Luck of the Irish: Start Fitzpatrick

[psubills62]

My article for the week, hope you guys like it:

http://www.buffalosportsdaily.com/2009/10/luck-of-the-irish-start-fitzpatrick/


Will the real Trent Edwards please sit down? Out of the hundred questions swirling around the Stanford product this offseason, only one has been answered to date. Unfortunately, it’s the wrong answer to the right question: he’s not the quarterback of the future for Buffalo.

A lot of changes were made on the offensive side of the ball this past offseason. The offensive line was revamped, whether for better or for worse. The Bills’ most versatile weapon, Fred Jackson, was re-signed to a new contract. A legitimate starting receiver – what was his name again? – was brought in to draw coverage off of Lee Evans. The offensive coordinator, Turk Schonert, who apparently had attitude and communication issues with Edwards, was fired and the quarterbacks coach, Alex Van Pelt, was promoted. All of these were supposedly done to help the offense, whether anyone believed they were improvements or not.

....

[Beastie Bills]

I'm against starting Fitzpatrick. I think he'll take some risks with the football that Trent won't. He'll actually throw the ball downfield, and he'll probably have more turnovers, but he'll almost definitely score more points.

Since I've given up all hope for this season, I want us to go 1-15. If we change our QB or coach mid-season, we'll probably win at least 1 or 2 more games.

[patmoran2006]

I'm against starting Fitzpatrick. I think he'll take some risks with the football that Trent won't. He'll actually throw the ball downfield, and he'll probably have more turnovers, but he'll almost definitely score more points.

Since I've given up all hope for this season, I want us to go 1-15. If we change our QB or coach mid-season, we'll probably win at least 1 or 2 more games.

That's funny.

[THE END OF ALL DAYS]

I want to revel in the putridness of it all this season... that way the joy will be more intense when the SB victory soon comes.

1-15 baby.... that should guarantee a new regime.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Starting Fitzpatrick is a complete waste of time. He stinks.

[psubills62]

I'm against starting Fitzpatrick. I think he'll take some risks with the football that Trent won't. He'll actually throw the ball downfield, and he'll probably have more turnovers, but he'll almost definitely score more points.

Since I've given up all hope for this season, I want us to go 1-15. If we change our QB or coach mid-season, we'll probably win at least 1 or 2 more games.

Sorry, but you play to win the game. And assuming that you want the Bills to lose to get a high draft pick, I'd actually rather pick in the 3-5 range than #1 for several reasons.

[Beastie Bills]

Sorry, but you play to win the game. And assuming that you want the Bills to lose to get a high draft pick, I'd actually rather pick in the 3-5 range than #1 for several reasons.
Not me.

Winning one extra game can make a huge difference.

Last year, we won a meaningless game against Denver at the end of the season. Had we lost, we would have picked at #9, instead of #11. We could have had Raji or Crabtree instead of Maybin.

In 2007, if we had lost one more game, again, we'd pick at #9 instead of #11. Instead of McFumblen, we could have had Mayo or Keith Rivers. We could have kept Greer, and had a great LB corp.

In 2006, if we had lost one more game, we would have picked at #7 instead of #11. Instead of Lynch (my favorite player), we could have Patrick Willis or, you guessed it, Adrian Peterson.


ONE WIN IN A LOSING SEASON IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADRIAN PETERSON AND MARSHAWN LYNCH!!!

[psubills62]

Not me.

Winning one extra game can make a huge difference.

Last year, we won a meaningless game against Denver at the end of the season. Had we lost, we would have picked at #9, instead of #11. We could have had Raji or Crabtree instead of Maybin.

In 2007, if we had lost one more game, again, we'd pick at #9 instead of #11. Instead of McFumblen, we could have had Mayo or Keith Rivers. We could have kept Greer, and had a great LB corp.

In 2006, if we had lost one more game, we would have picked at #7 instead of #11. Instead of Lynch (my favorite player), we could have Patrick Willis or, you guessed it, Adrian Peterson.


ONE WIN IN A LOSING SEASON IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADRIAN PETERSON AND MARSHAWN LYNCH!!!
Really? You're begging for Raji or Crabtree? Sigh...

Yeah, a lot of this is "we could have." I'd be willing to bet that if the Bills HAD lost an extra game, they probably still would have picked McKelvin in the 2008 draft. Very few people had Mayo that high, and Rivers wasn't exactly a guaranteed prospect.

It could also be the difference between paying a bust 20 million guaranteed and 25-30 million guaranteed.

It doesn't matter where you pick; if you can't get the picks RIGHT, then you won't succeed. Ask the Oakland Raiders if you don't believe me.

[Beastie Bills]

Really? You're begging for Raji or Crabtree? Sigh...

Yeah, a lot of this is "we could have." I'd be willing to bet that if the Bills HAD lost an extra game, they probably still would have picked McKelvin in the 2008 draft. Very few people had Mayo that high, and Rivers wasn't exactly a guaranteed prospect.

It could also be the difference between paying a bust 20 million guaranteed and 25-30 million guaranteed.

It doesn't matter where you pick; if you can't get the picks RIGHT, then you won't succeed. Ask the Oakland Raiders if you don't believe me.

I'm glad we didn't take Crabtree, but I really wanted Raji. You're saying you wouldn't want him?

CB wasn't a need when we took McKelvin. We always goes best player available, so we take McKelvin and let Greer (who is a good CB) walk. LB was a concern, so I would like to think the organization would be smart enough to take Rivers or Mayo.

At least you didn't argue with me about Peterson.

[psubills62]

I'm glad we didn't take Crabtree, but I really wanted Raji. You're saying you wouldn't want him?

CB wasn't a need when we took McKelvin. We always goes best player available, so we take McKelvin and let Greer (who is a good CB) walk. LB was a concern, so I would like to think the organization would be smart enough to take Rivers or Mayo.

At least you didn't argue with me about Peterson.

Raji is a great prospect, but he's struggling to crack the starting lineup in GB. While GB has a very good DL, he hasn't proven anything yet.

I agree that McKelvin wasn't a particular need, but that doesn't mean the Bills would have taken someone else. McKelvin was going #8 in many, many mock drafts. Mayo was mid-to-late first rounder in projections. I doubt the Bills would have taken him at all, to be honest. And look at the rest of their drafts - LB has ALWAYS been a need but they don't take one until the 5th round. Like I said, it doesn't matter where you pick, it matters who you pick.

Haha, in my opinion Peterson is a once in a lifetime player. Of course it would have been great to draft him. Him or Patrick Willis.

I still believe that great drafts are not determined by where you pick. It's who you pick and how you develop them. Some players (AP, Patrick Willis) just have that God-given talent. Almost EVERY other prospect needs to be coached. If you draft poorly and coach poorly, then even AP won't be able to lead you to the playoffs. Look at the Colts - they draft in the mid-20's at worst every year. But they always get guys who fit the system and become stars. And it's not just because of Peyton Manning - look at Mathis, Freeney, Bob Sanders, Antoine Bethea, etc. on defense.

[Beastie Bills]

Raji is a great prospect, but he's struggling to crack the starting lineup in GB. While GB has a very good DL, he hasn't proven anything yet.

I agree that McKelvin wasn't a particular need, but that doesn't mean the Bills would have taken someone else. McKelvin was going #8 in many, many mock drafts. Mayo was mid-to-late first rounder in projections. I doubt the Bills would have taken him at all, to be honest. And look at the rest of their drafts - LB has ALWAYS been a need but they don't take one until the 5th round. Like I said, it doesn't matter where you pick, it matters who you pick.

Haha, in my opinion Peterson is a once in a lifetime player. Of course it would have been great to draft him. Him or Patrick Willis.

I still believe that great drafts are not determined by where you pick. It's who you pick and how you develop them. Some players (AP, Patrick Willis) just have that God-given talent. Almost EVERY other prospect needs to be coached. If you draft poorly and coach poorly, then even AP won't be able to lead you to the playoffs. Look at the Colts - they draft in the mid-20's at worst every year. But they always get guys who fit the system and become stars. And it's not just because of Peyton Manning - look at Mathis, Freeney, Bob Sanders, Antoine Bethea, etc. on defense.
Nice post. I pretty much agree with you on everything. I do think Raji could be great, and I'm not surprised that he's struggling to crack the starting lineup. DLinemen rarely make an impact in their rookie year. Even Haloti Ngata (the guy we should have drafted in 2006) only had 13 tackles in his rookie year.

And you're right about the LB's. We usually do ignore them, although we did trade up to the beginning of the 2nd to grab Poz in 2007. But it's no sure-thing that we would have taken Mayo or Rivers. I liked McKelvin last year (I'm still pissed at him right now), so I didn't hate the pick until we let Greer walk. It just would have been nice to draft a player who made our team better, instead of a player who can replace an current player who is pretty good himself.

[psubills62]

Nice post. I pretty much agree with you on everything. I do think Raji could be great, and I'm not surprised that he's struggling to crack the starting lineup. DLinemen rarely make an impact in their rookie year. Even Haloti Ngata (the guy we should have drafted in 2006) only had 13 tackles in his rookie year.

And you're right about the LB's. We usually do ignore them, although we did trade up to the beginning of the 2nd to grab Poz in 2007. I liked McKelvin last year (I'm still pissed at him right now), so I didn't hate the pick until we let Greer walk. It just would have been nice to draft a player who made our team better, instead of a player who can replace an current player who is pretty good himself.

I completely agree with this post, especially the last sentence. One reason I liked this past draft is that we got playmakers, especially in Byrd and Nelson. We need guys who make an impact.

Honestly, I have my eye on Eric Decker. He may not be as fast as Arrelious Benn or Mardy Gilyard, but the guy just plain MAKES PLAYS. He's one of Minnesota's only offensive weapons but consistently produces every single game.

I'm very hesitant to go for a high draft pick right now because it costs so dang much. Yeah, people complain about Wilson being cheap, but the contracts really have gotten out of hand. And if you pick the wrong guy...his contract can set you back for quite a while. Not only because you paid him tons of money, but because you're committed to him no matter what for five years.

Another reason is that none of the top draft picks ever really stand out from the guys who are picked between 5-10. There's much more parity among the draft picks, in my opinion. So I'd rather pay 20 million guaranteed to get a guy who may be rated a 92 overall than 40-50 million for a guy rated 93 (on an arbitrary scale, that is).

[mybills]

Doesn't really matter which draft picks we get, this team will hold them back from their potential, anyway.
How can it possibly hurt to put Fitz in for at least 1 game? Sure, Trent won't cheer him on from the sidelines, since he's "not a fan", but hey, maybe a rest on the bench will make him care a little more.

[psubills62]

Doesn't really matter which draft picks we get, this team will hold them back from their potential, anyway.
How can it possibly hurt to put Fitz in for at least 1 game? Sure, Trent won't cheer him on from the sidelines, since he's "not a fan", but hey, maybe a rest on the bench will make him care a little more.

If he can get the ball to Evans and Owens more than 3 times total per game, I'm all for it.