mjt328

I was thinking about starting a thread on the same topic. It's very interesting. Years ago, college style offenses would have never worked in the NFL. Today, you have the spread having huge success with most of the league's high powered offenses. This year, the read-option started taking off with Washington and Seattle. Even the wild cat seems to be sticking around. Players without much experience under center or in traditional pro-style offenses - Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, RGIII, Russell Wilson - are having quick transitions to the NFL and are proving to be successful. It definitely makes me more optimistic about the idea of landing someone like Chip Kelly. In the past it would have been a terrible idea to consider someone without ANY experience on an NFL sideline. With the changes mentioned above, this might actually put Buffalo at the forefront of a new movement in the NFL.

I'm talking about Cam Newton two years ago as a draft prospect... not Cam Newton in retrospect after a couple successful years in the NFL. Newton was widely considered a 2nd-3rd round prospect for the majority of his senior season. He didn't even jump into first round consideration until Andrew Luck decided to stay in school and after the National Championship. While there was no doubting Cam's athletic ability and impressive size, there were MAJOR questions about Cam's ability to run a pro offense (he had only run the spread in college) and his tendancy to run before pass. At the time, he was also a one-year wonder. Cam had the edge over Geno in size and overall athletic ability. However, Geno is a more polished passer, has more experience under center and three years as a productive starter. Coming out of college, I think both players would have been ranked very close - with Geno as the safer pick and Cam with more upside. My point is... people keep talking like this is a weak draft class for quarterbacks. But it's at least on par with 2011 and a lot deeper than 2010. Actually, outside of last year (Luck, RGIII) and 2004 (Manning, Rivers, Roethlisberger) - I think this class rates well against most of the quarterback classes over the last decade.

Pretty much disagree with everything. Overall, the Broncos offense was bad with Tebow. They couldn't move the ball through the air, and they didn't put up a lot of points. People act like McCoy was able to get a lot out of a bad quarterback. He didn't. They were ranked 23rd in total offense, 31st in passing and 25th in points in 2011. McCoy wasn't a miracle-maker. He relied on his strong running game, and the defense to keep games low scoring. Switching the offense to fit Peyton Manning wasn't some huge accomplishment either. Manning is basically his own offensive coordinator and has been running the same offense for 15+ years. Alex Smith and Michael Vick are marginal upgrades - if not downgrades - from Fitz. It's now clear that Vick's brief resurgance in 2010 was a fluke. He no longer has the athletic ability to makeup for his poor decision making and problems reading a defense. If we cut Fitz for some reason, I wouldn't Smith as a veteran backup. But we need to be developing and evaluating a top prospect from Day One. I'm also getting tired of people bashing the 2013 QB rookie class. Despite what people are saying, this is not a bad group of prospects. It's about average. Last year (with Andrew Luck and RGIII) was exceptional because of those two players. Throughout the year, the top two prospects have been Geno Smith and Matt Barkley. Compared to some of the last prospects: > In 2012, both Smith and Barkley would likely have been chosen before Tannehill (who was a Top 10 pick). > Smith is a better passer and more polished than Cam Newton was coming out of college. If it was 2011, he probably would have gone before Newton. I think Barkley would have gone before Locker, Ponder or Gabbert. > Both probably would have been selected after Sam Bradford in 2010, but they would have certainly gone before Tebow.

I hear what you are saying. But what if they secured an interview with somebody like John Gruden, but he wasn't available until next week? And at the same time, the guys on the Arizona coaching staff (along with Chip Kelly) were available Tuesday and Wednesday? Just saying.

Whisenhunt would be a slight upgrade over Gailey. Lovie Smith would be a slight upgrade over Whisenhunt.

Larry Fitzgerald - 69 receptions, 785 yards, 4 touchdowns after 15 games. And he's on the same talent level as Calvin Johnson. Arizona has the worst quarterback situation I've seen in a long time, and that's really saying something.

Bad idea. That team has been interchanging parts (with the exception of Brady) for the last 10+ years, and has very little dropoff. I personally think Wes Welker is tremendously overrated. You could plug pretty much any fast slot receiver into his position and get roughly the same results. Somebody is going to pay the guy a ton of money, and they are going to be very disappointed. I really would have liked to see us take a shot at Mallet two years ago, but I would hate to send draft picks to New England - especially higher picks than what we could have had him at two years ago.

OK... Mr. Nix. Is our problem REALLY that we start over every 3 years? Or is our problem that we hired Gregg Williams, replaced him with Mike Mularky, replaced him with Dick Jauron and replaced him with Chan Gailey?

Well, according to Gailey: - CJ gets winded after two running plays - Tavaris Jackson is too dumb to learn the playbook - Lindell can't kick a field goal in the 50 yard range That's just a couple.

I mentioned this in another thread. Cameron was just another moron NFL coordinator that wasn't smart enough to consistently get his best player the ball. He talked a lot about limiting touches for Rice to keep him fresh, and he used that as an excuse to throw all the time with Flacco. But guess who was in the backfield, blocking 275 lb blitzing linebackers while Flacco dropped back? Yep. Ray Rice. People say this is a passing league now, like it has something to do with quarterbacks being more talented today. But the reality is, most coaches today don't have the DISCIPLINE or TOUGHNESS required to stick with the running game.

Some of you Bills fans have the same problem that Nix/Gailey have. You hold onto this tiny little glimpses of competent play that pop up every 2-3 weeks from Fitzpatrick... believing that just someday, just maybe... he will become the quarterback we are all hoping for. Here is the thing. Do you realize that EVERY SINGLE quarterback in the league can put together a good game once in awhile. Mark Sanchez, Blaine Gabbert, John Skelton, etc., have all had good games this season. Even ex-Bills like JP Losman, Trent Edwards and Rob Johnson had times where they looked good. The key is CONSISTENCY. How do they look game by game...quarter by quarter...drive by drive? Do they play good against strong defenses or just weak ones? Do they play well on the road? Do they make plays in the clutch or do they just rack up stats in garbage time? Can they make big throws or is everything screens and dump offs? Do they crack under pressure? Do they elevate the play of guys around them? Christian Ponder is a great non-Bills example. The guy has games like Week 6 against Washington (350 yards and 2 touchdowns) or Week 2 against Indianapolis (250 yards and 2 touchdowns). BUT... He also has 3 games this season with LESS than 100 yards passing. He has 5 games with LESS than 150 yards passing. He has 5 games with multiple turnovers. If I'm Leslie Frazier, I'm scouting for a new quarterback in 2013. If I'm Chan Gailey (assuming he's coaching the Vikings), I'm desperately grasping at those Week 2 and 6 performances ... holding onto the belief that Ponder can be my guy. Bottom line with Fitzpatrick. - In 13 games this season, he's been terrible in at least 5 of them (New York, San Francisco, Arizona, Houston and Miami). In three of those games, our offense failed to score a touchdown. - In 2 of his "better" games this season, he's had a chance to mount a fourth quarter drive to win and got picked off (New England, St. Louis). In another one of his "better" games, he basically cost us the game by throwing a fourth quarter pick when we had the lead (Tennessee). - In one of his best games of the season (1st game in New England), he still managed 4 interceptions.

Don't forget that Fitz threw a perfect strike to a Rams linebacker on the first pass of the game, that the defender failed to grab.

They suck at recognizing talent. They actually think they can win with Fitz. They actually didn't think any QBs available would amount to anything. There is no master plan. They are just idiots.

Tell that to the voters.

Here is my list Tier 1 (Elite) I consider these the guys that could go to any team in the NFL and instantly make them Super Bowl contenders. - Aaron Rodgers - Peyton Manning - Drew Brees - Tom Brady Tier 2 (Semi-Elite) They need a little more help than the guys above, but still consistently raise the level of the players around them. - Ben Roethlisberger - Eli Manning - Matt Ryan Tier 3 (Solid) With a good team around them, their team has a chance to go far in the postseason. - Phillip Rivers - Matt Shaub - Joe Flacco - Jay Cutler - Matthew Stafford - Josh Freeman (borderline) - Tony Romo (borderline) Tier 2 (Fringe) These guys probably hurt their team more than help it. They only have success with elite players around them. - Alex Smith - Michael Vick - Carson Palmer - Ryan Fitzpatrick - Matt Cassel - Kevin Kolb Tier 1 (Backups) Only good for occasional relief duty. - I don't have anyone on this list currently. Too early to rank: - Andrew Luck - Robert Griffin III - Andy Dalton - Cam Newton - Sam Bradford - Jake Locker - Russell Wilson - Ryan Tannehill - Christian Ponder - Brandon Weeden - Blaine Gabbert

So if he's better playing a different position, he shouldn't be playing at all?

Bad is bad. Good is good. Rookie or not, he was bad today. With a better QB and recievers, there is no telling how many yards he would have let up today. If he gets better, I will get excited about him. I've just seen too many Aaron Williams, Justin Rogers, Leodis McKelvin, Ellis Lankster, Ashton Youboty performances... and watched those guys never get better after their rookie seasons.

Yep. If Chan has proven anything in 3 years, it's that he's: 1) Stubborn 2) Incapable of seeing Fitz's weaknesses 3) Going to play to play matchups instead of dictating the flow of the game Next time a defense stacks the box, he will be back to 35-40 throws. Personally, I think St Louis is going to be ugly.

Really? He was terrible today. He got beat several times and never looked back for the ball. In a closer game, that stupid personal foul could have cost us a win. The only thing that saved his butt was that Henne sucks.

Why do our cornerbacks never turn around to look for the football? We have watched Leodis McKelvin waste his talent for 4-5 years, simply because he has no idea when to turn around and get his hands up. Today, watching Ron Brooks was absolutely brutal. I'm sure this guy has the skills to play, but what the heck? Also, I think Stephon Gilmore needs to work on being more subtle with his contact. I absolutely love his physical play, but he's getting flagged way too often.

The only thing that scares me is winning worthless games against the Jags, Rams, Dolphins, etc. A late season winning streak (against the bottom feeders of the league) will be all the ammunition Nix needs to keep Gailey. It would also mean a lower draft pick and less chance we move on from Fitz next year. I'm a longtime Bills fan who is tired of the losing. But I realize that turning things around will require those changes.

I can understand why Nix is tired of answering the same questions over and over. But everyone on the planet (except Nix and Gailey) can see that our coach is an idiot and our quarterback sucks. Honestly, I think the Buffalo media and Bills fans are expecting Nix to admit his mistakes and say something like "I've already been talking to Bill Cowher and Marty Schottenheimer" or "We are definitely replacing Fitzpatrick after the season." Instead, he continues to give our current guys a vote of confidence and refuses to throw them under the bus. We'll find out pretty quickly after the season whether Nix is being honest or not.

Nobody would be suprised except Chan Gailey. Fitz has had several games like Brees is having.

We can't keep waiting around - wasting season after season - hoping for a can't miss prospect to fall in our lap. It isn't going to happen. People keep ripping the upcoming draft class, but it's a pretty deep group. I would be willing to bet that at least 2-3 of this year's prospects become solid or better NFL starters. And that would be a SIGNIFICANT upgrade over Fitz. Are we looking at Andrew Luck or RGIII...no. But in my opinion, both Geno Smith and Matt Barkley are better prospects than Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden last year. We absolutely have to take a chance drafting a quarterback early. And if he doesn't work out, there are no rules against taking one again in 2014, or 2015, or until we get it right.

Makes perfect sense to me.