Nick O’Leary is now a Buffalo Bill and joining us to dish the dirt on him is Mike Ferguson from the FSU site Noled Out. Enjoy and tell a friend.
1) What are his pros and cons to his game? Nick O’Leary is the best tight end ever to play at Florida State and runs precise routes and has very good hands. He’s a tough runner once he gets the football in his hands and is deceptively quick. Perhaps the biggest knock on O’Leary is that he is just an average athlete by the NFL’s standards.
2) How is he in run and pass blocking? Blocking was one of the areas where O’Leary improved most during his Florida State career. O’Leary will probably never excel as a run-blocker on the next level, but can be serviceable in that regard. As far as pass-blocking goes, that’s not something the 2014 John Mackey Award winner had to do much of at FSU. He’s the quintessential receiving tight end and that’s an area where he could struggle early on.
3) Is he the type of TE who can stretch the field vertically? Over his four years at Florida State, O’Leary averaged 14 yards-per-catch including a career-long 94-yard reception against Clemson in 2013. Though he’s not a blazer, he is a guy that can get behind linebackers and a threat to make plays well past the first down marker.
4) Where do you see him ending up as an NFL Pro? I think O’Leary will go on to have a respectable, but not a superstar career. If you want a NFL comparison, he may actually be a shorter version of Scott Chandler, who recently left Buffalo for New England.
5) Why do you think he fell so far in the draft? The reason for Nick O’Leary’s drop was the measurables. O’Leary didn’t have a great combine and he’s not a spectacular athlete, but the guy is a football player and should develop into a good pass-catcher at the next level. He’ll help the Bills right away and should be a very good compliment to Charles Clay.
6) Any great games or stats you can think of? The first thing that comes off the top of my head when we talk about O’Leary is his 18 career touchdowns which crushed the previous record for FSU tight ends of 11. The game that probably comes to mind was against in Clemson in 2013 when O’Leary finished with 161 yards receiving. He had the aforementioned 94-yard reception, but the most memorable play may have been his brutal forearm he delivered to safety Travis Blanks. Another great game for the tight end was O’Leary’s final home game in which he scored a pair of touchdowns in a 24-19 win over Florida. Here’s a look at his top 5 moments at Florida State: http://noledout.com/football/fsu-senior-moments-nick-oleary.html.
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