Worst Kept Secret Is Confirmed. J.P Losman Signs With Las Vegas

Did anybody else think that this deal was done months ago? Flicking through the news yesterday I saw the headline 'Losman signs with Las Vegas UFL team,' and was surprised to see that it was dated July 21, 2009.

I honestly thought that this deal was done months ago. People talked like he was. He was listed in articles as playing in the UFL and now we finally see that he has signed. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be the grand gesture for the UFL, but if it was, congratulations on the worst kept secret in football this offseason.

Anyway, sorry Brooks, but J.P takes over as the marquee guy in the league now, and I couldn't be happier to see him there.

In what was a up and down career in Buffalo, mainly down, I thought he showed some athletic ability. Granted the last two seasons have been rough: six TDs and 11 INT combined are not the prettiest numbers. The one flaw of Losman that everyone talks about is the fact that he locks onto receivers. Playing in Buffalo with a guy like Evans I suppose it's easy to do.

Buffalo traded into the first round to select Losman. It was the first QB that Buffalo had selected in the first round since 1983 and Jim Kelly was brought to the Bills. High hopes were a plenty but several offensive coordinators and many sacks later, Losman is in the upstart UFL.

He had a very simple choice: stay in the NFL as a backup somewhere (I'm actually very unsure where he could of gone), or go and play in Las Vegas as a starter. He needs to prove that he is a good QB, and warming the bench in Detroit or Minnesota or wherever was not going to do that.

He has a good coach to work with in Jim Fassel, the same guy who turned John Elway around in Denver and corrected Boomer Esiason in Arizona, so if anyone can do it then Fassel can.

I actually believe that J.P Losman is a good quarterback, I truly do. But he needs to learn to take his reads better and faster.

This is coachable, and usually it is something that is taught once a player comes out of college. But with such changeover in offensive coordinators in Buffalo I wonder if anyone really took him under their wings and showed him the way.

Jim Fassel noted the positive step that J.P Losman was taking in getting his career back on track by moving to the UFL:

"Listen, if he'd have went back to the NFL and sat on the bench this year, then he'd have been no better off next year. Whatever anybody thought about him, they'd still say the same thing. Nothing would've changed.

"... Instead, you go in this league and you play. The risk you take is you don't play well. But if you're an aggressive person, you say 'I'm going to play well, people are going to see me, and maybe I can erase some of those negatives that were in the past, and a lot of people will say, wow, look at him play now. He's a new guy.'"

When you have a good teacher and a student that is willing to admit that he has work to do like J.P. Losman does, the benefits can be exceptional.

"'Where do I want to be after a 10-year, 11-year career?' There are some things I feel I want to work on that I need to work on," said Losman. "This league gives me an opportunity to do that and to work with somebody who's had a lot of success in the NFL."

J.P Losman still has mobility, even after his knee injury, and he still has a good arm. If he can learn to run through reads, get rid of the ball quicker, he will be a good NFL player, or UFL player if the league really takes off.

However this is one of the reasons why I love this league. Without it, where does J.P go? He either sits on the bench and watches his career float away, or he moves to the CFL where he might as well be playing in the Sahara desert, no offence to Graham Harrel who has recently signed there.

Here he will be given a great chance to succeed, and get some confidence back in his play, something that he needs. If you think you have seen the last of J.P Losman, then I'm afraid you are mistaken. I fully expect him to tear up the UFL, and after he is done, he will be a viable option as a starter in the NFL.