Spiller's Future in Buffalo

[John from Riverside]

I swear, people who support Spiller because he's fast must really LOVE Al Davis's approach to drafting.

 

 

 

Thats the point im trying to make. If we got him middle or late first round, then i'd be A LOT more patient with him. It's completely different than Mendenhall or Steven Jackson. Those RB's were taken late first round and arent as costly so I wouldnt care as much if it took time for them to produce. But why the hell do we have to WAIT for Spiller to show promise? Top 10 picks should produce IMMEDIATELY. They should at least play enough to make some kinda impact. 500 or 600 yds maybe. 5 TDs? Am I asking for too much from a top 10 RB?

 

 

Just curious on the answer but....who would you have drafted? And please dont say "I would have traded down" because you dont truly know if a trade down was even on the table.

 

I would really like to see Spiller get the bulk of carries in a game to see what he can do before we start calling him a bust.

[wnyBacker]

if you go with the idea of playing the best players that you have then spiller would be a role player coming of the bench to give actionjackson a breather.

 

who really cares about were he was selected in the draft. if we went by that way of thinking then maybin would be a starter right?

[Sisyphean Bills]

I have a feeling he'd be really successful on a team that does a lot of spread formations, and has an indoor stadium.

Him paired up with Peyton Manning or Tom Brady is a very scary thought.

[tennesseeboy]

Just curious on the answer but....who would you have drafted? And please dont say "I would have traded down" because you dont truly know if a trade down was even on the table.

 

I would really like to see Spiller get the bulk of carries in a game to see what he can do before we start calling him a bust.

I would have drafted an OFFENSIVE TACKLE. Bryan Bulaga was the best available at nine. He has played guard and tackle for 8 of 12 games for green bay and is a quality lineman who will start for years.

[Red]

A bright future.

[luckisoursavior]

He just had a very nice 20 yard run on Sunday. He hasn't even had enough carries to evaluate his NFL ability yet. Give him a game with 20 carries and he'll break a few big ones. He's our biggest play maker, no doubt.

[Thoner7]

Guys, we are 2-10. Our 2 wins are against two of the bottom 3 teams in the league. Our line sucks/is in shambles. Be patient.

hmm 11 years now? Mularky 9-7, 6-10, Dickie J 7-9, 7-9, 7-9, 6-10, Chan, 2-10... only a few more years of patients and we could go 0-16!!!!!!

 

YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 0-16!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LETS ALL HAVE PATIEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNTTSSS!!!!!!!!!!! Thats what we need! We need to just accept more of these losses and terrible, blatently obvious draft choices!!!!!!!

 

How about stop being patient and draft some real players? Why cant that be my comment? its been 14 games. Guess what, Spiller isnt a rookie anymore. If he isnt starting to get it, he prob wont. He is a RB, not a rocket scientist.

 

I would have drafted an OFFENSIVE TACKLE. Bryan Bulaga was the best available at nine. He has played guard and tackle for 8 of 12 games for green bay and is a quality lineman who will start for years.

 

Yes. But while Bulaga was clearly the choice in my eyes, but if you want to draft some skill position guy, WHY NOT DEZ BRYANT. How patient did Cowboys fans have to be? They waited what, 2 games for him to become the best player on the offense? Holy crap we at least had a small need at WR, as it wasnt our most stacked and complete position on the team.

Edited December 8, 2010 by Thoner7

[T master]

Spiller is way to talented to be sitting on the bench Chan & company will find a way to get the most out of his talents it may start out slow like this year but it will come . Spiller is a exceptional talent & he will do a lot to bring the Bills back to respectability !!!

[billsfan89]

Jackson will be the featured guy. Spiller will be worked into the offense with 8-10 carries a game and used in the slot a lot as wideout. As the season goes on Spiller will be worked more and more in to the point where he could be getting 14-16 carries.

 

I just hope Gailey incorporates Spiller because we need another offensive threat to add to Stevie Johnson and Evans.

[Bart]

How do you envision CJ Spiller being used next season?

 

Do you think he will be the starting running back, handling most of the workload, or do you think Jackson will once again be the featured back?

 

I wonder if Spiller will try to add ten pounds to his frame, or continue at his current playing weight. I would like to see him get some reps as a slot receiver in specialized situations.

 

It just seems hard to imagine him winning the starting job next season. It feels like the Bills almost have to make him the starter at some point and give him the carries, given the extraordinarily high price we paid to get him - whether he earns it or not. I don't want him to end up as the next Maybin.

 

I was never a big fan. CJ has minimum value and we need to get a big fast back who can run the ball 20+ times per game. He is not that guy and should be traded. He is a bonus that we can't afford.

[reddogblitz]

I think he's gotta be more of a Reggie Bush type guy. You gotta work in special plays for him that can get him into the open where he can fire up the jets. Putting him in the backfield and handing him the ball ain't gonna get it done. For what he's done, ML could have done that and we could have drafted Brian Baluga or someone else who can help this year.

 

I thought CJ made offensive lines better?

[maddenboy]

Really? You would rather have Bulaga?

 

Often doesn't translate? Who are the comparisons? Chris Johnson and Reggio Bush? Who else is getting compared as major success at major college program for a small back with unbelievable speed? Can you let us know who your comparables are who often don't translate? I'm disappointed with his contribution, but I am not clear why his talent makes him "this kind of project".

 

I don't see the player you want to make a difference on this 2010 team and make us a playoff contender (because 2-10 or 7-9 are similar with our long term goals of building a winning team). Certainly not Bulaga. We all agree with Ngata over Whitner and Orakpo/Matthews over Maybin. This strikes me as a very different pick and player and situation.

 

So who from #10 to #32 do you really want instead?

 

Let's leave the five defensive backs out of it, because we know they wouldn't be popular choices.

 

On the RBs obviously no. Maybe they will be better players, but picking Matthews or Best over CJ on draft day would have given people a heart attack.

 

I just don't see any OL / defensive front 7 guys from 10-32 that are such no brainers that we should never have passed up.

 

Chan still has some 'splaining to do with CJ, but plenty of time to do it, and I think he will be a good football player for us.

 

 

M. Pouncey. Would quarterback the O-line for 10 years. Then plug in any mid-round rb (this year or next year) and keep moving with the 3-5 year plan.

[8-8 Forever?]

This thread will quickly devolve into a "what a wasted pick" thread. Bottom line, CJ is very talented kid who is a threat to break one every time he touches the ball. He's got amazing speed/quickness. That said, he needs to learn a LOT about the NFL game. You can't get by in the NFL with just physical gifts. If he learns, I envision him being the next Chris Johnson. If not, the next Reggie Bush.

Agreed. Too early to tell. He has the physical size and gifts, unlike Maybin, who looks like an eighth grader playing in a high school game. Spiller just needs to learn to run in the NFL (its a shame the stupid Bills let Eric Studeville get away as he taught several bills backs the NFL running game): Maybin needs a body transplant from James Harrison. Unless Maybin commits to get bigger, Stronger and meaner at the point of attack, he is a bust.

[DreReed83]

Just curious on the answer but....who would you have drafted? And please dont say "I would have traded down" because you dont truly know if a trade down was even on the table.

 

I would really like to see Spiller get the bulk of carries in a game to see what he can do before we start calling him a bust.

 

I would've seriously have had a long look at Brandon Graham at that spot or Jason Pierre Paul. Would've been slight reaches but wouldve helped our 34 defense immensely.

[billsfreak]

He just had a very nice 20 yard run on Sunday. He hasn't even had enough carries to evaluate his NFL ability yet. Give him a game with 20 carries and he'll break a few big ones. He's our biggest play maker, no doubt.

If you give him 20 carries, there is probably just as much of a chance that he gets hurt as there is that he breaks a big one. Plus he can't block to save his life, so if he is in for a pass play he is a huge liability and will get a QB killed, especially when our line can't stop anyone.

[FreakPop]

Whoa whoa whoaaa. 4.2 career avg.

 

In his prime he was 4.8 and 4.9 and gaining 2000 all purpose yards in one of the best offenses ever.

 

Fred is playing behind a bad oline but this isnt a case of him being an all pro RB hampered by a bad oline. He's 30 years old and isnt going to get any better.

 

CJ might not be the answer but Fred isnt either. He's average.

 

It's not about his prime it's about his career Bills avg, which is 4.2 ypc and so far Fred is at 4.5 ypc.

 

You call Fred average yet plays behind a bad oline, yet so far has averaged more ypc to this point than did TT through his career who played behind an oline 1000x better than the one Fred plays behind.

 

I'm not calling Fred a superstar by any means but he is certainly better than "average" as you like to put it.

[beatlebum]

Withholding judgement until I see a game where he gets 9 or 10 carries and doesn't get hit 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage by half the defense on every play. That said, its clear that FJ has learned how to run with these conditions, Spiller has yet to develop that skill.

 

i totally agree, which is why it makes sense for cj to be behind freddy and see how he works. jackson doesn't have the physical gifts of spiller (or even lynch, if appropriate to bring him in here) but he's still a very effective back because he's patient, finds seams, and makes guys miss without being flashy. that's the most amazing thing about freddy: he makes it look easy. spiller has the raw talent, but right now, freddy's a better back simply because of his vision and patience. if cj learns those things by watching freddy he'll be very dangerous.

[Trader]

How do you envision CJ Spiller being used next season?

 

Do you think he will be the starting running back, handling most of the workload, or do you think Jackson will once again be the featured back?

 

I wonder if Spiller will try to add ten pounds to his frame, or continue at his current playing weight. I would like to see him get some reps as a slot receiver in specialized situations.

 

It just seems hard to imagine him winning the starting job next season. It feels like the Bills almost have to make him the starter at some point and give him the carries, given the extraordinarily high price we paid to get him - whether he earns it or not. I don't want him to end up as the next Maybin.

 

Spiller was drafted because the Bills braintrust thought he was the best player available. He was not. It's a failure for this new regime. I really don't care how good he might be in the future they drafted him to help now and he didn't there is no other way to evaluate it. Jerry Sullivan has it right.

[akm0404]

I'm not calling Fred a superstar by any means but he is certainly better than "average" as you like to put it.

 

Fred Jackson defines average. I think just about everyone on earth can name 10 running backs better than Fred Jackson.

 

But hey, it's definitely someone elses fault that his production is pedestrian.

[McBeane]

Fred Jackson defines average. I think just about everyone on earth can name 10 running backs better than Fred Jackson.

 

But hey, it's definitely someone elses fault that his production is pedestrian.

 

So if Freddy is the 11th best back in the best football league in the world (bar none) he is average? Got it. High standards you have..