ProFootballCentral.com

One thing that is for sure with the Buffalo Bills is that they definitely have a sure lock at the number 1 wide receiver position but who will start on the other side of the field opposite of Evans? The Bills have a wide open competition at the number 2 position here with fourth year veteran Roscoe Parrish, seven year veteran Josh Reed and rookie James Hardy all competing for the number 2 position.

Roscoe Parrish

Pros- Possibly one of the fastest players in the NFL, Roscoe Parrish brings lighting quick speed and a great reaction after the catch to this Buffalo Bills team. Parrish has proven to be a kick return and punt return threat.  The 2007 season was a highlight for Parrish who finished with a career-high 35 catches for 352 yards and a touchdown. Parrish definitely presents a miss match to some corner’s and safeties who are not as quick as Parrish.
 

Cons- Roscoe definitely needs to do a better job reaching the end zone due to only reaching it one time last season. Although the speed is definitely a plus, Roscoe is only 5-9 and definitely is undersized and has shown in the past, difficulty handling the jam. At weighing only 171 pounds, Roscoe is the smallest of the 3 wide outs and has shown at times a difficult time adjusting to the hard hits.

Josh Reed
Pros- Out of the three Josh Reed has the most experience at the Pro Level, playing in 88 games so far in his career. Reed has been a very good option in short yardage plays and has been at times a clutch player. Has been very good at blocking and continues to show upside in his blocking abilities. 

Cons- Josh Reed while at LSU, was one of the most productive receivers in SEC history winning the Fred Biletnikoff Award in 2001 but has not been nearly as productive at the Pro Level. Reed has been with this team for seven season and has not solidified the number 2 position and this is a make or break year for him. At times in coverage Reed doesn’t fight for the ball as much as he should and has dropped some easy passes. Some say Reed thinks about what to do after the catch which results in easy drops. Like Roscoe, Reed is undersized as well and needs to do a better job at getting more physical. Reed has had to learn numerous new playbooks with this team going through several offensive coordinators since being drafted.
 James Hardy  
Pros- Hardy, probably the most underrated wide out to enter the 2008 draft will bring his successful collegiate career to Buffalo. In college Hardy racked up 191 catches, 2740 yards, and 36 TDs. The 6′7″, 220 lbs, Hardy averaged more than a TD per game, or 12 per year, to go with his 83.0 yards per game average during his collegiate career.  At 6’7 220 pounds there really aren’t a lot of NFL defenses that can cover someone with his size and this definitely brings a huge disadvantage to any defense trying to cover him. In college he showed that he is a huge deep threat which will go well with Lee Evans who also is a great deep threat.   At his Pro Day, Hardy showed off his jumping ability, recording a 37 inch vertical leap which at his height is simply scary.

Cons- James Hardy definitely has the size of an elite wide out but definitely lacks the explosiveness that a receiver such as Roscoe Parrish possesses.   In college Hardy showed some character issues and then right being drafted it reared its ugly head again. On May 13 2008 a woman called police saying Buffalo Bills rookie wide receiver James Hardy was beating up his father and had pulled a gun when she yelled for him to stop. The witness told officers she called out for Hardy to stop after hearing a loud noise in the back yard about 1:30 p.m. Sunday, according to a city police report.  Fort Wayne police spokesman Michael Joyner said no charges were filed because Hardy was gone when officers arrived and Hardy’s father did not want to press charges. Besides the speed and character issues Hardy definitely needs to work on his blocking ability as well as his route running. Like Reed and Parrish, Hardy also needs to work on being more physical and with someone at his size is surprising.

The Edge- This competition will definitely be fun to watch with all three wide outs learning a new offensive playbook. We have the veteran Josh Reed who has learned a lot of playbooks having to learn yet another one this season but one good advantage is that this playbook wont be completely different than last years with new offensive coordinator Turk Schonert being apart of this teams coaching staff last season as the quarterback coach. I think this offense will provide defensive mismatches with Hardy, the big tall receiver and Parrish the small but explosive wide out.  As far as giving the edge to one receiver to start at the number 2 position, I’m going to have to give this edge to James Hardy.  Although he definitely needs to improve his speed and route running I think the fact that he was very successful in a competitive big ten and the fact that he does have good hands, great jumping ability and at 6”7 will simply be very hard to cover.