chris heff Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Good post. Up until a week or so ago, Thad Lewis was on the Bills' practice squad. No GM in the NFL felt he was good enough even to be a backup QB, let alone a long-term answer as the starter. As for the game film of Thad: he was more accurate on short passes than on deep throws. Most of the short passes were to stationary targets. There was very little in terms of hitting moving targets in stride. Even though his arm is stronger than Fitz's, he seems to suffer from exactly the same accuracy issues Fitz had. Except maybe even worse. He has good wheels, as he showed in the preseason. On the other hand, as others here have pointed out, he has a tendency to hang his receivers out to dry. He's probably good enough to give us respectable QB play for the next few weeks. But a long-term answer at starter he clearly is not. If the Bills were committed enough to Manuel to take him 14th overall, there's nothing about Manuel's first few games which should cause them to end that commitment. Giving Thad starts when Manuel is healthy would be absurd. I agree with you that Tuel showed potential in the preseason. There's a reason the Bills signed him rather than Thad Lewis. While I grant he played poorly in the regular season, the circumstances were about as bad as any rookie QB could ever expect to face. No pass protection. No running game. An outclassed coaching staff. Receivers who couldn't get open. No snaps in practice in the week leading up to the game. A hostile stadium. Even the weather was bad. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single thing which could have gone wrong for Tuel but didn't. If we're not writing off rookie Manuel after four mediocre games, why write off rookie Tuel after 1.5 bad quarters? 16th not 14th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I know a lot of people are gonna disagree with me. but when I watch this tape from what he did against the Steelers #1 defense last year. I see a player who reads the entire field and delivers the ball on time. yes he made a couple of bad reads but overall he made very good decisions with the football. EJ may have a bigger upside than Lewis but Lewis is still young too at only 25, If the offense is more productive with Thad I'd say we ride with him til the end of the season Who are you, Thad or Thad's momma? It appears possible, based upon limited regular season and preseason tape. that Thad may be a better option than Tuel right now and might keep us in the game if our defense is stout and can get us a break (turnover, field position, something) and our ST is OK. It's a good break for Mr. Lewis to get the chance to start and I hope he makes good. He keeps getting picked up by teams, which makes you think there's something the scouts find intriguing. It would be nice to believe that a small-program 7th round or undrafted QB, signed by the Rams would be ready to become a quality NFL starter 4 or 5 years later. 1) it's not too likely. If Lewis were a gem in the rough, chances are fairly good one of his 3 previous teams would have spied the glint under the dross and kept him to polish 2) um, didn't we try this route recently? I wish Thad the best. I don't want any more detours on the path to a franchise QB. Play EJ once he's healthy, and either he shows improvement and develops, or we keep drafting a QB high until we land a good one. GO BILLS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockinon Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Still playing Cincy's D in Fantasy this week. Oh no!! You're going to regret that. Shoulda played the Bills D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr1 Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Urban Dictionary: Thaddeus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Urban Dictionary: Thaddeus How the darn heck did you decide to search that ?Thaddeus Maximus. I told you! I just hope the kid can carry the offense till the Manual gets back . Be nice to have a solid back up for a change! ie thigpen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Paup Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 Who are you, Thad or Thad's momma? It appears possible, based upon limited regular season and preseason tape. that Thad may be a better option than Tuel right now and might keep us in the game if our defense is stout and can get us a break (turnover, field position, something) and our ST is OK. It's a good break for Mr. Lewis to get the chance to start and I hope he makes good. He keeps getting picked up by teams, which makes you think there's something the scouts find intriguing. It would be nice to believe that a small-program 7th round or undrafted QB, signed by the Rams would be ready to become a quality NFL starter 4 or 5 years later. 1) it's not too likely. If Lewis were a gem in the rough, chances are fairly good one of his 3 previous teams would have spied the glint under the dross and kept him to polish 2) um, didn't we try this route recently? I wish Thad the best. I don't want any more detours on the path to a franchise QB. Play EJ once he's healthy, and either he shows improvement and develops, or we keep drafting a QB high until we land a good one. GO BILLS! Lmaooooooooo the Mama Joke had me dead.. but in all honesty I hope the kid manages the game, uses his legs and makes plays down the field, he seems pretty confident in the interviews about his ability (Jeff Tuel seemed confident in interviews too) can't wait for sunday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfanmiami(oh) Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Read the title of this thread alone and have determined its one of the dumbest things I've ever seen on this board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Paup Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 Read the title of this thread alone and have determined its one of the dumbest things I've ever seen on this board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Lots of examples of guys who were UDFA's that were good players... Kurt Warner, Arian Foster, Fred Jackson, Priest Holmes, etc... Lewis looks like he can play at least well enough to put us in position to be able to win games... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Paup Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 Thad Matta-Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybee Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Didnt read the 5 pages, but I agree with OP. You've got to look hard to find a QB playing worse than EJ Manuel. For the Buffalo bills its all about Defense and running game. We will do just fine with Thad....or Jeff.....Or whomever they install at QB. EJ...so far is a bust. He may be good one day but I'm really looking forward to someone besides EJ running the show. Yer not gonna win with EJ....not just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ko12010 Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Didnt read the 5 pages, but I agree with OP. You've got to look hard to find a QB playing worse than EJ Manuel. For the Buffalo bills its all about Defense and running game. We will do just fine with Thad....or Jeff.....Or whomever they install at QB. EJ...so far is a bust. He may be good one day but I'm really looking forward to someone besides EJ running the show. Yer not gonna win with EJ....not just yet. Wow. Just wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybee Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Dumb...Just dumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 .......C- arm. He looks decent out there though. Looks like a backup.Very little polish on the throwing arm. Should be an improvement on Tuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybee Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 .......C- arm. He looks decent out there though. Looks like a backup.Very little polish on the throwing arm. Should be an improvement on Tuel. I think we'll be just fine with Thaddeus. Your description fits EJ too. I really don't anticipate any drop-off from EJ to Thaddeus. In fact I wouldn't be surprised at all if Thaddeus gives us a better chance of winning. Not trolling here, fellas. But...EJ has not played well. I know the board loves him to death, I like him too and fully expect big things from him down the road. But today, he's a below average QB. Thad has some reps. Our defense is healthy. If I was a better I'd take Buffalo with the 7 1/2 points. We're gonna killem. Yeah thats right we're gonna send Cincy home talking to themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orton's Arm Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Didnt read the 5 pages, but I agree with OP. You've got to look hard to find a QB playing worse than EJ Manuel. For the Buffalo bills its all about Defense and running game. We will do just fine with Thad....or Jeff.....Or whomever they install at QB. EJ...so far is a bust. He may be good one day but I'm really looking forward to someone besides EJ running the show. Yer not gonna win with EJ....not just yet. > You've got to look hard to find a QB playing worse than EJ Manuel. I agree that, based on his current level of play, Manuel is a bottom-10 QB. But which QB has the higher ceiling? At this point, we pretty much know that Thad isn't the long-term answer. With Manuel, there's hope he'll improve. Personally, I'm not overly optimistic that either QB will be the answer. But the Bills need to figure out for themselves, one way or the other, if Manuel is the answer. They can't do that with him on the bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mart Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Neither one of these guys are going to Canton or even the Pro Bowl. The way you develop these young inexperiance QB!s is have them sit and learn behind either a top OC (like the Jets have) or a top QB and the Bills have neither and have had neither for years, so it will be a matter of luck who is the best in the coming weeks depending on many factors. That is a. How is the running game that day. b. How are the WR!s hanging on to the ball that day. c. A CB comitting pass interference penalties that day. d. What is the opponents D like that day. e. Who can be better in bad weather f. Is the WR running the correct route, etc, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KGUNBILLS Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 I just hope our defense can keep it from blowing up on us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Good post. Up until a week or so ago, Thad Lewis was on the Bills' practice squad. No GM in the NFL felt he was good enough even to be a backup QB, let alone a long-term answer as the starter. As for the game film of Thad: he was more accurate on short passes than on deep throws. Most of the short passes were to stationary targets. There was very little in terms of hitting moving targets in stride. Even though his arm is stronger than Fitz's, he seems to suffer from exactly the same accuracy issues Fitz had. Except maybe even worse. He has good wheels, as he showed in the preseason. On the other hand, as others here have pointed out, he has a tendency to hang his receivers out to dry. He's probably good enough to give us respectable QB play for the next few weeks. But a long-term answer at starter he clearly is not. If the Bills were committed enough to Manuel to take him 14th overall, there's nothing about Manuel's first few games which should cause them to end that commitment. Giving Thad starts when Manuel is healthy would be absurd. I agree with you that Tuel showed potential in the preseason. There's a reason the Bills signed him rather than Thad Lewis. While I grant he played poorly in the regular season, the circumstances were about as bad as any rookie QB could ever expect to face. No pass protection. No running game. An outclassed coaching staff. Receivers who couldn't get open. No snaps in practice in the week leading up to the game. A hostile stadium. Even the weather was bad. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single thing which could have gone wrong for Tuel but didn't. If we're not writing off rookie Manuel after four mediocre games, why write off rookie Tuel after 1.5 bad quarters? Well said. Not to re-hash the whole Tuel thing, but I agree completely with your assessment of the horrible circumstances he was under (add to it starting in the shadow of your own endzone, and a bonehead flea flicker call). I was a little taken aback that Marrone and co. didn't take that into account. This would have been the perfect week for him to start-- 10 days of prep, home game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mart Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 This is a rookie coaching staff; don!t you think there is a reason they have not been in the NFL before (or the DC never a HC) this is also a coaching staff probably at the bottom of the pay scale. Don!t you think that maybe that is why "Marrone and co. didn!t take that inhto account". If Marrone(and possibly Whaley & Brandon) had done the right thing Tuel would be the man Sunday, but as long as he is not, lets hope that Lewis is not pulled after 1 pick or a failure to move the offense. You can!t keep sending the wrong message to your team or they will quit on you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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