Rocky Landing

What if they ask him to play more than half a season?

I think I'm actually less than 50/50. Take the injury prone possibility away, and I would be 50/50.

The one detail that makes me feel good about this deal is that Marrone knows him. Well. In fact, I believe that I read somewhere that Marrone said he had kept in touch with him while he was a Buc. I don't believe there is anything here that Marrone doesn't know he is getting into. If Marrone's comfortable with it, I'm comfortable with it.

Fair enough.

As Beerball very aptly put it, "He's had his moments, good and bad." In fact, along with his "2 crucial drops," SJ has had some amazing catches. He also remains our most productive wide receiver. That's pretty hard to deny. Why wouldn't you accept that? If you were arguing rationally, you would admit that statistically demonstrable fact. And then, maybe you would come up with some plausible reason why we should get rid of our best wide receiver, or why three consecutive 1,000+ yard seasons were somehow made up of "meaningless yards." I won't hold my breath.

I'm really, really, really, wishing we could keep politics out of sports discussions.

I do stand corrected: Scott Chandler had more receiving yards than SJ last season. To answer your question, I would define "clutch" as the ability to perform well under pressure, as when the team you are playing for is trailing. Like, in November, 2010, when Stevie had a 137-yard, three touchdown game in which the Bills came from behind to beat the Bengals 49-31-- the very week before Stevie's now-famous overtime drop against the Steelers, in which, I have to assume (judging by your demeanor), you lost money.

Any WR who leads their team in receiving yards will have dropped balls. That two of them came at crucial times is not proof of a player not being clutch. Honestly, the idea that a WR with multiple 1,000 yards seasons (under poor QB play to boot) can't play under pressure is a pretty hard sell. And, while SJ only posted 597 receiving yards last season ("meaningless" yards, I assume), guess who posted more? A: Nobody. I'll say it again: the idea that we should cut our best WR because he isn't best enough is bizarre.

I am of the opinion that the biggest problem with our team last season BY FAR was our QB situation. I can't believe we are just going to sit on the roster we ended the season with. This just seems like a huge risk to our entire season. I certainly don't think that Freeman is the best insurance policy. I was quietly hoping that we would pursue a trade with Miami for Matt Moore, even thought the price would have been high. Be that a it may, if we experience the same sort of QB issues this coming season that we did in '13, we will be very badly at square one in '15. That is my opinion. I believe that we an experienced veteran, if for no other reason than to keep the rest of the team moving forward should we experience another QB bust.

Fascinating thread. The problem with applying this system to draft position, though (if I am interpreting it correctly) is that you are assuming that a skill player, like a WR, will have the same value as an OL with the same rating. Would a WR who reached a 45 not be worth more than an OL who reached 56?

You are correct: it is hard for me to understand your logic. What I believe I do understand is that your theory of meaningless yards is silly. You are trying to match statistics to fit your theory, but it doesn't work. In '10, '11, and '12 (the three seasons that SJ posted over 1,000 yards) the Bills lost a total of 17 games (out of 48) by 10 or more points. Assuming that every single one of those teams played prevent defense for the entire second half (another silly notion), that still only represents about 18% of playing time for those three seasons. And, if you're going to suggest that the majority of his yards were posted in such games during garbage time, you would be very wrong. In fact, his yardage from game to game in those seasons was remarkably consistent, and in only one of his 100+ yard games did we lose by a margin of over 10 points. In my mind (limited in its understanding, though it may be) that would suggest that his productivity was meaningful, indeed. I won't even ask how the Bills playing hurry-up offense would render his yards "meaningless." Thanks a lot. Now you've got me engaged in this irrational discussion.

As long as they aren't "1,000 meaningless yards," as referenced by another poster. I still haven't figured out how 1,000 yards in a season could ever be meaningless.

This thread has become utterly unhinged.

I'm amazed at the notion that we should get rid of our best WR because he isn't best enough. And in favor of another teams baggage, to boot.

Best offensive player available, IMO. If we're going with our current QB roster, we MUST improve EJ's options.

Rest in peace, Mr. Wilson.

Nope. From all we have heard from OBD, we are just going to sit on the crappy QB roster we ended the season with.

This is a thread where some of the fans get to display their short attention spans.

Phew...

Are you suggesting that we drop our #1, and replace him with the Bears' #3, whom they didn't want to pay?

Why? Whether we draft a QB high, low, or not at all, we are going to start the season with three QBs. The backup will (and should!) get reps. If we draft a first round QB and put him in the backup roll (where EJ should have been),and EJ is the starter, how is that worse than getting a less desirable backup?

I think that you're not the only person to post this sentiment, or perhaps you've posted it several times. But, I think it's wrong on several levels. The situation Marrone walked into last season gave him no choice but to draft a QB in the first. The discussions on these boards weren't even about whether or not we would draft a QB in the first, but which one it would be. And, that was out of a severely weak class. AND, EJ was barely on anyone's radar. If Manziel or Bortels were in last year's draft, no one would have even been talking about Geno Smith, who was the clear frontrunner. History is littered with first round draft picks who underperformed--and, so far, EJ is one of them. That is not a reason to fire Marrone. Denying the issues we have at QB would be. And, what is wrong with drafting a first round QB two years in a row? Washington drafted RGIII, and Kirk Cousins in the same draft. Given the factors-- the weak class EJ was drafted from; his three knee injuries, and the games he missed; the fact that "the jury is still out" on EJ (God, I hate that phrase!); the lack of a veteran back-up; the dreadful issues we had at QB last season (too numerous, and depressing to list here), I see no reason to hold it against anybody for wanting to draft a QB in the first. Who cares what we did in the last draft??? Look at it this way, we have three options: 1) We get a QB in FA. 2) We get a QB in the draft. 3) We sit on the QB situation we have. I was hoping for #1, but that is looking less likely by the day. #3 seems too depressing to even think about (although a shocking number of people on these boards seem fine with it). If we go with #2, we better fight to get the one we want (even if that means trading UP imho), or it will be a wasted pick. When Marrone arrived, we were looking for a franchise QB. We don't know if we have found one. So, why shouldn't we still be looking?

Seriously?

I am astonished at the short term memory of what appears to be the majority of the Bills fans in this forum. Our QB situation last season was miserable. How could anyone be fine with just sitting on the QB situation we ended the season with? Lewis would be a fine backup IF we had a proven starter, who could stay healthy. We don't have a proven starter. And, having suffered three knee injuries in his first season, staying healthy is a pretty big IF for EJ, as well. I was really hoping we would pick up a veteran in FA-- that may still happen-- but how anybody could be satisfied with our QB situation last season is beyond me. If we don't sign a vet, then YES, we should draft a QB-- even if he is just a prospect. Sitting back and just HOPING that our quarterbacks will get better with age, after such a dismal season, is crazy.

I would be all for it. But, I'm usually wrong about these things.