Donahue Take A page from the PATRIOTS

[Poeticlaw]

The best thing that Donahue can take from the Patriots is that a team cannot win with Bledsoe at the helm. Brady a second year QB took over for Bledsoe and has won 3 Superbowls in his 4 years of starting. Before bledsoe was knocked out in the Jets game the reasons for them losing was that Bledsoe needs a better offensive line, Bledsoe needs better recievers. Sound familiar? All those problems dissappeared with Bledsoe and the Pats went from Sub .500 to a "Dynasty".

I was high on Bledsoe when he was up for trade and loved that we got him. However, I didnt realize at the time how much of a mental weakling he really was. You cant win championships if your feeble minded. Thus he has failed in all of his big games that i can recall such as the Raiders game and the Greenbay game his first year there. The fact the last year he couldnt win 1 out of the last 5 games, pathetic. So the staff was too blame and completley reorganized. We gave him a brand new year an even faster running back with good hands yet he still blunders in a meaningless game from the Steelers perspective to cost out playoff hopes this year. It was after that game, I came to my actualiztion. We cant win the Superbowl with Bledsoe. Especially when you put this little thing in perspective the defending champs the last 3 0f 4 years is the Pats. Bledsoe holds a 1-5 record against the Pats. Odds are not in our Favor if we had to have Bledsoe play against them for say for argument sake the AFC championship game. Bledsoe would have another dismal performance sacked 5 times fumbling twice and a min 3 int and under 100 yds passing. He ended the year number 28 statiscally in the leaugue which means he played worse than most rookies. So my suggestion to Donahue listen to the Defending Champions dump Bledsoe (6mil a year isnt worth a mediocre QB) sign a Vet backup QB and let OUR second year rookie JP Losman a chance to lead our team to the promise land before he start replacing players that probably do not need to be replaced based on Bledsoes operation of the offense.

[Rico]

Great first post! Welcome to the board, Poeticlaw!

[Mark VI]

Heck of a first post. Welcome...and get ready to duck.

[drnykterstein]

You could at least spell his name right.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

I certainly agree that no team can win with Bledsoe at the helm though a big part of this was that since Dallas chose Aikman no team has won with a 1st round QB they selected playing QB for them. I think that TD has really taken a page from the Pats book in that he realized that Bledsoe certainly was essential to the Pats 2001 SB win because he did what a back-up should do to help the team win and bow with his cut or say bye-bye "offer" to Bledsoe he is on a track to try to repeat the Bledsoe/Brady situation with Bledsoe/JP.

 

I think this is a great move because:

 

1. Bledsoe has already proven that he can be very helpful in developing a young QB to his full potential according to Brady's desription of working with Bledsoe.

2. Like it or not, Bledsoe did step in for Brady and play QB in the majority of a must-win game for NE and threw the winning TD pass. Bledsoe certainly demonstrated that he is not starter quality in that game, but he did exactly what a back-up should do in it which is just win and the style points many posters are concerned about be damned.

3. Many athletes become cancers for the team when they lose thie job to a better QB as Bledsoe did, but he kept his mouth shut and was a teamer for NE that year.

 

It's an open question whether Bledsoe will even be willing to try to pull off the same results when he loses his job by GM choice rather than by an injury. However, by attaching this demand/ask to real money, Bledsoe will either have to commit to being willing to play the #2 role if he loses a fair competition to JP or if not then go to the open market.

 

The Bills will have to deal with a dreadful cap hit if he goes, but if he stays and is committed to the TEAM first as shown by an agreement to restructure his deal then I think the Bills will be in great shape at QB.

[Alaska Darin]

I would love to find a QB who doesn't throw interceptions in the playoffs. Currently there is only one - and NE has him.

[MRW]

The issue I have with this post is I don't think simply replacing Bledsoe put the Patriots over the top, it was replacing Bledsoe with Brady. I hope Losman pans out as much as the next guy, but even if he is a successful NFL QB it will be along the lines of Brett Favre rather than Brady. Meaning - I don't think the Patriots blueprint is one for us to closely emulate.

[BuffOrange]

How about a reject from Cleveland..

I hear Butch Davis is available.

[IDBillzFan]

I would love to find a QB who doesn't throw interceptions in the playoffs.  Currently there is only one - and NE has him.

231189[/snapback]

Not to split hairs, but that is only this year, which is a testament to Brady's improvement. Last year he threw two picks in the endzone...one in the AFC Championship game and one in the Super Bowl.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

The issue I have with this post is I don't think simply replacing Bledsoe put the Patriots over the top, it was replacing Bledsoe with Brady.  I hope Losman pans out as much as the next guy, but even if he is a successful NFL QB it will be along the lines of Brett Favre rather than Brady.  Meaning - I don't think the Patriots blueprint is one for us to closely emulate.

231279[/snapback]

 

OT - Ar eyou a member of the Sherman Oaks Association?

 

if so, read "City of Quartz". Apparently Mike Davis doesn't think much of you.

 

[marck]

Welcome to the baord and thanks for introducing a football related post. As much as I admire Drew as a great human being, leader and quality person, I also believe we should move forward with our team's development. The biggest problem I see is that we have two QB's whose styles differ. An offensive system that is put in for Drew's strengths does not incorporate any rollout type passing game, moving pocket scenarios or factor in any type of orchestrated QB draws. If Drew stays and starts and the need to change QB's comes up in 2005, it will be another lost season because the whole offense cannot be changed to accomodate a mobile QB.

 

With this being said, I also feel that starting a 2nd year QB with limited experience may also cost us another year of no-playoffs. What I suggest is having your starter and back-up both being able to play in the same style of offense, meaning trade Drew if possible and finding an experienced mobile QB to compete with JP in training camp.

 

Here are the names of some QB's who will/might be available to the Bills in 2005:

 

Matt Hasselback - Seattle potential F/A who can move and would be a good fit in Buffalo

 

Jeff Garcia - Cleveland will probably let him go, however I think he may be a poor locker room fit.

 

Jay Fiedler - Miami - Good character guy with limited skills, might make excellent back-up and can win a game or two in a pinch

 

Steve McNair - Tennessee - Great leader and high character guy with a huge contract which I'm sure the Bills can't afford, however with the Titans ready to move forward with Volek and with cap problems, he might be let go as a cost cutting move.

 

Rich Gannon - Oakland - Excellent leader with mobility who will be let go this off-season. Cn start for at least one more year, would be a great tutor for JP and his skills would blend perfectly with a team that has a great running game and a solid defense. Downside is that he is injury prone and would not be available for the whole season.

 

Aaron Brooks - New Orleans - If the Saints feel that he will never lead them to the playoffs, they may jettison him and start over with a new QB. Brooks has obvious great upside but makes tons of mistakes. This may be more bad coaching and could be coached up and be very productive.

 

Any of these moves would provide the Bills a QB who could start immediatly, back-up well and tutor JP and be a QB with a similar style so the offense could be structured for eitehr QB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best thing that Donahue can take from the Patriots is that a team cannot win with Bledsoe at the helm. Brady a second year QB took over for Bledsoe and has won 3 Superbowls in his 4 years of starting. Before bledsoe was knocked out in the Jets game the reasons for them losing was that Bledsoe needs a better offensive line, Bledsoe needs better recievers. Sound familiar? All those problems dissappeared with Bledsoe and the Pats went from Sub .500 to a "Dynasty".

I was high on Bledsoe when he was up for trade and loved that we got him. However, I didnt realize at the time how much of a mental weakling he really was. You cant win championships if your feeble minded. Thus he has failed in all of his big games that i can recall such as the Raiders game and the Greenbay game his first year there. The fact the last year he couldnt win 1 out of the last 5 games, pathetic. So the staff was too blame and completley reorganized. We gave him a brand new year an even faster running back with good hands yet he still blunders in a meaningless game from the Steelers perspective to cost out playoff hopes this year. It was after that game, I came to my actualiztion. We cant win the Superbowl with Bledsoe. Especially when you put this little thing in perspective the defending champs the last 3 0f 4 years is the Pats. Bledsoe holds a 1-5 record against the Pats. Odds are not in our Favor if we had to have Bledsoe play against them for say for argument sake the AFC championship game. Bledsoe would have another dismal performance sacked 5 times fumbling twice and a min 3 int and under 100 yds passing. He ended the year number 28 statiscally in the leaugue which means he played worse than most rookies. So my suggestion to Donahue listen to the Defending Champions dump Bledsoe (6mil a year isnt worth a mediocre QB) sign a Vet backup QB and let OUR second year rookie JP Losman a chance to lead our team to the promise land before he start replacing players that probably do not need to be replaced based on Bledsoes operation of the offense.

231103[/snapback]

[MRW]

OT - Ar eyou a member of the Sherman Oaks Association?

 

if so, read "City of Quartz". Apparently Mike Davis doesn't think much of you.

 

231370[/snapback]

Nope, not one for associations. I think I may have read a bit about that book when it came out, but I have not actually read it.

 

I'm just a lowly renter here, no actual position of authority.

[Grant]

You could at least spell his name right.

231138[/snapback]

 

Also, breaking up your thoughts into paragraphs makes it a billion times easier to read. Just FYI.

[Astrobot]

Welcome, Poeticlaw.

Nice Post.

 

"Let Form Follow Function"--The function of your post stirred some thought. The form is less important on a bulletin board. Some of the younger posters, for whom the medium has become the "massage", tend to confuse The Stadium Wall with The New York Times, their psychiatrist, and their physician.

 

If you need info on how to deal with the growth caused by a bite from a Poison Dart Tree Frog, don't log on and post. Go to the right place (No, not WebMD. Try 911--you have 4 minutes.).

 

On the other hand, if you have posts of the caliber of your first one, bring 'em.

Astro

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Here are the names of some QB's who will/might be available to the Bills in 2005:

 

Matt Hasselback - Seattle potential F/A who can move and would be a good fit in Buffalo

 

Jeff Garcia - Cleveland will probably let him go, however I think he may be a poor locker room fit.

 

Jay Fiedler - Miami - Good character guy with limited skills, might make excellent back-up and can win a game or two in a pinch

 

Steve McNair - Tennessee - Great leader and high character guy with a huge contract which I'm sure the Bills can't afford, however with the Titans ready to move forward with Volek and with cap problems, he might be let go as a cost cutting move.

 

Rich Gannon - Oakland - Excellent leader with mobility who will be let go this off-season.  Cn start for at least one more year, would be a great tutor for JP and his skills would blend perfectly with a team that has a great running game and a solid defense.  Downside is that he is injury prone and would not be available for the whole season.

 

Aaron Brooks - New Orleans - If the Saints feel that he will never lead them to the playoffs, they may jettison him and start over with a new QB.  Brooks has obvious great upside but makes tons of mistakes.  This may be more bad coaching and could be coached up and be very productive.

 

231407[/snapback]

 

 

Thanks for the post and this list of possible options. It strikes me that the key to deciding which possibilities may be real is a guesstimate of what cap allocation the Bills will make at QB.

 

As it stands, JP apparently will have a 2005 cap hit of $1.4 million (rounding up from $1.35+). Bledsoe leaving would leave deadspace of $4.3 million. The anti-Drew crew gleefully point out his cap hit leaving would be less than $6.5 million hit if he stays. However, you only realize a cap benefit from him leaving if your replacement back-up for him has a cap hit of $2.2 million or less.

 

My guess is that every QB on your list comes with a cap hit higher than that and the good ones considerably higher.

 

This math is a big part of my rational why we are far better off if Bledsoe accepts the reality that age has him on the backside of his career and that if he accepts a deal where he will get a fair shot to compete on the field to start, but if the Bills' brain trust judges JP to be the better starter then he simply deals with this with same team first attitude he showed backing up Brady in 2001.

 

If Bledsoe walks, this is the thing to do because far better to have him gone than sitting there being pissed and holding himself back from being a cancer. However, if he decides he wants to retire a Bill, get a fair shot on the field, and train the young JP we will be all the better for it.

 

The point about them being two different style QBs is a legit one, but actually both will need to subordinate their personal gun-slinging style for the Bills style which is clearly going to be one of run first, then run again and both QBs will need to earn their keep handing the ball off to WM.