Great article from National Football Post's Michael Lombardi on

[Magox]

It's very hard for a WR to make plays by himself. Parrish is criminally misused on this team.

 

As for the whole 'Brandon putting his stamp on the team', well, I think that's pretty much rubbish. Russ is one of the members of the FO team, and the one with the least experience in player evaluation...he even understands that.

Dean, I agree with a lot things that you say, but say it aint so. Parrish criminally misused? "Brandon putting his stamp on the team" rubbish?

 

A successful president of a country , CEO of a company or GM of a professional sports organization has more to do with proper delegation than anything else. Regarding Brandon's lack of experience in player evaluation is getting said way too often. May I remind everyone that Theo Epstein was a PR guy for the Padres before he became GM of the Redsox at the age of 28. He was a public relations man. How much experience do you think he had in evaluating talent? Russ has worked with some very good talent evaluators in his time, John Butler to name one, and it has been made public that he has shown an interest in all facets of the game. So far, in Brandon's tenure, he has made some very solid decisions. You out of anyone Dean, I think would recognize that in a rational way.

[Magox]

Explain to me then why Lee Evans is making 9 million dollars a year and considered to be one of the best WRs in the game and yet has averaged 59 catches for 900 yards and 4 TDs a year the last two years, which are VERY pedestrian numbers.

 

Good players make plays, right? Great players make a LOT of plays I would imagine.

I believe the changing of QB's had something to do with that. Don't you? Everyone who knows anything about football knows that a main ingredient for the success of a WR is the familiarity he has with his QB. Right?

 

Lee Evans one of the best WR's in the league? I like Lee Evans, but in my view he is a very good #2 WR, and a slightly above average #1 WR. He doesn't seem to have a knack for going over the middle, which is critical in my view in becoming a top flight WR. dont you?

 

Don't get me wrong, he is one of the top 3 deep threats in the league, but that doesn't make him one of the best.

 

I know you like Roscoe, but your bias towards him is blinding your judgement.

[Kelly the Dog]

I believe the changing of QB's had something to do with that. Don't you? Everyone who knows anything about football knows that a main ingredient for the success of a WR is the familiarity he has with his QB. Right?

 

Lee Evans one of the best WR's in the league? I like Lee Evans, but in my view he is a very good #2 WR, and a slightly above average #1 WR. He doesn't seem to have a knack for going over the middle, which is critical in my view in becoming a top flight WR. dont you?

 

Don't get me wrong, he is one of the top 3 deep threats in the league, but that doesn't make him one of the best.

 

I know you like Roscoe, but your bias towards him is blinding your judgement.

1] Why wouldnt the changing of quarterbacks have anything to do with Roscoe then? You were the one that said good players find ways to make plays.

 

2] The Bills sure think Evans is one of the best, they paid him 9 million a year. That's amongst the very best.

 

3] I understand my POV is an opinion. I could be wrong. I think Parrish is misused and should be used wiser and other teams would find ways to use him wiser. And I also said that if we can get a player for Roscoe we should trade him. You, on the other hand, say stuff like "anyone who knows anything about football sees this my way."

[The Dean]

Dean, I agree with a lot things that you say, but say it aint so. Parrish criminally misused? "Brandon putting his stamp on the team" rubbish?

 

A successful president of a country , CEO of a company or GM of a professional sports organization has more to do with proper delegation than anything else. Regarding Brandon's lack of experience in player evaluation is getting said way too often. May I remind everyone that Theo Epstein was a PR guy for the Padres before he became GM of the Redsox at the age of 28. He was a public relations man. How much experience do you think he had in evaluating talent? Russ has worked with some very good talent evaluators in his time, John Butler to name one, and it has been made public that he has shown an interest in all facets of the game. So far, in Brandon's tenure, he has made some very solid decisions. You out of anyone Dean, I think would recognize that in a rational way.

 

 

Comparing the resume of Theo and Russ is one thing, comparing their job responsibilities is quite another. Brandon is simply not used as a strong GM, by the Bills. They operate as a team, when it comes to those kinds of decisions. It's no secret, either. Jauron, Modrak/Guy, Brandon and Ralph are all involved in the player decisions. If anything, I think Modrak has gained power recently, and may have as much say as Brandon or Jauron, when it comes to the draft.

 

Now, Brandon may be the point person for the team, but the responsibilities for this team are fairly straightforward, for the most part. Whereas Marv may have brought some extra gravitas to the room, when he spoke, and was probably able to negotiate consensus among the team, I have to wonder how developed Brandon is at that aspect. I am perfectly willing to believe he is improving in that role, and taking on more and more, when it comes to be the team leader. But, that's a far cry from putting his stamp on the team. In time...who knows.

 

As for Parrish, we will disagree. I see his talent, and limitations, and it seems he has been used (in the Bills offense) in a way that is geared toward his limitations, and not his talents. Put him with an innovative offensive mind, and he would be a real weapon, IMO.

[Hanoverbills]

Explain to me then why Lee Evans is making 9 million dollars a year and considered to be one of the best WRs in the game and yet has averaged 59 catches for 900 yards and 4 TDs a year the last two years, which are VERY pedestrian numbers.

 

Good players make plays, right? Great players make a LOT of plays I would imagine.

Trent Edwards is our QB. Edwards doesn't throw TDs. Watch how many TDs Owens has this year.

[Magox]

1] Why wouldnt the changing of quarterbacks have anything to do with Roscoe then? You were the one that said good players find ways to make plays.

 

2] The Bills sure think Evans is one of the best, they paid him 9 million a year. That's amongst the very best.

 

3] I understand my POV is an opinion. I could be wrong. I think Parrish is misused and should be used wiser and other teams would find ways to use him wiser. And I also said that if we can get a player for Roscoe we should trade him. You, on the other hand, say stuff like "anyone who knows anything about football sees this my way."

 

But you just made my point even more valid. Roscoe, even when their was continuity at the QB position, hardly ever showed anything as a WR. Good players find way's to make plays, and he couldn't find ways to make many plays. Lee Evans on the other hand has shown an ability to do so.

 

Regarding paying Evans 9 Million a year and that correlating to being one of the best. Well according to your logic, Dockery should be one of the best and so should Schobel. But there not. What I'm trying to say is that a players pay does not always correlate to how good they are.

 

 

I didn't say what I put in bold up above.

 

What I said was, Everyone who knows anything about football knows that a main ingredient for the success of a WR is the familiarity he has with his QB

[The Dean]

Trent Edwards is our QB. Edwards doesn't throw TDs. Watch how many TDs Owens has this year.

 

 

If the Bills do nothing to change their game plan, and make the same play calls, at critical moments, I think TO will experience a drastic downturn in his TD numbers. Of course, I expect (more like "hope") the Bills will maximize the addition of TO (and hopefully a good Tight End) and change their approach. A change in offense, coupled with TO as a target, might help increase Trent's confidence and willingness to throw the damn ball downfield. If so, I think Trent is capable of tossing some TD passes.

[Solomon Grundy]

%100 DISAGREE

 

Good players find ways to make plays.

 

As much as you'd all like to blame the coach, he hasn't gotten the job done. Not only did he not become a good #2 WR, He couldn't get the job done as a slot WR, and now will most likely lose his job as the #4WR.

 

Could the coaches of found ways to use him more effectively? sure they could of. But it is clear that in order for him to have success as a WR you would have to devise creative ways in using him.

 

You guys are blinded by your bias towards Parrish. Blame the coaching staff, that's the easy way out, bottom line is he hasn't found a way to get open and he hasn't produced as a WR. Anyone who is not a Bills fan can see that.

Magox, I tend to agree with you more so than not, but coaching can deter a player's talents. Like I said in a previous post, Parrish should always be used in motion so that a DB can't jam him at the line of scrimmage. This was a primary reason that he wasn't getting open. And let's not forget that early in his career he had an incompetent QB (Losman) who only knew how to find two people, Lee Evans and the other teams DB. He had injuries with Edwards at QB that kept him off the field alot. I want to see him play a full year healthy w/Edwards before I turn the page on him.

[Magox]

Magox, I tend to agree with you more so than not, but coaching can deter a player's talents. Like I said in a previous post, Parrish should always be used in motion so that a DB can't jam him at the line of scrimmage. This was a primary reason that he wasn't getting open. And let's not forget that early in his career he had an incompetent QB (Losman) who only knew how to find two people, Lee Evans and the other teams DB. He had injuries with Edwards at QB that kept him off the field alot. I want to see him play a full year healthy w/Edwards before I turn the page on him.

I don't totally discount coaching. There is no doubt that coaching makes a difference. It always baffled me why Parrish couldn't get the job done. I thought the same thing, but after 4 years, I myself am done making excuses for why he hasn't performed at a decent level. At the end of the day, it is the players who play the game, and if he was good, he would of found a way to play at a consistant level. That's just how I see it.

 

I'm a positive person by nature, and I tend to give the benefit of the doubt for players that I like more than I sometimes should. I did it with Losman, Mike Williams, Parrish and some other players, but when you see a player not perform after a few years, I think it is logical to say that maybe, just maybe there is something wrong with the player.

[BuffOrange]

Dean, I agree with a lot things that you say, but say it aint so. Parrish criminally misused? "Brandon putting his stamp on the team" rubbish?

 

A successful president of a country , CEO of a company or GM of a professional sports organization has more to do with proper delegation than anything else. Regarding Brandon's lack of experience in player evaluation is getting said way too often. May I remind everyone that Theo Epstein was a PR guy for the Padres before he became GM of the Redsox at the age of 28. He was a public relations man. How much experience do you think he had in evaluating talent? Russ has worked with some very good talent evaluators in his time, John Butler to name one, and it has been made public that he has shown an interest in all facets of the game. So far, in Brandon's tenure, he has made some very solid decisions. You out of anyone Dean, I think would recognize that in a rational way.

 

Lets face it - Bill James was right and all of his critics were wrong. Anyone with an MBA and/or the ability to read "Moneyball" can evaluate baseball players. Football, not so much.

[Lurker]

Trent Edwards is our QB. Edwards doesn't throw TDs.

Egg 'n chicken...

[Dan]

If the Bills do nothing to change their game plan, and make the same play calls, at critical moments, I think TO will experience a drastic downturn in his TD numbers. Of course, I expect (more like "hope") the Bills will maximize the addition of TO (and hopefully a good Tight End) and change their approach. A change in offense, coupled with TO as a target, might help increase Trent's confidence and willingness to throw the damn ball downfield. If so, I think Trent is capable of tossing some TD passes.

With this coaching staff... I fully expect to see TO run at least 3 end around reverse plays per game; 2 WR screens per game (with no one blocking in front of him); and as a decoy on on at least 4 plays per game to run down the field and hopefully clear the right side for the back to catch it in the flat. Not to mention 2 out of every 3 red zone possessions he'll be on the sideline so we can have an extra TE that can't block or catch in the game. After the season, everyone will say that TO is too old and he was a locker room cancer that's why he didn't get the ball more and Jauron will say we just have to execute the offense more.

[Tipster19]

The bottom line is this. It looks like more and more that we are going to have to trade this Peters. I was against it but it's getting out of hand. Start wrapping your minds around us taking OT Michael Oher at #11 and getting the most most compensation that we can for Peters. This draft has enough comparable DEs for us to choose from in the mid 1st rd to all the way to our 2nd rder. Another alternative is for us to trade for someone like Aaron Kampman.

 

I'm not happy about using our 1st pick again to fill another hole that we created but between Peters' questionable motivation after he's signed and him getting to the point of holding us hostage, it's time for us to really explore and brace ourselves for other reasonable solutions. If what I fear unfolds and we do take Oher, or even OT Andre Smith at #11, then what would you like the Bills to do with the picks they get for Peters? I realize that this is an open ended question not knowing what the compensation will be but figure somewheres in that Philly area of the 21st pick as a barometer.

[billnutinphoenix]

Once again, outside of bitter Bills land, you get an idea of how Peters is viewed, and that is of an elite LT talent. I've been saying something like this for a while now when Lombardi said : I strongly doubt the Bills would be able to replace Peters in the draft at No. 12 and doubt even more that moving him would help their team win in 2009. Left tackles are always hard to find, and to trade one never seems to make sense in my world.

 

TOTALLY AGREED...If Bill Polian was running this team, it would find a way to keep him...

[thewildrabbit]

When you have a rookie offensive coordinator that didn't even start calling play action passing plays until the Cleveland game and even after that he rarely used play action to set up the running game. He usually opened with shotgun passing plays and kept calling shotgun passing formations even when he had a back up QB in the game.

 

Clearly, Turk Schonert was clueless on how play action can give the offense an edge in that the opposing defense isn't totally certain as to whether it will be a run or a pass. The shotgun formation was designed specifically for when teams are in clear passing situation such as 3rd and long and 4th and long and both teams know a pass is coming.

 

The shotgun formation seems to be in vogue for the really good teams like the Patriots and Jets. The difference is that they have the personnel to get away with using it constantly. In the end it really screwed the Jets because when Farve injured his arm the OC just kept calling passing plays and it really hurt the team, instead of going with the running game and limiting the passing.

 

All that said, how on earth can you expect Schonert to find ways to get Parrish the ball when he couldn't find ways to get Lee Evans the ball, who was the Bills primary receiver.

 

Schonert failed last season on so many levels it is almost comical. First he is on the sidelines,then up in the booth,no matter where he went he kept calling offensive passing plays like he had Tom Brady or Drew Brees as his QB and not a 2nd year player still learning the job.

[The Dean]

The bottom line is this. It looks like more and more that we are going to have to trade this Peters.

 

 

That's an overreaction, IMO. Nothing has changed from a month ago, and there is no real difference in urgency between last month and now. In fact, unless the Bills are going to adjust their draft based on their decision, things only really start changing once mandatory team activities start.

 

It is possible the Bills already have decided to meet Peters demand, or trade him, and are just trying to make the best deal (either way). They may simply be in no hurry, whatsoever.

 

 

All that said, how on earth can you expect Schonert to find ways to get Parrish the ball when he couldn't find ways to get Lee Evans the ball, who was the Bills primary receiver.

 

Schonert failed last season on so many levels it is almost comical. First he is on the sidelines,then up in the booth,no matter where he went he kept calling offensive passing plays like he had Tom Brady or Drew Brees as his QB and not a 2nd year player still learning the job.

 

I guess you might want to mention, despite Turk's problems, the playcalling last year was actually slightly better than Fairchild's last year with the team. Turk showed flashes of competence, last year, but it wasn't enough. It is quite possible he actually will LEARN something from his mistakes, last year. I can't write a guy off after only one season.

 

But, as to your bolded question/comment...it takes a little extra creativity to properly utilize a WR corp with no true #2 WR. Evans was the Bills #1 real threat, and the others were role players. Now, I think with role players as interesting as those on the Bills' roster the offense should be able to exploit holes in any D. But, obviously that was beyond Turk's abilities, most of last year. With the addition of TO, a more traditional approach should work, and Evans and/or TO will find themselves facing weaker coverage than they are used to.

[robkmil]

There IS something missing in Parrish's game, and it's called "coaching", as in play-calling, finding innovative ways to get your play-makers the ball, and making sure you do that.

 

I watch Parrish not open and then drop passes.

[K-9]

I agree with Kelly that the Bills could do worse than keeping Parrish just for his return abilities alone. Whether or not that's a luxury in today's league is up for the Bills to decide.

 

As far as Parrish as a receiver:

 

1.) He is VERY limited, especially as a wideout. He's too weak to beat press coverage and, with the sideline acting as another defender, his ability to find open space with his quickness is negated.

 

2.) While he would do better as a slot receiver where he has more space to use his quickness, he's limited there as well with teams constantly playing inside position and forcing him outside. The last time he really hurt anyone from the slot was against the Jets in '06 against a blown man coverage and he killed them. Teams don't give that to Roscoe anymore. They force him outside and take their chances. The Bills coaches, while perhaps not the most enlightened, know this as well as anyone. Reed is a far better choice in the slot due to his strength and ability to find open areas. Plus, and it shouldn't be downplayed, Roscoe can't block worth a damn. That's important and with Reed and now TO we have two of the best in the game.

 

It would be great if coaches could devise ways to get him the ball in space a bit more. But that's a lot easier said than done. Not impossible but it would challenge any OC, let alone one that's kinda new to the job. If he were on a team surrounde by superior talent it may be different. But we're not there yet.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Hanoverbills]

If the Bills do nothing to change their game plan, and make the same play calls, at critical moments, I think TO will experience a drastic downturn in his TD numbers. Of course, I expect (more like "hope") the Bills will maximize the addition of TO (and hopefully a good Tight End) and change their approach. A change in offense, coupled with TO as a target, might help increase Trent's confidence and willingness to throw the damn ball downfield. If so, I think Trent is capable of tossing some TD passes.

If your QB doesn't have confidence in his arm, he shouldn't be starting.

[The Dean]

If your QB doesn't have confidence in his arm, he shouldn't be starting.

 

 

The lack of confidence may not be with his arm.