Holcomb starting won’t lead to victories for Buffalo

By Connor Byrne  |   Friday, May 26, 2006  |  Comments( 21 )

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With summer's training camp getting ever closer for the Buffalo Bills, there's been a lot of discussion as to who will be the team's starting quarterback next season. The Bills' top three quarterbacks, in no particular order, are Kelly Holcomb, Craig Nall and J.P. Losman. If Holcomb ends up being named the starter by head coach Dick Jauron, it likely won't mean big things for the 2006 version of the Bills. Instead, it'll simply mean more mediocrity for a team that has grown all-too-familiar with underachieving over the last six seasons.

The soon-to-be 33-year-old Holcomb has been a serviceable backup throughout his nine-year career, but not much more. With an arm as weak as his, it's a wonder why former Bills GM Tom Donahoe signed him in the first place in March 2005. After all, with the incredibly windy conditions in Buffalo from fall to winter, it's not prudent to have a quarterback who's incapable of throwing the ball downfield.

Holcomb became much too friendly with his check-down receivers last season, and that led to frustration and underutilization for the Bills' most talented receiver, Lee Evans. In a Bills offense that is set to focus on stretching the field under new offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild, Holcomb may end up being the odd man out.

Other than Evans, the Bills' receivers capable of burning defensive backs are veterans Peerless Price and Andre' Davis, as well as second-year man Roscoe Parrish. No longer will Holcomb have his most reliable target from last year, Eric Moulds, to throw to, since Moulds was traded to the Houston Texans. Instead, if Holcomb wants short-yardage, he'll have to turn his attention to Josh Reed, Sam Aiken, or perhaps Martin Nance, an undrafted free agent with an outside chance of making the Bills' roster.

Meanwhile, combating Holcomb is Nall and Losman, who both have great capability when it comes to throwing the ball down the field. In fact, Nall, who was signed as a free agent this offseason, might be the favorite to win the starting job in Buffalo. He sat behind one of the best ever, Brett Favre, in Green Bay for the first four years of his career, where the 27-year-old learned a great deal as the future Hall of Famer's protégé. The 6-3, 230-pound Nall might be one of the biggest dark-horses in the entire NFL next season, since nobody really knows what he'll bring to the table.

The former NFL Europe star has attempted just 33 career passes, with 23 completions and four touchdowns. His passer rating? An astoundingly good 139.4. Honestly, though, it isn't right to gauge Nall from those numbers, since he accumulated them late in games during periods known as "garbage time." However, due to the fact that current successful quarterbacks such as Jake Delhomme, Matt Hasselbeck, Brad Johnson, Kurt Warner and Jon Kitna all thrived in Europe, it has led many to hold out hope that Nall has simply been a diamond in Green Bay's rough for nearly half of a decade, waiting for his opportunity to jump into the spotlight as a legit pro starter.

Aside from Holcomb and Nall, the 25-year-old Losman is easily the Bills' quarterback with the greatest upside. The third-year man was selected in the first round of the 2004 draft by Buffalo, but he struggled last season, his first as a starter. Losman's poor play led to him riding the bench for about half of the year, as Holcomb took the stage.

The biggest problem with Losman lies in the fact that he's had some poor relationships with his veteran teammates in the past. In fairness to the Tulane product, much of it isn't his fault, as former head coach Mike Mularkey foolishly handed him the job prior to last season, rather than launching a full-fledged QB competition during the summer months. However, now that the competition goes three ways, the embattled Losman has an opportunity to not only win the job, but the respect of some of his contemptuous teammates in the process.

Now that the 2006 season continues to loom larger, the Bills' quarterback situation will become less foggy. One thing's for sure, though. For victories, Nall and Losman are the best options. Holcomb may have led a weak Bills team to a 4-4 record last season, but he'll never be anything more than a stopgap with the ability to fill in for a few weeks. Don't look for him to lead a team to the promised land anytime soon. Don't look for Nall or Losman to lead the Bills to great things in the near future, either, but they'll at least have a puncher's chance.

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

Get more on the Buffalo Bills' quarterbacks at Realfootball365.com
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CommentsComments: 21  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
todd laValle		09:17 AM
05/26/2006
Although i agree with you, i'm not sure either losman or nall is the long term answer. The real reason i'm sending this e-mail...
No.2
Phil Thornton		10:45 AM
05/26/2006
McGahee has been a joke on NFL Total Access. I have seen some bad guest hosts, but he is the worst that I can remember. Rich...
No.3
S Chirca		10:46 AM
05/26/2006
Calling McGee the Bills best player is preposterous, I just can't agree with that... Did you get some gift from the guy or his...
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