At Least Hardy Planned to Work Hard

[ghz in pittsburgh]

http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090111/SPORTS/901110418/tbd

Just hope all the other more promising rookies, McKelvin, Corner, Fine, Johnson will do the same and take less time off.

A little bit surprised that Hardy did not have the procedure done sooner.

[HHURRICANE]

Loser.

Why don't you wait til training camp.

I assume his son his out of wedlock.

[ddaryl]

who the hell is advising our players when they seem to wait forever to make these decisions

Crowell did it too.

[BillsWin]

Loser.

Why don't you wait til training camp.

I assume his son his out of wedlock.

way to be a dick! :up:

[Lefty2985]

The first thing I was thinking, ‘Now I get to spend more time with my son'. thats a random thought to first think after a injury! wow.

[LtFinFan66]

who the hell is advising our players when they seem to wait forever to make these decisions

Crowell did it too.There is no decision on an ACL. A month is about the norm isn't it? Have to wait for the swelling to go down? Maybe I am mistaken. Can't believe you guys are knocking guys without knowing the whole story

[T-Long]

I tore my ACL in 03'...and yes, you can get it drained to reduce the swelling, but the overall process pre-surgery is about a month

[Goobylal]

There is no decision on an ACL. A month is about the norm isn't it? Have to wait for the swelling to go down? Maybe I am mistaken. Can't believe you guys are knocking guys without knowing the whole story
That's got to be the reason. Hardy is a rookie and an ACL injury is an ACL injury. You get the surgery done when it's most appropriate, not when you want it done. Crowell had lingering knee problems but no defined injury like this.

[THATHURMANATOR]

There is no decision on an ACL. A month is about the norm isn't it? Have to wait for the swelling to go down? Maybe I am mistaken. Can't believe you guys are knocking guys without knowing the whole story
It is pretty funny. The guy is getting the surgery done in around the normal time period and stating that he will do all of his off season work in BUFFALO. What did the guy do wrong here?

[ghz in pittsburgh]

I apologize for not knowing the fact that this is probably the earliest he can get the ACL surgery.

Regardless, I felt it will be a Stevie Johnson's show this fall unless the Bills go out and sign a big name WR free agent (unlikely).

ACL injury takes about 2 year to get back so even if Hardy is able to play this fall, he may not be effective. Drafting another WR means another rookie.
So pretty much we can bank on Evans, Reed, Parrish, and Johnson to carry the weight for receivers.

The Bills may throw a curve ball at Tight End position to help out there.

[Saratoga Slim]

The Eagles, Ravens, and Steelers are all in the divisional championship round. I think it's fair to say that our wide receiving corps is similar in overall quality to that of any of those three teams.

The Ravens & Steelers have very good TEs.

Just thought I'd point out that we can win without adding another elite WR, but we have to find some other recipe for adding production, whether it be an upgrade at TE, or perhaps creating more of an identity in getting the ball to our excellant RBs out of the backfield (like the Eagles do with westbrook).

[Stewie]

The first thing I was thinking, ‘Now I get to spend more time with my son'. thats a random thought to first think after a injury! wow.

you obviously don't have kids

[justasportsfan]

The first thing I was thinking, ‘Now I get to spend more time with my son'. thats a random thought to first think after a injury! wow.
maybe he should make more babies like Willis and Henry?

[PECKERWOOD]

Hardy will be alright.

[bigbub2352]

Good thing he plans to work hard here, he needs to learn how to run routes, and the offensive cordinator needs to learn to utilize him in the redzone
cause that was the number one problem

[ghz in pittsburgh]

The Eagles, Ravens, and Steelers are all in the divisional championship round. I think it's fair to say that our wide receiving corps is similar in overall quality to that of any of those three teams.

The Ravens & Steelers have very good TEs.

Just thought I'd point out that we can win without adding another elite WR, but we have to find some other recipe for adding production, whether it be an upgrade at TE, or perhaps creating more of an identity in getting the ball to our excellant RBs out of the backfield (like the Eagles do with westbrook).

The Steelers actually have a very good receiving corp. Hines can still do his thing. Holmes is on par with Lee Evans on skills. And they drafted Limas Sweed this past season. On paper, they should be one of the top receiving corp. in NFL. And they have,as you mentioned, Heath Miller at TE.

[Saratoga Slim]

The Steelers actually have a very good receiving corp. Hines can still do his thing. Holmes is on par with Lee Evans on skills. And they drafted Limas Sweed this past season. On paper, they should be one of the top receiving corp. in NFL. And they have,as you mentioned, Heath Miller at TE.

I think they're comparable receiving corps, with the big difference in production being a result of generally good QB play by Big Ben, and generally inconsistent QB play by JP/Trent.

Santonio Holmes ~ Lee Evans
Hines Ward ~ Josh Reed (think about it, not as ridiculous a comparison as it sounds at first)
Roscoe/Johnson ~ Nate Washington
Limas Sweed ~ James Hardy

I'm using the "~" sign to mean "more or less equal to." For instance, I think Lee is a little more rounded of a receiver than Santonio, and I'd take Hines Ward over Josh Reed. But I think the pairs above represent relatively similar caliber of players.

If you count Heath Miller, then yes, Big Ben has better weapons. But then again, I think Marshawn and Freddie Jackson are better weapons in the passing game than Parker/Mendenhall.

It's an academic exercise, but nonetheless I don't think there's a huge separation between the two groups. I guess my point is that if we can find a worthwhile TE, Trent should have enough to get the job done--Big Ben is getting it done with a reasonably similar group of receivers and an offensive line that's probably worse than ours.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Saratoga Slim, I think you under-estimate Hines Ward in their offense. Teams routinely double team him instead of Holmes. The guy really knows how to run routes, outside AND in the slot. Plus he's big blocking threat for their run game.

It's pretty much acknowledged here that Big Ben did not have a good year overall. The offense ranked 22nd to 24th in NFL. But #7 is clutch, as he always been ever since he played in NFL: when the team needed a big score down the stretch, he ususally delivers no matter how bad he has been.

But the #1 Defense really helped the team to where they are. So often this year you see their defense holding teams down, giving their offense chances after chances until something clicks. Then it is a domino effect when the opposing offense had to take risky chances.

The Bills' offense had no such luxury. That's why I'm so convinced that they need to devote their resources this off season to defense.

[Throne Logic]

Good thing he plans to work hard here, he needs to learn how to run routes, and the offensive cordinator needs to learn to utilize him in the redzone
cause that was the number one problem

Problem is, they won't let him do anything beyond the bike and perhaps some straight line work anytime prior to training camp. Most likely, he won't be cleared to do any "football activity" until late summer or even after the season starts. There's a chance he might contribute next season, but it's much more likely he'll just be put on injured reserve so they can fill the roster spot with someone they can use.

[Mski]

ACL injury takes about 2 year to get back so even if Hardy is able to play this fall, he may not be effective. Drafting another WR means another rookie.

i dont believe the 2 year timeframe is accurate, its more like 8 months... i tore my ACL at the begining of march my sophmore year and was ready to go at 100% by mid october, granted HS sports are not the same as pro football, but i also didnt have a dedicated training staff handling my recovery either

[ddaryl]

I believe hardy will be pretty uselss for th eBills in 2009. By the time he is going full swing it will be mid-season, and he needs to be healthy the entire offseason to be anywheres near ready to make an impact in 2009

[jaycorp51]

He should be able to get back to practicing somewhere around September/October. Is 09 season is most likely down the drain. Lets just hope that he uses next season/offseason to hone his route running skills and is ready to come back strong in 2010 and make himself relevant.