Hapless Bills Fan Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Anyone who watched the team last year knew he was better than Trent. Knew FJ was a very good RB and knew we had a serviceable defense and needed probably a DT and a LB. I think that is the troublesome thing is that we all saw it and you wasted a lot of time trying to mix and match and see who you have on the team and you could have gotten a lot more from this team early by playing them all (Fitz/FJ/WRs/etc) together. Oh well....maybe we just say hey we need 8 more good players on defense and just use FA to form a great great D I dunno, I'm a pretty harsh critic of Chan/Nix and skeptical because Modrak is still there, but I do give Gailey a pass on that one. I think it's probably hard to separate the scheme, the coaching, the line, and the player when watching film. I think on paper (or on film, or in practice) Trent looks better than Fitz. Better mechanics, better release. Football not played on paper, played on grass in pads. It's hard to measure heart and guts and "football sense" in practice. When the whistle blows, Fitz wants it. He wants it bad. He puts it all out there - his body, his brain, his mouth. Trent seemed to want it to be over, unless it was "going his way". I also think (just my worthless opinion) that Chan was legit in saying they did not want to trade Lynch through spring and TC. I think Chan had a role in mind for him. I think after a couple losses, there was some locker room behavior that led Chan to feel Lynch was a bad influence and had to go, FAST, do not pass go, do not shop for the best offer, get him on a plane pronto. Again, just my opinion. I guess you might say that should have been predicted, too, from last year, everyone deserves a chance, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBuff423 Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Did Gaily not have access to the game tapes of Edwards? Nix said it all when he said that they wanted to see Edwards for themselves. Honestly, it is not an easy thing to hear because most of us on this message board saw that Trent had all that unrealized potential but couldn't harness the necessary focus to be a gamer in the NFL. But Nix went on to make a good point that I hadn't heard anyone make on this board: he said that the NFL is riddled with good players that used to play in Buffalo and they didn't want to see another guy be cut or traded from this team that is playing well for another team that COULD have played well for the Bills. In other words, they wanted the opportunity to evaluate his skills and game playing ability BEFORE they made a rash and hasty decision. And not for nothing, but had they cut or traded Trent and IF, big IF, he went somewhere else and played lights-out, this board would have been the FIRST place to torch Nix and Gailey saying that they couldn't evaluate talent, that they should have worked with him more, yada, yada, yada....I didn't understand it at the time and wondered why he would be cut two weeks into the season, but having heard the explanation it was Nix's way of saying, "this is the year we take stock of our team for ourselves", even Gailey said about Stevie J in his recent press conference that he was led to believe that Stevie's talents and abilities were NOT to be counted on but that he made up his own mind and lo and behold, Stevie J can play! Need I say more about Parrish's recent emergence into this Offense?! I don't think so....they wanted to decide for THEMSELVES what they had and what they didn't. We knew this was at least a 3 year process....so here's year 1 and the Offense looks better than we thought, AND we focused on FA and the draft on Defense and most people here flamed away at Nix and Gailey and six games in after Fitz was named the starter, oh geez, it's the Defense that is leading to the losses, at least three of them thus far....so, here's to another week of clarifying the needs and deficiencies on Offense, Defense, and Special Teams. Ladies and gentlemen this is a year of EVALUATION, nothing more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvermike Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Edwards had less heart than any Bills QB I've seen play. He had the physical abilities - he can throw the ball at least well enough to be a starting QB; there are successful QBs who don't have the deep ball. And he generally had the brains. So in practice, he could hit all the passes. In fake games, he could do as well as anyone. But when everyone else turned it up a notch on game days, he just didn't bring anything else to the table. He never cared enough to be a real NFL QB, and thus he would always just sort of do the minimum. Fitz wants to win. I hope he gets one soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sllib olaffub Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I've been saying all along that we still need to grab a superstar QB next draft if we have the chance to get one - that is, if we have the top pick, or the chance to land a college QB who is undeniably great, then we have to. Fitz probably won't play like this indefinitely. He is the prime example of a perfect second string QB on a Championship caliber team. He can come in and win, he can have monster games - think of it, he's got the heart to pull off a Frank Reich type come back. Plus, he's smart, and humble. We could draft the top QB and he'd be surrounded by good influences. But, the reason I responded here is I'm really impressed with Fitzpatrick's numbers. I just looked them up for the first time, and he's beating Brady in rating, and has as many TD's and as few picks. Man, Gailey can put together an offense. Let's hope the rest of the league isn't just not familiar with Gailey, and that he can keep it going over the long run. But, Man, Fitz's numbers project to 44 TD's, 16 int, and 3900 yards over a full season! And, he hasn't faced lousy defenses. He's faced some of the best. Considering we've got a pretty bad O-line and our reciever corps could stand to improve, that is encouraging. Still, I'd rather he be our back-up and that we grab the best available college QB. Better we have two good QB's for a change. Two good RB's. Fix the line and add a talented TE and we'd have a really dynamic offense. Gailey - with maybe three player additions, could have one of the most dynamic offenses in the league to play with every week. Throw the rest of the picks and F.A. towards LB's and a DE, and next year might be fun. I'm just thinking that if this is really a rebuild, then we need to get our QB of the future while we have the high pick to do it. We can get the LB's and Tackles with later picks and F.A.'s. The DE, though, will be tough. Those usually don't come via trades or F.A. You've usually got to draft a top notch DE. Maybe our first round 2012 pick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Billy Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 People are overlooking that Lynch and Green were both gone for the Baltimore game as well. Hasn't Bell also reigned in his habit of taking penalties? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judman Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 The local hacks on some two-bit sports show here in Utica were talking about this yesterday. They said that Fitz didn't have as strong of an arm as Edwards, and that he was 30. There is a reason these two are still in Utica... Fitz's ball has a lot more mustard on it, nice tight spiral. Trent's ball looked more like a flag in the wind. As to the 30 thing, he is an unscathed 30. He has not been knocked around for 6-7 years. I agree with all y'allls who say, if he keeps this up, we found our guy. Oh, and what were Locker's stats last night? Washington got killed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omar Little Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 The local hacks on some two-bit sports show here in Utica were talking about this yesterday. They said that Fitz didn't have as strong of an arm as Edwards, and that he was 30. There is a reason these two are still in Utica... Fitz's ball has a lot more mustard on it, nice tight spiral. Trent's ball looked more like a flag in the wind. As to the 30 thing, he is an unscathed 30. He has not been knocked around for 6-7 years. I agree with all y'allls who say, if he keeps this up, we found our guy. Oh, and what were Locker's stats last night? Washington got killed. Fitz is only 27. Edwards, by comparison, is 26. Locker: 7 of 14, 64 yards, two INTs, 59.8 rating; eight carries, 1 yard. Yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Fitz is also #1 in the NFL in TD percentage. I'm impressed with what he's shown since being named the QB. I don't think Fitz ever started a year as the #1 QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I've been saying all along that we still need to grab a superstar QB next draft if we have the chance to get one <...> Still, I'd rather he be our back-up and that we grab the best available college QB. OK, which do you want? A superstar QB? Or the best available? Is there a superstar QB in the next draft? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsfaninFl Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I've said he had a great game, but being hot for a few games is very common in the NFL. Let's resume this discussion at the end of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It's in My Blood Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Still, I'd rather he be our back-up and that we grab the best available college QB. Better we have two good QB's for a change. Two good RB's. Fix the line and add a talented TE and we'd have a really dynamic offense. Gailey - with maybe three player additions, could have one of the most dynamic offenses in the league to play with every week. Drafting a qb for the sake of having "two good qbs for a change" is ridiculous. Its still too early to tell whether or not Fitz is the guy , but if he continues his play of late for the rest of the year , obviously drafting "the best available college qb" is not going to happen. Offseason priorities should be defense , defense , defense. The oline is coming together , and will continue to improve. Olines need time to jell and we're only 6 games in. I agree tight end is a question mark , but is kind of a wait and see deal with Shawn Nelson's potential. Beyond that , I really don't see any other question marks on offense. Stevie Johnson has arrived , our stable of RBs are impressive , and our O line is improving on a weekly basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I confess, I have a giant soft spot for Fitz. To me, he is a player in the dark horse (Kurt Warner) mold: someone who wasn't expected to be drafted, wasn't expected to make the team, wasn't expected to ever be a starter. He loves the game, believes in himself, and continues to work hard hoping he'll get a chance. I'm happy for him that he's getting that chance, and pulling for him to continue to make good. I agree exactly man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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