starrymessenger

Ramsey looked good and basically won the back up job in Tennessee based on preseason performance. Problem is that Titans have another highly paid (and psychologically fragile) backup (now starter) that they need to make a decision on before next year. Bills should have a hard look at Ramsaty.

Hardy deserves, and will get, his opportunity. Eric Moulds took awhile to get untracked as did Plaxico Burris and other elite receivers. Hardy has decent speed for a big man. If he can polish his routes and learn to use his body in space against smaller DBs he will be a good player. Bills were not the only team that liked him on draft day, even as a potential first rounder, in spite of his rawness.

"Football speed", relative to his position responsibilities, yes. Being a half step slow was the knock against him coming out of college - maybe not enough straight line speed for a man to man coverage scheme for example - but he was always regarded as very "quick". In my view he has enough speed to react to the QB or to the ball once in the air and get over to where he needs to be. Great instincts and quickness enable his fantastic ball skills to come into prominence. The Bills have been successfully sowing the seeds of an outstanding secondary. Adding a great ball halk can bring the whole group to another, higher level. Part of the reason George Wilson has been looking so much better in my opinion.

Needless to say if we (and everyone else) knew then what we know now, DJ and Eddie Royal would not only have been the first WRs taken in 2008 but they would also both have been early first round picks. Hard to blame anyone, picking WRs is usually a crap shoot. Hardy may turn into a good player though. Seems to be serious about his career.

He is certainly not a burner but he is fast. Faster than Byrd, who would have gone sooner in the draft if he had DRC or McKelvin speed. Again O Atogwe is a better comparable for Byrd.

Fins playcalling cost them this game. Only ran 10 times for squat in the second half after gaining 120+ with Ronnie & Ricky in the first half. OC got too smart for his own good. Figure it out - Ronnie & Ricky or Ted Ginn & Davon Bess? Should be a no brainer.

More likely he is poised for a breakfast (of TO flakes).

Does not have Ed Reed's speed nor can he tackle like Bob Sanders but a legitimate comparison would be O. Atogwe, a ballhawk and a guy who forces fumbles, which is still really pretty good IMO.

I also questioned the decision to pick Maybin at 11, given that a good offensive tackle, M. Oher, was still on the board, and we had traded J. Peters (I guess the FO was still deluding themselves that Langston could play LT). I believe the FO were right in thinking (like many others) that Maybin had the most upside in the draft as a pass rushing DE, nevertheless everyone knew he was a major project with relatively high risk and that it would likely be years before he panned out if at all. He could turn into another Jason Taylor or he could be out of football by then.

Their run game and our run D (especially with KW out) is a terrible matchup for us. I do think however that we will at long last get a glimpse of what our offence is capable of. So far it has been under the direction of Tounces the Driving Cat.

For once I expect the Bills to put up a lot of points this week. 30+.

Wrong. Chris Draft is a very serviceable veteran player both in run D and in coverage. Nothing wrong with him. A good signing in the circumstances (though a trade for Witherspoon would have been better still). I like Nic Harris and Ashlee Palmer a lot. But they are much more likely to screw up at this point in their carreers than Draft.

Don't agree. We will see.

If you are right (and of course you may be) he should forget about playing QB in the NFL and has no business on a NFL playing field. At the end of the day it makes no sense for, say, an insurance salesman to share the same space as a e.g. Ronnie Lott, or Ray Lewis or Jim Kelly. Speaking for myself, I am perplexed and frustrated by Trent and I just can't figure it out to where I am comfortable coming to any conclusion. A lot of what people say makes sense. Somehow I still feel that I am always missing some important piece of the puzzle.

My post was unduly provocative, for which I apologize. I think everyone understands the importance of playing behind a good offensive line, and the difficulty of playing behind a bad (or inexperienced) one. Many posters on this board however think that this simply cannot fully account for Trent's poor play. I agree with them. There are other issues. I think that Trent may have the physical ability to be a good QB, and I think its possible that he may still develop into one. But, for whatever reason, there clearly just seems to be something wrong in his head.

I do see him as elite but regardless I also find it strange to hear him complaining about our shortcomings on offence. Also looks to me like his coach is rubbing off on him. Too bad. I liked him a lot better as a quiet kid and shut down corner.

While driving the team bus maybe. No offence, but seriously this was a very good thread before your post.

I am pleasantly surprised that I am not as disappointed as I should be.

It would be a lot like listening to a picture of Jauron.

I also meant "linemen".

Very true. I intended to mention this together with the comment that RFs job was going to be harder than KO's for that reason. BTW I think the Bills did the right thing in blowing up that O-Line. Short term pain, long term gain. I really like our rookie interior lineman.

Agree that TE would appear to have marginally better physical kills than RF, but suffers from a much more significant and debilitating limitation - call it lack of self confidence or "over-conservatism", or whatever, (everybody on this board knows what I mean)- that just kills his ability to make and execute the right decision. I think the KO/RF comparison is not unreasonable, at this point at least. KO is probably a better passer, but RF is certainly more mobile and is a legitimate threat to run effectively. The real similarity is that we think there is perhaps a viable chance that both KO and RF are the types of QBs who can just find a way to win despite the fact that neither one of them will ever have elite skills. I will gladly take that any day of the week. RF deserves a chance to prove that he can be that type of quarterback. After seeing the Trent led Bills routinely blow short yardage third down conversions what a welcome change it was to see RF twice convert on QB sneaks against the Jets. Just a detail, but little things can make a world of differrence. Catching the Jets on a quick snap with too many men is a little thing, but it shows good awareness. Little things can win ballgames.

He wasn't hurt until well into game 3. Went 7-9 the year before with losses to such powerhouses as the Browns, KC, SF49s and, oh yeah, the Bills. The point is not that CP is not a great QB. The point is simply that the team was not much good. At least RFs 13 points were good enough to win a game for a change.

And Carson Palmer was 0-4 on that same team.

You are right in pointing out that JP and TE are completely different characters. Still, and especially for this reason, I find it strange that in some respects they wind up looking alike, and not just in terms of general ineffectiveness - for example being unable to accurately throw a short pass to a running back. One of Trent's attributes was supposed to be pinpoint accuracy. You are also right about it having to do with leadership. Players need it and naturally you look to your quarterback to provide it on offence. I can remember an in game sound bite where Randy Moss was desperately imploring Daunte Culpepper to "lead us" with tears in his eyes. Daunte was looking at him like he was out of his mind, but I think the point is still valid. Trent doesn't look like much of a leader right now. I suppose it doesn't help his confidence either when TO drops a perfectly placed 40 yard bomb and guaranteed TD.