Reinstated Hargrove brings hope to Bills’ defense

By Connor Byrne  |   Friday, October 05, 2007  |  Comments( 15 )

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When Buffalo Bills defensive end Anthony Hargrove was suspended four regular-season games back in August for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, it seemed pretty inconsequential. After all, Hargrove had recently been arrested for supposedly punching a Rochester, N.Y., policeman in the face, and the suspension seemed to cement the fact that Hargrove would be released by character-obsessed Buffalo at the end of the summer.

However, that was before Ryan Denney, arguably the Bills' most well-rounded DE, broke his foot and Hargrove fared well during the preseason.

Now four regular-season games have passed for the 1-3 Bills, and Hargrove is finally ready to return from his suspension. At this point, he doesn't seem so inconsequential anymore; in fact, the fourth-year man might be just what the doctor ordered for Buffalo's defense.

Although Hargrove has been a questionable individual off the field during his career, there's no doubt the 24-year-old Brooklyn native is a high-energy player on it. When the Bills acquired him last October from St. Louis for a fifth-round draft pick, Hargrove (24 tackles, one sack) immediately infused some much-needed life into the team, and it eventually closed the campaign on a semi-impressive 5-4 run, ending the season a respectable 7-9.

Like last year, Hargrove has basically been acquired by Buffalo in October, and his job will be to breathe life into Buffalo's struggling, injury-riddled defense, which is ranked 29th in the league.

What hasn't helped the unit is the DEs' utter inability to pressure opposing quarterbacks or stop the run. The team's only two ends during the first four weeks -- Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay -- both signed huge contracts during the offseason, but they've been disappointing in all aspects. Schobel, a Pro Bowler last year, has just one sack in four games, and Kelsay has accumulated only 1½.

Though Hargrove has never finished a year with more than 6½ sacks, the fact is, he will aid the Bills' defense, especially in this Monday night's home game versus Dallas.

The Cowboys, led by Marion Barber and Julius Jones, love to run the ball, as evidenced by their fifth-ranked ground attack. Sans Hargrove, Buffalo's 'D' ranks 27th against the run. With him, however, could be at least a somewhat different story. After all, the ex-Georgia Tech standout and 2004 third-round pick is quite versatile, and, despite his 271-pound frame, can line up as a tackle. Not to mention he's a fairly solid against the run, certainly more so than Schobel and Kelsay.

Given that the Bills surrendered only 35 ground yards on 12 carries to the New York Jets' Thomas Jones, a two-time 1,200-yard rusher, in last week's 17-14 win, there is some hope they can contain the Cowboys' dynamic duo of Barber (6.4 yards per carry, four touchdowns) and Julius Jones (176 yards), Thomas' brother. Plus, maybe they can get in the face of red-hot quarterback Tony Romo, who already has 11 touchdown passes this season.

That hope, oddly, is bolstered by the return of the little-known Hargrove, no doubt an unlikely source.

E-mail: cbyrne@realfootball365.com.

RealFootball365.com: Your best Internet source for Buffalo Bills coverage and opinions.
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CommentsComments: 15  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Nate		09:43 AM
10/05/2007
Connor you're right. Hargrove is a high energy player. Or at least he was while he was on whatever he was on which led to his...
No.2
Grant W		01:17 PM
10/05/2007
I thought Hargrove had a pretty good preseason this year and am excited to see what he can bring to the defense. He came in last...
No.3
Eric		01:27 PM
10/05/2007
When you boil down to it football players are just entertainers. We don't require our rock stars or movie stars to behave like...
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