OK...make your argument for keeping Reed

[DaBillzAhDaShiznit]

I noticed that alot of zoners think Josh Reed will be fine. They want to give him another chance. Up until last season I did too. But he just hasn't produced....has not displayed extra effort...has not done anything to make me think he is motivated enough to turn his career around.

So tell me, rationally what you see in Reed that makes you think he will be a solid #3 receiver for us this year. Because I don't think we can afford another year of dropped passes and almost zero contribution from our #3 guy.

I don't understand the rationale behind the "give him a chance with JP" thinking. Josh Reed's best year came with Bledsoe at the helm...why would we think that JP is going to resurrect his career?

To me, Reed is officially a BUST.

FIRE AWAY!

[kevinj22]

I think we've gone as far as we can with Reed. It just hasn't worked out and it's time for him to go. I also don't think we need to go outside the organization to fin d a #3 we have plenty of talent in house.

[The King]

I dont care what happens to him either way, but Bledsoe throws the ball really hard and maybe he is a pansy. Reed has no business being over the middle though and thats kind of his job so.... hmmmm eh screw it get rid of him.

[EDS]

How about the fact that he is young and inexpensive.

[Jersey1031]

there's no good argument for keeping Reed, cut him...

[Novacane]

I don't care if they get rid of him.

[Jan Reimers]

He's nice to his mother and loves animals?

[Dr. Lecter]

He is cheap. His cap hit is minimal. There is no reason not to keep him into camp and cut him then if he continues to crap the bed.

[Novacane]

I think we've gone as far as we can with Reed. It just hasn't worked out and it's time for him to go. I also don't think we need to go outside the organization to fin d a #3 we have plenty of talent in house.



What do you base that on? What has Aiken shown when he was in there?

[ddaryl]

He doesn't save us much cap room if cut. Better to let him stick around and compete for the job. We still need a #4 and #5 WR if he doesn't win the #3 spot

[DraftBoy]

Reed had a down season two years ago and looked last season, the fact that he was rarely thrown too should not count as a strike against him.

2004 16 rec 153yd 9.6 avg 0TD
2003 58 rec 588yd 10.1 avg 2TD
2002 37 rec 509yd 13.8 avg 2 TD

2004 88 rec 1043yd 11.9 avg 5 TD
2003 64 rec 780yd 12.2 avg 1TD
2002 100 rec 1292yd 12.9 avg 10TD

Now the 1st set of numbers are Reed's the 2nd's are Moulds as you can tell both players had amazing 2002 Reed's being as a rookie. Since then their production has slipped dramatically esp in the touchdown area. For the reason being that a trend was occuring with our WR's with Bledsoe at the helm I say he deserves one more shot. He's shown us the potential to be an amazin 3rd WR. I think Evans is the answer at #2. Plus he's cheap and he doesnt hurt the team.

[EDS]

Another way to look at it is how much production do the Bills really need from their 3rd wide receiver? Losman will be a first time starter, he hopefully will improve as the season goes on but no one should be expecting huge passing numbers out of him - especially if the goal is to be a run oriented team.

So, if you figure Moulds and Evans are good for around 1000 yards each (not guaranteed but a reasonable estimate), that is 2000 passing yards right there. You figure in a run oriente offense with a young QB 300 total passing yards is about all you can expect (may hope for more, but can't necessarily expect it). So after Moulds and Evans - the top two playmakers - that leaves 1000 yards for back-up receivers, tight ends, and running backs. That is not alot, because you figure 400 to TEs, 300 to RBs and then 300 total to wide receivers. Between Reed and Aiken we should be fine. If anything, add a 5th-7th round draft pick and call it a day.

[Philagape]

I see no reason to cut him before training camp ... let's have an open competition, bring in some low-priced vets and see what happens. JP will bring a whole new look to the passing game. Receivers often take a long time to develop; the fourth year is usually considered the crossroads year; if he does nothing this year, then I think a stronger case can be made that he's a bust.

[TedMock]

I would've been willing to call him a bust had he played the entire season. He had a promising rookie campaign, struggled in year two, and missed 4 games in year three. He had the dropsies in the first half of 2003, but corrected that problem in the second half of the season. The problem is that everybody remembers the drops, and forgets that the problem actually went away in the second half of that year. Now, every drop is 10-times magnified. Even so, he still had over 500 yards and 5 TD's in year two. 2004 (year 3) should've been the make or break year, as it's very common for WR's to take 3 years to come into their own. He gets moved back to the slot, but still splits time outside with Lee Evans, has a couple of catches in each of the first two games, is inconsistant the next few games, then he's out injured for 4 weeks. He comes back in December to a completely new offense, as a pure slot receiver, and gets 1 or 2 grabs each week.

So, I'm giving him 1 more year. Switching positions back and forth, new offensive schemes, and a month-long injury, will take their toll on any player. That said, I don't expect huge #'s from him. The reality is that we're probably going to focus the offense around McGahee, and run a lot more sprint-out passes to the TE's and RB's. There just won't be as many balls to go around. Whether it's Reed or Aiken, or someone else, I don't see our #3 WR getting more than 30-35 catches this year. Hopefully he regains that YAC skill that made him so dangerous in college. Otherwise.....see ya!

[dannyek71]

not to blame everything on drew, but anyone else notice that moulds (who was a sure handed wr) dropped alot of passes with db, and reed who caught everything in site in college did the same?

Who else are we going to get as cheaply as reed? If all else fails, have him return kicks and be on the kickoff team.

[Captain gameboy]

It is tough for me to get really angry regarding his performance because I thought that last year he was in a tough situation for a portion of the year.

It seemed there were times when Bledsoe was going to throw to Moulds no matter the situation or the coverage.
In fact they looked desperate to get him some receptions.

Evans won a few footraces and looks great, but Reed was a forgotten man.

Clearly, he hasn't produced, but I don't know how much of this past season should be used against him. Year two he looked bad.

Anyway, I give him a camp.
No more.

[SoCalBillsFan]

Cut him? THat would be pointless! Even if you are going to bring in another WR, Reed is a young, cheap guy who could then benumber 4 or 5.

Still, I think we are fine with him at number 3. Receivers often take a little while to develop. He has upside. He's not nearly a "bust" yet. Give him another year at the number 3 spot, or at least let him compete for it.

[justasportsfan]

JP was connecting w/ him at camp.

[buffalo66]

He has small hands, shorter than Lee Evans and can't catch. Where is the upside?! The offense didn't get going till he got hurt and that's not a coincidence. If Evans were the #2 guy from the get-go. we'd a won the Super Bowl

[G. Host]

According to Bledsoe-is-Antichrist Mexican mob no one should have been able to catch a ball from Bledsoe and the WRs only caught passes because they did manuevers Chinese acrobats envy!

Why cut when Bills are short draft picks this year? If they found a better candidate in training camp fine cut him but unless a team was willing to give up a pick or a good player (and why would they if he was so bad) there is no reason to cut before final cuts.

He was decent first year, Bills had WR Coaching problems in 2003 and he was injured in 2004. Let M&M see what they can do with him while he is healthy before cutting him.

[TedMock]

According to Bledsoe-is-Antichrist Mexican mob no one should have been able to catch a ball from Bledsoe and the WRs only caught passes because they did manuevers Chinese acrobats envy!

Why cut when Bills are short draft picks this year? If they found a better candidate in training camp fine cut him but unless a team was willing to give up a pick or a good player (and why would they if he was so bad) there is no reason to cut before final cuts.

He was decent first year, Bills had WR Coaching problems in 2003 and he was injured in 2004. Let M&M see what they can do with him while he is healthy before cutting him.

Not to mention that the kid can obviously catch. I think people still dwell on the first half of 2003 (two years ago!), when he had problems. If you ever watched him in college, the kid caught everything in sight, and that was while being thrown very ugly balls by Rohan Davey. If he's not impressing in camp this year, cut him. However, if he does well in camp, I'm willing to give him one more go around considering the past circumstances.

[ShadowHawk7]

I think we shouldn't invest into another young "project" and sign Corey Bradford or Charles Lee. They'd be our Bobby Shaw in 03' at worst. Both are big guys not afraid to go over the middle. I like what I saw from Aiken more than Reed. Get one of those FAs in and have them grind it out for the #3 and #4 spot and cut the loser. Smith has got #5 b/c of his versatality as a RB/WR/PR.

[Spiderweb]

Another way to look at it is how much production do the Bills really need from their 3rd wide receiver? Losman will be a first time starter, he hopefully will improve as the season goes on but no one should be expecting huge passing numbers out of him - especially if the goal is to be a run oriented team.

So, if you figure Moulds and Evans are good for around 1000 yards each (not guaranteed but a reasonable estimate), that is 2000 passing yards right there. You figure in a run oriente offense with a young QB 300 total passing yards is about all you can expect (may hope for more, but can't necessarily expect it). So after Moulds and Evans - the top two playmakers - that leaves 1000 yards for back-up receivers, tight ends, and running backs. That is not alot, because you figure 400 to TEs, 300 to RBs and then 300 total to wide receivers. Between Reed and Aiken we should be fine. If anything, add a 5th-7th round draft pick and call it a day.


Completely agree with your assessment. A 3rd receiver this year may be a non-issue, that is if the Bills can have competent TE play, as I see the TE being his Pete Metzalaars type "outlet" and we'll have (especially to begin with) a run first mentality and style.

[The_Philster]

I see him possibly missing the cut in August...why cut him before then?