Fitz is The Man

[Hplarrm]

Many thanks for focusing on some factual information in this debate. I do not have time to look exhaustively now but my first reaction to this list of very impressive performers is that the key for the Bills is not simply whether they were drafted in the 1st, but is how were they acquired by the team they are a franchise (or simply better than Fitz).

 

Offhand looking at this impressive list you were nice enough to give to us that many of these QBs drafted in the first round were actually acquired through other means than the draft.

 

The key for the Bills ls likely not to draft Luck but to let him learn the game and get run out of the town he is drafted by and then pick him in FA or a trade. Historically, this is how HOFer Steve Young and future HOFer Brett Favre were acquired. More recently a Drew Brees flamed out in his first start but then NO picked him up as an FA.

 

I agree with you that the Bills need QB talent capable of being a 1st round draftee. However, until the recent wins by P Manning and RoboQB one has to go back to Dallas taking Aikman at the end of the 80s to find drafting a 1st round QB to be the road to an SB win.

 

If one can identify a player who will make the difference for you then trade on draft day for an Eli but simply drafting Luck is likely a poor winning strategy for the Bills as this team is not like Pitts when they got RoboQB and one player away and not like Indy who had invested successfully in their OL and he had a lightening release that made picking him a good winning strategy.

 

Picking the elites available in the 2011 draft simply looks like a losing strategy for the Bills even if Luck is as good as he is supposed to be.

 

Of the NFL quarterbacks with higher QB Ratings than Ryan Fitzpatrick, and their draft position:

 

Michael Vick - Round 1, #1 (2001)

Philip Rivers - Round 1, #4 (2004)

Aaron Rodgers - Round 1, #24 (2005)

Matt Cassel - Round 7, #230 (2005)

Ben Roethlisberger - Round 1, #11 (2004)

Tony Romo - UDFA

Drew Brees - Round 2, #32 (2001)

Matt Schaub - Round 3, #90

Kyle Orton - Round 4, #106 (2005)

Jay Cutler - Round 1, #11 (2006)

Joe Flacco - Round 1, #18

David Gerrard - Round 4, #108 (2001)

Matt Ryan - Round 1, #3 (2008)

Matthew Stafford - Round 1, #1 (2009)

John Kitna - UDFA

Payton Manning - Round 1, #1 (1998)

Eli Manning - Round 1, #1 (2004)

Josh Freeman - Round 1, #17 (2009)

--- Ryan Fitzpatrick ---

Sam Bradford - Round 1, #1 (2010)

Carson Palmer - Round 1, #1 (2003)

 

So yeah, it looks like pretty much all quarterbacks better than Ryan Fitzpatrick were selected extremely high in the NFL draft. Of the 21 highest rated QBs in the NFL this season, 13 were first round picks.

 

Enjoy!

[Van_phelaN1]

I'd say I hope our GM makes that decision based on what happens between the white lines rather than what happens behind a podium.

 

The QB position has just as much to do with all the traits he possesses and his ability to have guys follow him. A lot of that is how he presents himself to his team, coaches and media. Based pure on what happens between the white lines, Peyton Manning crushes Tom Brady but who has more rings?

 

Mental toughness is just as important to be a QB in this league.

 

Stop trolling.

[Beerball]

It's funny, but I am looking at this QB situation from a completely different angle. I seriously doubt that Chan/Gailey would expect any rookie QB (even Luck) to step on the field and make a significant impact in 2011. Fitz is almost certainly going to be the starter next year. That means that the team will have to make a decision on whether they want to invest a high pick on a developmental QB. To me, that decision has more to do with what they think of Brohm than Fitz.

Or the decision has more to do with the overall roster than Fitzgibbons.

[Pilsner]

Not to get too personal, but so am I! I swear my GF could be your avatars twin...from the neck up any way. She's moving in next week too

 

Buffalokie, if your gf looks like my avatar and your avatar combined with a personality to match such loveliness, then she's a keeper!!

[Hapless Bills Fan]

I'm with ya. What does the guy have to do? In the off season it was we need a guy whose not afraid to throw it downfield. A guy who is a gunslinger and will throw the ball up and let his reciever make a play on it. A guy who can play in cold weather at the Ralph. A guy with moxie and poise and is a leader. A guy who throws more TDs than picks.

 

Fitz does all this.

 

I'm with you, what does the guy have to do?

 

Three letters - WIN

 

I really like Fitz. He's got balls, he's got game. Even in Minn - couple plays if the receivers could have held on, or the line coulda given him a little bit more time so he wasn't hit while throwing, the game would have looked very different. Not a knock on Fitz.

 

That is the answer to the "what does the guy have to do?" question, though. Win, and overthrowing the receivers or gun-slinging and throwing INTS - all is forgiven.