JP signs with UFL

[C.Biscuit97]

i find it ironic (sad?) that he is going to be working with Fassel, since more than a few of us liked Fassel as a Head Coach option a few years ago. had this happened, the Bills would have had the same coach/qb core as a new team in a new league. to make it worse, we went with a less touted coach... ugh

 

 

At the time, they both are trying to jump start their NFL careers in a league that was just formed. Not saying it might not get them back, but that doesn't speak to a lot of demand for their services.

[DIE HARD 1967]

Fassel said his point is that Losman's career isn't a bust yet. "You've got to be blind not to see this guy can play quarterback," the coach said. "And if he does his job this year and everything works out, I'll be the happiest guy in the world if next year, there's 12, 14, 16 teams saying, 'This guy's a quarterback; we all miscalculated this thing. He can play. Let's go get this guy now.' And then he's back where he wants to be. That's fine with me. I have no problem with that.

 

 

 

I guess we are all blind

[Steely Dan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4346612

 

I wish him well, and hope he gets back in the league.

 

 

IMO, the best part of the article;

 

"In fact, I've thought about it a lot at night. I want that for him, and I feel the accountability. It's my job now to get him going. Because I think he'll make the commitment and I'll make the commitment, too."

 

I wish him success. I'll be watching.

 

 

This is his big chance. If he's not the best QB, by far, in the league it will not bode well for him.

 

The guy is a flop. And the huge disappointment that comes with that lies squarely on the backs of Donahoe and Modrak who wanted to show just how much smarter they were than the rest of the league when they drafted him #1 when he was projected as a 3rd rounder. Lord knows JP tried and never quit, and for that I respect his efforts. But the fact of the matter is he doesn't and never will have a feel for the game. He just doesn't have the ability to process plays as they develop. I grew so tired of watching him throw bounce passes to open receivers. All the guy could do was lock onto Lee Evans and heave the ball downfield and watch Lee run under it. I wish him well but he'll never be a starter or a legit reserve QB in the NFL that can be relied on.

 

Your proof of that?

 

 

It's for this exact reason that I find it hard to understand the immense dislike for JP around here. Yes, he was drafted high. Yes, he didn't work out as a QB for the Bills. But, that's all not entirely his fault. He's always tried to do and say the right things. He embraced the City and the team. And here, he could easily take a shot at the organization. Yet, he takes the high road and says all the right stuff.

 

By all accounts, he gave everything he could to try and succeed as the Bills' QB. I thank him for the good times, hope to forget the bad times, and wish him health and great success in his future.

 

What he said.

 

 

I am pretty sure that Modrak, while liking JP, was not in favor of trading up to the first round to get him. Modrak saw him as more a third-fourth round draft pick. TD, however, wanted to make a splash, and get a franchise QB. Losman was the best one left, Baltimore and Green Bay was interested... TD didn't want to lose him, so over valued him in the draft. I don't think Modrak was a big fan of that move. Just think how differently things might have played out for JP, if he had been drafted later. The Bills likely would have held on to Bledsoe another year, and not felt compelled to rush JP into the lineup. Losman was not ready to be a starter... he may never be, but the Bills let Bledsoe go a year too soon, IMO... he may have been dreadful in 2004, but he was still better than anything else the Bills had...

 

Your proof of that?

 

2004 TSN draft guide had him as the fourth best QB and a first rounder.

 

Also Sportsfan magazine had this to say;

 

J.P. Losman, out of Tulane, highly coveted by Green Bay to replace Brett Favre, is now in Buffalo, likely to take over after Drew Bledsoe. Losman brings an attitude, which has been missing there in a while.

[R. Rich]

We can agree Matt Ryan looks to be the real deal after one year in Atlanta. What does he have in common with JP Losman? Both were coached by meathead Mike Mularkey. The point is good players manifest themselves as such regardless of the "system" or "coaching." No one including Sam Wyche nor Jim Fossill is going to do anything for JP. He's a classic example of a guy who looks great in shorts and practice but once the game whistle blows, the guy is clueless.

 

 

Sigh. Here we go again w/ this.

 

Ryan, in addition to being one who could be the "real deal", also had the benefit of playing w/ one of the league's top rushers in Turner and an emerging wideout in Roddy White. Not to mention a defense led by one of the league's best pass rushers. He certainly has ability, yes, but he also didn't walk into the same set of circumstances as Losman.

 

Maybe Losman will never be much of an NFL quarterback. I, for one, hope that he can work his way back into an opportunity to change that and that the opportunity he gets be a bit better than his first one.

[K-9]

I thought the most compelling part of the ESPN article was the section where it talked about his four offensive coordinators, three of which had never held the job before. Would he have succeeded if Wilson would have brought real coaching talent to Buffalo?

 

I don't buy that argument for one minute. He had one of the best QB coaches in the world in Sam Wyche. Not to mention Wyche's knowledge as an offensive tactician. Turk Schonert is also recognized as a one of the best QB coaches as well. Probably due to his own time spent with Wyche. And, while the book is far from written on whether Schonert is a good OC or not, I don't know of anyone who has faulted his work as a QB coach.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Good for Teddy Cottrell. I always thought he'd be a head coach some day, he was certainly the best DC we had in these parts over the past 15 years, that's for sure.

[H2o]

Good luck to JP. I hope he's the MVP of the UFL

[Chandler#81]

Good luck to JP. I hope he's the MVP of the UFL

 

 

The guy flat out has a gun! My jaw still drops seeing some of his heaves as a Bill, including the bomb @ Arizona last year. In a newly formed league, offense typically has the upper hand and 'mad bombers' put fannies in the seats.

 

I, too, wish him well and will be watching.

[Mr. WEO]

Again the major problem some fans had with Losman had to do with his fanclub. They always blamed everyone else but Losman for his failures. They always blame the coaches for killing Losman's career. What if it was Losman who was killing the coaches' careers? Losman criticized Fairchild after the Pittsburgh game. How easy would it have been for Fairchild to say something to the effect of "Tom Brady would have made plays?"

 

The fact is Losman was given a lot of chances to keep his job and he failed. And all he did was sulk last year and didn't contribute to helping the team better. Additionally for as good of a community guy he was, how come the cleanup didn't continue this year? Do you only need to be a starter to help clean up the city you supposedly love?

 

Trust me, I used to be a huge Losman fan and wanted him to succeed. But this year soured me a bit. Either way, I do really think he is a good guy and hope he truly recognizes that he only was the reason he failed. Perhaps, if he truly recognizes this, he can still get back on a NFL roster. So all the best to him and maybe he can tear up this league.

Truth.

 

 

Fassel must have had a stroke while he was thinking of Elway. He's way off.

[Adam]

I thought the most compelling part of the ESPN article was the section where it talked about his four offensive coordinators, three of which had never held the job before. Would he have succeeded if Wilson would have brought real coaching talent to Buffalo?

No- there was/is very little talent for Buffalo's QB to work with.

[BillsWatch]

From what I saw JP has no touch for short ball, was poor at reading defenses and is could not react well to biltzes finding hot receiver (same as Bledsoe who he replaced, BTW) but was almost as tough as Bledsoe aside from the cheap hits he took including the one from our own DB. I thought he had good character and aside from whining expressed via agent last year he was a good player for Buffalo. I never went into the bashing mode despite the losses and never went into the player name calling other than the pronoucing of his name as "Loss Man". I think his fanboys made it hard to accept as a QB for quite a number; there were quite a number of those who proclaimed him as next Jim Kelly who spent lots of time defending "him" when they were just defending their over estimate of him.

 

I do NOT think it was a coaching issue. As much as fans like to bash coaches, he had opportunities and he did not make the most of them. Some say they should have played to his strengths but it was an incomplete set which was easily attached by defensive coaches. Perhaps he should have been less of a gym rat and spent more time finding some way to work on his weaknesses.

 

I'll wish him well in UFL but saw nothing to indicate any team was willing to take a change on him as backup despite ESPN article by Tom Friend (Friend of Tom Donahoe?) saying starting in UFL was choice between being a backup in NFL and starter in UFL.

[Adam]

Sigh. Here we go again w/ this.

 

Ryan, in addition to being one who could be the "real deal", also had the benefit of playing w/ one of the league's top rushers in Turner and an emerging wideout in Roddy White. Not to mention a defense led by one of the league's best pass rushers. He certainly has ability, yes, but he also didn't walk into the same set of circumstances as Losman.

 

Maybe Losman will never be much of an NFL quarterback. I, for one, hope that he can work his way back into an opportunity to change that and that the opportunity he gets be a bit better than his first one.

You left out the also-emerging Michael Jenkins, a guy I was really hoping the Bills could have gotten. The Falcons had a decent line and group of WR's, but Vick was holding them back. Trent doesn't have that stuff- we are pretty good at WR, decent at RB, but on the line, we are terrible. This team has been built backwards.

 

As far as JP, I expect him to succeed in the UFL, he is a great athlete and has a rocket arm- maybe the game will slow down for him, maybe it won't. He never got a fair shot in Buffalo, but not many people do- Edwards won't either

[thebug]

Good luck to JP in the UFL. If he makes it back to the NFL, I hope he falls flat on his face, because I can't cheer for someone who doesn't play for the Bills.

[Adam]

Good luck to JP in the UFL. If he makes it back to the NFL, I hope he falls flat on his face, because I can't cheer for someone who doesn't play for the Bills.

He will be brought back as our conquering hero in two years- all the fans will have forgotten about him by then- and he will be the popular guy replacing Edwards or Fitzpatrick

[thebug]

He will be brought back as our conquering hero in two years- all the fans will have forgotten about him by then- and he will be the popular guy replacing Edwards or Fitzpatrick

 

 

Fair enough, GO JP (as a Bill)

[manbeast]

The guy is a flop. And the huge disappointment that comes with that lies squarely on the backs of Donahoe and Modrak who wanted to show just how much smarter they were than the rest of the league when they drafted him #1 when he was projected as a 3rd rounder. Lord knows JP tried and never quit, and for that I respect his efforts. But the fact of the matter is he doesn't and never will have a feel for the game. He just doesn't have the ability to process plays as they develop. I grew so tired of watching him throw bounce passes to open receivers. All the guy could do was lock onto Lee Evans and heave the ball downfield and watch Lee run under it. I wish him well but he'll never be a starter or a legit reserve QB in the NFL that can be relied on.

 

 

Losman was a victim of our offence. You can't ack a gun slinger to play conservative.

[naj377]

I wish him success. I'll be watching.

 

 

 

i just dont understand you bills fans, why in the hell do you like him so much, he was garbage, a waste of hope, and contributed to nothing but filling in as the bills rebuilt... yeah he had a couple long bombs to evans but besides that he did nothing but ruin a 5-1 starting season

[Adam]

i just dont understand you bills fans, why in the hell do you like him so much, he was garbage, a waste of hope, and contributed to nothing but filling in as the bills rebuilt... yeah he had a couple long bombs to evans but besides that he did nothing but ruin a 5-1 starting season

Yeah, it was all JP's fault........

[Mr. WEO]

Losman was a victim of our offence. You can't ack a gun slinger to play conservative.

 

Biggest myth in Bills history. A "gunslinger' improvises on plays, especially when they break down.

 

Maybe by "gunslinger", you mean: "guy who knows only who his primary receiver is and, when that WR is covered, who uses much vaunted 'scrambling' talent and 'athleticism' to run around in the backfield trying to identify secondary receiver until he is inevitably sacked for loss and/or fumble and/or TD".

 

yes, JPL was that type of gunslinger, I will agree.

[Magox]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4346612

 

I wish him well, and hope he gets back in the league.

Yup, I hope he does too, just not with the Bills, and preferably some team in the AFC East