers Club. 

 

Jared Leto....that was an amazing performance.

Just now, K-9 said:

He did have a sack vs the Rams. Chased Goff down on a rollout to (Goff’s) right.

 

Don't correct me in front of the children.

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