Offensive Players % Of Plays Shows Startling Results

[mountainwampus]

3 drops? Ibdont remember but 1. But I am trying to forget the whole game

The first pass of the game was that 5 yard out route that was called PI penalty. Good thing too, because TJ would have never caught it. He almost never turns his head in time to see passes coming. EJ and TJ have the worst QB/WR chemistry I've ever seen.

[BuffaloBill]

 

 

spiller was all around regarded a top ten type talent, while donte was considered a mid-late first rounder. those early reports, coupled with spillers ability to flash talent that is extremely rare, while donte on his best days was simply workman like explain it pretty well i think.

 

Top ten talent by the draft pundits...

 

Look the guy has skills and this is unassailable. The issue was to pick him on a team that had already had on its roster a round #1 RB pick just shows why the Bills continue to live in futility. In the modern NFL no RB should be taken in the top half of the first round - period and end of story. The running game is important but not anywhere near what it used to be.

 

Do I think we have turned a corner as an organization? Maybe. I can't fault the current regime for past regime's picks. However, we need to hold the current regime accountable to learn from what has happened here previously. Taking RB's in the first round will not turn a franchise around. Maybe if we were NE with Brady adding a really talented role player like Spiller makes sense but not for the Bills in that draft.

[NoSaint]

 

 

Top ten talent by the draft pundits...

 

Look the guy has skills and this is unassailable. The issue was to pick him on a team that had already had on its roster a round #1 RB pick just shows why the Bills continue to live in futility. In the modern NFL no RB should be taken in the top half of the first round - period and end of story. The running game is important but not anywhere near what it used to be.

 

Do I think we have turned a corner as an organization? Maybe. I can't fault the current regime for past regime's picks. However, we need to hold the current regime accountable to learn from what has happened here previously. Taking RB's in the first round will not turn a franchise around. Maybe if we were NE with Brady adding a really talented role player like Spiller makes sense but not for the Bills in that draft.

 

I understand that argument, was just pointing out that spiller atleast has RARE skills, whereas donte did not -- both are at positions that are probably best left out of the top ten unless you are looking at just absolutely ELITE talent.... but atleast spiller flashes that. which is why i think you see less outrage. wasnt arguing the pick was right or wrong as much as responding to the perception differences.

[Fan in Chicago]

I understand that argument, was just pointing out that spiller atleast has RARE skills, whereas donte did not -- both are at positions that are probably best left out of the top ten unless you are looking at just absolutely ELITE talent.... but atleast spiller flashes that. which is why i think you see less outrage. wasnt arguing the pick was right or wrong as much as responding to the perception differences.

 

While CJ certainly has elite talent, he was drafted that high to be the difference maker in games. The home run threat, if you will. But considering what we have seen so far - an underwhelming rookie campaign, flashes of brilliance followed by extended periods of insignificance, unable to shoulder a game's worth of work etc., forgive me if I am colored unimpressed. I will go as far as saying that CJ is a role player at best, very unworthy of his lofty draft position and certainly not deserving of a handsome contract extension/renewal. I will take a player, leader and performer like FJax any day. At this point, a single good game will not help CJ. He has to consistently show that he can make defenses plan for him and that the O is much better with him on the field. No more first round running backs !

 

Which brings me to a related point - for those that bashed Gailey for sparingly utilizing CJ, can we now let off on the snide comments and disdain ? Maybe Gailey knew that CJ is not a consistent game builder and made excuses to cover that up. Maybe Gailey wasn't that wrong about him after all.

[Charles Romes]

 

 

For a board that cried for years that li Donte was a bad pick as high as he went in the draft it is amazing that the same is not said about Spiller. He is a role player and once he loses a step at all he can't fulfill the role. I am not knocking him as a football player. I am knocking the Bills for once again selecting a player way too high in the draft.

 

Especially true when you consider they jettisoned the league's quintissential ALL-purpose back (power, breakaway, hands) when they got him.

[Jukester]

Part of the problem is CJ doesn't have great vision. He started getting better at it last year but i think the current offensive design with constant shotgun/read option is delaying the handoff and he's slow when he gets to the line. He doesn't see the holes and just falls back on trying to outrun people to the sideline. Unfortunately he still hasn't learned that defenses in the NFL won't let you do that. He needs hit it up quickly the way the play is designed and take the 2-3-4 yard gains, even if there is only a small crease. Way too many negative yardage plays from him. The injury hasn't helped either.

 

Having said that,second part of the problem is offensive design. Draw up plays around your playmakers instead of trying to have them adjust to your plays. Why not an I-formation with a fullback where CJ starts deep and is accelerating when he gets to the line with a lead blocker. I wish they'd also try to get him more involved in the passing game though (especially since EJ is hell bent on playing it safe and dumping off all the time). Unfathomable that any linebacker could stay with him on the move.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

 

 

A great example why stats don't always tell the story. Spiller wasn't getting anything done against Pittsburgh, he didn't warrant more playing time this past Sunday.

 

 

Did you watch the game on Sunday? The carries that Spiller did get were killing them...stats don't tell the whole story. I am sure if Spiller had been more productive on the carries he did have, he would have seen the ball more. Marrone also mentioned that the Steelers blitzed the Bills less than they had any other team, in some time... the Bills anticipated more, and blocking is not Spillers' strong suit.

 

Also, to draw any conclusion about the coaching staff, based on the stat that a running back (on a team that normally only has one on the field per play) was on the field less than a WR (with two to four on the field per play, with injuries in the corp) is just silly. You can find stats, no matter how irrelevant, to make any point I suppose.

 

I think the stats tell this story quite well... 8 carries for 23 yards with a long of 7. That 2.9 yds per carry, 2.28 if you take out the long.

 

3 catches for 11 yards with a long of 7.

 

That's abysmal. I wouldn't be looking to get more touches to him at that rate of production either.

 

Don't expect to see a lot of him this Sunday either. Last game vs the jets he got 9 yds on 10 carries, and 1 yard on 1 reception with 2 fumbles.

 

He's really looking like the all or nothing guy that can't step up when the defenses are good.

 

[Dorkington]

I'd like to see CJ line up in the slot instead of Hogan, etc.

[NoSaint]

I'd like to see CJ line up in the slot instead of Hogan, etc.

 

not sure the truth to the once upon a time rumors that he was slow picking up blocking schemes, but perhaps that goes hand in hand with not giving him a more full assortment of WR duties.

[4BillsintheBurgh]

not sure the truth to the once upon a time rumors that he was slow picking up blocking schemes, but perhaps that goes hand in hand with not giving him a more full assortment of WR duties.

He also didn't make a block on Timmons (I think) that lead to a sack.

 

But I think it's a reflection on the coaching staff if CJ doesn't look good. You HAVE to find a way to get him into space if you're Hackett. You need his big plays to ease the pressure. I would love to see him split out like Thurman did, but maybe he can't handle running routes since Chan didn't do a whole lot of it either.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

 

 

not sure the truth to the once upon a time rumors that he was slow picking up blocking schemes, but perhaps that goes hand in hand with not giving him a more full assortment of WR duties.

 

Chan tried and aborted this approach. Not sue why...

[NoSaint]

 

 

Chan tried and aborted this approach. Not sue why...

 

Start having to learn routes, make reads, adjustments. College receivers have to transition to be nfl receivers- simply putting him out wide and saying run a slant isn't likely effective and if he isn't quick to pick the stuff up it'd make sense to scale it back. If he can't run a full route tree and read defenders out there suddenly it gets easy to jump his routes and such,

[Bill from NYC]

 

 

Top ten talent by the draft pundits...

 

Look the guy has skills and this is unassailable. The issue was to pick him on a team that had already had on its roster a round #1 RB pick just shows why the Bills continue to live in futility. In the modern NFL no RB should be taken in the top half of the first round - period and end of story. The running game is important but not anywhere near what it used to be.

 

Do I think we have turned a corner as an organization? Maybe. I can't fault the current regime for past regime's picks. However, we need to hold the current regime accountable to learn from what has happened here previously. Taking RB's in the first round will not turn a franchise around. Maybe if we were NE with Brady adding a really talented role player like Spiller makes sense but not for the Bills in that draft.

 

How true indeed!!! What I don't fully agree with are your comments in your prior post wrt Whitner.

 

Generally speaking, fans give first round picks more room imo. So do GMs who fear looking stupid. Whitner played out his entire obscene contract for the Bills. As I recall, the Bills paid him approx. 30 million dollars. 30 MILLION DOLLARS!!!! To make things worse, he actually held out, AND had of field issues. He was defended by fans much of the time and to this day, some will point to his pro bowl appearance with the 49ers as proof that he is a good player.

 

When the Bills drafted Spiller, Mr. Wilson commented that the Bills needed "more excitement." While true, this indicated to me (JMO) that this was more of a business decision than a football decision. Again, jmo.

 

In 2013, the Bills drafted a qb (raw but at least he is a qb), a promising receiver, a LB who looks like a star, and a receiver with speed in the first 3 rounds. They also managed to get Robey as a UDFA, and this is to be highly praised. That said, you are 100% on target that this front office owes it to the fans to run away from the idiotic drafts of the past.

 

Like I said, great post!