Examining Trent Edwards’ steady decline in Buffalo

[patmoran2006]

This was an excellent article by Brian Galliford, which examines in detail exactly how its went downhill for Trent Edwards



Buffalo had one of the best pass-blocking units in the NFL in 2007. That was the year that Jason Peters established himself as an elite tackle in the game (a fact that is now probably much more debatable). Edwards played roughly 9 full games as a rookie, and despite his overwhelming lack of experience, he was sacked just 12 times.

The pass protection wasn’t awful in 2008, either, though it certainly declined. Last season, Edwards played roughly 12 full games around injuries (concussion, groin), and in those games, he was sacked 23 times. For those of you doing the math, that’s a half-sack more per game. Not great, but still acceptable.



FULL STORY (http://www.buffalosportsdaily.com/2009/11/examining-trent-edwards-steady-decline-in-buffalo/)

[bigbub2352]

Trent in my opinion never recovered from the hit form adrian wilson, also having different OC's didnt help either
Problem with trent is that he is so trained to not make a mistake and has taken so many hits form our shoddy OLine, that he in my opinion is done as a starter in the NFL

Plus throw in horrible coaching, horrible player devleopment and an overweight, overpaid, and unathletic Oline last yr.
an inexperianced Oline now riddled with bargain basement starters like Meredith and Scott and to an extent Bell
u throw in a recipe for disaster
All this and his inabaility to stay on the feild = not good
I feel bad for Trent he has all good intentions but he just doesnt have it

[TheBrownBear]

Trent in my opinion never recovered from the hit form adrian wilson, also having different OC's didnt help either
Problem with trent is that he is so trained to not make a mistake and has taken so many hits form our shoddy OLine, that he in my opinion is done as a starter in the NFL

Plus throw in horrible coaching, horrible player devleopment and an overweight, overpaid, and unathletic Oline last yr.
an inexperianced Oline now riddled with bargain basement starters like Meredith and Scott and to an extent Bell
u throw in a recipe for disaster
All this and his inabaility to stay on the feild = not good
I feel bad for Trent he has all good intentions but he just doesnt have it

Exactly. Trent was ruined by this coaching staff and the front office's approach to assembling an o-line; and by that brutal concussion he suffered in Arizona. He really was progressing nicely until that hit.

[djjimkelly]

how about the fact he did decent to start was the exception

and his crap play otherwise is the norm

new hc new gm new qb

no more needs to be said

[djjimkelly]

also he didnt dominate like an nfl level qb should in college so trust me

his play right now is the norm

[Joe Fo Sho]

Exactly. Trent was ruined by this coaching staff and the front office's approach to assembling an o-line; and by that brutal concussion he suffered in Arizona. He really was progressing nicely until that hit.

Progressing nicely?

Like how he barely beat the Jags?

Barely beat the RAIDERS?

Losing in the 4th Quarter to the lowly Rams until Jabari's pick?

Trent has been the same QB since he's been here. The concussion is a bogus excuse, he played pretty well the next game versus the Chargers.

[mybills]

"Trent has been the same QB since he's been here. The concussion is a bogus excuse"

That's worth repeating.

[HHURRICANE]

I think the concussion is a non-factor. I agree with mybills.

I believe Edwards has talent and can play. His o-line is terrible, Evans is a non-factor as usual, and Owens leads the league in dropped passes.

Could Edwards play better? Absolutely. Would he be playing better if the above had been addressed properly? Absolutely.

Treating the QB like he's operating in a vacuum is ridiculous. As I have said before any other coveted QB would have a serious drop off playing on this team's offense. So blaming the QB enitirely, although convenient, isn't very smart.

Edwards is not entirely blame free. He needs to grow a scak and start leading out on the field. If an o-lineman false starts, chew him out. If a guy drops a ball, be in his face. He needs to grow a sack or he;'ll be sitting on the bench next year for sure.








.

[justasportsfan]

I think the concusion is just an excuse to hide the real injury that happened when he got hit. Someone stepped on his testicles and someone needs to look for it fast.

I think he has all the tools to succeed but without his mojo, his brain and talent means nothing. Dick isn't the guy to help find his mojo since he himself has none.

[Ickybaluky]

Edwards played very well in the game after getting hurt, against San Diego, so too much is made of him getting a concussion.

Last year, through that San Diego game Edwards was being considered for MVP. The Bills were 5-1 (the one loss being the game he left early with a concussion), Edwards was completing almost 70% of his passes, averaging 8 Yds/Att and had a QB Rating of almost 100.

Now people are saying he has never played well? That is a six game stretch to start the season. People say he doesn't throw deep, yet after those 6 games Lee Evans was averaging 21.7 Yds/Rec and was on pace for a 1,400 yard season. The Bills scored over 20 points in all 5 games Edwards played significantly and scored over 30 twice. The rest of the season his numbers went down significantly.

He did play well. It was real, and he is still the same player. The question is, what happened? His sack rate wasn't signifantly worse the rest of the season, despite what some think.

One big change: The running game.

During that 6 game stretch, the Bills ran 165 times for 601 Yds (3.6 YPC). If you take out the Arizona game, the only loss in that stretch, the Bills actually rushed worse (3.5 YPC).

However, for the remainder of the season the Bills ran the ball well. They ran for over 1,200 yards and averaged 4.5 YPC in the seasons remaining 10 games. However, Edwards played worse. Why is that? It seems backward and may just be coincidence, but it is there in black and white.

That is why I think people are too quick to throw Edwards under the bus. He did play well to start the season last year, but something changed. The running game changed, but actually got better? Why? I don't have an answer.

[Griff]

As much as Trent has been an issue, until we get a new HC, OC and OTs, he is not a must change.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Edwards played very well in the game after getting hurt, against San Diego, so too much is made of him getting a concussion.

Last year, through that San Diego game Edwards was being considered for MVP. The Bills were 5-1 (the one loss being the game he left early with a concussion), Edwards was completing almost 70% of his passes, averaging 8 Yds/Att and had a QB Rating of almost 100.

Now people are saying he has never played well? That is a six game stretch to start the season. People say he doesn't throw deep, yet after those 6 games Lee Evans was averaging 21.7 Yds/Rec and was on pace for a 1,400 yard season. The Bills scored over 20 points in all 5 games Edwards played significantly and scored over 30 twice. The rest of the season his numbers went down significantly.

He did play well. It was real, and he is still the same player. The question is, what happened? His sack rate wasn't signifantly worse the rest of the season, despite what some think.

One big change: The running game.

During that 6 game stretch, the Bills ran 165 times for 601 Yds (3.6 YPC). If you take out the Arizona game, the only loss in that stretch, the Bills actually rushed worse (3.5 YPC).

However, for the remainder of the season the Bills ran the ball well. They ran for over 1,200 yards and averaged 4.5 YPC in the seasons remaining 10 games. However, Edwards played worse. Why is that? It seems backward and may just be coincidence, but it is there in black and white.

That is why I think people are too quick to throw Edwards under the bus. He did play well to start the season last year, but something changed. The running game changed, but actually got better? Why? I don't have an answer.

Remember Belichick used to say "you don't know your team until past week 4." Edwards' game started to take a turn right around that mark - he only played one series in game 5.

It's simple, team started to flood the short coverage zone to take away his favorite targe area, while using big nose tackles to push his pocket back. So if he's waiting for thos long patterns to develop, he had to run out of the pocket which is his biggest weakness. It's not surprising that under those conditions, the running game produced better numbers.

Edwards is not as stella as I've thought. Namely he didn't rising up to the challenge to become a better player. On the contrary, I would really point to that Cleveland game which really shot his confidence.

I could see the why the Bills management did what they did the past off season. They want to replace the interior O-line to counter D-Tackle attacks, and they brought in Owens whose game is arguably a better fit than Evans' for Edwards.

But in this process, they lost Peters, and offensive tackles really become a nightmare issue game in and game out. They are supposed to provide a solid base for the young interior, instead they drag down the entire performance of the O-Line.

From my comfortable seat in the living room, I don't see Edwards as a franchise carrying QB we have all hoped at the beginning of his career. But I think he can be a capable QB like Kyle Orton. That's why I advocate we focusing on D-Line and Linebackers in this off-season while drafting a QB in later rounds. There is a much better chance for us to build a top 5 defense than to hit a big Ben in 2010. With a top 5 defense, even Edwards can get us into playoffs.

[BillsWin]

I think this past year's draft was the best in years. Maybin could end up being a great player. We all knew he'd have little impact as a rookie.

Wood and Levitre shore up the interior of the line for years to come.

Nelson has potential to be a star target.

Byrd is the second coming of Ed Reed!

[JD]

Trent was rushed back too soon last year after still experiencing post-concussion syndrome in an effort to save Dick Jaurons job. Epic fail, and look what happened. A kid with a promising future, ruined again.