Thoughts on James Hardy's play today.

[IQ]

Long time Bills fan but new to this list. Does everyone turn on each rookie who doesn't put up stellar or even average numbers on his first significant playing time?

 

WR is a hard position to learn. There is no other position that is so intertwined with another (qb) and his idiosyncracies. Secondly, there is no other position (minus the line maybe) where your X's and O's better be the exactly the way they were written up.

 

An RB can take a play and a cut back and decide on his one which gap to hit or use this athleticism to juke someone or run someone over. A DE can use pure athleticism to bullrush or swim past a lineman on a busted stunt. An MBL can use speed to chase down any play.

 

A WR can do whatever he wants, but if he isn't exactly where he is supposed to be at exactly the right time, the QB will either check down or miss the throw.

 

What we have in Hardy is a big guy who is naturally going to run a lot more timing patterns rather than fly's where he'll burn by his receiver. This requires practice, practice, practice and experience, experience, experience. This is why WRs usually break out in year 3 of their careers. This is when things either start to click or synchronization with the QB takes effect.

 

Lets give Hardy a break! The man (er, kid) has had almost no significant PT minus whatever reps he can get in practice. He has a lot to learn about the game.

 

What I have noticed is that he can get his body to the right position on most plays, he just has to learn how to use his body to shade off the receiver with that subtle arm push that the refs don't see and to screen defenders away from his long arms. That said, Bartell clearly had excellent coverage on Hardy for almost every play. He'll start to pull those down eventually. But don't judge him this early. There was a reason Schonert was keeping him buried on the bench prior to Parrish's injury and that's that he is still learning his way through this offense.

 

Fortunately, we have the luxury of bringing along a rookie during games now thanks to our overall great play. Lets watch the guy learn and develop as a receiver and give the rookie playing his first significant game action a break!!!

[VOR]

Fortunately, we have the luxury of bringing along a rookie during games now thanks to our overall great play. Lets watch the guy learn and develop as a receiver and give the rookie playing his first significant game action a break!!!

With the loss of Roscoe for another month at least, the Bills don't have that luxury anymore. As I said, Trent is already comfortable with Lee and Josh and needs to spend more time practicing with James.

[Tcali]

I was predicting a big day for James today. I thought he'd have 4 to 6 catches for 40-60 yards with at least one touchdown. He obviously was in the game plan, as we attempted to throw to him 4 times on the first two drives with zero success.

 

While all the balls that were thrown to him were not perfect strikes, I feel like all 4 of them were catchable balls, but he didn't come down with a single one of them. The coverage was good also, but I feel like he's got to come down with one of those balls. He was then abandoned for the rest of the day.

 

If he makes one of those big catches at the beginning of the game I feel like today's game is completely different. The bills get out to an early lead, and carry it all day long for an easy victory; or at least easier than it turned out to be.

 

What do you think, were they bad throws, or does James need to do something different to make a play in one of those spots?

 

 

An aside: I missed the first 3 or 4 minutes of the game because the bar wasn't on top of things, and I was wondering what happened at the very beginning of the game. We started watching a couple plays before we kicked the first FG. The reason I ask is because I was not anticipating the Bills receiving the ball to start the second half.

he played?

[Thoner7]

The first pass to him on the slant, was high, not his fault. on the two fades in the endzone, he did not adjust/come back to the ball and he let the DB make a play on it rather than going up to get it before the DB could. I wish he caught them, but looking at the bright side he got a lot of action, and a lot of film on himself so now the coaches can really teach him up and work on the things that kept him from coming down with those balls. I expect him to really contribute vrs SD after the bye and some more pratice reps and adjustments.

[lets_go_bills]

Long time Bills fan but new to this list. Does everyone turn on each rookie who doesn't put up stellar or even average numbers on his first significant playing time?

 

WR is a hard position to learn. There is no other position that is so intertwined with another (qb) and his idiosyncracies. Secondly, there is no other position (minus the line maybe) where your X's and O's better be the exactly the way they were written up.

 

An RB can take a play and a cut back and decide on his one which gap to hit or use this athleticism to juke someone or run someone over. A DE can use pure athleticism to bullrush or swim past a lineman on a busted stunt. An MBL can use speed to chase down any play.

 

A WR can do whatever he wants, but if he isn't exactly where he is supposed to be at exactly the right time, the QB will either check down or miss the throw.

 

What we have in Hardy is a big guy who is naturally going to run a lot more timing patterns rather than fly's where he'll burn by his receiver. This requires practice, practice, practice and experience, experience, experience. This is why WRs usually break out in year 3 of their careers. This is when things either start to click or synchronization with the QB takes effect.

 

Lets give Hardy a break! The man (er, kid) has had almost no significant PT minus whatever reps he can get in practice. He has a lot to learn about the game.

 

What I have noticed is that he can get his body to the right position on most plays, he just has to learn how to use his body to shade off the receiver with that subtle arm push that the refs don't see and to screen defenders away from his long arms. That said, Bartell clearly had excellent coverage on Hardy for almost every play. He'll start to pull those down eventually. But don't judge him this early. There was a reason Schonert was keeping him buried on the bench prior to Parrish's injury and that's that he is still learning his way through this offense.

 

Fortunately, we have the luxury of bringing along a rookie during games now thanks to our overall great play. Lets watch the guy learn and develop as a receiver and give the rookie playing his first significant game action a break!!!

 

Bingo.

 

And welcome to the sweetest board ever.

[GripnRip]

Guy is retarted... hopefully he catches on soon, its his job. All 5 balls were catchable for sure.

 

It's pretty clear you know very little about NFL football and should probably refrain from posting anything anywhere. Fans like you give educated ones a bad name for franchises everywhere.

[Ralonzo]

He looked drunk.

[roy875]

What I saw in the first 4 games is that he is a little slow to react in terms of positioning his body to make a play on the ball. He has trouble getting his arms up and away from the handchecking of the defender, or just to catch a quick slant.

 

Maybe this is because he is a lanky dude, or the faster NFL speed, or the fact that he is not quite sure how physical he can be in fighting for the ball. I am hoping it does not mean he is soft...... Only time will tell.

 

On all the plays today---I saw them as makeable plays by a more experienced receiver. I was a little dissapointed he could not make at least one of them. He was schooled by that corner---probably a more experienced player.

 

If you watch Evans, he is often involved in some sort of handchecking/armbarring with the defender for a few strides before the ball arrives. He manages to get his hands in an advantageous position to make an attempt at the catch. This take time to learn, especially if you are a long limbed slower receiver like Hardy. He will have to fight harder for his catches if he is in tight coverage because it masks alot of pass interference...... Several in todays game alone.

 

The Rooks who get more separation do not need to learn this as much, ie. the smaller speedy guys like Deshawn Jackson. They can just make a clean catch if they have some room.

 

So-----We need to use better routes to get him away from defenders like in Jacksonville. That was really a phenomenal catch. I don't think too many players in the NFL could have caught that ball. Maybe a handful, and that might be generous.

 

Maybe the slow developing fade/jump ball is not the proper route until he learns how to improve on his ballskills.

 

Hopefully the team will feel the same way and incorporate plays that are tailored to his strengths. I billieve that is what coaches should do........

 

Give him a little time, let him figure out how to use his frame, and he could be literally unstoppable.

[Hossage]

Hardy dropped a lot of balls in college and looked like he was playing backyard football half the time. He also made some great catches and was productive. If we can teach youboty how to play, then we can teach hardy and mckelvin. These guys are really pretty raw. Player development sustains franchises.

[BEAST MODE BABY!]

You are clearly a racist.

 

I'm still trying to figure out what part of his post was racist?

[DanInUticaTampa]

What I saw in the first 4 games is that he is a little slow to react in terms of positioning his body to make a play on the ball. He has trouble getting his arms up and away from the handchecking of the defender, or just to catch a quick slant.

 

That is exactly what i saw. If he gets this part right he should be fine and really help out the team. I don't know how long it would take for him to learn it, but i hope it is not long project. our coaching staff has done well with young players and getting them out there early, so i hope they can get hardy rolling as well.

[ndirish1978]

Whether or not all the balls were put in there perfectly, they were all catchable. The one big thing I saw with him consistently was that he was simply not ready for the ball on most of the plays. Perfect example is the pass in the corner of the endzone, where he turned and simply reached for the ball, getting outjumped by a shorter DB. This poor body position occurred several times. He needed instead, to get his hips all the way around and jump for the ball, not take a half skip to to get the ball, effectively throwing away his height advantage. He needs to learn how to position his body between the DB and the ball, block out and go up for it.

[Stussy109]

It's pretty clear you know very little about NFL football and should probably refrain from posting anything anywhere. Fans like you give educated ones a bad name for franchises everywhere.

 

I made a concise statement how i felt about the guy. They go to him 5 plays out of 8 and the guy cant come down with one ball. I think even Gibran Hamdan could have came down with one of them. That doesnt mention his drops last game either. I think hes had 8 or 9 balls thrown his way with nothing to show for it. Right now he is the weak link in the offense, and I know he is a rookie, and i know he will/should get better with time, but for now he is laying eggs.

[DanInUticaTampa]

he isn't doing us any good, but we are still winning and investing time in him he will get better and be better for us. i think he will be decent after the bye week. even deshean jackson is having his problems (fumbles). I personally didn't expect them to use hardy much at all this season until the like the NE game because i thought that they would want a new weapon when they play the pats*. but that is all changed now

[SouthernMan]

Reed and Parrish are nice slot guys but nothing more. The fact that we don't have a legit #2 receiver opposite Lee Evans is going to bite us in the a$$ soon. I'm surprised it hasn't yet. Outisde the TD catch against Jax, Hardy has shown absolutely nothing. I don't buy into the rookie WR excuse. Good players manifest themselves immediately, and we haven't heard a peep from Hardy with the season 1/4 over. Lord help us if Lee goes down.

 

100% agreement on all counts.

 

We need a #2 with more tenacity. Hardy is too busy playing pat-a-cake with the defenders to concentrate on the ball. He needs to grab that pigskin like he's entitled to it.

If not for his high draft position, we'd be booing him off the field. I'm starting to wish for the days of Peerless as our #2.

 

4-0 is great, but I agree that unless Hardy or someone else steps up, the passing game will suffer as the season goes on.

He may turn out fine given enough time, but we need production now. Moulds wasn't tearing up the league his first couple of seasons either. The Bills are poised to make a playoff run and this on the job training with Hardy could hold them back.

 

This isn't a personal attack on Hardy and I recognize that playing WR at the pro level takes time for some, but I wish we had that solid #2 for this season.

 

I'd still like to see Steve Johnson get some playing time and see what he can do. He may show a greater desire to catch the ball.

 

One thing for sure.....If Evans goes down, we're in a whole lot of trouble.

[Alaska Darin]

I'm not a racist, I hate everybody!

My life philosophy from your keyboard.

[Chandler#81]

Whether or not all the balls were put in there perfectly, they were all catchable. The one big thing I saw with him consistently was that he was simply not ready for the ball on most of the plays. Perfect example is the pass in the corner of the endzone, where he turned and simply reached for the ball, getting outjumped by a shorter DB. This poor body position occurred several times. He needed instead, to get his hips all the way around and jump for the ball, not take a half skip to to get the ball, effectively throwing away his height advantage. He needs to learn how to position his body between the DB and the ball, block out and go up for it.

 

Spot on. But, shouldn't he have figured this stuff out back in high school?? Why did we draft him so early when he clearly has so much to learn that should already be in his reportoire? He looks lazy.

 

Give Jenkins a chance.

[zow2]

Like most, I was disappointed that HArdy could not come down with at least one of those balls. His body positioning was weak and he needs to work on stopping, looking back and catching the ball at it's highest point. IF he could do that, no CB could hang with him. Guys like Plaxico Burress are excellent at that.

[Mike in Syracuse]

Reed and Parrish are nice slot guys but nothing more. The fact that we don't have a legit #2 receiver opposite Lee Evans is going to bite us in the a$$ soon. I'm surprised it hasn't yet. Outisde the TD catch against Jax, Hardy has shown absolutely nothing. I don't buy into the rookie WR excuse. Good players manifest themselves immediately, and we haven't heard a peep from Hardy with the season 1/4 over. Lord help us if Lee goes down.

 

Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish have been HUGE in the last 4 games. Many of their catches have been on 3rd and long and multiple times Reed has fought like a bastard to get the extra yards for the 1st down. Not to mention that Reed is probably the best blocking WR we have. There's a whole lot more to being a WR than just catching bombs for TD's.

 

Don't diminish their contribution with your ignorance.

[drg2021]

I'd say, actually, two of them were arguably "catchable," in that it was likely all Hardy's fault for not bringing the ball in. One of these was a bit over thrown by Trent and would have required a very good effort to bring in the ball. The two down the field throws that were to Hardy, one was thrown way out of bounds and he had no chance at, and on the other, he might have been able to catch the ball had #22 not been grabbing his arm and yanking on his jersey. Sorry, but to say that all of them were catchable is a bit of a stretch.

 

As for it "being his job," that is a true statement, sure enough. But the problem is, one of the hardest transitions to make is from WR in college to WR in the NFL. The schemes and routes are different and the plays and timing are much faster. It takes every receiver at least a season to get acclimated. For proof, check out the first year stats of Andre Reed, Lee Evans, Josh Reed, and then look at them for most of the better guys who have played in this league. The majority of them have poor first and mediocre second season stats. Not all, but most. Hardy will get better as he sees more playing time and more passes thrown his way. More importantly, he will improve with more practice.

Desaun Jackson from Philly looks good in his rookie season in the nfl.I believe Hardy will be a good one but apperantlly hes a slow learner.