YardRat
05-08-2007, 06:11 AM
http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/05/bills-scobey-specialteams080507.html
Where Scobey may prove to be most valuable is to the defense, as his ability to return kickoffs could mean former Pro Bowler Terrence McGee will no longer be doing so. The new guy may not have as gaudy a lifetime return average as the established returner (22.4 yards for Scobey versus 27.1 for McGee), but then again, few players do. Scobey has been good enough in the past that he could win the present job, and he gives the Bills an option to use McGee in a purely defensive role.
Bills fans would be suitably dismayed at the notion that a returner as excitingly explosive as McGee will watch kickoffs from the sidelines. At the same time, they must also bear in mind that McGee is now the undisputed most valuable cornerback on the roster, which means that the team would ultimately be best served by eliminating the risk involved by having him fly around fielding kicks.
Scobey could end up being a player like Andre' Davis was for the Bills last season or Josh Stamer has been for a few years, namely someone nominally on the roster as a positional backup whose real value is as a special teams warrior. The Bills might keep more "running backs" than usual if Scobey can prove himself valuable as a returner and as a tackler of the other team's respective returner. As for the latter, he not only brought back kicks for Seattle in 2005 but also led the team in special teams tackles, an impressively selfless rarity.
Where Scobey may prove to be most valuable is to the defense, as his ability to return kickoffs could mean former Pro Bowler Terrence McGee will no longer be doing so. The new guy may not have as gaudy a lifetime return average as the established returner (22.4 yards for Scobey versus 27.1 for McGee), but then again, few players do. Scobey has been good enough in the past that he could win the present job, and he gives the Bills an option to use McGee in a purely defensive role.
Bills fans would be suitably dismayed at the notion that a returner as excitingly explosive as McGee will watch kickoffs from the sidelines. At the same time, they must also bear in mind that McGee is now the undisputed most valuable cornerback on the roster, which means that the team would ultimately be best served by eliminating the risk involved by having him fly around fielding kicks.
Scobey could end up being a player like Andre' Davis was for the Bills last season or Josh Stamer has been for a few years, namely someone nominally on the roster as a positional backup whose real value is as a special teams warrior. The Bills might keep more "running backs" than usual if Scobey can prove himself valuable as a returner and as a tackler of the other team's respective returner. As for the latter, he not only brought back kicks for Seattle in 2005 but also led the team in special teams tackles, an impressively selfless rarity.