The Buffalo Bills replaced Shawn Powell with the guy he replaced a little more than a year ago, re-signing the only punter the team knew for most of this millennium.
Besides consistency and knack for placing kicks deep in opposing territory, Brian Moorman also displayed a decent arm during his first Buffalo tenure, completing three passes on fake kicks, two of them for touchdowns.
That's three more regular-season completions for two more scores than Pat White, one of the leading candidates to start at quarterback when the Bills host Cincinnati a week from today, compiled during his two seasons in Miami.
White has not played a down in an NFL regular-season game since 2009, when he was the Dolphins' Wildcat specialist (running 21 times for 81 yards, but going 0-for-5 passing). After taking a shot at baseball, White got a shot with Washington this summer and showed enough -- including a touchdown run against Buffalo in an exhibition -- to convince the Redskins to keep him around as a fourth quarterback when the regular season started.
When other roster needs arose, though, the Redskins waived him on Sept. 14.
Whoever the Bills wind up starting against the Bengals, they figure to run a lot more than they throw. White ran for three exhibition touchdowns with Washington, and probably couldn't do much worse throwing the ball than poor Jeff Tuel did during Thursday's 37-24 loss in Cleveland.
The undrafted rookie's dismal night -- his best throw of the night was the first of 20, his chance to deliver an improbable comeback ended with a horrid pick-six and he wound up leaving the field with his helmet knocked askew -- was enough to convince Doug Marrone that almost anything would be better than sending Tuel out there again.
White also has professional experience running the sort of read-option system Buffalo will likely have to rely on until Manuel's return. Buffalo's other reported prospect, Dennis Dixon, spent four seasons backing up Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh's more traditional attack.
There are other possible fill-ins out there with a lot more game experience. But Josh Freeman, released by Tampa Bay this week, would probably prefer a longer-term opportunity, like the one available in Oakland. The biggest names on the quarterback scrap pile, Vince Young and Matt Leinart, have already washed out in Buffalo.
If the Bills want to follow the precedent set by re-signing Moorman, Trent Edwards is also available. Joke all you want, but Buffalo's former quarterback-of-the-future made at least one nice throw before being waived by Chicago in August.
Let's be honest. All of the options mentioned above are about equally unattractive. Given the odds against Buffalo throwing the ball with any consistent success before Manuel returns, We Want Marangi advocates a simple three-step plan.
1) Sign White, or Dixon, or, given the average lifespan of a Bills quarterback these days, both.
2) Install what amounts to an updated version of the Single Wing, the dominant offensive formation of the NFL's first three decades. One benefit -- the formation does not even involve the position of quarterback. Instead, the guy who gets most of the snaps from center is called the tailback, and in the old days, often ran more than he threw. See for yourself:
The old-timey formation has not been used as a team's primary offensive set since the Pittsburgh Steelers gave it up in 1952. So it would certainly offer the element of surprise.
3) Punt. A lot.
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