Hall of Fame Game

After 6 months of waiting, football has finally returned with tonight's Hall of Fame Game in Canton. Preseason games get a bad rap for the most part because "the best guys don't play much if at all", but that's the nice part - it gives you a chance to get a look at players who normally wouldn't get onto the field, as well as see how teams change their strategy with new players or coaching staffs.

Buffalo is coming off of a third consecutive 7-9 season, and popular perception is that Dick Jauron is on the hot seat, leading them to make the bold move of signing Terrell Owens after he was unceremoniously dumped by the Cowboys earlier in the offseason. There's a lot of talk about how Owens will open up the passing game for other players, but that isn't going to matter much if the offensive line, which could be starting 5 completely different guys than last year, doesn't hold up.

Two players I am interested in tonight are Fred Jackson and James Hardy. Jackson has served as Marshawn Lynch's primary backup the last two years, and has filled in admirably during times when Lynch was hurt. Now that a league-imposed suspension looms, I want to see how Jackson looks running with the first team consistently. He seems to be a little shiftier than Lynch, but is not as polished as a reciever, which is something that can be valuable when the QB is running for his life.

Hardy is another interesting prospect, expected to take over the 3rd reciever role last year and be a good target in the red zone. However, he never really made much of an impact (only catching 6 passes) and tore his ACL at the end of the year. He's a tall guy, but not overly explosive vertically. Considering that there are only three corners in the AFC East over 6'0 tall, he could be a good matchup player.

The Titans, on the other hand, come off of a disappointing loss in the AFC Divisional Game that many blame on the play clock problem, but realistically when you turn the ball over 3 times, including 2 on fumbles in the red zone, you don't deserve to win. Their big offseason splash was letting All-Pro DT Albert Haynesworth go in free agency, but based on the way Jason Jones played last year when Haynesworth was out, he should be a more-than-suitable replacement.

This leads me to my player to watch, DT Sen'Derrick Marks, a rookie out of Auburn who they drafted in the second round. He's listed, weight-wise, as the largest DT on the roster and seems to be well-suited for the 2-gap nose tackle type role that would allow Jones and DE Kyle Vanden Bosch to take advantage of one-on-one matchups. I don't expect to see him running with the ones, though, as Jovan Haye is (at least for the time being) ahead of him on the depth chart.