bills_fan Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Interesting comments by Greggo in the article on page 1....taking it with a grain of salt becase obviously hindsight is 20/20, but.... ""I think Gregg Williams is an excellent coach," said Vic Carucci, longtime Bills' beat writer for the Buffalo News and now a senior columnist with NFL.com. "And I think he could succeed as a head coach, but that might not have been the right time for him. If you want to simplify where it all went wrong for Gregg, he got only a half season of really good football out of Drew Bledsoe. If that trade works out, and Bledsoe gives him maybe a couple of years of good football, Gregg Williams is probably still Buffalo's head coach. But it blew up on him in Buffalo because Bledsoe blew up. I think that more than anything did in Gregg Williams. In fact, the quarterback thing has done in every Bills coach since Marv Levy. "Now you've got Dick Jauron trying to get it done with Trent Edwards, and the jury is still out there." Ironically, Williams now finds himself working for an organization that features quarterback Drew Brees, a player Williams coveted in his first year with Buffalo in 2001. Brees ended up being taken by the San Diego Chargers with the first pick of the second round, the 32nd overall player selected. "If we had drafted Drew Brees, I may still be in Buffalo; that's true," Williams said, smiling. "Because he's a special person, and I said it when I was there. I was on the board for wanting him to come there. I said this at the time when I interviewed him at the (scouting) combine; he's in the top five of guys I ever interviewed. We all try to define what 'it' is. I can't tell you what 'it' is, but I know he's got it. When he left the room that night, we spent a lot more time on him. "I'm glad I'm reunited with him right now. I just had to chase him around instead of him chasing me around." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVUFootball29 Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Lest we forget, that Brees was about to be run out of San Diego for poor production which he then stepped up as soon as Philip Rivers was drafted in the 1st round. Brees in Buffalo during those years would have been no more productive then JP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cage Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Lest we forget, that Brees was about to be run out of San Diego for poor production which he then stepped up as soon as Philip Rivers was drafted in the 1st round. Brees in Buffalo during those years would have been no more productive then JP. Yep, you got it! Everyone on the board would have bashed him as a bust. We would have let him go just as they did and then where would we be... lamenting what could have been if we had just given Brees a bit more time to develop. Think of the amount of anguish thats been saved. For all the things that haunt Bills fans, there's not too many ex players that we lament losing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyJay1234 Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Ohhh Greggo.. I have to call bull **** on this one... 2001 Bills had both Flutie and Johnson in the fold. They are forced to choose.. They choose Johnson.. If they were seriously interested in Brees they would have/should have kept Flutie and drafted Brees and give him a couple years to develop. Aka exactly what San Diego did when they drafted Brees.. Now yes it did take Brees a couple of years to develop and only after they drafted Rivers. I love revisionist history like this. I can always remember Marv saying that he really wanted this Brett Farve character but they already had Jim Kelly...... Blah Blah Blah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPicc2114 Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Yep, you got it! Everyone on the board would have bashed him as a bust. We would have let him go just as they did and then where would we be... lamenting what could have been if we had just given Brees a bit more time to develop. Think of the amount of anguish thats been saved. For all the things that haunt Bills fans, there's not too many ex players that we lament losing. Yet another reason to stick with Trent. Sometimes it takes a QB 4 or 5 years to get good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flbillsfan#1 Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Yet another reason to stick with Trent. Sometimes it takes a QB 4 or 5 years to get good. I agree, if Trent can stay healthy this year. If he gets injured again, I don't think it matters how good he could be. An injury prone QB is of little value no matter how good he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Ohhh Greggo.. I have to call bull **** on this one... 2001 Bills had both Flutie and Johnson in the fold. They are forced to choose.. They choose Johnson.. If they were seriously interested in Brees they would have/should have kept Flutie and drafted Brees and give him a couple years to develop. Aka exactly what San Diego did when they drafted Brees.. Now yes it did take Brees a couple of years to develop and only after they drafted Rivers. I love revisionist history like this. I can always remember Marv saying that he really wanted this Brett Farve character but they already had Jim Kelly...... Blah Blah Blah... Just because Williams was interested in Brees doesn't mean Donahoe and the rest of the team was interested in Brees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003Contenders Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Note also that, in addition to the comments about how it took Brees 3-4 years to finally develop, I seem to remember concerns about his being undersized and not having the necessary arm strength to play in somewhat cold climates. That fear appeared to have seen fruition in the one game that he played in Buffalo back in 2002, when he clearly did NOT have enough arm to get the ball downfield and was benched in favor of Flutie. I don't know whether his arm is stronger these days -- or if that limitation has been downplayed because he plays more than half of his games indoors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Why on earth, with all the QBs this franchise's coaching has destroyed in the past ten years, would anyone think Brees would have been anything other than a bust in Buffalo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Why on earth, with all the QBs this franchise's coaching has destroyed in the past ten years, would anyone think Brees would have been anything other than a bust in Buffalo? Because unlike the slew of QBs that have come thru here since kelly retired(collins, hobert, van pelt, RJ, flute, bledsoe, losman) brees actually knows how to play the position. I love it when people say this franchise has ruined so many qbs. Like the qbs were not accountable for nothing. Jesus Christ himself could of been coaching the Bills & Bledsoe would of still held onto the ball too long & Losman would still be playing for UFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Being interested and making the call are two different things. Being interested gets you a place on the stadium wall. Making the call is what keeps you in a head coaching job. I just looked at that draft and we certainly got a bunch of good players out of it. Travis Henry, Nate Clements, Jonas Jennings, Schobel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahbonas Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 We could have drafted Joe namath at the time and it would not matter. The common theme to none of the QB's we drafted working out is that the Bills forever had neglected drafting quality offensive lineman on day 1 of the draft - thats the common theme to poor QB play and RB's not playing to expectations. Now we sign an Off center and draft 2 Guards high and surprise surprise we are getting top QB play and Fred Jackson looks like an allpro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Jabber Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 The main reason why we haven't had a winning QB in so many years was due to the fact that the Bills FO didn't do enough to upgrade the O-line. I give credit to Levy for trying during his time as GM. I think the overhaul on the O-line was way overdue and I really like thos year's O-line. Granted, we did have some terrible QB's, but a good O-line will make a ton of difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LurkingSaintsFan Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Brees' success can be attributed to Sean Payton. You'll be hard pressed to find a more dynamic coach/QB combo in the NFL. Payton had success in the past with turning old, sent-to-the-pasture QBs around, ie Collins in NY, Bledsoe in Dallas, and Brees came into a prime position. I can say with confidence that if Brees had gone to another team, especially one with a defense-minded head coach, then he wouldn't be having the success he's having now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmjoyce113 Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 I'm confident Joe Montana would have sucked in his prime if he had played in Buffalo over the last 8 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Brees' success can be attributed to Sean Payton. You'll be hard pressed to find a more dynamic coach/QB combo in the NFL. Payton had success in the past with turning old, sent-to-the-pasture QBs around, ie Collins in NY, Bledsoe in Dallas, and Brees came into a prime position. I can say with confidence that if Brees had gone to another team, especially one with a defense-minded head coach, then he wouldn't be having the success he's having now. Ah, Brees was pretty good with SD also. I am just amazed at the attitude of this board on Quarterbacking. I almost get the feeling that people think as long as you have a good line you could plug anybody in at qb. A good qb could make a bad line look good. A bad qb could make a good line look bad. That is how important the qb position is. It is everything in football. Find yourself a qb & you got the foundation in place. Everybody else thinks it is the other way around, I do not think it is. Manning or Brady will make any offensive line look good. Same could be said that JP Losman or Drew Bledsoe will make any offensive line look bad. We are starting the youngest offensive line in the history of the NFL yet the offense looks so far decent. Why???? Because Edwards so far has shown the ability to know where to go with the football. Hopefully it continues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 I'm confident Joe Montana would have sucked in his prime if he had played in Buffalo over the last 8 years. Name one qb that we had in the past 10yrs that went on somewhere else & had success? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Note also that, in addition to the comments about how it took Brees 3-4 years to finally develop, I seem to remember concerns about his being undersized and not having the necessary arm strength to play in somewhat cold climates. That fear appeared to have seen fruition in the one game that he played in Buffalo back in 2002, when he clearly did NOT have enough arm to get the ball downfield and was benched in favor of Flutie. I don't know whether his arm is stronger these days -- or if that limitation has been downplayed because he plays more than half of his games indoors. Drew Brees played his college ball at Purdue. Indiana is certainly not the Mecca of sunshine. He had sterling stats in college in a very northern climate. As others have stated it took him a few years to develop. Nothing unusual for a qb. He is now one of the best qbs in the game. Miami a few years ago had the opportunity to sign him. Their medical staff refused to give their blessing beause of an issue with his shoulder. I'm sure Miami would love to have a do-over on the Brees acquistion issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LurkingSaintsFan Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Ah, Brees was pretty good with SD also. I am just amazed at the attitude of this board on Quarterbacking. I almost get the feeling that people think as long as you have a good line you could plug anybody in at qb. A good qb could make a bad line look good. A bad qb could make a good line look bad. That is how important the qb position is. It is everything in football. Find yourself a qb & you got the foundation in place. Everybody else thinks it is the other way around, I do not think it is. Manning or Brady will make any offensive line look good. Same could be said that JP Losman or Drew Bledsoe will make any offensive line look bad. We are starting the youngest offensive line in the history of the NFL yet the offense looks so far decent. Why???? Because Edwards so far has shown the ability to know where to go with the football. Hopefully it continues. He was pretty good in San Diego but his numbers were nothing like they are now. The most he threw for when he was there was 3576, and has thrown for 4400+ for 3 straight years in NOLA. The rest I also agree with for the most part. Last season Brees led the NFL with 635 pass attempts and was sacked only 13 times. Some may think the o-line was great, but the reality is that Brees has one of the quickest releases in football and a great pocket awareness that allows him to avoid defenders. The o-line gives him just enough time to do what he has to do. Me personally, I think our o-line is barely above average. Our run blocking last year left a lot to be desired. At the same time, a really bad o-line will hurt any QB, regardless of who's back there. I can say that because I'm a Saints fan. I've seen some REALLY bad o-lines. We have a saying in NOLA that if Archie Manning had gone to Pittsburgh he'd easily have 4 rings, and maybe more. He's the perfect example of a really good QB behind a really bad o-line. In '78 they finally started to get it together and he finished 2nd in the NFC in passing, just behind Staubach. Then the 1-15 cocaine season hit one year later (Not him, but the rest of the team). I think the biggest factor is the system, and if it's designed for that particular QB's skills. Manning is perfect for their system, and so is Brady for theirs. Montana was perfect for the 49er's West Coast offense, but I don't think he would have succeeded as well as say, Oakland or Miami. Elway put up big numbers, but they couldn't win the big one until Shannahan installed a new system there. You get some coaches that aren't flexible at all and want the QB to fit into it, rather than make the system around the QBs strengths. JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rackemrack Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Lest we forget, that Brees was about to be run out of San Diego for poor production which he then stepped up as soon as Philip Rivers was drafted in the 1st round. Brees in Buffalo during those years would have been no more productive then JP. difference is, brees became one of the best in the league after he left san diego, after JP left buffalo, he's no longer in the NFL. brees is one of the best in the league Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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