Late Breakout

In his 12th year in pro football, Bills linebacker LORENZO ALEXANDER has proved what his teammates have always known: This guy can play.

- Kalyn Kahler

Five weeks into the season, Lorenzo Alexander’s phone buzzed with a text message from former teammate Brian Orakpo.

Slow down, man! Stop getting all those sacks, I need to catch up!

Only half-joking in his message, Orakpo, who now plays for the Titans, was in awe of his pal’s breakout season. And he wasn’t the only one. The Buffalo Bills linebacker heard from several other former teammates, including Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, who were all amazed to see the veteran special teams ace having a year like no other in his 10-season career. (He spent his first two years on and off practice squads.) He was the sacks leader for the first half of the season; even Von Miller couldn’t catch him until Week 12. Alexander, the 33-year-old who went undrafted out of the University of California, was tied for third place with 10 sacks through Week 13 — one more than his career total heading into the 2016 season. “It’s surreal,” Alexander says.

“We all knew he could ball,” says Orakpo, who played with Alexander for four seasons in Washington. “But he was always caught in the numbers game, always overlooked.” In Buffalo, Alexander finally received a real opportunity to make an impact. The Bills signed him from Oakland in the off-season to be a special teams leader, but he stepped into the void at outside linebacker after rookie first-rounder Shaq Lawson was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Lawson returned from injury in Week 7, but Alexander had proved himself worthy of the starting job.