Interesting note on QBs

[ColdBlueNorth]

Really is not one or the other.

 

We should not reach for a QB in the first round if there is a LT that is more likely to succeed at the next level, or we go for a sure pick DT or LB if he is there. This team needs some help, but the re-tooling could be just a few years away with the right moves.

 

This team needs to tweak both lines and needs a solid QB, if we get Butler and Wood back healthy and pickup a serviceable LT, then a rookie QB may have a chance to develop - provided we have the right coaching staff in place.

 

I like the potential of Nelson, and Johnson as complimentary receivers next to Evans - Hardy is an unknown. Jackson is a stud with 3 solid years left in him if he can stay healthy. Fine and Schouman are both good TE's and it hurt losing them both so early in the year - hopefully the come back healthy.

 

The defense was not too bad for how often they were on the field - we have the most stacked secondary in the league. They were playing at a pretty high level at the end of the year, and that is without McKelvin who's bone-headed special teams play aside, is still a rare talent in the backfield. Not sure with Yobouty there are times he flashes some incredible closing speed and for the few games he played healthy he had that solid Ohio state run-support tackling that reminded me a bit of another Ohio state product we lost to MN.

 

What the defense needs is two playmakers on the line a big run-stuffing mauler and an edge rusher (Maybin needs to grow a pair - or just grow. The Jury is still out on this young product, but holding out and playing like crap is not a winning formula). They also need some quality depth at LB.

 

But the argument that you have to draft a Qb early... I don't know. Put any decent rookie QB behind a bad line with sub-standard coaching you end up with the David Carr syndrome - a shell-shocked, jumpy, mechanics all out-of-wack, no-confidence player with the potential beaten right out of him.

[Malazan]

Tampa Bay has one of the better OLs in the game, and their offense isn't going anywhere unless Freeman develops.

 

I'll take a great QB behind a mediocre OL any day over a mediocre QB behind a great OL. Whats the point o giving your QB all day to throw if he can't hit the passes?

 

Where's this great QB that's available?

[dave mcbride]

Adding offensive linemen solves nothing. The Bills don't have a QB, and they need one. zThe league is QB-driven, and without one you can't do much. Of course, they need offensive linemen, but the second round is where you can go for that (Flozell Adams, Matt Light, Marcus McNeill, etc.). Clausen is certainly worthy of a top ten pick, but he'll probably be gone, unfortunately. I expect he'll be a top five pick, and possibly the top pick overall.

[dave mcbride]

Where's this great QB that's available?

Clausen is the real deal. He's an excellent, productive player who can make all the throws. Don't blame him for the 37-34 losses ...

[Malazan]

Clausen is the real deal. He's an excellent, productive player who can make all the throws. Don't blame him for the 37-34 losses ...

 

and he'll be available at 9?

[Red Squirrel]

A post that makes sense. Everyone wants to draft a QB with the first pick. First I will put out there that I hate Fitz. He is terrible, and was terrible last year in CIN. Edwards and Brohm still have potential and I think you have to start with the OL. Do we need to draft a OL with the first pick? I would say no because that doesn't fix anything then put another Rookie on a young inexperienced OL. They need to draft a LB and use FA to pick up at least a LT if not another OL position. I also think Edwards or Brohm need to be giving a chance. YEAH YEAH YEAH, "Edwards has had his chance". Got it. Levitre, Wood, Harga, Butler have had their's as well. Dump them all if you think that is the correct way to go. Build a line this year and put noodle arm or Brohm back there next year to see what they got behind a OL that can block.

 

Fitz as primary passer: 5-4 (won last 3 in Cincy last year, too)

Edwards: 1-5

 

I'm not in love with Fitz, either. He had a few games where it looked like if he tried to pee on the field, he would have missed it. But the record is the record. The *team* plays far better with Fitz, and Edwards needs to reestablish himself somewhere else.

[/dev/null]

and he'll be available at 9?

Sure he'll be available at #9

And Suh will be there for us in the 2nd

And McClain in the 3rd

 

The rest of the world doesn't have the same inside information as TSW

[Orton's Arm]

Yeah because drafting a first round QB is a sure thing. Just ask Jamarcus Russell, Brady Quinn, Matt Leinart, Alex Smith, Jason Campbell, JP Losman, Kyle Boller, Rex Grossman, David Carr, Joey Harrington, and Patrick Ramsey

What position do you think is a sure thing in the first round?

 

The last two times the Bills used first round picks on defensive ends, they got Aaron Maybin and Erik Flowers. (Not that Maybin is necessarily a bust--or a defensive end, for that matter.)

 

The last time the Bills used a first round pick on a defensive tackle, they got John McCargo.

 

The last two times the Bills used first round picks on defensive backs, they got Leodis McKelvin and Donte Whitner. It's too soon to determine if McKelvin is a bust, but the same can't be said of Whitner.

 

The last time the Bills used a first round pick on an offensive tackle, they ended up with Mike Williams.

 

The last time the Bills used a first round pick on a running back, they ended up with Marshawn Lynch.

 

Anyone who thinks there's such a thing as a risk-free position to pick in the first round is fooling himself. The selection of any player, at any position, represents a calculated risk.

 

Some risks are more worth taking than others. For a team to be a serious threat in the playoffs, it needs game changers. If a player has little chance of being a game-changer (as was the case with Whitner), there's insufficient potential upside to balance out the risk that he'll be a bust. Conversely, a quarterback who demonstrates the accuracy and mental bandwidth to eventually play at a Pro Bowl level has very significant upside, and is typically a risk well worth taking.

[billsfan89]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/200...&id=4802190

 

"Any franchise down on its luck need only look at this season's playoff teams to figure what it must do. It must find a bona fide quarterback. Each of this season's 12 playoff teams has a quarterback who has been, or is going to, the Pro Bowl, or who was a first-round pick. Quarterbacks are the stars of the game, and with the exception of the New York Jets, they're the stars of this year's postseason teams.

 

Arizona has Kurt Warner, Dallas has Tony Romo, Green Bay has Aaron Rodgers, Minnesota has Brett Favre, New Orleans has Drew Brees, Philadelphia has Donovan McNabb, Baltimore has Joe Flacco, Cincinnati has Carson Palmer, Indianapolis has Peyton Manning, New England has Tom Brady, the New York Jets have Mark Sanchez and San Diego has Philip Rivers. It's a quarterback league -- same as it always was."

 

Appreciate the need to grab an OT and fix the line, but if Nix believes in a QB in the 1st round, I don't know how you pass on him.

 

Wow you need a good QB to win in the NFL who knew. I think that if Bradford or Clausen are available at pick 9 you take them but if you have to choose between Tim Tebow (Sorry Tebow fans his release point makes him a project) and all the other QB's (remember no Mallet he is going back to school) I say pass on those guys.

 

In any draft its about taking the right guy at the best possible position. If you feel there isn't a top QB left on the board the you go to your next biggest need and that is LT. If you feel that there isn't a LT worth taking at pick 9 you then look to take the best defensive front 7 player. Its that simple if you don't want Tim Tebow take Anthony Davis or Bruce Campbell if you don't like those guys take McLain that's my thought process.

[Thurman#1]

+1,000,000

 

 

I am no expert, but none of the QB talent impresses me this year for what we need in Buffalo.

 

 

You're dead on, but there's a further problem.

 

Anytime a guy impresses everyone enough that we're pretty sure he has a good shot at being a franchise QB, he'll be drafted in the top 5 or so. And we're not likely to be that bad that we can get a top 5 pick. Yet we still have to get a QB from somewhere.

[Thurman#1]

great, and out of the people this genius(schefter) listed, 3 of the 4 that have won superbowls were not drafted in the first round.

and of those 3 of the 4 superbowl winning qb's, none would have even had a chance if it wasnt for their teams regular starter going down with injuries.

so we would have been saying "kurt who?, brett who, tom who?"

 

 

I'd disagree with that last bit. None of them would have even had a chance AT THAT TIME ilf it wasn't for their team's regular starter going down with injuries.

[Thurman#1]

No one will ever read that.

 

 

Exactly. I got about three sentences in and my eyes started to hurt. Please use paragraphs.

[GrudginglyPessimistic]

What do you want to do, wait for the next Drew Brees to hit free agency? That will probably never happen again.

I disagree with that and the recent history says otherwise.

 

I have given up the argument I had been making ad nauseam pointing out that no first round choice had delivered the team that picked him an SB win since Dallas picked Aikman way back win as the last four SBs were won by teams by QBs they picked in the 1st (though this is only 3 picks since RoboQB led Pitts to wins twice). However, one need simply expand this to the last 10 SBs to find this includes guys available as FAs like not only Warner, Trent Dilfer and even two time loser FA Brad Johnson who was cut by the team that picked him and was snatched to lead a team to the SB at QB.

 

There is heavy representation of 1st round picks that makes the statement in the article quite reasonable that IF there is a QB you think can be a franchise guy available at your pick (#9) then maybe take him. However, looking at the last 10 SBs an equal number of players (3) were on the market as FAs so your claim that this happens once in a lifetime is simply incorrect.

 

In fact, through Tom Brady getting 3 SB wins drafting the right player in the sixth round is a fine way to get your franchise QB.

 

Yes Virginia, the Bills must acquire franchise talent at QB. The problem is that there only appear to be two players many judge as first round talents (Clausen and Tebow) and that the Bills would in fact need to trade up to get them.

 

Doing this would be quite problematic for the Bills who rather than being able to follow the RoboQB model employed by Pitts where their 1st round drafted QB proved to be a final piece that put a strong team over the top, the Bills are likely three or more stars short of having a good team. If they spent their first rounder on a QB and likely needed to give up another early pick to step up from #9 to the top 5 picks or so to get him they would not build a winning team for quite a while.

 

The more prudent choice to try to find a QB capable of leading them to an SB win is to try to find the 3 times every 10 years (rather than once in a lifetime as you falsely claim) opportunity to get this QB in FA or by trade, or late in the draft, or any method which is easily just as viable as the first round pick.

[Orton's Arm]

There is heavy representation of 1st round picks that makes the statement in the article quite reasonable that IF there is a QB you think can be a franchise guy available at your pick (#9) then maybe take him. However, looking at the last 10 SBs an equal number of players (3) were on the market as FAs so your claim that this happens once in a lifetime is simply incorrect.

But look at the three quarterbacks in question. It wasn't exactly as though the Ravens of 2000 won that Super Bowl on the arm of Trent Dilfer and the strength of the passing game. Dilfer played better than some people gave him credit for, granted, but you wouldn't exactly call him franchise material.

 

Brad Johnson was a step up from Dilfer, and it was highly anomalous that the Vikings replaced/released a quarterback of that caliber when he was in the prime of his career. It was also very strange that Dan Snyder forced the Redskins to choose Jeff George over Johnson. But even at his best, Johnson was no more than an above-average quarterback. He was no longer fully in his prime by the time he got to Tampa. The Bucs won the Super Bowl mostly on the strength of their defense.

 

Kurt Warner also led his team to a Super Bowl win within the last ten years. He played ridiculously well that year, as though he was trying to show Hall of Fame quarterbacks what a real quarterback looks like! There's no question the Rams got better play from the QB position than they could possibly have hoped for.

 

But how often does some guy bagging groceries or playing in the Arena League turn into a Hall of Fame quarterback? It's great when something like that happens, but I can't think of very many recent Kurt Warner stories. Except, of course, Kurt Warner's.

 

The early part of the first round is a more reliable way to get a top-tier quarterback than using a sixth round pick in the hopes of the next Tom Brady, or signing some guy at the grocery store in hopes of the next Kurt Warner. Teams should still be open to finding hidden gems like Brady or Warner, and not just at the quarterback position. But to rely on a "draft a QB in the sixth round/get the next Brady" strategy would be . . . reckless at best.

[first_and_ten]

It's all about the QB in the NFL. Until we find a stud QB we will suck. We can sit here and B word and whine about lines all we want. If we had just about ANY of those QB's listed we would most likely have a winning record this year.

 

Time to cut the Bull **** and find a damn good QB

 

I hear Trent Edwards might be available

[Nanker]

Brady was a 6th round pick and Romo was undrafted. UNDRAFTED!

[/dev/null]

I hear Trent Edwards might be available

OMG I've heard of him.

 

Get 'r dun Butler Donahoe Marv Russ Buddy

[Big Turk]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/200...&id=4802190

 

"Any franchise down on its luck need only look at this season's playoff teams to figure what it must do. It must find a bona fide quarterback. Each of this season's 12 playoff teams has a quarterback who has been, or is going to, the Pro Bowl, or who was a first-round pick. Quarterbacks are the stars of the game, and with the exception of the New York Jets, they're the stars of this year's postseason teams.

 

Arizona has Kurt Warner, Dallas has Tony Romo, Green Bay has Aaron Rodgers, Minnesota has Brett Favre, New Orleans has Drew Brees, Philadelphia has Donovan McNabb, Baltimore has Joe Flacco, Cincinnati has Carson Palmer, Indianapolis has Peyton Manning, New England has Tom Brady, the New York Jets have Mark Sanchez and San Diego has Philip Rivers. It's a quarterback league -- same as it always was."

 

Appreciate the need to grab an OT and fix the line, but if Nix believes in a QB in the 1st round, I don't know how you pass on him.

 

And this is surprising to anyone how? I swear the stuff that is taken as "huge findings" by people is more or less common sense...

[spartacus]

Clausen is the real deal. He's an excellent, productive player who can make all the throws. Don't blame him for the 37-34 losses ...

 

"Clausen is the real deal."

 

so was Brady Quinn.

[MRW]

It's more important to have a great QB than a great O-line, but that isn't the only consideration when it comes to drafting. The fact that you need a QB doesn't mean that one worthy of a high pick is available in the draft. If the Bills think that there is a franchise QB there for the taking, then great; but my one hope for the draft is that they don't delude themselves into thinking a guy is worthy of the #9 pick just because he's the top guy left at a position of need.