Bills need Greg Rousseau to be a game-wrecking pass rusher: 'I feel I can get a lot better'
The Bills know Greg Rousseau is capable of more, and they're counting on him to be the closer their defense will need if they're going to achieve their goal of winning the Super Bowl.
Memories of challenging practices and frustrating games flooded back for Greg Rousseau in March while he signed a contract that made him one of the highest paid edge rushers in the NFL.
Greg Rousseau’s contract extension with the Buffalo Bills included $40.6 million guaranteed.
Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
As a rookie with the Buffalo Bills in 2021, Rousseau didn’t know how to use his remarkable physical traits to beat offensive linemen and get to the quarterback. He was a 6-foot-6, muscle-bound defensive end with elite athleticism, but he didn’t play in a game for 19 months and picked up the position only a few years earlier.
“It felt like I was drinking from a fire hose a lot,” Rousseau recalled in a recent interview with The Buffalo News.
The Bills’ belief in Rousseau never wavered. They were three months removed from losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game when general manager Brandon Beane used the 30th pick of the first round on Rousseau.
Beane knew the learning curve would be steep. In high school, Rousseau played safety and wide receiver. He had 15½ sacks at the University of Miami in 2019, his only season as a starter, but he opted out in 2020 and signed with agent Drew Rosenhaus so his family could afford for his mother, Anne, to walk away from her job as an intensive care nurse during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rousseau’s upside was too tantalizing to pass up, though, and the Bills were committed to developing the unrefined prospect into a game-wrecking pass rusher. Nearly four years following the draft-day gamble, Beane rewarded Rousseau with a four-year, $80 million contract that includes $49 million guaranteed.
Once again, the Bills are betting on Rousseau’s potential. He’s given them 21 sacks over the past three seasons and, in 2024, he had a career-high 16 tackles for a loss while forcing three fumbles. They know he’s capable of more, though, and they’re counting on him to be the closer their defense will need if they’re going to achieve their goal of winning the Super Bowl.
“For me, getting paid the money, if anything it makes me want to prove myself even more,” Rousseau said. “It makes me want to go even harder. I can’t let the guys down. I can’t let my peers, my coaches, the front office, I can’t let them down. They trusted me with the contract extension, so I know I have to put my best foot forward even more than before. Being a first-round pick is one thing, but getting a contract like this comes with a lot.”
There were a few exceptional performances by Rousseau in his fourth NFL season. In the opener last September, he totaled six tackles, including three sacks, and forced a fumble while terrorizing Kyler Murray throughout a 34-28 win. In a Week 7 victory over the Titans, Rousseau hit their quarterback, Mason Rudolph, six times.
Among defensive linemen with at least 340 snaps in 2024, Rousseau ranked 12th in pressure rate, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. His three turnovers caused by pressures were tied for the second most. He was a key cog in a run defense that ranked 12th in yards allowed per game. Rousseau ranked ninth in percentage of snaps where he was responsible for a run stop.
Rousseau knows he can bring more, particularly against the pass. Pro Football Focus ranked him 16th among edge rushers in wins on pass-rush snaps. He had zero sacks in Weeks 2 through 6 and, most important, he didn’t hit Patrick Mahomes in the Bills’ 23-16 loss to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game.
“Really, it’s just taking his game to an increasingly another level,” said Bills coach Sean McDermott. “If you watch the tape, Greg has been around the ball quite a bit. He’s been around quarterbacks, affecting quarterbacks. Some of those led to sack numbers, some didn’t. It’s kind of the nature of the way the position’s played. I think Greg knows that the physicality of his game has got to take a little bit of a uptick, if you will. And that comes also with taking that next step.”
Bills edge rusher Greg Rousseau goes through a drill during training camp on Thursday in Pittsford.
Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
The key, Rousseau said, is for him to develop more nuanced pass-rush moves. He wants to be less predictable because offensive tackles in the NFL are too athletic for Rousseau to rely on his physical gifts. It’s the area of his game that’s been slower to progress, even though there’s been marked improvement each year.
Rousseau is a film junkie. He loves to study the Bills’ defense, but he also watches other pass rushers to see the different counter moves in their arsenal. It’s easy to rely on speed and power every play, Rousseau admitted. He wants to be more confident while incorporating other tactics, whether it’s a double swipe, cross chop or spin move. Coaches have seen his appetite to learn. At Miami, he was enthusiastic about studying how to play defensive end and embraced the challenge of adding weight to his frame.
The Hurricanes’ coaches saw during Rousseau’s freshman season that he could become an elite rusher in college football, but he fractured his right ankle in Week 2. As a second-year player, he ranked second in the country in sacks, only one behind Ohio State’s Chase Young, and Rousseau’s rapid growth convinced people within Miami’s program that he was a future top draft pick.
“If you’re picking a prototype defensive end, I don’t think you could draw up a better body on a guy,” Todd Stroud, the Hurricanes’ defensive line coach during Rousseau’s final collegiate season, said in a recent phone interview. “At first, I was crushed and disappointed he opted out because I really thought if he played another year he could have been a top-five pick, and I really felt he was poised to have that kind of year.
“With the circumstances being so odd and his family being in that position, I supported it 100%. He worked during that time to get better. ... For the Bills, it was a slam dunk first-round pick with upside. All the first-round picks I’ve coached have an elite trait and Greg has several.”
While away from the Hurricanes, Rousseau trained and prepared for the draft. His knowledge of the game reached another level, allowing him to easily draw and analyze plays on a white board. His measurables and game tape wowed the Bills’ scouts, convincing Beane that Rousseau would thrive in their infrastructure, alongside leaders like veteran pass rusher Jerry Hughes.
Now, Rousseau is the one passing lessons on to unrefined rookies. He’s answering their questions and guiding the group as it learns McDermott’s defense. Marcus West, the Bills’ defensive line coach, called Rousseau the “ultimate professional” and echoed Stroud’s sentiment that Rousseau is always receptive to coaching. His work ethic is remarkable, said fellow Bills edge rusher A.J. Epenesa.
“He’s seriously a stand-up guy, one of the best people I know, and one of the best football players I know from a pure talent standpoint,” Epenesa said.
The defense was viewed as the Bills’ weakness during their run to the AFC title game. Against the pass, they ranked 24th in yards allowed per game and 20th in yards allowed per attempt. Their opponents’ 28 touchdown passes were the eighth-most scored against any team. Oftentimes, turnovers bailed them out. Their 16 interceptions were tied for fifth-most in the NFL. To win the Super Bowl, however, Buffalo needs to get off the field on third down.
The Bills were 29th in third-down conversion rate allowed, a significant regression from 2022 when they were first in the NFL. On third down, Buffalo was 30th in yards allowed per play and 29th in EPA allowed per play, according to Next Gen Stats. Coverage was part of the problem, which led Beane to draft cornerback Maxwell Hairston in the first round, but the Bills weren’t getting to the quarterback, either.
On third down, they were 15th in pressure rate, 20th in sacks, 28th in blitz per centage and 20th in pressures. Rousseau’s 18 third-down pressures were second on the team, trailing only Von Miller, who recently signed with the Washington Commanders. Rousseau matched his career high with eight sacks, but he should have gotten more.
“Greg has gradually progressed to make steps in each year of his career,” West said. “He’s an ultimate professional and that’s what professionals do. They get better every day. He’s consistent and approach in his work ethic every day. I’m looking forward to him taking another step this year.”
The pass rush and defensive line were among Beane’s offseason priorities. In free agency, he signed veteran defensive end Joey Bosa, who had four seasons of double-digit sacks before injuries slowed him. The Bills also drafted three defensive linemen: T.J. Sanders, Landon Jackson and Deone Walker.
Jackson, Bosa and Epenesa can make Rousseau’s job easier. The franchise has been looking for a game-changing pass rusher since this competitive window opened with Josh Allen. They gave big money to Miller and spent significant draft capital up front. Buffalo hasn’t had someone lead the NFL in sacks since 1995, when outside linebacker Bryce Paup had 17½.
Among NFL pass rushers, Rousseau’s contract ranks eighth in terms of total value, according to Over the Cap. Only seven players at his position received more guaranteed money. It’s a significant raise for someone without a Pro Bowl nomination or double-digit sacks, but similar to their draft-day gamble, the Bills are betting that Rousseau will continue to inch closer to his ceiling.
“I feel I can get a lot better, too,” said Rousseau. “I’m excited for it.”