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WR Terrell Owens, Buffalo Bills

HT: 6-2, WT: 213, Born: 12-7-1973, College: Tennessee-Chattanooga, Drafted: Round 3

2009 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of June 29th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: D Bowe (29), K Smith (30), Terrell Owens (31), W Welker (32), R Grant (33)
Position: M Colston (27-WR10), D Bowe (29-WR11), Terrell Owens (31 - WR12), W Welker (32-WR13), B Marshall (34-WR14)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

Best Case

In a shocking turn of events this offseason, the Cowboys released Owens and he quickly signed a one-year deal with the Bills. Although he ultimately left Philadelphia and Dallas on bad terms, his first years with both teams were huge successes. Because Owens only signed a single-season agreement, there is reason for optimism that he will keep the drama to a minimum and have a very successful season in order to get one more big payday from a contender next year.

Worst Case

At 35, Owens is reaching an age when the skills of a WR can diminish very quickly. Although he managed to play in all 16 games last season and was surrounded by plenty of talent, his production was sometimes underwhelming. If that persists and his production continues to decline, there is a chance that things could get ugly.

Outlook

When healthy and motivated, there are few receivers in the league who are better than Owens. Despite the problems he has had in recent years, he has still managed to pull in 38 TDs over the past three seasons. Owens is extremely well conditioned and known more for his strength and run after the catch ability than his pure speed. It would be a surprise if a player of his ability did not manage to produce like a WR1.

Relevant Articles

Why he is undervalued

Andy Hicks - There is no doubting that Terrell Owens is one of the most productive receivers ever to play the game. He has scored 10 or more touchdowns in eight seasons and ranked as a Top 4 fantasy receiver seven times. He will be a boom or bust pick, but the boom has been particularly evident in his first year at his last two clubs. In his first year with Buffalo he has a lot to prove and a motivated Terrell Owens generally is a fantasy winner.

Why he is overvalued

Sigmund Bloom - You have to wonder how TO is thought of around the league after no one would commit to him for more than a one year deal. He was up and down last year with one of the better playmaking QBs in the league. Now, with a more conservative QB and a new team to adjust to, it's better to let someone else live in the past in the third round and assume that Owens will continue to put up the numbers to justify that premium pick.

Latest News

Cowboys | Owens says he was a scapegoat (Thu Jun 25, 07:19 PM) - Clarence E. Hill Jr., of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, reports former Dallas Cowboys WR Terrell Owens, currently with the Buffalo Bills, said he became a scapegoat for Cowboys QB Tony Romo's lack of leadership. Owens said, "He was the quarterback of the team. I think everybody realized that. It was upon him to adopt that leadership role and carry that out. Obviously, they saw that didn't happen. So, for whatever reason, I'll be the scapegoat. I'm not here. Now, it's his team. I wish him well." Owens also said he has not talked to owner Jerry Jones since he was released from the Cowboys in March.

Our View: Owens has had a persecution complex for a long time now, so these comments should come as no surprise. Still, they fit in with incidents like Romo going to the beach with Jessica Simpson during the playoffs and his general "too laid back" personality for an NFL quarterback.
link to story   

2009 Schedule

2008 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Owens looked very much in sync with Tony Romo. He was able to find holes in the zone coverage and gave Romo a good target to hit. Romo hit Owens in stride on pass patterns allowing him to gain good yardage after the catch. Cleveland did try and disrupt his pass patterns by having a cornerback jam him at the line of scrimmage, but that strategy resulted in two hands to the face penalties on the back assigned to cover him. Owens did come close to a second score at the end of the first half when it appeared that he had gone into the end zone on a pass completion but was ruled to be down at the one yard line.

Week 2 - Owens made a splash early in this game by getting open behind the coverage and QB Tony Romo hit with a perfect deep pass for a 72 yard touchdown pass. The touchdown reception put him only behind Jerry Rice for all-time touchdown receptions with 131. Owens beat S Brian Dawkins on a short slant route for his second touchdown reception of the first half. Owens had a 54 yard reception called back on a holding penalty in the second quarter. He had three catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. The Eagles made a concerted effort to stop in the second half as they doubled him often and had maybe their best cover cornerback, Lito Sheppard, cover him a lot. Owens did get another great scoring opportunity late in the game as he had a ball thrown to him in the end zone, but he was practically tackled before the ball reached him by the defender in what was an obvious pass interference. After a big first half Owens did not have a catch in the second half.

Week 3 - WR Terrell Owens dropped two balls that he could have caught including one on the first drive of the game for Dallas where he appeared to fall backwards as the ball was thrown. Later in the game, another well thrown ball bounced right off of his hands. The Packers did consistently provide safety help to the cornerback who was defending Owens. It won't show on the stat sheet but he was a huge factor in the game drawing extra attention and coverage opening up the defense for the other Dallas players.

Owens was the target of WR Patrick Crayton's pass.

Week 4 - This was a very uneven performance for the mercurial Owens. His route running was sloppy and he seemed very tentative on his crossing routes like he was afraid to run into his own man coming across the middle. Owens also had a couple of drops. This may have been a factor in the lack of chemistry Owens and quarterback Tony Romo had this game. The Washington secondary and especially Shawn Springs deserves a lot of credit of limiting him on the day. In the second half the Cowboys had the ball to start the half and they quickly drove the field with a couple of Owens catches. This led to a great ten yard touchdown catch as Owens dragged to two defenders into the end zone.

Week 5 - Owens wasn't much of a factor in this game until his long catch and run for a TD in the fourth quarter. It was hard to tell if the Bengals had him covered well, or if there was some other reason for the inactivity. Owens did collect his 900th career reception in the first quarter.

Week 6 - The Cardinals defense concentrated on trying to take Owens out of the passing offense and they were successful. Owens faced double teams and rarely saw single coverage. Owens did start to become more successful after the defense had to divert some attention over to Patrick Crayton. Due to the excellent coverage on Owens, he was held to catch four receptions, three coming in the second half. His best reception came on a pass in the third quarter where he had to reach forward while standing on the sideline. He somehow managed to catch the ball and stay inbounds.

Week 7 - It was an all too familiar stat line for Owens of late. The Rams employed the same press coverage with safety help over the top. He and back up QB brad Johnson did not seem to have any chemistry and Owens was often over thrown. It appears that defenses have figured a way to slow down the pro bowl wide out.

Week 8 - Dallas made a concerted effort to get Owens involved in the offense early, targeting him on consecutive pass plays on their second drive. Owens was well covered by Tampa defenders, but was still able to haul in five receptions. He did not seem to have his timing down with Brad Johnson as he was unable to connect on pass plays where he could have gotten free from coverage for extra yardage. Owens was targeted one time in the end zone at the end of the first half, but the pass was thrown well out of his reach.

Week 9 - Owens was limited due to poor quarterback play and excellent coverage by the Giant defense. He was well covered on most plays as the defenders were right there to bring him down immediately after catching the ball. His longest catch was his touchdown reception and was on one of the few occasions that he was able to find an opening in the defense.

Week 11 - Owens was the most targeted player for the Cowboys. He also ran a double reverse that netted maybe one yard. Of note, both of Tony Romo's interceptions were in Owens' direction. The first was a poorly throw ball by Romo and the second was the result of Owens batting the ball in the air in an effort to make a catch in traffic. The Cowboys did a much better job motioning Owens to allow him a free release off of the line of scrimmage. This allowed Owens to beat the press coverage and have some success catching passes while running crossing patterns. His best catch of the game came on a deep cross route over the middle, which he almost scored on. This reception set up the Marion Barber two yard touchdown run right before the half. Owens also had two drops in this game.

Week 12 - Owens was huge in this game. In addition to focusing on taking away the running game, the 49ers tried to take Terrell Owens out of the passing game. They were not successful as Tony Romo was able to connect with Owens deep on multiple plays. The first play was when Owens caught a deep pass while being well covered and broke a tackle and ran into the end zone. They were also able to connect on plays of 45 and 52 yards that gave the Cowboys excellent field position. A great day could have been even better but for two dropped passes. The first one was on a play where Owens was clearly not expecting the ball and was only able to get one hand on it. The second one could have been a catch, but he lost his concentration and ended up bobbling the ball and dropping it a couple of yards later.

Week 13 - Owens caught his first pass -- a nine yarder on the second play of the game. He didn't catch his second until the final minute of the first quarter (a nice 26 yard gain). That would be the story of his day -- long stretches of nothing interrupted on occasion by impressive and significant receptions. Perhaps Owens' best catch was a leaping, spinning, one handed grab along the right sideline for 33 yards late in the third quarter that he then immediately followed up with a 19 yard score. Though he fell short of the 100 yard mark by two, today's was exactly the type of performance one would hope to get from Owens.

Week 14 - Owens was only able to connect for 32 yards from QB Tony Romo in the second half after being shutout early on. His longest reception was just 12 yards. He was used a running play for a short gain. Noticeable was high number of incomplete passes, two of which were picked off, but that was more a function of Romo trying to force the ball rather than Owens's hands.

Week 15 - Owens' night got off to a rough start when the wide-out was unable to haul in a third down pass that would have moved the sticks. It was a catchable ball but not an easy catch. His long reception of 25 yards came near the end of the first quarter and brought the ball to the New York 43 yard line. Owens was targeted on a deep throw in the second half, but the ball fell to the ground incomplete. He was booed by the home crowd as he ran onto the field during pre game introductions. And again after he failed to pull in the catch early in the game on third down. They warmed up to him as the game went on.

Week 16 - Owens was frustrated on multiple fronts during the entire game. The Ravens defense played in a combo coverage that was designed to take him out of the offense and Romo was very inconsistent during the first three quarters. Owens was targeted deep downfield on two consecutive passes toward the end of the first half, the first pass was badly overthrown and the second ball was thrown into double coverage that resulted in an interception. Owens finally was able to get open during the fourth quarter as the Ravens played in softer coverage underneath and Romo was able to connect with him on shorter routes.

Week 17 - Owens had an effective game but seamed out of sync with Romo. His longest catch was a 42 yard effort at the hands of Jason Witten on a double pass. Owens did have two drops in this game. He also had a rush for seven yards on a reverse.