Jauron wisely opts for a quarterback competition

By Connor Byrne  |   Wednesday, February 15, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Buffalo Bills
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Tuesday, Buffalo Bills head coach Dick Jauron indicated that he intends to have an offseason quarterback competition between youngster J.P. Losman and ten-year NFL veteran Kelly Holcomb. Both quarterbacks started eight games last season, with Losman posting a 1-7 record, and Holcomb posting a much more respectable 4-4 mark.

Last off-season, the Bills elected to release veteran Drew Bledsoe and automatically hand the starting job over to Losman. This was a controversial move that was viewed league-wide as flat-out foolish. Ex-Bills head coach Mike Mularkey lost favor with his veteran players because it is never wise to just hand a job over to a young player; especially the most important job on the field.

Following the vote of confidence from the Bills' organization, Losman started the first month of the 2005 season in miserable fashion. He led the Bills to a 1-3 mark, and was benched for most of October and half of November in favor of Holcomb. After five starts from Holcomb, Mularkey went back to Losman, but did not get the kind of consistency or results he was looking for. Subsequent to giving Losman four more starts, Mularkey went back to Holcomb for good. The Bills finished just 5-11.

"You have a veteran quarterback in Kelly, who is comfortable with his game. J.P. is a young quarterback and plays like one. ... He needs to be better for what he went though last year," said Jauron in an interview.

Of course, Jauron is absolutely right in this situation. Holcomb is a veteran who knows his limitations along with his strengths, while Losman's inability to know his own game led to far too many costly gaffes in 2005. Luckily for Losman, the ability to know your own game can come with experience. Legendary quarterbacks like Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman, John Elway, and Steve Young all struggled mightily in their first seasons as starters. The point is, there is still plenty of hope for Losman. The Bills definitely are wise to not give up on the 24-year old 2004 first-round selection from Tulane.

The most important thing leaning in Holcomb's favor right now is his ability to throw the ball accurately. 2005 saw Holcomb complete 67.4 percent of his passes, compared to Losman's weak rate of 49.6. However, that can partly be attributed to the fact that Holcomb's offense took less chances as he constantly hit check-down receivers for short gains. Losman was a riskier quarterback who would often go for broke down the field. Many times, that philosophy worked for Losman. Unfortunately, Losman's offensive line gave him less time on those deep attempts and he would often hurl an incompletion, interception, or take a costly sack.

What leans in Losman's favor is his tremendous mobility. Losman is probably one of the five fastest quarterbacks in the NFL right now. He has the ability to turn a dead play into a lengthy run, as he demonstrated in the Bills' week 11 loss to the San Diego Chargers. Seeing that nobody was open anywhere, Losman scampered 30 yards for the Bills' longest run of the season. Unfortunately, having a quarterback who can run around can also lead to more injuries. The fact that Holcomb does not run around makes him less susceptible to sustaining an injury.

The off-season will be crucial for Losman, Holcomb, and the future of the Bills' organization. If Losman plays well in training camp and preseason, and wins the job, it could mean big things for Buffalo. He has the kind of potential to lead a team a long way. The cannon arm and the mobility are already there for Losman, he just needs to improve his accuracy and on-field smarts. Often times, those two things come with experience. If Holcomb ends up starting, the Bills will be hard-pressed to do much better than .500 next year. Holcomb's a nice backup to have, but is he really the kind of player who can lead a team to the promised land? The answer to that is probably no, unless he gets stellar performances from his defense and running game.

Jauron continues to make intelligent decisions ever since he was named the Buffalo Bills' head coach back on January 23rd. Competitions bring out the best in everyone, not just one particular person. Losman and Holcomb will battle fiercely throughout the off-season, and both will become better men and better players for the experience. Holcomb, an ex-Cleveland Brown, already lost his a previous battle to youngster Tim Couch years back. Will he drop to 0-2 in competitions? I guess we'll all find out soon enough.

-Connor Byrne can be reached at cbyrne@realfootball365.com.
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