Spiller C+

[muggins]

What are the power ball numbers since you know the future. Help us all out. Don't just keep your vast knowledge to the

realm of football.

Is there a rolling eyes smiley on this board? Just pretend I put it in this post.

 

[Moderator edit: ]

[tennesseeboy]

The minute he was picked we should have known he wouldn't help all that much since we had two pretty good running backs. Gailey had referred to him as a "waterbug" which should have told you he wasn't going to be much help as a pass blocker, and would need help from a very weak offensive line opening holes so that he could do his thing. A C+ is kind of generous in my opinion.

 

Unbelievable, isnt it? These threads with the whiners whining are getting really hard to read. Spiller has a ton of talent guys. He is not a bust after just one season. Just stop the silly talk. Gailey even said it in an interview, "we won't be having this conversation in year 5". And personally, I don't think we'll be having this conversation after next year. But just keep on whining. It's what you do.

yeah Spiller has a ton of talent. He just decided not to show it to us this season.

[muggins]

The minute he was picked we should have known he wouldn't help all that much since we had two pretty good running backs. Gailey had referred to him as a "waterbug" which should have told you he wasn't going to be much help as a pass blocker, and would need help from a very weak offensive line opening holes so that he could do his thing. A C+ is kind of generous in my opinion.

 

 

yeah Spiller has a ton of talent. He just decided not to show it to us this season.

Yeah, C+ was very generous.

[Mr. WEO]

Unbelievable, isnt it? These threads with the whiners whining are getting really hard to read. Spiller has a ton of talent guys. He is not a bust after just one season. Just stop the silly talk. Gailey even said it in an interview, "we won't be having this conversation in year 5". And personally, I don't think we'll be having this conversation after next year. But just keep on whining. It's what you do.

Year 5??

 

Nobody picks a RB in round 1 as a 5 year project! Come on!

 

You pick a RB in the top 10 to start right away or you don't pick him.

[Cash]

I'm no fan of Dick Jauron, but losing Eric Studesville along with him was a bigger loss than the average joe six pack fantasy football guy in lackawanna realizes. this guy was an expert running backs coach and largely made Jackson, who also got great reps in NFL Europe (rushing champion, etc) what he is today. Spiller came in cold from Junior year in college, knowing zero about being a running back at the NFL level. there is no comparing Fred's first or second year to Spiller's first year. Spiller is learning now what Jackson learned in NFL Europe and with Studesville. No way Spiller was going to be an impact player day 1. They invested in him. He is a project they couldn't let get away.

 

But OK, lets say we do it your way. Now that he, by his own admission, "gets" how to run in the NFL, Let's cut him now and move on. And look forward to seeing him in a Patriots or Jets or Steelers uniform about 30 seconds later ( and twice a year for the next 5-8 years.) Cut him now. Just like Peters, Winfield, Williams and all the rest of the really naturally talented players we have coached up and showed the way. You are right.

 

You are too impatient. What are you gonna do when they lose another 10-11 games this rebuilding season (highly highly likely)??

Call for Gailey's head? and start all over? We're all frustrated. but it took 5 years to get to where we are. will take several years to fix.

 

Nice strawman. Who is suggesting we cut Spiller? We're just trying to point out that he's been a terrible, horrible pick so far. All the pre-draft arguments against drafting Spiller have been largely spot-on to date. It's not that Spiller is a bad player who doesn't deserve a roster spot, it's that he's done nothing to justify being picked ninth overall. Last year, he was a decent return man and a mediocre backup running back who touched the ball about 11-12 times a game, including returns and fair catches. That's a major disappointment even for a 2nd-round pick, much less a top 10 pick. Especially when the pro-Spiller arguments around draft day were based around instant impact, excitement, gamebreaking plays, and BPA. We didn't get a lot of that, especially from scrimmage. Now there's some revisionist history going around, saying that he needs time to learn how to run in the NFL, there's a learning curve, etc. Awesome. I hope he figures it out. I don't *want* the Bills to draft poorly, I'm just past the point of making excuses for their sh***y picks. Spiller made no sense in foresight and hasn't made sense yet in hindsight. And he's going to have to make the All-Pro Team to wind up as the BPA.

 

Sometimes teams flout the conventional wisdom and have great success, like the Jaguars with Tyson Alualu last year. But when the Bills flout the conventional wisdom, they tend to end up looking foolish. Whitner. McCargo. Bringing back Jauron in 2009. Cutting Bledsoe to start Losman. Drafting McGahee. The jury's still out on the hirings of Buddy Nix & Chan Gailey, the draftings of Spiller & Troup, and the signing of Merriman, but we're not off to a great start with any of them. I really hope they turn it around, but I need to see some proof before I start buying it.

 

And for the record, if we stink again next year (which I also expect), I would tend to *not* want to fire Gailey, unless Bill Cowher was willing to come here (he's expected to return to the NFL in 2012). But since Cowher and Gailey are good buddies, I doubt Cowher would have much interest in getting his buddy fired, or joining the moribund team with no franchise player that fired his buddy. So realistically, I would say keep Gailey, assuming the team plays hard for him.

[Slayers]

D+ would be more like it. First RB off the board and he wasn't even in the top 5 of rookie RBs (yds from scrimmage). Being outperformed by Jahvid Best, Toby Gerhart, Cory Ivory, Ryan Mathews, Lagarette Blount, that's just embarassing. 21 million guaranteed?

 

Way to earn that money Spiller !!

 

Here let me help you out

CJ Spiller 74 283 3.8

 

Jahvid Best 171 555 3.2

 

Ryan Mathews 158 678 4.3

 

Toby Gerhart 81 322 4.0

 

Lagarett Blount 201 1007 5.0 and he was undrafted

 

So besides Blount NO ONE did much better then Spiller they all received more touches and were the feature back of the O besides Gerhart.

[Sisyphean Bills]

Well unfortunately it looks like the Crystal Balls are out-of-order, so all we have to go by is what actually happened on the Field...

 

There's no question Spiller can bounce back...There's also no question his Rookie Year was a HUGE disappointment...

Don't mind him. His brain has freezer burn.

[peteski]

Third lowest grade out of the first round. He wasn't used much and expect more out of him next season. He will do better next year and others will drop in their grades. Do not get too mad at the pick yet. It is way to early for that.

[RuntheDamnBall]

CJ, James Hardy, and Aaron Maybin are sooooooo close to their breakout seasons! Just wait! Then you'll see!

It's going to be so righteous when you are right about all these guys and they get cut. I hope you brought the house down with your "I WAS RIGHT" Party when Hardy got his walking papers. BTW, send your resume to One Bills Drive. They need our best and brightest.

 

Here let me help you out

CJ Spiller 74 283 3.8

 

Jahvid Best 171 555 3.2

 

Ryan Mathews 158 678 4.3

 

Toby Gerhart 81 322 4.0

 

Lagarett Blount 201 1007 5.0 and he was undrafted

 

So besides Blount NO ONE did much better then Spiller they all received more touches and were the feature back of the O besides Gerhart.

And we can rightly assume the crybaby brigade would have been out in full force if we drafted another "thug" running back like "Smokin'" Blount.

[John from Riverside]

C+?!

 

After a trainwreck season where we watched our "electrifying gamebreaker" ride the pine and relentlessly fumble away his few touches, grading that out to be slightly better than average is a farce.

 

Fans tout him as the second coming of O.J. Simpson (lol) while at the same time saying that he needs to improve his ability to run between the tackles, and run North/South, and his vision, and his ball security, and his pass protection.

 

After a season where we watched rookies all over the league start and make huge impacts for good, playoff caliber teams while ours couldn't even dress for the games at times, it is hard to swallow the notion that Spiller, who couldn't wrestle carries away from a 30+ year old middling running back, was a slightly above average pick.

 

Are you sure you wouldn't be happier rooting for a different team?

[RuntheDamnBall]

Are you sure you wouldn't be happier rooting for a different team?

The rest of us would be better for it.

[Rockinon]

Cry baby brigade

[John from Riverside]

The thing is it makes absolutely no difference to the cry baby brigade.....

 

If Spiller came in and lit it up (which of course would probably cause us to be more like a 7-9 team once again placing us in the draft order of mediocre once again and not a top 3 pick where we can actually REBUILD this team

 

If he did that then the cry baby brigade would find something else to cry about.....probably about what I just posted about being middle of the road again.....

 

THIS TEAM WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO WIN LAST YEAR.....they figured out that they needed to bottom out in order to get better.....

[Astrobot]

I gave Spiller the C+. It's my job at DraftTek, as some of you know. When you read commentary on our Consensus Mock Draft, that's my commentary.

 

Spiller's grade is brought UP from "D" for exceeding 4.7 yards per carry 7 out of 14 games in his rookie year. It's for his 23 yard kick return average, with 28 kick returns of 20 yards or more, including a 95 yarder for a TD. It's for his performance behind a line that needs at least one more player, and more consistency than 8 linemen (including Wood) to Injured Reserve and 5 Right Tackles.

 

BTW, I teach for a living, so I know full well that those that are whining the loudest all graduated Magna Cum Laude.

[3rdand12]

Mr. Spiller should get better if he stays healthy. Alot better/effective. and i can definitely see him being something that defenses plan for.

As a #1 RB. nope. just aint gonna happen. As a valuable asset. yep. as a good pick at that level eehhh not so much.

But the kid got picked where he got picked, aint his fault.

Maybe the coaches will be able to throw some fun filled wrinkles using his speed and acceleration in next years go at it?

[thewildrabbit]

A C+ might be a little generous, considering how high he was drafted. The last few games of the season he Fair Caught every kick that came his way, and still fumbles some of those. He was a total disappointment, and a direct reflection on how Buddy Nix is going to run this team. Take away one kick return for a TD and Spiller might have been better served to be inactive on game days.

Although I hold Nix responsible for the Cornell Green RT FA blunder at 3 mill ! I don't hold this pick against Nix, this pick was clearly all Chan Gailey, and his talking about drafting a "waterbug" type player 3 months before the draft.

 

I suppose the thing that bothers me most is the fact that the Bills already had a "waterbug" type receiver in Roscoe Parrish, and a brilliant 3rd down specialist in Fred Jackson, why waste that #9 pick on player that wasn't even needed?

[stevestojan]

I watched every game, and honest to God don't see how he's higher than an F.

 

What the hell did he do? Seriously?

 

I gave Spiller the C+. It's my job at DraftTek, as some of you know. When you read commentary on our Consensus Mock Draft, that's my commentary.

 

Spiller's grade is brought UP from "D" for exceeding 4.7 yards per carry 7 out of 14 games in his rookie year. It's for his 23 yard kick return average, with 28 kick returns of 20 yards or more, including a 95 yarder for a TD. It's for his performance behind a line that needs at least one more player, and more consistency than 8 linemen (including Wood) to Injured Reserve and 5 Right Tackles.

 

BTW, I teach for a living, so I know full well that those that are whining the loudest all graduated Magna Cum Laude.

 

Then I read your reply and CAN see how he was graded higher than F. Data, it gets me every time. OK, C+ is fair

[brenty]

your post is a C at best... its his first year, he was behind, lynch and jackson at one point. Had no room to grow. Give the kid a break, im sure we can visit this topic again at the end of next season when he explodes

[artmalibu]

C+ is real good, hell thats better than the rest of the offense

[Orton's Arm]

I'm no fan of Dick Jauron, but losing Eric Studesville along with him was a bigger loss than the average joe six pack fantasy football guy in lackawanna realizes. this guy was an expert running backs coach and largely made Jackson, who also got great reps in NFL Europe (rushing champion, etc) what he is today. Spiller came in cold from Junior year in college, knowing zero about being a running back at the NFL level. there is no comparing Fred's first or second year to Spiller's first year. Spiller is learning now what Jackson learned in NFL Europe and with Studesville. No way Spiller was going to be an impact player day 1. They invested in him. He is a project they couldn't let get away.

 

But OK, lets say we do it your way. Now that he, by his own admission, "gets" how to run in the NFL, Let's cut him now and move on. And look forward to seeing him in a Patriots or Jets or Steelers uniform about 30 seconds later ( and twice a year for the next 5-8 years.) Cut him now. Just like Peters, Winfield, Williams and all the rest of the really naturally talented players we have coached up and showed the way. You are right.

 

You are too impatient. What are you gonna do when they lose another 10-11 games this rebuilding season (highly highly likely)??

Call for Gailey's head? and start all over? We're all frustrated. but it took 5 years to get to where we are. will take several years to fix.

You are reading waaaaaay too much into my earlier post. I simply indicated the link was depressing (which it was) and that thus far Spiller has done nothing to justify his draft selection (which he hasn't). I did not comment on whether Spiller might turn into a good RB someday, nor did I suggest the Bills should cut him. As a general rule I am very loath to cut a first, second, or even third round pick after just one year. Spiller hasn't (to my knowledge) done anything drastic enough to justify a quick removal. He will (and should) get at least another year in which to learn and to prove himself.

 

Maybe NoSaint is right, and maybe Spiller's anticipated improvement in pass protection will help his rushing stats as well. (By making the offense less predictable when he's on the field.)