SS Buffalo Bills (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Tale of the tape: Wire in mix

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Former starter vies with Bowen at safety

By ALLEN WILSON

News Sports Reporter

4/12/2006

Coy Wire got a message on his answering machine a few weeks ago. It was from Lawyer Milloy.

The veteran strong safety had been released by the Buffalo Bills but wanted to deliver some parting words of encouragement to Wire.

"I saved it because of what he told me," Wire said. "He said that it's my time, and I'm ready. So for him to recognize that in me, it means a lot because he sees me for what I am."

After three years of sitting behind Milloy, Wire has a chance to reclaim the starting strong safety spot he relinquished when Milloy joined the Bills six days before the 2003 opener.

But Wire doesn't have a lock on the job. He went into last weekend's minicamp facing a stiff challenge from Matt Bowen, a free agent acquisition from Washington.

Bowen started 21 consecutive games for the Redskins before suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee early in the 2004 season. The seven-year veteran also played a key role on defense and special teams in Green Bay and St. Louis.

Wire welcomes Bowen's presence on the team. The more good players the Bills have the better, Wire says.

But unlike when Milloy was here, Wire isn't conceding the starting job to anyone.

"I only know what I can do and that is work as hard as I possibly can," said Wire, who started 15 games as a rookie and appeared in 57 games during his first four years in Buffalo. "I can't do anything more than that. If I do that, I know I'll get what I deserve. I know I have good competition, and that will bring out the best in both of us. I'm looking forward to working harder than I've ever worked and playing the best football I've ever played."

Wire and Bowen are waging a friendly competition. They already have established a good relationship that extends beyond the field.

But once they suit up and get between the lines, the friendship takes a back seat and their all-out battle to be the No. 1 guy commences.

"The competition will be fierce, but it will be fun," Bowen said. "Coy's a great guy and a terrific player. The real good teams that I've played on had really good competition at all positions. That means you've got two guys that can play when called upon. The more guys you have and the more competition you have the better your defense becomes because you feed off each other. You're trying to make plays, you're trying to impress everyone around you and so is the other guy."

The Bills are counting on Bowen or Wire to succeed Milloy, a four-time Pro Bowler who was a solid player on the field and a strong veteran presence in the locker room.

Bowen and Wire are tough guys who can play close to the line of scrimmage and be physical against the run. They also have the smarts and instincts to make proper reads and anticipate plays.

Bowen is better in coverage right now, but Wire has worked hard to improve his range and ball skills.

Bowen and Wire may have some company at the position if the Bills decide to select a prospect in the upcoming draft. For now though, the job is strictly a two-man competition that is up for grabs.

"It's going to be down to the wire, pardon the pun, because both guys have strengths and weaknesses," Bills defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said after the team wrapped up minicamp Sunday. "Just in this minicamp, we had a chance to evaluate their strengths and we hope to work on some of those weaknesses.

"Matt has a little bit more experience. This is the first time Coy is getting an opportunity to really step up and be a starter because he's played behind a Pro Bowl guy the last few years. Once that initial shock of "Hey, I'm really competing for a starting job' wears off I think you'll see some gradual improvement out of him also."

Bowen and Wire both got work with the first-team defense during the minicamp. Fewell said both players will get an equal opportunity to compete for the job through the rest of the offseason workouts and into training camp.

Based on experience, Bowen is the favorite to capture the starting role. But Wire is fired up about his chances.

And if he needs some extra motivation, all he has to do is listen to a certain call from a former teammate.

"I definitely miss Lawyer, but at the same time I feel like he can live on through me because of what he's taught me," Wire said. "I was fortunate to have him here to be a mentor for me. So if I'm going to be the man, I feel it's my responsibility to fill his shoes and fill them well."

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060412/1017478.aspthis will be an interesting battle to watch. the safeties in Chicago have put up great fantasy numbers in recent years, so whoever winds up the starter could be a nice fantasy sleeper.

 

[Rovers]

I picked up Bowen after he got hurt..... still waiting to see if that pays off. I think the Bills D will be on the foeld a lot this year.... could be a stud in the making there.

 

[Keg]

read on a bills forum earlier that they dont expect wire to be the starter at SS

for whatever that is worth

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

read on a bills forum earlier that they dont expect wire to be the starter at SS

for whatever that is worth

as the article suggests, Bowen would have to be considered a slight favorite due to his experience...but, I think it's pretty close to 50/50 and will be decided in training camp/preseason.

 

[cracKer]

Aaron, I know you've talked down of Wire's coverage skills in the past. Would this hinder his chance as a starter in this system anymore than it has in the past?

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Aaron, I know you've talked down of Wire's coverage skills in the past. Would this hinder his chance as a starter in this system anymore than it has in the past?

I never thought Michael Green was a very good player, and he put up 84 solos in 2004 as the starting SS in the same type of defense. Wire has good speed, is a pretty solid tackler and also does a good job when asked to blitz (although I don't think the Bills will blitz nearly as much now as they did under Jerry Gray). If the Bills want a strong safety who will often play up in the box and near the line of scrimmage, I think Wire will do fine as the starter. Where he begins to struggle is in coverage...as a converted LB he's just not a natural back there, so he has had trouble diagnosing plays, taking the proper angles, etc. As the strong safety though, I don't think he'll get taken advantage of nearly as much as he was when they tried moving him to FS.If you look around the league at the players who play SS in the Tampa 2 defenses, most of them aren't big run stoppers. The system seems to favor smart, fast, athletic players. I think Wire has the range and athletic ability to hold down the job, and he went to Stanford so he's supposed to be pretty intelligent. I just worry that he hasn't gotten enough playing time over the past few years to work on his coverage skills and what not. That doesn't seem like something that you can improve on much without playing in game situations. Another point to consider though: the player Wire was most compared to when entering the league was Adam Archuleta, and he seemed to do pretty well when Lovie Smith came to St Louis.

I had very high hopes for Wire when he came into the league b/c he had a very promising rookie season, but the Milloy signing really stunted his development. He started a handful of games at the beginning of the 2004 season when Milloy was out hurt and didn't really show much at all. This will easily be the best opportunity he's had since his rookie season to lock down a starting job though, so maybe that will give him some extra motivation. Bowen hasn't been the most durable player either.

What I think hurts Wire a bit is that he's not really a playmaker at all. He can wrap guys up and deliver a nice hit once in awhile, but I don't recall ever seeing him make a nice play on the ball or even come close to picking a pass off. I think he can be an adequate SS who puts up a lot of tackles...but Bowen could probably do that too and may also pick off a pass every once in awhile.

 

[Jene Bramel]

I'm becoming more and more interested to see how the safety play in the Tampa-2 pans out. I've always tended toward the "John Lynch was a good player but couldn't put up numbers in the Tampa-2" corner. Made sense that if you're not in the part of the field where the scheme funnels a running back you'll be hurting in the tackle category.

I also thought most of the reason the Bear safeties put up fantasy quality numbers was their big plays, especially with Charles Tillman stepping up big time in run support in 2006. However, since following this thread and looking at the numbers to play devil's advocate with Rudnicki, I see that really hasn't been the case though. It's very meaningful because Urlacher and Briggs are far from junk bondsmen.

My default theory this year was that the Buffalo safeties (with better backers in front) would do relatively worse than the Minnesota or Detroit safeties. Possibly excepting Darren Sharper given his big play capability.

I haven't looked in depth yet, but I wonder if the Bears saw an significantly higher number of defensive snaps over the past two seasons and last year specifically. Tillman, Urlacher, and Briggs all had an above average number of solo tackles. If that's the case, the Bear safety numbers may not be sustainable. I suppose it could also be a function of Lovie Smith using Urlacher more aggressively in pass rush and the Bear version being a true Cover-2 rather than the Tampa-2 variant. Five sacks is awful good for a guy who's supposed to be dropping into a deep zone on passing downs. I really don't know.

Definitely a trend to watch very closely during the first couple of weeks as the Tampa-2 spreads about the league.