Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

[Marvelous]

So is Parrish. The problem is that we don't need 2-slot recievers and we lack a solid #2.....

-Josh Reed is reliable on short yardage or 3rd downs.. Hias dropsies are non existant & only mentioned because of fans who had higher expectations on him..IMO. I was one of them. was!

-Parrish- Really impressed me last season. After re-watching the few games i saved lastyear i really am impressed with Parrish. The problem is we dont get him the ball enough....

-I was impressed w/ both of them last season & wasn't aware that we had such a super huge (sarcasm) problem to draw away coverage from Evans...
17+ injuries!

-I guess i'm wondering if we can afford a WR @#11. And if we get a WR in the 2nd or 3rd etc then he would have to beat out Reed & Parrish. Would the rookie (most likely) do that? We lost Peerless and need to replace him via the draft.
--Thoughts on Reed & Parrish vs rookie?
---Thoughts on media boosting our biggest team need is to draw away DB coverage from Evans?
--Thoughts on BPA @ a skilled position?

[SyraBillsLican]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

i agree completely

[FlyingDutchman]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

I agree we dont get Parrish the ball enough. I still dont think Reed is reliable. I think he played better last year, but I still hold my breath every time we throw his way.

[Philagape]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

-- None of the 17 injuries affected the offense much. Losing Price and Everett made little difference.
-- How is drawing coverage away from Evans not a problem?

[Marvelous]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

-- None of the 17 injuries affected the offense much. Losing Price and Everett made little difference.
-- How is drawing coverage away from Evans not a problem?

-Losing Peerless hurt bro..Regardless how mediocre we feel he's become..fact! he was our #2 wideout...
--Marshawn Lynch!!! We lost him for a few games & we really needed him...
Who else did we lose on Offense? Michael Gaines? Royal? SHouman? Did we lose all 3 TE's? Or 2?
---We lost JP to that dirty cheap Wilfork hit..I hate Wilfork!! Trent Edwards galore, but still,,,we lost our starting QB.. And i was looking at JP's numbers the season before and man shoulda,woulda,coulda......I'm just saying that it made a difference.... Eh Billsfan80!

=flyingdutchman] I still dont think Reed is reliable. I think he played better last year, but I still hold my breath every time we throw his way.

-I didn't...You say tomatoe, i say tomatoe...I like him just nort as our #1,or#2..His toughness is appreciated here...

[feldspar]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

Time to rhyme...

I like Reed and Parrish in the slot a lot.

/rhyme.

Reed DID have a period where he dropped a lot of passes...but that's ancient history. He hasn't had a problem with that for a couple of years. In fact, he's rather clutch now.

Anyhow, Parrish and Reed are both very good slot receivers. They could do a lot better if we had an effective wideout duo. We need another WR.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

Josh Reed is more than just a slot receiver--and he's going to have to be for at least half of this up-coming season--but what he isn't--and is still going to have to be for much of the first half of the season at least--is a # 2 WR who can command enough respect from a defense to force them to play Lee Evans and the running game more honestly.

Reed has strength and has overcome his earlier problems with catching the ball, but he lacks the deep speed to make the defense pay if they double Evans and put 8 men in the box to stop the run. He has shown that he can be effective at times on 3rd downs, but his lack of speed means that he simply isn't going to be able to get enough separation to consistently get open or make for an easy catch and throw when he is playing on the outside.

Parrish, on the other hand, has the speed that Reed lacks, but doesn't have sufficient size or strength to be able to consistently get off the line against press coverage when playing on the outside--and what CB wouldn't play press coverage against Parrish on the outside knowing this. As much as the Bills have talked about wanting to get the ball into Parrish's hands, it has been tough for them to get the ball to him in any kind of space when they have not had a second WR on the outside to stretch the defense enough to make an opening for him.

What helped Wes Welker be so effective for the Pats last year was that opposing defenses had to respect not just Randy Moss' speed, but Donte Stallworth's speed as well: if they doubled Moss and played up to defense Welker, they ran the risk that Stallworth would go deep--and, since they couldn't allow that to happen, Welker was left space to operate in and, if they dropped LBs back to take that space away, Maroney, then, had space to run into. Without P.Price, the Bills had no WR on the outside who could do for them and Parrish what Stallworth did for the Pats and Welker. And, Parrish isn't big enough to beat press coverage on the outside consistently.

Which is why the Bills need to bring in a bigger WR with speed in the draft. No so much because he will draw the double teams away from Lee Evans--right away or in the future--(because defenses are always going to double a # 1 WR with the kind of speed that Evans has, at least part of the time), but because, if they do double Evans, he will have the size to get off of press coverage and speed to either get deep or get the kind of separation that Reed can't.

Now, no matter how good he may be or ultimately become, it is unlikely that a rookie WR is going to be able to step in right away and do everything that the Bills would want a # 2 WR to do for them right off the bat. There is a learning process that a rookie is just going to have to go through. And, it is unlikely that any rookie will be able to learn most, let alone all, of what he will need to learn before the middle of the season...at the earliest. So, there are going to be plenty of situations where the Bills are going to have to rely on Josh Reed to do the things that he can do for them as the second WR on the outside, particularly at the beginning of the season.

But, what a rookie WR, like a M.Kelly, L.Sweed, D.Thomas or K.Hardy, can do for the Bills, right from the beginning, is use his speed and hands to pose a threat to opposing defenses that they can only ignore at the risk of being burned deep. Even more than getting separation and catching the ball on a slant pattern on 3rd down, what a big, fast rookie WR can do is use his size to get off of press coverage and use his speed to go deep, giving Parrish room to use his agility one on one in space, or the TE a one on one match-up against a LB on the other side if the defense doubles Evans. All he has to be able to do is show that he can get off of press coverage, run and catch the ball if it is thrown to him once or twice to accomplish that--doing the rest of what it will take to be a truly effective # 2 or # 1b WR can come later. And, if he can do that, it will be a huge help to the Bills offense.

Of course, there is more to being a good # 2 WR in the NFL than that. And, while the rookie is learning how to do all of those additional things, the Bills are going to need to have someone in their lineup who can do them. And, that's where Josh Reed is going to still have to play a big role for the team and be "more than just a slot receiver" this coming season. And, the Bills will need to have Reed come up big in that role while the rookie that they draft in April develops this season if they are going to have a shot at making the playoffs.

Drafting a big, fast WR is essential to making the Bills offense more effective this season, even if he isn't able to start or do everything that a good # 2 WR has to do right away. But, doing that isn't going to lessen the need for Josh Reed to contribute a lot and be more than just a slot receiver for the team this season. The Bills are going to need both if they are going to be able to grab a spot in the playoffs--which means that they are going to have to select the "right guy" when they do take a big, fast WR in the up-coming draft.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

What he said... Nice job ltbf.

In summary... We have situational guys in the slot that the D has no problem figuring out. If Parrish is on the field, they don't have to worry so much about the run. If Reed is in, they don't need to cover him deep.

Bottom line... D's will be left guessing if we have a large speedy #2 and a legit threat at TE. It opens up the entire playbook.

[Philagape]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

-Losing Peerless hurt bro..Regardless how mediocre we feel he's become..fact! he was our #2 wideout...
--Marshawn Lynch!!! We lost him for a few games & we really needed him...
Who else did we lose on Offense? Michael Gaines? Royal? SHouman? Did we lose all 3 TE's? Or 2?
---We lost JP to that dirty cheap Wilfork hit..I hate Wilfork!! Trent Edwards galore, but still,,,we lost our starting QB.. And i was looking at JP's numbers the season before and man shoulda,woulda,coulda......I'm just saying that it made a difference.... Eh Billsfan80!

Whether the players injured on offense made any difference is certainly debatable, but none of them drew coverage away from Evans. No matter who else was on the field, the gameplan was to take him out, and they did.

[ddaryl]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

Reed is a real good blocker and he has been pretty solid over the last couple of years. He just doesn't have the speed to beat other teams DB's regulalry and gain seperation.

Parrish has the speed but gets man handled because of his size. If there where more receiving threats on the field the Parrish would become more dangerous.

Evans can not rely on any of our other recievers to take pressure off of him.

Drafting Kelly or Sweed should help. Even though neither are speed burners they have soft hands and can use there big tall bodies to block out DB's and make those tougher in traffic catches more often.

If a top drafted WR can net us close to 60 catches I believe that will free up Evans and the rest of the WR corps to become more effective. Add in experience at the QB positons and continued gelling of the OL, we should see our O progress in 2008.

I am desperately waiting for the Evans extension announcement.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

I agree we dont get Parrish the ball enough. I still dont think Reed is reliable. I think he played better last year, but I still hold my breath every time we throw his way.

I don't know what you've been watching. He may not put up monster nos. but he's been the MOST reliable wr for either qbs. I actually like it when he gets the ball because he isn't easily knocked down that his teammates have pretty much decribed him like a bowling ball?

The one that scares me is Parrish. It's almost like he'll break in two when tackled.

[jamze132]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

Reed is never going to produce more that what he has since he entered the NFL. I have no problems releasing him if we get some quality receivers and a TE in the draft. I wouldn't mind at all pick WR, TE, and WR an rounds 1-3.

[HHURRICANE]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

Here's the problem in a nut shell:

Evans=An okay #1 receiver
Reed=#4
Parrish=#5

You need a #2 and #3 receiver on this team. That's the problem plain and simple.

[Oaf]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

Here's the problem in a nut shell:

Evans=An okay #1 receiver
Reed=#4
Parrish=#5

You need a #2 and #3 receiver on this team. That's the problem plain and simple.

I respectfully disagree. Reed simply was our best WR last year minus two or three deep bombs to Evans on the season even though he was forced to play an unnatural position for him (#2). At #3, I feel he is one of the top 10 at the position when you consider all aspects of his game.

If we 2 or even 3 low rounders, they will compete against each other for #5 and #6 spots and situational offense roles. Reed and Parrish are entrenched at #3 and #4 and IMO, justifiably so. There is just no way the Bills will start a 5th round pick ahead of those two week 1. And we all know what happens when Reed is FORCED to play the #2... Therefore, we need ONE guy that has the pedigree and potential for the Bills to start ahead of Reed immediately and that the Bills will put at #2 until shown otherwise.


Therefore, we NEED to draft a WR in the 1st or AT LEAST the 2nd.

[HHURRICANE]

Re: Josh Reed is a more than capable slot

I respectfully disagree. Reed simply was our best WR last year minus two or three deep bombs to Evans on the season even though he was forced to play an unnatural position for him (#2). At #3, I feel he is one of the top 10 at the position when you consider all aspects of his game.

If we 2 or even 3 low rounders, they will compete against each other for #5 and #6 spots and situational offense roles. Reed and Parrish are entrenched at #3 and #4 and IMO, justifiably so. There is just no way the Bills will start a 5th round pick ahead of those two week 1. And we all know what happens when Reed is FORCED to play the #2... Therefore, we need ONE guy that has the pedigree and potential for the Bills to start ahead of Reed immediately and that the Bills will put at #2 until shown otherwise.


Therefore, we NEED to draft a WR in the 1st or AT LEAST the 2nd.

I don't think Reed sucks by any means. And I agree that he won't be replaced by anyone coming out of the later rounds in the draft. However, Reed as you pointed out is not strong enough to play anything better than #3 which says very little about our depth at the position.

This is why I think we screwed ourseleves by not adding some veteran depth at the position. A first round pick will struggle to contribute on this team at the wideout position and this is our biggest weakness. Reed would struggle to play at #3 on alot of teams.