Bills Hope To Compliment Evans By Committee

[patmoran2006]

Little Blog Entry:

Much like Oakland, Chicago and Carolina will go with a running back by committee; the Bills will execute its equivalent at the second receiver position opposite Lee Evans. Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish and James Hardy will all intertwine and bring assorted roles to a position that hasn’t shined in Buffalo since Peerless Price co-starred with Eric Moulds in 2002. MORE (http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Pat_Moran/2008/08/23/Bills_Hope_To_Compliment_Evans_By_Committee)

[RingofFire]

i'd expect hardy to take over by week 8

[acehole]

Little Blog Entry:

Much like Oakland, Chicago and Carolina will go with a running back by committee; the Bills will execute its equivalent at the second receiver position opposite Lee Evans. Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish and James Hardy will all intertwine and bring assorted roles to a position that hasn’t shined in Buffalo since Peerless Price co-starred with Eric Moulds in 2002. MORE (http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Pat_Moran/2008/08/23/Bills_Hope_To_Compliment_Evans_By_Committee)

Yea I said we needed a legit # 2 WR last year.

Thanks for coming around..better late then ever.

[patmoran2006]

i'd expect hardy to take over by week 8
He'll contribute and I would hope/expect that to grow as the season goes on, but I don't think we'll see an undisputed #2 this year.

WHich by the way isn't all that important. Turk is going to have plenty of spread formations.

[mayotm]

He'll contribute and I would hope/expect that to grow as the season goes on, but I don't think we'll see an undisputed #2 this year.

WHich by the way isn't all that important. Turk is going to have plenty of spread formations.Agreed. As you mentioned in your blog, Hardy's real value will be in the red zone this year.

[yordad]

:bs: They tried to make us think the same thing about RB last year.

[PECKERWOOD]

By committee is ALWAYS the best way to win.

Win as a team.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

For the most part, I think that the article sums up what is likely to happen this season.

Josh Reed has become Edwards' "go-to-guy" in certain situations and, even though he has worked hard to develop a chemistry with L.Evans and will probably look for Evans more this season, I don't expect this to change that much. Reed will still be Edwards' "security blanket" in some of those situations. And, until Hardy bulks up a bit and learns to use his size as a blocker, Reed still is the Bills' best blocking WR and will have value in that role. So, like it or not, he will get his share of playing time this season.

Parrish is a weapon. And, I do think that Schonert will try to use him more this season. But, even though he worked a lot on the outside in OTAs and the preseason, I just don't know how much the Bills can afford to use Parrish on the outside, as the # 2 WR, because of his size. I think he will get his chances, but that most of his receptions and the damage that he will do will come from the slot position.

None of what he says about Hardy should come as a surprise to anyone. Hardy has shown a great work-ethic and has the potential to become a pretty good NFL WR, but he still is a pretty raw rookie who has a lot to learn (if you watched him against Washington, you know that he made more mistakes early in that game than were cited in the media after the game). It is going to take some time for him to learn enough to grab the majority of the minutes at the # 2 WR spot. And, the hamstring problem has really set him back quite a bit in the learning process.

I pretty much agree with the author's premise that Hardy may not be ready to grab a firm hold on the # 2 WR spot until next season. But, I also agree with his view that Hardy will become a big force for the Bills in the red zone (his clear-out against Pittsburgh opened things up for Royal on the second TD and showed that he can be a factor in the red zone, even when the ball isn't thrown his way) this season--a factor that will get bigger as the season goes on.

I don't think that having a # 2 WR by-committee situation this season will hurt L.Evans or T.Edwards the way that it did last season because Hardy, despite being a raw rookie, changes the equation in those situations where the Bills struggled the most last year and I do anticipate that Schonert's play-calling and giving the QBs the ability to audible will keep the Bills from being in those situations as often as they were last season. Still, we'll see....

[Jan Reimers]

Nice job, Pat. I think this approach will work, given that the 3 WRs are totally different from one another - one is steady, one big, and one fast and elusive.