The Buffalo Bills are set to take on the Detroit Lions Thursday night in what many deem a meaningless preseason finale. Generally speaking, starters and players with defined roles rarely see more than a brief cameo as their respective teams look forward to the regular season; rendering the contest to most observers as worthless.
While the finale may be insignificant to many, try passing that on to James Hardy and Naaman Roosevelt– as well as Donald Jones for that matter.
It’s not known whether Bills head coach Chan Gailey will elect to keep five or six wide receivers on the roster. For their sake, that number better be six and even then, one may have to shine against the Lions to have a chance of occupying that final spot.
It appears all-but-certain that Lee Evans, Steve Johnson, Roscoe Parrish, Chad Jackson and David Nelson will take up the first five slots.
Do Or Die Time For Hardy, Roosevelt & Jones – continue reading…
◊ Bob McKenzie of the TSN tweets that the Sabres selection of Mark Pysyk doesn’t have a wow factor, but is a safe and sound pick.
◊ Nick Mendola has worries about the “new” Darcy Regier.
◊ Former Sabre Ales Kotalik has been waived by the Calgary Flames, Dave Davis tweets.
◊ Former Patriots draft bust Chad Jackson is seeking redemption with the Bills, Tim Graham of ESPN.com writes.
◊ Buffalo Bills cornerback Drayton Florence is taking to his twitter to talk a little smack back at Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson.
◊ NFL.com writer Pat Kirwan recently compiled a list of 16 players who are on the spot to perform in 2010. Among those on the list is Bills wide receiver James Hardy.
◊ Brett Johnson was waived by the Bills over the weekend. On Monday he was claimed by the Philadelphia Eagles, Adam Caplan reports.
◊ This is a few days old, but WNYWaterCooler.com thinks that Marshawn Lynch is still a moron.
◊ Buffalo News columnist Jerry Sullivan writes that Kristie Kerr put her own legendary stamp on the sport of women’s golf.
◊ Rodney McKissic (Buffalo News) reports that Canisius has signed a point guard from Puerto Rico.
◊ Congratulations to our friend and BSD colleague Tim Riordan, who’s UB Bull Run website celebrated its first anniversary on Monday.
The headline of this article is misleading, perhaps intentionally so. The Buffalo Bills are currently in the nascent months of yet another roster overhaul; GM Buddy Nix and head coach Chan Gailey have put together a roster that’s long on question marks and short on experience. Still, the team has competition across the entire team, and in a throw-away year meant for building a foundation, the team’s plan appears to be to try to develop some of the young talent already on the roster.
Not all of that talent is created equally, nor are any two players in exactly the same situation. As such, “boom or bust” and its typical connotations doesn’t apply to every player that appears on this list (and the list could be much, much longer, as well). Therefore, we urge you not to equate “boom or bust” to “make or break” – for the majority of these players, the 2010 season will not be the sole deciding factor regarding their future inclusion in the team’s re-building plans.
Five Bills entering a boom-or-bust ‘10 season – continue reading…
Over the next couple of months the chatter around Buffalo Bills training camp will undeniably center on the open quarterback competition. Head coach Chan Gailey continues to stress that Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Brohm will all get a fair shake to claim the starting job as the team heads into the 2010 season in search of an offensive identity.
While the inner-battle will dominate headlines, it’s not the only position that will be contested in the hot, summer sun.
The second question after who will throw the ball is what receiver not named Lee Evans will the pigskin get tossed to. Just as Edwards, Fitzpatrick and Brohm are vying for the starting gig, so are James Hardy, Steve Johnson and Marcus Easley for a shot at replacing the departed Terrell Owens in the starting lineup.
Gailey anticipates long, unpredictable battle at WR – continue reading…
Regime change in the National Football League is many things to many different people. For fans, seeing their favorite team begin anew is both cathartic and challenging to one’s patience. To ownership, it’s pretty similar. With coaches, it’s all about the opportunity to not only build a team from scratch and try to build a consistent winner, but about making a name for yourself as well.
It’s very different for players. Take the current Buffalo Bills, for instance. Buddy Nix is the new GM, while Chan Gailey is the new head coach. The team will be making massive changes on both sides of the ball, particularly defensively, where they’re switching to the 3-4 alignment. With those changes, many players could quickly be out of jobs. Bills players such as Chris Kelsay, Kyle Williams, John McCargo and others may be released or see their roles change drastically under the new regime. Many more players are in the same boat.
Regime change brings opportunity for young Bills – continue reading…
Big things in both a literal and figurative sense were supposedly on the horizon when the Buffalo Bills drafted James Hardy in the second round (41st overall) of the 2008 NFL draft. Red zone woes were the primary reason the Bills tabbed the six foot-five goliath over smallish receivers Eddie Royal, who went to Denver with the next selection and DeSean Jackson, going to Philadelphia eight picks later.
While Hardy was hardly a big play machine his rookie season, he did show glimpses of becoming the go-to guy near the end zone. He only had nine receptions in 2008, but two went for touchdowns, including the game winner late at Jacksonville in week two. Unfortunately his season ended prematurely with a nasty ACL knee injury late in the season against the New York Jets.
Time to turn to Hardy – continue reading…
I’ve learned that with the possible exception Terrence McGee (knee) and Jairus Byrd (groin), who will be a game time decisions, the Buffalo Bills inactive list for tonight’s game in Toronto against the Jets will look exactly like last week. I’ve also been told Roscoe Parrish will again be returning punts.
I just spoke to someone in Toronto covering the team and was told Perry Fewell is “heavily leaning” towards the same inactive list as last week. Against Miami the Bills inactives were: Steve Johnson, McGee, Ashton Youboty, Demetrius Bell, James Hardy, Chris Ellis, John McCargo. Brian Brohm was the third QB.
If McGee can go, and the team is hopeful he will, then Cary Harris would be deactivated. Byrd is also questionable and on a short week with little recovery time, the team may be careful with him. But my source expects him to be in uniform and not starting. He may used as a backup and/or emergency situation the same as Donte Whitner was when he came back from his ankle injury.
Hardy a likely scratch, Parrish to return punts – continue reading…
After missing nearly ten months of football, 2008 second round draft pick James Hardy officially returns to the Buffalo Bills this week. Barring a last minute setback at practice over the next few days, Hardy will be taken off the PUP list and added to the active 53-man roster.
The Bills have a lot invested in Hardy, including the high draft selection last year. They are eager to find out what they have in the former Indiana University star, as his rookie season last year is hardly enough to evaluate his future.
With Josh Reed and Terrell Owens both scheduled to become free agents after the year, the Bills will get him as much work as he can handle, which will help them evaluate what they’ll do at the position over the winter. Hardy caught 9 passes for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns last year before tearing up his right knee.
Bills Ready To Promote Hardy.. Who Gets Cut? – continue reading…
Buffalo Bills wide receiver James Hardy is currently dating Antonio “Toya” Carter, ex-wife of well known rapper Lil’ Wayne. She co-starred in the BET reality show “Tiny and Toya”
Carter, who lives in Georgia just turned 25. According to the popular urban website, Media Takeout.Com, one of the lavish gifts she was received was actually a pink-colored hand gun.
The site captioned the picture as saying “Her boyfriend NFLer James Hardy bought her a pink glock.. Before ya’ll start going crazy, she lives in Georgia, ad you can practically buy a bazooka there legally.”
Hardy Adamantly Denies Any Gun Gift-Giving – continue reading…
Like the words of the Sam Cooke song read, “It’s been a long time coming, but a change is gonna come.”
James Hardy returns to the practice field for the Buffalo Bills Wednesday for the first time in nine months since having major ACL knee surgery.
Hardy was the second round draft pick (41st overall) of the Bills last year. He enjoyed early success, scoring the game winning touchdown in week two as Buffalo won at Jacksonville. But his contributions were few and far between after that, catching only nine passes for 87 yards and a pair of touchdowns before having his season cut short with the major knee injury suffered against the New York Jets late in his rookie season.
He’s baaaack. James Hardy returns – continue reading…
