Spiller a "Changed Man" Says Fitz

[thewildrabbit]

Spiller might have a college degree, but he only scored a 10 on his "wonderlic" Which seem kind of crazy considering most players are coached endlessly about what to expect from that test and the combine overall. So it begs the question, he he just plain stupid or didn't give a damn about the test enough to actually study for it. Either way it makes him look bad.

 

The kid does possess* 4.27 speed which is amazingly fast by NFL standards and he should have been utilized way more often the last two years then he has been. Look to blame the coaches for not getting this kid on the field more. Even when he started after Jackson went out on IR in week 8. in 2011, 16 games, 11 starts and he averaged 5.2 YPC, and yet only saw 107 attempts for 561 yards. I watch the last half of last season and the coaches seemed determined to make an injured QB constantly throw all game long while they have a RB with a 5.2 YPC avg.

 

BTW that 5.2 YPC avg is what Jim Brown retired with! Barry Sanders had a 5.0. Eric Dickerson and Walter Payton both had 4.4. Stating that, Fred Jackson had a 5.5 YPC avg last year. Still Freddy can't touch this kid with his 4.27 speed.

 

I watched as the Bills used Tashard Choice over Spiller at times, which made no sense to me.

 

Who knows if this coaching staff will ever get the potential out of Spiller. All I know is with that kind of speed I'd have had this kid on the field every offensive play the last two years, as either a RB or WR. I'd find ways to get him the ball

 

 

 

* EDIT

Edited June 19, 2012 by Fear the Beard

[CodeMonkey]

You're high. You did happen to see the OL Spiller was running behind for those last 6 games, right?

 

I don't get it that folks still want to hate on Spiller; CJ would be the featured back on most NFL teams going into this season. We are incredibly lucky to have both he and Fred in the backfield.

There always seems to be an excuse around here for Spiller.

I do not hate him, seems to be a good kid with a great work ethic.

It's just I have seen absolutely nothing to date to indicate he is even a first round RB, much less top 10.

 

To be honest I was more impressed last year by Choice after FredEx went down.

He obviously has nowhere near Spillers speed.

But he seemed to understand how to run the ball as well as pass routes better than Spiller.

 

But hope springs eternal and here's to Spiller having a breakout season in 2012 and proving Nix right in selecting him so high.

 

I watched as the Bills used Tashard Choice over Spiller at times, which made no sense to me.

Makes some sense to me assuming the point of those games was to win and not just treat them as some extra preseason time for Spiller.

Choice, to me anyway, seemed to "get it" more than Spiller. Maybe Gailey saw it that way as well.

[thewildrabbit]

There always seems to be an excuse around here for Spiller.

I do not hate him, seems to be a good kid with a great work ethic.

It's just I have seen absolutely nothing to date to indicate he is even a first round RB, much less top 10.

 

To be honest I was more impressed last year by Choice after FredEx went down.

He obviously has nowhere near Spillers speed.

But he seemed to understand how to run the ball as well as pass routes better than Spiller.

 

But hope springs eternal and here's to Spiller having a breakout season in 2012 and proving Nix right in selecting him so high.

 

 

Makes some sense to me assuming the point of those games was to win and not just treat them as some extra preseason time for Spiller.

Choice, to me anyway, seemed to "get it" more than Spiller. Maybe Gailey saw it that way as well.

 

C'mon man, Choice played in 6 for the Bills, but 28 attempts for 75 yards doesn't even equal one good game. That is a 3.0 YPC avg vs the 5.2 avg Spiller was getting. I don't know what games you were watching but Spiller was way better then Choice in every aspect from what I saw. I think the ONLY reason this guy Choice was picked up at all and given a chance by the bills is because he played some college ball at GT with Gailey as HC, just IMO.

 

I think when you keep giving the ball to one back they are able to get into a better rhythm with the more carries they get. In those 6 games Spiller started he didn't even get 20 carries in any one game...NOT ONCE in one game because the coaches were so enamored trying to throw the ball every offensive play. Freddy OTOH had some games with 26 attempts.

 

In his first start against the Jets he sucked big time, but that could be because up until week 11 he only had 21 attempts, and had barely played RB at all up until that point.

 

My point is Spiller may never reach his potential as a Buffalo Bills because this HC likes to constantly throw, even when its not working.

 

 

 

 

 

http://espn.go.com/n...3203/cj-spiller

[eball]

There always seems to be an excuse around here for Spiller.

I do not hate him, seems to be a good kid with a great work ethic.

It's just I have seen absolutely nothing to date to indicate he is even a first round RB, much less top 10.

 

To be honest I was more impressed last year by Choice after FredEx went down.

He obviously has nowhere near Spillers speed.

But he seemed to understand how to run the ball as well as pass routes better than Spiller.

 

But hope springs eternal and here's to Spiller having a breakout season in 2012 and proving Nix right in selecting him so high.

 

 

Makes some sense to me assuming the point of those games was to win and not just treat them as some extra preseason time for Spiller.

Choice, to me anyway, seemed to "get it" more than Spiller. Maybe Gailey saw it that way as well.

That, my friend, is hilarious.

[K-9]

Choice more impressive than Spiller last year?

 

No comment.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[hondo in seattle]

Spiller might have a college degree, but he only scored a 10 on his "wonderlic" Which seem kind of crazy considering most players are coached endlessly about what to expect from that test and the combine overall. So it begs the question, he he just plain stupid or didn't give a damn about the test enough to actually study for it. Either way it makes him look bad.

 

The kid does possess* 4.27 speed which is amazingly fast by NFL standards and he should have been utilized way more often the last two years then he has been. Look to blame the coaches for not getting this kid on the field more. Even when he started after Jackson went out on IR in week 8. in 2011, 16 games, 11 starts and he averaged 5.2 YPC, and yet only saw 107 attempts for 561 yards. I watch the last half of last season and the coaches seemed determined to make an injured QB constantly throw all game long while they have a RB with a 5.2 YPC avg.

 

BTW that 5.2 YPC avg is what Jim Brown retired with! Barry Sanders had a 5.0. Eric Dickerson and Walter Payton both had 4.4. Stating that, Fred Jackson had a 5.5 YPC avg last year. Still Freddy can't touch this kid with his 4.27 speed.

 

I watched as the Bills used Tashard Choice over Spiller at times, which made no sense to me.

 

Who knows if this coaching staff will ever get the potential out of Spiller. All I know is with that kind of speed I'd have had this kid on the field every offensive play the last two years, as either a RB or WR. I'd find ways to get him the ball

 

 

 

* EDIT

 

I admit that I also felt we should have run more late last year. BUT one of the reasons Spiller averaged 5.2 yards was because of the way Chan used him. Chan's pass-first play-calling had teams on their heels, or at least, not stacking the box. If we ran Spiller the way the Browns ran Brown or the Lions ran Sanders, I doubt very seriously if he would have averaged 5.2 ypc. I think those kinds of comparisons are invalid.

[CodeMonkey]

That, my friend, is hilarious.

Happy to entertain Choice does not have Spillers attributes obviously. But to me anyway he demonstrated a better understanding of what he was supposed to be doing out there.

 

But if Spiller is a "changed man" hopefully he manages to find the field this season even with a healthy FredEx.

[Hazed and Amuzed]

Happy to entertain Choice does not have Spillers attributes obviously. But to me anyway he demonstrated a better understanding of what he was supposed to be doing out there.

 

But if Spiller is a "changed man" hopefully he manages to find the field this season even with a healthy FredEx.

Not to get into an argument with you on this but don't you think that Choices 3 extra years in the league plus playing for Gailey in college may have something do with him "getting it" better than Spiller thus far? Not trying to make any excuses for CJ but if it takes him a little extra time to understand things I'm okay with that, this team doesn't live or die with his performance at this point.

[Kelly the Dog]

Choice does not have Spillers attributes obviously. But to me anyway he demonstrated a better understanding of what he was supposed to be doing out there.

 

You mean like teaching your dog to "play dead", he finally does it on command and you get this euphoric feeling of accomplishment?

[thewildrabbit]

I admit that I also felt we should have run more late last year. BUT one of the reasons Spiller averaged 5.2 yards was because of the way Chan used him. Chan's pass-first play-calling had teams on their heels, or at least, not stacking the box. If we ran Spiller the way the Browns ran Brown or the Lions ran Sanders, I doubt very seriously if he would have averaged 5.2 ypc. I think those kinds of comparisons are invalid.

 

No offense, but it was exactly the opposite in my view. Chan's play calling was for quick short passes that teams were able to defend by the CB's crowding the line and bumping the receivers out of their routes. What made the running game more successful last year then in the past was the use of the spread offense so that the safeties couldn't "stack the box'" or they could easily get beaten by long runs.

 

The 90's Bills used that same spread offense to allow Thurman Thomas to gain so many yards. It wasn't so much the no huddle that killed teams as the spread formation that allowed the more open running lanes.

 

In my view Gailey is a blithering idiot for forcing an injured QB in Fitz to try and win games by constantly throwing and playing catch up rather then building a running game and making it work. I had thought that Gailey would do things differently then his predecessors in Turk Schonert and AVP, but he didn't. After week 8 things looked eerily similar to what we all saw on offense in 09-08 once the team fell behind in points.

 

If you look at the thread discussing the new QB coach and the way he is teaching proper technique to Fitz it sheds some light on why Fitz is stating that now, this off season he is finally getting proper training from a QB coach that he never received in the past. This kinda speaks volumes about what Chan Gailey didn't himself teach Fitz in 2010-2011*, the supposed QB guru.

 

*EDIT

Edited June 19, 2012 by Fear the Beard

[CodeMonkey]

You mean like teaching your dog to "play dead", he finally does it on command and you get this euphoric feeling of accomplishment?

Not really. More like your dog having a good enough understanding of its environment that it instinctively does the right thing without having to be commanded to do it.

Edited June 19, 2012 by CodeMonkey

[K-9]

No offense, but it was exactly the opposite in my view. Chan's play calling was for quick short passes that teams were able to defend by the CB's crowding the line and bumping the receivers out of their routes. What made the running game more successful last year then in the past was the use of the spread offense so that the safeties couldn't "stack the box'" or they could easily get beaten by long runs.

 

The 90's Bills used that same spread offense to allow Thurman Thomas to gain so many yards. It wasn't so much the no huddle that killed teams as the spread formation that allowed the more open running lanes.

 

In my view Gailey is a blithering idiot for forcing an injured QB in Fitz to try and win games by constantly throwing and playing catch up rather then building a running game and making it work. I had thought that Gailey would do things differently then his predecessors in Turk Schonert and AVP, but he didn't. After week 8 things looked eerily similar to what we all saw on offense in 09-08 once the team fell behind in points.

 

If you look at the thread discussing the new QB coach and the way he is teaching proper technique to Fitz it sheds some light on why Fitz is stating that now, this off season he is finally getting proper training from a QB coach that he never received in the past. This kinda speaks volumes about what Chan Gailey didn't himself teach Fitz in 2009-2010, the supposed QB guru.

 

Good post. Especially about the similarities between the spread offenses of Gailey and the K-Gun.

 

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call Gailey a blithering idiot, but I do question his ability to gauge how a running game can demoralize a defense. There were times last year, against the Titans and Dolphins especially, where our OLine was enjoying the hell out of that isolated blocking out of the spread and Spiller was ripping off nice gains and really getting into a rhythm only to have Gailey go away from it. Made no sense at all in the context of those games at the moment. Of course we got down and had to abandon the run game anyway, but he needs to stick to it when the OLine and RBs are tearing it up. It will only help the passing game anyway.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[3rdand12]

No offense, but it was exactly the opposite in my view. Chan's play calling was for quick short passes that teams were able to defend by the CB's crowding the line and bumping the receivers out of their routes. What made the running game more successful last year then in the past was the use of the spread offense so that the safeties couldn't "stack the box'" or they could easily get beaten by long runs.

 

The 90's Bills used that same spread offense to allow Thurman Thomas to gain so many yards. It wasn't so much the no huddle that killed teams as the spread formation that allowed the more open running lanes.

 

In my view Gailey is a blithering idiot for forcing an injured QB in Fitz to try and win games by constantly throwing and playing catch up rather then building a running game and making it work. I had thought that Gailey would do things differently then his predecessors in Turk Schonert and AVP, but he didn't. After week 8 things looked eerily similar to what we all saw on offense in 09-08 once the team fell behind in points.

 

If you look at the thread discussing the new QB coach and the way he is teaching proper technique to Fitz it sheds some light on why Fitz is stating that now, this off season he is finally getting proper training from a QB coach that he never received in the past. This kinda speaks volumes about what Chan Gailey didn't himself teach Fitz in 2010-2011*, the supposed QB guru.

 

*EDIT

"rather then building a running game and making it work."

Absolutely. I have no doubt that the man is intelligent and focused. was he hard headed? maybe so. But this has been such a mystery to me thats seeming so obviously an issue. In Hindsight it really stands out to me.

People like me think something dramatic must have been affecting Chans semi reaction to the down turn post Redskins. Just not much changed. Like the very late admission of Ryan's injury by a player (Florence bt twitter or something? and then some more details now and again trickled out.

Maybe Chan was simply overwhelmed at that point due to many factors.

Those reasons could be a good discussion over a couple beers some other time.

But i fully expect to see Chan succeed this season, keep his job and then some. and redeem himself.

 

"This kinda speaks volumes about what Chan Gailey didn't himself teach Fitz in 2010-2011*, the supposed QB guru."

i consider this comment abit over the top and snarky at the end. Well done for affect too.

Lets consider how much time Gailey actually has had to spend with his QB for a moment.

Probably not much as head coach, as compared to an Off coordinator or maybe not much at all. The best thing that Gailey might have done is to Recognize a problem and address it in good form with Lee!

it's details like this and bringing Metz in keeping the Secondary coach Cat. And Joe D up front, Wanny moving to D coordinator. Nix knows what he is trying to accomplish and has put these plans into action. I'm becoming a Homer, But Nix and crew are working hard to prove themselves the real deal. and thats a fact friend