DeeRay Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Of course... Drew's lack of mobility is one of the elements that he lacks... but simply being a "statue" is not the sole reason for his woes. Consider his lack of mobility a "handicap". Most people with a handicap compensate for that by sharpening their other assets.... ie, a blind person has sharper hearing, smell, touch, etc. and thus, compesating or making up for their inability to see. Well, if a QB has limited mobility, he must compenste for that in other ways. We know Drew has a "gun" and is "accurate". Mobility, arm strength, and accuracy are physical qualities in a QB. Drew has 2 of the 3. Since he lacks one of those physical qualities, he must sharpen his other assets...and I don't mean get a stronger arm or be more accurate. He has to become more competetive. This would make him study the game harder, he must work extra with his receivers, etc, he must be both a good decision maker and a quick decision maker. He must "feel" the rush and know when to throw and who to throw to. He must become a better ball handler... ie, fakes. He must know how to bait a defense or defender... not the other way around. And the biggest thing a QB can bring to the table is leadership. He MUST make those around him perform up to or above their abilities. That leadership can be manifested in many different ways, but, if, and ,when it is there, o linemen take exception to it when he gets sacked or hit. Receivers take more pride in catching the ball and take it personal when they drop one. Running backs find a way to get that extra yard. I don't see a dime's difference in the physical abilities of Drew, Peyton Manning, Kerry Collins, and Vinnie Testeverde. The difference is their competeiveness and leadership. Only one of them are "all world" and only because he's extremely competetive, a leader, and a student of the game. The others, except for Drew, are more than serviceable. I don't know what's happened to Drew... whether he "never was" and we were led to believe so by the media or because he played for Parcells or what. If he ever did have "something", it's gone and it ain't coming back. The questions I have is... how damaging is it for the Mularkey to continue to prop this guy up? How long before the guys around him get the feeling of "hopelessness" and expect to lose? Why would playing Matthews yield worse results than playing Bledsoe? At the very least, it might give us insight as to whether most of the problem is at QB (which I firmly believe) or other areas of the offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Good post but I disagree-Drew has never been accurate. He has a big arm, is tough and is a great guy. Those are the only 3 talents Drew has and only 2 of those help him on the football field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Good post but I disagree-Drew has never been accurate. He has a big arm, is tough and is a great guy. Those are the only 3 talents Drew has and only 2 of those help him on the football field. 46987[/snapback] I disagree. Bledsoe has been an accurate passer throughout his career. His % is above 57%, which I think is okay on its own, but great considering he has been a down-the-field guy his whole career. Put DB in a west-coast dink-and-dunk offense, and he'd have a career % above 60%. The guy has faults-- his pocket presence, mobility, etc.--but his ability to throw a good ball goes unquestioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 He was never accurate. He had great WRs in New England that constantly had to adjust to poorly thrown balls. Drew should give 6 '5 Ben Coates a cut of his ridiulous contract-Ben made Drew a success. Drew never was accurate on short passes or quick timing routes- he has relied on WRs to bail him out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 I don't think he has the desire to compete on the field> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 No, no, no, no, no! I do think that DB has the leadership ability necessary to lead any team. What separates DB from the group you mention is field awareness. He doesn't have it and it's killing the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical TBD Guy Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Why do you think Drew went from All-Pro in the mid-90's to complete stevestojan by 2001? Did the ever-involving game leave him behind? Did he take one too many head collisions? Did the Patriots teammates fail him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 No, no, no, no, no! I do think that DB has the leadership ability necessary to lead any team. What separates DB from the group you mention is field awareness. He doesn't have it and it's killing the team. 47043[/snapback] Drew once had everything he needed to take a team to the superbowl. Now, after being beaten within an inch of his life playing behind the Bills OL and Travis Gump, he is through. I just hope he gets out of this with all of his marbles. The shot he took last week (you know, the one where Josh (Bust) Reed dropped the easy pass), was not pretty. Time to rebuild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Why do you think Drew went from All-Pro in the mid-90's to complete stevestojan by 2001? Did the ever-involving game leave him behind? Did he take one too many head collisions? Did the Patriots teammates fail him? 47054[/snapback] The same thing happens to almost every QB - especially the less mobile ones. The hits simply start to add up and the effect is diminishing returns. There is a distinct confidence problem at work here and Drew's teammates ain't helping a whole lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 The same thing happens to almost every QB - especially the less mobile ones. The hits simply start to add up and the effect is diminishing returns. There is a distinct confidence problem at work here and Drew's teammates ain't helping a whole lot. 47083[/snapback] I totally agree Darin. Note the similarities with Drew and RJ.....both had GREAT arms, wonderful athletic bodies, and were not too old, yet both are done. Drew is yet another victim of the Bills' poor management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 I totally agree Darin. Note the similarities with Drew and RJ.....both had GREAT arms, wonderful athletic bodies, and were not too old, yet both are done. Drew is yet another victim of the Bills' poor management. 47093[/snapback] I'm not sure that comparison is valid. Johnson has ALWAYS been the way he is. The number of hits didn't make him less effective - there wasn't enough contrary evidence for the case. Bledsoe has been in the worst of all worlds since he's been here. It's not really for lack of trying by the front office. They've drafted new players, signed free agents, changed coaches, etc. It simply may be too late. Of course, it is early in the season. Unlike others, I'm willing to give him another few weeks to turn it around. Probably because I've seen Shane Matthews play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Info Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 I agree, it appears that spelling it is more of a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 He was never accurate. He had great WRs in New England that constantly had to adjust to poorly thrown balls. Drew should give 6 '5 Ben Coates a cut of his ridiulous contract-Ben made Drew a success. Drew never was accurate on short passes or quick timing routes- he has relied on WRs to bail him out. 47008[/snapback] Who were those so called "great WRs" in NE and how many are in the HoF .......Ben Coates was a TE who split the seam and operated in the middle of the field..... DB had guys like Shawn Jefferson and Terry Glen running as WRs for NE.....One of the reason DB had early success with Parcells also was the emergence of Curtis Martin and the Running game....The threat of Martin allowed DB to do Play action and throw the long balls. Drew could sling the ball downfield..Also how come you have conviniently forgotten his efforst in the 1st season here....The guy beat many of JK's records in his first eason in Bills uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Drew was an All-Pro QB. He simply is getting older and needs to adjust if he wants a starting job ever again after this season. He has to make quick decisions and let the ball go and use his experience and knowledge of the game. He's not going to throw 5 TDs a game like in Minnesota two years ago. He needs to be efficient and not turn the ball over. Once in awhile go deep because he still does have the arm. He is absolutely right when he states the Bills need to stop killing themselves with penalties. He is protected much better on third and 3-5 yards rather than 3rd and ten+. I see the Bills playing a very good game on Sunday. They've already faced a better defense in the Jaguars and should have put up 20 points on them. No TO and the Bills win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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