Van_phelaN1 Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Okay, FIRST let me say that I was a supporter of Trent Edwards when he first came along here and Buffalo and probably defended him way longer than I should have. ALSO I have been known to say that Fitz doesn't have the same upside as a guy like Brohm does. Now that we have that out of the way. I was downright blown away with Fitzy yesterday. I don't know when the last time I saw someone command our offense the way he did. I admire his gunslinger attitude and his willingness to do whatever it takes to win. Did he win? No, and he also threw some very bad pics. However if you look at it the other way, that pass to Lee Evans was a VERY ill advised throw. I think Chan is starting to like the guy a lot. I guess my question is, if he can continue to perform like this (as well as the receivers) what shot do you give Fitzpatrick of convincing Chan he is the guy of the future? All I can say is I will never have to worry about calling him Captain Checkdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akm0404 Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Fitzpatrick is an average to below-average quarterback in the NFL as evidenced by his body of work throughout his journeyman career. He is a great teammate, and tries real hard and I think he should have a roster spot on this team moving forward. If the Bills are serious about competing for championships instead of rebuilding back to 7-9, they need to do everything they can to acquire an elite-level franchise quarterback. I believe their best chance to do this will be to use their #1 overall draft selection. I hope that rookie quarterback can mentor behind Fitzpatrick until he is ready to play, and I hope we bolster our defensive front seven and offensive line in the interim. Viola, a shot at being a decade-long playoff contender again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I was not only impressed with Fitz work yesterday but also in previous games after he took over..... The thing is...I dont think this is going ot be a problem....if Fitz cannot start for this team next year...that will show itself over the course of the rest of the season BUT If he can remain consistant and put up points that will show itself as well.....remember the reason why we lost yesterday was NOT because of our offense.....and that has not been the case in past years. Our offense was friggen JUGGERNAUT yesterday....and Fitz was at the helm of it. Not just the yards and points, but his ability to bring us 10 points back at the end of the game. The fact may be that Fitz is a system QB and Chan has provided that system that he needs. He is spreading the ball around, Stevie Johnson is on pace to break Owens numbers during his one year stay here thus opening up Lee Evans. And his ability to get the ball out on time is masking some problems we are having at Right Tackle. Our defense on the other hand looks very bad. We win yesterday if they can get a couple of stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Fitzpatrick is an average to below-average quarterback in the NFL as evidenced by his body of work throughout his journeyman career. He is a great teammate, and tries real hard and I think he should have a roster spot on this team moving forward. If the Bills are serious about competing for championships instead of rebuilding back to 7-9, they need to do everything they can to acquire an elite-level franchise quarterback. I believe their best chance to do this will be to use their #1 overall draft selection. I hope that rookie quarterback can mentor behind Fitzpatrick until he is ready to play, and I hope we bolster our defensive front seven and offensive line in the interim. Viola, a shot at being a decade-long playoff contender again. Frank? Hell of a thrower in his day, but I don't think he's going to help the Bills. As for the rest of your post -- when will people learn? Fitz' "body of work" is one season mopping up for an injured Palmer and last year with the Bills. Some players take longer to develop than others. While this season's stats are a clear departure from Fitz' prior work, they should not be casually dismissed. He has now "done it" pretty well in four consecutive starts in 2010 (and six overall, going back to 2009). Other than Bledsoe's first 1/2 of the season in his first year here, no Bills' QB has put together as many consecutive good games since maybe Flutie in 1998. Does that mean he's ready to be considered "elite?" Probably not, but at this point it is absolutely ridiculous to label him "average to below average." The prudent thing to do right now is to let the season play out. I'm pretty certain Fitz' performance over the next 10 games will give Gailey and Nix all the information they need to make a decision as to whether or not a #1 needs to be spent on a QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playman Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 at least he won a " winner " here: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Ag46szinNWL5gtfot17RRydDubYF?slug=cr-winnersandlosers102410 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I think he may be better than below average, mainly because the bar is set very low. There is a huge shortage of good QB's to begin with. Fitzpatrick is an average to below-average quarterback in the NFL as evidenced by his body of work throughout his journeyman career. He is a great teammate, and tries real hard and I think he should have a roster spot on this team moving forward. If the Bills are serious about competing for championships instead of rebuilding back to 7-9, they need to do everything they can to acquire an elite-level franchise quarterback. I believe their best chance to do this will be to use their #1 overall draft selection. I hope that rookie quarterback can mentor behind Fitzpatrick until he is ready to play, and I hope we bolster our defensive front seven and offensive line in the interim. Viola, a shot at being a decade-long playoff contender again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Okay, FIRST let me say that I was a supporter of Trent Edwards when he first came along here and Buffalo and probably defended him way longer than I should have. ALSO I have been known to say that Fitz doesn't have the same upside as a guy like Brohm does. Now that we have that out of the way. I was downright blown away with Fitzy yesterday. I don't know when the last time I saw someone command our offense the way he did. I admire his gunslinger attitude and his willingness to do whatever it takes to win. Did he win? No, and he also threw some very bad pics. However if you look at it the other way, that pass to Lee Evans was a VERY ill advised throw. I think Chan is starting to like the guy a lot. I guess my question is, if he can continue to perform like this (as well as the receivers) what shot do you give Fitzpatrick of convincing Chan he is the guy of the future? All I can say is I will never have to worry about calling him Captain Checkdown. Dude, you had me at 'hello'. Your heading was too funny to pass up. Thanks for the honesty, and for now I'm with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobshaw81 Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 The offense is finally clicking when the defense can't even be mentioned. There is SERIOUS CHEMISTRY happening with Gailey, Fitz, the O Line, all the WRs and Fred Jackson. Fitz has everyones' respect on the team and is developing into a leader by example.That is much more important then it sounds. This is his 6th year in the league with little to no help. All with bad teams(St. Louis, Cincinatti). If our offense remains this productive for the rest of the season, i would like to draft DL or LB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Okay, FIRST let me say that I was a supporter of Trent Edwards when he first came along here and Buffalo and probably defended him way longer than I should have. ALSO I have been known to say that Fitz doesn't have the same upside as a guy like Brohm does. Now that we have that out of the way. I was downright blown away with Fitzy yesterday. I don't know when the last time I saw someone command our offense the way he did. I admire his gunslinger attitude and his willingness to do whatever it takes to win. Did he win? No, and he also threw some very bad pics. However if you look at it the other way, that pass to Lee Evans was a VERY ill advised throw. I think Chan is starting to like the guy a lot. I guess my question is, if he can continue to perform like this (as well as the receivers) what shot do you give Fitzpatrick of convincing Chan he is the guy of the future? All I can say is I will never have to worry about calling him Captain Checkdown. Fitz did look very good against a good Raven defense, the thing is...that's what Chan Gailey does... he can make mediocre QB's look really good, just like he did with Tyler Thigpin in KC. The thing he didn't do in KC was build a decent ground game to go along with the high powered passing game. Look at what the Saints did this Sunday against Cleveland with no running game, they lost. About the ONLY team that can get by with just a passing game are the Colts with Payton Manning Think how good the offense would have been from the start of the season if Fitz gets all the reps, if Gailey didn't waste an entire off season on Edwards, just think if they had drafted a RT - C - LT to fix that O line or proper free agents OLB - RT- TE. I say the Bills win 3 games Pats-Jags-Ravens and are 3-3 if this HC knew what he was doing as a HC. If Fitz can play like he did against the Ravens all the time....then he is good enough to lead this team to the playoffs with a proper supporting cast around him... it just pisses me off that the moron GM didn't get this guy more help on that O line You can blame that first INT on Chan Gailey, what an arrogant ass he is to go to a 5 WR set and dare the Ravens to stop the passing game at the beginning of the half, give the guy some help and at least use play action to keep the defense guessing. +10 Fitz -10 Gailey - 50 Nix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockinon Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 The offense is finally clicking when the defense can't even be mentioned. There is SERIOUS CHEMISTRY happening with Gailey, Fitz, the O Line, all the WRs and Fred Jackson. Fitz has everyones' respect on the team and is developing into a leader by example.That is much more important then it sounds. This is his 6th year in the league with little to no help. All with bad teams(St. Louis, Cincinatti). If our offense remains this productive for the rest of the season, i would like to draft DL or LB Finally something that makes sense. I would put Linebackers in front of DL at this point, though we will have to see how things develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agardin Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Is Fitz really a journeyman QB? I have read that on a lot of threads. He has had 27 starts over 5 years in the NFL (a few of those playing behind Palmer.) It is not as if he is in his late 30s with a hundred starts under his belt. He has played for 3 teams which makes him a bit of a transient but the league is full of players that took a year and half worth of starts before they realized their potential. Not sure if it will happen with Fitz or not but he will have 10 games to prove himself as a quality NFL starter and if he does that for this Bills team I would say that is quite an accomplishment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I'll put it this way...I am perfectly happy with the idea of Fitz leading us through the rest of this season (hopefully picking up a couple wins in the process), drafting our QB of the future in the next draft, having that QB sit behind Fitz for the next season and learn. If Fitz is truly becoming a Franchise QB (which I doubt, but it's possible), then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But for now, I'm just fine with the thought that he's our starting QB for the next 1.5 seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meathead Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 bottom line: if he can remain anywhere near the production level hes managed to present over four games for the entire season, theres no way he is not serious franchise deal material frankly, i dont think he will. but if he did it would be impossible to just brush that aside. hes currently at probowl level, and while one probowl doesnt automatically make you franchise, it would create a serious and glorious problem for our draft gurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaineMoxie Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I don't know too many average to below-average QBs who have been second in the NFL in QB rating 6 games into the season. And if it's just "Gailey's QB magic" at work, then where was his magic with Trent? Maybe Fitz just needed someone to teach him a few techniques or something. But a lot of it has to be him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sac bills Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Who knows? Maybe with a full season as a starter, Fitz will show he can be a top-12 QB in this league. Let's just wait and see. Fitz has a great arm, is gutsy and I really think has a chance of flourishing in a competent offensive system. He's been a back-up, but so was Tom Brady until Bledsoe got his a** lit up. I'm not saying Fitz is Tom Brady (he's much better looking), but he could be Trent Dilfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 I'm still trying to figure out why this is a thread I knew was coming... Cause I had no idea...Really I didn't... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Remember Rich Gannon got really good like in his 8th season? Same could be true for Fitz. It's taken him 6 years but he really understands complex defenses and who to throw to in almost every situation. You cant teach that stuff overnight. I think his best years are ahead of him...a good 5-6 more seasons of solid football. I'd still draft a QB but maybe it doesn't have to be at the #1 spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPS Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 (edited) I have no idea how to react to competency from the Bills QB. Be excited? Doubt it will continue? I am truly stumped, but really happy to see well executed plays. Edited October 26, 2010 by JPS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Doug Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Is Fitz really a journeyman QB? I have read that on a lot of threads. He has had 27 starts over 5 years in the NFL (a few of those playing behind Palmer.) It is not as if he is in his late 30s with a hundred starts under his belt. He has played for 3 teams which makes him a bit of a transient but the league is full of players that took a year and half worth of starts before they realized their potential. Not sure if it will happen with Fitz or not but he will have 10 games to prove himself as a quality NFL starter and if he does that for this Bills team I would say that is quite an accomplishment. 3 teams in 5 years. What exactly do you think a journeyman is? Someone old? Doesn't have to be. That said, hats off for Fitz for giving us some great entertainment, but he's not a long-term answer. He's the epitome of all the bills 7-9 and 8-8 seasons. Myself, I think we need to try something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobu Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Fitzpatrick is an average to below-average quarterback in the NFL as evidenced by his body of work throughout his journeyman career. He is a great teammate, and tries real hard and I think he should have a roster spot on this team moving forward. If the Bills are serious about competing for championships instead of rebuilding back to 7-9, they need to do everything they can to acquire an elite-level franchise quarterback. I believe their best chance to do this will be to use their #1 overall draft selection. I hope that rookie quarterback can mentor behind Fitzpatrick until he is ready to play, and I hope we bolster our defensive front seven and offensive line in the interim. Viola, a shot at being a decade-long playoff contender again. We need defense. Our offense just put 5 bills up on the Ravens. We put 30 up on the Patriots. The offensive side of the ball is loaded with talent when compared to our Defense. My preference would be a defensive lineman of prototypical size--someone who has performed at the high school and college levels. Secondly--most of the great QB's in the NFL were thrown to the wolves immediately. Screw dropping a first round pick on a bench warmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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