TigerJ

I can believe it, but I'm in no position to confirm it.

Hmm, I never posted in that thread. I guess I didn't care.

McCargo had a slow start at camp, but Bill Kollar (D-line coach) says he's doing fine. Whitner has been named starter at SS, so the Bills must like him despite his short hold out and having to play catch up. Youboty has turned heads and looks like he's going to be good. Ko Simpson and Kyle Williams have made the biggest initial impressions and are going to make major contributions to the Bills. Butler, Merz and Pennington will be fighting to make the practice squad. Every one of them probably has the potential to develop into an NFL starter, but they are not ready to play yet and Buffalo may not have room on the active roster. Same thing with undrafted rookie receivers Nance and Denney. Neither is without talent and potential, but they are not ready yet to contribute and will probably be competing for one spot on the PS.

Holcomb has 4 years left on his contract at a salary in 2006 of $875,000. http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpag...ort=NFL&ID=2604 I could not find any info on his signing bonus. Those who are saying it would cost 1.5 million against the cap, I assume know it is to be amortized over 2 years (post June 1). That works out to a remaining amortized bonus against the cap of $3 million, or $1 million per year over the three remaining years of his contract. If the Bills were to wait untill after the season, and cut Holcomb next offseason before June one, it would cost them $2 million one time versus $2.23 if he remains under contract. After June 1, however, that two year remaining bonus and be amortized to the cap over two years at a $1 million per year.

Depends on cost. Do the Bills have to pay his contract if they pick him off the waiver wire? If he clears waivers and no one else is interested, maybe he'll get the message that his attitude has to change. It would be worth taking a shot at a minimum contract.

Oh, that's the total QB stats for both preseason games so far. Nall's stats are good. the decreased completion percentage, 62 to 55% matters less than the difference in sacks and Losman's interception. Nall would still be my #2 choice to QB the Bills. I like what Losman brings to the team and I'm hopeful that as he matures and makes better decisions, the sack numbers will drop. Holcomb has third place nailed down.

Stats from when? The Bengals game? Losman didn't really get sacked 8 times did he?

I don't see any of the three being cut. The Bills might give Holcomb his release if he asks for it. They might then keep Kingsbury as the third QB. He's cheap enough that Holcomb's dead cap money wouldn't hurt much.

I think the Bills are keeping Terrence McGee out of return duty in the preseason. They don't want to risk injury and they want to save some wear and tear on him. I think he may be doing it again once the regular season starts. Shaud has pretty good shiftiness, but he doesn't outrun too many people. Same with Jonathon Smith.

That depends on whether or not a position out of football will be more eminent or not. It's certainly not imminent that Holcomb will become more eminent with the Bills. Jauron wants to see Nall work a little more in game conditions. I think it is likely that Nall could move up to second in the depth chart, but that is unrelated to the decision to play him more and Holcomb less or not at all.

There are a couple guys on the list who are intriguing. Iwouldn't mind Kingsbury. Ochs is still listed on the Bills roster. Anyone know how his recovery from injury is going. He seemed to be doing pretty well in NFL Europe before getting hurt.

I would not mind the Bills keeping Kingsbury rather than Holcomb for third string, but it would not bother me if Holcomb stays. Third string is basically irrelavant. If Buffalo has to use their third string QB for more than mop up duty the season is no doubt a disaster anyway.

I agree completely, but just to let you know, Matt Morgan has some medical issues. He will likely miss Friday's game and it would not surprise me if he's done.

My expectation of 7-8 wins is based on Losman starting and starting to show signs of maturity. I will assume he will complete in the range of 55% of his passes and have maybe half again as many touchdown passes as interceptions. I'm deliberately being modest in my expectations. I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed as the season unfolds. Losman has the potential of really lighting it up this season, but the safer route in terms of predictions is to anticipate no more than modest improvement.

There is great rumbling on other forums and even at the practice last night that Holcomb looks like he's lost the edge completely and might even ask for his release.

I think the accuracy issues all boil down to anxiety. As the game wore on he became far more accurate. I think that's also going to happen as he gets more games under his belt. The Channel 7 announcers stated that he appeared to be making correct reads and throwing to the right players. That's something he also stroggled with last year. He's moving in the right direction. I think he's going to be fine.

That says they don't have very high hopes that Curtis Martin is going to do anything this year even if he doesn't retire

Had Nall been healthy Losman would have been out in the fourth quarter. I think Jauron saw all of Holcomb he needed to , which is why he pulled him when he did. On the other hand, he knows that Losman can only benefit from getting a lot of reps. He got more relaxed and confident as he continued to play. I think think Kingsbury is in the Bills' plans, so there was no reason to make sure he got a certain number of reps. My own opinion is that Kingsbury probably has at least as much talent as Kelly Holcomb and could develop into a pretty solid backup. I agree that next week will be very interesting, particularly how Jauron handles Holcomb. I think though that with Nall's availability, he'll probably get the final quarter. If Losman plays pretty well in the starter's role and Holcomb continues to blow horse kaka, there is at least a slight chance Holcomb will be cut at the end of training camp and Kingsbury retained.

I don't mind flying under the radar for a while, at least until we get this quarterback thing straightened out.

I never saw a running back get flipped before and still land on his feet and keep going.

Just one vote for Eric Moulds? I'll add a second. He was the most vocal, aggitating for Holcomb to start. He's always had a selfhish streak. Not as bad as TO, but when he's not getting the ball, he starts complaining. He likes the label of "team leader," but deep down he's very much a "me guy."

I frankly think you're full of it. Talent does not always require the "can't miss" tag in college. Besides the three Bills you mentioned, there is Peters, whom observers say is much better now than he was last season when everyone, who could actually see, saw that he was doing a solid job blocking even very good defensive ends. There is Terrence McGee whom observers at camp are calling the best corner on the Bills. Translation: better than Nate Clements. There is Willis McGahee, whom observers are saying looks like he has finally overcome the last lingering effects of his devastating college injury, is playing lighter and faster like his college days, and according to Steve Fairchild will be used to run outside where he was effective in college. Note: Mike Mularkey saw him as a battering ram and used him mostly up the middle. There is Lee Evans, whom most observers say was among the top two rookie receivers in his rookie year. I will grant you that there are a lot of unknowns on this team, and a lot of things have to pan out for the team to have a successful year. (I'm predicting 7-9 or 8-8.) There is however quite a bit of talent on this team. I think in 2007 Buffalo could be a more than solid contender for a playoff spot, and depending on what happens in NE and Miami a division championship. The biggest question continues to be the QB spot. Future success ultimately hinges on JP Losman "getting it." I think there is at least a pretty good chance he will.

Failure breeds turnover. That plus the Donahoe salary cap purge makes the situation entirely understandable.

I really don't think either Overdorf or Lester will succeed Levy. I don't think Lester is strong enough to head up the personnel aspect of the Bills organization which is what the GM does. I disagree with Riico that it's enough for Overdorf to rely on Modrak for personnel decisions. I think the GM has to have a feel for both players and coaches. You can call Overdorf a GM but he's still a numbers cruncher. Tom Modrak likes living in Florida too much to have any more involvement with the Bills than he already has. A J Smith is a real possibility though.

All the reports I've heard say Holcomb sucks more. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...ills/index.html "We're not expecting Bills head coach Dick Jauron to come out and declare a winner just yet, but the dots are starting to get connected in favor of quarterback J.P. Losman. Losman could still jeopardize his standing with shaky performances in the first two preseason games, but the former first-round pick has turned in mostly solid showings in practice, while veteran Kelly Holcomb has struggled mightily at times." Chris Brown of the Bills Digest reports that Losman has consistently outplayed Holcomb, as hasPaul Hamilton of WGR.