I’ll never forget reading Peter King’s camp post card regarding James Hardy’s training camp for the Bills in 2008. In short: Peter King wrote that James Hardy was going to be a key to the Bills passing offense because he was going to be a sizeable target. Of course, Hardy was only a rookie, which was really a lot to ask from him, but King wasn’t the only person in the media who was touting Hardy as being an impact player.
And I think that is where the problem really started.
Too many people thought Hardy was going to be this breakout player. Now, it’s fine to think that a 2nd round pick is going to pay big dividends down the road. However, it’s another thing to expect a rookie wide receiver to catch 50 balls for 6 touchdowns.
Before Hardy came to the Bills, some of the many problems that existed for the team were their wide receivers NOT being big enough. The team didn’t even have a wide receiver on the roster that was taller than 6’1. Factor in Lee Evans having to battle against constant double teams, and the Bills wide receiving core wasn’t anything to write home about.
Fans and media members were sick of seeing Bills #2 wide receivers not put up consistent numbers. Sorry, but the 2nd coming of Peerless Price didn’t do it for me. People were desperate and some, if not many, anointed Hardy as the guy who was going to take the pressure off Evans.
Well, high expectations, injuries and some weird gun incident with his dad, were all factors in Hardy failing as a Bill. Regarding the gun incident, it’s a small issue, but I feel that when the story came out, some fans didn’t take to kindly to the news. Buffalo fans don’t react all too positively when athletes get in trouble with the law. Just ask Marshawn Lynch and Ko Simpson. To me, that stoty started the Hardy partnership on the wrong foot.
Of course, Hardy having only 10 catches in two years didn’t help matters either. Plus, not being a physical player, especially in Buffalo, doesn’t help matters. You guys saw how Hardy looked on passing routes. Hell, a wide receiver covered in super glue could gain better separation than the Indiana project. He just seemed like a soft player and Buffalo fans don’t like that.
Overall, Hardy will go down in record book as another one of Tom Modrak’s colossal busts. Like I said in earlier posts, I would have liked to see Hardy spend one more year on the roster, but the Bills have a new regime in place, who want their own players. As for Hardy, I’m sure some other team will take a run at him. It’s just too bad that the Bills passed on DeSean Jackson to draft Hardy. Just another draft pick down the drain.
Other news
-Goodbye to the JP Foschi era and hello to the David Martin era. What the hell can I say that hasn’t been regurgitated on my blog before about the tight end situation? The Bills just don’t understand the concept of using a tight end. I’m sure Foschi didn’t endear himself to the coaching staff this past Thursday, when he dropped two passes. As for Martin, well, at least he played for one team for six seasons (Dolphins: 2001-2006). Hell, when was the last time a Bills tight end had a career of 6 or more years at the same location? BTW, Martin sat out all of last year because of an injury (Eye roll, please)-
-Don’t you just love twitter? BTW, you can follow me on it. What is great about it is that you don’t have to constantly refresh ESPN.com or wait for the Bills to make official announcements. Just follow Schefter, Mort, PFT and a bunch of other reporters, and that’s all there is to it-
-The Bills also claimed Steelers guard Kraig Urbik off waivers. He was a third-round pick out of Wisconsin in 2009. I can only assume that the signing had something to do with assistant GM, Dough Whaley, being a former member of the Steelers front office. Hey, the Bills need as many lineman as possible and having just three reserves was kind of bogus-
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