J.P. Losman to Atlanta

If you're looking for a possible landing spot for J.P. Losman, how about Atlanta? There a couple of reasons why it could happen. Mike Mularkey is now the Falcon's offensive coordinator. While he was the one who yanked around Losman and Kelly Holcomb, he's familiar with J.P.'s skills and talents. Wednesday, the Falcons hired Losman's old college coach to handle their tight ends. Chris Scelfo was at Tulane during Losman's college years. J.P. has spoken highly of him, and Scelfo has done the same. Atlanta is in need of a quarterback, after failing with Joey Harrington, Chris Redman and Byron Leftwich. They could draft one in the first round, but maybe they'd want J.P. to help ease the transition for a Matt Ryan of Boston College. What could the Bills get for Losman? Maybe a 4th or 5th round draft pick.

Sabres Stat of the Day

Thomas Vanek's 2nd period goal in Florida came on the power play. That breaks an 0-36 road power play streak. The Sabres hadn't scored a power play goal on the road since December 22 at Philadelphia. On the season, the Sabres road power play is 14/120...among the worst in the NHL.

Bills Sign TE Teyo Johnson

The signing of tight end Teyo Johnson is a low-risk move by the Bills. They have only two tight ends under contract right now (Robert Royal, Derek Schouman). So they will need bodies at the position. I would think that tight end is a priority position for free agency and the draft. The Bills could make a run at a veteran like L.J. Smith, or wait and draft someone early like USC's Fred Davis. Johnson has been out of football for two years, but he's big (six-foot-six) and has good hands. He was once a 2nd round draft pick. What's to lose? Players like Jabari Greer, John DiGiorgio and George Wilson were so-what signings the last few years, and they turned into good players. Don't expect too much, but don't dismiss him either. As we've seen with those other guys, you never know.

Bills Hire Offensive Assistant

The Bills hired Nathaniel Hackett to be their offensive quality control coach. He fills the position left open by Alex Van Pelt's promotion to quarterbacks coach.
Hackett comes from Tampa Bay, where he held the same position for the last two years. While in Tampa, he coached under his father, Bucs QB Coach Paul Hackett.
Paul Hackett is just one of Nathaniel's two connections to the Bills. Paul Hackett was Van Pelt's college coach at Pittsburgh. Before going to Tampa, Nathaniel coached at Stanford, where the quarterback was Trent Edwards.

AAFL Draft

The newly-formed All American Football League held its first draft on Saturday (1/26). There were two interesting names among the 50 rounds of picks. Todd DeLamielleure, son of Bills Hall of Famer Joe, was selected by the Arkansas team in the 43rd round. He played linebacker at Hofstra. Kevin Eakin, in training camp this year with the Bills, was taken by Alabama in the 50th round. Eakin was the Bills 4th QB in camp.
The AAFL features 6 teams (Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Minnestoat, Texas) that will play in the spring and summer. All players must have completed four years in college and earned their degree.

I forgot one Buffalo Super Bowl Connection

Forgot about former Bills running back Sammy Morris. A key player early in the season, he has been on injured reserve and won't play in the Super Bowl.

Sabres Memorabilia Collector

If you happened to see our story on Sabres Memorabilia collector Joe Gambacorta, you know he has an impressive collection. If you have an item that may interest him, you can contact Joe at
gambo@roadrunner.com. You can also call him at (716) 512-4243.