Pirate Angel Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 With no learning curve larger than that of a quarterback when entering the NFL and with the current lockout I am even more pleased that we did not draft a QB. Without contact with the coaches, regular practices and meetings it is hard to imagine that that player would even be prepared to be a #2 player. With Defense the learning curve inst as steep I'm not saying its not there by any means but I'm more comfortable with Dareus lining up on day one than an offensive player. IMO we will see Aaron Williams and Sheppard more and more after week 6. Maybe Chan and Buddy saw this coming, who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 With no learning curve larger than that of a quarterback when entering the NFL and with the current lockout I am even more pleased that we did not draft a QB. Without contact with the coaches, regular practices and meetings it is hard to imagine that that player would even be prepared to be a #2 player. With Defense the learning curve inst as steep I'm not saying its not there by any means but I'm more comfortable with Dareus lining up on day one than an offensive player. IMO we will see Aaron Williams and Sheppard more and more after week 6. Maybe Chan and Buddy saw this coming, who knows. This draft was loaded with D talent...if they would have reached for a QB like other teams did and missed this opportunity, I would have been pretty pissed. I like this draft, and it seems like I keep hearing a lot of people talking about D'Norris Searcy. Something about this kid has people talking that he might end up being a steal, so he's one to keep our eyes on. Combine this class of D draft picks with the talent we have coming back off injury, and this D may do a complete about face. If Wanny can do his thing, our defense may end up being much better than people realize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 With no learning curve larger than that of a quarterback when entering the NFL and with the current lockout I am even more pleased that we did not draft a QB. Without contact with the coaches, regular practices and meetings it is hard to imagine that that player would even be prepared to be a #2 player. With Defense the learning curve inst as steep I'm not saying its not there by any means but I'm more comfortable with Dareus lining up on day one than an offensive player. IMO we will see Aaron Williams and Sheppard more and more after week 6. Maybe Chan and Buddy saw this coming, who knows. 100% guarantee that a few years down the road people will be harping on the QB or QBs that the Bills passed on in this draft. But, the Bills had the right approach. The defense needed to be improved and I think they've gone a long way to fixing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scraps Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I guess that might be important if the Bills were on the verge of greatness this year, but they are not. If there was a franchise QB available, they should have grabbed him. Even the best available ones had huge question marks this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nasty Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 100% guarantee that a few years down the road people will be harping on the QB or QBs that the Bills passed on in this draft. But, the Bills had the right approach. The defense needed to be improved and I think they've gone a long way to fixing it. I don't think the Bills will look back, because they fixed or took the right approach to fix the problem that the Bills had and that is defense. Anyways the Bills will be picking in the top half of the draft again next year and there is much more talent at QB (Luck, Jones, I would have said Pryor but he is coming out in the supplemental draft anyway) we will land one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I don't think the Bills will look back, because they fixed or took the right approach to fix the problem that the Bills had and that is defense. Anyways the Bills will be picking in the top half of the draft again next year and there is much more talent at QB (Luck, Jones, I would have said Pryor but he is coming out in the supplemental draft anyway) we will land one of them. That will be the thinking until Fitzy makes the pro bowl this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirate Angel Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 This draft was loaded with D talent...if they would have reached for a QB like other teams did and missed this opportunity, I would have been pretty pissed. I like this draft, and it seems like I keep hearing a lot of people talking about D'Norris Searcy. Something about this kid has people talking that he might end up being a steal, so he's one to keep our eyes on. Combine this class of D draft picks with the talent we have coming back off injury, and this D may do a complete about face. If Wanny can do his thing, our defense may end up being much better than people realize. Let us hope our D is much improved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I don't think the Bills will look back, because they fixed or took the right approach to fix the problem that the Bills had and that is defense. Anyways the Bills will be picking in the top half of the draft again next year and there is much more talent at QB (Luck, Jones, I would have said Pryor but he is coming out in the supplemental draft anyway) we will land one of them. I wasn't talking about the Bills looking back, I was talking about Bills fans looking back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 That will be the thinking until Fitzy makes the pro bowl this season aj.....like you I am getting this little feeling in the pit of my stomach that might be a possibility...... - Stabalize the O Line - CJ Spiller a year in the system - Young WR's a year older - A offseason as the starting QB If it actually happens Nix is gonna come out of this smelling like a rose.....because that Defense is gonna be greatly improved......so if the offense also takes a step forward.....well..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 aj.....like you I am getting this little feeling in the pit of my stomach that might be a possibility...... - Stabalize the O Line - CJ Spiller a year in the system - Young WR's a year older - A offseason as the starting QB If it actually happens Nix is gonna come out of this smelling like a rose.....because that Defense is gonna be greatly improved......so if the offense also takes a step forward.....well..... Problem is: We haven't fixed the line Had marshawn and FJ last year, so is Spiller going to be that big an improvement this year? Everyones young 4-8 receivers matured another year. Almost 100% of starting qbs have this offseason to improve. It's not even a real offseason honestly. I think fitz will be a good stop gap but to say he could be a probowler for those reasons seems like a stretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyjustbcuz Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Let us hope our D is much improved. I think our "D" will be better, to what extent it's hard to predetermine....I would say that we will have an average defense this year...right about in the middle statistically. I think the one thing that will make the greatest difference in the Bills performance this year is avoiding having so many players injured. We have had more than our share of injuries the past few years and you would hope that some of the changes they made at strength and conditioning programs and having two coaches that perform in that capacity will help some. It's a given that there will be injuries, but having a better conditioned team should help. I noticed that the Bills usually collapsed early in the season in the second half of games and I was trying to determine rather it was a matter of conditioning or making adjustments at halftime of the games. It seemed as the season progressed the Bills were playing better in the second half of games and took some quality opponents right up to overtime to determine a winner. I think the biggest flaw last season which was obvious was the inability to stop the run. I think the Bills have gone a long way to reverse that problem and only games will reflect rather our run stopping is improved or not. Not only will a better "D" improve the defensive side of our game, but it will give our offense a better opportunity to win time of possesion. The longer the offense has the ball the less stressed and tired the defense will be. This should benefit the Bills as a game wears on and defenses get tired. There are just so many benefits to a good run defense! If we shut down the run we can make a opponent's offense one-dimensional which will be easier to shut down. It would also make the opponent test our CB's more which was something they avoided a lot last year as there was no need to pass as much. It showed in teams avoiding Jairus Byrd last year, and it wasn't just that Byrd didn't get many INT's last year, it also was that he was untested for the most part. So what am I saying......We should get more interceptions on defense, improve on time of possesion, probably recover more fumbles, give up less touchdowns, score more points, etc...and hopefully all this will mean we win more games! I think we will win more games this year, but looking at the schedule ahead (if they play them all!) and the age and inexperience of our defense...I think realistically we're looking at 6 wins this year! Not quite what we hoped for...but combine that with a strong Offensive minded draft next year..including a QB, WR, TE, OT's, we may be building something special once again? It may be like 1985 again and it's hard to see the foundation of the dominant team of tomorrow that Buddy Nix is building! Rare for me regarding optimism but we are 4 years away from the Superbowl !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T master Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 For the first time in a while we have a GM that has a clue !! Nix has chosen a path that seems to make a lot of sense or a lot more than the previous couple of "football people" chose . The talent is on this team & bringing in good coaches like Wanny & keeping Bob Sanders , the QB coach from the CFL i think the team can go no where but up . We have had the talent for a while now but if the coaches don't know how to use it or bring it out you'll never win !! I expect really good things this year & unlike a few others have all the faith in Fitz & believe it is VERY possible that the guy can be a pro bowl caliber QB , he is the right fit for the team & the talent that surrounds him . It may take a couple of other players but i for one think we are a lot closer than others think we are !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Problem is: We haven't fixed the line Had marshawn and FJ last year, so is Spiller going to be that big an improvement this year? Everyones young 4-8 receivers matured another year. Almost 100% of starting qbs have this offseason to improve. It's not even a real offseason honestly. I think fitz will be a good stop gap but to say he could be a probowler for those reasons seems like a stretch. First off, the line got much better as the season went on. Wood is the potentially the starter at C this team has been waiting for since Hull left. Bell got much better and showed that he is good enough to start. He might not be pro bowl like Peters but he's not horrible either. Levitre is a solid starter at LG. The right side of the line is still a possible question mark but the rookie will probably start from day 1 at RT and the young guys they picked up from practice teams last year will battle it out for RG. It's actually similar to last season except the left side will be more experienced and the C position is a strong point. You also have Hangartner as a quality backup at all 3 interior line positions. Freddy will be the usual Fred Jackson and Spiller WILL be better after a season under his belt. Lynch was an average RB at best and an even worse teamate and person. This position got stronger by trading him. The WRs showed that they could get it done last year. Fitz and Johnson have a great chemistry. Roscoe had his best year yet before the injury. Nelson is a 3rd down master. Let's not forget Easley never played a down and was looking good in camps. He could be an additional threat for nothing this year. Most important is your point about all other QBs that got another year under his belt. This is true. Except with Fitz, he has never been penciled in as the starter from day 1. This year he can take full advantage of being the starter from day 1 and build on the chemistry he developed with the young WRs last year. Mainly Johnson, Nelson, And Jones. To say that Fitz could be a probowler might not be as much as a stretch as you might think. He threw for 3k yards and 24 tds (I think) and only 14 ints (again, I think) while only starting 13 games as well as not having preseason or camps as the starting QB. As the year went on he got stronger and seemed to develope with his young WRs. He was at one point listed as one of the top QBs as far as ratings is concerned. And I might add with 3 more games (the games he missed as starter) he would have had very close to 30 tds, and within possibility of 4k yards. Match that with the probowler from last year and you don't see much of a difference. Actually the Super Bowl champion Aaron Rodgers statistics weren't far off. Fact is, it all comes down to wins. If Fitz can squeeze out 3-4 more wins and bring this team to even 8-8 and has the statistics he did last year he will be in the running for the probowl. I'm not saying this will all take place, but with the team growing, becoming more experienced and Fitz getting the start from day 1 it's not out of the question. Truth is, so e of is are optimistic and sone are pessimistic. Choose yours. I'd rather go into the season hoping to bring this team out of the gutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 (edited) First off, the line got much better as the season went on. Wood is the potentially the starter at C this team has been waiting for since Hull left. Bell got much better and showed that he is good enough to start. He might not be pro bowl like Peters but he's not horrible either. Levitre is a solid starter at LG. The right side of the line is still a possible question mark but the rookie will probably start from day 1 at RT and the young guys they picked up from practice teams last year will battle it out for RG. It's actually similar to last season except the left side will be more experienced and the C position is a strong point. You also have Hangartner as a quality backup at all 3 interior line positions. Freddy will be the usual Fred Jackson and Spiller WILL be better after a season under his belt. Lynch was an average RB at best and an even worse teamate and person. This position got stronger by trading him. The WRs showed that they could get it done last year. Fitz and Johnson have a great chemistry. Roscoe had his best year yet before the injury. Nelson is a 3rd down master. Let's not forget Easley never played a down and was looking good in camps. He could be an additional threat for nothing this year. Most important is your point about all other QBs that got another year under his belt. This is true. Except with Fitz, he has never been penciled in as the starter from day 1. This year he can take full advantage of being the starter from day 1 and build on the chemistry he developed with the young WRs last year. Mainly Johnson, Nelson, And Jones. To say that Fitz could be a probowler might not be as much as a stretch as you might think. He threw for 3k yards and 24 tds (I think) and only 14 ints (again, I think) while only starting 13 games as well as not having preseason or camps as the starting QB. As the year went on he got stronger and seemed to develope with his young WRs. He was at one point listed as one of the top QBs as far as ratings is concerned. And I might add with 3 more games (the games he missed as starter) he would have had very close to 30 tds, and within possibility of 4k yards. Match that with the probowler from last year and you don't see much of a difference. Actually the Super Bowl champion Aaron Rodgers statistics weren't far off. Fact is, it all comes down to wins. If Fitz can squeeze out 3-4 more wins and bring this team to even 8-8 and has the statistics he did last year he will be in the running for the probowl. I'm not saying this will all take place, but with the team growing, becoming more experienced and Fitz getting the start from day 1 it's not out of the question. Truth is, so e of is are optimistic and sone are pessimistic. Choose yours. I'd rather go into the season hoping to bring this team out of the gutter. is it possible he ends up in the game if they have a winning record? yes. but he is certainly behind brady, manning, rivers, and rothlisberger without any questions. that means it would take two of those 4 having off years, fitz and the bills playing better than expected, and none of the other qbs like schuab, sanchez, flacco, or cassell for example also having big seasons. odds are the only way fitz ends up in the probowl is with a handful of guys pulling out of the game. Edited June 12, 2011 by NoSaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilsner Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Who cares about the pro bowl? It's a popularity contest. I don't care if any if our players miss it as long as they all play well as a team and win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 aj.....like you I am getting this little feeling in the pit of my stomach that might be a possibility...... - Stabalize the O Line - CJ Spiller a year in the system - Young WR's a year older - A offseason as the starting QB If it actually happens Nix is gonna come out of this smelling like a rose.....because that Defense is gonna be greatly improved......so if the offense also takes a step forward.....well..... Yep, and with Fitzy being as young as he is, if he turns into a solid, reliable starter then we will be able to use our top pick next year on a position other than QB. The more I think about it, Fitzy is far and away the most important "what if?" factor on this team. I love the kid's attitude and his willingness to fling it all over the field, so I'm really rooting for him to take a step up and grab the reigns of this team for the next 3-5 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santoro770 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 is it possible he ends up in the game if they have a winning record? yes. but he is certainly behind brady, manning, rivers, and rothlisberger without any questions. that means it would take two of those 4 having off years, fitz and the bills playing better than expected, and none of the other qbs like schuab, sanchez, flacco, or cassell for example also having big seasons. odds are the only way fitz ends up in the probowl is with a handful of guys pulling out of the game. The only thing to remember is that pro bowl voting is prior to the end of the season so he will have to really light it up the first half of the season. With our schedule if he wins 5 or 6 games the first half then you can talk about him in the pro bowl. A lot of people will stop and consider him if Buffalo has that many wins. Love the beginning of the season because there's always hope, I'd like that to last a bit longer this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mini Max Anderson Fan Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 That will be the thinking until Fitzy makes the pro bowl this season :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sllib olaffub Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I was saying going into this year's draft that there could end up being 4-6 starters coming out of it, and even up to 7 or 8 QB's who end up playing in the NFL that were drafted this year. Newton, Locker, Ponder, Dalton, and Gabbert are all pretty much locks to be starters. Then I think Kaepernick is an eventual, which makes 6. Then you've got the guys who were the darkhorse fan favorites who number somewhere around 4 - that's a lot of QB talent to pass up. But, I'm glad they did. As many good QB's there were in this draft, we knew our team wasn't going to be a contender for at least one more year. Looking at the draft, the defense was the deeper of the units, and it happened that in rounds 2-5 we ended up with guys that look like they might've been overlooked for other more widely recognized names - we were hearing pre-draft about guys like Mathews, but Searcy was never mentioned. But, looking at their work now, I believe Searcy has a better chance of being an impact player than Mathews. What I like the most about this draft is we seemed to really fill positions of need with players that might be solid starters for years with guys like Dareus (really solidify the run D and our D-line is now set, I think, with Troupe, Williams, Carrington, and Edwards to line up next to), and then we get Williams to go along with McKelvin and McGee, and hopefully Florence - which would give us a very solid secondary (that's 2 of the three D units), and Williams could play safety in a pinch, too. Then we add Searcy to bring that meat to the safety position, which will go great next to Byrd, who is more of a finesse player. Finally, we have Batten, Moats, and Coleman to look forward to adding to our Linebacker Corps. Maybin is not lost totally yet, and I'm holding out hope he turns into a lightning bolt for us. Add to that Merriman, Poz, and Davis, and you have a group that is missing an OLB and an ILB to make it steady. Enter Kelvin Sheppard and Chris White, and I think we have the youth to grow into the positions. We have enough now to be a good defense - one that I think could end up being top 12 this season. On offense we landed Hairston, who I think will start at RT, and who was highly regarded coming out, and who is strong as an ox, thank goodness. We get a RB who looks to be the perfect compliment to Fred and CJ, and I think we are going into F.A. lacking only a very dynamic TE - and there will be talent available at that position, and QB, if you doubt Fitz is the guy. Maybe good depth to backup our Tackle position, and another OLB to compete. Still, if our O-line continues to grow and improve, we stand to go into next year's draft with a good Defense in place, a squad of excellent Recievers (which I think we do have), a good O-line, and dynamic RB's - a team ready for a true Franchise QB - and there are supposedly 3 QB's coming out next year who would've been the top QB had they came out this year. So, if we're sitting where I think we will be, there is absolutely no reason we don't do whatever it takes to land that QB next draft, so that we can look forward to a decade of creating a system. Everything else will be in place - except maybe that great TE, I don't know how the college landscape looks for TE in next year's draft. Anyway, had we reached this year for a QB and missed on someone good on Defense, we might not only have missed that defensive player and had to go high next year to replace him, but also we might feel obliged to stick with a QB who isn't necessarily good enough, and then eventually have to replace him anyway. I like that our F.O. goes for who they believe to be the best players available, because just like San Diego had that very sound, deep team, not to mention Pittsburgh - so, too, will we have that good depth and steady, level talent level, if we have another draft or two like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombstone56 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 (edited) With no learning curve larger than that of a quarterback when entering the NFL and with the current lockout I am even more pleased that we did not draft a QB. Without contact with the coaches, regular practices and meetings it is hard to imagine that that player would even be prepared to be a #2 player. With Defense the learning curve inst as steep I'm not saying its not there by any means but I'm more comfortable with Dareus lining up on day one than an offensive player. IMO we will see Aaron Williams and Sheppard more and more after week 6. Maybe Chan and Buddy saw this coming, who knows. FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT! not only was the question of a lockout but training a new QB,which in this years draft most have suspect skills..NEXT year the CBA will be in place and the QB class will be far superior to this years... EVEN IN THE SECOND RD .(LUCK ,LANDRY JONES ,MATT BARKLEY ,TANNEHILL,FOLES, ETC..) thing is next years draft is LOADED with LINEBACKER HELP.!!!!!! SOME PROJECTIONS ARE 15 IN FIRST 2 RDS.. Edited June 12, 2011 by tombstone56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts