Bills' Nance has high hill to climb

[The_Philster]

In the Buffalo Bills' spring mini-camps, rookie wide receiver Martin Nance has been one of the team's standout performers. That comes as a surprise to many, since Nance went undrafted in April's festivities at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Just two days after the draft concluded, the Bills scooped him up, and so far the investment has paid off.The 6-4, 213-pound Nance was a star at Miami of Ohio, where he emerged as one of the nation's finest wideouts. Last season, Nance caught 81 passes for 1,107 yards and 14 touchdowns, helping lead the Red Hawks to a 7-4 regular season mark.more (http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2006/06/martin-nance-bills220606.html)

[Devin]

:up:

[jamze132]

I think he will climb that hill and stay there for a while

[bigbub2352]

He really only has to be out Aiken if we keep 6 or beat out one of the guys like andre davis or josh reed, i still cant believe we gave him a 4 year contract, what were we thinking

[ParanoidAndroid]

Well, I'm sure they watched some film on him before making any contract decisions, so apparently, he must be doing something right. We got a taste of his potential (when used correctly) last year as he was getting open on third down...add in the shut out denying play against the Pats and you see how this could have happened.

[ddaryl]

whenever you have a tall WR like Nance that demostrates sure soft hands, you find room on the roster.

A tall WR add another dimension to the offense, especially red zone.

[Jan Reimers]

So he runs a 4.55 40. That's somewhere around Jerry Rice and Andre Reed, and they did OK.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

So he runs a 4.55 40. That's somewhere around Jerry Rice and Andre Reed, and they did OK.

Good point, Jan. The game is football, not track. Besides which, he was still recovering from the same kind of knee injury that slowed Lee Evans his senior year as well.

As I see it, Nance has to show that he is and can stay fully healthy, first, then demonstrate that he is able to learn the techniques that they have to teach him to make him a better receiver, and, finally, show that he can block and contribute on special teams well enough that the team can afford to cut Aiken. If Nance can do those things, I think he can win himself a year on the roster that will allow him to improve his game enough to take a run at the # 2 or # 3 WR spot.

As for Reed and Davis: you have to remember that the Bills signed both of them before they had any idea that they were going to end up with Price and Nance. Also, they are two very different kinds of receivers, Reed is a possession receiver and Davis is a speedster whose speciality is stretching the field deep.

Of the free agent possession receivers, probably the one most comparable to Reed at the top of that list was Jabar Gaffney, who was also a disappointment noted for drops in Houston. After Keyshawn Johnson, who wasn't going to come to Buffalo anyway--and would you really have prefered that the Bills sign MeShawn for substantially more money?--Gaffney and Reed were probably the two best possession WR in free agency. Now, I'm not saying that Reed is that great, but at least Reed showed that he was coming on some at the end of last season. With Parrish, a guy who has potential, but is still raw because he missed a lot of his rookie year with an injury and is so small that he still is an injury risk as the next WR on the roster after Evans, it is hardly surprising that the Bills decided to resign Reed.

Davis was a cheap gamble: when he has been healthy, he has been very dangerous as a deep threat. If he can stay healthy, he gives the team the same thing that Price does--a second fast wide-out that teams have to respect and can't afford to let get open deep. Price has an advantage over Davis in that he does not have the injury history that Davis has and there is a better chance that Price can stay healthy for a full season. But, the Bills didn't have Price at the time that they signed Davis and didn't know that they would eventually end up with him. Also, they signed Davis cheaply enough that they can afford to cut him if he doesn't stay healthy or can't win a roster spot. But, the Bills had to go on what they had and what they knew was available at the time and the one thing that Davis is not is a possession receiver. So, unless they wanted to go with Parrish, who is raw and untested, as their possession reciever, they had to sign one at that stage--and Reed was, arguably, the best one that they could get on the free agent market.

Now, of course, the Price signing and the fact that they were able to get Nance as a UDFA and that he has shown as much as he has in the OTAs makes the Reed and Davis signings look superfluous now. But, you have to keep in mind that the situation was very different when the Bills signed those two players. When you consider the kind of money that D.Givens and K.Johnson signed for and the fact that the Pats had to replace Givens with Gaffney (and what they paid him), that should tell you what the market was like for free agent WRs at the time. Of course, Reed and Price are going to have to show that they are worthy of the money that they got from the Bills, but with those two and Evans--the only given in the group--Davis, Parrish, Aiken, Wilson, Smith and the development of Nance, the Bills have the makings of a decent WR corps, which was not the case when they knew Moulds was leaving and the just had Evans, Parrish, Aiken, Wilson and Smith on the roster.

[acehole]

Isnt there a way to keep all and one less TE or somthing
?

[HHURRICANE]

Reed was a good signing. Even as a disappointing draft pick he was a proven possession receiver. I am over Aiken and "Fast" Freddie. Nance reminds me of a stronger James Lofton. I think he will make the team. I think Davis will be odd man out.

[Kerr]

I think Nance makes the team. He's almost starting to sound like that Orande Gadsten(sp?) signing for the dolphins when he first signed with them. Undrafted was he? Nance has been impressive in camp. I hope there's a way we can keep Davis. He probably won't end up cracking the starting lineup, but he's one of those dangerous receivers that comes off the bench and can make big plays. He made a few big plays for brady coming off the bench last season.

[John Doe]

Reed was a good signing. Even as a disappointing draft pick he was a proven possession receiver. I am over Aiken and "Fast" Freddie. Nance reminds me of a stronger James Lofton. I think he will make the team. I think Davis will be odd man out.

I agree that Reed was a good signing. Like LBF said, the Bills virtually had to sign guys like Reed and Price because they were seriously lacking for experienced wide outs after Moulds left.

You need them for their practice skills alone. Experienced route runners are necessary to help the coaches evaluate just what the QBs that are fighting for the starting job can do. That is not to say that these two are absolute locks, but they will probably earn their keep in training camp and preseason just because they know what they are doing.

I hope that Nance is the real thing. It would make a great offseason even better.

[realdealryan]

IU doesn't really have a football team (traditionally) here in basketball country. However, their current head coach was coach of the RedHawks through 2004. He was also a favorite guest of one of my local AM sportsradio guy. All I heard were great things about Nance. Let me just say again how happy I was to hear we signed this guy.