Mango

To revise history, the only way the bills don't draft a QB in 2013 is not to cut Fitz. This talk of not taking one is silly. We didn't have one on the roster.

Holcomb no, Edwards no, Losman yes (sorry I was a teenager, we all do dumb stuff then) Currently I really like EJ as a person, and really like his skill set. I liked the pick at the time as well. I think if he could put them together he could be a franchise QB. Right now the chances of that are 50/50 at best. He's won some games so chances are he'll be a pretty good backup. So far Orton has made some plays that I have immediately thought, "wow EJ couldn't/wouldn't make that throw" Fitzy? I was a fan, and similar to Orton, don't think he was ever the answer. The guy made our bad OL look passable with toughness and a quick release. Fitz is what he is, a journeyman and I wish him the best. All in all, I think it's a pretty realistic outlook at our QB's.

I fully support the mocking. Mostly because it's well deserved.

Not to say I told you so...but I told you so. I was mocked for weeks each time I mentioned it.

The way you have it written, I took it much differently. With no QB coach, Hackett wasn't spending much time with the QB position as a whole not EJ in particular. Unless Whaley mentioned specifically EJ was alone for 6 weeks while injured (reg season), then to me that is every reason to suggest the deficiency here is more than just situational. Not EJ specific, but positionally. Even now it would make sense as to why Ortons demeanor is getting more production alone out of the position. I am no Hackett fan, and I was high on EJ. So there is some bias. Now I just want production out of the position however it may come. As I have agreed with other posters, Hackett I don't think is ready for the big leagues. Forget rookie QB's, not having a QB coach while you run an entire offense and staff is silly and destined not to work when your top 2 QB's are injury prone and young. We can talk about injuries all we want, and disasters, fact of the matter is the guy (Hackett/Marrone) didn't respect the most important position in all sports nearly enough. As a professional coach, yes the ideal scenario is to have athletes govern themselves. That is much different than coaching themselves. Somebody implied this was Marrones philosophy, which is fine. But the aspects of technicalities in any sport should fall on the coachig staff first and foremost. Teammates keep eachother in check socially and emotionally. Nights and weekends. If somebody is having an off day, not preparing well, or treating their body/sport with the respect it deserves, those are peer issues. Running proper routes should start with the staff, and only be helped by your collegue. That's how big boys do it. If it took The staff a season, 4 games, and Kyle Orton to get that done, then we have a serious issue. Somebody compared it to Schwartz, great, works for some coaches, Kyle Orton is your QB, not your coach. Nor is he Peyton Manning, basically his own OC.

I am very confused. You think it is plausible and even in our best interest to move to some zone blocking schemes. If your general point is the personnel isn't good enough I will agree. I am also of the opinion that the group under Gailey was outright bad, but scheme and a super fast release from Fitz masked that quite a bit. I think the idea of moving to what Gailey did with less talent really masks the overall wants and needs of the team. What we are really asking for is for a coach to step up and out coach or out think the guys on the other sideline. Put players in a greater position to succeed. Are some, sure! Are our most dynamic, nope. Fine, we can't run an all out spread zone blocking scheme. The point is we seem to be shooting ourselves in the foot. At the rate this offense "adjusts" we will have Chandler lined up wide, Orton behind center with Summer in the backfield, and 8 other blockers/linemen at the line of scrimmage. All in the name of personnel. That is a little hyperbole, but I think the point is that we have yet to scheme to our benefit/to generate greater production. This is not you, but I hate giving coaches a pass based on "first year/time". It is an elite job, only a few people hold the position in the entire world. If you aren't prepared to step in and perform at a professional level almost immediately, then you don't deserve it. This is the NFL, and these are upper management positions more or less. Coaches shouldn't get the same grace period as 20 year-olds right out of college. This is actually a really interesting stat. Again I don't think that line was good, we just found ways to make it work. Doesn't have to be the same way, but Christ do something,

Canadian club isn't bad, if you like rye whiskey, check out rittenhouse rye. Makes a great Manhattan. Go Fortuleza for tequila. Cuervo is barely tequila(seriously) if cost is an issue, giro is a well tequila and better than Cuervo. It's 100% agave. I may have tended a bit of bar over the years.

I blame the fan bases poor choice in booze for our 14 years of futility. We can do better than Cuervo and Genny Light!

I totally agree and by no means want to indict the parents, though I mentioned the district. I don't understand how a school district charged with trying to increase the and benefit the welfare of our children can continue to let a child endanger themselves repeatedly to the point of life altering events. Not to mention the insurance issues. Tonawanda is lucky that these parents aren't sue happy because this could have been a major lawsuit. There are obvious parent responsibilities as well, but still. These issues will have an effect on quality of life for a lifetime. On a larger issue it is this, and stories like these, that shape my opinion on the future of football. A few of these extreme cases with families that take districts to court will make the sport nearly impossible to afford once insurance companies have to pay huge sums in pay outs. The death (if it happens) will start in pop warner and hs, and reach its way to the collegiate level, since most aren't the huge economic engines like Bama. The sport won't fall off the earth entirely but will reduce drastically in size.

I coached a kid in rowing because he had to leave hs football with too many concussions. 6 to be exact. He was only a sophomore at the time. Coached him his JR. year. Not sure how he was allowed to keep playing by the district. He missed a full year of school after the last one. Even now his attendance at school is poor sometimes only once or twice per week with headaches and other concussion issues. Parents have tried every medical option and nothing is helping. They are now moving towards more hollistic options. Kind of throwing a Hail Mary at this point. There are still issues getting through workouts He used to be an A student, now struggles for low Bs and Cs. I never realized or experienced the severity of concussions until I met him. It's pretty insane.

In resigning Dareus. Sure could we replace him with somebody who is at best comparable, but not as good. I think you have to take into consideration KWs age. We can't afford to lose/replace both down the line. Dareus is a must. And is/should be our most important contract extension. I think we have 25 mil in cap space next year, but still need to think about a few years from now in guys like Glenn and Woods. Not to mention Chandler. I know he is a whipping boy, but has been playing well with a "real" NFL QB. I'm fine letting him walk if he wants a big pay day, but the Bills all too often do that without having a replacement on the roster. Based on that you have to plan on resigning him after next season. Note: I don't think Dareus is really replaceable.

I'll bite on this. Just because I'm curious of my perception versus reality. I watch the all 22, and I rarely if ever see anything that I would consider a spread offense. I discount bunch sets. Yes the formation of 4 WR on the field points there, but when 3 are standing next to the RT and the other is still between the numbers, it's nt spread. Official guess < 10% of snaps have a 4/ 5WR set with no TE on the field, and no bunch formations. If I were feeling feisty I would put it under < 5%, But today hasn't been great for me.

that is actually really well put and maybe the most accurate for Hackett at the very least.

I think sometimes the all-22 can be deceiving. I love it though. You have to be careful and look at the defenders before the QB decides where to go with the ball. Once Orton plants and starts the throwing motion defenders and LB's will shift. Making other WR's look open, when in fact the pre throw read was not, or very tight/dangerous. I'll have to look myself later. On my phone now. I have noticed a lot of that from Jeremy White in particular. Not claiming your wrong. I'd just like to see the screen shot from about half a second before that throw. What I am curious about is the linebacker in the endzone. If his original read is what looks like Hogan, then that throw is rough with a closing big body just a few steps away. That said from what I noticed in my watching, if the OL can hold up just a half second longer, Sammy almost always beats his guy out of the break. He has seemed to be good off the line in his route running, but his breaks in and out almost always leave him open, as long as there is time to get to that part of his routes. I posted this part elsewhere, but of you want to beat the bills, I'd play soft on Watkins, press on everybody else. Line as many as you can in the box. The line won't hold for receivers to beat press, Hackett never gets any quick slants called, so play calling seems to never account for the coverage, and the DB needs space to read Watkins route because they will most certainly lose that battle on almost all plays. Just my two cents

Buffalo has to be the only city/franchise content not trying to move on from Orton. Bradford at worst is a better stop gap to drafting a guy in 2 years, at best is our franchise QB. If Orton os the starter again next year we are I. Serious trouble. He will most likely retire if he is listed or the is he is going to be a back up. This offense is in rough shape from OC, OL, and QB. All need upgrades or the futility will continue. If Orton is the QB next year it will be hard for me to watch. Orton is done growing. EJ I guess could , not totally looking like it. The position needs a drastic upgrade from whoever is on the roster today, and that's top to bottom. Also Bradford won't sign an Orton deal, he'll go for at least Fitz's extension money. A Bradford signing also most likely has Spiller and Hughes walk, with an extension for Dareus. Spikes is a grey area depending on what he commands or wants.

In addition more 3 or 4 WR sets not in a bunch formation. There is too much of. Crowd between the hash marks. Even if we have a mismatch somewhere it is easy for the defender to break off and defend either the run or pass. A quick release spread formation would take a lot of the pressure off the OL. Sometimes, and what we are seeing is, that lining up more players at the line brings more defenders with it.

You don't draft a QB worth battling for the starting job if you pick up Stafford. You keep him safe with help at the OL. No way any QB in the 2nd has the talent to push him. That said I'd kick the tires and see what he is asking for.

Not to sound like I am lighting my torch with a pitchfork in the other hand. In all the years, and all the scandals and accusations, can anybody name one D1 college player at a major program that served time for any sort of sexual assault? With 90 full scholarship, rosters over 100, with a ton of teams, over how many years. Just pure statistics claim that there should be a few who went to jail for it right?

This

They don't pay enough to make a big splash in the coaching market. The Quinn's and the Gills will continue to be the hire. Somebody mention NFL talent. I am just going off recollection here, but Quinn's players have been far more successful in the NFL. For what ever that is worth.

or a kickoff specialist...or chris hogan this is false, revisionists history. fitz had the quickest release in the nfl at one point and was one of the most hit qbs in the league

In no particular order. Fred, Dareus, Aaron Williams, Mario Williams

It's also not true

That's the way to beat the Bills. The line won't hold up for the extra time it takes the receivers to get open. I also don't have faith that Hackett will adjust to routes that can beat press coverage.

Lee Smith was actually wide open on a play in the 3rd quarter (I forget when) and Orton went somewhere else underneath. I am on my phone now I'll check later. It was the only Lee Smith siting I saw in all the all-22 Yes I agree with you though. Just thought I'd throw it in. My guess is he isn't a real target out there. Ha