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Bo Scaife: Stud, or the next Ben Troupe?

By Drexel Perry | June 27th, 2008

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The Titans placed a high priority on upgrading the tight end position this offseason. First, they acquired the services of former Pro Bowl TE Alge Crumpler during the opening days of free agency.

They later swapped tight ends with the Falcons, losing Ben Hartsock to Atlanta while picking up former Falcon/Titan Dwayne Blakley. For the icing on the cake, California TE Craig Stevens was a surprise selection in the third round of April’s draft.

All of these moves were made despite the presence of last year’s starting TE, Bo Scaife, already on the roster. With only a year remaining on his current deal, will Bo Scaife step up in 2008, or will he follow in the footsteps of Ben Troupe, another talented TE drafted by the Titans who was eventually tossed asunder?

There is no question that Scaife is a talented guy. A former teammate of Vince Young at the University of Texas, Bo has been the recipient of 112 passes during his three-year NFL career. In 2007, Scaife caught a career high 46 passes while emerging as Vince’s safety valve.

Despite Scaife’s development, the Titans first move during free agency was to acquire Alge Crumpler. Despite some knee issues, Crumpler is still one of the league’s better tight ends and has always been a powerful force in the red zone, an area where Scaife has failed to emerge as a factor in the Titans’ offense.

Thankfully for Scaife, the return of Mike Heimerdinger equals more double-tight end sets for the Titan offense. Dinger’s offense may allow Bo to flourish and display his playmaking potential on a consistent basis next year.

Scaife is a talented player who has the ability to become a solid tight end in this league. However, the same was said about 2004 draft bust Ben Troupe, who was never able to turn potential into production in a Titan uniform. We all know how that story turned out, as Troupe was allowed to leave and join Tampa Bay this offseason.

Hopefully, the Bo Scaife story will have a much better ending.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 8:56 am and is filed under 2008 Offseason, Players, Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “Bo Scaife: Stud, or the next Ben Troupe?”

bobcomu says:

June 27th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

i dont think its totally fair, to compare Scaife to Troupe. Ben has much greater athletic ability than Bo, for some reason he just couldnt get it going the last couple of years. Scaife just does more with less. You hit the nail on the head though with your thoughts on his red zone inabilities. The red zone should be the TEs area, and not many shine more than Crumpler inside the 20 yard line.I think that “Bo knows” that he will need to take his game to another level this season if he wants to stick around Nashville much longer.
Tom Gower says:

June 27th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

I really turned on Scaife the second half of last year. Before, my impression was mostly “eh”, but he really started looking like a scrub. ‘05, he was clearly the #3 TE on a TE-heavy team, ‘06, he really benefited from his chemistry with VY, but last year, he wasn’t as much of a focal point for the offense as he’d been in ‘06. From a talent and numbers standpoint, it wouldn’t shock me to see him get cut, though the second round tender the Titans gave him would suggest they don’t feel the way I do.
Seth Leonard says:

June 27th, 2008 at 1:22 pm

Bo seems like a tough guy, and even though he’s small for his spot, he seems to work hard. He’s proven that he can work in the system, so why not just keep him around? Tight end is a versatile position and it’s good to have guys with different skill sets. At least thats my armchair position
Dave says:

June 27th, 2008 at 7:38 pm

Tom, does Bo find you attractive? ” I really turned on Scaife the second half of last year”…..J/K, but I thought it was funny.
Drexel Perry says:

June 27th, 2008 at 7:54 pm

I didn’t say much about him in the article, but it will be interesting to see how Craig Stevens figures into the equation at TE. He is known for his blocking skills, so one would assume he would see some action in the running game.

However, considering Scaife is only signed for one more year and Crumpler’s age/knee, Stevens is in a good spot to develop into the future starting TE for the Titans.

Thanks for the comments, guys.
jrtitans says:

June 28th, 2008 at 3:53 am

This should be a competitive position.

Crunpler should help/evidently they like Blakely and I thought this was one of the good postions the Falcons had going with these two guys but evidently they didnt.

Cramer has done some things/I had hope ( false)for Petrowski from europa and even there was talk about Mike williams playing the position.

All the talk about about Stevens seems he is a lock.

But the point made in this article is well taken–they had a #2 tender so the intent would seem to be he is at least the number#3 guy this year but I think he goes the way of the two BENS .

Like BJ–he has had an opportunity to step up and take over and never did. With all the competition , I dont him getting enough passes to make his numbers any better.
Bo Scaife: Stud, or the next Ben Troupe? » Bevo Sports says:

July 3rd, 2008 at 11:56 pm

[…] Bo Scaife: Stud, or the next Ben Troupe? I think Vince and Bo both rebound this season. […]
CS says:

July 15th, 2008 at 10:36 am

There has been too much emphases placed on the receivers for last year’s so so performance, and don’t forget last year was VY’s 1st true full year as a NFL Quarterback…give them time. VY needed to throw better, and a lot of the balls he threw to Scaife were quesionable throws. Mentally they are on the same page, and I think physically they will gel this year and hit all cylinders.