Off-season Moves Hand Team to Losman

by Brian Galliford on May 2, 2007 9:09 AM EDT in Buffalo Bills Opinion

This is J.P. Losman's team to lead now.

Everything about the 2007 off-season in Orchard Park has been offensive. No, I'm not saying offensive as in a bad off-season; anything but. Offensive as in all of Buffalo's moves have been premeditated to help out our young QB, J.P. Losman. Whether every Bills fan is OK with this strategy or not, the fact remains - the Buffalo Bills' front office has handed the keys of the franchise to Losman.

PRE-DRAFT MOVES
Let's consider: heading into free agency, our three biggest free agents were Nate Clements, London Fletcher-Baker and Chris Kelsay. Only one of them (Kelsay) remains with the club. Rather than spending big bucks to maintain a middle-of-the-pack defense, the team instead used the money it saved to bolster its shoddy offensive line. Derrick Dockery received a record-setting contract for an offensive guard and will start next to potential Pro Bowler Jason Peters on the left side. Langston Walker was brought in from Oakland to resurrect his career as our right tackle. Veteran Jason Whittle was signed from Minnesota to be the primary backup at all three interior positions, and he has a shot to earn the starting right guard spot as well. That was step number one in helping out J.P.

Then the trades ensued. Willis McGahee was shipped out of town, effectively ending a year-long headache for the organization. Takeo Spikes was then dealt along with Losman's backup Kelly Holcomb, netting defensive tackle Darwin Walker. On the surface, these are not offensive moves. But keep in mind that we traded our only experienced backup QB - that shows massive amounts of confidence in Losman. We traded the man who was considered our offensive workhorse in McGahee. That again shows massive amounts of confidence in Losman.

AN OFFENSIVE DRAFT
The Draft is what really sealed the deal. Rather than focusing on depth issues at cornerback and linebacker (with the exception of new MLB Paul Posluszny), this draft focused on building more talent around Losman. Our backfield is now set, with three runners (veteran Anthony Thomas and rookies Marshawn Lynch and Dwayne Wright) capable of taking pressure off of Losman. Lynch will also be an explosive receiver for J.P. We selected an H-Back in Derek Schouman who has the receiving skills to be a poor man's Chris Cooley in this system.

Even the drafting of Trent Edwards was a "support JP" move. With two backup quarterbacks with zero combined NFL starts, Losman is by far the most experienced quarterback on the roster. While Craig Nall spouts off about stealing a starting spot and making himself look quite silly, Edwards is a guy who will come in, work his butt off and push J.P. to be a better quarterback. There's no reason for J.P. to be looking over his shoulder. And he won't.

OFFENSE-ORIENTED TEAM
The defense has holes. We're still not sure where Posluszny is going to play, and our secondary depth at both corner and safety is raw and feeble at best. It's a very young defense; they are going to need time to develop leadership and learn how to play together. They're talented, but they're raw. Losman and the offense will have to put up points if the team wants to stay competitive early against a schedule that is brutal from the get-go.

With an improved offensive line, a deep stable of backs and tight ends and receivers whose production should rise as well, it's now on Losman's shoulders to lead this team to the playoffs. They are capable shoulders - Losman proved that in the second half of last season, when he threw 12 of his 19 touchdown passes and led the team to a 5-4 record. He has the ability to win in this league. With improved talent around him, it's time for him to prove it.

This is J.P.'s team now.

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JP

Good diary and I agree it's Losman's team. We need him to step up and prove that. He's got the pieces around him, except a talented #2 WR, to continue improving by leaps and bounds. The offense will be predicated on a solid run game and a variety of receiving options. JP's success this season, and the team's for that matter, will be based on how well the improved Offensive Line plays. If Dockery and Peters prove to be a truly dominating left side and Walker and RG to be named later hold up and provide running lanes, our offense will be a success. The offense began it's improvement last season by opening it up for JP a little more following the bye. When he had the time to get the ball downfield, good things happened, especially for Evans. If the new line can give JP the pocket any QB needs, he'll really take off this year.

With our 3 headed RB monster and massive, talented OL, I really expect us to be a surprise top 10 rushing team this year. I mean surprise to the NFL, not us. A good rushing attack will not only take pressure off JP, but it will open up the play action and downfield passing, and maybe most importantly, keep our young D off the field for longer stretches of time.

I'm really impressed with the direction our offense is going. We have the pieces in place to run a Greatest Show on Turf type offense with a high quality running back with good receiving skills and four quick WR's. If the QB and OL is up to the challenge, we will surprise A LOT of people this season offensively. And with the young D, we may need to actually outscore some teams this year....

by Kurupt on May 2, 2007 11:57 PM EDT reply actions

Pressure, Opportunity, for JP

There's no doubt that the front office has given JP a lot of help this offseason. Dockery, Whittle, and Walker should bolster the O-Line. Lynch and Wright give him new backfield options. Since we pretty much stood pat at receiver, it's hard to imagine how we aren't going to be better on offense next year (assuming, as I do, that Lynch & Wright are better than or at least equal to McGahee at RB). Given the new talent, JP has a huge opportunity to really prove himself and make the casual fan realize that he IS a good QB.

However, he also may have some degree of pressure. While tending to our offense, the defense has suffered. The additions of Wendling, Posluszny, and Darwin Walker pale in comparison to the losses of Clements, Spikes, and Fletcher. We are really counting on the assumption that our rookies from last year will improve. But what if that doesn't happen? What if Youboty isn't a legit starting CB? What if Ellison can't hold up as a full time starter? What if McCargo is a disappointment? There is a strong chance that we will be significantly worse on defense next year. Thus, while JP will have more opportunity for success on offense he may have more pressure, as we may be in some shootouts next year.

by billsorangutan on May 3, 2007 2:34 AM EDT reply actions

Well...

I would say, as far as the defense goes, the following points apply:

I see no sense in positing that Youboty might be a flop. (One might as well say then that Revis might be a flop for the Jets, or Hall in Cincy.) He skill level and mental abilities are evident - he now simply acts as a (essentially red-shirted) confident rookie should act. He's not taking anything for granted - he's aware that his goal is to do as well as possible, and if he gets the starting role, excellent - and that's very encouraging to me. In terms of pure skill level, there is very little empirical evidence to indicate he won't follow in the footsteps of his OSU predecessors Winfield and Clements.
I feel that Ellison did, essentially, replace TKO during the season last year (in terms of stats, and by the end, in terms of aspects of his presence). Certainly, from a statistical perspective, he did.
I would confidently say that the LB role vacated by Fletcher-Baker (good luck, sir!) has been UPGRADED significantly by Poz. We'll see...
With the three departures accounted for (and a sum total drop of a very slight amount of talent, but with youth as the replacement), and the offensive upgrades, the most pressing element is familiarity with the system on both sides of the line. That, right there, is why I am extremely comfortable with our d as it stands. While I'd still like to see a constant effort to make the D-Line as dominant as possible, as it is, the defense (by my argument) is better, and the offense has been tremendously upgraded.

We'll see how this plays out on the field, but this was a tight-knit and competitive team last year that just about no one wanted to play. We've just got to keep on growing...

by Dock Ellis on May 3, 2007 1:33 PM EDT reply actions