shelby
11-30-2008, 07:12 AM
Just a few years ago, many of us wanted Bills receiver Josh Reed to run a down-and-out-of-town.
The second-round draft pick out of LSU was suffering through yet another season in which his hands appeared as if they had been greased with Vaseline. Passes to him kept slip-sliding away.And the big plays that had earned him first-team All-America honors and the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver were nowhere to be found, just a distant memory.
We all thought Reed was destined to become another in a long line of Bills wide receiver busts. It was time for him to move on.
In recent weeks, though, we've been reminded how wrong we were.
Although Reed hasn't blossomed into the dynamic pass-catcher he was in college, he has established himself as an integral, multi-faceted part of Buffalo's offense.
And his importance, particularly to young quarterback Trent Edwards, was underscored during the team's recent four-game losing skid, in which Reed missed three games with a severely strained right ankle.
Without Reed in the lineup at slot receiver, Edwards looked like Linus without his security blanket.
Without Reed, primary target Lee Evans faced even more double coverage, and wound up being shut out in that Monday night loss to Cleveland.
Without Reed, running backs Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson lost a punishing blocker, who often sprung them for extra yardage on those rare occasions when they able to break free past the clogged line of scrimmage.
And without Reed, the Bills' playoff hopes suffered a mortal blow.
more... (http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20081129/SPORTS03/311300001/1021)
The second-round draft pick out of LSU was suffering through yet another season in which his hands appeared as if they had been greased with Vaseline. Passes to him kept slip-sliding away.And the big plays that had earned him first-team All-America honors and the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver were nowhere to be found, just a distant memory.
We all thought Reed was destined to become another in a long line of Bills wide receiver busts. It was time for him to move on.
In recent weeks, though, we've been reminded how wrong we were.
Although Reed hasn't blossomed into the dynamic pass-catcher he was in college, he has established himself as an integral, multi-faceted part of Buffalo's offense.
And his importance, particularly to young quarterback Trent Edwards, was underscored during the team's recent four-game losing skid, in which Reed missed three games with a severely strained right ankle.
Without Reed in the lineup at slot receiver, Edwards looked like Linus without his security blanket.
Without Reed, primary target Lee Evans faced even more double coverage, and wound up being shut out in that Monday night loss to Cleveland.
Without Reed, running backs Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson lost a punishing blocker, who often sprung them for extra yardage on those rare occasions when they able to break free past the clogged line of scrimmage.
And without Reed, the Bills' playoff hopes suffered a mortal blow.
more... (http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20081129/SPORTS03/311300001/1021)