bobobonators Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 NewEra: I hear ya. One can dream. I figure there are 3 very good TE's in this draft and ONE of them should still be there in the 2nd round when we pick. Maybe not. I'm hoping Matthews' 40-time at the combine is average so he's still there in the 2nd. So ya, I'm probably dreaming. haha.
Gray Beard Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 marrone: 50% chance of being good. manuel: 50% chance of being good, 10% chance of being good enough to carry the team.
FireChan Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 I have as much faith in Marrone's and Manuel's success as I do in pixie dust and leprechauns. I won't believe in either until I see them.
Direhard Fan Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 Marrone 90%. This guy has the NFL experience. He will make the right adjustments with the attitude players. I believe "What a difference a year makes" will come true. None of this team had a full year to plan and evaluate. I really believe he will show his full ability this coming year. Manuel-- not so much. Talks a good story. We will see. Thad is no dummy. He might be one that flew under the radar.
Sig1Hunter Posted January 2, 2014 Posted January 2, 2014 I'm speaking of his locker room comment about a crucial dropped pass in the first half of one of the recent games, something like "it really didn't matter, it was early in the game." I seem to recall that he did a few dumb things early in the season as well. Is this what you expect out of a veteran receiver who is supposed to be setting an example for the younger guys? Obviously, he had to miss time because of his mother's passing, but two games? Even if he took 10 days off, he still had time to get back and suit up for NE. He played the day after she died. The man bleeds Buffalo Bills Football. That should be unquestioned. Life > football.
Homey D. Clown Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 Yep, I'm longing for the days of threads about blue pants. I hate the blue pants...
Dragonborn10 Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 To be honest I question Marrone a bit more than EJ at this point. I think Marrone made many critical mistakes during the season that cost the team - most of which have been discussed on this board. His entire handling of the back QB position was a disaster. It cost us the Browns game. The onsides kick against the Patriots was not needed. Poor clock management at the end of the half and the end of games. These are things I did not expect from him. What I saw from EJ was a kid who was raw but did not turn the ball over. I saw too much Trent and not enough Fitz/Kelly. I saw a kid who was coached to stay in the pocket too much. Perhaps if he had not gotten hurt in the pre-season he may have lit it up like Cam did his rookie year. The media was ready to run Cam and his coach out of the NFL in September. Now they are the No.2 team in the NFC. Perhaps we can give EJ just a bit more time.
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 I think Marrone has a shot as long as he gets rid of unproductive assistants like he got rid of unproductive players.....minus tj graham. Crossman needs to go. He's been bad everywhere he's been. He's bad now. Fire him ASAP Marrone. Hackett isn't going anywhere after 1 year. He needs to step it up. I like marrones mentality from what I've seen. He's got a shot if he gets some good QB play and if he selects the right DC when Pettine leaves after a year or 2. Ej......eh. Wanna love him. Try to love him. Can't embrace the thought of not trying to upgrade our QB situation. I think Ej needs to get pushed. I'm all for drafting a QB or adding someone like mccown. Thad is better served as a 3rd stringer IMO. The one thing that REALLY bothers me about Ej is that fact that he had 3 knee injuries in one year. Will he ever play a full 16 game season and not get hurt. I know its only one year and the sample size is minimum, but he just seems fragile to me. If there's one thing that can stunt a raw young QBs growth, its injuries. I pretty much agree with this. It's really up in the air to me. Will EJ learn to slide, and will the Bills stress learning to slide to him? Will he start wearing braces? If he does, and if he really buckles down and works like an SOB this off season, I think he has a shot. A little bit, I question whether he really has the drive. Nothing overt, just some little touches here and there that make me question, so I think you are right that he'd do better with someone chasing him.
Gerry Posted January 3, 2014 Author Posted January 3, 2014 Not much in either. Should have hired Lovie Smith as he will have the Bucs in the playoffs before the Bills. While I'm not upset that the Bills drafted Manuel last year, l feel they should draft another QB in the early rounds this year. I don't feel confident that Manuel will become a Top 10 QB in the league, which is exactly what the Bills need with playing against Brady/Belichek twice a year. Totally agree with your thoughts.
reddogblitz Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 Coach Marrone - Still have not seen enough in the way of results to get on the band wagon. I hope he can be good for us and get us to playoffs but my confidence in him is not real high. The whole "accountability" nonsense sounds like something out of a new age management theory hard back you could buy at the airport book store. My hope level is way higher than my confidence level at this point. EJ Manuel - I saw some really good things from EJ this year. Some games good, some not so good. You know, like a rookie. He has showed some signs of clutchiness like in the Panthers and Falcons games. With the rest of the talent around him we should be able to have a winning season anyway. The honeymoon is over. Time to win or go home. Go BILLS !!
Fan in San Diego Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 With another good draft and a few good FA pickups. I think we can make the playoffs next/this year. We lost a few close games and had a shot at playoffs this year.
White Linen Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) I have about 85% faith that Marrone is a coach that can win consistantly in the NFL. I've always believed that the best coaches have a solid unwavering philosophy. Marrone seems to be an unwavering principled type of person (consistant). Although I think he's a bit too eager to tell everyone about his philosophies, but that doesn't bother me too much as I feel like he's just trying to satisfy people. My second belief in a coach is his ability to build a strong relationship with his starting QB. So far relationships appear to be something that comes easy for Marrone. Unfortunately for Marrone and many other quality coaches their success depends largely on the performance of their QB. There's just no way around that. If the starting QB doesn't perform everything erods from there. Every other strong quality a coach may have will sadly become irrelevant. Now to EJ. I think he has most of the physical and intangeable tools to become successful. So from that standpoint I'm about 90% confident in him. Unfortunately to become a great NFL QB IMO only 50% is physical and the rest is mental. It's so difficult for a fan to know where his strengths and weaknesses are in his ability to study defenses. Based only on being priveledged to game watching, I'm only about 50% confident based on his rookie performance. I even think a portion of his mental game contributed to the first injury in the season. Knowing where he'll be next year with this is so difficult but I'll put another 10% on top of his rookie grade of 50%, So I'm 90% confident in his physical and intangeable capabilites and 60% on his classroom capabilities. As mentioned if each is about 50% my faith in EJ being the guy is 75%. Edited January 3, 2014 by Triple Threat
Johnny Hammersticks Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 I remain confident in Marrone. I hope he has the guys to make some much needed personnel decisions in the off-season (players and coaches). Manuel, I also continue to have confidence in. With an offseason to further develop, I think he will make strides. Of course, this is provided that he is able to stay healthy. I think we make the playoffs next season.
BigBuff423 Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 Faith in Marrone begins with trust in his words to follow his actions. Step 1, fire Crossman and that credibility comes back. Step 2, demonstrate that the Offensive play-calling was subpar by outwardly indicating they will begin to work with Hackett on calling a better game and that the Defense's off-season program will be focused on stopping the run...and then do it. As for Manuel, big thing for him is to play all 16 games all the way through. You can NOT...can NOT, be a good to great QB in this league and continuously miss portions of, let alone entire, games. My major frustration with EJ right now is we just don't know what the BILLS have in him. Do I think the franchise should spend another high draft pick on a QB right now? No...I would be ok with a 4th rounder or later, but I would rather have another vet come in and compete with him, say Chad Henne who has played well at times, and let EJ outplay him during the OTAs, minicamp and training camp, with pre-season showing EJ is ready..and if not, then let Henne go ride the bull (or bison). Then, if next year EJ can't do it...pull the plug and draft your franchise QB...you'd hope - see EJ and repeat. As a follow up: Ravens fired Running Backs coach Wilbert Montgomery....if the Ravens can fire a coach who is responsible for that running game...can't Marrone do it for a ST Coach whose unit was miserable??
thewildrabbit Posted January 3, 2014 Posted January 3, 2014 Faith in Marrone begins with trust in his words to follow his actions. Step 1, fire Crossman and that credibility comes back. Step 2, demonstrate that the Offensive play-calling was subpar by outwardly indicating they will begin to work with Hackett on calling a better game and that the Defense's off-season program will be focused on stopping the run...and then do it. As for Manuel, big thing for him is to play all 16 games all the way through. You can NOT...can NOT, be a good to great QB in this league and continuously miss portions of, let alone entire, games. My major frustration with EJ right now is we just don't know what the BILLS have in him. Do I think the franchise should spend another high draft pick on a QB right now? No...I would be ok with a 4th rounder or later, but I would rather have another vet come in and compete with him, say Chad Henne who has played well at times, and let EJ outplay him during the OTAs, minicamp and training camp, with pre-season showing EJ is ready..and if not, then let Henne go ride the bull (or bison). Then, if next year EJ can't do it...pull the plug and draft your franchise QB...you'd hope - see EJ and repeat. Accountability starts with him and his coaching staff. What really stinks is this is a great year to draft a QB, and last year was a great year to draft an O lineman.
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