08-02-2007, 12:14 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Both of them
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 10,225
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McCargo is eager to unload his potential
Democrat & Chronicle: Bills
Quote:
Technically, running back Marshawn Lynch is the only rookie first-round draft pick sweating through Bills training camp at St. John Fisher College.
But in reality, the presence of defensive tackle John McCargo on the pristine practice fields is like having a bonus rookie first-round stud.
"We're really sort of considering him like he is a rookie this year," Bills defensive line coach Bill Kollar said the other day in reference to McCargo, who was a first-round choice last year but missed most of his rookie season with a broken left foot.
"We're taking him like he's another draft pick for us this year and we're hoping that he can end up coming around and having a pretty big year for us."
In 2006, the Bills chose safety Donte Whitner with their own first-round pick, No. 8 overall, to fill an obvious hole created by the departure of Lawyer Milloy.
However, they were also in need of a run-stuffing defensive tackle to replace Sam Adams, and they traded back up into the first round, acquiring Chicago's No. 26 overall pick, so they could select the 307-pound McCargo.
After an inconsistent training camp and start to his rookie season, McCargo was just beginning to find his way in the NFL when he suffered a broken bone in his left foot during Buffalo's fifth game, an injury that required surgery and sidelined him for the rest of the year.
"It took a few games; there was a learning curve and it's different for every player, but I had just started to play a little better when the injury happened," McCargo said.
It was the same injury that knocked McCargo out for the second half of his final season at North Carolina State, and this time it was serious enough that he still couldn't participate in team drills during the Bills' organized team activities in May and June.
Thursday morning when the Bills took the field for the first time at Fisher, that was McCargo's first full practice in the 91/2 months since the injury occurred in a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
"I have a long way to go and I have a lot of stuff to improve on, but I feel pretty good," the 23-year-old said. "There's going to be some little kinks here and there, but it's OK. My conditioning is good, but I can always get better and I'm not where I need to be at, but that's what training camp is for."
McCargo is a player the Bills really need to stay healthy and succeed. Their run defense ranked 28th in the NFL last year and if they harbor any thoughts of ending their seven-year playoff drought, that figure must improve.
"John is a guy that we certainly believed in, we took him high, made a deal to get him high, and we think he has a terrific future, but now we've got to see it, it has to start coming out," said coach Dick Jauron. "It's a position of need for us. We're excited to have him back."
The Bills tried to address their run defense problem by acquiring veteran defensive tackle Darwin Walker in a trade from Philadelphia, but that deal has blown up because Walker never reported to the Bills, and Sunday he was traded to the Bears.
Thus, the expectations on McCargo as a recent first-round pick are lofty, and the pressure is on.
"No doubt about it, he's got to be a guy that comes through for us and we're counting on that," said defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. "That's why it's so important to keep him in practice and keep him involved because we didn't get to see all that we wanted to see a year ago."
McCargo claims he is up for the challenge. He has been working primarily with the second string unit playing behind three-technique tackle Larry Tripplett, but he is also sharing time with starting nose tackle Kyle Williams.
"That's what I'm expecting," McCargo said when asked if he believes he's ready to win a starting job this summer, or at least become a key member of the Bills' defensive line rotation.
"There's always pressure, but I look at it like this; I put a lot of pressure on myself. I know what they drafted me to do and I don't listen to what anyone says. If I prove to myself that I can do it then I'll prove to everyone else that I can do it."
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McCargo is eager to unload his potential
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