JPL7

No easy solution to Bills' QB conundrumBy Ken Moll Scouts Inc. When there's no clear-cut answer at quarterback, deciding on a starter is one of the toughest calls for any football team. That is exactly the situation facing the Bills as the regular season nears. Let's take a close look at who might be at the helm for Buffalo in 2006. Barring injury, the competition is between Kelly Holcomb (a 33-year-old undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee State) and J.P. Losman (a 25-year-old first-rounder in 2004 out of Tulane). Craig Nall, an offseason acquisition from Green Bay, was expected to be in the mix as well, but a left hamstring injury has forced him to miss significant time in camp. I can speak firsthand about Holcomb, as I scouted for the Browns during his three-year stint in Cleveland. Despite his even-keeled personality, Holcomb is an intense, competitive player with excellent work ethic. He is very tough and will play nicked up. Midway through his sophomore season in college, he broke his jaw on a goal-line play. He finished the game in a losing effort. After missing the next game only because he couldn't fit his helmet over his swollen cheekbones, Holcomb returned to action with his jaw wired shut and led the Blue Raiders to a 10-3 mark and a postseason berth. Middle Tennessee State has not been to postseason play since he departed Murfreesboro, Tenn. Holcomb is a career 60 percent-plus passer who has the arm strength, instincts and decision-making ability to win in the NFL. He had several excellent outings with Cleveland, including a 429-yard, three-touchdown playoff performance in inclement weather against Pittsburgh in 2003. He showed flashes of being a solid quarterback in 2005 as he threw for over 1,500 yards at a 67 percent completion rate. Losman is a young, up-and-coming quarterback with a stronger arm and better wheels than Holcomb. Losman is a California kid who has much more of an edge. He is a tough, competitive player, but it has been said that he could rub his coaches and teammates the wrong way while at Tulane. Losman has many tools, but his decision-making and overall leadership skills need to develop to make him a topflight quarterback. Losman had several excellent games at Tulane (as a senior he threw for more than 3,000 yards with 33 TDs and only 14 INTs), but also had the occasional clunker. With the Bills last season, Losman mostly struggled. He had as many interceptions as touchdowns (eight) and his completion percentage was under 50 percent, which is unacceptable. Head coach Dick Jauron has to consider a number of variables before he decides who will be under center on opening day versus New England. Can the new offensive line jell under coach Jim McNally? Will the addition of fullback Alan Ricard (a solid blocker for Jamal Lewis in Baltimore) help Willis McGahee live up to his potential? How well will the defense play with one of its best players, Takeo Spikes, coming off an Achilles injury? Jauron could go the safer route and choose the more experienced Holcomb, or take his chances with Losman, a young gun who has the potential to develop into a top-tier quarterback. Until a decision is made, uncertainty surrounding the most important position on the field will loom over Bills camp.

Updated: Aug. 10, 2006 Losman should get QB call By Michael Smith ESPN.com Archive CHARLOTTE, N.C. Here are five observations on the Bills based on their Aug. 12 preseason game against the Panthers: 1. It was painfully (that is, if you love the Bills) obvious why the team really has no choice other than to go with J.P. Losman as its quarterback. The reason behind the decision can be summed up in a word: upside. Kelly Holcomb is what he is: a smart backup quarterback who once in a while can give you a big game. But he's immobile and he can't get the ball downfield. And throwing picks that are returned for touchdowns doesn't help, either. At least Losman, with his athleticism, gives you the big-play element. A couple of times against the Panthers he did a nice job avoiding sacks that Holcomb would have taken. Losman's mobility is going to come in handy given the state of the Bills' offensive line. And he has a live arm. His problem besides his inexperience (eight career starts) is his tendency to squeeze the ball and short hop it to his intended receivers. Obviously, that has to be corrected. It's time for the Bills to swallow their pill, stop patching holes in their lineup, and develop their young players, starting with the quarterback. And unlike last year, when the position was handed to him, it'll help Losman's confidence if he has to win the starting job. His teammates will respect him more if he does. It's not officially his, but for the long-term health of the franchise, Losman has to be the guy this year if they're going to know whether he is indeed the QB of the future. 2. Takeo Spikes didn't play against Carolina but there's a strong chance he'll be in the lineup for the opener Sept. 10 at New England. Now it might take a little while longer for the old Spikes, coming off a torn Achilles suffered in the third game last season, to return, but a team official estimates he'll at least be back to about 85 percent by then and able to play. In training camp, Spikes has shown more burst to the ball than the official expected. It's mostly a matter at this point of Spikes' trusting his body. Once Spikes heals completely, he should thrive in new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell's version of the Tampa 2. 3. While Troy Vincent gives the Bills' defense flexibility in pass coverage, the former-corner-turned-free-safety's days as a starter could be numbered. That's because fourth-round pick Ko Simpson is enjoying a strong training camp. Simpson is physical, can cover, and has good ball skills. Keep in mind that Vincent still is relatively new to playing safety (he moved there at the end of the 2004 season) while Simpson, albeit on the college level, started every game at South Carolina. It's only a matter of time before first-rounder Donte Whitner assumes the strong safety duties from Matt Bowen (who suffered a leg injury against the Panthers). Don't be surprised if the Bills go with two rookie safeties and let them start growing up together sooner rather than later. Whitner had a team-high five tackles Saturday night. Not bad for a guy who arrived late to camp because of prolonged contract negotiations. Either way the Bills go at free safety, they are deep in the secondary. They've been impressed with all of their draft choices in the defensive backfield (corner Ashton Youboty, taken in the third round, should have had a pick against the Panthers) while veteran sub corner Jabari Greer is making a lot of plays in camp. Buffalo has a solid duo of starting corners in Nate Clements and Terrence McGee. The Bills should be pretty good against the pass. 4. Buffalo probably won't jump back into the top five defensively, but there's a lot to like about the Bills' defensive line. Seriously, with the Bills' new emphasis on speed, the return of Spikes, and the young talent the team brought in through the draft, the defense will rebound from last year and keep this team in some games. Up front the Bills are pretty good at end with vets Chris Kelsay, Aaron Schobel and Ryan Denney, all "high-motor" guys. They should have an interesting rotation at tackle. Free-agent-pickup Larry Tripplett and Tim Anderson are the starters but first-rounder John McCargo and fifth-rounder Kyle Williams will push for playing time. Buffalo is smaller inside than it has been in recent years so keeping those tackles fresh will be key. McCargo and Williams both played well Saturday night. McCargo showed good hand technique and got good penetration. Williams, a two-year starter at LSU, could turn out to be a steal. He's 6 feet, 295 pounds -- one of those fire-hydrant type guys. He's got a nose for the football. "He's one of those guys who doesn't look a lot different than he did in college," head coach Dick Jauron said of Williams after the game. 5. Peerless Price arrived in camp as probably the No. 4 or even No. 5 receiver but he's shown enough to perhaps warrant a starting spot opposite Lee Evans. Josh Reed is having a good camp, an early drop against Carolina not withstanding, but really is an underneath guy who'll catch a 6-yard pass and fight for the other yard on third-and-7. The Bills have to find a way to get the ball into little Roscoe Parrish's hands. Mike Mularkey wanted him to be the Bills' Antwaan Randle El, but now it's up to Jauron and offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild to figure out how to showcase Parrish's speed in the offense. It's going to be interesting to see how Evans does without Eric Moulds demanding the ball and double teams.

anyone know or have any personal reports??

QB: JP Nall Kingsbury RB: McGahee Thomas Williams FB: Shelton Goldsberry WR: Evans Price Reed Parrish Nance Aiken TE: Royal Everett Cieslak OT: Peters Gandy Gibson Butler OG: Villarrail Reyes Preston OC: Fowlers Geisinger DE: Schobel Kelsay Word Denney DT: Tripplett Anderson McCargo Williams OLB: Spikes Posey Crowell Stamer ILB: Fletcher Watson Haggan CB: Clements McGee Youboty King Greer SS: Whitner Bowen FS: Vincent Simpson K: Rian Lindell P: Brian Moorman LS: Mike Schneck Practice Squad: Fred Jackson (RB) Martin Nance (WR) Aaron Merz © Terrence Pennington (T) Keith Ellison (LB) Joshua Cooper (DE) Jason Jefferson (DT) Kiwaukee Thomas (CB) What say you??

is it 8 ppl on the squad? or am i completely off. haha! also what makes a player eligible to be on the PS? if i remember correctly u can only be in the league X amount of years or have X amount of experience, etc. thanks!!

anyone know if mike kudla (DE from OSU) was signed by anyone?

y didnt we take Wright over Williams? we already have a Williams type in Tim Anderson. the risk-reward possibility for Wright is huge.

no its not brilliant. the problem isnt whether or not we got fleeced on that mcgargo deal. its about even moving up in the first place to get him. when he easily would have been there at 42 and wed still have our picks. thats the problem.

could ppl please explain to me why we "need" a TE so bad?? we have some young solid guys there already. people who keep saying, i wanna smack. please tell me what im missing!

what do u guys think of these two guys? id love to see the bills take both of them in the 4th or 5th if avaliable. any word about these two from the rest of the board?

didnt he say he doesnt wanna coach anymore?

anyone know?? we still have some needs Marv. a DT, O-Line help, backup RB, another WR. also is there anyone worth anything on the FA wire to fill these needs???

i agree with you man! he was a complete d!ck during the interview. he really does not seem interested in being a Bill.

any new updates about good old Fabini? any word on how his visit went?

with our line id have to disagree with you. i dont care who you are, if you have 4 guys in your face 2 seconds after u snap the ball, u will not be efficent. look at what the steelers all out blitz on manning did to him in the playoffs. the line looked like a turnstile (similar to ours) and mannings played showed that. im not at all saying that was just b/c of the colts line being bad or even manning "choking" as many like to say. ill give credit where credit is due, the steelers played manning and the colts perfectly. but u see my point! if ur line is swiss cheese, ur quarterback will struggle.

ill discuss it all day...... trust me. i just wont waste my time with people who are going to flame away with lame points as it seems like so many people on here do. and plus i know im right! if someone wants to prove me wrong go a head. but i just dont see it being possible. i know i may sound like a conceited prick, but im just being brutally honest. so dont say im a tard, when im right and just dont want to be bothered with flame comments. its nice to see that there are quite a few of us out there who are on the same page. i was losing faith in many bills fans. this has made my day, reading your guys responses. GO BILLS! GOOD LUCK JP!

ok, first off before i get flamed on by a number of you, lets get this straight. i am not a JP lover nor am I a JP hater. i am what every single one of us on this board should be and that is a JP supporter. now what exactly does that mean u may ask? that means i am supporting a young, raw talented QB who has been given no time to develop or show what he can or cannot do. those of you out there who say JP sucks (not just in Bills land, but to all who have said this) how do u know?????? he has played a total of what 8 games in 2 years and your telling me, u can judge from that if this kid can play or not??? and not only that he has played behind a block of swiss cheese for a line. i dont care who u put back there, you will NOT succeed. throw Vick, Manning, Brees, Brady, u name them and they will at best struggle. let alone a kid who basically missed an entire year due to injury and was yanked a handful of games into the season last year by a coaching staff who was scared to lose there jobs and let a kid develop. now i am by no means stating that he will blow the league up and be the next Brett Favre either. he may be a bust or just an average QB down the road. thats just it, i dont know, you dont know, nobody knows. a QB should be given a minimum 3 years to show what he is worth. and considering jp basically missed all of his rookie year, as far as im concerned he has one year minimum and more likely two years, to truly show us what he's got. so to all of you douche bags out there saying we should draft jay cutler or some other QB with our first pick, all i can is Thank the Lord you arent our GM. u know who a lot of people are comparing Cutler too...... someone by the name of JP Losman. so yea lets draft a QB who is compared to someone we already currently have! i mean that wont set us back another 3 years or anything would it?! that makes sense right?! and one more thing, stop wishing/rooting that god damn Kelly Holcomb is going to be our starter. if u think KH is going to lead us anywhere, you are delusional. he has been a journeymen in this league for a reason folks. he was signed to be an insurance policy and tutor to JP, not a frickin starter. KH has the ability to maybe not lose a game, thats it, he will not be the one to win games, let alone on a consistent basis. sure show me the stats from last year, stating KH had better stats then JP with the same line blah blah blah. I would god hope so, hes been in the league for 10 years. and the conservative way he would distribute the ball (lots of screens and short passes) made his stats much better then they really were. JP has much more upside for the long haul. if we dont make the playoffs this year, due to taking our lumps with JP at the helm, then so be it. id rather take our lumps now, then float in mediocrity for another 3 or 4 years. so go a head and flame away at me. but im right and if you guys cant see this, you are blind. please tell me there is someone else out there in bills land who sees things the way i do. i cant be the only realistic person on here can i??

does anyone else find this deal a little odd? like most guys at his age and situation, look sign longer deals to settle in the offense and grow with the team, gain more financial security, etc. anyone know whats behind the 1 year deal?

1) Picking Lewis over Williams would have been the best choice. But how do we know if Lewis wanted to be in Buffalo to begin with or if his asking price was what the Bills were looking for? 2) If JJ would have signed for a reasonable price of course TD would have attempted to keep him. But come on, anyone with half a brain knew he was given a VERY generous deal from the 49ers. He certainly isnt worth that much money and TD knew it. Not signing JJ to that kind of contract was a great non-move. 3) He asked for too much?? More like other teams were low balling us and TD held on as long as he could. Henry rushed for 1,000 yards 2 years in a row, had a high number of TD's during that span and was a pro bowler. Teams were certainly being cheap with us for Henry and felt we would give him away. I think getting a 3rd at the time we did for Henry was a good move by TD. 4) Yea we did struggle, but similair to the JJ situation, TD knew what kind of money PW was asking for was correct in not even thinking of signing him for that mych money. Also Edwards and Anderson were performing well in camp and at the end of last season, its not just the loss of PW that is hurting our defense. Adams has stunk all year, we lost TKO early in the season and the rest of our defense we all found out was highly overrated. 5) He was declining ever so much his last couple years in Buffalo. Sometiems a change of scenery does a player wonders. Hes played well in Chicago, doesnt mean he would have done that well here. 6) I do agree with you on this pick. Ive been scratching my head all along about that one. Considering our needs at o & d-line, this was a porr choice. If the approach was "lets get some weapons around JP"(which the picks of Roscoe and Everett leans towards that) that is all well in good, but how about a big fast WR like Vincent Jackson (who was avaliable at that time)?? We have enough short WR's (Evans, Reed, Smith), dumb choice by TD. Now im not trying to sound like an apologist for TD, b/c I am by no means that. I think some sort of house cleaning needs to be done. Either MM or TD. I think TD has had plenty of time to build a winner, so if he is let go and we start anew, then I'd have no problem with that. But some of the examples you TD haters throw out there are just retarted. If you look at all angles of his different player/coach selections, you can see that there is a method to his madness. He is not always right, but what GM is? All I'm saying, is just look deeper into the various scenarios before spouting off.

Clements, Nate CB (certainly is not worth "top corner money" but if he comes at a reasonable price, u certainly keep him. NC is not as terrible as everyone acts like he is on this board. Though he partially brought the vilification on to himself with him saying he wants top corner money. You want top corner money, play at least like an above average corner. Not middle of the pack corner, like you have been. if he wants to hold out for the big deal, either let him go or franchise him and trade for 2nd rounder) Greer, Jabari CB (keep him, still young and learning the pro game and is cheap) King, Eric CB (see above) Thomas, Kevin CB (unless you can find someone better via FA or the draft, u keep him. lets see what he can do if hes healthy) McGee, Terrence CB (nice to have him locked up) Kelsay, Chris DE (keep for depth if nothing else. not sure who we could get out on the FA wire or in the draft to replae him as a starter. certainly not a position of need to use a first day of the draft pick on. if hes a starter in 06, i wont be disappointed) Denney, Ryan DE (keep for depth purposes and is cheap) Schobel, Aaron DE (nice to have him locked up also, needs to show more consistency though) Sape, Lauvale DT (i can live with or without) Adams, Sam DT (adios.... we need to draft a DT with one of our first two picks) Edwards, Ron DT (will be back, but he isnt worth a major deal by any means, like i believe he thought) Anderson, Tim DT (keep, still young and learning) Bannan, Justin DT (can serve as another depth player, but if someone is out there who is better, he can be replaced) Jefferson, Jason DT (See Sape above) Shelton, Daimon FB (will be back, not blowing up the wholes like we would like, but there many fullbacks out there who can, particularly with the god awful o-line we have not helping either) Burns, Joe FB/RB (live with or without) Lindell, Rian K (playing much better then last year, so we shall keep) Spikes, Takeo LB (leader of the D, of course he will be back) Posey, Jeff LB (dump him and his salary, have crowell be the starter) Haggan, Mario LB (solid backup and great special teamer, keep) Ezekiel, Liam LB (anyone know any reason to get rid of him??) Fletcher, London LB (has been our best player on a weak defense this year) Crowell, Angelo LB (get rid of posey, he should start) Stamer, Josh LB (Ditto of Haggan) Schneck, Mike LS (who??, see yah) Villarrial, Chris OL (keep for one more year, nobody else out there will bring enough bang for the buck like Chris) Williams, Mike OL (not 100% sure about what his cap hit would be if we cut him, but he certainly should not be making the money he is. for the money he makes currently, he needs to either be let go or completely restructure his deal) Teague, Trey OL (peace dude) Anderson, Bennie OL (who else do we bring in? if someone is out there, he is certainly replacable) Gandy, Mike OL (see above or move him to Guard) Jerman, Greg OL (still cant believe he is still on the team, get the hell out) Geisinger, Justin OL (i thought he got cut already? ehh, keep him for cheap depth) Preston, Duke OL (our staring center next year?!) Peters, Jason OL (keep, has played decently, still cant believe we have him at LEFT Tackle! that should tell u something about Big Mike) Moorman, Brian P (all pro, u dont cut him) Losman, JP QB (future of the team) Matthews, Shane QB (he wont be back, find a young QB to ride the pine and come cheap) Holcomb, Kelly QB (keep for an insurance to JP) Gates, Lionel RB (id like to see him back) McGahee, Willis RB (needs to find his burst again, but certainly coming back as our starter next year) Williams, Shaud RB (thought he would be a solid 3rd down or change of pace back, not working out consistently, should be cut) Wire, Coy S (cut) Vincent, Troy S (played solid, should be back for one more year) Baker, Rashad S (solid backup, keep for depth) Leonhard, Jim S (see above) Milloy, Lawyer S (not the player he once was, needs to either restructure his deal or be let go if a replacable player is out there. if he isback next year, i will be fine with that) Neufeld, Ryan TE (see yah) Campbell, Mark TE (will be back) Everett, Kevin TE (eager to see what he can do next season) Euhus, Tim TE (keep for depth, would like to see him get more time and passes his way) Reed, Josh WR (this was probably his best pro season as of yet. should sign fairly cheap, if he isnt willing to sign for a reasonable tag, take a hike. but i believe he will and should be back) Aiken, Sam WR (underachiever, looks like he could be gone) Evans, Lee WR (with a solid WR next to him, should have a big year next season) Wilson, George WR (does it really matter what we do with him? can live with or without) Smith, Jonathan WR (unless someone comes in and impresses, freddie will be back as a number 4 or 5 WR) Moulds, Eric WR (sounds like he wont be back next year, we could use the cap space anyway) Parrish, Roscoe WR (looking forward to seeing him throughout an entire season next year. will be a great #3 WR) PRACTICE SQUAD Oglesby, Evan CB (??) Lee, Rob CB (??) Ritzmann, Constantin (bring back, could make the team next season) Goldsberry, Jon FB (takes burns spot??) Hunter, Wendell LB (??) Ogden, Marques OL (probably sucks! think about it, hes on the practice squad for our o-line. thats all i need to hear) Esposito, Jasen OL (see above) McFarland, Dylan OT (again) Cieslak, Brad TE (who cares) INJURED RESERVE Brantley, Kellen LB (??) Smith, Lawrence OL (bring back for depth)) Sobieski, Ben OL (bye) Vann, LaDaris WR (see yah) Priority of needs: Hit the FA market for one marquee and one above average O-Linemen. Look to the draft for an OT with our first round pick. Plenty of them avaliable this year, grab a future all pro. The line needs an overhaul!! Second round pick should be a DT. Use the two the 3rd rounders to get a DE and WR. The free agent wire should be a real key to rebuilding(yes we are rebuilding). Find established guys at CB, we need a new # 1 or 2 WR, O-line, DE. Get a guy like Travis Minor for a change of pace back to give Willis a break. Time to get a new offensive coordinator also and Donahoe must go. Is Modrak any better? Who knows? I think we need to stay inside the organazation, thus leaving Modrak as the only true candidate. More to come.....

im staying at a place in williamsville.... what are some good places to eat around there guys? thanks

what are somoe recommendations on sports bars to eat around downtown buffalo? also what are some decent hotels that are economically friendly in the greater buffalo metro area? thanks! GO BILLS!

navybillsfan oh calm down with your "is just the lowest" comment. there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a hooker. i personally dont even see why its illegal to be honest with you. if 2 consenting adults want to partake in sexual activity, with one getting paid for the deed, then so what. if a chick wants to make a living banging guys and a guy feels like banging a random woman and wants to pony up some cash for it, then so be it. i personally have never done the deed with a hooker and i dont believe i ever would. but u people who act like paying to have sex is the worst act of all or feel its completely awful, need to get off of your high horse and pipe down. in my opinion paying for sex is no different, then taking a chick out, paying for dinner, paying for a movie and heading back to your place for a night of good times. when people buy sex from hookers, all they are doing is skipping a few of the unnecessary steps. i see absolutely nothing wrong with that. good day sir!

if not, does anyone know when its going to be on?

we are officially qualiafied!!! U.S.A.