Vincent Jackson Continues To Influence
July 30th, 2013
Chris Owusu
Bucs stud wide receiver Mike Williams has made no secret of how much of an influence Vincent Jackson has made on his career. The veteran star, signed as a free agent prior to last season, took Williams under his wing and showed him all the little things it takes during the week to be able to make big plays on Sundays.
It appears Williams is not the only disciple of Jackson. So too is Chris Owusu.
The Stanford product has been on Joe’s radar since OTAs. As Joe told his good friend, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620, nearly every time he saw a wide receiver make a spring play, Joe looked at his roster to check who it was, and virtually every time it was Owusu.
Monday at Day Five of Bucs training camp 2013, Owusu, playing with the first team, put on a show, all but planting a spear at midfield stating he too is in the running for the No. 3 wide receiver position, as WDAE-AM 620 Bucs beat writer Tom Krasniqi documents.
The presence of Pro Bowl WR Vincent Jackson certainly helps. Owusu believes Jackson has been a tremendous influence on him. “Just attack the defender and be a professional at all times,” Owusu said of what Jackson has taught him. “Vince is the best professional I’ve seen….ever.”
Owusu played his college ball at Stanford and was signed by the 49ers after going undrafted in 2012. He was among San Francisco’s final cuts before last season. He signed with the Chargers and was placed on their practice squad before the Bucs scooped him up last September. The 6-0, 196-pound Owusu has terrific speed—4.36 in the 40—but concussions and various injuries marred his college career. He ran track in high school so he could also be an option as a returner for the Bucs.
As Joe stated yesterday, a strong training camp practice a starting wide receiver does not make. While Owusu impressed Joe for month, he needs to be consistent and show the same skills in preseason games. Let’s not forget Bucs fans, Tiquan Underwood had a strong preseason last year and was cut before being re-signed up later. Just because a receiver has a strong April, May, June and July doesn’t mean he will start, or even be on the final roster of 53.
What Owusu has done thus far has been impressive. He needs to keep it up, if not elevate his game, to lock up a roster spot and a trip to Gotham to play the Jets in September.
July 30th, 2013 at 7:30 am
Impressive burst and speed, tales of soft hands, yeah, competition is good.
July 30th, 2013 at 7:30 am
Sounds like there will be difficult decisions made by Bucs coaches to trim this roster to 5 or 6 receivers, when the time comes. That’s a good problem to have for a Pro Football Team.
July 30th, 2013 at 7:31 am
Dominick has not only brought in FA talent, he has brought in leaders….Jackson, Nicks, Gholston & Revis…but the cream so far is Jackson.
I love what he does with his charity.
As far as Owusu, it may depend on whether or not he can contribute a major role with special teams. We will probably keep 5 recievers and the 5th will have to contribute.
July 30th, 2013 at 8:31 am
I knew about the Luck to Owusu connection in college. Owusu has credible skills and I like that Schiano wants everybody to pull double duty by playing multiple positions and/or STs. But some players are at more risk than others when performing certain higher risk roles such as a gunner on STs or returning punts.
Owusu, in my opinion falls into that category. He has had at least 3 concussions in college and one at Oregon State where he had to be removed by ambulance. I’m sure Schiano is aware of that. I think he will continue to perform consistently at the WR position.
However, don’t be surprised, Schiano is doing some things differently this year – like having Adrian Clayborn play at LDE on some plays. I thought he had a congenital medical condition that prevented him playing left and limiting his play to the right side. I’m along for the ride, should be interesting this year!
July 30th, 2013 at 11:54 am
We have two players on our roster with the last name Owusu, and they’re not even related.
July 30th, 2013 at 12:05 pm
@Macabee
Clayborn was born with Erb’s Palsy, which limits his ability to fully extend his right arm.
However, it doesn’t seem to have affected his play much. And I remember Dominik talking about it after they drafted him, and saying they didn’t think it would ever restrict where they put they put him on the field.