The road for Marcell Dareus and Buffalo Bills fans has been a rocky one. Dareus is starting his seventh season with the Buffalo Bills since he was drafted in 2011. His career has been plagued with drug violations, suspensions, drag racing incidents, and injuries. The veteran injured his hamstring over the weekend, as the Buffalo Bills started their first week of training camp in Pittsford, New York. Dareus missed 8 games last season. 4 of them were for a drug suspension, and the other 4 were due to a hamstring injury. Is Marcell Dareus giving Bills’ fans a repeat of his 2016 NFL season?
Dareus’ dipping 2016 numbers
When Dareus got onto the field last season, he was not the same playmaker who started with a bang as a rookie. He had 24 tackles and 3.5 sacks. The defensive end registered 32 tackles and 5.5 sacks for the team in his initial year. The next three years were another whirlwind, where Dareus racked up 107 tackles and 23 sacks. After he signed a $90 million contract for 5 years in 2015, his sack number was only a pair for the season. Many sports analysts and fans felt like Dareus was not giving his all, the big money in his wallet, and his incentive to play was now lower after securing the big bucks.
His own version of rehab raised eyebrows
In 2016, Dareus was suspended for 4 games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
He was suspended the year before for one game, due to the same issue. After his second suspension, Dareus said that he would enter rehab and apologized for his actions. Instead, Dareus was spottted going out in downtown Buffalo that weekend, which left fans to wonder how serious he was about getting himself clean. The defensive player was spotted posing for pictures with two young women, which was shared on social media.
In the end, Dareus never entered rehab. Some fans feel that he cannot be trusted.
A perplexing dichotomy
Since getting drafted in 2011, Dareus has been a dichotomy. He has had some great seasons on the field with his speed and strength, but his off-field problems have overshadowed his play at times. In 2014, he was arrested for having drugs in Alabama and got into a car accident less than a month later that resulted from drag racing with teammate Jerry Hughes.
Dareus’ maturity has been questioned by many football fans.
Will Marcell Dareus be ready to play for the first game of the season? The Buffalo Bills open with the New York Jets at home and need their defense to step up their game.
