Orton's Arm Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Im pretty pissed off that Chan Gailey is probably not going to take a QB high in the draft because Ryan Fitzpatrick had a descent year. I would have rather had a hugh flop at QB this year so we could finally draft the high first round pick that this franchise has needed for years. Fitz's play has prevented the Bills from hitting rock bottom and now it looks like we will have 2-3 more years of flopping around with no direction. Fitzpatrick does not win football games. As little as I like doing so, I have to agree with the overall sentiment you've expressed above. Prior to the start of the season, I felt that the Bills should either have The Guy at quarterback, or they should have nothing at the position. The worst that could happen is to have a player who's "sort of" the answer at quarterback. A "sort of" answer would cost the team draft position, would prevent the front office from trying to find The Guy, and would overall hinder the rebuilding process. Unless your defense is as good as the Ravens of 2000 defense, you're not going to win the Super Bowl with a "sort of" player at quarterback. The problem with Fitz is that he's not good enough to be The Guy, and yet he's significantly better than a nothing quarterback like Trent Edwards. If the Bills had stuck with Edwards over the course of the season, the need to add a quarterback with a first round pick would have been glaringly obvious. Also, the Bills would likely have the draft position required to take Andrew Luck. (An Edwards-led team would have lost more games than a Fitz-led team.) The Bills would have taken their lumps for a year, and then would have moved forward with Luck. That would have been perfectly fine. Fitz makes great decisions, is an excellent on-field general, has great toughness and great leadership, and is very passionate about the game. Unfortunately, he's not a consistently accurate passer. He got away with some inaccurate throws against Miami's defense (they're the best in the league at dropping potential interceptions), but was exposed against New England. The flaws he displayed in the Patriots game were there all along--but that game is when they really bit the Bills. As to the argument that Fitz can still improve--I don't think he will. He's been in the league a while now. If he had the potential to become a consistently accurate passer, you'd think he would have become that by now. Fitz is not good enough to be The Guy, but he's a lot better than a nothing quarterback like Trent Edwards. Over the long run, that's very bad for the Bills' chances of winning the Super Bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talley56 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 and Fitz play may have kept the Bills from winning a few more games too. 13 games and 4 wins.... I think that says it ALL. Yeah, a defense that couldn't stop the run nor get to the QB had nothing to do with those losses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AReed Deep For 7 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Fitz didnt "screw us". he showed up played hard, won over the locker room, and made this year watchable. wow dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quester74 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 But Fitzpatrick will NEVER beat out Brady or Sanchez to earn a wildcard spot. The reason the Dolphins stunk was their lack of a decent QB in a tough division. Guess what? Neither is Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Ryan Mallett or Jesus H. Christ, for that matter.. at least not the way this defense is currently constructed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusoe Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Im pretty pissed off that Chan Gailey is probably not going to take a QB high in the draft because Ryan Fitzpatrick had a descent year. I would have rather had a hugh flop at QB this year so we could finally draft the high first round pick that this franchise has needed for years. Fitz's play has prevented the Bills from hitting rock bottom and now it looks like we will have 2-3 more years of flopping around with no direction. Fitzpatrick does not win football games. Here's two big ways Fitz helped us in 2011 and beyond, even if you don't want him as our future starting QB: * Fitz's play allows the staff to evaluate other key areas of the team. By moving the ball, he exposed the strengths and weaknesses of our OL, wide receivers, TE, etc. If Edwards or Brohm had started, the offense probably would have gone into a black hole and we would not have had nearly enough "evidence" to know where we stood. For example, it's very possible that the Bills wouldn't have known that they now have a viable #2 WR in Stevie Johnson. How much is that information worth to you? In the same sense, Fitz helped us to evaluate our defense, since we got to see how well they perform without having to stay on the field for 40+ min per game. * Fitz's play allowed this young team to learn how to win. He kept saying this over and over again during our 0-8 skid, that it was just so important for the team to get their first win, and then other wins would come, as they learn how to play better ball. The "problem" with football is that if the QB blows-up, the rest of the team can't do anything. Which means, that much of the necessary learning that other players need to experience DOES NOT HAPPEN with a Brohm or Brown or Edwards at QB. How much is that experience worth to you? I can tell you that to a player, they said that winning, as a learning experience, was huge for their growth. I'm psyched for the draft, because we have a great opportunity to pick up an elite player in one of several areas where we clearly know we have a need. GO BILLS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob's House Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Fitzpatrick is not elite, never will be elite. The Bills right now need an elite QB. That is how you win in the NFL. It all starts with a franchise QB and Fitz is not it. He can hold the fort down for a year while the Bills develop a QB, but you HAVE to take a franchise QB if he is there in the first round. Look at the F'n Rams... I live in St. Louis and its pretty obvious what a good young QB can do to a team and a fan base. You mean lead them to a losing record in the weakest division in football? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 You mean lead them to a losing record in the weakest division in football? Bradford's stats were worse than Fitz's. Not that anyone bothered to notice while anointing him the savior. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills99999 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Im pretty pissed off that Chan Gailey is probably not going to take a QB high in the draft because Ryan Fitzpatrick had a descent year. I would have rather had a hugh flop at QB this year so we could finally draft the high first round pick that this franchise has needed for years. Fitz's play has prevented the Bills from hitting rock bottom and now it looks like we will have 2-3 more years of flopping around with no direction. Fitzpatrick does not win football games. If we don't draft Cam newton, maybe we can trade for Vince Young Six of one-Half dozen of the other Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadDad Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Im pretty pissed off that Chan Gailey is probably not going to take a QB high in the draft because Ryan Fitzpatrick had a descent year. I would have rather had a hugh flop at QB this year so we could finally draft the high first round pick that this franchise has needed for years. Fitz's play has prevented the Bills from hitting rock bottom and now it looks like we will have 2-3 more years of flopping around with no direction. Fitzpatrick does not win football games. Please excuse my choise of words buts that's horse hockey . Until the Bills start paying serious attention, (not one guy every three years in the top three rounds)to the fat guys up front on both sides of the line then nothing else will really matter. Yeah Brohm sucked on Sunday but he had no time and was continously harassed. How many yards did NY rush for again, more than the first game (way over 200 yds)? We can continue to draft DB's, WR's, RB's, and QB's until the cows come home but until we get some real talent on the OL and DL nothing, absolutely nothing will change for this team. I don't mean one guy here and there, I mean the draft should be basically spent on the lines. If we can trade down then it would be ideal because it would enable us to look at a QB or a LB as well, but the emphasis must be on the lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armchair GM Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 and Fitz play may have kept the Bills from winning a few more games too. 13 games and 4 wins.... I think that says it ALL. Yes...and it's 1,000% the QB's fault!! IDIOCY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fansince88 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 will still draft a QB Not because of Fitz though. Brohm proved it is nessassary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfreak Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 We lost the Pats and Jets 4 times a year because we could,nt stop the run, rush the passer, or take all ball away. A rookie QB would loose also. 7 turnovers two weeks ago, 5 by Fitz himself, and as Cris Carter said they didn't turn the ball over, the gave them away, kinda says QB play has something to do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iusmith Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 and Fitz play may have kept the Bills from winning a few more games too. 13 games and 4 wins.... I think that says it ALL. He had us in more games than he did lose a game for us. Our D is the major reason for record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 7 turnovers two weeks ago, 5 by Fitz himself, and as Cris Carter said they didn't turn the ball over, the gave them away, kinda says QB play has something to do with it. In 4 games. How about the other 9? PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akm0404 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 And yet still nobody recognizes that our defense was actually superior to our offense, relative to the other teams in the NFL. #24 in total defense. #25 in total offense. Everyone just got a chubby for Fitzpatrick because he came on strong and strung together a few good games before tanking the rest of the season on his way to a bottom-third-of-the-league performance. The offense was JUST AS BAD AS THE DEFENSE. The offense just did it by playing an entertaining turnover laden game, while the defense did us in by getting dominated against the run, which felt way worse. The offense was terrible. They didn't score enough. They turned the ball over a bazillion times. The quarterback is an inaccurate bottom-third journeyman who statistically corrected himself at the end of the year. We need offensive help just as badly as defensive help. Both sides of the ball are bad. The whole team is bad. Who helps your team the most, assuming you can pick an elite quarterback or an elite defensive or offensive lineman. I'd postulate that the QB has the highest upside, and really, we need someone with impossibly huge upside to drag us out of this slop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPicc2114 Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Franchise QB = Wins The quicker we get a franchise QB, the quicker this thing gets turned around. Ryan Fitzpatrick is just prolonging this process. You people need to get off the Fitzpatrick bandwagon. He was mediocre at best this year. He should start next year but QB should be the #1 draft priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 And yet still nobody recognizes that our defense was actually superior to our offense, relative to the other teams in the NFL. #24 in total defense. #25 in total offense. Everyone just got a chubby for Fitzpatrick because he came on strong and strung together a few good games before tanking the rest of the season on his way to a bottom-third-of-the-league performance. The offense was JUST AS BAD AS THE DEFENSE. The offense just did it by playing an entertaining turnover laden game, while the defense did us in by getting dominated against the run, which felt way worse. The offense was terrible. They didn't score enough. They turned the ball over a bazillion times. The quarterback is an inaccurate bottom-third journeyman who statistically corrected himself at the end of the year. We need offensive help just as badly as defensive help. Both sides of the ball are bad. The whole team is bad. Who helps your team the most, assuming you can pick an elite quarterback or an elite defensive or offensive lineman. I'd postulate that the QB has the highest upside, and really, we need someone with impossibly huge upside to drag us out of this slop. Dead last against the run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulMan Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 We need LB's, a pass rush and OT's way, way before we need a 1st round qb. Luck, Luckman, Namath, Brody or Brady would have been 4 and 12 with this years team. Fitz is capable of taking the Bills deep into the playoffs with a top 10 defense/special teams and a top 5 OL/running game. The earliest we should draft a qb this year is 4th. Personally, would trade that 3rd pick for 2-2nd's and get alot more players for the buck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldstorage5 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 You play to win the game.... Get your best out there... If we cant find some one good at the #3 spot we should relocate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San-O Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Im pretty pissed off that Chan Gailey is probably not going to take a QB high in the draft because Ryan Fitzpatrick had a descent year. I would have rather had a hugh flop at QB this year so we could finally draft the high first round pick that this franchise has needed for years. Fitz's play has prevented the Bills from hitting rock bottom and now it looks like we will have 2-3 more years of flopping around with no direction. Fitzpatrick does not win football games. Only the Bills/Ralph would have the 3rd overall pick in the draft, this year being "year of the QB", and take one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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