Sam Wyche on the O

[justasportsfan]

Bills QB coach Sam Wyche told PFW that the Bills’ offense won’t be dramatically different from last season despite the change from veteran Drew Bledsoe to youngster J.P. Losman. “Well, I don’t think there will be a great deal of difference in the offense itself, but the play selection will (be for) a younger, fresher-legged mobile-type guy. (J.P.)’s not a scrambler; we don’t want him to do that. But here’s a guy who probably, just because of his stage of development and his youth, we’ll expect him to scramble a little bit more, maybe move him out of the pocket a bit more. That’s hard to predict because you attack a defense, and if the defense is taking that away, then we won’t do that.” Wyche said he’s comfortable with Losman throwing in the pocket or on rollouts. He also said that the shotgun formation that Losman used at Tulane will definitely be a part of the Bills’ offense in 2005.

http://profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/default.htm?mode=afceast

[DaBillzAhDaShiznit]

While I am sure that there are no big changes planned, I think the offense will evolve over the course of the season into something quite different than what we saw in week 17 of last season.
Losman's game is just too different from Bledsoe's to expect it all to hash out in a similar fashion. Now if Losman gets himself injured, and Holcombe is our guy, I think that we will see more of the same from last year.

[OpIv37]

Same offense just different play calling- I think this is a good move despite the differences in style between Bledsoe and Losman. First, the rest of the team is already familiar with it. Second, whatever benefit Losman got from his limited game experience and being on the sidelines for a whole season are in that system The Bills definitely need to capitalize on his mobility, but they should make it as easy on him as possible, and that means few changes.

[djjimkelly]

well even last year if u remember alot of the play calls where such that bledsoe looked like a fish out of water. u could definately tell the o last year was designed for somelike JP. in retrospect bledsoe was a total stop gap qb that play in our system waiting for the right kind of guy to run it

[OpIv37]

well even last year if u remember alot of the play calls where such that bledsoe looked like a fish out of water. u could definately tell the o last year was designed for somelike JP. in retrospect bledsoe was a total stop gap qb that play in our system waiting for the right kind of guy to run it

I give our coaches more credit than that. Bledsoe's talent is just limited. He can throw the long ball as well as anyone in the game right now, but he doesn't have the touch or the instinct for the underneath game (let alone mobility). The coaches wouldn't devise a game plan that's not right for their personnel. I don't want to re-open the Bledsoe debate because we've had it about 1000 times and I've made my feelings known, but the problem was his performance and not the offense used by the coaches.

[mybills]

He also said that the shotgun formation that Losman used at Tulane will definitely be a part of the Bills’ offense in 2005.

I wish these things weren't advertised.

[jamze132]

He also said that the shotgun formation that Losman used at Tulane will definitely be a part of the Bills’ offense in 2005.

I wish these things weren't advertised.
I don't really think it matters too much that our coaches say what we may or may not do, at least this early on. Every team has a shotgun formation, and the first couple of teams we will play this year will probably end up using video from Tulane anyways. Besides, it won't matter if thay know what play is coming as long as we execute. Roger Clemens is telling you that he is going to throw a 4 seamer down the middle, but it doesn't mean you are going to touch it.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

The play calling probably won't be very different, but, at least on some of the plays, I would expect that the look of the play--where the ball ends up going and how it gets there--could end up being quite different.

With the way that W.McGahee ran the ball last season and the fact that JP is going to be a first year starter at QB, I would expect the Bills to run the ball pretty much as often as they ran the ball last season: 25-30 carries a game for Willis, plus a couple of reverses and possibly a couple of carries for Willis' back-up. That's going to be the primary look of the offense, just as it was last season, and there's no reason for it to be any different. The only difference may be on the reverses where JP will be able to roll out to sell the reverse more than D.Bledsoe could and where the coaches may take advantage of JP's mobility by having him fake a reverse hand-off and run with the ball himself occasionally--something that they really couldn't do with Bledsoe--to keep the defenses more honest on reverses.

In the passing game, the plays and even the patterns run within them may be the same, but, with a different QB reading and reacting to the defensive coverages, there's a good chance that the ball may end up going to a different receiver than it did last season. Bledsoe had a great rapport and a lot of trust in E.Moulds and at times only seemed to be looking for Moulds on certain pass plays. JP has admitted that he doesn't have the same rapport with Moulds that he has with L.Evans and even R.Parrish. As a result, rather than holding the ball until E.Moulds breaks open, JP may look to Evans or Parrish in similar situations--or, if the blocking breaks down, he may look to run with the ball or throw it on the run a lot quicker. It may be the same play that the coaches called last season in a similar situation, but the way that the play looks to the observer or fan and the way that it ends up playing out may lead one to believe that it was an entirely different play call. In addition, at least initially, I believe that JP will be looking to put the ball where he is being taught that the ball should go on a given play, rather than where he wants it to go or where a more experienced QB, like Bledsoe, might think that it should go, based on his previous experience and personal assessment of his own abilities and those of his receivers. This is something that JP mentioned in his recent interview with S.Salisbury as being something that he has been concentrating on in his off-season study program and it could have a significant impact on where the ball ends up going on a number of plays over the course of the season.

So, while I think that S.Wyche is telling the truth about the play-calling being essentially the same as it was last season, at the same time, even though it is, I do believe that we Bills fans will be seeing a passing offense that will look significantly different, even as the running game remains essentially the same and the mainstay of the Bills offense this season.

[BuffaloRanger]

Shotgun formations?? Who's going to snap?

[Stoneludlow]

The current issue of USA Today's Sports Weekly has J.P. as the cover story, claiming he is "Future of the Franchise; J.P. Losman aims to follow Jim Kelly's footsteps." This is on the cover. Inside title is Kick it up a notch. It claims, "Buffalo's search for a spicy new wing leads to - bam! - J.P. Losman."

Also Tom Donahoe is quoted as saying, "The coaches think he's going to add a whole different demension to our offense. He's got agreat arm. We'll have some growing pains. But it will be fun, too."

I can't wait to see if we're going to have the rebirth of possibly either the No huddle offense or the K-gun we saw back when Kelly led the Bills to the Super Bowl.

[djjimkelly]

I give our coaches more credit than that. Bledsoe's talent is just limited. He can throw the long ball as well as anyone in the game right now, but he doesn't have the touch or the instinct for the underneath game (let alone mobility). The coaches wouldn't devise a game plan that's not right for their personnel. I don't want to re-open the Bledsoe debate because we've had it about 1000 times and I've made my feelings known, but the problem was his performance and not the offense used by the coaches.


no your miss understanding what im saying the little waggles they would try and run with drew and so on. quite honestly i dont think drew tossed ball over 20-30 yards more then 15 times last year anyway. all im saying is the o ran last year would have run smooter with some fresh legs behind center. and its not a debate im trying to get going but lots of plays where run last year where drew had to run or move and lol to his credit even though he looked horrible when he did run or rollout it was effective a few times