Keep an Open Mind

[JESSEFEFFER]

Lot's of people wanting to say that Ryan Fitzpatrick is or isn't worthy of being the Bills" #1 QB going forward. I cite the following:

 

1) Quick decisions & quick release = very tough to sack.

 

2) Stands up in the face of pressure and delivers accurate throws-downfield. I'd like to see the numbers on this but when a pass rusher is coming in unblocked he does not wilt. He's got guts and can take a hit. HE CAN BEAT PRESSURE!!!

 

3) While he has a few flyers-he very rarely has a misread. Wunderlick score aside, he obviously has a clue.

 

4) While they haven't won much with him, the losses are looking alot like those they had in 1986, if you catch my point.

 

5) The offensive line and receivers were supposed to be bottom of barrel. Well they don't look like it with him playing. Raising the level of play of one's teammates is the primary sign of a great player, in my way of thinking.

 

6) He can make plays in the "other" category. A scramble and a dive for a first down or a key block when a back reverses field. I am waiting for him to closeline a defender after a pick or fumble recovery. I think he'd deliver a blow. He is a football player.

 

I think the Bills could win 3 or 4 of their last 7 and go into next year looking like an organization that has an idea. Having a smart, tough, quick thinking, gunslinging, humble, team first and calm under pressure QB to lead them isn't so bad.

 

All this says in my mind that as fans we should let this play out and not let Fitzpatrick's draft round or college team cloud our judgement. Keep an open mind and let his play speak for itself. It's been so long since we have seen consistently productive QB play that it seems many of us have forgotten what it looks like. I think Chan knows it when he sees it.

[PromoTheRobot]

If Andrew Luck was in the NFL and had Fitz's current stats everyone would declare it was proof that he was a stud. But since it's a 7th round journeyman from Harvard everyone says he has to be replaced. It's the "expensive bottle of wine" theory. A $100 bottle of wine is always better than a $10 bottle, even if it isn't better.

 

PTR

[reddogblitz]

Fitz is playing some fine football. He has played a big part from turning us from a punching bag the first few games to a competitive team now. I don't get the whole choke thing either. He's not perfect. The choke theorists seems to point to a mistake made at any point in the game and call it a choke. There's blame to go around all over on these team losses.

 

He did bring us back down 10 to the Ravens with 10 to go and was moving the ball in OT until Nelson fumbled. He got us close enough for the game winner against KC only to have our kicker miss. He played even with Chicago but since our kicker missed a PAT it didn't go into OT.

 

The "garbage time" theory has now been replaced with the "choke" theory.

 

Fitz has thrown 14 TDs and 7 Ints. I've been a football fan for a long time and have always been told that a 2-1 ratio is considered to be very good. There are only 14 other QBs in the league with a 2-1 or higher ratio.

 

He is also improving.

 

I'm not real excited about getting yet another QB who might be good someday but only needs 2 or 3 years to "develop". We have a guy who has done all that already and will only get better. Enough of the losing and waiting for QBs to "develop" while the rest of our players only age and their contracts run out. Lets get some better talent around Fitz on D and the OLine and WR and make a run at this thing.

 

I'm tired of baby sitting snot nose rookie QBs. Let the man play.

Edited November 16, 2010 by reddogblitz

[Geno Smith's Arm]

Tom Brady has pooped the bed when faced with the rush that Fitz has faced EVERY GAME! His accuracy is the thing people seem to point to most often, well that would improve with a couple upgrades on the O-line.

 

I'm not saying he is definitely the answer, but many of the criticisms and comparisions don't really take into account the fact that he gets hit RIGHT AFTER he releases the ball, and this has affected his accuracy (like it does every QB, again check out how Brady plays with guys in his face).

[NickelCity]

Give Fitzpatrick an entire offseason as the starter and he will flourish.

 

I'm not advocating for any draft strategy, just claiming that with an offseason free of a QB competition, fitzy would play even better imo. Maybe he would even focus on improving his accuracy. Who knows.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

If Andrew Luck was in the NFL and had Fitz's current stats everyone would declare it was proof that he was a stud. But since it's a 7th round journeyman from Harvard everyone says he has to be replaced. It's the "expensive bottle of wine" theory. A $100 bottle of wine is always better than a $10 bottle, even if it isn't better.

 

PTR

 

I hear that.

[BillsVet]

You gotta wonder why he's been on 3 teams in 5 seasons.

[cmjoyce113]

You gotta wonder why he's been on 3 teams in 5 seasons.

 

Well the Rams had no weapons and Marc Bulger ... The Bengals had Carson Palmer coming back after injury. He was a free agent. Doesn't a backup QB usually go somewhere he think he can start once he has started for a period of time?

 

I wouldn't read into the 3 times/5 seasons thing.

[May Day 10]

If there is no Luck in the draft for the Bills, they need to get a pass rusher for sure.

[JESSEFEFFER]

If Andrew Luck was in the NFL and had Fitz's current stats everyone would declare it was proof that he was a stud. But since it's a 7th round journeyman from Harvard everyone says he has to be replaced. It's the "expensive bottle of wine" theory. A $100 bottle of wine is always better than a $10 bottle, even if it isn't better.PTR

 

 

My analogy would be from the movie "Some Kind of Wonderful." Don't go lusting after some superficial, high maintenance, socialite (Lea Thompson) when your life long, mechanically gifted, loyal best freind who happens to clean up real nice (Mary Stuart Masterson) is everthing you never realized you could want or need. All we saying......is give Fitz a chance.

[l< j]

You gotta wonder why he's been on 3 teams in 5 seasons.

 

Maybe 3 or 4 years ago he was no good? Maybe he wasn't paired with the right coach until CG?

 

Do you gotta wonder why Atlanta traded Brett Favre? Why Tom Brady sat behind Bledsoe? (Not saying Fitz is going to equal either of those quarterbacks, either on the field or by texting pictures of his junk or by benefiting from a cheating coaching regime. Just that maybe he got better as he learned the game.)

 

kj

[CountDorkula]

I have been really hard on Fitz and i am still going to be. Though he has been showing me a lot and i have lightened up some, but i want to see more. I need to see him take the ball and score in the fial 2 min. I need to see if he has that it facotr. What that it is, i dont know. BUT you can just look around the league and see guys who have that it thing. (Rivers, Rodgers, Manning, Brady)

 

These QB's just know how to win, and thats one thing I am afraid of is that Fitz right now does not know how to win. You cant dismiss the fact he has never been on a really good team.

 

I almost see him as a Frank Reich kind of guy. Has all the smarts and football knowledge in the world, but just lacks something that i cannot quite put my finger on. Fitz would make an outsanding QB coach or Coordinator.

[DrDawkinstein]

First and foremost, this is a good problem to have. For once. We might end up in a position to take one of the highest regarded QB prospects in the past couple of years. AND we have a veteran playing very well.

 

Unless a lineman (on either side of the ball) steps up in the next couple of months as the next "big thing", if Luck is there, it's a great pick.

 

With that situation, he doesn't HAVE to play the first year. And that usually works out well, giving rookie QBs the chance to adjust to the pro game, and giving him time to learn the offense.

 

I think Fitz can be the answer for this year, and the next. And then when the kid is ready, we'll see. Maybe he has no problem stepping back and staying on as a very capable backup. Maybe we get to trade him for great value. Maybe he stays the starter if the kid doesnt work out.

 

I follow a lot of college football, and I'm not sold on anyone else at the top of the draft. Yet.

[NoSaint]

If Andrew Luck was in the NFL and had Fitz's current stats everyone would declare it was proof that he was a stud. But since it's a 7th round journeyman from Harvard everyone says he has to be replaced. It's the "expensive bottle of wine" theory. A $100 bottle of wine is always better than a $10 bottle, even if it isn't better.

 

PTR

 

I think there's a little more to it then that.... What's his career record? Not the only stat that matters, but I think it matters more then his draft round or college at this point.

[aristocrat]

the problem is that before this season fitz had 21 td's to 27 int's so people are wondering if this is an apparition. derek anderson had a nice year a couple years back and there have been other qb's with solid seasons that have made people wonder.

[Albany,n.y.]

Maybe 3 or 4 years ago he was no good? Maybe he wasn't paired with the right coach until CG?

 

Do you gotta wonder why Atlanta traded Brett Favre? Why Tom Brady sat behind Bledsoe? (Not saying Fitz is going to equal either of those quarterbacks, either on the field or by texting pictures of his junk or by benefiting from a cheating coaching regime. Just that maybe he got better as he learned the game.)

 

kj

There's nothing to wonder about in the Favre or Brady cases.

 

Atlanta picked Favre in the 2nd round. Atlanta had an established QB, so when Green Bay offered a #1 for a guy a year after he was drafted in the 2nd round & who wasn't #1 on their depth chart, it was an offer they couldn't refuse.

 

Bledsoe was a former #1 pick of the entire draft, just recently signed to a big extension. Brady moved up to #2 in preseason after being #4 his rookie year. The fact NE kept 4 QBs meant they saw potential in Brady. They weren't going to start a 6th rd rookie in his 1st season over an established QB. When Brady showed enough in the games Bledsoe was out, Brady was named the permanent starter his 2nd year in the league. It's not like he sat behind Bledsoe for 4 years.

[KOKBILLS]

the problem is that before this season fitz had 21 td's to 27 int's so people are wondering if this is an apparition. derek anderson had a nice year a couple years back and there have been other qb's with solid seasons that have made people wonder.

 

EXACTLY! The truth is this solid stretch by Fitz is more likely to be the exception rather than the rule...

 

We'll see if that's the way it turns out...But chances are...

[reddogblitz]

EXACTLY! The truth is this solid stretch by Fitz is more likely to be the exception rather than the rule...

 

We'll see if that's the way it turns out...But chances are...

I'm curious as to why you think this.

 

Can you think of any quarterbacks in recent memory who threw more picks than TDs, then had one good stretch of 7 games with a 2-1 ratio and then went back to sucking?

 

I've watched a lot of football. From what I've seen, it's not uncommon for a QB to be not so hot the first few yeas. Then they get better and stay better. Don't recall too many that went back in the tank. Do you?

[aristocrat]

I'm curious as to why you think this.

 

Can you think of any quarterbacks in recent memory who threw more picks than TDs, then had one good stretch of 7 games with a 2-1 ratio and then went back to sucking?

 

I've watched a lot of football. From what I've seen, it's not uncommon for a QB to be not so hot the first few yeas. Then they get better and stay better. Don't recall too many that went back in the tank. Do you?

 

derek anderson...one season with 29 td's and 19 picks...first seven games of the 2007 season he went 17 td's to 8 picks

[BuffaloWings]

I've said in the past that - while Fitz has been a breath of fresh air to the QB position since September - I don't think he's the long-term answer. I would like to think it's as cut-and-dried as thinking if Luck (or your top choice for a QB) is there, you take him, otherwise go for a pass-rushing LB/DE. We've fallen in love with Fitz, but be careful...I don't think he's the franchise QB with all of the tools. Maybe he'd get better with Chan in charge, but we don't know that.

 

I think the question that Chan & Buddy have to answer is whether or not they want a QB now or next year. For argument's sake, let's say they want Andrew Luck. If Luck enters the draft and they have a chance to get him, it's a no-brainer.

 

If he doesn't leave Stanford, then what? Do they take a Locker or Mallett because they're available now? Do they take a pass-rushing LB/DE and hope that Luck is available in the 2012 draft? I really doubt that he would be available, since the Bills would probably improve as a team and win a few more games...thus, missing out on Luck and being "stuck" with Fitzpatrick or another QB that they really didn't want.

 

Timing is everything and these are the decisions that make or break a GM's job.

Edited November 17, 2010 by BuffaloWings