Al Cowlings Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I agree w your concerns about Nix. He just has not hit on enuf players in the 3 drafts that he has been in charge of. And I think we did not do our homework on what kind of player Mario Williams really is. I see him and Dareus as both having similar personalities that seem actually quite passive for the warfare that goes on in the trenches. They are missing the street fighter mentality. I hope Pettine and Marrone will impress that upon everyone on the roster. As for this upcoming season, I am cautiously optimistic that Marrone will have a strong influence (as he should) over the 2013 roster. And I believe we will be pleasantly surprised with the type of players he wants on his team. I believe that his idea on how a team should play and what their image should be will be totally different than Chan Gailey's idea. And that image will be of toughness, smarts and aggressiveness. Qualities that we NEVER saw on Gailey's teams. I think bringing back TJack is a good move, and I feel quite confident that he will be out Fitzie, if he is even on the roster. Because if he does not take a pay cut shortly, Fitz will be gone. I have been optimistic ever since Gailey was fired and Marrone was hired. So my early predictions say at least an 8-8 team that will be much tougher to play against. Some strong QB play and we could push for a wild card. But I think it is really way to early to make any firm predictions. Lets see how free agency and the draft shakes out. Well said. I completely agree with your Mario Williams take. He was a complete waste of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I don't buy that the defense is as bad as their stats showed last year. The reason I believe this is because I do believe that Wannstedt was way over his head last year. It's likely to me that the simple replacing of Wanny with Pettine will make a huge difference. I expect the defense to be at least as good as it was during the Jauron years, middle of the road or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San-O Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 except Marrone is Offensive minded coach is he not? I highly doubt he is going to say ok Hackett draw up all the plays and tell me what we are going to do on offense. I expect him to have a large part in the offensive scheme. Especially knowing Pettine probably doesn't need any help or guidance. Thus the reason he hired a DC with experience. That's true, and I expect he will have a large role in O game planning, but he doesn't have Drew Brees back there throwing the ball either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Cowlings Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 That's true, and I expect he will have a large role in O game planning, but he doesn't have Drew Brees back there throwing the ball either. He wasn't the o cordinator at New Orleans, just a figurehead. Sean Payton ran the O with the Saints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 If we stick with TJ, Fitz and one of these average QBs in the draft then there is a good chance that we will be picking very high in the draft and Could end up 2 - 14. I like Marrone as our HC as he was my second favorite option and absolutely love pettine, even more than Marrone. However when new coaches come in there is usually a big transition period that takes about a half to a whole season to get the players totally comfortable with the systems. This coupled with our horrible QB situation is going to get us Johny Manziel, who I liken to Tim Tebow with his Charisma, leadership and being a pure gamer but with a good arm. So as brutal as it would be to have another losing season, it might be the best hope for this team because with out a franchise QB we will never go anywhere regardless of who is coaching. Also next year there are other Good QBs that could be viable options in AJ McCarron, Blake Bortles and Casey Pachall. I personally hope we go after Alex Smith so that at least we have solid QB to hold the fort till we develop an elite QB but if we go with what we have we are in for another long season. If we get Alex smith, he'll be our QB for 7 years. We won't be picking top 8 every year and will need to give up the farm for the "elite QB". Just like the last 10 years, we won't be in the position to land a star QB, unless we get lucky. Is it possible? Sure, but doubtful, I'd rather have tjack start and draft top 5 this year and landing our elite QB sooner, rather than later. Smith just makes us a love average IMO. 7-9 through 9-7 is my bet. Lose now and get the QB. Some times it needs to be done. It's reality. I don't buy that the defense is as bad as their stats showed last year. The reason I believe this is because I do believe that Wannstedt was way over his head last year. It's likely to me that the simple replacing of Wanny with Pettine will make a huge difference. I expect the defense to be at least as good as it was during the Jauron years, middle of the road or so. Definitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjt328 Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 This is a dumb post. Since free agency/draft haven't EVEN STARTED yet - there is no way to determine what our roster will look like in September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybee Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I don't buy that the defense is as bad as their stats showed last year. The reason I believe this is because I do believe that Wannstedt was way over his head last year. It's likely to me that the simple replacing of Wanny with Pettine will make a huge difference. I expect the defense to be at least as good as it was during the Jauron years, middle of the road or so. Totally agree. In fact they'd probably be middle of the road even if they kept the same roster as last year. I'm bullish on Pettine making a big difference. Sure hope so. Wannstedt was quite a disappointment. A middle of the road Dee might have gotten us 8 or 9 wins last year. jb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 19 and 0 baby!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marauderswr80 Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Until they prove me wrong....they all still suck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 (edited) for the first time in over 20 years following this team, i am completely devoid of optimism heading into next season. if the new head coach can look at the team and say "we have no qb, no wide reciever, no defensive backfield, no linebackers, and may need to rebuild our offensive line," then that tells me we're in rebuilding mode. the problem is, the guy who built this team that needs to be rebuilt is still our gm. and the succession plan in place is to hand this over to his protege. the new head coach we hired was a .500 coach in the big east. this isnt harbaugh coming in, this isn't carrol coming in, this is someone who was completely average at coaching in a completely average conference. the league is built on offense, and our offensive coordinator has next to no experience as an offensive coordinator on the pro level, he is young, he is wet behind the ears, and he doesn't inspire confidence in me. i know coordinators don't usually come with a sterling pedigree, but generally they at least come from a solid coaching tree--ours does not. in addressing the quarterback situation, we're still inviting fitz back to "an open competition." he is terrible, and anyone who watched last year and thought differently is a fool, plain and simply. if last season happened before the era of FANTASY FOOTBALL, ryan fitzpatrick would be out of the league today. however, because buffalo is a small market without a lot of nationally televised games, and because fitz put up middle of the road (respectable) numbers, he is viewed as "an adequate backup." he is not even that. we resigned tavaris jackson, who was an unrestricted free agent. meaning, we TARGETED tavaris jackson as a qb for next year. 30 year old tavaris jackson who had middling success in minnesota is going to be the bills qb of the future? or, the alternative, we draft a qb. the problem with that scenario is, however, if we draft a qb and he is middle of the road (dalton,) than we will be like the bengals, with a 9-7 ceiling and a potential divisional round game every few years to get excited about, for the next decade. if we draft a qb and he's terrible, we will have to stick with him for 3 years before rebuilding again. unfortunately, we're in the worst possible position. just enough talent to not necessitate cutting everyone on the roster, not enough core talent to build a team that can win a super bowl. we may be staring down the barrel of a "rebuilding" project that sees us hover at 6 wins for this year and next, and maybe peak with a 9 win wild card season, until our defensive line retires, cj hits 30, and it's time to rebuild again. with that being said, however, having 0 optimism may be a good thing. if we win 4 games, ill have been expecting it and won't be dissapointed. if we win 9 and steal a wild card, it will be an amazing ride. For the first time since Wade Phillips was fired I actually am optimistic about this new head coach, his DC, and this years team. Plus the fact that the owner is now out of the picture. The Bills hired a man who knows the NFL and what it takes to win. He knows that you cannot be a Mr nice guy and then expect your players to respect you. I won't start being pessimistic until Marrone effs up like Gailey / Jauron / Williams / Mularkey did in their jobs. Simply reading about the endorsements from other NFL players, coaches gives me hope that the Bills might have finally made a good choice. That Buddy Nix had no say in his hiring also helps. Speaking of Nix, the one thing that still bothers me is why this man still has a job with the Buffalo Bills as a GM. He proved during his 3 year tenure as GM he can't pick a good HC or DC (Gailey / Wannstedt), doesn't know top talent when he sees it (#2 pick Aaron Williams et al), and is afraid to move up and down in the draft. That pretty much states he almost useless in my view. The Bills still have many many holes because of the ineptitude of Buddy Nix. Can't figure out how to draft a pass rusher when there are many other teams finding them (JPP, JJ Watt) so better pay a FA a 100 mill which now limits other FA acquisitions. Still no #2 WR, 3 years to draft a LT, still no franchise QB. Still no top LBers. Will the Bills finally be able to draft something other then a RB / DB with that first pick? Is it any wonder why this franchise hasn't found a franchise QB since Jim Kelly, as they simply refuse to draft QB's with that first pick. Only one player since 1995 to 2012, and Losman was an afterthought as the Steelers drafted ahead of the Bills to grab Big Ben. 31 DB's drafted since 1995, and 4 QB's. #2 Todd Collins in 95- #1 JP Losman 2004-#3 Trent Edwards 2007-#7 Levi Brown 2010. So yea, there are many reasons why any Bills fan should not be optimistic about he up coming year. Lets just hope two things happen, Nix retires and Marrone drafts a QB. Edited February 16, 2013 by FeartheLosing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeisterHollow Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I don't know that our defense COULD get worse, and since Pettine has had such previous success, and I believe in his vision, I suspect, at worse, we'll be top 16. Will the offense get worse? I don't believe they'll be much worse, because most of last year was pitiful out of Fitzpatrick. Sure, we scored, but we were controlled quite often. I think Marrone will have a much more potentially dangerous offense - I can't see him being as willing to cut off half a field as Gailey was. So, because of those things I suspect Buffalo will be BETTER than last year. Sometimes, though, teams can get better without getting much better in the standings. I think how far Buffalo can go next year will depend on the QB play. At worse I see 7-9, optimistically 11-5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maury Ballstein Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 No because Matt Barkley or Geno Smith is gonna come in here and LIGHT IT UP! Get er dun Heavy dose of Spiller, Use 2nd rounder on WR and it's ON LIKE A MOFO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dat Dude Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 this team was 2-3 poor fitzpatrick decisions away from 8-8 last year, and sprinkle in 2 key INT drops from Wilson, and they easily finish the season at 9-7. I can't see them absolutely tanking, not with a much better coaching staff in place on defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPS Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 This is a dumb post. Since free agency/draft haven't EVEN STARTED yet - there is no way to determine what our roster will look like in September. And with our new leadership, we can expect that roster to be muuuuch better than in years past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Cain Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 0-16 & Clowney comes to Buffalo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Who was the last Bills QB to throw for 3,000+ yds and 23+TDs 3 seasons in a row? Yeah, Fitz is the ONLY reason we can't win more than 6 games. PTR This isn't the 1980s, those are mediocre numbers. Especially when you consider they come at the cost of producing turnovers at a rate worse than any player in the NFL not named Sanchez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 0-16 & Clowney comes to Buffalo. Right...Because a winless Bills team, Drafting #1 overall, would pass on McCarron, Bridgewater, and possibly Manziel (if he comes out)...All 3 of which would probably go before Geno Smith in THIS Draft (and I like Geno Smith)...In order to take a DE... Right... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbillsfan Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 not only is fitz below average he has a knack for turning the ball over at the worst times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 This isn't the 1980s, those are mediocre numbers. Especially when you consider they come at the cost of producing turnovers at a rate worse than any player in the NFL not named Sanchez. I have no idea if it's true or not...I'm not going to do the research...But Thursday Night one of the analysts on NFL Network's Total Access said that Fitz had the most turnovers of any QB in the NFL over the past 3 years... So... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Direhard Fan Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Paupmvp is correct 8 and 8. Jets twice, Mia twice, KC,Cleve, Ten and Jack are wins. Throw in one or two special wins and were 10 and 6. I really believe Fitz can win in this league and he has shown signs of that. Alot of people on this have a bad additude about our team. Give our new leaders a chance and they might surprise you. The majority of teams are equal in talent. We can pull this off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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