Schobel’s star hasn’t lost luster
Voters make Bills end a Pro Bowl alternate
By Mark Gaughan
Updated: 12/20/07 7:03 AM
Aaron Schobel considers the voting for the Pro Bowl this year a compliment, not a source of disappointment.
The fact the Bills’ star defensive end did not get picked to go to Hawaii was no surprise. His sack total is down from 14 in 2006 to 5 1/2 with two games to go.
However, Schobel said he was pleased to learn he was picked as a first alternate to the all-star game, regardless of his sack numbers.
“It’s always been a name game and a stat game,” Schobel said of the Pro Bowl voting, “and I’m honored to be first alternate considering my stats. . . . People still realize I’m a good player, regardless of whether I had five more sacks or two more sacks, or whatever it would have taken [to get voted in].”
Schobel was not on the radar in the fan portion of the Pro Bowl voting, which counts onethird toward the selections. So he got his support from the AFC’s players and coaches, whose votes count twothirds.
The Bills’ coaches say Schobel has been as consistent overall this year as he was last year, minus the sacks.
“I told Aaron that it’s a shame that a defensive end in today’s football is only measured by the number of sacks that he gets because he is playing good, solid football,” defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. “He’s really playing good in the run game, which he didn’t do as well a year ago. He’s playing better this year in the run game than he did a year ago.”
Schobel ranks fourth on the team with 84 tackles, a pace that would put him slightly ahead of his total last year. He has forced five fumbles, up two from last year. He has six tackles for loss, up three from last year.
While Schobel has made more impact plays as the season has gone on, one can go down the list of games this season and find Schobel asserting his presence.
For instance: In the home game against the Jets, he smelled out a reverse to force a 2-yard loss and strung out several sweeps; he forced a fumble by Tony Romo in the fourth quarter against Dallas; against Baltimore, he chased down Musa Smith from behind for a third-down stop and recognized a throwback pass to the quarterback to force an incompletion in the end zone; he forced a fumble on the road against the Jets; he helped cause a safety in Miami; he had six hits on David Garrard in Jacksonville; he stopped the Jaguars’ Maurice Jones-Drew for a 6-yard loss on a fourth-down play; he had a sack on a third-and-goal play to force a field goal in Washington; he had a sack and a forced fumble at home against Miami.
Of course, that’s the kind of production the Bills expect from Schobel, and it’s the reason they signed him to a seven-year, $50 million contract extension in August.
“If I were going to be a free agent right now I’d be just fine,” Schobel said, meaning he would get the same kind of deal.
Fewell thinks opponents have shown Schobel a bit more attention this year, although he was a wellknown threat to opponents last year, too.
“Because he made the Pro Bowl a year ago, people are attacking Aaron in different ways and he’s really having to work for every sack he’s getting,” Fewell said. “He’s garnering more attention. I think Aaron’s really playing good football. He’s having as good a year if not better overall than last year.”
“Last year [Dwight Freeney of Indianapolis] had 5 sacks, and he’s the best pass rusher in the NFL,” Schobel said. “There’s a lot of factors in getting sacks. . . . You can beat a guy as clean as you can beat him and sometimes the ball is gone. I’ve always said as long as you’re getting there enough eventually the sacks will come.”
“The last four games I’ve been [played] pretty much the way it used to be,” Schobel said. “Earlier in the year it was a lot of slide protection and chipping. But if you watch the tape, I’m the same guy. . . . I don’t think you could tell which year it is if you just watched tape.”
While this season is Schobel’s seventh straight out of the playoffs in Buffalo, he says he is more optimistic about the team’s future than in the past.
“This has been a positive year just based on how many injuries we’ve had and how we’ve been able to stick together,” he said.
“The way the offense has played, I feel like we’re getting somewhere,” Schobel said. “In the past I felt like at the end of the year we were fading. This year I feel like we’re getting better. It’s frustrating that we’re not going to the playoffs, but I feel like we’re on the right track.”
