Buddy Nix on WGR this morning

[mannc]

The best part of that interview to me, by far, was his explanation of EJ Manuel.

 

In a nutshell, he said in the fall, when he and the scouts looked at him and graded him, they had similar concerns as the pundits did. He didn't look at the whole field being the example he used. That is what everyone says about him. He doesn't read defenses well. Then when they talked to him, and brought him in, and showed him all these plays and asked him what he was told to do, he did exactly as he was told to do. Then they asked his coaches and were told the same thing. Then they saw how well he understood defenses and how quickly he picked things up when they were grilling him, and it changed their opinion on him.

 

That makes a lot of sense, and even explains why people were down on him.

 

That doesn't mean he is going to be able to do it all well in the NFL. That's a huge question mark. I don't know if he is going to be good at all. But it explains a lot.

Interesting. I am cautiously optimistic that the Manuel pick will turn out well for the Bills. You can throw out all the draft grades; if Manuel becomes a legitimate franchise QB, the draft will be a huge success, and if he fails . . . . At this point, no one knows what will happen, but Manuel certainly has a high ceiling and he is coming into a pretty good situation: He will not be expected to start right away, and he will have some real weapons to work with when he does play. And I love that the Bills were able to trade back and get those extra picks. The only thing bothering me about this draft is this nagging feeling I have that Tavon Austin is going to be an absolute beast in the NFL. On the other hand, the Bills seem to have massively upgraded at WR, anyway.

[Jamie Nails]

Interesting. I am cautiously optimistic that the Manuel pick will turn out well for the Bills. You can throw out all the draft grades; if Manuel becomes a legitimate franchise QB, the draft will be a huge success, and if he fails . . . . At this point, no one knows what will happen, but Manuel certainly has a high ceiling and he is coming into a pretty good situation: He will not be expected to start right away, and he will have some real weapons to work with when he does play. And I love that the Bills were able to trade back and get those extra picks. The only thing bothering me about this draft is this nagging feeling I have that Tavon Austin is going to be an absolute beast in the NFL. On the other hand, the Bills seem to have massively upgraded at WR, anyway.

 

I'm tired of us squaring up to bunt and pulling back the bat ever year. Pan out or not, I'm just glad we finally took a swing for the fences.

[RuntheDamnBall]

I'm tired of us squaring up to bunt and pulling back the bat ever year. Pan out or not, I'm just glad we finally took a swing for the fences.

Bunting is for fools. Let's see, 50/50 chance of a run and 90% chance of an out. It's an apt analogy for what the Bills have been doing through Jauron and Chan.

[Chandler#81]

It wasn't your typical fluff piece from Buddy. He was in depth about EJ, Rogers, Woods & Goodwin. Let it be known he was BSing prior to the Draft.

 

So, when do we know when you're telling us the truth, Buddy??

 

Informative. Hope springs eternal!

[OCinBuffalo]

The best part of that interview to me, by far, was his explanation of EJ Manuel.

 

In a nutshell, he said in the fall, when he and the scouts looked at him and graded him, they had similar concerns as the pundits did. He didn't look at the whole field being the example he used. That is what everyone says about him. He doesn't read defenses well. Then when they talked to him, and brought him in, and showed him all these plays and asked him what he was told to do, he did exactly as he was told to do. Then they asked his coaches and were told the same thing. Then they saw how well he understood defenses and how quickly he picked things up when they were grilling him, and it changed their opinion on him.

Watching only the game tape...without the context...is how you conclude that EJ can only read half the field, (ahem) Todd McShay, and completely whiff.

 

Either that is true, or, EJ was really good at BSing Buddy, etc. But, that doesn't explain why the coaches would BS too. If they burned Buddy, the word would get out quick, FSU would see it's draft reputation suffer, and lose recruits as a result. I don't see any reason why the FSU coaches would overstate a player's ability this year, and screw all their kids over in the future. Unless there's a sort of groupthink in effect...but that seems unlikely as well.

 

I remain convinced that the only media analyst who tries very hard to do both film and context, consistently, is Ron Jaworski.

 

Jaws said somebody would try to trade back up into the 1st to get Manuel.

[John Adams]

On EJ, it makes me wonder if he's better with the film study than his under-center reading of defenses. If that's the issue, the good news is that he'll have lots of support helping him get over a hurdle like that. That's a lot of reps under center showing him different looks until his brain gets used to joining up his visual cues with what he already knows from watching tape.

[BillnutinHouston]

The best part of that interview to me, by far, was his explanation of EJ Manuel.

 

In a nutshell, he said in the fall, when he and the scouts looked at him and graded him, they had similar concerns as the pundits did. He didn't look at the whole field being the example he used. That is what everyone says about him. He doesn't read defenses well. Then when they talked to him, and brought him in, and showed him all these plays and asked him what he was told to do, he did exactly as he was told to do. Then they asked his coaches and were told the same thing. Then they saw how well he understood defenses and how quickly he picked things up when they were grilling him, and it changed their opinion on him.

 

That makes a lot of sense, and even explains why people were down on him.

 

That doesn't mean he is going to be able to do it all well in the NFL. That's a huge question mark. I don't know if he is going to be good at all. But it explains a lot.

 

I know Buddy's not popular, but the fact that the Bills team was able to analyze this situation, break down the facts and get at the truth shows a certain level of awesomeness on the part of our front office.

 

The part I found most interesting is that Rogers, Woods and Goodwin share the same agent, who has a good relationship with Brandon. So while it's fine to pat ourselves on the back and say that the Bills "won" the Rogers sweepstakes, it's fair to wonder if the agent felt like he owed Brandon a favor after we drafted two of his guys.

 

In my opinion it's more likely that he used Rogers to try to grease the skids in advance to obtain more favorable contracts for Woods and Goodwin.

[dave mcbride]

The part I found most interesting is that Rogers, Woods and Goodwin share the same agent, who has a good relationship with Brandon. So while it's fine to pat ourselves on the back and say that the Bills "won" the Rogers sweepstakes, it's fair to wonder if the agent felt like he owed Brandon a favor after we drafted two of his guys. Either way it's a great get. Also great that Rogers knows the other two freshman WRs and they worked out as a group - sounds like we landed the triplets. Hope they're here together for many years. Exciting stuff.

 

That's how these things work, and your theory makes perfect sense to me. Thanks for the info.

[ndirish1978]

Watch playmakers with marriucci. Da'Rick was asked about his off field issues. He stressed that one important thing for him was to surround himself with good people and avoid bad influences. He specifically noted that he was training with and hanging out with cordarelle and Robert woods at athletes first. I don't think his friendship with Robert can be underestimated in him coming here.

[BuffaloBill]

Watch playmakers with marriucci. Da'Rick was asked about his off field issues. He stressed that one important thing for him was to surround himself with good people and avoid bad influences. He specifically noted that he was training with and hanging out with cordarelle and Robert woods at athletes first. I don't think his friendship with Robert can be underestimated in him coming here.

 

Having the right friends as a teen and young adult is they key to getting and staying on track. The kid has the skills he just now has to put them to work. The test will be whether he stays humble if he has some success. Stevie is not the best role model so you do have to wonder who steps up with this kid and whether he accepts mentoring.

[buffalobillsfansince1918]

Why is Stevie "not the best role model?" Please don't tell me because he told Jim Rome he doesn't lift weights?!?!

[Saint Doug]

He didn't look at the whole field being the example he used. That is what everyone says about him. He doesn't read defenses well. Then when they talked to him, and brought him in, and showed him all these plays and asked him what he was told to do, he did exactly as he was told to do.

 

If he could talk about it, why didn't he do it on game day? That's the problem, it's easier to talk about doing something than actually doing it. I'm sure Losman won a few Superbowls talking about how he should handle himself in the pocket too. That said, I really hope these concerns are unfounded and I'm behind the pick.

[KOKBILLS]

Why is Stevie "not the best role model?" Please don't tell me because he told Jim Rome he doesn't lift weights?!?!

 

Plus I have a feeling Stevie is on a little bit of a mission to prove he's a hard working guy...His new thing on Twitter is "Let's work." May not seem like much...But I think it's pretty clear he took the criticism personally...

[Kelly the Dog]

If he could talk about it, why didn't he do it on game day? That's the problem, it's easier to talk about doing something than actually doing it.

He was coached to only look to the one side and make the decision. That was the design of the play.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

If he could talk about it, why didn't he do it on game day?

 

Did you listen to the interview?

[DrDawkinstein]

Why is Stevie "not the best role model?" Please don't tell me because he told Jim Rome he doesn't lift weights?!?!

 

I dont get the knocks either. Stevie is a dedicated family man, a nice guy to/with the fans, a good player, has repped Buffalo in everything he does since day 1, AND gave the Bills a huge hometown discount in a year that saw the WR market blow up. If anything, the Bills owe it to SJ13 to put together a winning team. But he doesnt act like it.

[Doc]

The best part of that interview to me, by far, was his explanation of EJ Manuel.

 

In a nutshell, he said in the fall, when he and the scouts looked at him and graded him, they had similar concerns as the pundits did. He didn't look at the whole field being the example he used. That is what everyone says about him. He doesn't read defenses well. Then when they talked to him, and brought him in, and showed him all these plays and asked him what he was told to do, he did exactly as he was told to do. Then they asked his coaches and were told the same thing. Then they saw how well he understood defenses and how quickly he picked things up when they were grilling him, and it changed their opinion on him.

 

That makes a lot of sense, and even explains why people were down on him.

 

That doesn't mean he is going to be able to do it all well in the NFL. That's a huge question mark. I don't know if he is going to be good at all. But it explains a lot.

I'm trying not to get too optimistic with Manuel, but given that I already liked him from every other aspect, hearing that he only read half the field because he was told to do that, and his coaches corroborated that, which made the Bills change their opinion of him (it's harder to change the mind of a skeptic to a favorable view than it is a supporter) makes me think the Bills might really have something here.

[Big C]

I dont get the knocks either. Stevie is a dedicated family man, a nice guy to/with the fans, a good player, has repped Buffalo in everything he does since day 1, AND gave the Bills a huge hometown discount in a year that saw the WR market blow up. If anything, the Bills owe it to SJ13 to put together a winning team. But he doesnt act like it.

 

Forreal. The dude has been a true team player and his devotion is certainly to be valued.