When JP is drafted, he’s called the one with the most upside of all QBs taken that year. The reason: his physical tools. Big arm to throw the ball to anywhere on the field. Fleet feet to get around and run. What else what a QB needs?
That seems to be the theme of our ex-GM’s mantra: digger into the measurable stats and picking the best. Some worked (Nate Clement, Lee Evans); some don’t (Mike Williams – what a big man; Bledsoe – what an arm; Losman). I count Bledsoe as a 1st round because that’s what cost the Bills. McGahee is a kind of so-so guy that I don’t think fall into the bust category but nor worthy of 1st rounder category. When you are batting .400 for your 1st round draft in 5 years, you are simply not good enough to stay ahead in this league.
It is interesting to note that the Jaguars changed their man-to-man scheme to more of a cover two in this Bills game. We all know cover two takes away the big plays, forcing the offense to perform consistently to score points. That’s exactly the weakness of Losman. Don’t for a second to think that Jauron doesn’t know that. He likes the cover two for that reason. The Jags allowed Losman to dink and dunk all day; they just know sooner or later, he’s going to make mistakes – lots of them.
Some will say well we need a true #1 receiver to compliment Evans. We need a top 5 TE. Sure if we get all pros in every position, Losman will succeed. The trouble is that it is extremely hard to do that, especially in this cap era. It is much more difficult to find 4/5 top guys in other positions to compliment a sub par QB than finding a quality QB with 4/5 average guys in other positions.
Is Edwards that quality guy? I don’t know. Nobody knows right now. But you can’t deny that as a rookie, or a guy with 4 starts or whatever the measurements you want to take, he’s way ahead of Losman in terms of development on the career path. Even at the entire NFL rookie QB level, he’s looking pretty good. The key, however, is improvement. I’m not going to the game by game detail, but I’d look for, for example, the next 5 games compared to his first 5 games to see if he repeats the mistakes he made earlier.
As for Losman, I think you’ll find a market for him next spring. That second half of 2006 season is still on a lot of people’s mind. There are a lot of Tom Donahoes out there who are enamored with big armed QBs. I’d be strongly against releasing him out right.
That seems to be the theme of our ex-GM’s mantra: digger into the measurable stats and picking the best. Some worked (Nate Clement, Lee Evans); some don’t (Mike Williams – what a big man; Bledsoe – what an arm; Losman). I count Bledsoe as a 1st round because that’s what cost the Bills. McGahee is a kind of so-so guy that I don’t think fall into the bust category but nor worthy of 1st rounder category. When you are batting .400 for your 1st round draft in 5 years, you are simply not good enough to stay ahead in this league.
It is interesting to note that the Jaguars changed their man-to-man scheme to more of a cover two in this Bills game. We all know cover two takes away the big plays, forcing the offense to perform consistently to score points. That’s exactly the weakness of Losman. Don’t for a second to think that Jauron doesn’t know that. He likes the cover two for that reason. The Jags allowed Losman to dink and dunk all day; they just know sooner or later, he’s going to make mistakes – lots of them.
Some will say well we need a true #1 receiver to compliment Evans. We need a top 5 TE. Sure if we get all pros in every position, Losman will succeed. The trouble is that it is extremely hard to do that, especially in this cap era. It is much more difficult to find 4/5 top guys in other positions to compliment a sub par QB than finding a quality QB with 4/5 average guys in other positions.
Is Edwards that quality guy? I don’t know. Nobody knows right now. But you can’t deny that as a rookie, or a guy with 4 starts or whatever the measurements you want to take, he’s way ahead of Losman in terms of development on the career path. Even at the entire NFL rookie QB level, he’s looking pretty good. The key, however, is improvement. I’m not going to the game by game detail, but I’d look for, for example, the next 5 games compared to his first 5 games to see if he repeats the mistakes he made earlier.
As for Losman, I think you’ll find a market for him next spring. That second half of 2006 season is still on a lot of people’s mind. There are a lot of Tom Donahoes out there who are enamored with big armed QBs. I’d be strongly against releasing him out right.
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