One thing most people aren't taking into account...

[Mudflap1]

A very important piece of information is not being talked about as much as it should as it relates to turning the franchise over to Trent Edwards:

He's been injury-proned.

Granted, Stanford sucked as a team, and he was a sitting duck back there. But way too many people are thinking "well, we'll just have Trent play and give him a year or two to see if he gets it". What if he misses half of those games because he's got injury after injury? It's not like it hasn't already happened this year.

To be honest, that is my biggest concern with him right now, his durability. I'm concerned if he can develop into a good quarterback, but I'm not overly confident he'll even be able to stay on the field to do so.

Jon

[trapezeus]

i've mentioned this a bunch. i think this is his biggest weakness. it was in the predraft reports on him.

i think he has the capability to play well. he is a smart guy. now it's a matter that his body hold up. i hope it does.

[patmoran2006]

Its the ONE thing that scares me about him.. Good post.

I'm not worried about arm strength, SURE as hell aint worry about decision making, poise and pocket presence. I'm worried about injury.

[patmoran2006]

Jon,
I remember you not liking him coming out of college. You hated the pick in fact when we took him. So did I at the time, but for different reasons.

[Mudflap1]

Correct, I didn't like the pick at the time. I have to admit, I've warmed to him quite a bit after seeing him go into the NFL "trial by fire" as a rookie and not completely implode, and in fact move the ball a bit and show some poise. But he's still a long ways off.

At Stanford, he was always hurt, and offensively they were dreadful. Their line was horrible, but still. It's not a good thing he got hurt a lot anyway you slice it.

[Ed]

I didn't watch any games of him at Stanford. What are the details of his injuries? How did they occurr? How many sacks/hits was he taking?

[RockStar36]

The job is his for the taking. He needs to toughen up if he wants to be an NFL starting QB.

[Mudflap1]

At Stanford, Edwards sat out his freshman year in 2002, and began 2003 behind starter Chris Lewis. After an impressive showing in a backup role, Edwards got the start for four games, but was then sidelined with a shoulder injury for the rest of the season. In 2004, Edwards was the starter, but again suffered injuries that knocked him out of two games and kept him out of two others entirely. Edwards' best year was 2005, where he started all 11 games, completed 168 of 268 passes for 1934 yards and 17 touchdowns, leading the Cardinal to a 5-6 record.[2]

In 2006, Edwards was the starter for the first seven games, but suffered a season-ending broken foot against Arizona and relinquished the starting role to T. C. Ostrander. Despite Stanford's poor performance during his tenure as starting quarterback (the Cardinal was just 10-20 in games he started), Edwards was a highly-touted quarterback prospect in the 2007 NFL Draft due to his arm strength, accuracy, and intelligence.[3] Prior to the draft, Mel Kiper projected Edwards as the third-best quarterback in the draft, behind JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn. [4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Edwards

[G Wolly]

Well as long as the line does their job and keeps him safe in that pocket, we're in business

[Tatonka]

i think it is a moot point to be honest.

thing is, as a few of us pointed out.. edwards has a long history of being injury prone.. and it showed up again after only 4 games.. so i dont think it is going to matter..

http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showpost.php?p=2175110&postcount=4

[kinigirly]

true, very true. i blame this on the surgeon general or some lactose intolerant politician. the newer generations coming up were raised to drink this watered down fat free milk crap. give the boy a glass of whole milk and a flinstone vitamin!

[Jeff1220]

Sorry to break topic,, but Immortal Corruptor's sig made me lol and I had to give him some props!

13055
Now that is funny!

[OpIv37]

A very important piece of information is not being talked about as much as it should as it relates to turning the franchise over to Trent Edwards:

He's been injury-proned.

Granted, Stanford sucked as a team, and he was a sitting duck back there. But way too many people are thinking "well, we'll just have Trent play and give him a year or two to see if he gets it". What if he misses half of those games because he's got injury after injury? It's not like it hasn't already happened this year.

To be honest, that is my biggest concern with him right now, his durability. I'm concerned if he can develop into a good quarterback, but I'm not overly confident he'll even be able to stay on the field to do so.

Jon

Good points. Despite all Losman and Bledsoe's faults, they were both tough as nails and were never injured. Bledsoe started all 48 games during his three year stint here. Losman had the busted leg his first year (courtesy of Troy Vincent), but he wouldn't have played anyway and his only other injury was the cheap shot by Wilfork. The toughest guy on the planet couldn't walk away from a 300lb defensive lineman going elbow-first into his knee.

[G Wolly]

Sorry to break topic,, but Immortal Corruptor's sig made me lol and I had to give him some props!

13055
Now that is funny!

Well thanks for the props in your digression :up:

[raphael120]

Ugh, can we not talk about injuries? It's a touchy subject for the Bills. Let's just play the damn game and win.

[ajsdx]

Well thanks for the props in your digression :up:

I also love your sig. I've sent it to all my lolphin fan friends. Perfect picture too!

[mybills]

First of all, his college line was crap. The Bills line is better.

Second, I don't believe he was even injured in the Jets game. I've said it before, and some of you agreed. He never held on to his wrist at any point in the game, and if it were your arm, hand or wrist, you'd grab it at some point. The Bills fans at the B Backer's club that I watched it with all thought he was jogging off to go pee.

Third, He gets rid of the ball fast, plus he has more time with this line than his college line, so getting injured is prolly low on the what if's.

Lastly, so far I think he's boring to watch, and I really hope they have him practicing deep throws. I wonder if Mikey can get over there to check on that for us. :up:

[Jan Reimers]

"Injury-prone" is one of the most over-used cliches in sports. I wouldn't hang that tag on Edwards yet.

[Forward_Lateral]

His injuries have been legit. It's not like he's missing games with turf toe or a hang-nail.

Hopefully, the line can protect him, and he can get smarter and learn not to hang on to the ball too long and take unnecessary hits.

Either way, Marv better get a CAPABLE veteran to be the backup, just in case.

[Forward_Lateral]

Yikes. Can a mod fix that for me, asap.

[TacklingDummy]

Good points. Despite all Losman faults, they were both tough as nails and were never injured. Losman had the busted leg his first year (courtesy of Troy Vincent), but he wouldn't have played anyway and his only other injury was the cheap shot by Wilfork.

Don't forget Losman was injuried in '05.
He's been a Bill for 4 years. 3 of those years he has missed time with injuries.

[OpIv37]

Don't forget Losman was injuried in '05.
He's been a Bill for 4 years. 3 of those years he has missed time with injuries.

I don't recall him being injured in '05- I just recall him being benched by Mularkey for Holcomb.

[madness]

Here we go with the injury-prone crap again. The guy was practically getting hit on every play back in college and played through some pretty major injuries. The guy is a freakin warrior.



“Trent is a warrior,” Stanford senior fullback Nick Frank said. “He rallied around us. He never gave up on us. He’s definitely our leader and he’s come up big in big games. We look up to him and that’s evident. We didn’t doubt what we could do. We haven’t been able to get past four wins since I’ve been here, but this team is different.”




Trent Edwards, Buffalo (http://fftoday.com/stats/playerprofile.php?PlayerID=2784)—I’m warning you now, I’m probably going to sound like I’m gushing about Trent Edwards by the time you finish reading this segment. Edwards was one of the highest rated prep quarterbacks entering college, but he chose to play at a slumping Stanford program. This team was so bad, there was actually a play where two offensive linemen were fighting after the snap rather than trying to block the defenders who ran by them to sack Edwards!

Although I didn’t see this particular play, I watched a game where Edwards took more punishment than I had seen a quarterback—college or pro—take in quite a long time. It was the 2006 USC game and Edwards not only took several hits in the pocket, but he also withstood no less than five blatant cheap shots that would have rattled most signal callers. Edwards continued to deliver accurate passes with good timing and follow through. He also stood strong in the pocket despite the constant pressure. In fact, I thought this was one of the best performances under duress that I have seen from a college quarterback. His teammates speak about Edwards with reverence. They say he is a warrior and the most competitive player they have ever seen. Here’s a sample of my analysis of Edwards in the 2007 RSP (http://fftoday.com/articles/waldman/07_QB_Trent_Edwards_Recap.pdf).
The Bills portray Edwards as a back up with potential, but the coaching staff has made it clear J.P. Losman is the unquestioned starter. While Losman has had moments, he has left an opening for a player with greater promise—remember this time last year he was competing with journeyman Kelly Holcomb for the right to lead the offense. Now in his fourth year, Losman has to show significant (and sustained) improvement not to become a journeyman himself. I think Edwards was drafted as the heir apparent if Losman fails. If the Tulane alum succeeds, the Bills can get compensation from Edwards via trade or restricted free agency if the rookie develops—ala Matt Schaub.
Personally, I believe Edwards will wind up as the best quarterback in this draft class because of his mental toughness, physical skills (he is athletic and mobile), and pocket presence despite Stanford’s woes. In other words, he is my 2007 version of Jay Cutler—an athletic QB who won’t be as fazed by the speed of the NFL as the more highly-regarded QBs from excellent programs.
Rookie Impact: He could become the #2 QB by season’s end. If JP Losman loses the team, Edwards could see time in the second half of the year.
Three to Five-Year Outlook: The Bills starter. Let’s not kid ourselves, Edwards is the future. He, Lynch, and Evans have the potential to be a great offensive trio if the first two develop quickly. I think they will.







Overall: Edwards is an extremely tough player that will stand and deliver in the pocket. He has good pocket presence and plays calm under heavy pressure. This cannot be overstated
Strengths: due to the fact he's taken a huge amount of punishment in four years and still plays calm under pressure. He has a pro-quality arm and excellent mobility. He has good
speed to break beat the angle of a linebacker. His mechanics are smooth and he protects the ball very well. He demonstrated repeatedly that he will scan the field for the
intermediate to long range accuracy. He's sometimes pinpoint accurate. He knows how to slide in the pocket and he can break the pocket for positive yardage. He has the open man and check down when necessary. This is a quarterback that could have starred at a higher profile university and put up huge stats. He has the skills to be a very good NFL starter.




...




Durability: He was brought down hard on his left shoulder on his 2nd attempt of the game just as he was throwing the football. He also took a huge hit on his second interception while



helmet as he delivered a perfect thrown on a post pattern for a score. On an incomplete pass with :22 left in the half, Edwards was hit hard just as he threw the ball. The
trying to set up to tackle the runner. He also took a late hit after converting a 3rd down pass across the middle. On his touchdown pass, he got hit under the chin with the
replay showed the defender had his hands in Edwards' face on the rush. USC played rough football against Edwards and punished him throughout the first half, but he
hard on a 1st and goal keeper from the 2 yard line. He was hit and wrapped by one defender, had his helmet yanked back by a second defender as he fell forward, and
continued to make good plays. He took a huge hit while trying to slide. The hit was to his shoulder that caused him to ricochet off the ground as he slid. Edwards was hit very
Edwards' receiver kneed the QB in the helmet as he was flying over the top. He was roughed after a shovel pass . The DE took two more steps and rammed into the QB on
seasons.
the blindside.


http://fftoday.com/articles/waldman/07_rookies_qbs.htm

[Tatonka]

it took him 4 games to get knocked out for 2 weeks. he was hurt in college consistently.. be it injuries on really hard hits or not.. be it because of a bad line or not.. if you get hurt a lot.. your injury prone.. there have been plenty of guys that have been injury prone that are tough, and just got a bad break, repeatedly.. but it is what it is..

he needs to show he can stay healthy, or we are in trouble.. you cant have a starting qb that gets hurt 2 or 3 times a season and win.

[justasportsfan]

Ugh, can we not talk about injuries? .NO!

[Mudflap1]

Good post Tatonka... nobody is calling Edwards a pansy. And I'm admitting his Stanford team was terrible. But he was hurt a lot, and he got hurt this year and missed time. So it is a real worry that he may not be able to stay healthy as the Bills quarterback. And yes, it was a real injury this season. This isn't professional wrestling or the movies, why would you ice up and bandage your wrist on the sidelines if you weren't hurt? So we can fool the fans into believing they are giving J.P. another chance? That's totally asinine.

[justasportsfan]

Here we go with the injury-prone crap again. The guy was practically getting hit on every play back in college and played through some pretty major injuries. The guy is a freakin warrior.







http://fftoday.com/articles/waldman/07_rookies_qbs.htm

All I care about is his tenure as a bill. Forget college.

[The Answer]

A very important piece of information is not being talked about as much as it should as it relates to turning the franchise over to Trent Edwards:

He's been injury-proned.

Granted, Stanford sucked as a team, and he was a sitting duck back there. But way too many people are thinking "well, we'll just have Trent play and give him a year or two to see if he gets it". What if he misses half of those games because he's got injury after injury? It's not like it hasn't already happened this year.

To be honest, that is my biggest concern with him right now, his durability. I'm concerned if he can develop into a good quarterback, but I'm not overly confident he'll even be able to stay on the field to do so.

Jon

This is a valid point about The Young Gun - In fact The Answer was concerned about Poz's durability as well and that's why he tumbled down my draft board - and low and behold he was lost for the season after just two games.

We have had very bad luck with this years draft class, and with injuries overall - all top 3 picks have missed time this year including Edwards. You have to wonder where we'd be right now if Trent never hurt his wrist against the jets, also playing without Lynch against 2 playoff teams was very significant as well.

~The Answer