High Mark Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 The history of the NFL has shown that most QBs that come in and do well seem to have a "lifespan". the good QBs fight through it and the medicre ones dont. Guys like Trent, Matt Moore, etc play a good few games before teams figure them out and start to shut them down. There seem to be one every year or two. . Does anyone think this will happen with Fitz? Does it happen this year, next year, never? I could see it just because it happens pretty often and we have a 1st year HC who still has some fresh plays. Just a thought, flame on.
PromoTheRobot Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 The history of the NFL has shown that most QBs that come in and do well seem to have a "lifespan". the good QBs fight through it and the medicre ones dont. Guys like Trent, Matt Moore, etc play a good few games before teams figure them out and start to shut them down. There seem to be one every year or two. . Does anyone think this will happen with Fitz? Does it happen this year, next year, never? I could see it just because it happens pretty often and we have a 1st year HC who still has some fresh plays. Just a thought, flame on. Ponderous. PTR
JStranger76 Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 (edited) I'm with you. I'm still all for drafting Mallet if we still have a chance to and letting him develope behind Fitz for a year or even two. Trust me, in the long run it will be the right move......... Edited November 22, 2010 by JStranger76
Rockinon Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 If it was like the year Losman and Evans lit it up, I'd say yes. But Fitz is spreading the ball around. The offense is far from one dimensional with him behind center. All of the playmakers are getting the ball. Hell, he even handed the ball off to a back today that I never even heard of for a 3rd down conversion.
The Dean Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 While it is certainly possible Fitz' production decreases next year (based on any number of things, including those mentioned in the OP), I don't think he will have what I would call a "sophomore slump". For one thing, Fitz has been in the league for SIX years. A big part of a "sophomore slump" is the relative youth and inexperience of the athlete, IMO. I don't think he will fail due to not being able to handle the success or not having a thorough understanding of the game.
Hapless Bills Fan Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 The history of the NFL has shown that most QBs that come in and do well seem to have a "lifespan". the good QBs fight through it and the medicre ones dont. Guys like Trent, Matt Moore, etc play a good few games before teams figure them out and start to shut them down. There seem to be one every year or two. . Does anyone think this will happen with Fitz? Does it happen this year, next year, never? I could see it just because it happens pretty often and we have a 1st year HC who still has some fresh plays. Just a thought, flame on. I think "sophmore slump" has a couple of root causes: 1) success goes to the guy's head, "fire in the belly" to succeed shuts down 2) one-dimensional, teams get enough film and figure out how to shut him down (like you said) 3) subtle change - different line, different targets, maybe an injury changed mechanics I don't think the first two are very likely. He's been in the league 6 years, a lot of it on the bench, long enough to savor success and have a clue what it takes to keep succeeding He has shown slowly increasing success for 4 different HC and 3 different teams - not one dimensional, and it's a good sign Roscoe went out and stuff still works If he gets injured while upending DBs or putting his shoulder down to run, it could happen - Warner took a long time to recover from the broken finger.
Nanker Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 It would have to be a Master's Candidate slump, not a Sophomore slump. And... no.
Dorkington Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 This is why it's going to be more important to look at the games near the end of the year, as other teams can see what we do more. Our offense is clicking under Chan Gailey, I hope he can continue to coach well, and that our players can continue to perform well in the system even after other teams begin to effectively prepare for us.
rpcolosi Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 It would have to be a Master's Candidate slump, not a Sophomore slump. And... no. wit and pure genius tied together. love it.
Nasty Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 I'm with you. I'm still all for drafting Mallet if we still have a chance to and letting him develope behind Fitz for a year or even two. Trust me, in the long run it will be the right move......... First off who are you to trust. I say we build around Fitz and move on. If he was going to have a sophmore slump this would be it cause he started so much last year. The reason why he didn't start from the get go is because we had to give Trent one more chance and thank God we cut ties with him early. I was a Trent supporter and thought we had more upside with him, but I was way wrong....Fitz is the man. I say work on other holes on our team. We have some big ones on D but not so much on the Offense. Don't get me wrong we could use a TE like we use to (i.e. Jay, Pete), and a bonified RT we have a couple solid backups in my book, but they are holding there own so not a major probem. No QB's this year...we wont be picking in the top 5, there are much worse teams then us let's face it. We don't have superstars but we play damn good as a TEAM. Plus confidence is shallow and we can't break Fitz's with another QB controversy...
4BillsintheBurgh Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 I think "sophmore slump" has a couple of root causes: 1) success goes to the guy's head, "fire in the belly" to succeed shuts down 2) one-dimensional, teams get enough film and figure out how to shut him down (like you said) 3) subtle change - different line, different targets, maybe an injury changed mechanics I don't think the first two are very likely. He's been in the league 6 years, a lot of it on the bench, long enough to savor success and have a clue what it takes to keep succeeding He has shown slowly increasing success for 4 different HC and 3 different teams - not one dimensional, and it's a good sign Roscoe went out and stuff still works If he gets injured while upending DBs or putting his shoulder down to run, it could happen - Warner took a long time to recover from the broken finger. Sure these are factors, but I think the biggest contributor is the expectations of the coaches in the second year. Many coaches will not open the entire playbook for a young or first year player because there is just too much material there for the qb to know everything and execute well. This is also where a strong running game helps the young qb. In the second year, the coaches feel the qb needs to run the entire playbook and with that make more defensive reads because of your #2. I think that leads to the qb thinking too much and not executing well. In the third year, the qb usually can leverage lessons learned in the 3nd and make a strong move forward. With Fitz, it doesn't seem to me that Chan is holding anything in the playbook back and I think Fitz has been in the league long enough to understand defenses. So no, I don't think there will be a sophomore slump here.
BuffaloBill Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 It would have to be a Master's Candidate slump, not a Sophomore slump. And... no. well played
opfball91 Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 Fitz is a 7th year vet... This team believes in Fitz, and I think more and more fans are every week. I don't know if he is the future, but right now he's playing a hell of a lot better than anything we've seen since Bledsoe.
Original Byrd Man Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 I'm with you. I'm still all for drafting Mallet if we still have a chance to and letting him develope behind Fitz for a year or even two. Trust me, in the long run it will be the right move......... I might be inclined to agree with you, if we're talking about Luck, but Mallet has issues along with the rest of the QB crop this year. I'm not sure any of them other than Luck, who may or may not be coming out, are worthy of a top 10 pick. Fitz could be our poor mans Peyton Manning. The dude is cerebral with a great feel for the game. Listen to his teammates, he has them believing anything is possible. I say Go D in a big way this draft with a few offensive players sprinkled in, and you could see a huge turn around in this team in a couple of years
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