Fake-Fat Sunny

Great to see some positive suggestions from you:

I think in the modern NFL operating within the growing partnership between the NFL and NFLPA that the draft is an important part of building a team capable of winning (or even appearing in) an SB. However, I think many TSW posters are flat out wrong with the observation that they key to a team is the draft. The keys to building a winning team are mult-faceted and the draft is part of it. However, the most important part of it in recent experience has been good braintrust make great FA pick-ups which really make the difference. One need go little further than look at the NE teams which won 2 of the last three SBs to see that in 2001 they picked up about 1/3 of their team from cap casualties and other cuts available after June 1st. Last year BB made great pick-ups and attracted players like Rodney Harrison to lead the squad. Even to the extent that the draft was a key to this team, it has been low-level 6th round picks like Tom Brady rather than high profile picks like first rounder Seymour whom ost people judge draft quality by who have made the difference. So too does this issue become important when considering the WM choice. Sure one can invest in 20/20 hindsight to suggest that a TD missed the boat and some later selected player was the right choice (I've done this myself) but the real deal to me is that TD did a great job taking a flyer and risk on WM that his peers would not take and so farso good this risk seems to be paying off, Picking WM was the only way to get a top 5 guy with a 20-something pick and it is simply to easy for a top 5 pick to turn out to be Ryan Leaf or Mike Williams. If folks want to admit anything simply admit that TD has gotten a weapon for the Bills because he had the cojones to take a risk few of his peers would take. Given that he acquired not simply a great player but the injury allowed for cap management which allows us to get this player for a song. It is simply a great move.

ther than on the sideline carrying the clipboard or yucking it up with his teamates. 4. Learning the Bills O- Again PT is critical for application, but practice time builds chemistry and videotape builds knowledge. I don't let him play until he demonstrates he is ready and simply learning and relearning on the job destroys chemistry and confidence. Ironing out his mechanics- He developed a habit of throwing off balance and off the wrong foot running for his life at Tulane. It worked in college but pros will eat him alive, He must practice, practice, practice.

I think it should all depend upon the coaching assessment of JP's development by MM, TC and Wyche. I think it would b the height of foolishness to put him in games before he is ready to play and develop well and it would be a really bad idea to bench our QB of the future if PT is what he needs to develop as Bledsoe is simply not going to lead the 2004 team to the playoffs (or even a winning season most likely). As far aswhat is good for JPs development in terms of when he should play, I like the rest of the TSW posters have no real idea. The doctors know a lot more than I do about his injury and Wyche/Clements know a lot more about his command of the game and any mechanical issues than I do (and all us posters as well). I think these are among the key factors for consideration and my sense of where JP is from what I have seen (pre-season and Tulane highlights) and what i hear (75% or more of which is not to be believed). 1. Playing against NFL opposition and at NFL speed- This can come only through playing somewhat in practice, more in the pre-season, but the real deal is necessary in games. Nevertheless, JP has shown me in his brief pre-season appearances that he has a level of athleticism and a lot of experience running for his life at Tulane that he looks pretty good in this area. He must get PT to really develop, but his performance so far makes this point less of a reason to force him to start a lot this year. 2. Building the ability to lead his teamates- The word is that his cockiness got some of the vets a bit pissed at him when he would take advantage of the "no-hit tutu" he wore in practice to peel off some runs against the D. It is unfortunate if teaching him a lesson was part of the reason Vincent teed off on him practice, but if it was then it is up to JP to learn his lesson and be a leader of his teammmates rather than a primadonna. As far as learning how to lead, nothing suceeds like success. RoboQB for Pitts and Brady winning the SB will be better players becase they believe in themselves and their teammates believe in them because their teams won. If the Bills continue to play like yesterday, I feel better about giving JP a chance to share in this glory. However, if the team sucks, MM, TC and Wyche have to be more careful about things because while their are examples like a Peyton Manning surviving a 3-13 year and still gaining the confidence oftheteam, no oneis confusing the rookie Losman for Manning . He needs to b used and developed in away which gives him success either because the team can carry him or because he is judged good enough to carry the team. Simply throwing him in so he can learn by being bad is not a good strategy. 3. Learning NFL offense and defenses- The irony here is that the injury may turn out to have been the best thing to happen to JP (assuming a physical recovery) if he used the time when he had no expectation of playing well. he really needed to become Sam Wyche's best friend and have the former HC download his knowledge to him. I think JP develops much faster in the booth looking over the NFL from above while Wyche explains what happens ra

I think the major factor determining whether he is still here in 2005 is how he finishes out the rest of the season and the team's record. If he continues to produce at the same level the Bills likely cut him as a cap casualty after June of 2005 to distribute his salary over a ciouple of caps. Where he goes depends more on who has cap room as this determined where former SB appearers like Warner and Kerry Collins ended up. Timing and the market rather than a simple assessment of need will tell the tale. He improves his production to some extraordinary level in which case he stays. I really do not see this happening as opponents will have tons of tape on him running the Bills and even the MM offense so he can be nullified. The only way the record and his production does improve to the extraordinary levels necessary is if we have more days like yesterday where the output of the ST, D and the rest of the O is so great that Bledsoe does not need to produce great stats to have us win going away. This can happen against a bad team at home, and if we get better maybe even against a good team at home or against a bad team on the road. Hoever, i doubt we will see this against good teams on the road. The greatest likelihood is thatBledsoe has some good games and some bad games. Actually underr these circumstances, his fate as a Bill will be determined by how fast JP develops into our QB of the future. I do not expect Losman to be mistaken for Ben RoboQB as he is half a season behind him in current play and actually behind him in development as a QB overall. If he was suddenly Peyton Manning out the box then maybe Drew leaves regardless, but my guess is that he shows good signs but not enough to take the job until nerxt pre-season at the earliest. If JP is Brady he's gpne. If JP is Ryan Leaf he probably stays.

I'm still not sure after reading your first post and the last ones on page 6 of this thread why it is not possible to know that this team is horrible, know that Bledsoe is past his prime, on the way out and also know it is merely a matter of time and judgment of the Bills braintrust until this happens and to get psycged anytime we drub the enemy. Do you really think the results of the games are going to result in Bledsoe leaving right now (our #2 wasn't even in the league before injuries forced his signing and our QB of the future #3 is not ready to play physically for a couple of weeks it seems and there still are questions about whether he will have learned enough about being a productive player in the NFL and for the Bills to merit a start even when he is physically ready? Do you really think that Bledsoe is going to stick with this team any longer than when Losman is ready to take over? I'm really not sure what you are ranting for or against. Are you saying that Bills gans should br more depressed about a victory over a lousy team?

Actually, I thought his original post which started this thread deserved a response (I don't really think of any posts as abuse since they are merely photons and should be easily ignored if anyone doesn't like them) because it took a perspective on the game which I found to be completely wrong-headed about football. In general, I think that many posts on TSW are totally over-focused on Bledsoe (both the posts of the Bledsoe haters and theBledsoe worshippers) if one's drive is to root and care about the Bills. Bledsoe was only a minor point in a major Bill's story yesterday. The major story (and I would hope a focus of great revelation by Bills fans) was that for the first time this season, the entire team produced in terms of the D beating up and dominating the opponent, the O scoring in the redzone, and best of all ST play really xontrolling and determining the outcome and flow of this game with great punting and great return work. In the face of this glory, posts still pop=up which find fault with Bledsoe because it was against a stinky team, at home and in lousy conditions. Please. I actually feel sorry for any fans who can only get excited when the Bills demolish an SB contender, on the road, dominate them completely in the offense and all facets of the game etcetera. This team is so far down at 1-5 that you have to start somewhere. Besides, because of the schedule the Cards were the only team they played yesterday. Part of the reason I'm a fan is because of the rush and excitement I feel when the team I root for wins a game against an opponent going away. I mean seriously, what is Risin, your and other standard. You only get the excitement of this rush when your team not only dominates but does so with the appropriate style points and behind a stud QB? If so, then I suggest you not look to the Bills for any excitement because it ain't gonna happen. In order for the Bills to win in this fake real world of NFL football, the TEAM is going to have to excel in all facets of the game to make up for the failings of Drew and the other Bills. Surprise, this is how TEAMs win in this game. Bledsoe is tragically flawed in many ways. The good news is that in addition to his flaws as a player, he also has a few good facets like an extraordinary arm (which in bad weather games like Miami can make throws a Fiedler can't make), a lot of NFL games (experience which his brain-cramps sometimes makes inaccessible, but sometimes it comes out for some neat plays), and he is a teamer for the most part who really was pretty graceful in doing the right thing for the Pats when Brady was better than him and took his job. The fact is that TD made an error in my judgment and stuck with DB this off-season when he should have counted the blessings of his great first year as a Bill when we went from 3-13 to 8-8, recognized that his washout season last year is an indicator that he is too hard to win with and looked elswhere for a QB and called the two years a wash. However, I ain't in charge and he stuck with DB and at least got him to agree to arrange a workable cap hit. As a Bills fan, this is not the first time my leaders did something I wouldn't have done. In the face of that I can repetitively point out the now obvious errors of their ways. I think that approach is fairly obvious and doesn't mean a lot in this illusion we have chosen to embrace. Instead, I find the most interesting posts (thank gosh I live in a country which has free choice about this form of entertainment) to be those which: 1. Explore how given the reality that Matthews is at best a journeyman who would be at home if it were not for injuries and JP is physically hurt and mentally must demonstrate control in a number of areas before he can develop properly, we can do the best we can given the QB reality. 2. Given that other aspects of the team such as D, ST and other offensive players must step up as a team and become a TEAM in order to win how is that going. 3. This is TD's team and at best he is a mixed bag showing great work in some aspects of the game (the business side, contract negotiations and cap management, an an ability to think way outside of the box on somethings) while he has been the worst at other areas (hiring his first HC, brain-dead thoughts like thinking good kickers are a dime a dozen, and the passive-aggressive manner he seems to use to deal with getting run out of town by a guy he hired in Pittsburgh), and he has been both brilliant and horrendous at draft selection (2001 selections were great, 2002 was horrible). Analysis of the dichotomies of the Bills being both very good and also very bad at aspects of the game is fascinating to me. However, one of the problems I see with many TSW folks is that brains seem to be too small to allow two contradictory notions to exist at the same time in our little heads. Folks want to treat TD as though he is all good or he is all bad when neither is true. The interesting thing to me is folks cuts on the dichotomies and how they see both good and bad existing at the same time. The same is trueto me about Bledsoe. It is simply not true to claim that a team cannot win with his play as both early in his career under Parcells and late in his career under BB, Bledsoe either led or played QB in the majority of a must-win game successfully and they made the SB and actually won it all. Further, in our specific case, until opponents got enough tape on him running the Bills O and until BB showed how to take him apart, Bledsoe was tremendously successful here. Folks can reoetititively mock him out, call him a statue or whatever, but he ain't going nowhere but here, there ain't nobody to play QB unless someone has a rational reason for believing in Matthews or they are willing to push JP into thestarting job when it would be clearly contrary to his development physically as our QB of the future and most likely to contrary to his development mentally. Rag on him all folks want (its your right in our virtual world) but given the choice I would take his career where he has earned beaucoup bucks from his footbsll play and the SB and conference championship rings he has deservedly earned and laugh all the way to the bank about folks rants. I am simply far more interested in how the Bills win and get better with the reality of what we got than with folks repetive rantings which will not add up to a hill of beans even our fantasy world of football.

I have begun thinking about my midterm assessments that I plan to do after next weeks games. After his getting a tremndously costly false start in the red zone last week that essentially put this red-deficient group into FG mode by second and goal Iwas getting ready to acknowledge the way to early bust labels which he started to land even last season. However, in the wake of what was one of the better games this season by the OL and one with no sacks, a 100 yard rusher and (finally) a couple of rushing TDs the whole OL has to be given credit for doing their jobs. While it is way to early to declare Williams successfully rehabilitated after he did not take his family troubles like a pro this off-season (being upset by a death of his near-Mom grandmother is understandable as a human, but as a professional with teammates counting on him and him getting big bucks for a public job professionalism is simply a requirement for him) his performance is on track. The issue of last week's boner is a real one, but what I discovered in my looking into this is that the false start is actually the only penalty which has been called on Williams this year. He ain't a bust yet and has a lot still to prove to his City and his teammates duringthe final 9 games, but so far so good for him as an individual player. Now he needs to step it up to #4 pick levels.

For the third week in a row he has analyzed the first half play and designed and implemented changes which virtually have shut down the opposing offense. Emmitt racked up a bunch of yards in the first half as the ground game was the only thing working for the Cards in the wind and in the second half he was held to a -2 yards as best as I can tell. Certainly the Cards, Ravens and Fins O are all suspect, but the changes put in place essentially stoned these offenses is tough to do against Pros (as seen by the Cards getting what yardage they got in the second half dueing garbage time. Given the clear execution mistakes (unnecessary third down penalties for example) rather than scheme mistakes which has described the defensive errors which have occured I am quite impressed with the job Gray has done. The Bills have gone 7 games against folks such as Curtis Martin, Corey Dillon and Fred Taylor and have not given up 100 yards to anyone Some folks questioned his extension and even if it is difficult arguing with his DC playcalling they wondered about his strategic ability. I simply think he is a keeper.

I guess the main question for me is whether I or we trust the Bills gameday braintrust to make a good judgment on when JP is physically and mentally ready to go. Given the Bills record, frustration with MM and his crew is understandable. However, rookie HCs are rookie HCs and the bounces of the ball are bounces of the bal. Given the frstrating closeness of how close they have come and the real potential that a home game against a 6 day rest team will allow them to finish the first half 3-5 they certainly will (do) retain the benefit of the doubt from me in terms of their judgments on when to go with JP. Further, theHC and OC have a clear record of success in understanding how to develop an offensive approach with a QB who has things to learn and change as seen with their work with Kordell and Maddox. I'm happy to advocate they make their best call on how to develop JP even if this means that call is not to play him until 2005. I hope he is ready sooner, but if there is any doubt finishing 8-8 or 9-7 and still missing the playoffs is simply not worth the cost of rushing along the development of our QB of the future for years to come.

I'm not sure what all the angst on TSW about Bledsoe's performance was today. The summary I take today from Bledsoe's performance is that there is no rush to at all to move JP into the starting line-up. Even if you judge Bledsoe to have sucked today, the bottomline is that this team can beat a bad team in a laugher even with unimpressive (as you kind folks put it) play from our QB, Why rush JP along before he is fully healthy physically (as folks who demand that he play and play right now do) and why rush him along befiore he is ready mentally (knows and learns NFL offenses and defenses and get his mechanics down) when we can win the way we did today. Certainly today was at home against a bad team so no one should expect the Bills to win laughers with unimpressive QB play on the road and/or against good teams. However, full speed ahead with Bledsoe in the saddle against the Jets at home next week and we will see what happens against a better team. Assuming Bledsoe survives and the Bills as a team play like we know they can and we want them to next week against the Jets, it strikes me as great entertainment and good football to send the Bills to NE and to challenge Bledsoe to step into the belly of the beast and take on BB. If he survives that game we'll see. If he actually is on a Bills team which wins on the road in NE and comes out of that game 4-5 I think it will be hard for anyone to argue that Bledsoe will be benched and it will be good news for the Bills as a healthy Losman can really focus his time and effort where I perceive he needs to as a rookie which is learning the NFL playbook from reading and videotape and ironing out his mechanics on the practice field getting reps under the watchful eyes of Wyche. This would be fairly typical of rookie QBs. This would not condemn Losman to a losing season next year as folks such as Pennington and Vick have demonstrated one can sit as a freshman QB and lead your team to the playoffs your second year. This would be consistent with the good points JP has shown (you only learn to play at NFL speeds by playing and you learn to be an effective leader by building on the confidence of success), I think his athleticism and leadership qualities are well developed areas in JP so though he must play its not the first priority in his development, and also is consistent with his weaknesses (JP like any rookie needs to learn the NFL and has a rep for bad mechanics like throwing off balance as he ran for his life at Tulane and both of these facets are best learned off field with the books, tape and repetitious practice)/ Rag on Drew all you want. Assessments of his play as unimpressive are great. We won big time even with a judgment that his play was bad or unimpressive. This is all the reason a Bills fan should need to let JP take his time and develop at his own speed. Folks may want him to play now because they want their candy and they want it now (it is Halloween afterall). I hope he does develop quickly and that he is better than Peyton Manning tomorrow. However, I have seen enough football to not expect this wishful thinking to come true. It's fine with me for MM to sit JP for the entire season if he judges him to be not ready physically or mentally to play and develop into our QB of the future. Goes any Bills fan disagree?

I think you misunderstand my posts (sorry for my inarticulation. 1. I do not think that Bledsoe is quality QB snd that even considering his peak performance he is well over the hill. 2. However, I think it is possible (actually easily so) for a team to win games without a high quality QB and even possible with a one incapable of making big plays if he is one good facet is to avoid mistakes. 3. I think it is much more difficult to go to the SB with a low quality QB because to do this you need a very good TEAM which plays well together so that the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts so they can fill in or cover-up for this low quality QB. However, since it is a very difficult thing to go to the SB even with a high quality QB (witness the career achievements of Manning and McNabb) I see no problem with not blowing your salary cap to pay what it takes for a high quality QB if you use the cap room to build a TEAM. I think this view is upheld by the factual occurences where you have QBs paid the minimum like cap casualty Trent Dilfer, stock-boy Kurt Warner and late round draft pick Brady in 2002 lead their team to SB wins. Meawhile the last QB drafted in the 1st roound who took the team which drafted him to the SB was Dallas choosing Aikman in 1989. The next first rounder to deliver an SB win to the team which chose him (probably McNabb as Manning once again looks doubtful to even make the playoffs if they keep playing like they are) will actally be the exception that proves the rule. If you must have a 1st round drafted QB for your team better to look for a reject cap casualty like Dilfer than blow a big wad on Ryan Leaf, Alili Smith (or based on results Peyton Manning). What's the beef? Are these facts wrong?

Glad to see us win going away with bad QB play. This certainly decreases the pressure to rush JPs development along at a harm to him as a productive QB.

Glad to see that you agree we can win going away with unimpressive QB play which greatly minimizes the need to rush JP's development along.

A team certainly doesn't need a good QB performance to win a game and in fact was able to blow an opponent out today with a QB performance most Bledsoe haters on this board would judge to be bad and part of their argument on why to bench him. Sure its great to have a great QB, but the draft of 1983 was 21 years ago, the co-incidental presence of great QBs like Montana is a rarity and under the salary cap, QB investments are best made in 6th round draft picks like Brady, cap casualties like Dilfer, double rejects like Brad Johnson and walk-on specials like Kurt Warner rather than blowing your salary cap wad overpaying folks like Harrington, Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith etcetera. Even when they turn out to be the best QBs going like Peyton Manning, he finally won his first playoff game last year and today's episode is a snapshot showing you how great Manning can be and it still adding up to an L. It was a mistake in my opinion to resign Bledsoe as I figured that we could find a couple of options on the market that would produce as well as he would if we did the necessary thing of resigning him to a cap friendly deal rather than honoring his contract. I ain't in charge so the Bills went elsewhere and at least resigned Bledsoe to a cap friendly deal. He has not been productive at all this year, but as today's game shows the Bills can even win going away with mediocre production from Bledsoe if we have other factors like: 1. We were at home (THE 12TH MAN RULES!!!!!!!!!!) 2. AZ really sucks 3. The OL was pretty good and the blitz-pick-up was great. 4. The running game used WMs run and the blocking with authority. 5. The wind took away the passing game so rather than depend upon Bledsoe to win it for us, his job which he performed successfully (with the help of some lucky bounces on one Keystone cops fumble) was to not make mistakes, deliver a few timely plays and be a threat. The Bills can win even with mediocre play at QB consistently (as opposed to today's episode which will not happen all the time) if: 1. MM and TC become at least good if not great coaches. Parcells and BB have already shown that it is possible to win consistently or in must win games with Bledsoe at QB if the coaching is great. No one is mistaking MM for Parcells orBB yet or TC for Weis, but if they choose to go down the Bledsoe road they need to be among the best. 2. They do not get pass-happy and depend on Bledsoe to win games for us. KG has shown this works until opponents get enought tape and the weather conspires against anyone having great passing day consistently. Bledsoe showed 2 weeks ago in bad weather against Miami he can be a threat, but he showed last week what happens when you depend on him. 3. The OL and the blitz pick-up have to work hard to override his limitations. i think folks overblow things to call him a statue but he is pretty slow and not a runner. He has actually shown the ability to occaisionally make a nifty move and to do the small sidesteps which buy enough time to throw. However, this should not be something we expect a lot of and days like today when there are 0 or 1 sack are a tribute to the OL and blitz pick-up, If you combine it with a constant emphasis (which Parcells achieved through his personality and MM seems to be doing with his alarm clock) a TEAM can win with Bledsoe's strengths and weaknesses. TD made the Bills bed by not investing in having a quality backup (I doubt the oft tried Brown was it, Volek would have been cheap at even a lttle higher price and seems to come around for McNair though I have not inspected the stats today). This TEAM can win with Bledsoe at the helm (though its gonna be darn hard and darn ugly to do). I wish we had other options but JP is at least a couple of weeks away from physically being able to play and mentally I hope he is great but it would not surprise me if like Pennington and Vick he needs to spend virtually all of his rookie season on the bench. I still see no credible case being made for Shane Matthews bein our starter beyond folks frustration with Bledsoe. I wish we had a good option but we don't and in the absence of one, I'm most interested in how we can do the best we can with Bledsoe. I know his limitations and failings please tell me something I don't know.

The next thing is he is made an eligibler receiver and catches a TD pass.

This stat is a true showing that it takes a TEAM to win and win it all. The over emphasis which many Bills fans put on the QB position is silly.

Did they compile a list of SB winning QBs that didn't make the list?Newbies not there is understandable, though Kurt Warner being there and Tom Brady not rauses some interesting questions. Off hand, Trent Dilfer ain't there (I'd agree), Jim McMahon ain't there (also understandable but he did QB the best team of all time. Doug Williams ain't there and I'd have to look up his career stats to find a likely explanation as to his absence.

I agree that what applies to Vick as a player does not apply to l:os,am as a player. I also agree that what applies to Pennington is a much better fit for what JP brings to the game than Vick. However, I don't think that the example of Pennington really applies to Losman because though thre are some similarities (draft position, leadership potential) I think the example of one player does not determine at all what should be done with another player. Even if their skillsets were virtually the same, for any individual these pieces are put together in different orders and the ball bounces different ways. No example is determinative and many examples are indicative. I site these two examples for a couple of reasons: 1. I am arguomg against a determinative finding rooted in the coventional wisdom which I think is wrong that a player must play QB a lot before he can be productive at the position, Both Vick and Pennington provide examples against the conventional wisdom that JP must start now or next seasopn is lost for him. There are two examples where rookie QBs sat and made the playoffs their first year. Perhaps someone can convincingly argue that what applies to Vick does not apply to JP (I'd generally agree) and what applies to Pennington does not apply to JP (I think JP is actually more talented), nut I'd prefer t see posters make that argument rather than trot out the idea JP must play for his and the Bills benefit now or we are billsfanone next year as though this is an inarguable point. 2. These two examples are very recent and under the current salary cap. Citing Vick is not meant to be determinative of JPs fate, it is meant to undercut the uncritical opinion that he must start and start now and the idea that rookies get nothing from watching the game from the bench. Since he seems to have no ill physical effects from his injury, we may look back and getting hurt was actually the best thing that could have happened for JPs development into a contributing QB for the Bills. It got rid of annoying and unrealistic calls for him to start for 2-3 months and allowed him to focus on understanding the game rather than playing the game.

Interesting theory that Matthews would have delivered a win in Balt., but it strikes me as pure theory with little in terms of Matthews performance to indiciate this would be true. Saying that he would not be as bad as Drew is certainly possible as the Drew output was so poor last weekend, but saying that Matthews would not have simply made other mistakes since there is little to indicate he is more than a couch jockey at QB is little more than theory. Also it is true that Bledsoe is inadequate, but simply because he is inadequate does not mean that the OL is great, that our runners are better than the kamikaze Ravens D players or that our receivers would catch the damn ball if you just threw it to them a little softer. I do not argue at all that Bledsoe is good or even adequate in the face of a rush, but I do argue that the Bills have a lot more to overcome offensively than Bledsoe's failings. Matthews might be able to play a Trent Dilfer game but given that this boy was gonna watch this season from the counch except we got hit with two injuries at QB I really doubt he has what it takes to win. If the Bills are going to be so good at other facets of the game that they do not needs a QB to play reasonably they should even be able to win with Bledsoe and his mix of weaknesses and strengths.

If he doesn't there will be great lamentations on TSW as folks want their candy and they want it now. However, given the history of the NFL where folks like Vick and Pennington sat virtually all (if not all) of their rookie seasons and came back to make the playoffs in their second seasons. Given that major QB investments like Carson Palmer have been sat their whole first year. And also that Losman is clearly our QB of the future and his development must include some playing time for him to learn to play at NFL speeds and to be a leader, but his bigger development needs are learning the Bills O, learning NFL O & D tendencies, and working on his mechanics, I can easily seeit being the best thing for his development to sit most if not all of this year. The desire to get the best player in there right now and our impatience may drive this process. However, given JPs needs and skills and past experience, the Bills could easily be better off by waiting until next year and having him pull a Pennington or Vick in terms of his 2nd year production. Ironicaally, the injury earlier this season may have accelerated his learning what he must learn to be a productive pro if he spent time learning the game from the booth instead of being one of the boys on the sideline and if he made Sam Wyche his daddy so that they qucikly and easily iron out his mechanics now that he can practice.

I think it is neither the case that is impossible to win at all with Bledsoe nor that the Pats raped the Bills or TD with this deal. The facts are these plese tell me if these FACTS are wrong. 1. I think it is possible to win with Bledsoe at QB because IT HAPPENED BEFORE IN REAL LIFE. Bledsoe flat-out is not a good enough player to carry a team o the SB or even a winning season with him as the prime player. However he did QB the 1996 Pats team to the SB (making it to the SB I consider to be a good winning season though if one wants to declare everyone who didn't win the SB a failure feel free) but it took an outstanding HC job by Parcells and the Pats being a great team in almost all facets of the game to get Bledsoe there. In addition in the 2001 seaso0n Bledsoe was replaced due to injury by Brady and correctly kept on the bench because the Pats were a better team with Brady than with Bledsoe. Nevertheless, Bledsoe did play the majority of a must-win game (throwing the winning TD) for the Pats in the championship game and fully earning his ring as an SB champion that year by doing so. Anyone who declares a team incapable of winning with Bledsoe at QB is simply totally wrong because teams have won with Bledsoe at QB. The difficulty is that in order to win given Bledsoe's failings you need to have an outstanding coach, OC and your team needs to be a TEAM. No one is mistaking MM for Parcells or Belicheck (maybe one day but not now) or Clements for Weis. Certainly no one would identify GW as a great HC after his debacle in Buffalo. One can win with Bledsoe's strengths and limitations but it just is not going to happen with the Bills right now. 2. The concept that the Pats somehow raped the Bills with this trade ignores the fact that: A. The acceleration of the Bledsoe bonus into one year's cap hit not only was a major part in costing the Pats a return trip to the SB in the 2002 season sandwiched between 2 SB wins, but it in fact een cost them a trip to the playoffs that year. Also, after a 3-13 year coming off the RJ debacle, the goal for the Bills in 2002 when Bledsoe was acquired was not to win the SB (one goal each year is to win the SB but it was not gonna happen in the 2002 season after 3-13) but to get better. It was the Bills who raped the Pats in the 2002 season with this trade in terms of real world outcomes as our 8-8 season was a delivery which Bledsoe played a substantial role in of more than we could have reasonably expected and trading him away cost the Pats even making the playoffs that year because they had given him a stupid contract before that. B. The 2004 season saw the Pats recover from the Bledsoe acceleration to win the SB and the Bills suffer a severe production problem with Bledsoe at the helm. Nevertheless this trade was at worst a wash for the Bills at this point and amounted to the Pats simply sleeping in the bed they had made when BB deviated from his original plan (which up until the Lewis hit was to win with Bledsoe) and took the cap hit because Brady turned out to be a far better QB than anyone expected. The big TD error was actually resigning Bledsoe last off-season after his horrble production last year. If TD had simply walked away, the Bills would have absorbed no cap hit from cutting Bledsoe and they even found a away to replace the 1st rounder given up for him. To make matters worse, the team never found a quality back-up for Bledsoe and their experiment with Brown ended with an injury. If you want to be accurate, yes Bledsoe has no touch (apparently they train players in the NFL to throw it the same way everytime and pro receivers are simply expected to catch these too hard throws from Bledsoe) but with excellent coaching and good teamwork a team can do quite well with him at QB. The unfortunate thing for the Bills is that we have a rookie coach and rookie OC whp cannot win with Bledsoe's problems and or team is in disarray and can't pick-up for Bledsoe's failings.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I guess I'm not amd I hope the Bills do not see this and are not reactingto this as being desperate times, In my mind, desperation causes teams to make mistakes. Many of the Bills problems over the years strike me as happening because of desperation caused by their handling of the QB slot and this desperation has led to a number of bad moves which still haunt us today. Error #1: The Bills surprised me by not choosing a QB of the future to replace Jim Kelly in the 1993 draft. Desperation effect #1: They overeached for Todd Collins spending a 2nd on him in the 1994 draft and recognizing that Kelly was headed downhill they started him in the final game of his rookie season and he simply was not ready to face pro competition. Error #2: RWS promised Jimbo he would take care of him by resigning him to a good contract after the 96 season and was forced to renege on this offer when Jimbo proved he was done after getting sacked and concussed against Jax. Desperation effect #2: We had to pay Kelly a bribe of a million bucks to walk away and the poor management of Collins development continues as the Bills rushed him along faster than his talent dictated. Error #3: Butler overreached and traded a 3rd rounder for Billy Joe Hobert Desperation effect #3: Hobert was such a bad athlete that he not only went imto a funk when TC beat him out but totally failed to prepare himself to play and when he came into the game he was so bad Marv cuit him. Error #4: The Bills were so bruised by their QB mishaps that they created a horrible situation for the Bills by signing RJ to a huge bonus AFTER they had promised Flutie a fair shot at the starting job (it became clear after giving RJ a huge bonus that he was gonna start). Even worse, the inducement that gave Flutie to sign a cap friendly contract was to agree to roll any incentives he achieved in 98 into his base pay. Desperation effect #4: When RJ went down tio injury and Flutie performed as AJ Smith expected him to, the Bills 88 cap was on the hook for roughly $3 million in achieved incentives plus $3 million in base salary plus $5 million in base pay and prorated bonus for RJ. The Bills had no choice but to resign Flutie to a long term deal because he was clearly the more effective QB of the two and the Bills needed to prorate his new base salary by turning it into bonus. Error #5: I think trading for Bledsoe was a very good move by TD, Before opponent got enough tape on his performance as a Bill he did a great job his first year meriting his Pro Bowl reserve pick. Yhose who claim that the Pats raped us with this deal because BB knew exactly how to exloit him ignore the fact that the performance of this team improved to 8-8 from 3-13 even with these two losses and that the acceleration of the Bledsoe bonus into the Pats cap played a key role in them being unable to sign better quality FAs and cost them the playoffs between 2 SB wins. Bledsoe's play sucked the nest year as the NFL had tons of tape on Bledsoe as a Bill and the NN roadmap on how to beat him. Still if the Bills had simply cut Bledsoe after last year, they would have escaped with a wash for the trade at worst as he was already accelerated into the cap and the Bills would have had no dead space for cutting him. Desperation error #5: Resigning Bledsoe at least was done in the most cap manageable way if his play necessitated a cut. Unfortunately he has been so unproductive this year that a cut of him after June 1, 2005 seems essential to me. The big mistake to compound this error in my mind was not signing a back-up QB who could step in if these events occured as they have. I'd evem take Kordelia over Matthews (and Brown for that matter). Unless JP has really profitted from the time to focus on learning the game which his injury gave him and any mechanical problems he may have are easily solved in the limited practice he has been able to do and will get even though his bone break may be healthy I wouldn't judge his game or pro development from playing as healthy and I think the Bills will be better off sitting him rather than replaying the rushing YC along to failure with Losman out of desperation.

I actually am quite iterested in folks serious thoughts about what it takes to develop as an NFL QB. However, i will admit that like most of my posts, I actually write because it helps me think out issues and I really do write for myself. Replies are certainly desirable but are optional from my perspective and my satisfaction is not dependent on them.

I haven't really heard much open talk of JP as a 2-3 year peoject, though certainly that was the hope by TD with hiss resigning of B;edsoe to a deal that forces us of him for this year, and makes it more doable from a cap perspective to have him at least as a back-up next year getting to a quite manageable cut after June 1, 2006. As it stands the Bills will have to bite the bullet with an undesirable but manageable cut of him in June of 2005. Still i think the hope was all along that JP would at least apply pressure to start next season. As it is the desperation of many Bills fans creates pressure on him to start seriously in 05. By any logical estimation this is way too soon in hios development.