RFB365: Posluszny's play can't be summed up by stats

[Mitchy moo]

<TABLE height=69 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center align=left>Posluszny's play can't be summed up by stats
By Anthony Bialy on May 24, 2007 12:33 AM
Permalink (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/05/bills-posluszny-stats240507.html) | http://www.realfootball365.com/global/images/08/comments-article.gif Comments (11) (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/05/bills-posluszny-stats240507.html#comments) | http://www.realfootball365.com/global/images/08/comments-email.gif Email This Article (http://www.realfootball365.com/refer/) | RSS (http://bills.realfootball365.com/rss.xml) | [+] More Bills News (http://bills.realfootball365.com/) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE style="BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #cccccc 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #efefef" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!-- adsense --><TABLE height=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=300 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!--google_ad_client = "pub-6767491118272254";google_ad_width = 300;google_ad_height = 250;google_ad_format = "300x250_as";google_ad_type = "text";//2006-12-05: NFL - Buffalo Billsgoogle_ad_channel = "2628575208";google_color_border = "EFEFEF";google_color_bg = "EFEFEF";google_color_link = "044E8E";google_color_url = "008000";google_color_text = "000000";//--></SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT><IFRAME name=google_ads_frame marginWidth=0 marginHeight=0 src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6767491118272254&dt=1180015312312&lmt=1180015312&format=300x250_as&output=html&correlator=1180015312312&channel=2628575208&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.realfootball365.com%2Fnfl%2Farticles%2F2007%2F05%2Fbills-posluszny-stats240507.html&color_bg=EFEFEF&color_text=000000&color_link=044E8E&color_url=008000&color_border=EFEFEF&ad_type=text&ref=http%3A%2F%2Ftwobillsdrive.com%2F&cc=100&flash=9&u_h=1200&u_w=1600&u_ah=1170&u_aw=1600&u_cd=32&u_tz=-240&u_java=true" frameBorder=0 width=300 scrolling=no height=250 allowTransparency></IFRAME></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- /adsense -->
<!--startscanning-->Every Bills fan learned about former Mississippi linebacker Patrick Willis after his 40-yard dash time was made public in March. He completed the distance in about 1.9 seconds (I swear that's how I remember it), but San Francisco took the impressive Willis 11th overall in April's draft and shattered any hopes that the Bills would add him. Instead, the Bills will have to settle for a draft during which they added a hopeful franchise running back the spot after Willis in Marshawn Lynch (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/05/bills-posluszny-stats240507.html#) and a dynamic linebacker with their next pick who looks as if he's carved out of a tree trunk made of granite.
Paul Posluszny (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/05/bills-posluszny-stats240507.html#) -- whom Buffalo traded up for in the second round -- has the tools to fulfill a giant opportunity, and with the void in the Bills' linebacking corps, he's going to get an immediate chance to do so.
It's because of his credentials that fans are so excited. Posluszny started at each of the linebacker spots at Penn State (nicknamed Linebacker U), and he'll be slotted in the middle of a suddenly solid Bills corps. Angelo Crowell (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/05/bills-posluszny-stats240507.html#) can play to his strengths on the strong side, and last year's most pleasant emergency surprise, Keith Ellison, can hone the instincts he illustrated for zeroing in on the ball with a full offseason of preparation for lining up on the weak side of the defense. That alignment works, but it likely doesn't matter with Posluszny: place him anywhere on the field for a dash of instant havoc.
Posluszny's stats with the Nittany Lions frankly don't do him justice, and he's one of those guys who is best served by video: Watch stock clips of him on the news or search his name on Internet video sites, and you'll see a player equipped with an innate magnet for the ball, quicker than an angry ninja (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/05/bills-posluszny-stats240507.html#) and more powerful than Ginger Altoids. In every clip, he searches out the play, diagnoses it in a sliver of a second, and pursues and then brings down his opponent abruptly. Posluszny just has that instinctive appetite for football success that can't be measured at the combine. He can badmouth his own play as much as he wants, as he did when discussing why he dropped out of the first round, but the will of a football player is overwhelmingly obviously in Posluszny.
Mentioning Posluszny without simultaneously addressing former Bills LB Shane Conlan would be like interviewing the guy from Dexy's Midnight Runners (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/05/bills-posluszny-stats240507.html#) without asking him about "Come On Eileen," and it is true that they seem cast from the same mold. In addition to the fact that both not only apprenticed at Penn State but that they also each have arms as thick as your neck and necks as thick as your torso, they both have that hunter's mentality for waiting for a fraction of an instant, tracking and striking.
Posluszny simply has "It," the indefinable sense for where a play is going and exactly how to get there quickly and destroy it once he's there. Ideally, 2007 would work out for the Bills as if they drafted twice in the first round.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/05/bills-posluszny-stats240507.html

[madness]

Watch stock clips of him on the news or search his name on Internet video sites, and you'll see a player equipped with an innate magnet for the ball, quicker than an angry ninja (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/05/bills-posluszny-stats240507.html#) and more powerful than Ginger Altoids.

:rofl: I couldn't have described it any better.

[Pinkerton Security]

Niiiice find skoob. I think production speaks more than measurables in some cases, and Posluzny is one of them, IMO.

[raphael120]

I love that fact he sees how he played last year with the injury and was like "Wow I was crap". Shows how much drive he has to get better and how high he views his possible production being.

[Saratoga Slim]

I'm excited about Poz. He could be that defensive leader we're looking for. Probably not this year, as its hard for a rookie to take charge, but he's certainly got the intangibles to develop into one down the road.

If we had taken Daymeion hughes in the 3rd round I'd be really really stoked about our draft.

[Tatonka]

I think it is VERY possible for a rookie LB to come in and play great.. look at last years DROY.. Ryans.. he was in the identical spot.. a guy that should have gone in the first round.. for whatever reason, he fell slightly, and was taken at the top of the 2nd round... he dominated at middle linebacker from day one and was awesome all year.

Posluszny can do the same thing.. and he will have every opportunity.

as far as Hughes.. i was kinda pissed too because i really wanted him.. but hindsite is always 20/20.

if i had it my way..

1. lynch
2. instead of trading up, i would have waited and hoped Posluszny got to us.
3. hughes
3b. bush

that would have been our first day.. but at the same time.. i am happy we now have a strong back up to losman.. i am also happy with wright.. and for as much as i would have liked hughes, i dont think there is any way he would have been ahead of where youboty is at currently.. it just would have been a matter of having potential starter type depth, like with edwards.

[justasportsfan]

From what I've read on Poz , he reminds me a lot of Jp in terms of work ethic and the commitment in gettting better or perfection. I can only hope Lynch is the same.

[Devin]

I think it is VERY possible for a rookie LB to come in and play great.. look at last years DROY.. Ryans.. he was in the identical spot.. a guy that should have gone in the first round.. for whatever reason, he fell slightly, and was taken at the top of the 2nd round... he dominated at middle linebacker from day one and was awesome all year.

Posluszny can do the same thing.. and he will have every opportunity.

as far as Hughes.. i was kinda pissed too because i really wanted him.. but hindsite is always 20/20.

if i had it my way..

1. lynch
2. instead of trading up, i would have waited and hoped Posluszny got to us.
3. hughes
3b. bush

that would have been our first day.. but at the same time.. i am happy we now have a strong back up to losman.. i am also happy with wright.. and for as much as i would have liked hughes, i dont think there is any way he would have been ahead of where youboty is at currently.. it just would have been a matter of having potential starter type depth, like with edwards.

LBs have the inside track for ROY type stats. Look at like 5 or 6 of the last 8 or so DROY's.

Im more worried about Lynch producing then I am Poz. I dont think Poz falls to us if we stay put so I am happy with the way it turned out.

[Luisito23]

Good post Skooby...Gotta love me some POZ!!!!.....:beers:....





GO BILLS!!!!!!

[Saratoga Slim]

I think it is VERY possible for a rookie LB to come in and play great.. look at last years DROY.. Ryans.. he was in the identical spot.. a guy that should have gone in the first round.. for whatever reason, he fell slightly, and was taken at the top of the 2nd round... he dominated at middle linebacker from day one and was awesome all year.

Posluszny can do the same thing.. and he will have every opportunity.

as far as Hughes.. i was kinda pissed too because i really wanted him.. but hindsite is always 20/20.

if i had it my way..

1. lynch
2. instead of trading up, i would have waited and hoped Posluszny got to us.
3. hughes
3b. bush

that would have been our first day.. but at the same time.. i am happy we now have a strong back up to losman.. i am also happy with wright.. and for as much as i would have liked hughes, i dont think there is any way he would have been ahead of where youboty is at currently.. it just would have been a matter of having potential starter type depth, like with edwards.

I agree. I'm cool with our draft.

Good point about Hughes not being likely to be much more than depth in his first season, so whether its Edwards or Hughes, that pick was a depth pick for the purposes of 2007. Given the choice between the two, its probably more important, and harder to get, some depth at QB than at CB. in that perspective Edwards makes a lot of sense.