Posts tagged JamesHardy at FanHouse

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: The J.P Losman era has come to its logical conclusion. Which is to say, he probably won't be around after this season. Trent Edwards, the team's 2007 third-round pick is now the starter, and if the Bills are to have any chance to improve on last year's 7-9 record, it will lie largely with him. Heat Index: 5

Running backs: Marshawn Lynch had a relatively quiet offseason until he accidentally ran over a pedestrian and bonked out before the cops showed up. The case has been settled, and he won't miss any time, which is great news for a Bills offense that can't afford to lose one of its best players. I suspect the hit-and-run victim might feel differently, however. Fred Jackson is more than capable behind Lynch. Heat Index: 8

While college football fans across the country await the start of the new season with a drooling fervor there are also some fans who dread it. Why? Because they know their season is already over before it's even started. Oh sure, their boys are still going to go out there every Saturday and play hard for 60 minutes, but it's not going to make a bit of difference.

They're going to lose, and they're going to lose a lot.

No conference can escape from having teams like this, it's just a part of the game. They still serve their purpose because the good teams in the conference need a breather once in a while, and they also need six wins to qualify for a bowl game.

These teams are the conferences dirty little secret. They're the red-headed step child that's told to stay in their room when company comes over. They are the dregs of Big Ten, and they're here to play another set of 12 games whether we want them to or not.

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet the ...
Beast Modes. Sorry, that's just all I think about when I start analyzing the Buffalo Bills. I can't help it. My mancrush on Marshawn Lynch just runs too deep. I actually loved the Bills as a sleeper team last year and think the same thing in 2008. Trent Edwards and Lynch are an up-and-coming young duo and Lee Evans obviously has gobs of talent, even if it comes on sporadically. However, this team is young, which means growing pains in real and fantasy football.

Breakout
I'm classifying 'Beast Mode' Lynch as this year's breakout on this squad. Yes, he had 1,000 yards last year, but when doesn't a back break 1k these days? I think he's going to flirt with 1,500 this season and will end up catching substantially more balls out of the backfield than last year. If you check his game logs, he didn't really start to come on strong until Edwards took over, but he was a model of consistency when he was on the field. If he stays healthy for the whole season, you can pencil in 1,700 total yards.

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet the ...
Beast Modes.Sorry, that's just all I think about when I start analyzing the Buffalo Bills. I can't help it. My mancrush on Marshawn Lynch just runs too deep. I actually loved the Bills as a sleeper team last year and think the same thing in 2008. Trent Edwards and Lynch are an up and coming young duo and Lee Evans obviously has gobs of talent, even if it comes on sporadically. However, this team is young, which means growing pains in real and fantasy football.

Breakout
I'm classifying Beast Mode as this year's breakout on this squad. Yes, he had 1,000 yards last year, but when doesn't a back break 1k these days? I think he's going to flirt with 1,500 this season and will end up catching substantially more balls out of the backfield than last year. If you check his game logs, he didn't really start to come on strong until Edwards took over, but he was a model of consistency when he was on the field. If he stays healthy for the whole season, you can pencil in 1,700 total yards.

Yesterday I pointed out that the Bills would like to keep wide receiver Lee Evans in Buffalo beyond 2008, and it sounds like Evans is in no hurry to leave the team that drafted him 13th overall in 2004.

And the team's 2008 draft probably did nothing to change his opinion. If anything, it just reassured him that the Bills are close to turning things around. Evans is especially jazzed about the team's second-round pick, 6-6 wideout James Hardy.

I think he'll serve as a big complement," Evans said Monday after the Bills' first full-squad practice of the spring. "With his height alone he can do things that a lot of shorter players can't. Just innately some of the things he can do will help us out - down in the red zone and jumping up for balls."

Evans admits that the Bills' 22nd-ranked offense "can't get any worse," which sounds like a commentary on J.P. Losman (but probably isn't; Evans doesn't seem like that type of player). Whoever you decide to blame, Evans production dropped last season, catching only 55 passes after hauling in 82 the year before, and he's legitimately excited about having at least one other pass-catching threat on the field.

"Certainly he'll help our offense out. He'll help our run game, where you won't be able to just sit a safety down in the box. In the red zone, you'll have to account for him . . . and it'll certainly help me out on the other side. He gives us more diversity of what we can do down in the red zone."

Now the Bills just need Trent Edwards to be something more than Losman: serviceable.

A Fort Wayne, Indiana police report indicates that Buffalo Bills rookie wide receiver James Hardy pulled a gun on his father, the Journal Gazette reports.

According to the paper, Hardy was listed as a suspect but his name was redacted from a police report that said his father, James W. Hardy II, was engaged in a fight with his son. A witness said she yelled at the younger Hardy to stop fighting, and he then pulled out a gun before leaving. Hardy has a permit to carry a gun.

Hardy's father told police he and his son were in an argument, and that the younger Hardy was always angry with him because he was in prison while his son was a boy, but that he was not injured and did not want to press charges against his son. He told the Journal Gazette:

"Me and my son's relationship is fine and anything (different) ... is not factual. Me and James' relationship is fine," he said.

In May of 2006 Hardy was arrested on battery charges in what authorities said was an attack on his girlfriend and their infant son. Four months later he was suspended by the team for two games for still-undisclosed personal reasons that were apparently unrelated to the arrest. After leaving Indiana with a year of eligibility left, Hardy was the Bills' second-round pick in last month's draft.

Via PFT.

Buffalo Bills 2008 Draft Picks:

Round 1 (11): Leodis McKelvin, CB, Troy
Round 2 (41): James Hardy, WR, Indiana
Round 3 (72): Chris Ellis, DE, Virginia Tech
Round 4 (114): Reggie Corner, CB, Akron
Round 4 (132): Derek Fine, TE, Kansas
Round 5 (147): Alvin Bowen, OLB, Iowa State
Round 6 (179): Xavier Omon, RB, Northern Missouri State
Round 7 (219): Demetrius Bell, OT, Northwestern State (LA)
Round 7 (224): Steve Johnson, WR, Kentucky
Round 7 (251): Kennard Cox, CB, Pittsburgh

The Good: Not only was Buffalo able to land the cornerback they so desperately needed, they were also able to land the big-time wide receiver they coveted as well. Both Leodis McKelvin and James Hardy will come in and have an immediate impact for the Bills, giving them two dimensions they were lacking last year. Additionally, Derek Fine was a tremendous value pick in round four and will likely add some quality depth to Buffalo's currently shallow tight end position.

The Bad: Outside of McKelvin and Hardy, many of the players Buffalo drafted have several question marks. Can Ellis become a more consistent player at the next level? Is Corner's size (or lack thereof) a major concern? Is Bowen big enough to play every down? And does Bell have enough game experience to offer any significant value? Those are some rather concerning questions ...

The Grade: B-. At the very least, Buffalo got two solid starters out of the draft and a lot of depth. Some of the other players will most likely realize their talent and reward the Bills, while the rest will eventually fade away into nothing. It wasn't an outstanding draft by any means, but it certainly wasn't a poor one either.

Click here to read other draft grades.

St. Louis Rams 2008 Draft Picks:

Round 1 (2): Chris Long, DE, Virginia
Round 2 (33): Donnie Avery, WR, Houston
Round 3 (65): John Greco, OT, Toledo
Round 4 (101): Justin King, CB, Penn State
Round 4 (128): Keenan Burton, WR, Kentucky
Round 5 (157): Roy Schuening, OG, Oregon St.
Round 7 (228): Chris Chamberlain, DB, Tulsa
Round 7 (252): David Vobora, OLB, Idaho

The Good: Long is as close to a sure thing as you get and the Rams addressed their greatest need instead of taking Glenn Dorsey. The team got a steal in King, who went about two rounds too late. Likewise, Greco and Schuening are both good values, and both are talented players. Not only did the Rams address their biggest problem, they found good players without spending first-day picks on them.

The Bad: Of course, that doesn't mean anything if the Rams waste those picks anyway. Taking Avery absolutely baffles me. He's fast, and will help in returns, but he's not Devin Hester. You can find a return man later, especially when you need every-down starting receivers and Devin Thomas and James Hardy are available. Even DeSean Jackson was there, and he's the same type of receiver as Avery except better in every way. This is even with the Titans taking Chris Johnson as the worst pick of the draft in my mind. Burton, who has potential, will outperform him.

The Grade: B. The team really improved their two weakest areas from last season -- pass rush and offensive line -- and added a very talented corner who at one point was considered a borderline first-rounder. Still, with the 33rd pick they could have fixed their third biggest need, and blew that opportunity considerably. That's a huge blemish if Torry Holt can't stay healthy this year.

Click here to read other Draft Grades.

The Rams absolutely needed a potential starter at wide receiver in this second round. With the fortune of getting to pick between every receiver in the damned thing, St. Louis dropped into the double digits of most pundits draft boards and got themselves a career third receiver and punt returner.

In the grand scheme of things, this isn't as shocking as last year's Ted Ginn selection, but I'm sort of baffled why the Rams took Donnie Avery when they could have gotten Devin Thomas or James Hardy -- legitimate starting receivers with the size to threaten in the red zone.

Don't get me wrong, Avery isn't bad at what he does. He's fast, he's got the deep-play ability, and his return skills will certainly be vital. But given the value on the board, the team's need, and the depth of players like Avery in this draft, it's kinda hard to see why the Rams selected him. He's not big, he's not a route-runner, and he has trouble dealing with physical corners. He's not an every-down receiver.

Things looked to be set up so well for the Rams to walk away from today with two immediate starters. Oh well, at least they got one.

With each pick of the FanHouse mock draft, we get into the head of an NFL general manager and let you know who he'll pick and why.

We're going out on a limb here and picking a guy Eagles fans would love and not a guy we think the Eagles front office will necessarily take. Sure, we know that the chances of a WR coming into the Eagles system and starting are almost zero and we know, historically, the WR position is one that is a bigger gamble in the first round than other positions. But we're going to pick a guy who we'd like to see and who we think can contribute immediately.

Before we go into why we like James Hardy at nineteen, I believe Andy Reid is probably salivating over some of the offensive linemen that will likely go before the Eagles slot. Jake Long, Ryan Clady, Chris Williams, Jeff Otah, and Brandon Albert are all studs that could bring some youth to the Eagles aging offensive line. A lot of talk revolving around the Eagles and this draft has Andy Reid thinking of moving up for one of these guys. Don't be surprised if it happens.

That said, with an offense that struggled to score touchdowns last season, Donovan McNabb wants weapons. At 6 foot 7 inches and 220 pounds, James Hardy out of Indiana, is the kind of weapon that could step in and make an impact this year.