Tasker

Playing Nall while JP is healthy is damaging to JP's progress and our ability to accurately evalutate JP's future this off season. So you better have some strong reasons for thinking Nall is more likely than JP to be our QB of the future. Holcomb hurt us in this way last year, and I don't want to see a lack of patience have it happen again this year. Especially when Nall hasn't shown enough to move up the depth chart to #2 so far... We can make a decision after the season if JP is not going to be a good QB, and if we have to go in another direction, but there is no solution this year which is better for the Bills than being patient, and I still believe JP has a good chance of becoming a good QB. I'd much rather draft and sign great lineman than take a QB gamble (we won't be high enough for Quinn anyway) and start again, so I sure hope I'm right and we see some maturing in the next 8 games.

"Feeling like Rob Johnson" is like not drafting an O-Lineman high next year because it "feels like Mike Williams". We can certainly learn from some comparisons to RJ, but this is a different player on a different team and different circumstances. Brett Favre's numbers and talents were pretty similar to RJ through the first 16 games or so. And we know how different those two turned out. I think JP has the physical tools and mental toughness to become a very good QB. He needs to develop the decision making and precision, and do so fairly quickly, because that is what always separates good QBs from bad QBs. Whether RJ progressed on those attributes or not does not impact whether JP will. JP will have more experience and a better line if he is our opening day starter in 2007. If he progresses with decision making and precision throughout this year (not play to play or game to game, but the general trend on the year) he has an excellent chance of developing into a good QB. If he stalls completely then we might have to choose another direction this offseason. But I'm already impressed with his <50% to >60% completion percentage progress despite his month of struggles, and think we could see a lot more progress in the next 8 games and feel pretty good about using our resources this offseason to improve the lines and not the QB position.

I'm completely against this line of reasoning. Contrary to the sound bites of playing to win now, etc., this is a building year, and every decision should be based on what is best for 2007 and 2008. If doing so leads to 10 wins and a playoff berth this year, that's great, because the experience of winning helps develop winning football players. The decision of JP or Nall was decided in the pre-season. A bad month of football by JP (as disappointing as it has been) does not give us any reason to change the evaluation in the preseason that JP is a better option than Nall. Nall had to win it in camp to have a chance, and otherwise needs to sit at #3 (I wish #2) until after the season. I don't think anything has come to light in these 8 games that shows us that we were clearly wrong evaluating JP, and instead are just showing that our fans are impatient and not willing to experience the growing pains that are the reality of this year. It is possible that someone among JP, Evans, Ko, Dante, etc. will not work out and we will have to replace them in our plans, but for right now we have to take some lumps and growing pains with our young players as long as the coaching evaluation is that they have enough talent and potential to become good football players.

If JP isn't our guy I can live with that after this season, but I am on the JP bandwagon, and I want that on record during his crappiest month right now. 1) What was the time held on each of those sacks? Pennington got beaten pretty quickly on one, Villareal did a turnstile on another. Not sure on each of the others. Taking a mobile quarterback and trying to calm him down and make him go through his reads is a tough change, and I think the pendulum has swung too far and he needs to both step up in the pocket better and scramble under pressure better. Fortunately I think those things come naturally to him, and will be easier to get back. I think more than how long he holds on I'm concerned on him not switching targets fast enough and locking on. That is something that is a concern, and is something he could get past, but is also something that could last his career and hold him back. 2) Accuracy is another crucial one, and has me worried at some levels. It's a little like a pitcher in baseball who doesn't throw strikes, and it is something he has to improve quickly. His actual completion percentage is good this year. I don't know if he badly misses more or less often than other QBs, but I sure notice each time and get frustrated. I think this will be something he can continue to progress with, and he has improved from under 50% last year to over 60% this year, so hopefully that also represents better actual throwing accuracy, and not just circumstance. 3) Clock awareness is an easy fix with experience, and while I don't like it, I don't think it has anything to do with the QB he will be over the next five years or more. Worries me much less than most other concerns.

Agreed. I think Minnesota is better than Green Bay, and they went away with a loss. Buffalo doesn't need melodrama now. We need to work on developing young football players and learning the new system the coaches have in place, and executing better football. Winning games is a very valuable experience, so I don't buy draft position being greater than winning. This team most needs to have a positive game and pick up a win in a winnable home game while playing good football.

Peters is the big piece of this puzzle right now because he has terrific upside and could be a long term anchor we have needed, but it is still not certain. Pennington is a big young question mark who I am rooting for, but is way too soon to get a grasp on or have huge expectations. Fowler is decent, but I think Gandy and Villareal are on the hot seat, and I would love to see the possibilities to upgrade these positions with free agents and the draft. If the two young tackles work out, our team is really much better off for the next couple years than people think.

Last I checked there are 32 teams in the NFL, each of which have a #1 receiver. So Evans needs to be the 16th best receiver to be an above average #1. I'm not saying he is there yet, but naming three guys better than him doesn't make him incapable. I think that Evans does have #1 receiver ability, but is going to struggle when the team is not effective protecting the quarterback and does not have other receiving threats. He will grow with this team and be the #1 if that is where he is penciled in, and be a great #2 if we get someone better than him (not a priority in my mind). He reminds me most of Steve Smith. I don't know if he will emerge to that incredible level that Smith has in Carolina, but he still has time. He has outperformed Smith by any measure through his first two seasons, and Smith did not have a breakout season until last year his *sixth*, playing for a Super Bowl caliber team. By that standard Lee has until 2008 to get there, and settling in with his personal QB (Manning-Harrison) could keep us on that pace. We need better talent on both lines, and better play and from the other positions as they gain experience. We have an outstanding core of young players, and if Peters can emerge, and we can get something out of Triplett and eventually McCargo, we have fewer holes to plug than it would appear.

Starters: Unless we are talking about a final game of the season that means the difference between Reggie Bush and Mario Williams (whoops...that wasn't the Reggie Bush Bowl after all), or the difference between Julius Peppers and Mike Williams, I would always rather win than lose, and rather go 6-10 than 4-12. Some of the 50 guys on this year's team will actually be back next year as our foundation, and 30 small slices of winning experience are more valuable than two slots in an inexact science draft. I don't know how things will pan out, but if we play well 7-9 seems like a reasonable goal. Right now I'm most interested in the third win, because you always have to get that before the fourth. Green Bay, Houston, Jets, Miami, and Tennessee are all winnable games. The problem is that so was Detroit, and we know how that worked out. On the flip side Minnesota should not have been a winnable game and we came away with that, so I don't view Jax, SD, and Baltimore as unwinnable (and hope we come to play against Indy too, but I'd keep my Bills pride away from the bookies for that one...). How many of those we win remains to be seen. Winning all five winnable games seems a little unlikely for this team which has already lost to the Jets and Lions, but if the team gets on a roll it and/or an upset in one of the other games is possible. Like many people, I look for progress and growth as more important right now than final record or draft position. We knew 2006 was going to be a learning experience and a tough season. Our hopes now are that the learning experience moves fast enough for us to have reasonable hopes for a competitive 2007 in year two of the Juaron era.

Would you trade the Bills' o-line for the Broncos' o-line? YES Would you trade the Bills' offensive scheme/coaching for the Broncos'? YES Would you trade McGahee for Bell? Not sure that would be such a good idea

Quick observations before half: 49ers are trying to make the Bills feel good about their Bears loss, down 34-0 in the first half to a Chicago team that has the 72 Dolphins very uncomfortable. Leinart was 1/9 for 12 yards when I started typing this. He just completed five passes in a row, but is still 6/14 and down 21-0 to Green Bay. I'd rather have Cutler than Leinart, but I'd rather have Whitner + JP than either of them and am happy with our #8 pick.

I'm a Bills fan. I don't like hockey, although I will gladly root for the Sabres from a distance in the playoffs.

As the standard blah blah answer, I want the best football player available and not take an inferior player to meet a need. But since we are way to early to actually focus on that part, I would hope we can find a way to get quality linemen on either side of the ball. O-Line is my first choice, and I would rather have a great O-Lineman over a great QB/RB/WR.

Is it something about our San Diego sunshine that lets us be calm an rational? I agree. JP has a very good chance of developing into a good QB and is on pace for what I would have expected this season from him with the young team and weak O-Line. He has been very disappointing in the last three games, and I don't enjoy the struggles, but he will have his ups and downs as he learns the new system with a young team. The Minnesota Vikings would also be 5-1 if JP hadn't beaten them. The JP to Eli comparisons are interesting mostly because Eli is a good QB and nobody wants to take his job and give it to Holcomb or Nall. Nobody says that the Giants should have passed on D'Brick to take Leinart or Cutler. Nobody is checking the standings to see if the Giants have a chance to get Quinn. I don't have any long term attachment or vested interest in JP. I just think he has a good chance of becoming a good player. Following him throughout our young team's building year this year is important, but you have to be ready to have him take some lumps, and then decide *after* the season if there is a better alternative. I sure hope not, because I would like to spend zero draft picks and zero free agent dollars on QBs this winter, and instead improve other areas of our team. I think that JP has the potential to be a winning QB in Buffalo and lead this team back to the playoffs and towards the Super Bowl. The next nine games will serve to collect more evidence to see if this view is right, or if we should change direction after the season at the cost of taking a step backwards and spending more of our limited resources on the position.

Woo Hoo! Good post. I think we elevated our sights for JP and for the team too quickly (not realizing Miami was a bad team), and his progress is much better than any level where I would abandon ship and start looking at the 2007 draft class. The next nine games will tell, but I like his chances.

Backs are pretty easy to replace because: 1) It is hard to run behind a crappy line 2) It isn't that hard to run behind a very good line 3) It is an athletic position that often by the time you are well known for being good, you have been beaten up too much to avoid a decline But Willis is very good, and as long as he plays for us he is one of our strengths. When he isn't available to play for us anymore I will gladly take our chances at replacing him, but he takes way too much abuse around here for the quality of player he is. He is #5 in the NFL in yardage, and nobody has carried more than he has (some will say that the latter is the only reason for the former, but I disagree). He has a better yards per carry than Larry Johnson, and the same as Ladainian Tomlinson and a better longest run than LJ or Tiki Barber. And he has done this for a struggling offense and a terrible O-Line. So let's hurry and run him out of town right now, instead of respecting his ability and contributions for a young struggling team. I'll take a Super Bowl win any way we can get it and have no great support for Willis on a personal level (I'm not a fan of the personalities that come out of The U), but if Bellicek were hired as coach I bet he'd want Willis to stay his running back and would improve other aspects of the team.

I'm a big JP backer, but I think that is a silly comment. When there is a better option to get this team back to the playoffs and try to win a Super Bowl (including the downgrade by the resources we invest in that new opportunity) JP can take a hike. I care much more about the Bills' future than Losman's future if I have to choose. He doesn't have to wait until he is the ONLY one screwing up. But I think that I'd rather have JP's growing pains on this young team than Drew Brees (and his contract dollars I'd rather spend on the O Line) or Matt Leinart (and a hole at safety without Whitner).

Nall is not good enough to be considered right now. We stick with JP for 9 more games, and this off season hope he has improved enough to be solid and not need to waste our resources on starting over. Rooting against JP or calling for his head now is not going to help anything, and this kid has the talent to be a good QB. Despite the struggles of the O-Line and other things he has improved from a 49% completion percentage to a 60% completion percentage. He has the big arm and the running ability even though he hasn't been using them much recently. He has fewer INTs than Kitna, Eli Manning, Frye, Grossman, Rothleisberger, McNair, Harrington, Plummer, and Hasselback. I don't think his fumbles are something he cannot cure, but he better keep two damn hands on the ball until he is ready to throw from now on. He has five lost fumbles, which are more than Brady's 2, McNabb's 2, Delhomme's 3, Brees's 2, Favre's 3, Pennington's 2, Palmer's 4, Grossman's 2, Carr's 3, Huard's 4, Warner's 3, but all those numbers show that lost fumbles are a part of QB life, especially when blindsided, as depressing as each one actually is. Imagine what would have been written here if it was JP instead of Brady to give up the ball and 7 points on the first play of the season... JP needs to do better, has played terribly at times, and has been frustrating. He can't fall back on excuses of youth and lack of experience, but I still expect him to get much better as he plays more (unlike Holcomb, for example). The kid has the ability to be a good QB, and I hope that he can progress consistently over the next 9 games and get a lot of support from the Bills faithful. Having this kid work out and be our QB of the future is a much faster way to winning and success than starting over this off season and spending draft picks or free agent dollars on an area that we hoped to have covered. I think he needs a very critical and realistic appraisal after this season in case he is not our QB of the future in the end, but until then I'm going to be behind him all the way whether beating Minnesota or getting smoked by Chicago and New England.

Or, we could get a quality lineman with the pick? Maybe Evans, Price, Reed, and Roscoe can get the job done if we address the team's weakness? I don't view QB, LB, Safety, RB, WR, K, P, ST, or DE as areas we need to focus on. DT with Triplett underperforming McCargo out for the year would be area #2, and O-Line is priority #1. That said, I've always been a fan of taking the best football player available in most cases.

Pretty fast I think, because he was untouched for his first 40. Might have to find out about his 60 time.

I don't think we are desperate because of the record, because I think this season is more about how we play than the record. But I do think we are desperate because of how we played. It might sound strange, but I would prefer a solid progressing 2-5 to a crappy lucky 3-4 right now. The problem is we have a crappy 2-5 which is even worse. The reality is we probably should have lost to the Bears and New England even if we had played reasonably well. But we should have played much better in each of those games, played pretty terrible football, and on top of it lost to a Detroit team that we should have beaten. That's why I don't mind the inexperienced but potential upside young players playing above the mediocre veterans. I'm still sticking with my JP should get 16 starts and worry about it after the season. Nall just isn't a good enough alternative to even consider a in season move. This isn't Bledsoe (past) for Romo (future), but is one talented young uncertainty (Losman) for another less talented less young less certain (Nall), which I think is a no thanks for me. Jauron's job is to teach this young team the offense and defense they are going to run, and have them get better and grow over the course of the season, whatever the record is. Things looked good in that regard for the first four games (despite two frustrating losses in winnable games), but have looked much worse over the last three games.

I like these moves. Peters *might* become a very good left tackle, and this is one way to find out. Gandy does not have this possibility, and I can't see him fitting into our long term plans. Pennington has some good potential, and seeing him in action seems worthwhile. I like him more than Butler from the limited I know. I'm surprised Preston doesn't enter into the shuffle mix as part of a youth movement, but I guess he hasn't been impressing coaches with his play recently. I like getting Peters on the LT side as our OLineman with the most potential. I think that JP can handle rookie mistakes from Pennington at RT more than he could handle incompetence from Gandy at LT. Keeping both hands on the football would be a step towards reducing fumbles, but when pressure comes from the right side and he can see it better, he can use his mobility more to escape it. I'm glad for the shakeup. We need to identify the core pieces of this team that can grow into a playoff contender in 2007, and do our best to use this season to get those pieces in place.

I'm going to go with the New England Patriots as the answer to this one. I'm very disappointed with many individual aspects of our play, and wanted us to play a better game, be competitive, and hopefully play a great game and pull the upset. But New England is a better team than us, and if we think otherwise we are kidding ourselves. This team should be 4-3 with wins against the Jets and Lions, but the losses against New England and the Bears are losses to better teams. We let one potential upset get away opening weekend, and we let two games that could have been competitive turn into blowouts in the other two, and that is from us underachieving. But even if we play quality football (and nothing special) we lose all three of those games to superior teams who we should tip our caps to and move on as a young improving team. Our issue is not who is to blame for the loss, which is acceptable and part of this season (90% of us predicted 6-10 losses on the season), but instead why are we not progressing in certain areas, and how we can get back on track to being an improving young football team, instead of just a bad young football team.

I am in complete agreement. I'm am very disappointed with his last couple games, and he needs to improve a lot, but trying to make a decision before the season is even halfway over is crazy. Unless you really think Nall is the answer, JP needs to get all 16 starts, ups and downs included. And if you really think Nall is the answer, he should have been the guy out of camp. This team has a lot of other issues, the biggest being the O-Line. I really hope JP can recover from his rough stretch continue to build on some of the positives from earlier in the season, and we don't have to use our off season resources (Draft or FA) on a QB and take another step backwards. In my judgment he can salvage the season and become a good NFL QB, and for the sake of the Bills I really hope so. He has had a bad couple weeks for a not so good team, but I'm still encouraged by the positives he has shown (including a completion % of over 60%), and think he will be able to get back on track and grow over the next 9 games, and we can go into this winter without a question mark at QB, with all of our young players with a learning year under their belt, and devoting all of our resources to improving other critical areas.

<sarcasm>Doesn't everyone understand that it makes for much more exciting talk radio to say "Yeah, it is going to take a while, our team isn't going to be good this year, and we have to be patient with JP all season long and make any evaluations after the season."?</sarcasm>

I'm very very disappointed with the loss in Detroit and JPs play. I wanted to be 3-3 right now, and we are 2-4 instead (we are not a 4-2 team yet, but that would have been cool). We do need patience this year, but the stuff that went wrong on Sunday was way to frustrating. I don't blame Marv at this point. I think that Hutchinson wouldn't have gotten the job done, and would probably have cost too much for his value. Our line needs to be improved, no doubt about it, but we DID draft two lineman. We would have drafted D'Brick, but nobody else was worth #8 to us. McCargo for who might have been available there at OLine? Maybe, but DTackle was a place we needed to address, and if Kyle hadn't exceeded expectations this would be an even bigger weakspot. This team needs to fight to get better every week and get some damn wins, but this year's team ultimately will be judged on how they build towards a successful 2007 team (and beyond), not whether we are 6-10, 7-9, 8-8, or 9-7. Right now we have 10 big games to get things going in the right direction. Every year there is a team or two who starts so so and finishes stronger than anybody expected, and that has to be our goal.