Mr. ChumChums Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 OTA Notes "Edwards admitted it does get frustrating when he’s forced to check the ball down more than he would like, saying it’s not exciting football, but realizes it’s how he and his offensive teammates will have to adjust when those circumstances present themselves in the fall." Guess he doesn't enjoy it as much as we thought...
The Senator Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 "It's hard to find an open receiver in NFL OTAs/practices. Really hard."
Brand J Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 "It's hard to find an open receiver in NFL OTAs/practices. Really hard." Dick Jauron?? Is that you?! This year, are we still going to hear "it is really difficult to win a game in this league"?
The Senator Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 Dick Jauron?? Is that you?! This year, are we still going to hear "it is really difficult to win a game in this league"? "They practiced really hard all week. We looked good, really good, going into Friday's practice."
Mickey Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 OTA Notes "Edwards admitted it does get frustrating when he’s forced to check the ball down more than he would like, saying it’s not exciting football, but realizes it’s how he and his offensive teammates will have to adjust when those circumstances present themselves in the fall." Guess he doesn't enjoy it as much as we thought... Not surprised he doesn't like it but that doesn't really matter. The fact is, he does it, a lot. Unless our offense is so poorly designed that it isn't possible to get anyone open downfield, either Lee Evans is not the player we think he is or Trent is too quick to go the check down. I don't buy that Lee can't get open solely because there has been no legit 2nd target. Lots of top WR's throughout the league face that very same problem and still manage to perform. The offensive scheme could certainly be the problem as Fairchild did nothing to distinguish himself nor has Schonert. But despite all that, it is pretty obvious that as a young guy, Trent has been overly risk averse. I think we will find out this year if that is his nature, an arm strength problem or if he just needed more experience. I certainly hope and expect that its the latter.
DrFishfinder Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 So.... The blitz seems to be working better. Is that a good thing for the D or a bad thing for the OL?
Mr. ChumChums Posted May 28, 2009 Author Posted May 28, 2009 Not surprised he doesn't like it but that doesn't really matter. The fact is, he does it, a lot. Unless our offense is so poorly designed that it isn't possible to get anyone open downfield, either Lee Evans is not the player we think he is or Trent is too quick to go the check down. I don't buy that Lee can't get open solely because there has been no legit 2nd target. Lots of top WR's throughout the league face that very same problem and still manage to perform. The offensive scheme could certainly be the problem as Fairchild did nothing to distinguish himself nor has Schonert. But despite all that, it is pretty obvious that as a young guy, Trent has been overly risk averse. I think we will find out this year if that is his nature, an arm strength problem or if he just needed more experience. I certainly hope and expect that its the latter. I think part of it is the lack of protection that Trent has gotten. It might not be risk aversion, but more him being smart with the ball and not lobbing it up there with pressure in his face. One of the good qualities about Trent is that he has a quick release, and this helps him avoid pressure from blitzes. As often as he has gotten sacked, I sometimes wonder that if we had any other QB...our sacks allowed total would be much higher. Either way...doesn't bode well for this year with our rookie OL.
BLZFAN4LIFE Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 Not surprised he doesn't like it but that doesn't really matter. The fact is, he does it, a lot. Unless our offense is so poorly designed that it isn't possible to get anyone open downfield, either Lee Evans is not the player we think he is or Trent is too quick to go the check down. I don't buy that Lee can't get open solely because there has been no legit 2nd target. Lots of top WR's throughout the league face that very same problem and still manage to perform. The offensive scheme could certainly be the problem as Fairchild did nothing to distinguish himself nor has Schonert. But despite all that, it is pretty obvious that as a young guy, Trent has been overly risk averse. I think we will find out this year if that is his nature, an arm strength problem or if he just needed more experience. I certainly hope and expect that its the latter. See Steve Smith. Defenses game-plan against him and he's constantly double teamed and more, yet still collects 100 + yard games. I would add coaching to that list as well. Overcautious, play-not-to-lose, and non-aggressive are Dick Juaron trademarks.
K-9 Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 People act as if being impatient is not a routine thing with young QBs. It often is. Combine that with a lack of confidence and it's no wonder Edwards didn't take more shots downfield on the FEW occassions Evans DID manage to beat his double teams. It was obvious TE lost his confidence last year. No doubt about it. After the debacles against the Phins and Jets it was obvoius he reached his low point against Cleveland. He was literally afraid of screwing up on the big national stage. Ironically though, after the first quarter of that game, he settled down and did the correct thing by taking what Cleveland gave him. He battled. Didn't force anything and seemed to have regained some of that lost confidence. His best pass of the game was the one to Royal to set up the missed FG. There is also a difference between being "risk averse" and knowing you need to have positive plays. Some people love the idea of wasting precious downs by just taking a shot down field regardless. Well, if you're not confident in yourself to make that shot and/or it just ain't there, the right thing to do is try to get positive yards when you can. Nothing wrong with letting Lynch/Jackso try to make a play. Edwards and our offense just aren't to the point where we can dictate to defenses. Perhaps that changes this year with TO, Reed in the slot, and a TE that can stretch a seam. When defenses know what you CAN'T do you simply can't dictate. That simple. Hopefully our offense gives Ds a little more to worry about this season. If that happens I look for TE to take more chances. GO BILLS!!!
bizell Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 His best pass of the game was the one to Royal to set up the missed FG. one could argue, with a legitimate chance of winning, that it was his only good pass of the night.
K-9 Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 one could argue, with a legitimate chance of winning, that it was his only good pass of the night. Go ahead and argue it, then. After his dismal 1st quarter when he went 3-7-25 yard w/ 3 INTs, he was a very efficient 13-19 for 123. Even in that bad 1st qtr he hit Parrish for 21 yards, and Johnson dropped another 1st down pass. Johnson had a 21 yard reception in the 3rd as well. In between there were all those dumpoffs for positive yards. The larger point, not that it won't be lost on your Edwards bashing psyche, is that he rebounded from the worst quarter of football a QB could have and managed to help get his team in a position to win. Nobody ever remembers Jackson's key fumble in that game. That was a game changer. Not to mention the missed FG. GO BILLS!!!
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 Go ahead and argue it, then. After his dismal 1st quarter when he went 3-7-25 yard w/ 3 INTs, he was a very efficient 13-19 for 123. Even in that bad 1st qtr he hit Parrish for 21 yards, and Johnson dropped another 1st down pass. Johnson had a 21 yard reception in the 3rd as well. In between there were all those dumpoffs for positive yards. The larger point, not that it won't be lost on your Edwards bashing psyche, is that he rebounded from the worst quarter of football a QB could have and managed to help get his team in a position to win. Nobody ever remembers Jackson's key fumble in that game. That was a game changer. Not to mention the missed FG. GO BILLS!!! Good points all around. If the Bills win that game, people talk about the fortitude in Edwards to rebound from that 1st quarter. All QBs have bad games, especially young ones. Tony Romo had a worse game against the previous Monday nighter, but nobody remembers because they won the game. But he still had us in a position to win that game. I was at the game and just say Phil Dawson absolutely drill a 54 yarder. You figure that a 47 yarder would be easier to make. But Rian Lindell is the anti-Steve Chrisitie. It's a side note, but I really wanted to see a new kicker this offseason.
extrahammer Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 The two years before Owens got to Philly McNabb threw for 5,505 yards, completed 57.9% of his passes, had 33 TDs, 17 Ints, 15 fumbles, was sacked 71 times and earned a QB rating of 82.3 in 26 starts. Edwards over the last two years has completed 61.6% of his passes, thrown for 4,329 yards, had 18 TDs, 18 Ints, fumbled 13 times, was sacked 35 times and earned a rating of 79.1 in only 23 starts. Throw in the consideration that those were McNabb's 4th and 5th seasons in the NFL and the past two were Edwards' first two it looks more promising than any QB since Kelly for the Bills.
The Big Cat Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 I think part of it is the lack of protection that Trent has gotten. It might not be risk aversion, but more him being smart with the ball and not lobbing it up there with pressure in his face. One of the good qualities about Trent is that he has a quick release, and this helps him avoid pressure from blitzes. As often as he has gotten sacked, I sometimes wonder that if we had any other QB...our sacks allowed total would be much higher. Either way...doesn't bode well for this year with our rookie OL. You do realize Trent was only sacked 23 times last year right? There were 17 quarterbacks sacked more often. Here they are: Matt Cassell- 47 Big Ben- 46 David Garrard- 42 Marc Bulger- 38 Jason Campbell- 38 Ryan Fitzpatrick- 38 Aaron Rodgers- 34 Joe Flacco- 32 J. Russell- 31 Brett Favre- 30 Gus Frerotte- 29 Eli Manning- 27 Kyle Orton- 27 Thigpen- 26 Kurt Warner- 26 Philip Rivers- 25 Pennington- 23 Edwards- 23 Garcia- 23 Sean Hill- 23 McNabb- 23 Matt Schaub- 23 The per attempt numbers are on their way
Dan Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 Not surprised he doesn't like it but that doesn't really matter. The fact is, he does it, a lot. Unless our offense is so poorly designed that it isn't possible to get anyone open downfield, either Lee Evans is not the player we think he is or Trent is too quick to go the check down. I don't buy that Lee can't get open solely because there has been no legit 2nd target. Lots of top WR's throughout the league face that very same problem and still manage to perform. The offensive scheme could certainly be the problem as Fairchild did nothing to distinguish himself nor has Schonert. But despite all that, it is pretty obvious that as a young guy, Trent has been overly risk averse. I think we will find out this year if that is his nature, an arm strength problem or if he just needed more experience. I certainly hope and expect that its the latter. Precisely. I would say that the one trait Trent needs to acquire more than any other is confidence in receivers. Its not so much just throwing the ball down field all the time as it it recognizing which receiver (Evans or Owens) has the single coverage and throwing it up and allowing them to make a play on it. All the good QBs do that to some extent. Sure in some blitz situations you should cut your routes off and get the ball out quick, because the defense is literally sending more guys than any line can block. But, there are plenty of opportunities when he'll have 1 on 1 coverage and he needs to just toss the ball and let his receivers make a play. Sure, he'll throw a few interceptions doing that - all QBs do. But, with good receives - and I think we have that - more often they'll either catch the ball or it'll go incomplete. That's called dictating to the defense, if you check down with every blitz, you're playing right into the defenses hands. Trent's biggest problem last season seemed to be waiting for his receiver to be open before he threw it. In the NFL you can do that. He's got to anticipate the route and have confidence in his receivers to bail him out a few times. Throw the damn ball down the field. You've got the receivers that can go get it. Now just put it up there for them.
Flbillsfan#1 Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 You do realize Trent was only sacked 23 times last year right? There were 17 quarterbacks sacked more often. Here they are: Matt Cassell- 47 Big Ben- 46 David Garrard- 42 Marc Bulger- 38 Jason Campbell- 38 Ryan Fitzpatrick- 38 Aaron Rodgers- 34 Joe Flacco- 32 J. Russell- 31 Brett Favre- 30 Gus Frerotte- 29 Eli Manning- 27 Kyle Orton- 27 Thigpen- 26 Kurt Warner- 26 Philip Rivers- 25 Pennington- 23 Edwards- 23 Garcia- 23 Sean Hill- 23 McNabb- 23 Matt Schaub- 23 The per attempt numbers are on their way It's great that Trent did not get sacked a lot, however he needs to throw for MORE TD's & less INT's. I would take a sack over an INT anyday.
Mr. ChumChums Posted May 28, 2009 Author Posted May 28, 2009 You do realize Trent was only sacked 23 times last year right? There were 17 quarterbacks sacked more often. Here they are: Matt Cassell- 47 Big Ben- 46 David Garrard- 42 Marc Bulger- 38 Jason Campbell- 38 Ryan Fitzpatrick- 38 Aaron Rodgers- 34 Joe Flacco- 32 J. Russell- 31 Brett Favre- 30 Gus Frerotte- 29 Eli Manning- 27 Kyle Orton- 27 Thigpen- 26 Kurt Warner- 26 Philip Rivers- 25 Pennington- 23 Edwards- 23 Garcia- 23 Sean Hill- 23 McNabb- 23 Matt Schaub- 23 The per attempt numbers are on their way Is that because he gets the ball out so quick? If he held the ball longer waiting for more big plays..."a la JP"... I would imagine, and this is just me speculating at this point, that the sack total would be much larger, probably in the mid 30's. The per attempt numbers would be interesting to see as well.
K-9 Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 Is that because he gets the ball out so quick? If he held the ball longer waiting for more big plays..."a la JP"... I would imagine, and this is just me speculating at this point, that the sack total would be much larger, probably in the mid 30's. The per attempt numbers would be interesting to see as well. 374 attempts. 23 sacks. Do I have to do the math, too? GO BILLS!!!
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 It's great that Trent did not get sacked a lot, however he needs to throw for MORE TD's & less INT's. I would take a sack over an INT anyday. Sacks are jsut as bad sometimes. They can knock you out of field goal range or kill drives. I agree the offense as a whole needs to score more tds though. However, Edwards only threw 5 less tds in 3 less games than Matt Ryan.
Flbillsfan#1 Posted May 28, 2009 Posted May 28, 2009 374 attempts. 23 sacks. Do I have to do the math, too? GO BILLS!!! Yeah we all know Trent is great at completions under 5 yards. The point is if he held the ball a little longer guys may get open that aren't for the first 15 seconds when he dumps the ball off. He may get a few more sacks but the rewards of the completed passes would be much greater.
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