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Aaron Schobel's sacks dropped last season. At 31, it wouldn't be surprising if the once great edge rusher has simply lost a step. How did he look to you? Does he project to rebound? And can you tell us what he does well and what doesn't do well.

Schobel looked like Schobel last year - strong at the point of attack, made strong reads, was easily the best defender on the team. His trouble last year was that opponents finally figured out that they could get away with double-teaming him, because the Bills certainly weren't going to get a consistent pass rush from the rest of their defensive linemen. The result was that Schobel was the one defender that opponents game-planned for, leading to plenty of attention and very little help for Buffalo's highest-paid player. Clearly, the team is expecting the arrival of guys like Marcus Stroud, Spencer Johnson and rookie end Chris Ellis to deepen the line and take some pressure off of Schobel. I don't expect a return to 2006 form, when he registered 14.5 sacks, but double digits is certainly not out of the question.

Schobel's a good edge rusher, but he doesn't have a huge array of pass rush moves - he picks up most of his sacks on sheer effort. That's not a bad thing, but he's never been the dominant force that his numbers say he is. Even though he weighs just 243 pounds, he's excellent against the run because he plays with such good leverage. The older he gets, the smarter he gets - and though I don't think he's lost a step, he should still be a pretty good player when he does. Basically, he does everything well, but nothing well enough to make him a truly dominant player. -Brian Galliford, Buffalo Rumblings

Link 3 months ago Jj_flag_detail1_tiny John Morgan Comment 5 comments 0 recs |

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essentially yes.

He is in the same high motor, decent pass rusher ala Wistrom, Justin Smith, Aaron Kampman.

The only thing that seperates him from the likes of Kerney and Jared Allen is that these two have upper tier pass rushing moves.

XBOX live gamertag: BANE509...I would die tonight for my beliefs.

by Christian on Sep 5, 2008 3:31 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

It's the white defensive end parade!

Seriously though, Kampman doesn’t belong on a list with Wistrom or Smith.

by Nate Dogg on Sep 5, 2008 4:44 PM PDT   0 recs

And neither does Schobel for that matter

but it sounds like he could potentially go the way of Wistrom.

by Nate Dogg on Sep 5, 2008 4:46 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

14.0 sacks that is...

I checked nfl.com, espn.com, and the bills website and all show 14.0 sacks for Schobel in 2006, not 14.5. That is his career best.

He must have been thinking of Patrick Kerney’s 14.5 which was LAST YEAR.

I am definitely worried about a lot of elements of sunday’s game- our run D without Bernard, the WR position, etc. but I am pretty sure that our defense will be high five-ing a lot in the Buffalo backfield like a regular old sack party. Its going to be tough for the Bills to win a game under those circumstances.

by michaelfox99 on Sep 5, 2008 6:17 PM PDT   0 recs

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