Farewell JP Losman

-Coast

Don’t worry, I have not retired from this blog. With the latest news on JP Losman possibly being out of the NFL, I needed to reminisce on his five year stint as a Buffalo Bill.

The Bills drafted Losman with the 22nd pick in the 2003 draft. He was the 4th quarterback taken in the first round that year, and was self proclaimed as the best. He claimed he had a better arm than the other three, was better than the other three at throwing on the run and was generally just a better athlete than the other three. All that may be true. However, Eli Manning has a ring, Ben Roethlisberger has 2 rings and Philip Rivers is a pro bowl quarterback and a legit star in the league. JP may be able to throw it farther, but that is where the comparison between these guys ends.

At the time I thought this was a great pick. After the debacle that was the 2003 season, the Bills were dying for a new quarterback and who didn’t love the cocky, talented, athletic quarterback out of Venice Beach, California? I bought his jersey probably 2 weeks after the draft and couldn’t wait for him to dethrone Drew Bledsoe. After all, analysts were comparing JP to Brett Favre. In fact, the Bills traded up with Dallas I believe to jump in front of Green Bay who was eying JP.
When training camp and the pre season began in 2004, JP looked like a stud. He looked good in practice, showing off his big arm. He looked good in the pre season, albeit in the 2nd half vs. the oppositions scrub players. In August of 2004 however, JP Losman’s career took it’s first turn in the wrong direction. Troy Vincent, frustrated at Losman’s ability to scramble, decided to hit the rookie quarterback while he was scrambling during practice. Losman’s ensuing leg injury sidelined him for half the season. This was a prelude to the bad fortune this guy would have during his five years.

Losman didn’t get much action in 2004. On a Sunday night, Mike Mularkey decided to throw him to the wolves at Foxboro in a blowout against New England. Why he would do this is a mystery. Losman entered the game, threw a pick to Larry Izzo, but who could forget the perfect form tackle he applied to Izzo on that play. What a tackle it was.

After the 2004 season, Tom Donahoe thought it was time for JP Losman to become the starting quarterback. In a move of genius, the Bills released the veteran Drew Bledsoe and gave the job to the unproven, raw, 2nd year quarterback in JP Losman. They also brought in free agent “back up” Kelly Holcombe. I thought the Holcombe signing was a good move, thinking he would be there to mentor Losman and only play if JP were to get hurt. I didn’t think that JP would be jerked around as much as he was. The 2005 season began just as the Bills could have imagined. An opening day blowout against the Texans made many believers. Losman threw for a modest 164 yards, 1 touchdown (to Jason Peters) and no interceptions. Little did anyone know that this was going to be the high point of the season. The Bills lost the next three games. JP threw for a grand total of 203 yards in those three games, combined. Finally, with Mike Mularkey thinking that this team actually had a chance during the 2005 season, pulled the string on his young quarterback in favor of journeyman Kelly Holcombe.

The Bills won two of the next four under Holcombe before coming home to play Kansas City. Holcombe got a concussion in the game and JP was given another chance. Who could forget the two perfect touchdown passes he threw to Lee Evans to lead the Bills to victory. This was a little preview of the connection Evans and Losman would have in the future. Now with his mind swayed yet again, Mularkey named JP Losman his starter.

Losman had to have in the back of his mind, if I screw up, I am benched, and when you commit to a young quarterback, you can’t jerk him around like that. Look at the Giants, they went through the growing pains with Eli Manning. He was awful in his first year, but he didn’t get jerked in and out of the lineup. The Bills wouldn’t win another game under Losman in 2005. They got throttled by the Chargers, lost a pathetic home game to the Panthers and then wasted three first quarter touchdown passes to Lee Evans in an embarrassing choke job in Miami which cost me $412. After a 35-7 blowout loss to New England, Mularkey decided it was time to pull the string on Losman again, in an attempt to save his job and in an attempt to appease the complaining veteran receiver Eric Moulds. The Bills won one more game, finished 5-11, fired Donahoe, and hired Dick Jauron and Marv Levy.

2006 was a fresh start for JP entering his third season. Training camp was an open competition in which Losman won the job over Craig Nall. Losman showed signs of being a good quarterback all throughout the 2006 season. He did have some pathetic games…threw for only 64 yards against Green Bay, 51 yards against Indianapolis (in a game where Dick Jauron had the most conservative game plan in NFL history), had bad games against the Bears, and the winless Lions.

He did however also showed signs of being the player the Bills were hoping he would be in drafting him in the first round. He threw for 333 yards in a comeback win against the Texans on the road. He led a great last minute drive capped off with a perfect touchdown pass to win the game to Peerless Price. The very next week, he led another last minute drive to set up a winning field goal against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bills playoff run was stunted due to poor coaching more so than the play of their quarterback. Jauron cost them the Chargers game. He also cost them the Titans game in week 16. Losman played flawless football against the Jets and Dolphins in December, two late season divisional games. He earned his way to a pro bowl alternate honor. He threw for 3,051 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He solidified his position as the starting quarterback of the Bills. There would be no competition or controversy in 2007.

So, the 2007 draft came around and a young, raw quarterback slipped into the third round named Trent Edwards. The Bills didn’t need a starting quarterback this year more likely a project or backup. Finally, Losman would have a clear head and not have to worry about losing his job. So, Marv Levy and the Bills brass took Trent Edwards because he was the best value on the board. I was shocked, pissed, floored, stunned, couldn’t believe it, it was a stupid pick, I still stand by that opinion. The coaches loved Edwards from the start. He was smart, he was an Ivy leaguer, he was the prototypical 6’4” quarterback that could stand in the pocket that the Bills coaches envisioned. The Bills couldn’t wait to pull the string on JP again. The Bills lost opening day to the Broncos. Again, I blame the coaching for their ridiculously conservative play calling. Week two against the Steelers can’t be used against JP. Who could prepare for that game after the injury to Everett. Then the scum bag Vince Wilfork took out Losman’s knee and the jerk around of JP would begin again. Edwards started the next 4 games before he got injured and Losman was plugged back in. He started the next four games before he was again pulled in favor of Trent Edwards for the final time. He had a final opportunity to save his NFL career in 2008 but it didn’t work out. He looked down right bad and his tenure with the Bills was over and now perhaps even the NFL.

In his career with the Bills, JP Losman threw for 6,211 yards, 33 touchdowns and 34 interceptions. He was inserted and removed from the starting lineup more than five times. He played under two coaches that could be the worst two coaches in Bills history. He came to Buffalo and embraced the city unlike most players that come here. He bought a house here and started a program to clean the city. The problem was his wins and losses. He was 1-7 in 2005, 7-9 in 2006, 2-5 in 2007 and 0-2 in 2008. He was 10-23 as a starter. So now to Las Vegas where JP will play with the best coach he has ever had as a pro. He will play under Jim Fassel and probably will have the best chance he’s ever had to resurrect his career. Tommy Maddox jr?