A quote from Marv Levy's book that applies to Losman....

[OpIv37]

This was inspired by Kerr's thread.

"In San Fransisco, by contrast, Joe Montana had spent much of his rookie year [1979] watching veteran Steve Deberg play quarterback. The 49ers had resisted the urge to rush Joe onto the field even though they had labored through a 2-14 season. Joe threw just 23 passes during the year, and his first start did not come until the 14th game of the season. Again in 1980, the 49ers held Joe back. After the first 4 games, he had thrown only 6 times. Then he began to see a little more action, and in their seveth game he was given the starting assignment.
"The 49ers broght Joe along exactly how a young quarterback should have been. They had minimized the pressure on Joe, while allowing him to learn, to gain confidence, to master the tools he possessed."
(page 229)

I don't think I need to write an epilogue to tell anyone how the Joe Montana story ends (according to John Madden, he was the first Tom Brady :puke:). So based on the Joe Montana formula (or at least Marv's interpretation of it), Mularkey did the right thing by holding back on Losman last year. There was no point in putting pressure on him to win while we had a chance at the playoffs, and he was given the opportunity to observe a veteran and learn the offense.

This year, however, I'm not sure if Marv would agree. On one hand, the Bills D, ST, and McGahee were supposed to take pressure off of Losman and allow him to win with minimal effort, so from that standpoint the pressure on JP is minimized. On the other hand, that formula hasn't worked so far, and regardless of how good the rest of the team is, it's a lot of pressure to be the starting QB on a team that most considered "playoff caliber" at the start of the season.

So is too much pressure being put on JP? (mental pressure- I'm not talking about opposing pass rushes that our Swiss cheese O-line can't stop)

:feedback:

[YardRat]

Slight, or maybe larger, difference here...Montana wasn't handed the starting job after his rookie season and expected to begin the season as 'the Man'.

Losman should have been handled EXACTLY the way Montana was...worked into the line-up slowly, possibly inserted as the starter during the season, instead of immediately after his first year.

Bledsoe should've stayed one more year.

[OpIv37]

Bledsoe should've stayed one more year.

hindsight is 20/20- maybe Mularkey handed Losman the starting job too early, which is what made Bledsoe leave. But I'm not sure it would've helped- Bledsoe wouldn't have done any better against the Bucs and maybe only slightly better against the Falcons, which means if JP went in at all, it would be into impossible situations. We'd be 3 games into the season and he'd have 0 pass attempts. That might be bringing him along TOO slowly.

[YardRat]

hindsight is 20/20-
It's not hindsight when you've said it from the beginning....which I have.

[YardRat]

Just for clarification...originally posted 01-09-2005, 10:33 PM

http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?p=879982#post879982


My point is you just don't hand the team over to Losman carte blanche.

Keep both JP and Drew. Whoever wins the camp battle is the starter. If Drew starts, be a little quicker with the hook and get JP in there. Hell, even add a few plays on a weekly basis specifically designed for Losman to get him into the game in certain situations regardless of how well or poorly Drew is playing.

Having both QB's on the roster simply gives the team the best chance for success. Why put all your eggs in one basket? <!-- / message -->

[RedEyE]

A few things here.

1) If I'm not mistaken, Mularkey and Donahoe offered Bledsoe a chance to remain with the club as Losman's backup if he'd accept a pay cut. But Bledsoe refused because he still believed that he could play at a high level and wanted a chance to compete for a starting job elsewhere.</NITF> Releasing Bledsoe saved the Bills $2.2 million on this season's $85.5 million salary cap. Bledsoe counts $4.3 million against the Bills' cap this season, but he would have counted $6.5 million if he'd stayed with the club. The Bills didn't have to pay him a $1.05 million roster bonus due in March or his $3.3 million salary for next season.

2) If any of you expected Losman to be Montana reincarted this season, that was your first mistake. When JP was drafted, most of the media "experts" already stated that he would require a minimum of 2 years of intense focus to fortify technique. JP spent last season sifting through tape while nurisng a bum leg. So obviously, year one was a SNAFU. Once healthy, he expedited his training process. The process hasn't slowed down yet.

3) Holcomb could have stepped in and started for a year, but its pretty obvious that he needs perfecting himself.

4) Is there really any better way to learn than on the job tranining? Get the kid out there and let him learn the system by trial and error. The problem right now isn't that Losman hasn't grasped the Bills offense, it's more likely that he is second guessing himself, allowing the pressure to skew his poise, and he's now overthinking everything that he does. Once he settles down a little bit and gathers his confidence, I think we will see a different quarterback.

[slakjaw157]

Bledsoe should've stayed one more year.

The organization was at a dead end with Bledsoe. It was his much needed time to go. Everyone needs to not expect that much out of JP that quickly, he will be fine in time. It can't get much worse than last Sunday's televised abortion.

[Drive 4 Five]

Slight, or maybe larger, difference here...Montana wasn't handed the starting job after his rookie season and expected to begin the season as 'the Man'.

Losman should have been handled EXACTLY the way Montana was...worked into the line-up slowly, possibly inserted as the starter during the season, instead of immediately after his first year.

Bledsoe should've stayed one more year.

We can all thank Ben Roethlisberger for that. I had no problem with Drew staying as long as he was willing to accept a hefty pay cut (for the way he played most of the three years here in Buffalo he at least owed us that much) but he wouldn't do it so f**k him.

[OpIv37]

A few things here.

1) If I'm not mistaken, Mularkey and Donahoe offered Bledsoe a chance to remain with the club as Losman's backup if he'd accept a pay cut. But Bledsoe refused because he still believed that he could play at a high level and wanted a chance to compete for a starting job elsewhere.</NITF> Releasing Bledsoe saved the Bills $2.2 million on this season's $85.5 million salary cap. Bledsoe counts $4.3 million against the Bills' cap this season, but he would have counted $6.5 million if he'd stayed with the club. The Bills didn't have to pay him a $1.05 million roster bonus due in March or his $3.3 million salary for next season.

2) If any of you expected Losman to be Montana reincarted this season, that was your first mistake. When JP was drafted, most of the media "experts" already stated that he would require a minimum of 2 years of intense focus to fortify technique. JP spent last season sifting through tape while nurisng a bum leg. So obviously, year one was a SNAFU. Once healthy, he expedited his training process. The process hasn't slowed down yet.

3) Holcomb could have stepped in and started for a year, but its pretty obvious that he needs perfecting himself.

4) Is there really any better way to learn than on the job tranining? Get the kid out there and let him learn the system by trial and error. The problem right now isn't that Losman hasn't grasped the Bills offense, it's more likely that he is second guessing himself, allowing the pressure to skew his poise, and he's now overthinking everything that he does. Once he settles down a little bit and gathers his confidence, I think we will see a different quarterback.


1. you're right about the offer. I'm saying that perhaps Mularkey should have let Bledsoe and Losman compete and Bledsoe may have been willing to take the pay cut.

2. the comparison is to the way Montana was developed, not to Montana himself. If it's too early for the RJ comparisons, it's DEFINITELY too early for Montana comparisons.

3. Holcomb's more experienced so based on Marv's quote, I suspect he'd disagree with you. Steve DeBerg isn't exactly going to the HOF either.

4. The concern is that if you throw a young QB to the wolves too early, it may permanently destroy his confidence, particularly if he is faced with bad O-line play. Any QB gets jumpy and inaccurate in that situation and it's more difficult for the young ones to overcome.

[RedEyE]

1. you're right about the offer. I'm saying that perhaps Mularkey should have let Bledsoe and Losman compete and Bledsoe may have been willing to take the pay cut. Point taken. However, Bledsoe had already stated that he would not play the back-up role, and I think the way they handled Bledsoe's departure was the best for Bledsoe. The guy is a class act that deserved an early departure to find the ideal situation for himself. We'll probably see something similar with Moulds in '06.


2. the comparison is to the way Montana was developed, not to Montana himself. If it's too early for the RJ comparisons, it's DEFINITELY too early for Montana comparisons. Agreed. And besides, RJ started off hell of a lot better than JP has. ;)


3. Holcomb's more experienced so based on Marv's quote, I suspect he'd disagree with you. Steve DeBerg isn't exactly going to the HOF either.I think that Holcombe is there as a safety net, not as a mentor. In case the Losman pick blows up in TD's face (injury, sucks balls etc.), Holcombe gets the call for 1st string. But again, it's way too early to start calling for the young guy's head. I know that Losman was announced as the starter several months ago, but had the coaching staff saw something in Holcombe that was better than young Losman, I would hope they would have made the switch prior to September 11th, '05.

[Mr. Cynical]

1979: League had no salary cap or FA'cy and defenses were alot simpler.
2005: League has a salary cap and FA'cy and defenses are alot more complex.

The game has changed since Montana was a rookie. You just don't have the same time to develop a QB. You have to take bigger chances unfortunately which can either help or hurt your team, depending a lot on luck.

[OpIv37]

1979: League had no salary cap or FA'cy and defenses were alot simpler.
2005: League has a salary cap and FA'cy and defenses are alot more complex.

The game has changed since Montana was a rookie. You just don't have the same time to develop a QB. You have to take bigger chances unfortunately which can either help or hurt your team, depending a lot on luck.

and we all know that luck is a hallmark of Buffalo sports...

[Mr. Cynical]

and we all know that luck is a hallmark of Buffalo sports...:spit:

[pats-were-right]

In the last decade it's worked both ways. That Manning guy (the older one) was thrown to the wolves and he ended up ok, while Carson Palmer appears to have developeed well after sitting behind Jon Kitna,