Marcus Easley

[Bruce]

I'd love to see Easley rise to the occasion and become the #2.

 

But if he doesn't make it, Donald Jones would be good, too. Or Graham. But I am biased. I'd love all of the Bills players to succeed in Buffalo. I'd like to see David Clowney live up to his potential with the Bills...

[John Cocktosten]

Easly, along with the other WRs (not named Steve/Nelson) are an enormous question mark. Jones has shown next to nothing, Hagan is a career journeyman, Kamar is the one UDFA that everyone falls in love with every year but does nothing, Graham is a smallish rookie and Easly cannot get on the field.

 

This group reminds me of what Buddy did with the OLBs the last couple of years. Throw a bunch of crap at the wall and hope one of them sticks. Well that was an absolute disaster and this 2nd WR problem looks the same. Even if one of them steps up, what happens when they get hurt for a couple of weeks? Back at square one. There are decent enough FAs out there still that he could bring in to compete at least.

[Doc]

Easly, along with the other WRs (not named Steve/Nelson) are an enormous question mark. Jones has shown next to nothing, Hagan is a career journeyman, Kamar is the one UDFA that everyone falls in love with every year but does nothing, Graham is a smallish rookie and Easly cannot get on the field.

 

This group reminds me of what Buddy did with the OLBs the last couple of years. Throw a bunch of crap at the wall and hope one of them sticks. Well that was an absolute disaster and this 2nd WR problem looks the same. Even if one of them steps up, what happens when they get hurt for a couple of weeks? Back at square one. There are decent enough FAs out there still that he could bring in to compete at least.

The #2 WR position was the least of the Bills' problems last year, and even with Jones, who contributed 35 YPG in the first 5 games, was a top-scoring unit for the first 7 games. Injuries to Fitz, the OL, and Freddie, not to mention Stevie playing with a bad groin and Chandler being dinged-up, were the real problems. If they can find a true #2 WR, it will only make things better.

[Astrobot]

Agreed.

 

At WR its all about plan B.

 

Stevie Jounson is clearly plan A (a reasonable one given two straight productive seasons and some specific play such as his undressing of a best in the NFL CB Revis in a couple of games). However he simply has shown a couple of cases of utter immaturity which makes him a bet to be a deserved #1 simply a bet we hope we win rather than a sure thing. The Bills have publicly bet a lot on Johnson as seen by him getting the prominent role in Bills commercials, but as we seen with the all too prominent quandary of injury which wiped out the season of last year's promo poster boy Fred Jackson that this is just a high stakes bet.

 

Fortunately in the Jax case we had a plan B of Spiller whose resume made him a not unreasonable choice to step into the #1 RB slot. He even pproduced at the end of the season like he is the real deal and the Nills have to be feeling good about the uncertainties which simply come with the NFL these days at all positions at RB.

 

However, at WR, we not only have the reasonable uncertainties with the #1, but the #2 role is up in the air.

 

The situation MIGHT work out to be fine. However, it really is going to take at least two players stepping up to occupy roles they never have produced at as NFL players for this to work smoothly.

 

With the ASSUMPTION that Stevie J. has a not unreasonable (but in no way gauranteed maturity transplant and makes sure he does not let down his teammates with mental antics which get him benched (his benching last year after a T-Shirt demo was more than reasonable as he called out both the HC and refs with its innocuous taunt. He really let down his teammates with the selfish antics. Maybe he can reasonably show boat when he (earn a Pro Bowl level berth or even better lead a winning team, but for now he has something to prove.

 

He has the talent to be a legit #1, and he has also shown he is a gamer playing well through injury but the juvenalia has to stop. I think he can do it and apparently the Bills have shown him the money and promoted him prominently as a team leader that they believe in him too. If Johnson fails through injury its a tough break but if he fails through immaturity its on him.

 

Donald Jones- on depth chart as #2, but this is likely in name only as if he performed at the level of a good #4 40+ catches this would be a reasonble step up for him in performance. Has shown none of the mutant production of a traditional #3 like toughness and production in the slot(Parrish actually showed some potential for this mentally but his body could not cash checks his mind wrote)or dynamic speed (another Parrish virtue but again he just got too damaged to be relied upon). Jones to me is a reasonable but in no way gauranteed plan C and as our plan B while stranger things have happened it is nothing at all to depend on.

 

Nelson- I actually like him as the potential big surprise at a plan B level. The problem is that this would be a surprising and enormous step up for him. He had some nice highlights last year and a couple of his grabs showed some bigtime potential. However, the distance betweem doing this in nice episodes and doing thie consistently is huge. Here is another player who would be nicely advancing his career and play if he turned out to be a solid #3 at the end of the season, but we are looking for a #2.

 

Marcus Easley- potential simply means you have not done anything yet. Nice demographics in terms of sixe, speed, and college resume, but how someone can count on him to be the @2 seems little more than wishful hoping.

 

TJ Graham- An interesting pick and it really is impossible to accuratelu predict what will happen until we see not only whether the raw talent which both saw the Bills trade up to get him but many pundit idiots had him as a probable 6th round pick. One cannot teach speed (without regard to what Don Beebe makes nickels doing and Graham's collegiate record gives some credibility that IF the scouts saw something he MIGHT be a credible pick by the Bills. However, even this is a big MAYBE and again counting on any rook to be the #2 WR is a huge longshot at best.

 

A cast of others- There are a number of guys who might contribute on ST or career reliable back-ups who are late season fill-ins when injury bites like a Namaan Roosevelt but I see nothing here that excites me as potential A, B. Cs, or even plan D players.

 

I think this might work if a couple of guys really step up. I just doubt that it will work bacl in reality.

Excellent post. This is why I come to this board. Keep it up!

[3rdand12]

The #2 WR position was the least of the Bills' problems last year, and even with Jones, who contributed 35 YPG in the first 5 games, was a top-scoring unit for the first 7 games. Injuries to Fitz, the OL, and Freddie, not to mention Stevie playing with a bad groin and Chandler being dinged-up, were the real problems. If they can find a true #2 WR, it will only make things better.

Doc i think the play calling may have made the Offense look better then the players last year. Chan is purty good with a "get the most out of" what little he has had to work with at times.

But a point to consider when i critique the bunch of castaways minus TJ, is that Buffalo did very little to bring in Receivers this off season.

Think they know something that is not obvious to the rest of us?

That would not surprise me. Well, maybe a little and a pleasant surprise i hope

[Donald Duck]

Doc i think the play calling may have made the Offense look better then the players last year. Chan is purty good with a "get the most out of" what little he has had to work with at times.

But a point to consider when i critique the bunch of castaways minus TJ, is that Buffalo did very little to bring in Receivers this off season.

Think they know something that is not obvious to the rest of us?

That would not surprise me. Well, maybe a little and a pleasant surprise i hope

 

Nix/Gailey have high expectations for Marcus Easley in my opinion and myself personally, I think it did figure into the equation when it comes to the Draft/FA. Easley knows the offense, he's already developed some chemistry with Bills signal callers and Marcus Easley is ready to take the next step.

 

I love this kid and expect big things from him...

[Doc]

Doc i think the play calling may have made the Offense look better then the players last year. Chan is purty good with a "get the most out of" what little he has had to work with at times.

But a point to consider when i critique the bunch of castaways minus TJ, is that Buffalo did very little to bring in Receivers this off season.

Think they know something that is not obvious to the rest of us?

That would not surprise me. Well, maybe a little and a pleasant surprise i hope

I agree play-calling helped; but that's still going to be there this year. Beyond that though, the Bills DO have some good talent on offense. If they can afford Fitz better/longer protection, and can avoid having the numerous injuries (although depth there looks to be improved), they can replicate what they did in the first half of the season, even if the #2 WR's job is as a decoy to draw a safety away, which I suspect it will be.

[3rdand12]

^^Gentlemen both, i suspect and have absurdly high hopes that our O line will be something to see this year, and with proper application of Fred and CJ we will have more than enough weapons to keep defenses off balance. Chan has got to be excited this year with all he can/could/should call out of the book. we have almost every matchup potential covered. and we haven't even equated the awesomeness the defense might provide. Great time to be a Bills fan!

ps i think TJ will not just be a decoy but an honest to goodness threat in time.

Edited June 3, 2012 by 3rdand12

[Doc]

^^Gentlemen both, i suspect and have absurdly high hopes that our O line will be something to see this year, and with proper application of Fred and CJ we will have more than enough weapons to keep defenses off balance. Chan has got to be excited this year with all he can/could/should call out of the book. we have almost every matchup potential covered. and we haven't even equated the awesomeness the defense might provide. Great time to be a Bills fan!

ps i think TJ will not just be a decoy but an honest to goodness threat in time.

With his speed, he can be a real threat. The questions are; will teams jam him, if so can he beat it, and can Fitz take advantage of his speed?

[UpperDeck]

Put me in the "have high hopes" category for Easley. He has all the tools but has had bad luck. I don't consider him fragile for the one season ending injury and a freak illness that is now cured. As far as us putting him on IR too soon last year I have faith that the medical team did the right thing. Plus I wouldn't be surprised if we wanted to stash him away for another year just to give him time to learn the system and NFL WR techniques since the staff might've thought he wasn't ready yet. Does anyone know what exactly an IR player can do with the team as far as practice? Obviously he can study the playbook, but can the position coaches work with him? Can he actually practice with the team?

[Mr. WEO]

I used the term "myocarditis" not "acute myocardities" (see below - not all myocarditis is a toxic condition requiring hospitalization or precluding low-effort activities such as attending meetings). Arrhythmias are a symptom, especially in young healthy men. One would want to determine the cause of the symptoms. Myocarditis is one cause of arrhythmias. A problem with heart valves, to my knowledge, is not something that would typically resolve in a manner that would clear an athlete to return to an insanely physically demanding sport such as pro football.

 

I'd like to understand the basis of your dissing of the Bills medical staff as fundamentally incompetent ("freaked" "tossed him on IR" "before his cardiac workup was complete" "stuck with him on IR")

It really doesn't take that long for a competent group of physicians to complete a cardiac workup on a priority patient with good health care.

 

 

His onset was acute. He left practice ill 2 days before the first game of the season. He was on IR 4 days later. Also, I didn't say they were "fundamentally incompetent" by putting him on IR so quickly. Just a bit premature after such a workup. And as Buddy is the man who puts players on IR, I should correct myself.

 

Good question. They've been right far more than they've been wrong. But if I had to guess, it's because they cleared Merriman and he got injured. Silly, I know, but that's WEO for you.

 

And without knowing what really happened to him and what was done to treat him, I won't speculate on the medical staff's treatment of him. I haven't heard Easley or his agent claim that they put him on IR too quickly.

 

An often injured 4th round pick who hasn't seen a single snap in a real NFL game isn't going to complain much about being put on IR when a doctor tells him he could die or something to that effect.

 

 

Respect the lack of speculation. The gossip I'd heard at the time was he'd been in an eating contest, got food poisoning, then the heart issue developed. Mild enough to let him attend meetings within a month or six weeks, and eventually be cleared to play, serious enough to preclude him playing that fall. Not too many guesses that fit, but of course the starting scenario is only gossip.

 

You respect the lack of speculation yet repeat the campylobacter/myocarditis from chicken wing stuff?? OK.

 

Who knows what happened with Merriman. I think the bottom line is that it's easier to suck it up and perform during an exam, than it is to do so play after play in practice or in a game.

I also don't know what level of invasiveness/thoroughness in medical exams is standard practice to allow prior to closing a deal.

 

.

 

Here's one test that didn't cross the minds of the medical staff when they first picked up Merriman: "hey Shawn, can you run backwards for us?". That pretty much would have ended the exam and the discussion.

Edited June 3, 2012 by Mr. WEO

[BuffaloBillsMagic1]

I worry when no snaps in two years is his history with us and only one productive season in 4 for U conn, so basically only one season worth anthything out of 6? Real risky to me.

[Hplarrm]

Excellent post. This is why I come to this board. Keep it up!

Many thanks.

 

I think the other issue which is going to factor heavily into this which is pretty impossible to predict is going to be WHO AND IF Fitzy devekios a chemistry with. This factor can have a huge impact on real world performance as if the QB and WR tend to make the same reads and adjustments they can end up doing things that are either high risk or simply do not happen based on their previous stats and performance.

 

My sense last year was that Nelson and Fitzy often seemed to be on the same page and unique things happened. Historically we saw a situation like Kelly/Reed where part of the reason that both performed at a level which got one in the HOF and the other knocking on the door was not only that they were great players but that they simply saw and did the same things together.

 

My aenae is that Graham may be speedier and that Johnson is a better route runner, but I will not be surprised to see Nelson/Fitz being the go to option.

 

Another factor will be playcalling. The guy who wins the #2 job is going to be the one Gailey has no problem calling their #. This will happen not simply because of the demographics of size or speed but because this particular player simply refuses to lose or give up on the ball.

 

This is why when prodded for a prediction that may well be wrong, my aense is Nelson may end up commanding the #2 job.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Many thanks.

 

I think the other issue which is going to factor heavily into this which is pretty impossible to predict is going to be WHO AND IF Fitzy devekios a chemistry with.

 

My aenae is that Graham may be speedier and that Johnson is a better route runner, but I will not be surprised to see Nelson/Fitz being the go to option.

Are you talking about the famous Greek chemist, Adelphos Devekios?

 

Also you spelled antenna incorrectly although I might have used the term "spider sense" anyways.

 

Edited June 3, 2012 by San Jose Bills Fan

[Smears]

Easley is big, fast, strong but has very little experience at both the NFL level and College level. Yes, he has the tools, but it is a matter of putting it all together in order to be successful in the NFL. Remember this, there were a bunch of WR's everyone (most) wanted Buffalo to draft rounds 1-7 and a bunch of those guys had the same characteristics as Easley. Now, that happens every year, as a matter of fact, Buffalo has another "Easley" on the roster in Hagan. Hagan basically has the same frame (maybe a little lighter) but a way more productive college career on a much bigger stage. He was taken in the 3rd round and really has not been able to solidify himself in the NFL. Hagan is an example and one of many WR's along the same lines. Another perfect example is the year that Buffalo took Hardy, Pittsburg took Sweed and the Redskins took Kelly. As you may recall everyone pretty much wanted Sweed or Kelly but Buffalo ended up with Hardy. In the end did it really matter? All 3 were spectacular college WR's at big time programs (IU is at least Big Ten) and all 3 have failed miserably in the NFL. Again, this happens every year and will continue to do so. Heck, look at this year and Buffalo's 3rd round pick. A very RAW WR with speed who not many had going before round 6 or 7. Not many people are giving TJ Graham much more credit other than his speed and Graham is a Fresh 3rd round pick vs Easley as a stale (2 years on IR) 4th round pick. He is a project, maybe a little bit of a reach, but that seems to be what it takes to find your NFL caliber WR's. A team needs to have a bunch in the hopes that 1 or 2 can actually be productive enough to help the team win. In Easley Buffalo took a flier on an athletic WR who was a little under the radar due to low production in college. They had/have the hope that he could maybe transition his athletic ability to the NFL but really cannot tell since he keeps landing on the IR. At this point Easley is no different than all 40 WR's that were taken this year, last year, the year before, etc.

 

Now, I am a huge fan and of course want Easley to succeed and be the best he can be. I hope he turns into an All Pro WR and Buffalo is set at the position for years to come. However I believe I am on the side of "Logical Optimisim" vs. "Delusional Placement". Unfortunately I believe many fans think Easley is the answer due to the fact they have kept him around, the fact he was a Buffalo draft pick and that his characteristics are more apparent since he was broken down a ton on draft day. Lets just hope he can put it all together on the NFL field.

Hey I agree with all this! +1 I hope Hagan has some chances this year. I like what I saw from him thus far.

[DefenseWinzChampionshipz]

Are you talking about the famous Greek chemist, Adelphos Devekios?

 

Also you spelled antenna incorrectly although I might have used the term "spider sense" anyways.

 

 

 

I believe he meant to say who and if Fitzy Devekio Fishers (robs) a chemistry with...

http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Mississippi/Clay-County-MS/Devekio-Fisher.4353942.html

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Are you talking about the famous Greek chemist, Adelphos Devekios?

 

Also you spelled antenna incorrectly although I might have used the term "spider sense" anyways.

 

 

I believe he meant to say who and if Fitzy Devekio Fishers (robs) a chemistry with...

http://mugshots.com/...er.4353942.html

Of course!

 

Kind of embarrassing me showing my age like that.

 

I guess it's a generational thing.

 

[Dennis in NC]

Everyone seems to have the same hope. I didn't think Easley was particularly impressive in the preseason last year. He was getting open but his hands seemed rather stone like. If you fail to convert a certain first down you can be out of this league pretty quick. Aiken seemed to have better natural ball skills than Easley but there had to be a reason Martin and other journeymen were getting into the games before him.

I really liked Kamar Aiken last year, too. But with that truncated offseason, rookies had almost no chance to learn the pro game. Especially since he was a UDFA, having no OTAs could be a big problem.

 

Hopefully, Kamar can learn enough this offseason to make an impact in camp.

 

I would love to see big progress from Easley as well, of course, but Aiken impressed me a lot.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Doc i think the play calling may have made the Offense look better then the players last year. Chan is purty good with a "get the most out of" what little he has had to work with at times.

But a point to consider when i critique the bunch of castaways minus TJ, is that Buffalo did very little to bring in Receivers this off season.

Think they know something that is not obvious to the rest of us?

That would not surprise me. Well, maybe a little and a pleasant surprise i hope

 

That's really one of the Mystery Questions, of the Bills off-season, isn't it? Did the Bills do little except that $$-limited attempt at Meacham and the somewhat-puzzling TJ Graham pick because they know something we don't about one or more of the guys they already have? Or are they hoping that if they throw enough bodies at the problem (Easley, Jones, Aiken, Hagen, Martin, Clowney, Roosevelt - who am I missing here?), one or more of them will step up and become something special?

 

Jones and Easley can get separation. Hagen looked good in Oakland. Don't know so much about Clowney. What I haven't seen from any of them is the guy who can make his QB look amazing by hauling in that one-handed shoestring catch down the sideline or that long ball that's 3' over his head, (maybe 'cuz he got bumped and held up on the line, maybe it sailed, whatever), like Burress can still pull off at times and like AJ Green showed last year.

 

Two years ago when the Bills signed Cornell Green as RT, a bunch of us thought the Bills did very little to improve the OL that off-season. And we were correct, and it was bad.

Last year when the Bills drafted Hairston in the 4th and left Pears as the starting RT, a bunch of us thought the Bills did very little to improve the OL in the off-season, and we were correct and it wasn't half-bad, Pears really stepped up, Urbik and Rhinehart played decently, and they were OK.

 

So which situation are we dealing with? I guess we'll know in October or November.

[Doc]

An often injured 4th round pick who hasn't seen a single snap in a real NFL game isn't going to complain much about being put on IR when a doctor tells him he could die or something to that effect.

All he needed to say was "I was good to go after a couple weeks," but he never said anything remotely close to that. Neither did his agent.

Here's one test that didn't cross the minds of the medical staff when they first picked up Merriman: "hey Shawn, can you run backwards for us?". That pretty much would have ended the exam and the discussion.

Right, because Merriman got injured the first time he ran backwards.