Hardy "should have a bigger role this week"

[psubills62]

Chris Brown was answering Fan Friday today, and had a question asked of him as to why the Bills didn't pick up Eddie Royal or Desean Jackson instead of Hardy. Towards the end, I thought it was very interesting that CB said Hardy would have a bigger role this week:

"3. Chris,

Do you think the Bills made a mistake with focusing so much on size at the receiver position that they ignored the awesome skills and speed of receivers DeSean Jackson and Eddie Royal which would have been a perfect fit for our offense?
Coach 85
CB: I don’t think the skills of Jackson and Royal were ignored. The Bills scouting staff takes a look at the whole picture of the player. A mismatch in terms of size was essential for the Bills on the outside however. Jackson was not on the board when the Bills were on the clock in round two. He went to Philly in round one. Royal was on the board and went to Denver with the very next pick after Hardy. I know both of them have made an impact sooner than Hardy, but I’m going to encourage you to be patient. He’s coming along in practice. He should have a bigger role this week. We’ll see."

http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2008/10/31/fan-friday-3/

[Pinkerton Security]

he might have a bigger role if his giant self open.

[rcd333]

I'm pretty sure jackson was still on the board when we picked but i'm happy with hardy

[Forward_Lateral]

I'm pretty sure jackson was still on the board when we picked but i'm happy with hardy

He was, Chris Brown made a mistake. Jackson was taken 18th in the 2nd round.

[SABuffalo786]

He HAS to catch a TD in the end zone this week.

[Night Train]

Trial by fire. He needs reps to improve and his size is already an asset on the fade.

In college, he was a basketball player playing WR... skying for the ball & getting by on athletic talent. Running actual routes, coming back to the ball, finding open space etc. is all new to him but he needs reps or he'll never improve. Right now, he's still showing 2 left feet at times but let's see how it goes.

The Bills obviously saw an upside on film so nows the time to get him involved. Throw him the ball or Evans will be completely unable to get open.

[SquishDaFish]

I think Hardy will be the better WR in the long run. Just lets be patient with him hes coming along.

[psubills62]

I think Hardy will be the better WR in the long run. Just lets be patient with him hes coming along.

I don't know if he'll be the better WR, but he'll be a good one. It's just a little strange to me, because the coaches kept saying they wanted someone who "was open even when he's covered" (because he's so tall). But then they just don't throw to him, and people tend to say it's because he can't separate.

He looked good on the one throw last week, when he came back to the ball along the sideline. I think he'll have 3-4 catches against the Jets. New Jersey doesn't have a very tall secondary.

[TheBrownBear]

Jackson was amazing at Cal. I still can't believe the Bills picked Hardy over him.

[hydro]

Jackson was amazing at Cal. I still can't believe the Bills picked Hardy over him.

Because he is a midget like all of our WRs. We needed size at the position.

[yordad]

I would have picked Hardy with our pick too. It is only a matter of time.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Because he is a midget like all of our WRs. We needed size at the position.
Exactly. We already have enough of the smallish speedster receivers. Parrish is stepping right into that role. We need Hardy's size.

[BillsWin]

"Bills trying to take a 14 point lead. Edwards, back to pass, fires deep right to Hardy! Caught! He strolls into the endzone!!! TD BUFFALO! The rookie get his second TD on the year!"

Yeah... sounds good to me! :dance3:

[raphael120]

there are plenty of teams out there doing very well without tall ass WR's...

[Confused]

I was perfectly content with us taking Hardy with no.11. In fact, I lost my **** when we took Leodis. I was in the mindset that a WR was our no1 need last year, for a number of reasons( weak F.A. market, our off season aquisitions, trents emergence and the need to give him some toys). Several scouting websites had Hardy as the No2 WR in that draft class, second only to Jackson. Jackson just didnt fit the bill in our 'O. He's too much like Evans and Parrish. Jackson and Avery and Royal are deep threat speedsters that take less time to develop as playmakers. We drafted Hardy to be a possession WR and a threat in the redzone. Its a heck of a lot harder to perfect intermediate range routes across the middle, in traffic with both a CB and likely a SS, FS or LB waiting to take the head off a complacent WR than it is to double move a CB and catch one over the shoulder. Am I discounting Jackson and Royal? maybe a little but I think we are being a little hard on James. Lets see how he looks in the playoffs or next season before we label anyone. I'm supremely confident our Hardy/Evans combo will be one of the better pairs in the league for many years.

Really at the end of this year I would be quite pleased with a 4 TD 300 yd season out of Hardy. The kid needs gametime reps and he'll get better each game. He works hard and I bet if he puts on another 10lbs up top, he'll be a nightmare to cover.


On a related subject, on at least 3 occasions, Trent Edwards has found a way to overthrow Hardy. Granted on 2 of those occasions, the ball hit James in both hands, but to throw a ball that may be too high for Hardy means it was in the 8.5 to 10 foot range. I know Trent is trying to develop a rythm and raport with Hardy but I think always throwing the ball high is gonna overwhelm the rookie.

Go Bills !!!!!!!!!!!!!! see yall sunday, lot 1, hammered.

[hydro]

I know Trent is trying to develop a rythm and raport with Hardy but I think always throwing the ball high is gonna overwhelm the rookie.


I disagree. I think he would rather have balls like that. I doubt he is running great routes this early in his career which means he isn't getting open as much. With throwing jump balls he doesn't have to exactly be open as long as the pass is in his range. If I was him I would rather have a jump ball.

[DraftBoy]

Exactly. We already have enough of the smallish speedster receivers. Parrish is stepping right into that role. We need Hardy's size.

What role? Parrish and Jackson don't even play the same role as WR's at the moment. Parrish as a WR isnt happening. Jackson is the #2 target for Philly and isnt just a run deep and catch man, he does everything for them.

[blackonyx89]

What role? Parrish and Jackson don't even play the same role as WR's at the moment. Parrish as a WR isnt happening. Jackson is the #2 target for Philly and isnt just a run deep and catch man, he does everything for them.

In order for him to have a bigger role, he literally has to play bigger, literally and figuratively!!!

:rockon:

[Sportsuser101]

Yeah I thought we should have taken Jackson. It doesn't matter if we have 10 wide outs that are small as long as they get open. I don't get what the obssesion is with drafting a wide out over another 1 based on size. If he gets open what does it matter if he's 7 foot or 5 foot? But again we didn't draft Jackson we drafted Hardy. I had Hardy as the 3rd best WR behind Jackson and Sweed and we had a shot at Sweed but Hardy works. I'm still suprised no wideout was taken in the 1st round. I thought Jackson would have snuck into the 1st. I like Hardy and am happy he's on our team. Interesting stat with Hardy which is becoming apparent in the NFL is that last year at Indiana he caught 79 of 144 balls thrown to him which is not very good.

[Buffalogic]

Last week when Trent was hit and the pass resulted in a interception, he was throwing to a wide open Hardy who had nobody between him and the endzone. If Trent didn't get hit on that play we win that game and we are all loving on Hardy. It'll happen. He'll break on through soon enough.

[ServoBillieves]

GIVE STEVE JOHNSON THE BALL!

[yordad]

at Indiana he caught 79 of 144 balls thrown to him which is not very good.Was he throwing the passes too?

[thenry20]

Hardy has bad hands and doesn't come back for balls when he knows he should. He needs to be alot more physical and impose his will on the midget corners in the league. Coming from the program he was in, it's gonna take a few years for him to learn how to run routes as a pro.