Former Hurricane and current Bill would be a perfect Wildcat

By Anthony Bialy  |   Tuesday, November 11, 2008  |  Comments( 70 )

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Roscoe Parrish and Josh Reed do the same job in the most different way imaginable. With the utilitarian Reed still absent last Sunday, Parrish tried to do a little possession receiving against the New England Patriots in his team's 20-10 loss; still, the speediest Buffalo Bills wideout remains dreadfully underused. It’s going to take extraordinary measures to ever get him truly going, and luckily one drastic tactic that’s quickly becoming ordinary may as well have been designed with him in mind.

Whatever the Bills are doing to incorporate Parrish isn’t enough, as the Miami man totaled four receptions for 31 yards in New England. That doesn’t sound like much, but for him it is, as he only had 13 grabs during the previous six games in which he’s played this season. While it was agreeable to see that two of his catches went for first downs, the downside is that his production ended early: His last reception came with 10 minutes left in the second quarter.

Even on a day when Reed wasn’t around, the Bills still couldn’t regularly get the ball into Parrish’s hands; of course, that’s been a problem since Parrish has been a Bill, so why should things be different even with this team down a receiver?

It’s time to attempt using Parrish in a new way, and luckily the N in NFL stands for “novelty” this year. The silliness that is the “Wildcat” formation is apparently here to stay, and that’s not necessarily bad: Like cotton candy and fried dough, it’s fun in limited servings. As long as offenses don’t begin relying on it to the detriment of traditional attacks, it is refreshing to see them try anything out of the norm.

While the Bills are one of the many copycats trying the style, they still used it just the once in New England (on a 6-yard run by onetime quarterback Marshawn Lynch); if it’s to be used again, they should be willing to attempt something more complicated.

Specifically, Parrish should absolutely be used as the snap recipient in the World War I-era football alignment. A high school quarterback, Parrish’s coaches obviously recognized that they needed to get the ball in the hands of an incredibly dynamic player as often as possible; his pro coaches should be as astute.

The advantage is of course that the speedster would also be a threat to pass, giving true depth to the arrangement: He could do more than run or hand off, adding another layer of potential deception to the trendy strategy. Parrish-to-Trent Edwards might not become the next Montana-to-Rice, but the mere idea that they could swap roles for a play or two in a way which would allow the usual receiver to either throw or make a break for it might be enough to spark a recently comatose offense.

Offensive coordinator Turk Schonert should be willing to try anything that might make use of a firecracker who only gets lit intermittently. While he managed 51 yards versus the New York Jets and 42 against the Oakland Raiders, Parrish on the other hand managed only three catches for 6 yards in the opener against the Seattle Seahawks, which is nearly as bad as the 3 yards he got on a single grab while facing the Miami Dolphins.

Parrish manufactures exciting moments once he starts to make catches, but the problem has always getting him the ball in the first place. Luckily, there’s a new/old way around that problem: Let him take the snap and get to work. The key to getting Parrish more involved is to resort to a suddenly fashionable technique, namely cutting out the middleman.
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CommentsComments: 70  |  Sign Up  View all comments
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No.1
Goose		10:48 AM
11/11/2008
We've been talking about getting Roscoe the ball for the last 2 years, I player with his speed and ability should be a weapon....
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No.2
Keysh67		10:55 AM
11/11/2008
Oddly enough I agree. I don't think I want to see him attempting passes but mixing him into the Wildcat might not be a bad...
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No.3
Keysh67		11:00 AM
11/11/2008
Great point Goose! Half of the receiver's role is to block and Roscoe does not score very well in that category. I would like...
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