Qualities of a Quarterback

[Fan in Chicago]

I forgot all three of those qualities. I will add...

18] Has to show leadership, most importantly on the field but preferably off the field, in the locker room and on the practice field.

19] Must be consistent.

20] Must have and display competitive spirit, as well as a drive and will to succeed.

 

He's shown all three of these qualities too, although he hasn't been consistent from play to play and needs to improve substantially in that area, although it is really all about the #2 quality of accuracy. That is his lone inconsistency.

I am a big fan of #20 myself.

One thing I am not sure you have mentioned is something Gailey said about Fitzy a few days back that he has that ability to instantly forget a bad play and move on. It is highly desirable quality - the power to get over a poor pass and focus on the remaining game.

Edited December 1, 2010 by Fan in Chicago

[PromoTheRobot]

I am a big fan of #20 myself.

One thing I am not sure you have mentioned is something Gailey said about Fitzy a few days back that he has that ability to instantly forget a bad play and move on. It is highly desirable quality - the power to get over a poor pass and focus on the remaining game.

Something we need to learn as well.

 

PTR

[Kelly the Dog]

I am a big fan of #20 myself.

One thing I am not sure you have mentioned is something Gailey said about Fitzy a few days back that he has that ability to instantly forget a bad play and move on. It is highly desirable quality - the power to get over a poor pass and focus on the remaining game.

Good point. I think I should probably add --

21] Must have a huge ego.

It's actually really true that Qbs need huge egos. Huge egos are not a bad thing, they can be uncontrolled, which is bad. I would lump what you just said about instantly forgetting a bad play into huge confidence in yourself and huge ego to be the best you can possibly be. Every great one had it, even the most humble.

 

I have a friend who is a pretty good friend of Kurt Warner's. He says Warner, in person, and outside of the spotlight, is exactly as you would imagine him to be. He's a truly great guy. And humble about his success and fame. But he still has a huge ego, loves himself, will do anything to beat you in anything, etc. It's essential for a pro athlete to think he is great.

[Fan in Chicago]

I have a friend who is a pretty good friend of Kurt Warner's. He says Warner, in person, and outside of the spotlight, is exactly as you would imagine him to be. He's a truly great guy. And humble about his success and fame. But he still has a huge ego, loves himself, will do anything to beat you in anything, etc. It's essential for a pro athlete to think he is great.

 

The difference between being fiercely competitive and arrogant. You find both in all walks of life and the latter kind may find success in their chosen field but suffer overall in life and have a tendency to fall hard.

 

And PTR - This year has been all too painful as I have spent the better part of a few months wallowing in the pain of a terrible project. If only I was able to separate emotion and focus on the next one, I would have been a happier person. Or were you talking about football ?

[Bill from NYC]

Edwards had enough arm strength to do all these, but not a strong arm. IMO, Fitzpatrick's arm is slightly stronger than Edwards, but not overly strong. It's surely strong enough, and we have seen him make all of those throws. He can surprise with the velocity he gets at times.

 

I agree with this, especially that Fitz has more all around arm strength than Edwards, to include a better fastball.

[Fan in Chicago]

I agree with this, especially that Fitz has more all around arm strength than Edwards, to include a better fastball.

Though I must say I would like to see Fitzy hit the out routes with more consistency. And we still haven't seen his abilities tested in cold, windy and/or rainy conditions.

[Bill from NYC]

It also doesn't address extremely important elements to throwing like "touch". Those are different things. Essential, but a different conversation.

 

I agree with this as well. Arm strength and coordination are directly related imo. JP had a great arm for a fly pattern and a good (though lacking the touch that you mentioned) fastball. But, he had to step into his passes more than Bledsoe, who could throw a 60 yard strike with so much air under it that it would fall vertically into a receivers hands.

Fitz, unlike the above mentioned, can do very good things on the run. Remember what would happen when JP would roll right? I agree that Fitz has enough skills to take this team to the playoffs, and would appear to be ready to start in 2011, even if they draft Luck or Mallett.

If he is our starter, I hope he has a better OL, and I would like to see him run it himself more often. He is I must say not hard to like.

[BigRedMarauder6]

I agree Fitz is good enough to QB a team into the playoffs and perhaps even a SB. But that team would need to be very solid, especially defensively. There have been worse QBs starting on the winning SB team in the past. But those teams were extremely good in the other areas.

 

I have no problem drafting a QB, even in the 1st round if it's the "right guy". But IMO Fitz is this team's starter for the next year or two. This team may even have their next starter in the relatively young, Brohm, who just may be the kind of guy who flourishes after sitting and watching for a few years. If the FO brain trust (yes I know) believes this to be the case, maybe drafting in other areas is the best strategy for the 2011 draft.

 

While I was a big fan of the Fitz signing, I never expected him to deliver at the level he has this year. I envisioned him as a solid #2 who is bright enough, and experienced enough, to start in a pinch. He has outperformed my wildest expectations. Obviously some of that evaluation is likely influenced by the bums who preceded him. But I think I am past that now.

 

 

BROHM??? I thought we were past that. Stop bringing him up! Fitz is "relatively young" too... He's our guy for as long as he'll have us.

[EastRochBillsfan]

Though I must say I would like to see Fitzy hit the out routes with more consistency. And we still haven't seen his abilities tested in cold, windy and/or rainy conditions.

 

If I recall correctly, didn't he play a great game against Indy last year in a snowstorm? i know it's only one game, but it is promising.

[PromoTheRobot]

If I recall correctly, didn't he play a great game against Indy last year in a snowstorm? i know it's only one game, but it is promising.

It was very windy vs Pittsburgh.

 

PTR

[The Big Cat]

15] He needs to make big plays, big passes, at important moments in the game.

 

 

He definitely has done this, come on! He has made one big play after another to make the Bills a good team, one to be reckoned with now.

 

#15 does not say "no late game turnovers"; and those will fade as they did for Kelly. And he is operating behind a very young offensive line, and so is getting rid of the ball extremly quickly to compensate for the inconsistent pass protection. When Kelly threw some late game duds, wasn't he at roughly the same point in his career as Fitzpatrick is now? It seems he was.

 

Jim Kelly is right--the Bills have the quarterback that they have been looking for all of these years.

 

This is Ryan Fitzpatrick's team now, and that isthe fundamental reason why the Bills have, unexpectedly, become good. It looks like they don't have to rebuild as much as fill some holes. They are becoming a good team under him, as he is making all parts better with his play.

 

 

Thank you for beating me to this point.

 

I know the replay of the Steve Johnson drop is just that, a replay of the drop. BUT FOLKS! Watch the throw! Fitz is straddling the 50 yd line and puts it over two defenders, without a ton of air, and RIGHT ON THE SPOT, IN THE END ZONE IN OVER TIME, FOR THE WIN, I simply can't conceive of a quarterback making a "bigger" throw than that. Come the !@#$ on, guys!

Edited December 1, 2010 by The Big Cat

[whodat]

Good point. I think I should probably add --

21] Must have a huge ego.

It's actually really true that Qbs need huge egos. Huge egos are not a bad thing, they can be uncontrolled, which is bad. I would lump what you just said about instantly forgetting a bad play into huge confidence in yourself and huge ego to be the best you can possibly be. Every great one had it, even the most humble.

 

I have a friend who is a pretty good friend of Kurt Warner's. He says Warner, in person, and outside of the spotlight, is exactly as you would imagine him to be. He's a truly great guy. And humble about his success and fame. But he still has a huge ego, loves himself, will do anything to beat you in anything, etc. It's essential for a pro athlete to think he is great.

 

You were doing so well until you dropped that one in. Ego has nothing in common with confidence and everything to do with insecurity. The first 20 were great.

[cage]

I forgot all three of those qualities. I will add...

18] Has to show leadership, most importantly on the field but preferably off the field, in the locker room and on the practice field.

19] Must be consistent.

20] Must have and display competitive spirit, as well as a drive and will to succeed.

 

He's shown all three of these qualities too, although he hasn't been consistent from play to play and needs to improve substantially in that area, although it is really all about the #2 quality of accuracy. That is his lone inconsistency.

 

21) Must show the ability to learn, improve and adjust during course of the game and season

 

I think he's hit that too, as most of our noise has been in the 2nd half where adjustments to the game plan were made.

 

I'd have to say we need to ride this and see if he has the staying power, but I've really come around to him!! If you consider the 3 OT losses and the Bears, he did everything to win in each of those, it was lost by others. If those plays were made by others, he would be 6-0 as starter, a sure-fire Pro-bowler and would be in most MVP conversations... thats not too bad given what we had leading up to him taking over and the last few years.

[Kelly the Dog]

You were doing so well until you dropped that one in. Ego has nothing in common with confidence and everything to do with insecurity. The first 20 were great.

Ego is a good thing. Big ego, as I said, is something that every good athlete in every sport has. If you do not think you are great, you will rarely if ever be great. There are different ways this manifests and displays itself in public. Players that act humble in front of the cameras are doing just that, acting. They all think they're great and they should. They better. I wouldn't want a single player on the Bills to not think he was great, regardless of whether he is a great player or not. If you don't have a big ego, you can't play professional sports. You can't be a good actor. You can't be a huge success in almost anything. People associate Big Ego only with arrogance but it's a mistake. Arrogance is bad, big ego is not, unless it is let run amuck.

[Ramius]

Lets also not forget (and others have mentioned this previously) that coming into this season, Fitzpatrick only had 23 starts. Even after this season he'll have basically 2.5 seasons of starting, so it is entirely possible that Fitz has been absorbing the game and developing and is finally getting his first chance to showcase what he can do.

 

Going back to the draft pick perspective...Assume the Bills drafted Fitz as a rookie in 2008 (since he barely played in 2005-7), and then take a look at his stastical and career trajectory since then. It mirrors that of a younger QB who struggled a bit in his first 2 seasons and then had the light really come on.

 

Also, on a side note, If Fitz turns into a great QB, does everyone's favorite whipping boy, Russ Brandon, get credit for uncovering him since he was the GM when we signed Fitz?

[The Big Cat]

Lets also not forget (and others have mentioned this previously) that coming into this season, Fitzpatrick only had 23 starts. Even after this season he'll have basically 2.5 seasons of starting, so it is entirely possible that Fitz has been absorbing the game and developing and is finally getting his first chance to showcase what he can do.

 

Going back to the draft pick perspective...Assume the Bills drafted Fitz as a rookie in 2008 (since he barely played in 2005-7), and then take a look at his stastical and career trajectory since then. It mirrors that of a younger QB who struggled a bit in his first 2 seasons and then had the light really come on.

 

Also, on a side note, If Fitz turns into a great QB, does everyone's favorite whipping boy, Russ Brandon, get credit for uncovering him since he was the GM when we signed Fitz?

 

Haha, baby steps.

 

Fitz does have bad mechanics. Do we risk compromising his instinctual throwing style by having Gailey and co. fine tune him during the off season?

[Fan in Chicago]

 

Also, on a side note, If Fitz turns into a great QB, does everyone's favorite whipping boy, Russ Brandon, get credit for uncovering him since he was the GM when we signed Fitz?

 

Considering he also 'uncovered' Maybin, I would keep him in the dog house a bit longer...

[whodat]

Ego is a good thing. Big ego, as I said, is something that every good athlete in every sport has. If you do not think you are great, you will rarely if ever be great. There are different ways this manifests and displays itself in public. Players that act humble in front of the cameras are doing just that, acting. They all think they're great and they should. They better. I wouldn't want a single player on the Bills to not think he was great, regardless of whether he is a great player or not. If you don't have a big ego, you can't play professional sports. You can't be a good actor. You can't be a huge success in almost anything. People associate Big Ego only with arrogance but it's a mistake. Arrogance is bad, big ego is not, unless it is let run amuck.

 

For those who are self discerning the daily tribulations of life give us a chance to recognize our own deficiencies and some aspire to rise above their own short comings as a means of seeking truth or chasing dreams acquired by means intrinsically and extrinsically. You might say the practice of our own deficiencies can motivate us to be better as insecurity can nourish ego. I’m sorry my alter ego just told me to snap out of it.

[cage]

Lets also not forget (and others have mentioned this previously) that coming into this season, Fitzpatrick only had 23 starts. Even after this season he'll have basically 2.5 seasons of starting, so it is entirely possible that Fitz has been absorbing the game and developing and is finally getting his first chance to showcase what he can do.

 

Going back to the draft pick perspective...Assume the Bills drafted Fitz as a rookie in 2008 (since he barely played in 2005-7), and then take a look at his stastical and career trajectory since then. It mirrors that of a younger QB who struggled a bit in his first 2 seasons and then had the light really come on.

 

Also, on a side note, If Fitz turns into a great QB, does everyone's favorite whipping boy, Russ Brandon, get credit for uncovering him since he was the GM when we signed Fitz?

 

I like the reasoning... I've been saying in a few threads that we're way to fast on this board to declare people as "not good enough". We have to take into account the capacity to learn, grow and adjust! Perhaps Fitzpatrick is an example of that. As a Harvard guy, we should put some great hope into that capability for him... if we believe that, then we might just have our QB after all these years... I hope, I hope, I hope!!

[flopagamo]

#21 should be "is confident." Better that than "big ego". A Qb that conveys any lack of confidence is poisonous to a team.

 

If we make #22 "must have an abnormally large beard" we're all set.