Originally Posted by
LifetimeBillsFan
To just look at how they performed in the games you cited is a specious argument because at times you are comparing apples to oranges.
And, since we are talking about the NFL, not fantasy football, it must also be noted that stats do not always tell the full story. Or, as one person put it, "There are lies, damned lies and, then, there are statistics!" And, statistics can be made to say almost anything that you want them to say.
If you go back and look, you will see that I had very high hopes for JP Losman and was not at all thrilled when the Bills used a third round pick to select Edwards. But, it doesn't take a genius to see the two of them on the field--to compare them at the same time in their careers--to conclude that Edwards has a better command of position at the same stage in their careers. Regardless of whatever the statistics say, Edwards was better able to move the ball, move the chains, consistently between the 20 yard lines as a rookie than Losman at any stage in his career.
What Edwards was not able to do--and must learn to do--was to finish drives by consistently getting the tough yards inside the red zone. Losman wasn't able to do that very well either, but he benefitted from being able to get more TDs on plays from outside of the 20 yard red zone area than Edwards.
Edwards can learn to overcome his shortcomings in the red zone with experience and, now also, the addition of James Hardy. Losman never has proven that he can consistently move the chains or put the ball in the end zone from inside the red zone despite having more experience than Edwards. Now, that's not to say that either or both of them will or won't learn how to stick the ball in the end zone when the team is inside the red zone. But, Edwards, being younger and having proved to be more effective in moving the chains does have a greater potential to learn to do this at this stage.
If you wanted to do a comparison, why not compare how many 3-and-outs each QB had in his first nine games? We've heard a lot over the last five years about how important it is for the offense to control the ball and give the defense time to rest, if that is the case, then a QB being able to avoid going 3-and-out is helping both the offense and the defense. Multiple play drives (6 or more) would also be a valuable statistic to compare as well.
For a rookie, Edwards passed the "eyeball" test. Obviously, he still has a long way to go to fully develop his potential, but that's to be expected: P.Manning threw more INTs than TDs as a rookie, J.Elway got pulled from the lineup as a rookie, T.Brady barely saw the field as a rookie, etc. And, the odds are that he is still going to have some bad games before "the light bulb goes on" for him (Brady and P.Manning still have the occasional bad game, too--it happens to even the best of them). So, we're just going to wait and see what happens.
But, watching Edwards, you see a guy with poise who isn't constantly making the same mistakes over and over again, even though he was just a rookie. That has to lead one to conclude that he has a chance to continue to improve with experience. Now, there is no guarantee that that will happen. But, he has shown enough signs to lead one to believe that it will. And, that is why he will be the starting QB for the Bills going into this season.