paupmvp1995 Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 There are so many holes to address that this is clearly not a playoff team. What is most frustrating is after reviewing the three year GM stint of Nix it is safe to say that this team and franchise hasn't moved very far up the ranks. This offseason with numerous player movements (in and out) and especially with this draft is going to be very telling as to how this organization is going to be run. That is the real issue. Will the Brandon era be an era where staff will be held accountable or will the status quo mind set continue to be the cultural enviornment for this laggard franchise. I'm more optimistic now than before primarily because the owner decided to hand the mantel to someone else. If the Bills have a solid draft which includes a credible qb prospect and systematically cull it's roster and replace them with more productive players then I will be more than satisfied. What has crushed this franchise is not the players on the roster but the people who make the decisions to staff the roster. Brandon retaining Nix has bothered me a lot. How much authority does BN actually have? I don't know. If this is a more inclusive process with Whaley and coaches more actively involved then maybe the old school approach that Nix has can be mitigated. This franchise has wasted six years under Levy/Brandon/Nix. Is this franchise going to come out of the stone age and start to function more rationally? That is what needs to be watched. At this point it isn't mostly about the record but how this organization functions. That is the main storyline for this upcoming season. I agree w your concerns about Nix. He just has not hit on enuf players in the 3 drafts that he has been in charge of. And I think we did not do our homework on what kind of player Mario Williams really is. I see him and Dareus as both having similar personalities that seem actually quite passive for the warfare that goes on in the trenches. They are missing the street fighter mentality. I hope Pettine and Marrone will impress that upon everyone on the roster. As for this upcoming season, I am cautiously optimistic that Marrone will have a strong influence (as he should) over the 2013 roster. And I believe we will be pleasantly surprised with the type of players he wants on his team. I believe that his idea on how a team should play and what their image should be will be totally different than Chan Gailey's idea. And that image will be of toughness, smarts and aggressiveness. Qualities that we NEVER saw on Gailey's teams. I think bringing back TJack is a good move, and I feel quite confident that he will be out Fitzie, if he is even on the roster. Because if he does not take a pay cut shortly, Fitz will be gone. I have been optimistic ever since Gailey was fired and Marrone was hired. So my early predictions say at least an 8-8 team that will be much tougher to play against. Some strong QB play and we could push for a wild card. But I think it is really way to early to make any firm predictions. Lets see how free agency and the draft shakes out.
Dante Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 As long as the Bills are choosing between the likes of Fitz and TJack for their starter, we will be debating 2 vs. 8 wins. It will never be higher. Alex Smith is Joe Montana compared to to jamokes we have on our roster. I hope we are closer to the 2 end of it. Not sure if Johnny Football will be eligible next season but drafting him would be nice.
PromoTheRobot Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 (edited) Has he ever won more then 6 games ? Who was the last Bills QB to throw for 3,000+ yds and 23+TDs 3 seasons in a row? Yeah, Fitz is the ONLY reason we can't win more than 6 games. PTR Edited February 16, 2013 by PromoTheRobot
atlbillsfan1975 Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 Unless our D can keep teams from scoring 30 a game. PTR Promo- The D stepped up in the second half of the season many games, and Fitz/Chan could muster no O. The Bills barely ever played a full 60 mintues on both sides of the ball. The D i believe has the capability to be good, given the right scheme and a couple LBs. But until the Bills address the QB we are stuck at .500 or worse. Fitz is his own worst enemy, he can not handle success or expectations. He has proven that to me at least.
offyourocker Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 I would expect a classic 7 and 9. I pray for 0-16 so we get Jadevon Clowney (I know I destroyed that name) and a couple of established coordinators.
San-O Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 Unless our D can keep teams from scoring 30 a game. PTR What if the rookie O coordinator isn't great? He's a college O coordinator with no NFL experience. I think it's naive not to expect a huge learning curve against seasoned D coordinators. No?
jcbillsfan Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 Nix inherited a complete mess. He has not addressed the qb but he has rebuilt the o line , added a stud running back and has started to put the pieces in place for the defense.
San-O Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 Nix inherited a complete mess. He has not addressed the qb but he has rebuilt the o line , added a stud running back and has started to put the pieces in place for the defense. Rebuilt? You mean used a # 2 to get Cordy Glenn?
PromoTheRobot Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 (edited) Promo- The D stepped up in the second half of the season many games, and Fitz/Chan could muster no O. The Bills barely ever played a full 60 mintues on both sides of the ball. The D i believe has the capability to be good, given the right scheme and a couple LBs. But until the Bills address the QB we are stuck at .500 or worse. Fitz is his own worst enemy, he can not handle success or expectations. He has proven that to me at least. I know I'm painted as a Fitz suck up. Frankly I'm ready to move on at QB. But it makes me nuts seeing people pin everything on Fitz. The guy lost us some games but he kept us in others. I can point to three defensive plays this season alone that if made we'd be 9-7. But no one cares about the defense performing. Rebuilt? You mean used a # 2 to get Cordy Glenn? Yes...and drafted Hairston, and picked up Pears, Reinhardt and Urbik. PTR Edited February 16, 2013 by PromoTheRobot
JohnC Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 I agree w your concerns about Nix. He just has not hit on enuf players in the 3 drafts that he has been in charge of. And I think we did not do our homework on what kind of player Mario Williams really is. I see him and Dareus as both having similar personalities that seem actually quite passive for the warfare that goes on in the trenches. They are missing the street fighter mentality. I hope Pettine and Marrone will impress that upon everyone on the roster. As for this upcoming season, I am cautiously optimistic that Marrone will have a strong influence (as he should) over the 2013 roster. And I believe we will be pleasantly surprised with the type of players he wants on his team. I believe that his idea on how a team should play and what their image should be will be totally different than Chan Gailey's idea. And that image will be of toughness, smarts and aggressiveness. Qualities that we NEVER saw on Gailey's teams. I think bringing back TJack is a good move, and I feel quite confident that he will be out Fitzie, if he is even on the roster. Because if he does not take a pay cut shortly, Fitz will be gone. I have been optimistic ever since Gailey was fired and Marrone was hired. So my early predictions say at least an 8-8 team that will be much tougher to play against. Some strong QB play and we could push for a wild card. But I think it is really way to early to make any firm predictions. Lets see how free agency and the draft shakes out. Well thought out response. The issue of whether T. Jackson or Fitz is going to be the starting qb doesn't mean much to me. I really don't care. Neither qb is an impactful starting qb. Many people are making the judgment that there are not high caliber franchise qbs in this draft. I don't accept that assessment. As far as I am concerned if the Bills don't come out of this draft with a credible qb prospect then this offseason among a long string of offseasons will again be a failrue. Most of the upper tier qb prospects in this draft will take time to develop. That is the norm. It is very unlikely that any qb other than Barkley can come in right away and make the quick adjustment that Luck and RGIII did last year. In his prior drafts Nix was reluctant to pull the trigger when good prospects were still on the board; he can't do that again this year. He has set this franchise back with his timidity. He either gets it done this year or he will be deemed to be a miserable failure. There are no more excuses that he can use to justify not addressing the most importatn position in the game.
uncle flap Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 This place has become so depressing. As bad as things might seem, just about every other team has "holes" and "question marks" too. A couple breaks and games can go either way. And for all the perceived weaknesses, there are just as many bright spots. I readily acknowledge that the Bills could be looking at losing record at the end of the season, but they just as easily could be making a push for the playoffs. Any given Sunday, fellas.
JPS Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 I can't believe there are any defenders of Nix or Fitz left. Nix spent our whole salary cap and 3 drafts to rebuild a defense and has the worst defense in the league to show for it. I can't even talk about Fitz anymore. Just, WOW, I guess.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 There's no question that Nix has backed himself into a corner on the quarterback issue. By eschewing earlier opportunities, he's now left himself with a virtual ultimatum this year. After three years of avoiding that decision, Nix has left himself with fewer options on an issue that has become imperative.
JPS Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 This place has become so depressing. As bad as things might seem, just about every other team has "holes" and "question marks" too. A couple breaks and games can go either way. And for all the perceived weaknesses, there are just as many bright spots. I readily acknowledge that the Bills could be looking at losing record at the end of the season, but they just as easily could be making a push for the playoffs. Any given Sunday, fellas. The problem is having the worst defense in the league, no QB and a bad history of drafting and signing free agents. Other than that, it could happen.
Captain Hindsight Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 If we let Skelton practice with us I feel our chances improve ten-fold
Dibs Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 If we stick with TJ, Fitz and one of these average QBs in the draft..... And that is where I stopped reading.
BillsVet Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 There's no question that Nix has backed himself into a corner on the quarterback issue. By eschewing earlier opportunities, he's now left himself with a virtual ultimatum this year. After three years of avoiding that decision, Nix has left himself with fewer options on an issue that has become imperative. Nix backed the franchise into a corner with his ill-advised moves, not just himself. Whaley and Marrone need upgrades all over the field, not just at QB, leaving one to wonder just what Nix was trying to do as GM.
buffalobillsgrl Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 What if the rookie O coordinator isn't great? He's a college O coordinator with no NFL experience. I think it's naive not to expect a huge learning curve against seasoned D coordinators. No? except Marrone is Offensive minded coach is he not? I highly doubt he is going to say ok Hackett draw up all the plays and tell me what we are going to do on offense. I expect him to have a large part in the offensive scheme. Especially knowing Pettine probably doesn't need any help or guidance. Thus the reason he hired a DC with experience.
uncle flap Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 The problem is having the worst defense in the league, no QB and a bad history of drafting and signing free agents. Other than that, it could happen. Defense: Dropping dead weight, new established coordinator, and there are bound to be additions. And while the defense was admittedly pretty damn bad, the last place ranking was skewed by a couple of god-awful games. I don't think we can assume that the Bills will have the worst D next year considering the significant changes being made. Of course they could be, but why assume that they will? It's not as if they are going ahead with the same plan and same personnel. Draft/FAs: key word that you use is "History," and I'd argue it's not that bad or any worse than most other teams in recent years. QB: We don't know who the starter will be but Fitz hasn't been the biggest problem over the past few years. Sure he lost a couple of games with poor performance, but his performance also kept them in those games in the first place. Having a somewhat below average QB is different than having NO QB. Perhaps the lack of a top tier QB would keep the Bills form going far in the playoffs, but it certainly doesn't automatically mean they will have a poor record.
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