Tigerbot Hesh said:
Lee Evans will probably be available in my 10-round keeper league draft. Here's what I would like to know:1) I always hear that Evans has a lot of talent, but his numbers are always hit-and-miss. Has Evans' past inconsistencies been on him or his QB play? Both? Other?2) What are the chances of Evans staying in Buffalo after this year? Would his value increase by going to a different team?I've been thinking about taking him as my No. 3 WR, trying to ride out the Evans rollercoaster this year and pray that he leaves for another team after the season. Good idea? Bad idea?
As a Bills fan who watched all 16-games last year, I feel as though I'm in a solid position to answer your post.Let me start out by saying that word out of Buffalo is Evans and the Bills are pretty close on a contract extension and it should be done before not too long.The statistical disappointment with Lee Evans last year was a small picture of the overall problems with the offense. The Bills offense was anemic due to a number of issues:1.) The former OC (Steve Fairchild) had little faith in Edwards, and wouldn't call very many down-field routes.2.) Instability at Quarterback3.) Lack of any passing threats besides Evans4.) A determination to attack defenses right where they were defending, instead of making them open upAs a result, Evans was pretty much blanketed by two defenders the entire year when the defense was running a pass defense. Thankfully for us Buffalo fans, Steve Fairchild was hired by Colorado State to become their head coach. The new OC, Turk Schonert, is making changes to the offense which should have a positive impact on Evans.Word is that one of Schonert's goals this season is to develop some dynamics to the passing offense, in an attempt to take some of the pressure off of Lee Evans. One of the ways he's planning on accomplishing this is by using Roscoe Parrish in a more versatile role, getting him the ball quickly in free space and letting him run around with it. The emergence of James Hardy will also be crucial, as the Bills need a possession receiver and TD guy for the defense to watch as well. He's also attempting to make the RBs pass catchers as well, to force the defense to cover more people. All of these roles combined should help to free up Evans.This sounds all well and good, but there are some real obstacles that the Bills will need to overcome. First, the Bills need to much more successfully establish a running game. The pass blocking was pretty good last year, but the run blocking was atrocious, and the Bills need to make some holes for Marshawn to balance the offense out some. I know it sounds weird saying that the Bills need to improve upon their run blocking in order for their passing game to be better, but if the run blocking stays poor (especially without Jason Peters), defenses will continue to have an easy time against the Bills passing game. Last year, most of the time linemen would get into the backfield and slow Lynch down, giving LBs the luxury of playing pass first in some defensive sets. The Bills need Trent Edwards to emerge as a solid quarterback. He played very much like a rookie last year, looking solid at times, and pretty bad at others. If he improves on his decision making, he could become a very efficient quarterback. Of course, the problem with Losman was his short passes and decision making (which he never really improved), so its entirely possible that Edwards flops as well, though I tend to think of him as a more intelligent player than Losman. The Bills will also need James Hardy to develop his potential into reality. He appears to have lots and lots of talent, and uses his body extremely well, something which was missing from the Bills offense. With the development of Hardy and the use of Roscoe on the inside, defenses would have to watch more than just Evans.All in all, there are still a lot of question marks around the Bills O. I like what I've heard from Schonert so far, but it remains to be seen if that will be followed through during the games, and if the Bills will have the personnel to implement what he wants to do with the football.I don't think we will have a clear picture of the Bills O and its future for the next couple years until at least the mid-season point. I do think that Evans as a #3 WR would have great potential, but only if you are prepared to see a decent 2nd half of the year from Evans, and keep him based upon that - I expect him to struggle due to the transition period for the offense until at least mid-season.Also - one note on Edwards' arm strength, which I've heard as a knock on him - I actually thought it was pretty good last season, I was surprised by it. I remember him hitting a few passes that people said he couldn't do in Buffalo's weather, so I'm not convinced that he doesn't have an adequate arm.
To me his inconsistency simply boils down to no other receiving threats and QB instability. It looks like they may have the QB thing straightened out, the WR situation is yet to be seen. At least for the 1st time in years they've tried to address it by drafting a talented wr like Hardy.
To me his inconsistency simply boils down to no other receiving threats and QB instability. It looks like they may have the QB thing straightened out, the WR situation is yet to be seen. At least for the 1st time in years they've tried to address it by drafting a talented wr like Hardy.
I haven't posted too much, simply because you guys know so damn much about football, but figured I could help in this situation.I hope Hardy turns out ot be as good as he could be, that TD catchi nt he endzone during the preseason game was awesome - he was completely covered, but used his body to make the catch.
