Buddy Nix and addressing the QB position

[Fan in San Diego]

Did anyone else hear John Murphy tell Bulldog today on WGR that Marrone was at the SB pratices Tuesday but was now back in Buffalo meeting with his staff concerning the current roster?

 

Should he not be in Mobile watching practices like Sean Payton and other real NFL coaches?

 

Isn't that what the scouts are for? Plus Marrone has a lot more work to do than HC's who have been on staff for years already.

[BuffBill]

My personal opinion is, the way Buddy Nix has handled the QB situation on the Bills is one of the worst performances (or lack there of) by any GM in Bills history. It didn't take an NFL GM with years of experience to realize that Fitz wasn't the answer at QB, in fact a kindergartner could have told him that. To not address the situation last season, when it was the strongest QB draft class in years, free agents available, trades available and wait until this year when it is just the opposite, worst in years, and say they have to get a QB is a crime. How he still has his job after his first 3 years is a mystery.

 

My point is that its easy to pick Apart Nixs decisions after the fact, forgetting the legitimate concerns associated with each prospect. On a team full of holes and almost EVERY POSITION needing to be upgraded, I won't crucify Nix for being picky when looking at qbs, however, the time is now for a new qb. He has done well to build the talent level and fill most of those aforementioned holes. Qb is the one big one left to fill.

You are mostly correct, but you can criticize a GM when he totally ignores the most important position on the team-QB. Obviously this team had holes, and many of them which couldn't be filled in one year (although there are still many after 3 years), but to ignore the QB position-no excuse.

[Sisyphean Bills]

T. Jackson was so impressive that Gailey didn't even dress him. Sometimes one's talent is so hidden that no one can find it. My basic point in my comments is that the collection of qbs during Nix's prior three year stint was not only dismal, but it was embarrassing.

 

It's not surprising that wherever Jackson started the organization he played for looked for a replacement. Mediocrity is mediocrity!

Statistically, he is a near clone of Fitzpatrick. Although Jackson actually has a better winning percentage.

 

I think the case was more that Chan had made up his mind that Fitzpatrick was "his guy" and nothing was going to change that opinion. (Well, short of Fitz pulling a Trentative and running out of bounds with the ball rather than pulling the trigger as time expired.) Working hard to get Jackson ready was just anathema to Gailey, particularly that he was a miracle worker who could transform Fitzpatrick into a top flight NFL QB with just a few more reps and pats on the back. (The truth is that a lot of talking heads and fans bought right into the "Gailey is a miracle man and megamind" myth building.)

[JPS]

Justifying Buddy Nix's failure to address the QB situation by listing the questions surrounding each prospect only leave us with Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck as QBs he should have drafted. It's just ridiculous!

 

Other teams put their teams together in ways to make the QB, and the whole team, successful. I think it is this "team architecture" skill that Nix has failed and repeatedly. He doesn't know if he's building a 3/4, 4/3, or a 3/4. Offense. Defense. This team has no identity. If it did, Nix would draft to that. And this includes QB.

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

Ok, I will say one thing: If there WAS a Andrew Luck, RGIII or even Tannehill ready right now, I think we would be in pretty good shape to risk everything.

 

What would I say to you guys if I said: we're going to have one more year of Fitz, while tendering long term contracts to Byrd and Levitre, while continuing to break in Gilmore, Glenn and Dareus. We're going to have a year where our players adjust to a new scheme, and have some problems with it, just like we did when G Williams and Chan came onboard. With that, next year Johnny Manziel becomes draft eligable and we risk the farm on him to take a Heismann winner,

 

What would you guys say to that?

[chris heff]

 

And yet, leading into the season I think most rational TSW posters were on board with Buddy's 3-year plan. Build the talent pool (year 1), sign your own key free agents (year 2), and make a push in FA to build a stout defense that could win now (year 3).

 

Adding a rookie QB before any one of these three foundational items was in place may not have worked either. Wilson's success in Seattle was helped greatly by having a dynamic defense and a good running game. So was Dalton's. So was Kap's. The Bills defense certainly can't be compared to those three teams.

 

Unfortunately for Nix, everything that could go wrong with his plan did so this year. The defense never clicked, the WRs got hurt, and Chan seemed to have a real meltdown in his ability to gameplan and handle the pressure.

 

Not appoligizing for Buddy, but it's amazing what a 16 game season can do in terms of changing positives to negatives (and vice versa). Whaley's time is now, and I suspect Buddy will retire after the draft as the new regime settles in...

Nix's plan B was Young and then Jackson and that was not until year three on the job. These guys had proven not to be franchise QBs. Thigpen, Smith and Brown aren't even in the conversation. Are you telling me that it would not have been prudent to draft one or two QBs in mid to later rounds?

[JPS]

Ok, I will say one thing: If there WAS a Andrew Luck, RGIII or even Tannehill ready right now, I think we would be in pretty good shape to risk everything.

 

What would I say to you guys if I said: we're going to have one more year of Fitz, while tendering long term contracts to Byrd and Levitre, while continuing to break in Gilmore, Glenn and Dareus. We're going to have a year where our players adjust to a new scheme, and have some problems with it, just like we did when G Williams and Chan came onboard. With that, next year Johnny Manziel becomes draft eligable and we risk the farm on him to take a Heismann winner,

 

What would you guys say to that?

I would say "Why play Fitz?" You know what you have and it hasn't worked.

 

I would rather give the job to an UDFA than have Fitz at the helm, especially if your goal is to draft high next year. Fitz is good enough to beat Jax and KC, which makes us draft around 10th every year. Sign me up for Curtis Painter!

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

I would say "Why play Fitz?" You know what you have and it hasn't worked.

 

I would rather give the job to an UDFA than have Fitz at the helm, especially if your goal is to draft high next year. Fitz is good enough to beat Jax and KC, which makes us draft around 10th every year. Sign me up for Curtis Painter!

 

It would if we were going on a "Suck for Manziel" run.

 

Of course, I would be jubilant if we took a stub LB in the first, Nassib in the second, with both playing up to All Pro levels their first year. In fact, this is what I prefer, but I was trying to play devil's advocate.

[Kelly the Dog]

The problem with this is that Chan never got Tavaris ready. CG claimed that because TJ was brought in late, that he wouldn't get enough reps over the course of an entire season to ever wear pads to a football game -- and that is exactly what happened. The truth is that TJ was not the disaster QB for the Bills; Brad Smith was. TJ was the guy in street clothes on Sunday charting plays in a baseball hat and running the scout team for the defense the rest of the week. Now, he is gone.

But if Fitz went down, I guarantee you within a week, Jackson would have been in there. Smith was disaster QB for the game that Fitz got hurt in. Thigpen probably would have started one game and then Tavaris would have taken over. Chan was being bullheaded this whole season. But again, if Fitz went down, TJ would have been the guy (unless, for some insane reason Thigpen was playing amazing and the Bills were winning, which we all know wasn't going to be happening)

[RuntheDamnBall]

Ok, I will say one thing: If there WAS a Andrew Luck, RGIII or even Tannehill ready right now, I think we would be in pretty good shape to risk everything.

 

What would I say to you guys if I said: we're going to have one more year of Fitz, while tendering long term contracts to Byrd and Levitre, while continuing to break in Gilmore, Glenn and Dareus. We're going to have a year where our players adjust to a new scheme, and have some problems with it, just like we did when G Williams and Chan came onboard. With that, next year Johnny Manziel becomes draft eligable and we risk the farm on him to take a Heismann winner,

 

What would you guys say to that?

I'd say that any team that was bad enough to possess the #1 pick over the Bills would probably also want Johnny Manziel, and that this team is not bad enough to go the 1-15 or 2-14 to ensure they get that pick.

[Cash]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Nix has specifically stressed the need to draft a franchise QB before each of his 3 drafts. And yet he's only drafted a 7th-round prospect who was cut in camp and not offered a spot on the practice squad. And in those 3 drafts, numerous quality starters have emerged. It's not very fair to count Bradford, Newton, Luck, or RG3 against Nix, because he would've had to trade up for them (and Luck essentially couldn't have been acquired at any price), but it is *extremely* fair to count Dalton, Kaepernick, and Wilson against him, particularly since the players he drafted immediately in front of those three have been abject busts so far.

 

So Nix has been a failure in this respect. By his own standards, even. If he says he needs to get a QB in the draft, then doesn't get one because "there wasn't one that we liked at that spot", but it turns out that 2 good starters were available at that spot, he failed at his job. Beyond that, his job is to build a team that wins football games, so he's failed at the overall object of his job.

[KOKBILLS]

And yet, leading into the season I think most rational TSW posters were on board with Buddy's 3-year plan.

 

Further proof that I'm a pretty irrational guy...Because I was never really on board with ANY plan that called for Ryan Fitzpatrick to be the short, or long-term answer at QB...

 

Not to say I was totally against everything Buddy did...Mario Williams comes to mind as a move I was thrilled about...

 

But Buddy and I got off on the wrong foot from the get-go (not that he cares)...Living in Charlotte NC I was a HUGE CJ Spiller fan, but I was not a fan of that pick for the Bills at the time...I just thought it was poor team building...Then he picks Troup in the 2nd which I thought was an unquestioned reach...Then he goes on to completely ignore the QB position in the next two Drafts...I'm not going to lie and say I was banging the drum for Dalton, Kaepernick, or Wilson...But one thing I know for certain as an avid NFL Network watcher, their drums were being banged like hell by a lot of folks...And I've always been a believer that the Bills should have been looking for Fitz's replacement from day #1...I have a close friend who lives in Seattle...When the Hawks picked Russell Wilson I told him, one thing you can never say about your Team is that they are not at least trying to address the QB position...I don't consider a 7th Rd Pick, a washed up Vince Young, and a desperation Tavaris Jackson move as really trying...Buddy let Bills fans down big time...And it's just me, but in no way am I willing to forgive him...Irrational as that me be...

[BillsVet]

But if Fitz went down, I guarantee you within a week, Jackson would have been in there. Smith was disaster QB for the game that Fitz got hurt in. Thigpen probably would have started one game and then Tavaris would have taken over. Chan was being bullheaded this whole season. But again, if Fitz went down, TJ would have been the guy (unless, for some insane reason Thigpen was playing amazing and the Bills were winning, which we all know wasn't going to be happening)

 

Chan and Buddy were both bull-headed throughout these past 2 seasons with Fitzpatrick at the helm. And to make matters worse, the team fell prey to the media clamoring for the guy to get a contract extension after the quick start in 2011. This despite Fitz's performance from 2008 to 2010 indicating that while a fine backup, he was not starting quality.

 

I hope things change in their evaluation of the QB position. But Nix's grand plan for rebuilding was DOA when he and the HC wouldn't budge from doing anything but playing Fitz.

[JPS]

But if Fitz went down, I guarantee you within a week, Jackson would have been in there. Smith was disaster QB for the game that Fitz got hurt in. Thigpen probably would have started one game and then Tavaris would have taken over. Chan was being bullheaded this whole season. But again, if Fitz went down, TJ would have been the guy (unless, for some insane reason Thigpen was playing amazing and the Bills were winning, which we all know wasn't going to be happening)

As I'm reading your post, I had the visual of just erasing all the names on the chalkboard. Do you think it would have mattered who was in there?

[Kelly the Dog]

As I'm reading your post, I had the visual of just erasing all the names on the chalkboard. Do you think it would have mattered who was in there?

No. Two years in a row the offense was decimated by injuries, woefully lacked talent at WR, got abused by having an abysmal defense, and at least this year got crappy QB play and crappy coaching for the entire season. But I don't think Russell Wilson or Colin Kapernick would have won more than 1-2 games, and I think guys like Andy Dalton and Kirk Cousins would have fared as bad as Fitz.

[mannc]

No. Two years in a row the offense was decimated by injuries, woefully lacked talent at WR, got abused by having an abysmal defense, and at least this year got crappy QB play and crappy coaching for the entire season. But I don't think Russell Wilson or Colin Kapernick would have won more than 1-2 games, and I think guys like Andy Dalton and Kirk Cousins would have fared as bad as Fitz.

I never cease to be amused by the mental gymnastics that you and some others around here are willing to go through to excuse the inexcusable.

 

The facts are as follows: That in 2010 the Patriots, who already had arguably the best QB of all time on the roster, spent a 3d round pick on Ryan Mallet. Mallet might not turn out to be anything special, but then again, he might. I wouldn't bet against him. At any rate, he's a far better prospect than anyone on the Bills' current roster. That in 2011, with the second pick in the second round, the Bills picked yet another DB. Two picks later, the 49ers moved up 9 slots (giving up 3 picks to Denver) to select Colin Kaepernick, whose 10th NFL start will be in the Super Bowl. That in 2012, after Fitz had proven beyond all reasonable doubt that he was at best a career backup in the NFL, Buddy surrendered an extra draft pick to move up several slots in the 3d to pick TJ Graham, despite the fact that other, better WRs were still on the board. A few picks later, Seattle, who had just spent tens of millions of dollars on a shiny new FA QB, selected Russell Wilson. Wilson just finished what might have been the best rookie season of any QB in the history of the NFL. (I can hear the Buddy supporters now: "He hasn't proved anything! Time will tell!.") In the 4th round, the Redskins, who a couple days earlier had traded a king's ransom for RG III, selected Kirk Cousins, to widespread laughter and derision by many here and around the league. No one is laughing now. (I know, "Cousins hasn't proved anything." Right, and Fitz certainly has.)

 

These are the facts and there just is no way to spin them in Buddy's favor. He should have been fired the second the final gun sounded at RWS against the Jets. Now we are stuck in a situation where there is no obvious franchise QB in the draft, and at least three QB needy teams are picking in front of us. There will be huge temptation to reach for a QB with the first round pick. That might be the right move, but the real problem is that Buddy apparently is the one who will be pulling the trigger. He has demonstrated sustained incompetence at evaluating and drafting QBs (among other positions) and he should not be within a country mile of the Bills' draft room this April.

Edited January 24, 2013 by mannc

[KOKBILLS]

I never cease to be amused by the mental gynastics that you and some others around here are willing to go through to excuse the inexcusable.

 

The facts are as follows: That in 2010 the Patriots, who already had arguably the best QB of all time on the roster, spent a 3d round pick on Ryan Mallet. Mallet might not turn out to be anything special, but then again, he might. I wouldn't bet against him. At any rate, he's a far better prospect than anyone on the Bills' current roster. That in 2011, with the second pick in the second round, the Bills picked yet another DB. Two picks later, the 49ers moved up 9 slots (giving up 3 picks to Denver) to select Colin Kaepernick, whose 10th NFL start will be in the Super Bowl. That in 2012, after Fitz had proven beyond all reasonable doubt that he was at best a career backup in the NFL, Buddy surrendered an extra draft pick to move up several slots in the 3d to pick TJ Graham, despite the fact that other, better WRs were still on the board. A few picks later, Seattle, who had just spent tens of millions of dollars on a shiny new FA QB, selected Russell Wilson. Wilson just finished what might have been the best rookie season of any QB in the history of the NFL. (I can hear the Buddy supporters now: "He hasn't proved anything! Time will tell!.") In the 4th round, the Redskins, who a couple days earlier had traded a king's ransom for RG III, selected Kirk Cousins, to widespread laughter and derision by many here and around the league. No one is laughing now. (I know, "Cousins hasn't proved anything." Right, and Fitz certainly has.)

 

These are the facts and there just is no way to spin them in Buddy's favor. He should have been fired the second the final gun sounded at RWS against the Jets. Now we are stuck in a situation where there is no obvious franchise QB in the draft, and at least three QB needy teams are picking in front of us. There will be huge temptation to reach for a QB with the first round pick. That might be the right move, but the real problem is that Buddy apparently is the one who will be pulling the trigger. He has demonstrated sustained incompetence at evaluating and drafting QBs (among other positions) and he should not be within a country mile of the Bills' draft room this April.

 

A-freaking-men!!! Exactly!!!

[Kelly the Dog]

I never cease to be amused by the mental gynastics that you and some others around here are willing to go through to excuse the inexcusable.

 

The facts are as follows: That in 2010 the Patriots, who already had arguably the best QB of all time on the roster, spent a 3d round pick on Ryan Mallet. Mallet might not turn out to be anything special, but then again, he might. I wouldn't bet against him. At any rate, he's a far better prospect than anyone on the Bills' current roster. That in 2011, with the second pick in the second round, the Bills picked yet another DB. Two picks later, the 49ers moved up 9 slots (giving up 3 picks to Denver) to select Colin Kaepernick, whose 10th NFL start will be in the Super Bowl. That in 2012, after Fitz had proven beyond all reasonable doubt that he was at best a career backup in the NFL, Buddy surrendered an extra draft pick to move up several slots in the 3d to pick TJ Graham, despite the fact that other, better WRs were still on the board. A few picks later, Seattle, who had just spent tens of millions of dollars on a shiny new FA QB, selected Russell Wilson. Wilson just finished what might have been the best rookie season of any QB in the history of the NFL. (I can hear the Buddy supporters now: "He hasn't proved anything! Time will tell!.") In the 4th round, the Redskins, who a couple days earlier had traded a king's ransom for RG III, selected Kirk Cousins, to widespread laughter and derision by many here and around the league. No one is laughing now. (I know, "Cousins hasn't proved anything." Right, and Fitz certainly has.)

 

These are the facts and there just is no way to spin them in Buddy's favor. He should have been fired the second the final gun sounded at RWS against the Jets. Now we are stuck in a situation where there is no obvious franchise QB in the draft, at least three QB needy teams are picking in front of us. There will be huge temptation to reach for a QB with the first round pick. That might be the right move, but the real problem is that Buddy apparently is the one who will be pulling the trigger. He has demonstrated sustained incompetence at evaluating and drafting QBs (among other positions) and he should not be within a country mile of the Bills' draft room this April.

Except no one is sticking up for Buddy Nix. Everyone is saying he failed. I have said it over and over. There are/were simply logical reasons for both his picks and why he and the Bills failed.

[tennesseeboy]

He whiffed on a bunch of good qb choices. He whiffed on good linebacker choices. He whiffed on good offensive tackle choices. So far it looks like he whiffed on his most recent cornerback choice (in fairness that is too early to tell. I remember a jet fan going off on how dumb it was to draft Darrel Reavis number one toward the end of his rookie season.) He improved the team or he didn't. The win loss record tells the whole story.

[Maury Ballstein]

buddy has failed, gailey has failed, everyone has failed.

 

he definetly DID NOT adress the qb at all, I am confused by the title of this thread. many serviceable starting qb's have been drafted, none by buffalo.