thewildrabbit

NFN, but I don't see a positive side to this org yet. Still waiting to see the baby

There is no bright side for me for the decade of bad drafts, bad players acquired and losing.

You just described most every FA QB out there, if they were really any good they would all be starting somewhere. Its why Nix needs to be very careful about who he brings in because that O line was quite horrible with Edwards and Brohm. I suspect that any QB brought in had better have a very quick release like Fitz, and very good es-capability like Fitz. The more I think about it the more Vince Young makes sense, If Chan Gailey really wanted either Tim Tebow or Cam Newton then Young could be a "perfect fit project" that Gailey can further develop. Besides Young doesn't need the mechanic repetitions and the elongated learning curve that a rookie would require. Plus he is a winner at the NFL level, something that not many of those FA's can say.

Yea that was Fairchild, then Turk Schonert took over it went... 1st down shotgun-pass 2nd down-and five-shotgun-pass 3rd down and one foot- shotgun -pass 4th down punt I'd imagine JP is mentality incapable of being an NFL QB anymore, the guy probably see's phantom sackers in his sleep

That is one sad fact that most fans just don't get

The Bills need an experienced back up that is going to be happy as a back up, that limits the field considerably. Baltimore-is looking for a backup since Bulger is a FA, while Cincy-Washington-Tenn-Minn-Arizona-SF are all looking for an experienced starters So that leaves as URFA Marc Bulger Kerry Collins Seneca Wallace Rex Grossman Luke McCown Billy Volek Chad Pennington Kyle Boller Jim Sorgi JP Losman While some are RFA the Bills could make offers to those QB's Bruce Gradkowski Trent Edwards Drew Stanton Troy Smith Dennis Dixon Matt Moore Matt Leinart Tarvaris Jackson Kellen Clemons Tyler Thigpen Brodie Croyle I left off Payton Manning and Matt Hasselbeck for obvious reasons, gonna be interesting to see who Buffalo looks at and eventually brings in Believe it or not if it were my choice my first thought would be Chad Pennington, then I thought about how bad that O line still is and thought about a younger more mobile QB....Vince Young isn't on the list but he just might be more useful then those others. The Bills had better look at someone who can run like Fitz can

I am thinking positive, but I'm also thinking realistically I did say 2-14 because I think there will be a season, that's a positive thought! However, all these new players won't get the proper instruction due to the fact that they are already missing off season instruction-workouts, and mini camps. The longer this impasse between the league and players union draws out the harder it will be for the rookies to make the transition to the NFL and make an impact their first year. I think you are correct in stating that Nix is building for long term, except he forgot to draft for the O line again this year so it will take longer then this year for certain. If you go back and look how quickly Bill Polian built up the Bills it did take 2 years, but also don't forget he was able to grab some players from the USFL at the same time. So yea, it will take at least 3-4 more years before this team starts actually competing for the division. The reason I say that is because Nix doesn't believe in building thru free agency and HC Gailey decided to hire a bunch of assistants with NO NFL experience, so the coaches are learning as well as the players. Look at it this way, 2-14 this season might just get this franchise QB Andrew Luck next draft

PLAYOFFS....PLAYOFFS.... in the voice of Jim Mora What are you guys drinking....smoking, share it with a brotha This team hasn't had a winning season in so long I've forgotten when they last did have a winning season.... c'mon guys get a grip... you remember last season... 4-12 All the Bills have done so far with the draft is replace the experienced veteran players that are going to leave, either released or via FA with rookies, I just don't get the playoff scenario at all....more like 2-14

The only positive I see is Marcel Darius, and with both he and KW on that line it should be fun to watch. As for the rest of the team not so much fun I think, the offense is going to be the same or perhaps worse without Lynch and now opposing teams have had a season to watch film on Fitz and the plays Gailey calls. Virtually no upgrade to the offense .....soooo, to those who think the offense is gonna come out and romp and stomp and put up a lot of points better think again, tougher schedule also.

Ya gotta consider the defensive scheme he was put into and if the players in front of him are doing their jobs properly, not to mention if the coaches calling the defensive signals have a clue. I know most want to condemn the guy because the brilliant Bills staff selected Whitner with an early #1 pick, Bills fans think he should be another Ronnie Lott because he was drafted so early. The fact remains that he was rated by every other team as a late second rounder. He surely isn't a Bob Sanders- Troy Polamalu, but ya know what, he manages to make a ton of tackles that the 7 guys in front of him miss. Plus he went from a bad defense with Jauron to an utter crap defense under Gailey. I gotta wonder if the fans would talk differently about him had he been a late 2nd or 3rd round pick as expectations run so high for first rounders... then consider Maybin-McCargo-JP Losman et al, and suddenly Whitner becomes one of the better first rounders recently drafted by this team

You gotta be kidding, most of the board was so eternally optimistic about the Bills last season (with PTR leading the charge) it was almost nauseating. Everyone was gushing about how good the team would be without Dick Jauron, most couldn't believe that the team would actually get worse. I'd say about 1 outta 30 posters told it like it was and they got lambasted because of it, and one guy got bashed so bad I still haven't seen him post since last off season. All the guy did was tell it like he saw it, and I agreed with most everything he said. Both Nix and Gailey really screwed the pooch in many ways last season with so many bad moves in coaching assistant selections and players, and it really remains to be seen if they can ever build a winner

A new coaching staff....

No discipline, bad coaching and even worse defensive calls.... lets face it the coaching staff didn't improve at all last year on the defensive side of the ball. Bills fans will find out early if anything has changed this year when the Bills play the KC Chiefs in the season opener at Arrowhead, last year game 9, J. Charles had 177 rushing yards on his own and 61 yards receiving, Jones had 77 yards rushing, total 274 yards rushing for the Chiefs against Buffalo

I'm still waiting to see the "the baby" from this staff and about the only thing both Nix-Gailey seem to be good at is sound bites and cliches. No improvement on the offensive side of the ball save a project at tackle and a special teams RB, and all the Bills really did in the draft is replace players that they think are leaving on the defensive. I wonder if they plan on letting Poz leave or will they be able to afford him? ...or LB Keith Ellison-DB Drayton Florance-DB Ashton Youboty-S Donte Whitner-S George Wilson are all free agents. They already released Marcus Stroud and have a great replacement in Marcel Darius,and although Darius is a blue chip player he won't be able to win games on his own. The Bills traded away RB Lynch who used to be the workhorse, all that is left is a finesse RB who probably won't last the season as the full time starter. They have a 2nd year RB the Bills say didn't play much because of fumbling issues... I think it was more like he didn't know how to do his job With the Bills facing a tougher schedule then last season Fitz will be running for his life more then he did last year and the question is will he last 16 games running like a chicken... he didn't the make it thru the last two years without missing games due to injuries and he wasn't even the starter for all 16 games either year. I don't see how anyone can be confidant this team will improve at all, take the beer goggles off and realize this team isn't going anywhere this year in the AFC East

yaa, I think the Bills owner is still wincing from that Mike Williams #3 overall in 02, because for some reason this franchise has avoided drafting tackles with early picks since 2002 I feel every QB you mentioned in your post would have played much better then they did with their actual stint in the NFL "IF" they had a premier OL in front of them. To bad about the only time the Bills had a premier O line was for OJ and the electric Co, and in the 80's-90's for JK The Buffalo Bills with Jim Kelly in the 80's, one of Polian's first drafts the bills took Left Tackle Will Wilford in the 86 draft with the 2nd first round draft pick, when the USFL went belly up he also brought in Center Kent Hull, the bills already had a #1 draft pick at LG in Jim Richter. Wolford started at RG but then moved to LT in 87.Just look at that 1990 Buffalo Bills O line- #1 pick LT Will Wolford-#1 pick LG Jim Ritcher-# 7 rd NJ Gen C Kent Hull- #11 pick Hou RG John Davis- #11 pick RT Howard "house" Ballard Now granted Hull- Davis- Ballard weren't top draft picks but Hull & Ballard went on to play great and became an all pro's. Hull had an 11 year career with the Bills, and Ballard an 11 year NFL Career 6 years with Buffalo-5 years with Seattle. Davis had a 9 year NFL career. Wolford had a 13 year career 7 with Buffalo- 3 with INdy- 3 with Pittsburgh. The Buffalo Bills haven't had a top O line since Jim Kelly played, that is most likely the reason they keep failing to find a QB who can win consistently.Perhaps the thing that bothers me the most is these so called professional coaches and GM's that teams keep hiring all through out the league, they keep thinking they can win if they have an "elite'' QB, and yet when they finally obtain one they utterly fail to protect him. Teams are so busy trying to put all the pieces together that they forget that when you build anything... you need a solid foundation to start with. The Buffalo Bills would be better suited to start building the team like the NY Jets did in 2006, instead of bringing in high priced free agent O linemen (that pissed off the pro bowl LT in Jason Peters), they should have built that O line thru the draft. Tell me you wouldn't love to have a Buffalo Bills team that could run the ball down the throats of the NE Patriots like the Baltimore Ravens did in that AFC wildcard game in New England a few years back. Thereby proving that 3 yards and a cloud of dust does still work in today's NFL, you simply have to have a decent QB to manage the game and not turn the ball over.Plus a dominate running attack will keep the ball out of the opposing QB's hands, which in itself is a great thing when you have face Tom Brady 2x a year

newp ... Fitz's detractors would still be whining and complaining he isn't a "franchise" QB....but! The Detroit Lions drafted their franchise QB in Matthew Stafford in 09 to the tune of 41.7 million for 6 years. The guy has played in 10 games in 09, and only 3 games in 2010 all because of injuries he obtained while playing QB for the Lions. 13 games out of 32 because his team failed to protect him properly, they drafted him before they built the line. So what do the Lions do this year, draft another DT-WR-RB and wait till round 7 to draft an OT. Just a simple comparison, the GB Packers also have their "franchise" QB and had a better O line then the Lions 2 years ago and yet drafted an OT in 2010 with their first round draft pick, they won the SB and this year draft another OT with their first pick again. The Packers realize that they need to protect Aaron Rodgers better to win games, after all he was concussed against the Lions last year and missed a game. Now what happens if that concussion was more severe and he misses more then one game, the Packers don't even make the playoffs much less win the SB. Which team does the Buffalo Bills resemble...the Bills talked big before the 2010 NFL draft about making the O line a "priority" and yet took a KR-RB with the first round pick and 2 late round developmental O line players in the 5th and 7th rounds, basically ignoring the O line. then again this year both Nix and Gailey state they need a RT, and then again ignore the position in the draft and draft another developmental project with the 2nd pick in the 4th round. The Point is, be grateful the Bills didn't draft a "franchise" QB in last years or this years drafts, the kid would have gotten killed last year and would get killed this year as the Buffalo Bills O line is still one of the worst in the league... ""Demetrius Bell – despite starting every game for the Bills at left tackle – was hardly better than his teammates on the right end of the line. Bell finished the season as the 52nd ranked tackle in 2010. He allowed the fifth most QB hits with 10, which won't win him many favors with Fitzpatrick or whoever else winds up being the quarterback in Buffalo. On a positive note, Bell was tied for ninth place among tackles by only allowing 4 sacks all year (minimum of 850 snaps)."" http://www.profootba...-buffalo-bills/ The best FA OT's are Redskins Jammal Brown - Atlanta's Tyson Clabo- NE Matt Light. I doubt the Buffalo Bills will be able to lure any of those three to Buffalo so in all probability the Bills will either use what they have on the roster or obtain another Cornell Green type for RT in free agency. Bottom line: you can expect Fitz to be running for his life again this year as the Bills face a tougher schedule then last year, you can expect the Bills to have another losing record this season and draft a so called "franchise" type QB next year because Fitz WON"T survive this season. Then if the Bills continue to fail at building the O line you can expect whatever QB they draft to end up exactly like 1st round pick JP Losman- like 3rd round pick Trent Edwards-like 2nd round pick Brian Brohm.

I used to love watching him play, one of my favorite Buffalo Bills players ever. Class act and a good guy

Can the fans clamoring for a better QB stop nit picking the ONLY bright spot on the team last year, the guy threw for 3000 yards on one of the worst Buffalo Bills teams ever, and all I see is people bitching about his play.... pls take your meds Seriously, WTF did you expect him to have... 4000+ yards 34 TD's.... who was he supposed to throw to? the TE, because the position basically doesn't exist on this team? the ONE WR, because Evans and Parrish were both on IR. One handed injured Fred Jackson or the rookie RB who was supposed to make the O line block better, you know that rook who was named starter for the opener and stayed on the field only a few plays or the RB who was traded to Seattle for a 4th? Fitz was injured and didn't play in one game at the end of the season, so all the fans thinking Brian Brohm was the answer got a rude shock, Brohm sucked worse then Edwards. Do something productive and start discussing what will happen this year with no upgrade to the O line whatsoever, still no TE, no back up QB...Fitz IS going to get injured again this year playing behind that same PoS O line, just like he missed games the last two years because of injuries....and when that back up takes the field you will see what a bad QB looks like.

Read this....same source http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/04/22/help-wanted-buffalo-bills/ ""This was originally titled “Right Tackle”, but given Demetrius Bell (-12.9) didn’t play all that impressively for the Bills it was changed to “Offensive Tackle”. In 2010, the Bills simply could not find an answer at right tackle despite giving four guys the opportunity to win the job. Erik Pears (-0.3), Cornell Green (-4.5), Mansfield Wrotto (-10.8), and Cord Howard (-19.5) all played 60+ snaps but their combined play put them third to last of all tackles."" ""Given the importance of offensive tackle play in a passing-oriented league, the Bills must address this need."" One of the best ways to help with QB pressure is to have decent options to get rid of the ball... ""The tight end position was a black hole for the Bills. The tight ends as a group only managed 23 receptions, 187 yards, and 1 touchdown – the single worst production from a group of tight ends in the NFL. ""

the Bills have a good defense now? No players starting from last years draft yet...who knows how many will start this year besides the obvious #1 pick Darius replaces an aging Marcus Stroud, but he is still a rookie and has to prove himself... one defensive player isn't going to turn a horribly bad defense into a good one

First of all... take a look at the team around each QB as it is a TEAM sport, and any player is pretty much dependent on others around him to be able to play their best, everything comes into consideration here, coaching, scheme, other players.What makes me think Fitz can get the job done is first looking at the team around him, bad O line, no running game, only one decent receiver all year, new coaches, new scheme. Call it excuses if you like, just look at that really bad 4-12 team around him and compare that cast to other teams. An important way to judge a player is what happened when different QB's took the field, it really showed how bad that O line really is when they needed to pass protect more then 3 seconds for Trent Edwards and Brian Brohm....both those QB's sucked ass so hard they could turn a hippo inside out. If you TiVO'd any of last years games, go back and watch "pants on the ground" Fitz running for his life against the Jets, the guy was the leading rusher for the Bills that game. Fitz played on one of the worst Buffalo Bills teams ever and managed to pull out 4 wins, all I know is that team goes win-less and pulls a Detroit if not for Fitz and his uncanny ability to escape the pass rush. Fitz has about as much es-capability as anyone I've ever seen play QB in the NFL, if I were to compare the guy to anyone it would be Fran Tarkenton This article is for people who like stats, but what the stats don't show is that both Brady and Ryan have all pro tight ends, a better running game and O line, better receiving corps, better coaching and play calling. Both can take a 7 step drop if they need to and at any time. aww hell....Ive watched Tom Brady in plays where the guy has 15 seconds get rid of the football, Fitz had a max of 3 seconds most of last season. I don't need to look at some page of stats to know that Brady and Ryan are going to look better under pressure... simply because they have better options to get rid of the ball while under pressure ,

4-12 doesn't get much respect around the League, and since the offense got no love in the draft again this year I suspect the team won't improve very much.

Is he lurking around and using the moniker of SKOOBY, per chance? JK, PTR Anyway, to the topic at hand... anyone who thinks that Buffalo can't support an NFL team is not very bright, just put a perennial winner on the field and build a bigger stadium....if you build it, they will come! If Buffalo Bills fans will support 10 years of losing and mediocrity and still keep the stadium filled... imagine what would happen if the Bills were like the Patriots-Colts-Steeler's-Ravens and in the playoffs every year. The NY Giants and Washington Redskins have years of waiting lists for season tickets, meaning the only way someone gets seats is when someone gives them up, which doesn't happen often. While that won't happen in Buffalo, there is no reason to think this area will refuse to support a winning team. Anyone know what happens every time the Pittsburgh Steelers play in RW stadium, it always seems like there are more Steeler fans in the stadium the Bills fans....gee I wonder why? This owner while being very loyal to Buffalo fans is also not the most extravagant of owners. Bill Polian fought with him on almost every expenditure and tried to make him understand that in order to make money, you need to spend money. On top coaches, on top players, on building a winning team. Finally Polian got tired of fighting with the owner and his lackeys. I highly doubt Polian has needed to fight with any Indy exec or owner while employed with the Colts since he was hired by them. Colts fans are very pleased that RW fired Polian, they smile flash their SB banners. Those bastages and their 10+ years of winning along with their franchise QB..

Marv Levy hired his OC in Ted Marchibroda, and ole Teddy taught JK to call his own plays, figured out that JK was at his best in the 2 min drill and started using the no huddle offense all game long. He installed the old Redskin "counter trey" and had Thurman Thomas actually running the ball more then JK was throwing it. That kind of ingenuity comes from a top coordinator, usually a season experienced veteran NFL assistant or in Teds case ex-head coach. Marv was an ex special teams coach who was clueless about the offense, heck he tried to run the wing -T in KC before he went to Canada. Marv was secure enough in his job as HC and finally understood his own limitations and that he needed a top OC, and he went out and hired one. Dick Vermeil did the same thing when he was hired back into the NFL to be the HC of the St Louis Rams, his whole staff was filled with old timers as assistants, the WCV factor What I think Gailey fails to realize is, that its tough enough just to be the head coach without doing all the extra things he is doing in Buffalo, setting up the offensive game plans, calling plays. He is basically trying to run the entire offense and doing about 5 jobs while also trying to be the head coach. Just because Sean Payton can do it doesn't mean every HC can do it. My entire reason for stating such is the mere fact that CJ Spiller was named starter last year for the opener, Gailey most likely asked his assistant if he was ready and got the nod, but when Spiller took the field he was far from ready and didn't know how to do his job at RB. How does something like this happen on an NFL team? Anyway, I know I'd feel better about the Bills chances of winning if they had better assistant coaches all around, defense and offense.

Bad teams finds ways to lose, just like good teams find ways to win. The Bills are in one of the very toughest divisions to win, they play 2 teams in Miami and the Jets that usually just love to run the ball, and of course the Bills could do nothing to stop the run the last 5 years. It almost amazes me why Miami even let Chad Henne even try and throw it against Buffalo Anyway, by the way teams drafted this year it looks like NE is going to rely on the running game again rather then just have Brady sling it all over, lets hope the Bills have finally fixed that run defense.