My thoughts on CJ

[buffalo_bills]

This kid is good. Even though he has struggled this year, we saw in preseason, and we even saw some nice runs during the season with him using that burst of speed. Its become clear the kid wasnt quite ready for the speed of the NFL, but im truly not surprised. Some rb's come into the league storming out, like Adrian Peterson, but some take a year or two to hit their stride- see OJ or even Mcfadden. If he continues to work hard, and listen to his coaches, he will be fine. One day this kid could be one of the best in the biz. Your thoughts? Go bills!

[PromoTheRobot]

There is an expectation that every kid coming into the NFL has to be awesome from day one, like making the transition from college is supposed to be a no-brainer. Trust Chan on when his guys can play. Carrington didn't play right away either. Some guys take longer to adjust. The fact that Maybin barely sees the field, though, is a bad sign.

 

PTR

[Pilsner]

This kid is good. Even though he has struggled this year, we saw in preseason, and we even saw some nice runs during the season with him using that burst of speed. Its become clear the kid wasnt quite ready for the speed of the NFL, but im truly not surprised. Some rb's come into the league storming out, like Adrian Peterson, but some take a year or two to hit their stride- see OJ or even Mcfadden. If he continues to work hard, and listen to his coaches, he will be fine. One day this kid could be one of the best in the biz. Your thoughts? Go bills!

 

I'm not worried about CJ. I think he'll pan out just fine. Maybin on the other hand... I'll give him another year. He's got a lot of work to do. A LOT of work to do. CJ could be special. We'll see tho.

[BillsVet]

There is an expectation that every kid coming into the NFL has to be awesome from day one, like making the transition from college is supposed to be a no-brainer. Trust Chan on when his guys can play. Carrington didn't play right away either. Some guys take longer to adjust. The fact that Maybin barely sees the field, though, is a bad sign.

 

PTR

 

No, most fans don't expect every rookie to tear in up their first year. But 9th overall picks playing the easiest position to transition into the NFL should deliver more than 351 yards from scrimmage in 12 games. He may well become an excellent back, but this season is almost a wash.

[Buffalonian-at-Heart]

I think at least a portion of the expectations is the money these 1st round draft picks get. I'm sorry, but when you're given a 5 year deal that could be worth almost $38 mil and almost $21 guaranteed. The team doesn't have 2-3 years for you to be good. I'm just saying. Then they do get good and become a headache to sign to a second contract. This little issue will soon be resolved, the owners aren't going for this any more.

[jr1]

CJ doesn't call the plays. I'm not going to blame him for his lack of stats

[Dr. E]

I think we should acknowledge the stupidity of the pick and trade CJ for a second round draft pick.

[SouthernMan]

2 things...

He's got to learn to be a more patient runner and let his blocks set up before he runs into a pile of other players. He needs to study film of Fred Jackson.

 

Secondly, the coaches need to design plays specifically geared toward his skill set and take advantage of his incredible quickness. Something more than just getting to the outside. I know this has shades of OJ and head coach John Rausch in 1969, but I wouldn't mind seeing him used more as a receiver - get him in space as an outlet receiver.

 

The guy has talent, but I still think the draft choice could have been put to better use.

Edited December 24, 2010 by DML2005

[BuffaloBillsMagic1]

OJ didn't hit stride until 3rd or 4th season so I will be patient with both him and also maybin. Must be enough talent in these guys to do good things at some point in time other than special teams.

[SouthernMan]

OJ didn't hit stride until 3rd or 4th season so I will be patient with both him and also maybin. Must be enough talent in these guys to do good things at some point in time other than special teams.

 

OJ didn't hit his stride the first 3 years - not because of lack of talent or experience, but because of poor coaching and a bad offensive line.

Both issues were immediately corrected with the return of Lou Saban in 1972.

 

Maybin should have his picture in the dictionary under the word "bust". At least Flowers, Williams, Tuttle, Patulski, and some of the Bills other all time 1st round busts earned some playing time. Maybin can't even crack the active roster. Probably the Bills worst 1st round pick ever.I have no expectations that he'll ever amount to anything in the NFL. His NFL career will end in 9 days.

[Buffalonian-at-Heart]

I think we should acknowledge the stupidity of the pick and trade CJ for a second round draft pick.

 

This may be the dumbest post of the year, for me. And it's pretty late in the year. I think it's a winner.

[billsintaiwan]

This may be the dumbest post of the year, for me. And it's pretty late in the year. I think it's a winner.

 

dumbest post of the year? good lord, that would take some doing. i mean, yes, this one is pretty dumb, but is it the dumbest? it might be.

 

can anyone remember a dumber one? perhaps one relating to the poorly utilized skill set of maybin or TE's enduring viability? how the season was over because we cut that chad jackson?

 

just to add my two cents, spiller obviously has explosive ability. he'll figure it out soon and the bills will have a weapon and a half. maybin should be a roadie for dj jazzy jeff.

[Nanker]

Give Chan credit though. At least he didn't stand up in front of Bills fans on Draft day and tell them, "One day CJ Spiller will be one of the best punt returners in the League" like Cam Cameron did for Ted Ginn Jr.

[Mr. WEO]

No, most fans don't expect every rookie to tear in up their first year. But 9th overall picks playing the easiest position to transition into the NFL should deliver more than 351 yards from scrimmage in 12 games. He may well become an excellent back, but this season is almost a wash.

 

 

I think at least a portion of the expectations is the money these 1st round draft picks get. I'm sorry, but when you're given a 5 year deal that could be worth almost $38 mil and almost $21 guaranteed. The team doesn't have 2-3 years for you to be good. I'm just saying. Then they do get good and become a headache to sign to a second contract. This little issue will soon be resolved, the owners aren't going for this any more.

 

 

OJ didn't hit stride until 3rd or 4th season so I will be patient with both him and also maybin. Must be enough talent in these guys to do good things at some point in time other than special teams.

 

The logic of this pick, as I recall, was that he was so explosive/electric/dynamic that, despite all of this team's various and significant needs, we simply had to pick this RB in the first round, despite already having 2 legit starters on the roster. I don't recall anyone at any time saying or even suggesting that the pick was going to be a developmental player that may some day be a real gem.

 

Anyway, MAybin and Spiller both also held out and neither has shown the justification for the first round pick.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

OJ didn't hit his stride the first 3 years - not because of lack of talent or experience, but because of poor coaching and a bad offensive line.

Both issues were immediately corrected with the return of Lou Saban in 1972.

 

MMmmm, coaching and OL - it's really hard for me to separate. He wasn't a good blocker when he came up, and RB blocking was sorely needed -

did he improve tremendously as a blocker or no longer as needed 'cuz of a better OL, can't tell.

He didn't follow his blockers when he had the ball. Is that because he had no blockers to follow, or because he never had to do that in college, and he didn't see the point, I guess I can't tell. Maybe that's part of the improved coaching, persuading him to do both and teaching him how?

 

I see signs that Spiller is learning to do both, it's all good.

 

Maybin should have his picture in the dictionary under the word "bust".

 

Can't argue there. What's worst for me is I see no signs he's got the flick on his need to focus and "get with the program", learn how to play in the NFL.

He talks like he's NFL Cinderella, being chained in the ashes and prevented from "showing his moves" by the wicked stepmom, er, coaching staff.

[ColdBlueNorth]

I think the stats alone are a bit deceiving. First off, he has to get more carries for more yards and I don't think that will happen too much with the way Jackson is running.

 

Both running backs took a hit to their averages in Miami - Chan blamed our O-Line for that...

 

I would like to see them split him out more. I like what they tried to do in MN which I believe was trips-wide formation to use CJ in a WR screen. I liked it, but to sell it they have

to actually make defenses believe that CJ will go down the field. If they let him run a few go routes, or used him in a Welker role now and then, teams would be forced to respect that

he might actually release off the line. In MN, the linebacker assumed (rightly) that CJ was not going to release for a pass and charged in and wrapped him up right away. The Bills then

tried the same thing from the other side - same result. As good as MN's linebacking core is, and espectially Henderson on those plays, I do not see him keeping up with CJ on a pass route.

 

I would like to see them use him more like that, and I think the kid will be fine and he is learning now from one of the most underrated complete backs in Jackson.

[Thoner7]

There is an expectation that every kid coming into the NFL has to be awesome from day one, like making the transition from college is supposed to be a no-brainer. Trust Chan on when his guys can play. Carrington didn't play right away either. Some guys take longer to adjust. The fact that Maybin barely sees the field, though, is a bad sign.

 

PTR

 

Yea, like Bradford, Suh, McCoy, T. WIlliams, E. Berry, Okung, Haden, McClain (see a trend?), D. Bryant, Iupati, Pouncy, Bulaga, Grasham, MCCourty, JPP......

 

Its not uncommon for players come into the NFL and play at a PB level from day 1 - Like McCourty, Suh, Berry, D.Bryant, Crabtree, Orakpo, etc. Its even more common for them to be impact starters from day 1. Why o why - with perpetual top 12 draft picks - can the Bills not find a single impact player? Its more common these days for a top 20 pick to start as a rookie than not. We need new scouts.

[CodeMonkey]

The logic of this pick, as I recall, was that he was so explosive/electric/dynamic that, despite all of this team's various and significant needs, we simply had to pick this RB in the first round, despite already having 2 legit starters on the roster. I don't recall anyone at any time saying or even suggesting that the pick was going to be a developmental player that may some day be a real gem.

Actually the one I remember is that a explosive back like Spiller makes an offensive line better.

It was an eye roller as far as I was concerned, but that was one of the reasons given for drafting him 9th.

 

At some point he will rip off the occasional highlight reel run, but I still think he is to small to be a consistently effective running back at the NFL level. Not a bust by any means, but not what you want from a 9th overall running back either . I would be very happy to be wrong, but time will tell.

Edited December 24, 2010 by CodeMonkey

[Dr. E]

This may be the dumbest post of the year, for me. And it's pretty late in the year. I think it's a winner.

 

What's dumb is picking a running back at #9 when we already had Fred and Marshawn. Ok, perhaps that's old news. What isn't old news is that either Fred or CJ will be under-utilized as long as their on the same roster. Why not make up for yet another strategoc draft blunder and get an impact player for CJ and let Fred do his thing!! We don't need a #9 pick backing up Fred--c'mon now!!!

[Kelly the Dog]

CJ Spiller hasn't had a breakout rookie season for about a dozen different reasons, and only a few of them his fault.

 

1] Our run blocking blows. There are no holes on 90% of the running plays. Fred Jackson, who is an extremely patient runner, a veteran, and knows how to make the most out of every single run it seems, averages 4.1 a carry. CJ is 3.8. A difference but not a huge difference considering their experience. Marshawn Lynch averaged 4.4 before he was traded. Anyone want to make a case that he was a substantially better runner than Fred Jackson because he averaged .3 yards per carry more on this crappy running team?

 

2] Because our run blocking blows, CJ's greatest strength is nullified or at least tempered. If he could actually get a hole when he runs, he could explode. He rarely if ever gets one. Granted, it is his fault when there is no hole and he tries unsuccessfully to break it outside and then loses yardage instead of just accepting the 1 yard gain, but if he had any holes, he would be great.

 

3] He was never asked to pass block, he's not good at it yet, and out OL can't keep guys off our QBs without keeping the back in, so Fred Jackson has to play on third downs, therefore limiting Spiller's carries substantially. I think 9 touches is the most Spiller has had in any game so far (it was 8 up until last week). No one gets many if any yards with 8 touches a game.

 

4] Fred Jackson is VERY good. He does everything, and he's very reliable. On a young team, a player like him is invaluable, so it's not easy for Gailey to take him out and put Spiller in as much as he'd like to. This is especially true because we pass so much, because our line can't run block.

 

5] Spiller has yet to know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. He's actually very good when there is ANY opening. His failures have been when there is NO opening, and he tries to make something out of nothing, thereby getting 3-5 yard losses instead of 0 yard gains.

 

6] His main fault, IMO, is simple inexperience. He gets tackled by one guy too much. By next year, IMO, he will be able to make the guy miss a little more, and then he will be off to the races. He should be a little better at it already than he is now, but I have no doubt he will learn the pro game soon enough, make that first guy (when he has an open field) miss, and then explode. The punt return last week is what we are going to see a little more of, an inch or two OB but otherwise an extraordinary run.

Edited December 25, 2010 by Kelly the Fair and Balanced Dog