Until Luck declares..

[Drew026]

I don't care if this team wins games. For the first time in years this looks like an actual football team with competent coaches. Like every 2-8 team we obviously have our issues in places, more so on defense then anywhere else. Luck hasn't declared and likely won't with another 2 years of eligibility left. So what's the point in losing when we don't know if he's even going to be there. And even if he is this isn't the last draft ever that's going to have a good quarterback in it, just a guess.

 

All I cared about this season was seeing progress towards the end of the year, and I think we certainly have. We started off abysmal and had to endure some real pathetic games, but since then even our losses have been competitive and fun to watch, and I'd much rather be picking top 10 with this team going in a positive direction, then picking 1 or 2 and being like the Carolina Panthers or Arizona Cardinals who are absolutely AWFUL, and running the possibility of not even having the option to draft Luck after losing all year.

 

That said, awesome win today, Stevie Styles for President, and Go Bills.

[PromoTheRobot]

I'll never understand why people are so fixated on Luck when the Bills are playing better. Actually I do understand. It's a belief that one player is the magic fix for this franchise.

 

PTR

[Virgil]

I'll never understand why people are so fixated on Luck when the Bills are playing better. Actually I do understand. It's a belief that one player is the magic fix for this franchise.

 

PTR

 

I'm not saying this to knock Fitz, but if you had a top 10 qb under center, I think we are a 5-5 team atleast right now. That's why I personally put so much belief in one player.

[Drew026]

I'm not saying this to knock Fitz, but if you had a top 10 qb under center, I think we are a 5-5 team atleast right now. That's why I personally put so much belief in one player.

 

Fitz having a defense that doesn't give up 300 yards on the ground every game is 5-5. He's not the problem right now.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

I'm not saying this to knock Fitz, but if you had a top 10 qb under center, I think we are a 5-5 team atleast right now. That's why I personally put so much belief in one player.

 

 

If he started from the beginning we would be 5-5, he finally reversed his trend of throwing picks late and threw them early which is an improvement. If he can get rid of the game killers and just the occasional pick we will be fine at QB.

[PromoTheRobot]

I'm not saying this to knock Fitz, but if you had a top 10 qb under center, I think we are a 5-5 team atleast right now. That's why I personally put so much belief in one player.

Unless that top 10 QB can rush the passer and stop the run, then I think you're nuts. Scoring points hasn't been our problem this season. The defense is.

 

PTR

[Virgil]

I'm not saying that we don't have other holes. But, if you can honestly tell me that you wouldn't sacrifice a few wins in a season where you weren't going to make the playoffs for a legit chance at a guy who could very well be an elite qb, then we have to agree to disagree.

 

Could Luck be a bust? Sure. And usually I don't pretend to know how people will pan out. But there is something about that kid that makes me okay with not winning to set ourselves up for future years.

 

Also, I think that between RT and OLB, we have two holes that can be filled with picks 2-7 and FA. I'm not overlooking them.

[PromoTheRobot]

The thing I love is how people are so convinced that this QB or that QB is so great, then when they flop in the NFL you never hear another peep about them. Leinert? Clausen? JaWalrus? Every one was "can't-miss!" Maybe Luck will be great but I know that 80% of the QB's that get hyped do jack squat in the NFL.

 

PTR

[Virgil]

I completely agree. And like I said, I don't know why this is so different for me. I think that it's just everywhere for this kid. Not the normal pre-draft hype after the season is over. This kid was talked about after week 2 and continues to impress every week. You can also see the way that the media talk about him. He just seems to have it.

 

Yes, he may blow up and be a dud. He could be the next Ryan Leaf. But we have not had a franchise QB since Kelly retired and i'm sorry, but Fitz isn't that guy. Sure, he'll do while we put the other pieces together. But man, I think Luck is the best prospect since Matt Ryan.

 

In all seriousness, not to call you out for your examples, but they all had their knocks coming out. I remember partially wanting all of them and really picking them apart. But asides for his limited college career, I can't say that i've heard a single bad thing about him.

 

The arm, the brain, the size, all of it. I mean, just look at the franchises that dominate right now. Who did they all really build around? The Colts, Pats, Falcons, Packers. The QB's are centerstones for them and they got there first.

 

Again, i'm not trying to pick a fight here nor be disrepectful. Nor do I want to come off like someone who instantly wants us to trade the draft away for someone just because I've heard of him.

 

I watch a lot of drafts and follow the sport in a way that's probably unhealthy. And i'm just saying that Luck is a different prospect that I think would seriously change the face of the Bills.

[Hplarrm]

The thing I see as a total miscue for some observers is what chance to do think Luck will be a top 10 QB his first year or what are the chances he will even prove to be a top 10 QB at some point in his career if the Bills picked him.

 

I think I can pretty confidently say that there is Zero (I mean nada, zero, the big 0, or however you want to state this).

 

This is not a comment or conclusion about how good Luck is. Lets start with a flat out assumption that he will be as good a QB as Peyton Manning is(a lofty and unlikely goal but lets simply assume he is that good of a player). In his first year, Manning hurtled Indy from a 3-13 record to a 3-13 record. Even more amazing he did this with Indy already having invested heavily in their OL with a couple of early picks while it seems quite clear that the Bills OL is at least a player and half away from adequacy in terms of player talent Ia credible starter at RT and a swing guy to fill gaps left by events like today when Wood went down hard.

 

Add to these new players being acquired that figure they will need to play together for a year to gain chemistry and even if Luck proves to be as good as Manning we are looking at not only losing almost all the rest of their games in 2010 to get Luck but then having an equally unsuccessful 2011 if Luck turns out to be just as good a QB as Manning.

 

Luck would be quite lucky if after his first year he survived as Manning did and we were hopeful. This strikes me as the best case.

 

The reality would actually more likely be that patience with Luck's rookie learning will not be the hallmark of the Buffalo media led by Sully and WGR or a small but vocal part of the fanbase who will immediately designate Luck as the next holy savior and then will be deeply disappointed when he performs like a talented but very human being.

 

Drafting Luck has disaster written all over it. No one should mistake these Bills for either Pitts team where a rookie QB could join the Hines Wards, Polamalus and others who had Pitts one player away or even the Giants where Eli could come in as a rookie QB they targeted and traded for to put them over the top.

 

The Bills as a team and a local media interested in fanning QB controversy where a Luck even of he were as good as Manning was will survive here.

 

Does anyone have that much faith in the Buffalo media and a small but vocal part of the fanbase?

[Virgil]

interesting POV.

 

The only thing I'd say is that I think the FO has made it quite clear with the Kelsay extension that they don't give a damn about what the fans or media think

[Logical Reasoning]

I'll never understand why people are so fixated on Luck when the Bills are playing better. Actually I do understand. It's a belief that one player is the magic fix for this franchise.

 

PTR

 

If you try and take what would have been with Trent Edwards as the continuous starter and where the Bills would be now, it would look pretty pathetic. Fitz would have beaten the Dolphins in the first game if he would have been given the job in the preseason and had gotten the snaps.

[The Senator]

I'm not saying this to knock Fitz, but if you had a top 10 qb under center, I think we are a 5-5 team atleast right now. That's why I personally put so much belief in one player.

I'll say it again: this Bills team is but a few mistakes and a few bad breaks from being 5-5 - or much better - right now, with the current roster.

 

Think about it - the last2 consecutive wins were preceded by 3 consecutive 3-point losses, any of which could have easily gone our way (OT losses and losses from missed FGs, PATs, 2-pt conversions, etc.)

 

The NE* and Jacksonville games were also winnable - we squandered early leads. I hang the loss to Miami in the season opener on Edwards (and Gailey for starting him) and his reluctance/refusal to even try to throw down-field, trailing by 3 points in the final few minutes. (We can only wonder how the season might have gone if only Fitz was QB from the start, but I guess Gailey had to see, for himself, the talentless cancer that was Trent Edwards.)

 

The only two games I consider blow-outs where we were done early on were the one-sided losses to GB and NJ.

 

This current Bills team is coming together under a new head coach, is learning how to fight back and how to win instead of how to lose, and enjoying it (as are we fans).

 

Root for that to continue, not for losses and a chance to roll the dice in drafting a young, as-yet unproven college QB in the NFL draft.

 

Let this young Bills team learn how to win, how to play with sone swagger, how to look forward to Sundays. Winning breeds more winning. Losers root for losses. How great did yesterday feel? How crappy would it have felt if we came all the way back, then still lost in the final moments?

 

Win as often as possible. Draft in April. Draft the best players available when our turn comes, whenever that happens to be.

 

But win now.

[JStranger76]

It's like this: Fitz is not the problem right now, but he's not the answer later. Plain and simple.

[CSBill]

High QB picks are a huge crap-shoot--we have an adequate one now, maybe better than adequate. The Bills are not team in a position to have another miss or project at #1.

 

It seems obvious the biggest needs on this team are on defense. At this point, I believe we should be leaning towards the best of any of the front seven positiona: Line or Linebacker. Get a great athlete up front, any position, and you help improve this team. Thereafter, keep drafting the best fits for the D. If a top tier OL becomes available, get him, if not, stick with the D, period!

[rpcolosi]

Unless that top 10 QB can rush the passer and stop the run, then I think you're nuts. Scoring points hasn't been our problem this season. The defense is.

 

PTR

 

+1

 

The thing I love is how people are so convinced that this QB or that QB is so great, then when they flop in the NFL you never hear another peep about them. Leinert? Clausen? JaWalrus? Every one was "can't-miss!" Maybe Luck will be great but I know that 80% of the QB's that get hyped do jack squat in the NFL.

 

PTR

 

 

Of the "best" qb's how many were super hyped coming out? Peyton, Eli and Rivers ? Who else? Not brady, not brees, not mcnabb, warner wasn't, neither was hassleback or romo or any number of pro bowl QBs. but the waiver wire is LITTERED with over-hyped busts as you said - Leinart, Jamarcus, JP, Couch, McCown, Carr, Croyle, even VY has had horrible career stats and been benched a number of times.

 

Guys who succeed at QB are most often QBs who have been able to sit the bench or some stretch of time and marinate or had a good enough squad around them where they weren't the linchpin just another cog in the wheel - see Rothlesiberger and Brady early on. Guys like Rodgers, Pennington, Hassleback, Rodgers - they all developed behind a qb.

 

the route to go is get someone to groom behind Fitz - heck for all we know its Levi Brown. But for now - focus on what really plaques this team - a pass rushing LB and a pass coverage LB, as well as a RT please....

 

NO qb in the first 3 rounds.... thank you very much.

[jjnklaudia]

I'll never understand why people are so fixated on Luck when the Bills are playing better. Actually I do understand. It's a belief that one player is the magic fix for this franchise.

 

PTR

 

I wish I knew college football better than I do, but we need a difference maker in the pass rush, or run-stuffing game. Is there one out there? Remember in '99 when we had Bruce, & Mount Washington on the same line commanding double teams, how well our LB's played! Developing a pass rush and commanding double teams up front should be our focus in the first 2 rounds, then look for O line help...

 

We need this guy:

[K Gun Special]

It's like this: Fitz is not the problem right now, but he's not the answer later. Plain and simple.

 

 

 

+1

 

Fitz isnt the long term answer. People saying they dont need a qb have their head in the sand. There are busts in the draft all over. Its funny how beating two awful football teams makes the board change its tone like a bunch of lemmings.

[JESSEFEFFER]

Any rookie quarterback or even just a young inexperieced one playing on this team and we would still be talking about how bad the o-line and receivers were. The national guys would be saying how the rookie "didn't have a chance" and that Buffalo was not a good situation to develop a guy. Fitz can beat pressure, get the ball out quickly and still get it down field. He is optimizing time and space. This is a rare,conversation changing skill, IMO. If this is true I think we see two or three more wins. The Steelers would be a good one to get.

[Mike in Syracuse]

The Colts are 6-4 and have the best QB in the game. Winning and losing is bigger than who is taking snaps.