The Countdown to Kickoff series continues on with a look at a potential major sleeper for the Buffalo Bills in rookie defensive lineman Justin Zimmer.
There are exactly 63 days until the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers open up the 2016 NFL regular season with a Super Bowl rematch. In the meantime, we at NFL Spin Zone are going to profile a player each day as we countdown the days to kickoff.
The Countdown to Kickoff series began with a look at No. 99 Joey Bosa and has continued on everyday since (check out all of the posts here).
Related Story: Exclusive Q&A with Bills' Rookie DL Justin Zimmer
The choices at number 63 were less than ideal. Offensive linemen Corey Linsley, Tre’ Jackson and Mark Glowinski could all have been interesting choices, but I decided to go with an undrafted rookie defensive lineman who I have had my eye on for a while now.
Let’s take a look at Buffalo Bills rookie Justin Zimmer.
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The 6-foot-3, 292-pound Zimmer played his college ball at Division II Ferris State in Michigan, where he was a dominant defensive tackle for the team both against the run and as an interior pass rusher.
Zimmer burst on to the draft scene with an incredible performance at the University of Michigan pro day. According to NFL Media’s Gil Brandt, Zimmer ran a 4.85 40-yard dash, had a 32 inch vertical leap and 9-foot-9 broad jump. He also had a 4.4 second short shuttle and an incredible 7.01 second three-cone drill.
Those numbers were incredibly impressive, but it was Zimmer’s insane 44 bench press reps of 225 pounds at the UM pro day that really caught everyone’s attention. The most bench press reps put up at the 2016 scouting combine was a total of 34.
The numbers were great, but Zimmer also shined on the field for Ferris State. See for yourself:
Obviously that is against less than ideal competition, but Zimmer clearly has some real upside on the football field. He was a real personal favorite of mine in the 2016 NFL Draft, as I had him tabbed as the “Ultimate Sleeper” of the entire class.
Zimmer certainly stood out to me as an impact player, but he went undrafted through all seven rounds of the 2016 NFL Draft. That being said, he was quickly scooped up by the Buffalo Bills as a free agent addition, and has done nothing but impress the team through minicamps.
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Bills’ insider Matthew Fairburn of NewYork Upstate.com has been one of many Bills’ writers to rave about Zimmer’s performance in the team’s minicamps.
“Undrafted rookie Justin Zimmer has stepped in and immediately looked comfortable in the Bills’ defense,” Fairburn wrote. “(Zimmer) has been consistently disruptive, albeit against backups. He’s a sleeper to make the roster.”
It is great to see Zimmer coming in and making an immediate impact for the Bills, and if this continues throughout training camp, Zimmer will likely find himself a spot on the active roster. The Bills are not exactly loaded with depth up front, and Zimmer has massive upside as an attacking defensive lineman in their defense.
If Zimmer continues to perform well and gets a spot on the active roster, he will not be wearing number 63 for much longer. That being said, with no obvious choices to profile here, I figured another look at Zimmer would be fun.
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An extremely talented defensive lineman with some incredibly exciting upside, the Buffalo Bills may have found a massive steal here in Zimmer.