Am I a Bledsoe apologist?

[ajzepp]

"never know until you try"????  What do you think he does in practice, wash towels?  He plays in practice, the coaches watch him, they watch Drew and then they decide who is the best QB on the roster.  We have tried him at QB, in practice plenty of times.  Starting a QB isn't entirely guess work, the guys actually play the game in practice.  The coaches who make a living evaluating them don't need to play him in a game to have a very good idea if he is ready.  If a guy isn't able to do it in practice, why would he be able to do it in a game?

 

For better or worse, justified or not, Drew has become the focal point for all the frustration that comes to every team that doesn't make it to the post season.  JP isn't ready, the coaches know it but the fans, because they haven't been treated to watching him explode in an actual game, cling to the fantasy that maybe, just maybe the coaches are wrong and he is ready to go.  If MM thought for one second that JP would give him a better chance to win than Drew, he wouldn't hesitate for a moment to make the switch.  The fans who wanted JP to start 7 weeks ago ought to quit complaining about Drew, WE GET IT ALREADY.  Their real beef is with Mike Mularkey, he is the guy who clearly believes that Drew is the best QB on the roster.  Start posting that MM should be fired immediately for starting Drew since, in your opinion, it is absolute insanity to start him.

192784[/snapback]

 

 

1) JP is the third string/emergency QB.......most of his practice time is with scrubs.

2) Playing well in practice is one thing......playing well in a game is another.

3) Drew SHOULD HAVE started as long as we were winning and alive for the playoffs.

4) JP was drafted for a reason......sooner or later he's going to be given a chance.

[Rico]

Hey, Rico......I think they're starting to come around   

192674[/snapback]

 

Interesting that I named no one in my post,

and only those who consider themselves to be "apologists" would be insulted.

 

For the record, AKC, I don't consider you to be a "true" Bledsoe apologist,

as I don't question you care more about the Bills than you do Drew.

You're just a little misguided IMO, that's all.

[DeeRay]

The problem is, Bledsoe's performance is neither commensurate to the expectations or his salary. Bledsoe's talent is soley in his arm. He does not have particularly good ball handing skills, escapability, pocket presence, inmprov ability, or a real good ability to either read a defense correctly, respond to it correctly, or to bait a defense. Add to this the fact that he sets up too slow, processes info slowly... which ultimately leads to him to holding onto the ball longer than the protection is designed for just exacerbates his other limitations. He also doesn't have the mindset to do whatever is necessary to keep the chains moving. You can live with a QB like this as long as he doesnot do stupid things that hurt the team. Even if you QB sneak 3 times in a row or hand the ball off 3 times in a row and get 0-4 yards, that's OK.... But you cannot drop back to pass, hold onto the ball too long, risking a holding penalty on your O-line, or risking a sack, or throwing the ball late and risking the int. That is totally unacceptable for a 12 year vet of Bledsoe's supposed vintage. I know his strngths and weaknesses, you know his strengths and weaknesses, his coaches know his limitations and 32 defensive coordinators have gameplans ready to install to defend any team that Bledsoe QBs... so, it's not rocket science. Beat Bledsoe and you beat his team. It matters not that Bledsoe has some of the finest mentors around in Mularkey, Wyche, and Clements.

 

Bledsoe has basically had 4 out of 12 seasons as a QB that I would consider pretty good. By that I mean 4 seasons of at least an 80.0 QB rating. I consider above 90.0 to be very good to excetional and 75-79.9 to be average and <75 to be below average. Bledsoe is closer to below average than he is to being pretty good. And his career rating... even with his 4 good years factored in, is still closer to below average than pretty good. His good years, as you mention, were with Parcells with the exception of his inaugural year with the Bills. Parcells was on his ass constantly... I never remember wtaching a Pats game that Parcells didn't give Bledsoe "the look" or chew his ass out for some stupid mistake. That ought to raise a "red flag" alone. Then you consider the talent Parcells surrounded him with, ie, Bruce Armstrong @ LT, Wolobaugh @C, Coates, @TE, Curtis Martin & Sam Gash in the backfield, and Terry Glenn at WR (all pro bowlers at that time) and Bledsoe had a supporting cast at that time that would have or should have made any average QB very good to exceptional.... and Bledsoe never really even flirted with a 90.0 or greater rating for a season.

 

The bottom line is... Bledsoe is a non-productive, overrated waste of $$$ and salary cap space. If the Bills continue to start Bledsoe, they will continue to get what they've already gotten... an early tee time. The Bills could go ahead and continue to start him, go 0-4 next season, pull the plug on him and insert JPL and have him finish out the season 4-8, 8-4... or who knows??? Or we could start JPL from the get go and see what it brings... right now we've wasted money on both QBs and we already know Bledsoe can't play. So, now, you really have to start JPL to get some return on the $$$ investment and the lost draft picks. Lastly... had the Bills started McGahee from the get go, would the Bills have won just one of those first 4 games. Mularkey can ask himself that question and what he might have learned from possibly making that decision 4 weeks too late. He'll answer that question on opening day next year when he decides who starts at QB. It's a no brainer in my mind.... continue to do what you've done and you'll continue to get what you got.

[AKC]

  It's a no brainer in my mind....

192972[/snapback]

 

At least some things are constant!

 

If I understand your position that underachieving high paid offensive players should be scrapped, especially ones who don't pick up the team in big games and instead underperform, you are all for dumping Eric Moulds also?

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Bledsoe's talent is soley in his arm.  He does not have particularly good ball handing skills, escapability, pocket presence, inmprov ability, or a real good ability to either read a defense correctly, respond to it correctly, or to bait a defense.  .

 

192972[/snapback]

 

Look, I think the Bills should have gone elsewhere looking for QB options for 2004 other than resigning Bledsoe, but I really disagree with a lot of the points you make because I don't think they correspond with the reality of his performance.

 

Ball handling skills- I think this was actually an area where Bledsoe showed unusual strength. Trey Teague really was a total adventure on shot gun snaps and it was actually Bledsoe's ability to handle these wandering snaps which saved us from fumbles any number of times last year.

 

He did lose 9 fumbles in his 16 games this year but this his not an abnormal amount in at league where other QBs such as Boller and Carr had better years than before and still gave up double digits in fumbles. I think that numbers indicate he is a far better ball handler than you give him credit for.

 

Escapability- No one would mistake Bledsoe for being a maneuverable QB, but he has shown the ability to sidestep the rush from time to time. In fact, it is his ability to throw the ball with somone hanging off his big body that seems to cause him to hang in there and try to throw it under duress even though rushers are closing in rather than trying to excape which seems to get him into trouble. Again Bledsoe is not mobile but I think the argument that he is incapable of getting the pass off is wrong.

 

Pocket presence- This is a fairly difficult thing to see or define or to match it to a particular stat. Does a signigificant decrease in the number of sacks Bledsoe suffered compared to his other years as a Bill mean some increase in pocket awareness? I doubt it. In general I describe a lack of pocket awareness as being demonstrated most clearly by QBs who bail out when they don't have to or have happy feet. Bledsoe does not have this. The other side of the equation would be a QB who is unaware of an imminent tackle and hangs in there anyway. This is a more credible accusation against Bledsoe, but the number of fumbles he lost (9 in 16 games) does not seem to indicate him having a prediclection for fumbling after bone-jarring hits though he did this a couple of times in 2005 (NE and Pitts) there was no rash of these occurences. If anything, I would ask him to work on getting the hand-offs into the hands of the RB, because these miscues (rather than bad ballhandling on snaps were more the source of the fumbles).

 

Improv ability- I think improvisation is overrated in todays NFL which is over-systematized to the point where freelancing often leads to errors as a QBs actions are not only difficult for the D to predict but for his receivers to predict. I actually feel quite comfortable with Bledsoe's fakes. His ability to sell the idea he was going to do a QB sneak which allowed him to pitch it back to WM who scampered for a TD and his ability to receive the pitch from WM and lauch the accurate long bomb to Evans a few times this season and clear cases of sincerity being key, but once you learn to fake that you are good to go.

 

Reading Ds- I think Bledsoe has some limitations here and this was shown in the brain cramp he had last year where he threw the ball OB on a 4th down play, However, just because he is limited and can't do everything in this regard, it wpuld be a mistake to assume he can't do anything. One of the great jobs I thinkl Clements did this year was to realize that Bledsoe is far from at his best throwing on the run. However, he has the ability to sometimes hit on these passes so if you have him do this on 2nd down rather than 3rd and train him to throw it away if there is any coverage rather than attempt to snake it in, this can be a potent weapon. We saw this in the game against SF when Bledsoe rolled right and threw a TD pass to Evans. He should not be counted upon to hit this pass often, but if you do it once in awhile on 2nd or 1st down with orders to him to throw it OB if there is any coverage it can work and also keeps the blitzers from selling out for the blitz as much.

 

On plays such as the several QB draw plays Bledsoe ran toward the end of the season. he made good reads that the safety was leaving the center of the field unguarded because he was blitzing wide or falling back in coverage. Bledsoe is not the greatest at reading Ds, but he can do well enough that with an approrpiately limited play call he has gotten the job done.

 

People seem to me to be hot and cold in their judgments, Those who deem Drew a god are wrong because their are real limitations to his game, but those who claim he can do nothing are wrong as well because there are several strengths to his game as well.

 

Overall, I would have looked elsewhere for a QB rather than resign him, but having resigned him I think that with the right O calls and the rest ofthe team picking up for his limitations with good ST and O work, we can win with him.

[AKC]

I really disagree with a lot of the points you make because I don't think they correspond with the reality of his performance.

 

I think that with the right O calls and the rest ofthe team picking up for his limitations with good ST and O work, we can win with him.

193308[/snapback]

 

Would you stop being reasonable? Someone must pay for the Bill's failures and the QB is the one fans see with the ball the most- so it must be the QB who caused such a mess!

 

I believe you're absolutely correct in your assessment of Bledsoe as you were in your assessment of Coy Wire. The QB is the lightning rod of most fans and apparently we're simply going to continue hearing the false characterizations of his skill set until the same set of fans gets to see JP Losman and learn about HIS faults before they inevitably call for HIS head. The frightening thing about Losman is that the worst fault in Drew's game- accuracy- is the same major concern regarding Mr. Losman according to a majority of the pre-draft analysis.

[AJ1]

Yes, especially with your 'the trade was right at the time' horse boloney (paraphrase from previous posts).

 

I'll give you the point where he might have helped attract some decent free agents.

 

Other than that, he's a big, expensive delay of the inevitable...he plays just good enough to keep a qb with a future out of the starting lineup.

[DeeRay]

At least some things are constant!

 

If I understand your position that underachieving high paid offensive players should be scrapped, especially ones who don't pick up the team in big games and instead underperform, you are all for dumping Eric Moulds also?

 

Nice try... only quote part of my sentence and then totally come up with some bull sh-- thing that I didn't say.

 

The quote you didn't finish in regards to starting Bledsoe read...

 

It's a no brainer in my mind.... continue to do what you've done and you'll continue to get what you got.

All you quoted was "it's no brainer," which clearly indicates to me that you're not just an ordinary Drew apologist... you're flat out obsessed with him and absolutely cannot handle or deal with any constructive and objective criticism of him in any way shape or form. You purposely excluded the other part of the sentence in your retort to dodge the fact that more of Bledsoe is going to yield more of the same results. You simply can't deal with that.

 

Lastly... what the hell does Moulds have to with this when we're talking about Bledsoe. I don't paint all players with the same brush. You might... and that's your way. I opine on a player based on a number of things... what I witness, what knowledgeable players and coaches around the league have offered up on the record, what analysts have said, the facts... his numbers... his inability to make those around him play better than they are... and most of all how much he hurts his team with his stupid, bonehead sub rookie mistakes. I can live with a QB that completes 45% of his passesor doesn't throw a lot of touchdowns, but i can't live with a QB that collapses like a cheap tent when he catches a glimpse of color... but you don't see any of this, so I might as well be talking to a brick wall... you don't get and never will. maybe your his mother, wife or daughter... I don't know. Trust me though... if you take one thing to your grave, take this... Bledsoe will never start for a team that goes to a SB... let alone win a SB.

[Guest BackInDaDay]

Lastly... had the Bills started McGahee from the get go, would the Bills have won just one of those first 4 games.  Mularkey can ask himself that question and what he might have learned from possibly making that decision 4 weeks too late.  He'll answer that question on opening day next year when he decides who starts at QB.  It's a no brainer in my mind.... continue to do what you've done and you'll continue to get what you got.

192972[/snapback]

 

Good post DeeRay.

 

I believe Mularkey was hired to salvage Bledsoe by placing him in a system that gives him the best chance to succeed. I think he did that, unfortunately, there is no 'system' that doesn't require the QB to make plays. How long until the owner and GM remove this albatross from around his neck?

[AKC]

what the hell does Moulds have to with this when we're talking about Bledsoe. 

193478[/snapback]

 

It's quite simple really. You B word and whine all season long that our QB disappears in big games and makes too much money for someone who has never, and in your opinion will never, win a big game.

 

If you're genuine about that opinion, and not merely obsessed with the QB position, you'd HAVE to apply the same reasoning to our highly paid #1 WR who has never won a big game, is slated to make 8 mill next year, and who can easily be attributed a minimum of two of our losses this season by his continued problems catching the football- especially in big games. What is it- do you fail to grasp that this is an 11 man game at any time on the field by obsessing about the quarterback or do you apply your hatred and vitriol to all underperfoming highly paid players?

[Spiderweb]

Sheeeat, I'm still pissed at Moulds for that fumble on that long RAC in the Miami playoff game when Flutie was the starter. Cripes I'm getting old, when was that... '98?

192638[/snapback]

 

OLD? I guess my memories of John Rauch trying to use Simpson as a receiver and a decoy make me three days older than dirt.....Ouch! !

[AKC]

OLD? I guess my memories of John Rauch trying to use Simpson as a receiver and a decoy make me three days older than dirt.....Ouch! !

194323[/snapback]

 

Or the one's of the old man screaming "WE LET LAMONICA GO FOR THIS?!"

[njsue]

I am for Bledsoe starting and finishing his career as a Buffalo Bill.

Hope TD does drew some justice by overhauling the offensive line. Getting Drew a dominating TE and another WR to replace the soon to be departed Josh Reed.

 

 

GO BILLS IN 2005

[MRW]

Look, I think the Bills should have gone elsewhere looking for QB options for 2004 other than resigning Bledsoe, but I really disagree with a lot of the points you make because I don't think they correspond with the reality of his performance.

193308[/snapback]

That is IMO a really excellent realistic analysis of what Drew brings to the table. I wouldn't be sorry to see the team go in another direction, but for better or worse given what our other options are Drew might be the best for next year. And I think, as others have pointed out (Simon?), TD and Mularkey are working toward a team where you can win with even an average QB.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

I am for Bledsoe starting and finishing his career as a Buffalo Bill.

Hope TD does drew some justice by overhauling the offensive line. Getting Drew a dominating TE and another WR to replace the soon to be departed Josh Reed.

GO BILLS IN 2005

195172[/snapback]

 

And a partridge in a pear tree....

 

this kinda stuff isn't going to happen in today's NFL.

 

Even IF it could it would take 10 years to do it.