Should bills keep Hardy?

[5 Wide]

Hardy is the least physical 6'5" receiver I have seen. He plays like he's 5'10. As a former basketball player you would think he would be a natural at using his body to shield the defender, but he doesn't do that. He runs sloppy routes, and he seems like a me-first kind of guy. Snip.

[Trader]

I do not think they will keep 6 WRs. With Wang hurt all preseason but pretty much assured to make the team they need 3 healthy backups on the line so they will have to keep 9. There were a lot of hints last night regarding who has made the team and who is fighting for a job. Nelson played with the first team for a second straight game so he's in (plus he came through again). Joique Bell didn't play RB and Parrish didn't play at all so they're on the team. Keeping 4 RBs means they probably don't have room for 6 WRs unless they go with only 2 TEs (unlikely, though with Nelson suspended they only have 1 healthy, viable TE on the roster).

 

Every preseason fans obsess about the final 3-5 spots on the team. The reality is that those final 3-5 guys will be inactive every week. As for the receivers, Evans, Johnson and Parrish will play, Nelson gets on the field as a 4th receiver. I think Spiller gets split out wide in special packages. Chad Jackson makes the team and is a special teamer.

 

So IF they kept Hardy, he doesn't suit up on Sunday so he (again) is relegated to a developmental guy. They have one on IR already: Marcus Easley. Between him and Nelson the are good (not to mention Donald Jones and/or N. Roosevelt probably land on the practice squad).

 

Nobody should lose any sleep over releasing Hardy.

 

One other thing on cuts/practice squad: rightly or wrongly, the Bills are picked to finish in the bottom 1/3 of the league. With the exception of DBs and maybe RBs, no team is going to spend much time scouring the Bills' cuts for possible pickups. That includes Levi Brown. The reality is that there are not a lot of developmental players that any team cuts that they try to get through to put on the practice squad. I wonder if it is almost an unwritten rule or a courtesy/understanding the teams have with each other. I'm not worried about them losing prize prospects by trying to get them through to put on the practice squad.

 

i agree with your post. There are fans here that think that Levi Brown will get signed to someones 53 man roster if the Bills cut him. That is not going to happen. Another team might sign him to their practice squad. They will not sign him to an active roster. The reason is that Levi Brown as good as he is (potentially) is not ready for prime time. Levi Brown is not going to help any NFL teams win this year he is one probably two years away.

 

Regarding James Hardy, I do not think he fits here. He is too much of a finesse player and does not play with enough grit for this team. He may be a good fit somewhere else but I do not see him with this version of the Bills.

[bisonbrigade]

He gets the boot, big soft marshmellow. Forget it.

[Matt in KC]

As was said here

 

These are my top 6(and yes I do think they keep 6 because of spread sets and ST) WRs

 

#1 Evans

#2 Johnson(but this may be Jackson sooner or later)

#3 Parrish(the slot is his)

#4 Nelson(as I said in the last thread, he has outplayed everybody but Evans and Parrish, but he's a rookie so #4)

#5 Jackson

#6 Roosevelt(Hometown kid has looked NFL-able both on offense and special teams)

--

PS Jones

CUT Hardy (sorry to say it but he's the odd man out here)

 

Nelson does everything Hardy does, but he seems to be able to get through injuries(2 in this camp) he doesn't drop balls, and he clearly knows how to run routs. Keep in mind Hardy is a family acquaintance, and while I have done my best to root for him, he ain't my acquaintance . In my book it's team first, family member's dopey acquaintances 2nd .

 

I will be absolutely shocked if they try to keep Hardy and sneak Nelson onto the practice squad. I will be absolutely shocked if they decide to pay Hardy his money, when they can pay Nelson his instead.

This is very close to how I see it, though if he keeps playing this way, Nelson looks like stronger competition to S Johnson than Jackson is. I can't see them paying hardy's salary when he does not look close to being ready to be in a game against starters and the competition this pre-season has shown we can find other options that are as good (or better) where we can likely slip one onto the PS. I prefer Jones as ahead of Roosavelt after the Lion's game.

 

I also favor going with 5 WR and one of these guys on the PS if we have to choose one or two from:

A. Coleman

A. Moats

J. Hardy

D. Jones

J. McCargo

 

Edit: I think Moats earned his roster spot against the Lions (and improving all preseason) and Coleman looks like he has enough promise to invest in, especially at a position where we're weak.

 

I think McCargo then Hardy have the worst shots of making the team.

 

Silly question, but is Hardy eligible for the PS? Has he actually been active for 8 games? Answered my own question: he was active in 16 games (2 in 2009, 14 in 2008), so he's not PS-eligible. He could find himself out of the NFL for good starting today. I've never seen him play with any urgency like that might happen.

Edited September 4, 2010 by Matt in KC

[commish95]

Hardy may and well be gone, Who Knows as of yet. He wont be out of the NFL for good. It would be sad if the Bills give up on this kid after ONE year. (cant count last year with all the practices he missed)

 

They will be stuck with Lee, a 7th rounder, a former bust under Tom Brady, a rookie UDFA, and a former "bust" according to most Bills fans in R Parrish. Good luck with that.

[Pete]

Anyone named J.P. = Awful at Football

Julius Peterson?