Impressions of the Scrimmage

[Max Fischer]

Watch then rewatched the first hour or so again.

 

Impressions:

 

1. JP (where else to start?): Not sure why anyone would think JP didn't have a decent scrimmage. Except for the pass on the flat, he played decent nearly every down. All of JP's other incompletes were never in danger of an INT and he was under pressure on at least two occaisions and the other he did miss but on a very sweet play action. Moreover, the "sack" was hardly a sack, he likely could have gotten away and was making a play after #30 missed the blitz pick-up. Overall, I was very, very pleased by his play and was doing what he the Bills need to win.

 

2. Grandy. I liked what I saw by what I didn't hear: his named called. When I looked at the game again, Grandy more than held his own and seemed to make all his blocks.

 

3. Rest of the line. Played OK, nothing glaring, not too bad for the first scrimmage. I suppose in the game of expectations I liked what I saw - except for Teague botched snap.

 

4. Parrish. Looks ready to start at slot. Reed seemed to play well but Parrish is just too good.

 

5. Moorman. Still in Pro-Bowl form.

 

6. Offense in general. Already seem to show a bunch of looks. That extra second of defensive hesitancy, the Parrish weapon and JP's ability to take off may make all the difference in the world.

 

7. Edwards/Anderson. I thought they did pretty well, especially Edwards (though I've pulled for Anderson). They seemed to do what they were told to do: plug up the middle, attract double-teams and let the LBs and DE make plays. Even on a few occaisions they got into the backfield.

 

5. DL in general. Not sure the depleted GB OL was much of test but they clearly dominated.

 

6. Back-up LBs and DBs. They were all over the place.

 

7. The D play of the 2nd and 3rd string. Very encouraging. Makes me think that the "system" is good enough to allow 2nd and 3rd string to fill in nicely. Defense is not entirely dependent on skill of starters.

 

8. Blitz. Blitz. Blitz. I like that. It's not predictable either. Even when you know they'll blitz you're not sure from where.

 

9. Holcomb. He looked good, comfortable and there's no reason to think he would help the Bills if he needed to step in.

 

10. Run Offense. Didn't look awful sharp but I'm not going to worry about it until the 2nd or 3rd pre-season game.

 

Overall, I think it's difficult to draw a lot of conclusions. We simpy don't know what the coaches were looking for or what they would actually do in a real game. For all we know they were working on plays that needed adjustments and didn't concentrate on their more productive ones. Who knows?