Orton's Arm

Agreed. However, if they can see for themselves based on Losman's practices that he won't pan out, there's no need to show the rest of the league the same problems. Better to let them believe the sole reason for Losman's continued presence on the bench is how well Holcomb is playing, so that someone will give us a 2nd round pick for him. This rings true. I have the feeling that even if he solves this problem for most games, it will rear its ugly head in important ones.

Or they could trade up to get Mathias Kiwanuka. But I have to admit I wouldn't mind having a significant upgrade from Gandy.

How many 15 yard outs have you seen called where the guy was open, the QB had time to throw the ball, and Holcomb chose to dump it off instead?

If the Bills lose enough games, maybe their record will get them that top 3 pick. The above plan is flexible, but by the end of the draft's first day I want the Bills to have used at least two picks on the offensive line, and three picks on the defensive line. I don't know that taking an offensive lineman very early in the draft would be their best move, because Gandy and Williams aren't the main problem with the line, and you wouldn't take a guard with a top-10 pick.

If, by the end of this year, Losman isn't dominating in practice or showing flashes of ability in whatever games he's in, I'd trade him away for a 2nd round pick. I'd also franchise Clements, then trade him away for a first round pick. My draft would look like this: 1a. DT 1b. (from Clements) edge-rushing DE 2a. DT 2b. (from Losman) OG 3a. OLB (an upgrade to Posey) 3b. (from Henry) OG 4. SS (Lawyer Milloy isn't getting any younger) 5. QB 6. Offensive RT (Greg Jerman isn't the answer at backup RT) 7. CB The starting offensive line for next season would be Gandy, 2nd round pick, Preston, 3rd round pick, Mike Williams. Assuming the draft picks worked out, the team would be quite strong along both the offensive and defensive lines. A young player like Eric King could take the place of Clements, with the 7th round pick providing depth. I know it's a downgrade at the CB position, but that's the price you pay for upgrading elsewhere.

Or a step to better draft position. At least the team played with pride; an attitude which reflects well on the coaching staff, and which will hopefully carry over into next year.

I take it you haven't been reading your own posts?

I understand and respect your position, even though my opinion is different. I remember that after JP missed a simple throw to a wide-open Moulds in a game, he admitted to having missed the same throw in practice. Compare JP's practice situation to Carson Palmer's. In the rookie year Palmer spent on the bench, he gradually became completely dominant in practice. In the final 6 - 10 weeks he was looking like a real pro. Yes, he made his share of mistakes in his first few starts, but he eventually learned to carry his good performance in practice over to games. If Losman can't hit that basic throw to Moulds in practice--and hit it consistently--he doesn't belong in the game. If he can't make the throw consistently by the end of this year--or at most by the end of next--the Bills should trade him away.

Yeah, I'm sure his checking down has nothing to do with the terrible pass protection we've seen.

You are right. No black person ever became addicted to pain pills, and no white person ever bought recreational drugs off a drug dealer on a street corner.

And you can't even capitalize it!

I have a close-up shot of the bionic arm. It's actually the pointer finger that's extended, not the middle finger.

Given that you've demonstrated little or no grammatical ability, why should I believe that your opinion about football is so much better than that of someone like Buftex? Buftex writes more eloquently than you, and yet you question his intelligence.

In your one-line post, you committed five grammatical mistakes.

Bledsoe couldn't even spell the phrase "avoid pass rush," yet he didn't miss significant playing time due to injury while he was here. I also expect our line to improve over the second half of the season, much like it improved over the second half of last season.

He's got a strong arm, and throws the ball with plenty of zip. But he was very inconsistent about throwing the ball accurately. There were a few good throws, to get your hopes up, and to let you imagine what things would be like if all his passes were that way. But more often the pass would be inaccurate.

It's not like either Favre or Limbaugh went out to some street corner looking for coke. They both had medical conditions which required pain pills. I've had a conversation with a doctor about the Limbaugh situation, and some people are easily addicted to pain pills. (The doctor in question thinks Limbaugh is a loudmouth who oversimplifies and distorts his opponents' point of view.) Medically, an addiction is an addiction, whether it be someone who smokes, or who needs coffee in the morning to function, or who is addicted to pain pills, or who is addicted to crack. But on a social level, there's a huge difference between a guy who becomes addicted to medicine he's taking for legitimate purposes, and someone who seeks out illegal recreational narcotics.

When Flutie came here and worked his magic, he was several years older than Holcomb is now. Holcomb could QB the Bills for the next 4 - 7 years.

Or your crush on big men who pound the ball forward . . .

Buftex sure doesn't seem stupid to me. As for myself, I've been a fan of this team for a long time. A long enough time to remember the 2nd round pick we spent on Todd Collins, the 3rd round pick on Billy Joe Hobart (what was Butler thinking?), the first and fourth rounders for QB of the future Rob Johnson, the 1st round pick for Bledsoe, and now the second, fifth, and first round picks for J.P. Losman. Now we have a guy on the roster who gets rid of the ball quickly, and whose QB rating with the Bills says he's the real deal. Kelly Holcomb is the best reason we have right now to hope that the decade-long search for a QB may finally be ended.

Of course the Bills aren't going to the playoffs this year, no matter who they have at QB. Because whether Losman plays this year or not, Holcomb will probably be the better QB next year, and the year after, and the year after that. His QB rating with the Bills has been quite impressive. Play him the rest of the year to see whether he can keep it up, or whether he'll turn out to be a flash in the pan. Giving Losman the next eight games will put us in a stronger position to know if he's the right QB for next year, but a weaker position to know about Holcomb. I think people would be a lot more open to the idea of Holcomb's potential to be the QB of the future if we hadn't invested all those picks in Losman.

I'm somehow getting the feeling you're not a Brady fan. Maybe it's just me . . .

I can only speak for myself, but I'm more curious about whether Holcomb can continue to play as well as he has been than about whether Losman can begin to play adequately.

Deja vu would have been the QB sitting on the bench in the 3rd quarter with his head down, the game just about out of reach, and all hope gone. At least this time it was exciting until the end.

It's good that the offense kept the defense off the field, bad that it didn't turn into points. As has been pointed out in other threads, the red zone troubles were largely a result of drops by receivers and insufficient attention to the running game in the red zone. If a QB has great pass protection, even a great secondary usually won't be able to stop him. If a QB has terrible pass protection, even a terrible secondary usually will. Holcomb had terrible protection. Absolutely terrible. Yeah, his propensity to avoid sacks, and his 92 passer rating for 2005, sure are a step down from Bledsoe and the passer rating in the 70s he had last year. What, precisely, has Losman done to earn the right to call this his team?