Michael Lombardi Quote On Edwards

[Albany,n.y.]

Seems to me Ralph just saved some more money instead of keeping TE around as the 3rd QB. My gut says Fitz gets injured against jets and brohm in soon anyway. What happens when brohm gets hurt?

Another Ralph is cheap post. The Bills have to pay Edwards for the whole season if he isn't claimed.

[Kelly the Dog]

Another Ralph is cheap post. The Bills have to pay Edwards for the whole season if he isn't claimed.

Not only that but he makes peanuts as a third round pick.

[Ever Since '86]

Seems to me Ralph just saved some more money instead of keeping TE around as the 3rd QB. My gut says Fitz gets injured against jets and brohm in soon anyway. What happens when brohm gets hurt?

 

since trent was putting such a major dent in salary... your on crack

[GG]

Another Ralph is cheap post. The Bills have to pay Edwards for the whole season if he isn't claimed.

 

I don't believe that he's a 4-yr accrued vet, so Ralph just saved $1.3 mil in real dollars. Heck, the money for Kelsay's extension has to come from somewhere.

[PDaDdy]

He watched tape on Fitz and Brohm, too. He was supposed to ignore their flaws on both tape AND practice AND pre-season games, but ignore that Trent looked better right in front of him? That's stupid.

 

What is stupid is ignoring the tape of what he does when it counts. It's stupid to value anything else over that. Trent proved when the bullets started flying he curled up like a little baby and cried. What he should have seen is Fitz being the better QB when the games counted. He should have heard the oucries of the intelligent fans. He should have LISTENED TO HIS PLAYERS!!!

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Can you explain how the move might have been made based on panic rather than analysis? They did not have to release him. They did so because Trent proved he was not a gamer.

That's the only way a player can truly be judged. He outperformed the other QB's in the practice setting and in preseason games. But when the live bullets flew he reverted back

into a pumpkin.

 

If you recall Jauron's coaching was indicted. The offensive line was indicted. Both were given as reasons why Trent might not have succeeded. So a new regime comes in knowing that

information. They give Trent a fresh start. They coach him up. He performs well enough in preseason. Then games come and he is straight terrible. They replace him with Fitz who

goes in and shows he's a gamer. Suddenly the line can block a little better; suddenly receivers are wide open down field. There is no reason to put Trent back in after that or even broach

the idea. Try to trade him. No takers. Cut him. Sounds like they analyzed the situation perfectly. Fans complain about Edwards then he's cut and people still complain. Give us a break

and be glad some dead weight was released.

 

 

I agree with most of what you say here. People need to accept that:

 

1) TE has very good QB skills and in non-game situations, can make the throws and is very accurate. He is a practice superstar wearing the red (don't hit me) jersey. He even seemed decent in preseason having faced no significant pressure.

 

2) Fitzy can be inaccurate and will make those Losman type overthrows that leave you scratching your head and he didn't have an incredible preseason

 

3) Point one and two above were all the new coaches had to draw first-hand conclusions from, all the rest was here say and circumstantial, etc.

 

Now they made the change, and cut Trent essentially admitting the misjudgment and moving forward decisively. This is all you can ask for from a organization to contain the problem. The glaring question I keep wondering about is how can you protect yourself from making this type of bad decision again, short off casting away the red jerseys and bringing the hits in practice?

 

On Fitzy:

So yeah, It's good to see he is a bit more of a gamer and less of a deer in headlights. Maybe his superhuman smarts will actually allow him to figure out how to rectify his accuracy problems, for which he will enjoy a brief grace period before Bills Nation is jumping up and down about bad interceptions at the worst times. Face is he is our very own john Kitna, more entertaining to watch and maybe worth a fantasy start or two, not a franchise QB.

 

..And Then Brohm,..

Just for my own edification, I would love to see Brohm intentionally planned for and rolled into a start just to see which case he is; Better in games than in practice, a red jersey warrior or just all around bad .

Edited September 27, 2010 by over 20 years of fanhood

[PDaDdy]

I was all for Chan Gailey to give him a shot. Basically coach him, give him the tools to succeed and see what happens. Trent proved in training camp he was the better and more gifted QB on the roster, but was exposed once the games started counting. Jaruon probably messed the kid up, but the franchise has now seen enough. I was shocked to see Levi Brown cut, and now am all for this move, even if it seems a little shot-gun. I hope it sends a clear message to the rest of the paycheck collectors to get off your asses and start smacking some people around on the playing field.

 

Trent, I wish you the best, now it's time to move on.

 

 

Still can't admit you were wrong about your assessment of Trent can you? You were actually right about him being great. The stars were aligned against him and took a would be awesome QB and made him suck. You weren't wrong about Trent though. Other people just didn't help him realize his potential.

[Buffalonian-at-Heart]

He watched tape on Fitz and Brohm, too. He was supposed to ignore their flaws on both tape AND practice AND pre-season games, but ignore that Trent looked better right in front of him? That's stupid.

 

You Sir are exactly right on both of your last comments.

[dave mcbride]

He watched tape on Fitz and Brohm, too. He was supposed to ignore their flaws on both tape AND practice AND pre-season games, but ignore that Trent looked better right in front of him? That's stupid.

Sorry, Dog, but it's poor evaluation. Edwards was no different this year than last year. From the outside looking in, how can anyone not conclude what Lombardi -- who has been ridiculously right about the Bills for a number of years running -- concluded?

Edited September 27, 2010 by dave mcbride

[thewildrabbit]

Can you explain how the move might have been made based on panic rather than analysis? They did not have to release him. They did so because Trent proved he was not a gamer.

That's the only way a player can truly be judged. He outperformed the other QB's in the practice setting and in preseason games. But when the live bullets flew he reverted back

into a pumpkin.

 

If you recall Jauron's coaching was indicted. The offensive line was indicted. Both were given as reasons why Trent might not have succeeded. So a new regime comes in knowing that

information. They give Trent a fresh start. They coach him up. He performs well enough in preseason. Then games come and he is straight terrible. They replace him with Fitz who

goes in and shows he's a gamer. Suddenly the line can block a little better; suddenly receivers are wide open down field. There is no reason to put Trent back in after that or even broach

the idea. Try to trade him. No takers. Cut him. Sounds like they analyzed the situation perfectly. Fans complain about Edwards then he's cut and people still complain. Give us a break

and be glad some dead weight was released.

You write a brilliant post about how bad the O line is and then almost retract it a week later, the only thing that changed was Fitz played against the 27 ranked Patriot defense that has a weak pass rush and bunch of rookies in the defensive backfield

 

The Bills O line played somewhat better because they faced an inferior defense, Green still had 2 costly penalties and Bell had one. The Patriots didn't blitz anywhere nearly as much as the previous two teams, not to mention the Bills were able to move the ball on the Pats on the ground, something they didn't do enough of against the Dolphins or the Pack

 

 

 

One year I watched Phil Simms and the NY Giants go up to play Seattle, where Simms was sacked 7 times and intercepted 5 times, needless to say the Giants were blown out.... that same year Simms goes to the SB and gets MVP

 

Ya know what, That Bills O line didn't miraculously improve because of the QB change, perhaps you will see that in the up coming game against the Jets... I KNOW you will see it when the Bills face the Ravens and Steeler's

Edited September 27, 2010 by Harvey lives

[Gabe Northern]

Agreed. It's too bad we blew the Maybin pick and didn't take Oher. Then we'd be a QB and a receiver away from having a solid offense with the key pieces.

 

It's too bad we blew every first day pick since 2002.

[tennesseeboy]

Can you explain how the move might have been made based on panic rather than analysis? They did not have to release him. They did so because Trent proved he was not a gamer.

That's the only way a player can truly be judged. He outperformed the other QB's in the practice setting and in preseason games. But when the live bullets flew he reverted back

into a pumpkin.

 

If you recall Jauron's coaching was indicted. The offensive line was indicted. Both were given as reasons why Trent might not have succeeded. So a new regime comes in knowing that

information. They give Trent a fresh start. They coach him up. He performs well enough in preseason. Then games come and he is straight terrible. They replace him with Fitz who

goes in and shows he's a gamer. Suddenly the line can block a little better; suddenly receivers are wide open down field. There is no reason to put Trent back in after that or even broach

the idea. Try to trade him. No takers. Cut him. Sounds like they analyzed the situation perfectly. Fans complain about Edwards then he's cut and people still complain. Give us a break

and be glad some dead weight was released.

 

 

Panic because there was a need for a scapegoat for the bills miserable performance in the first two weeks and the quarterback (who was awful) was a good one. He couldn't fire the offensive line he ignored, the undermanned 3-4 he put in place, the failure to keep or find suitable replacements for the players he let leave...so dump the qb and pretend that fixes the problem. A panic move since there was no need to dump him. He should have gotten a sense of what he had at quarterback and what options he had over the last five or six months and taken appropriate action. He didn't...and now he's panicing.

[Kelly the Dog]

Sorry, Dog, but it's poor evaluation. Edwards was no different this year than last year. From the outside looking in, how can anyone not conclude what Lombardi -- who has been ridiculously right about the Bills for a number of years running -- concluded?

Gailey has a solid history of QB reclamation projects. He was probably confident that he would get the best out of Edwards, as well as Fitz, and probably Brohm. I'm sure he saw Edwards on tape in his Bills history. He said he watched every play. I'm sure he watched every play of Fitz, too. It's clear the limitations Fitz has. No coach can teach accuracy. What he saw from Edwards, and what I myself saw in pre-season, was a different guy than I saw other years. I'm sure that's what Gailey saw in practices too. That's what the reporters, both professional and message board, saw too. But as soon as he got in the games, with real bullets, he reverted back to his sucky self. I just don't at all think that's Gailey's fault for not knowing that was going to happen.

 

It would completely different if, as I also said, Fitz doesn't have GLARING faults that cannot be coached. We saw exactly the kind of player Fitz is and always has been yesterday, too. You're asking Gailey to ignore his own eyes AND tape and know that Fitz is the better game day player than Edwards?

[DUFF]

Panic because there was a need for a scapegoat for the bills miserable performance in the first two weeks and the quarterback (who was awful) was a good one. He couldn't fire the offensive line he ignored, the undermanned 3-4 he put in place, the failure to keep or find suitable replacements for the players he let leave...so dump the qb and pretend that fixes the problem. A panic move since there was no need to dump him. He should have gotten a sense of what he had at quarterback and what options he had over the last five or six months and taken appropriate action. He didn't...and now he's panicing.

 

I agree about our defense- no pass rush whatsoever. (i think i actually saw brady sitting on a lounge chair at one point)

I agree with you about Offensive line there were definately guys worthy of taking in the draft b4 Wang (however, with the exception of Green they do seem to be improving though).

but when it comes to the quarterback i don't think anyone other than bradford was nfl ready. gailey and nix knew exactly what they had in qb which is 3 backup qbs. after bradford the rest of the qbs are backups (with the exception of claussen starting last week). we would have wasted a top pick on qb only to end up with another backup qb

[Billsguy]

He watched tape on Fitz and Brohm, too. He was supposed to ignore their flaws on both tape AND practice AND pre-season games, but ignore that Trent looked better right in front of him? That's stupid.

 

Bottom line on this whole situation: this is a dysfunctional organization! Nothing changes until Ralph Wilson is no longer the owner.

[Red]

Michael Lombardi Tweets...

 

How do you go from starting week 1 to not even being good enough to be on the team? I wonder if the Bills think they need to draft a QB now?

 

Exactly....we are still on track to get THE BEST qb in the next draft.

I am not sure the best qb was available at the Spiller pick.

 

I still think Spiller was a solid pick, and should payoff benefits for us

for a long time.

 

I agree with you, and think Spiller was smart.

 

If you look at how San Diego was built, it started with Tomlinson. Then the QB was added.

 

If I am not mistaken, wasn't Faulk in Indy before Manning?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

I agree with most of what you say here. People need to accept that:

 

1) TE has very good QB skills and in non-game situations, can make the throws and is very accurate. He is a practice superstar wearing the red (don't hit me) jersey. He even seemed decent in preseason having faced no significant pressure.

 

2) Fitzy can be inaccurate and will make those Losman type overthrows that leave you scratching your head and he didn't have an incredible preseason

 

3) Point one and two above were all the new coaches had to draw first-hand conclusions from, all the rest was here say and circumstantial, etc.

 

I think the concern folks have here, is the game tapes from last season. That's not just hearsay or circumstantial.

On the other hand, I'm not sure how much one can really untangle from a tape of another guy's system.

I can see watching the tape of a TE game and saying "well, he's making bad decisions here, he's not getting through his progressions --

that's coaching, we can fix that".

 

I really think listening to the players too much would be like listening to the fans.

 

I agree with you, and think Spiller was smart.

 

If you look at how San Diego was built, it started with Tomlinson. Then the QB was added.

 

If I am not mistaken, wasn't Faulk in Indy before Manning?

 

You're correct.

I'm not sure what it means for the theory of "RB 1st": Faulk went to St Louis the year after the Colts drafted Manning

[BillsVet]

I agree with you, and think Spiller was smart.

 

If you look at how San Diego was built, it started with Tomlinson. Then the QB was added.

 

If I am not mistaken, wasn't Faulk in Indy before Manning?

 

It took SD 3 seasons and 4 off-seasons to rebuild. If the Bills follow that time-line, they'll have 13 seasons between playoff appearances.

 

Just because SD took a RB top 10 in 2001 and Buffalo did the same 9 years later does not make this a similar situation. SD happened to get the QB right twice: Brees in 01 and Rivers in 04. I don't think anyone has faith in OBD to get much right, especially when their 3rd rounder in 10 doesn't even dress when Stroud is one of your 34DE's.

[NewEra]

Suddenly they are playing one of the worst defenses in the league instead of two of the best - but that's a bit too much analysis, I suppose?

 

Man are some of the fans here going to have "Fitz" when they see Mr. Magoo toss 5 picks against the Jets.

 

I don't disagree that Edwards had lost it and was not the answer, but people who think the rest of the offense was doing better only because of Fitz are in for a rude awakening.

 

Or throw a game winning slant to lee Evans who is being guarded by darrelle revis, like he did last year.....