David Nelson

Deskchair quarterback – Bills vs. Raiders

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

David Nelson was an undrafted afterthought at training camp last summer. He ended the season with 31 catches, 353 yards and 3 touchdowns. His performance through two games this season has been anything but an afterthought.

Nelson torched Oakland for 83 yards on 10 catches and the game-winning touchdown with just 18 seconds remaining. His biggest catch of the day capped Buffalo’s final comeback drive as the fourth quarter wound down. While it took one final interception on an Oakland hail mary to actually seal the game, it is obvious that the Buffalo offense is running on all cylinders.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, while he struggled through the first half, was deadly in the third and fourth quarters. He led the Bills on touchdown drives on each second half possession (s/t to TBN) and marched Buffalo down the field with ease on the final two scoring drives. Stevie Johnson and Nelson were the recipients of most of Fitzpatrick’s targets as he went off for just under 100 yards and a TD. While Nelson is best suited to run out of the slot, it is obvious that he has become the second target in the Buffalo offense. He is an ideal weapon for the Bills as his size makes him a mismatch for just about anyone, but he is much faster than a tight-end, ruling out the option of covering him with a linebacker in a three or four-wide set.
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Lee Evans traded to Baltimore

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the Bills have traded Lee Evans to the Baltimore Ravens for a 4th round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

This is a major move for the Bills as they are trading away one of their most lethal offensive threats, well at least on paper. Evans hasn’t been the same threat since J.P. Losman was removed as the starting quarterback. Since then Evans has seen his number dwindle -blast year he recorded a career-low 37 receptions.

That is pretty much the end of the reasons why it made sense to trade him. Frankly, he is a highly paid decoy. He doesn’t do much other than run a mean nine route, but he freeze up plenty of coverage for Stevie Johnson.

Now Johnson and David Nelson become the top receiving threats for the Bills as they hope that Marcus Easley and, San Diego castoff, Buster Davis can produce. All of that for a fourth round pick next season.

The main need for the Buffalo Bills is to fill their holes at tackle. They continue to ignore that need and the years pile up since the last time they had a true duo of NFL tackles (Howard Ballard and Will Wolford by my count). Instead Nix opted to remove a veteran talent for a draft lick that will turn into a guy like Dwayne Wright, Shawn Nelson, or Ko Simpson. Forgive me for not jumping out of my chair for this trade.

It seems like the Bills are turning into the Cleveland Indians from Major League, just get enough players to fill the roster and play the games. No need to worry about winning in these parts I guess.