The T.O. Show Is Just Getting Started in Buffalo

Just a taste.

That’s all the Bills and their fans have gotten from Terrell Owens so far. It’s just a small taste of the immense media circus that’s to come over the next six months.

During team OTAs and a brief three-day mini-camp, we have already been regaled by reports of Owens receiving a key to the city of Buffalo, Owens house hunting, and Owens “mentoring” the Bills young receivers.

It’s only the beginning.

Anyone who follows the NFL knows “OTA” is just a fancy term used to say, “guys running around in t-shirts and shorts doing very little.” As much as I love covering an NFL team for a living, even I get bored watching OTAs.

Mini-camp is a step up from OTAs, but it’s still a far cry from training camp.

The three day, June mini-camp’s primary purpose is to gather all the players and coaches together for the first time before the rigors of training camp start up six weeks later.

While there are drills and some offense vs. defense practices that take place, guys like Owens care very little. He’s more interested in his ridiculous reality TV show starting on ABC that I can’t wait to watch.

Mini-camp is more for players like Nic Harris, a former college star, trying to learn a new position at the pro level.

It’s for players like Ashlee Palmer, an undrafted free agent, hoping to make a big enough splash on special teams to earn a roster spot.

Players like Owens are saving themselves for training camp and, most importantly, for when the curtain is raised on opening day to get things started for real.

First off, Owens loves training camp. Say what you will about Owens,  but he actually likes to practice. For all of his faults, he has never been accused of not practicing hard.

My reasoning is the football field is the only place where Owens feels like he belongs. I always viewed Owens as a very insecure person who is trying to prove himself to the world.

Well, the football field is where he is at his best, so that’s why he doesn’t mind being at practice. It’s his sanctuary.

So as soon as training camp starts, the circus will officially be arriving in Buffalo, or in this case, Rochester. The Bills have been irrelevant for a long time, but the day a team signs Owens, they are irrelevant no more.

While the number of reporters at Bills’ training camp and the amount of stories about the team in the national media will most likely double, that’s nothing compared to the spectacle that awaits on opening night.

Last year the Bills opened the season against the Seattle Seahawks. It was a game not accompanied by much national fanfare. The Bills won 34-10.

Most people outside of Western, NY probably didn’t even notice.

Flash forward to this season. It’s Monday Night Football versus the New England Patriots; story lines abound all over the place.

How will Tom Brady look in his first game back from knee surgery? How will Owens perform in his first game with the Bills? Which No. 81 will have a bigger night, Owens or Randy Moss? Are the Bills for real or are the Patriots primed for another Super Bowl run?

We’ll find out the answers to theses questions and many more on Sept. 14th.

What a difference a year makes in Buffalo. What a difference Owens makes for the Bills.

So while it may seem like Buffalo has gone T.O. crazy, since they already gave the controversial receiver a key to the city before he has even played a down for the Bills, we haven’t seen anything yet.

It’s only June and the T.O. show is just getting started. Wait until his much anticipated fall season to kick-off.

That’s when the real fun begins.

Bills Could Be Fine at Tight End In 2009

 

Derek Fine has 10 receptions for 94 yards and one touchdown in his brief NFL career.

Yet, the second-year tight end has Bills fans buzzing after his performance at the team’s OTAs.

First, let’s get one thing straight. Fans have a habit of falling in love with marginal players during this time of year who, when the season starts, will likely be working another job. It’s just a fact of life.

This happened more times than I care to remember when I worked for the Patriots. Let’s just say that if some fans in New England had their way, Patrick Cobbs would have earned a roster spot over Kevin Faulk.

But crazy summer roster predictions are one of the reasons the great sport of football has become a year-long love affair in this country. In June, we’re not going to go on Internet message boards and debate if T.O. is going to make the Bills roster.

What has made the NFL a 365-day a year sensation is that fans of all teams have become quasi-general managers and know their favorite teams inside and out.

So when a team like Buffalo hasn’t had a serious receiving threat at tight end in years, fans are going to do their best to find an answer to the problem.

Based on media reports coming out of the Buffalo’s OTAs, all signs point to Fine being the Bills answer at tight end as training camp approaches.

While I’ve seen a lot of these “shorts and t-shirt sensations”—the term I like to give to players who shine when it doesn’t mean anything—fall by the wayside, I don’t believe Fine is one of those players. I was happy when the Bills drafted him two years ago, and I believe he can be a solid NFL tight end.

As with any position, we first have to look at the competition and in Fine’s case, there isn’t a lot standing in his way.

Robert Royal saw the most time at tight end for the Bills last season but that was mostly due to his in-line blocking skills. Royal wasn’t a huge threat in the passing game, catching just 33 balls on the year.

With Royal now in Cleveland, the starting tight end job in Buffalo is wide open.

The Bills drafted Shawn Nelson out of Southern Mississippi in the fourth round of this year’s draft and he no doubt has the best set of physical skills and upside of any tight end on Buffalo’s roster.

However, Nelson is raw and needs to work on his blocking and route running technique, so his most productive seasons will likely be two or three years down the line.

So the starting job appears to be between Fine and third-year man Derek Schouman. While neither is an dominating blocker, Fine is bigger and offers the better combination of receiver/in-blocker, which could land him more playing time early in the year.

Fine has also separated himself from Schouman early this summer in a couple of other areas. Fine is an excellent route runner, has amazing hands and Fine and Trent Edwards seem to have built a great rapport with each other.

It’s important that Edwards have chemistry with his tight end. Fine isn’t a guy who is going to create huge plays down the middle of the field but he doesn’t need to.

With Terrell Owens and Lee Evans on the outside, the Bills need their tight end to be more of a security blanket for Edwards. They need a tight end to get open on 3rd-and-7 and keep the chains moving. That’s a role perfectly suited for Fine.

Now entering his second training camp in Turk Schonert’s offensive system, Fine looks much more comfortable than he did coming out of Kansas as a wide-eyed rookie a year ago. He is a more confident player and it’s showing with his play on the field.

Fine may never be a superstar. He may never be a Pro Bowler. He doesn’t have to be.

What Fine can be is a steady intermediate pass catcher who eats up defenses over the middle, while opening things up for the speedy Bills receivers down the field.

If he can do that, Buffalo will be doing just fine at tight end this season and Bills fan will themselves a new cult hero to root for. And not just in June, but during the regular season when it matters.

 

Paul Posluszny Is a Rising Star For The Buffalo Bills’ Defense

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

Since Dick Jauron took over as the head coach in Buffalo, the Bills defense has played well but has been a unit made up of few individual stars. One player that’s about to end that trend this season is starting middle linebacker Paul Posluszny.

Posluszny is entering his third season as the Bills’ starting middle linebacker. After being selected by Buffalo with the 34^th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, Jauron named Posluszny the starter in training camp and he’s been the Bills’ man in the middle ever since.

I worked for the New England Patriots the year Posluszny was drafted and it’s interesting to note how different teams viewed him coming out of Penn State.

I know for a fact that Bill Belichick and the Patriots had Posluszny rated as a priority free agent, which is to say he wasn’t even on New England’s draft board.

Granted, the Patriots and Bills run different defensive schemes and aren’t looking for the same kind of players to inject into their systems, but it’s intriguing to see how one player can be valued so differently by two NFL scouting departments.

Posluszny was off to a strong rookie campaign before he broke his forearm against those very same Patriots in the third game of the year, ending his season. I was in the Bills’ locker room after that game and Posluszny was visibly upset over his injury.

You could see he was a leader even as a rookie and his teammates rallied around him, inspired by his fiery reaction to the injury. One defensive player said “that kid has a lot of heart,” responding to Posluszny’s declaration that he would be on the field the following week, even with a broken forearm.

Posluszny bounced back in a big way last season, recording 110 tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble, while earning Team MVP honors. Posluszny had six games with at least eight stops and showed a knack for always being around the football.

One big reason to be excited about Posluszny in 2009 is the fact that Buffalo went out and acquired defensive tackle Marcus Stroud last year. The addition of Stroud was huge for Posluszny and there is no reason to believe that won’t continue this season.

Posluszny isn’t a guy who is going to make his living taking on guards and tackles, but with Stroud in the middle of the defense eating up two or three blockers at a time, Posluszny is free to do what he does best; use his speed and quickness to chase down ball carriers. Expect to see him doing that in the neighborhood of 150 times this season.

Posluszny’s idol growing up was former Bills’ great Shane Conlan. Posluszny and Conlan both went to Penn State and both wore the No. 51. Then Posluszny and Conlan were both drafted by the same NFL team.

Finally, it appears as if Posluszny’s career path is going to end up in the same place as his idol when he is selected to the Pro Bowl at year’s end.

Yes, a star will be born on the Bills defense in 2009 and his name is Paul Posluszny.

Terrell Owens and the Buffalo Bills Are a Perfect Fit

He’s brash. He’s controversial. He’s unpredictable. He’s explosive. He’s flamboyant. He’s Terrell Owens, and he’s the best signing any team made this offseason.

Before anyone slams the Bills for signing Owens, let’s get one thing straight: This team is going on 10 years without a playoff appearance. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

So when people say T.O. is going to come in and destroy the Bills, what exactly are they referring to?

Buffalo will go 5-11 instead of 7-9? Oh the humanity!

When talking about a team like the Bills, who have been off the NFL radar for so long and have the mighty New England Patriots to deal with in the AFC East, isn’t the risk/reward worth taking a shot on Owens?

What’s the worst thing that can happen? The Bills don’t make the playoffs? In other words, the same thing that happens without T.O.?

Here is the thing about Owens; he’s at the end of the road. T.O. and Drew Rosenhaus can feed us all the fairy tales they want but very few teams were interested in the disgruntled receiver. Let’s be honest, when Jerry Jones grows tired of your act, you have very few options.

Now, not every team makes sense for Owens. Not the Colts, Titans, Giants, Patriots or Steelers. Those are all Super Bowl contenders who don’t need T.O.

In those instances, Owens could do more harm than good, so bringing him in would be counter productive. But Buffalo is a different story.

The Bills offense was like watching a solid 0-0 soccer tie last season. They needed play makers in the worst way and in one bold signing, they got a receiver that can make the kind of plays not seen in Western NY since Andre Reed retired.

So what about the people who say T.O. has lost a step? That’s a valid point. But instead of being a top five receiver, he’s a top ten receiver. Big deal. That still makes him a much more attractive option than the likes of Josh Reed.

Plus, what Owens is going to do for Lee Evans is being vastly underrated by the national media. A lot of people outside of Buffalo don’t realize how much coverage Evans has been receiving from defenses over the last couple of years due to the fact that the Bills haven’t had a solid number two receiver. Owens certainly qualifies as a solid number two receiver. Evans is in store for a monster year with T.O. in town.

For years the teams in the AFC East have sat by and watched the Patriots sign player after player and done nothing to stop New England from dominating the division. Well, this offseason the Bills made a major splash of their own.

Was it controversial? You bet. Will it pay off? Only time will tell. Was it worth the risk? No doubt about it. The Bills have absolutely nothing to lose.

Sometimes struggling franchises have to roll the dice. The Arizona Cardinals rolled the dice on an aging quarterback who was said to be all done and the team came a couple of plays away from winning a Super Bowl.

The Buffalo Bills haven’t been relevant in the NFL for a decade. Maybe they will win with Owens and maybe they won’t but one thing is for certain: The Bills matter once again. That alone makes the Owens signing worth it to the most loyal and passionate fans in the NFL.

Getcha’ popcorn ready Bills fans.

NFL Sport Channel Latest

• Just How Far Would You Go?
• Sorry Rex, But It Isn’t Happening
• Super Bowl Predictions: Five Stat-Free Reasons Why the Eagles Will Reach The Super Bowl
• Seahawks Attempt to Turn Corner With Heavy Pursuit of Pete Carroll
• Bill Cowher Unlikely to Coach in 2010