Buddy Nix - "Ryan Fitzpatrick is serviceable."

[BertSquirtgum]

Your gm calls your quarterback serviceable to the media. He basically called him terrible. At least Buddy can see that Fitzputrid isn't worth the **** that comes out of a horse's a-hole. Now, it's not a good thing that the GM is so inept it took three years to see it but at least he sees it now. We all know Ralph won't fire Buddy. I think Gailey should be fired just for putting his trust in Fitzputrid alone. The #1 thing holding this offense back is Noodle-arm.

http://www.wgrz.com/sports/article/191185/4/Nix-Says-Bills-Progress-Slower-Than-Expected

[IAG]

What is that GM's solution?

[BertSquirtgum]

What is that GM's solution?

I'm not a mind reader.

[kingJofNYC]

Yeah, that's a nice/polite way of stating the obvious by Nix, definitely a no confidence vote.

[BLeonard]

...And yet, I'd be willing to bet that, come Opening Day 2013, Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the Buffalo Bills' starting QB...

Either that, or they'll cut Fitz and tell us all how Tavaris Jackson (who apparently isn't even good enough to dress, let alone unseat the great Tyler Thigpen as the #2 QB) is "The Man."

That slack-jawed imbred redneck that the Bills have for a GM has been flapping his gums with his cutesy-ass southern phrases for three years now and still, the Bills haven't even been able to get back to the .500 mark.

He can keep wowing some fans with his bull****, but, until this team shows it on the football field, I really couldn't care less what Buddy Nix thinks, says, or does.

-Bill

[coastal]

Buddy Nix isn't serviceable.

[Skooby]

Ownership is past comatose, years running.

[JoeMama]

Serviceable?

Spare us the euphemisms, Buddy.

We have eyes. We watch him suck every Sunday.

Send 'em both packing. This team is a god damn trainwreck for the 13th consecutive year.

[IAG]

I'm not a mind reader.

It was a rhetorical question. Not directed at you.

[BertSquirtgum]

If it was my choice I would fire Nix and the rest of his circus clown coaching staff then promote Whaley. I would like to see what a young and hungry GM could do with this team.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

I think you guys are way off marks.

I actually liked what he said -

"his priority was to build up the offensive and defensive lines before using an early draft pick for a qb."

Whether you like it or not, Nix has a plan and he's sticking to it. I heard him said about Newton, RGIII, Luck, each of which is a no brainer for him. Other QBs available to him (Dalton, Wilson etc.) falls into what he described above - they have enough warts coming out of college that may need to have a good line in front of him. His comments about Kaepernick is telling in that regard

-----Nix said at that time Kaepernick was a product of a "pistol" formation system where he often had one receiver out, and if the receiver was open he threw to him and if not, he ran it. He and his staff weren't convinced enough to take him there, and Nix had seen him personally.
-----

I have to believe time is right this off season to draft a not-so-perfect QB with a high ceiling.

I have a distinct feeling that Nix may feel more comfortable drafting a QB that has played pro-style offense.

[The Jokeman]

I think you guys are way off marks.

I actually liked what he said -

"his priority was to build up the offensive and defensive lines before using an early draft pick for a qb."

Whether you like it or not, Nix has a plan and he's sticking to it. I heard him said about Newton, RGIII, Luck, each of which is a no brainer for him. Other QBs available to him (Dalton, Wilson etc.) falls into what he described above - they have enough warts coming out of college that may need to have a good line in front of him. His comments about Kaepernick is telling in that regard

-----Nix said at that time Kaepernick was a product of a "pistol" formation system where he often had one receiver out, and if the receiver was open he threw to him and if not, he ran it. He and his staff weren't convinced enough to take him there, and Nix had seen him personally.
-----

I have to believe time is right this off season to draft a not-so-perfect QB with a high ceiling.

I have a distinct feeling that Nix may feel more comfortable drafting a QB that has played pro-style offense.

Nicely said ghz.

I've always said the first word in the term franchise QB is the word franchise. In other words if you build up a strong enough surrounding cast your if you have a better then average QB can lead you to great things. I think Nix has done just that over the last few years adding a top 5 talent in RB Spiller and appears a strong O-line although still think we need some help in the depth department especially with Wood getting hurt again. The D has been remarkably improved since the bye week which tells me Mario's injury was legit. On offense I think we need another threat in the passing game to real take our offense to another level but we might get that guy in the draft combined with a healthy David Nelson back can't but help next year. Yet if there was ever a draft to look to take a QB it could be the fourth coming one. As we could be drafting in the teens which means we might be able to get a Freeman, Flacco, Cutler type who yes it's debatable if any of them are franchise type QBs but all are guys that can win with strong Ds and strong running games which think we've seen in recent weeks.

Granted Buddy still needs to keep Byrd, Levitre, Urbrik and find a veteran Center in free agency and at least one LB in free agency and another in the draft and a three down WR in the draft to really take us to that next step of being a playoff team.

Am I upset with this year? Yes as thought Fitzpatrick was good enough but he clearly isn't but at least we can now put to rest any thoughts is or isn't he as it's obvious when he's had the chance to win he just hasn't both this year and last year at times.

[THE END OF ALL DAYS]

the problem is that they spend years building the lines only to loose them all to free agency at the end of the rookie contract and they have to start all over there and NEVER DRAFT a good QB!

[Albany,n.y.]

What is that GM's solution?

In the last 2 drafts when other teams have found starters in the 2nd round (2011) & 3rd round (2012) Buddy drafted Aaron Williams & TJ Graham while ignoring taking a shot at upgrading THE MOST IMPORTANT POSITION IN THE NFL! He also never even tried to trade up (or trade down) for a QB in any of his 3 drafts. These are the guys he could have had if he had the brains to realize it's a QB driven league & players now contribute immediately, not a few years down the road when Buddy was the age of a normal GM:
2010-Buddy did the right thing, there weren't any QBs available to the Bills who were worth an early round pick
2011-Buddy screwed the pooch. He could have had either Dalton or Kaepernick in the 2nd & drafted A. Williams. He took Shepherd in the 3rd instead of taking a shot on Mallett, and picked Johnny White in the 5th (now gone) instead of a flyer on TJ Yates who performed well enough to get Houston a playoff win as a rookie. We might find out this weekend & beyond if the Jets found their QB in the 7th with McElroy while Buddy just had to have another D back, Justin Rogers (at least he's still on the team).
2012-Buddy wasn't going to try to outbid the Redskins to get the 2nd pick, which now looks like the Redskins may have gotten off cheap considering how dynamic RGIII is. He should have moved heaven & earth to outbid the Redskins, but that's not his style which is living 25 years in the past. Even a move up 3 spots to ace Miami out of Tannehill looks smarter than taking another CB, no matter how good he is (that's 2 CBs over QBs in 2 years). 3rd round TJ Graham over Wilson & Foles, or even Cousins who was drafted before the Bills 4th rd pick-in the words of Seth Myers-REALLY?

[jimbohastle51]

At least Nix was honest.

[The Jokeman]

In the last 2 drafts when other teams have found starters in the 2nd round (2011) & 3rd round (2012) Buddy drafted Aaron Williams & TJ Graham while ignoring taking a shot at upgrading THE MOST IMPORTANT POSITION IN THE NFL! He also never even tried to trade up (or trade down) for a QB in any of his 3 drafts. These are the guys he could have had if he had the brains to realize it's a QB driven league & players now contribute immediately, not a few years down the road when Buddy was the age of a normal GM:
2010-Buddy did the right thing, there weren't any QBs available to the Bills who were worth an early round pick
2011-Buddy screwed the pooch. He could have had either Dalton or Kaepernick in the 2nd & drafted A. Williams. He took Shepherd in the 3rd instead of taking a shot on Mallett, and picked Johnny White in the 5th (now gone) instead of a flyer on TJ Yates who performed well enough to get Houston a playoff win as a rookie. We might find out this weekend & beyond if the Jets found their QB in the 7th with McElroy while Buddy just had to have another D back, Justin Rogers (at least he's still on the team).
2012-Buddy wasn't going to try to outbid the Redskins to get the 2nd pick, which now looks like the Redskins may have gotten off cheap considering how dynamic RGIII is. He should have moved heaven & earth to outbid the Redskins, but that's not his style which is living 25 years in the past. Even a move up 3 spots to ace Miami out of Tannehill looks smarter than taking another CB, no matter how good he is (that's 2 CBs over QBs in 2 years). 3rd round TJ Graham over Wilson & Foles, or even Cousins who was drafted before the Bills 4th rd pick-in the words of Seth Myers-REALLY?

Where's Brandon Weeden in your discussion of 1st Round QBs or Cam Newton? If the Bills do take a QB in next April's draft I'm curious to see of some of these quality QBs your glamorzing now will be as good or better come 2015. Of the List I have a feeling that RGIII and Dalton might be the only one's we're lamenting not having.

[The Jokeman]

the problem is that they spend years building the lines only to loose them all to free agency at the end of the rookie contract and they have to start all over there and NEVER DRAFT a good QB!

In the past I would have agreed with you but the way Buddy was to keep most of our key free agents last offseason I have a feeling we have a better shot to getting Urbrik and Levitre back this offseason.

[Mouldsie]

"his priority was to build up the offensive and defensive lines before using an early draft pick for a qb."


I like Buddy, but this plan^ is bull**** for two simple reasons.

The 2012 draft was stacked with franchise signal callers and the 2013 draft is not. When you have a shot, no matter how steep the cost, to land a player like Luck or RG3 the plan should be tossed out the window. Too bad we started so hot last season.

Even so, we had a chance to rebound with Russel Wilson and failed once again. I would take Russel Wilson over Tyler Wilson if I were starting a new team next year.

I may change on that after I get a closer look at TW but seriously this draft is weak at the QB spot.




I still cant get over the fact that we missed on 2 guys who will likely be considered the top 2 or at least 2 of the top 3-5 QB's over the next decade. (Competing with Aaron Rodgers)
I would have been a bad GM in 2011 because I would have done everything in my power to ensure a crappy record. :D

[djjimkelly]

reading that makes me know now he is the right man for the job build the lines then get a qb

so buddy isnt dumb lbs and qb in next 2 drafts

[Albany,n.y.]

Where's Brandon Weeden in your discussion of 1st Round QBs or Cam Newton? If the Bills do take a QB in next April's draft I'm curious to see of some of these quality QBs your glamorzing now will be as good or better come 2015. Of the List I have a feeling that RGIII and Dalton might be the only one's we're lamenting not having.

There was no reason to trade up or down for Weeden when there were too many other QBs better than him both before & after he was taken, plus he was too old to take in the 1st round.
Newton was unavailable to us since Carolina had no intention of trading down & missing out on him was a foregone conclusion. Contrast that to last year when the #2 pick was for sale to the highest bidder.
Even if these guys don't pan out, which is extemely unlikely judging from how well Wilson & others look, my main point is that Buddy Nix isn't living the life of a 21st century GM. A 21st century GM's top priority is to get a quality QB. This stuff about building the lines 1st is BS. Just look at the best example: Miami had the #1 pick, they choose LT Long over QB Ryan. Look where Miami & Atlanta have gone since that draft. That build the line 1st stuff when you need a QB is 20th century thinking and that's what you get with a GM in his 70s.

[Albany,n.y.]

reading that makes me know now he is the right man for the job build the lines then get a qb

so buddy isnt dumb lbs and qb in next 2 drafts
Buddy doesn't deserve to be around for the next 2 drafts. His picks have sucked for 3 years & he doesn't know jack about the QB position as evidenced by how many DBs he's chosen over available QBs-and how exactly is drafting a DB in just about every other round (dramatic license)-building the lines? He's had 1 quality OT that he drafted & that's only because he had the dumb luck of having a guy rated as a 1st round talent fall into his lap in the 2nd round-even the dumbest of GMs would have grabbed Glenn with our 2nd pick, and Buddy, the self admitted "not the smartest guy in the room" couldn't help but make the pick.

[kishoph]

I don't blame Nix for not getting a QB last draft, he really didn't have a shot at Luck or RG III and I personally don't think any of the other ones were worth the risk, other than Russel Wilson, but who would of guessed that he would of turned out like he did. Nix also probably had Gailey barking in his ear about how great Fitz is going to be. The Gilmore pick might turn out to be a real winner, having a good CB in today's game is crucial.
Since the draft talk began I've liked Tyler Wilson, I think he has what it takes to be a winning QB in the NFL. There's no chance that he'll last to the second round and if the Bills stay in their current draft position, they may even need to trade up to get him, which I would have no problem with. They can't keep putting off such a major need.

[better days]

Buddy doesn't deserve to be around for the next 2 drafts. His picks have sucked for 3 years & he doesn't know jack about the QB position as evidenced by how many DBs he's chosen over available QBs-and how exactly is drafting a DB in just about every other round (dramatic license)-building the lines? He's had 1 quality OT that he drafted & that's only because he had the dumb luck of having a guy rated as a 1st round talent fall into his lap in the 2nd round-even the dumbest of GMs would have grabbed Glenn with our 2nd pick, and Buddy, the self admitted "not the smartest guy in the room" couldn't help but make the pick.

BS. There were plenty of teams that needed a tackle that passed on Glenn before the Bills drafted him. In hindsight, I will bet many fans on other boards will say "damn we could have had Glenn instead of fill in the blank."
"

[Albany,n.y.]

BS. There were plenty of teams that needed a tackle that passed on Glenn before the Bills drafted him. In hindsight, I will bet many fans on other boards will say "damn we could have had Glenn instead of fill in the blank."
"

Considering the fact the Bills had talked up Glenn before the draft & some had the Bills taking Glenn in the 1st round, it was dumb luck that he lasted to the 2nd round. Even though he got lucky, a smarter GM would not have taken the chance of losing a guy so highly rated on the team's board & moved up a few places rather than just sit there and hope nobody else drafts him. This is one of Buddy's problems-he's too passive on draft day. This time he lucked out but more often than not, he's going to get burned. All it would have taken was 1 team picking Glenn in the 2nd round & Buddy would have been screwed. It was totally dumb luck his passivity paid off. Look at the rest of his picks in the past 3 years and can you honestly say he doesn't have one of the worst draft record among GMs in the past 3 years?

[trapezeus]

i am as guilty as the bills FO for thinking fitz could manage a team to the playoffs given his early performance, his tail off last year based on an injury, and a d that was supposed to get better. but i also wanted R wilson in mid rounds. i also wanted kaepernick. i wanted insurance on fitz beyond journey men. and i've wanted t jax in there to throw away the season so that we can have a choice at a qb and not sell us on any of hte current three.

but truth is the coaching has been abysmal. Wanny deciding in week 1 to put youngsters on islands and cover while our front four plain vanilla rushes. It was truly pathetic. gailey devolved into a hot mess when last year he looked like he was doing his best with what he had.

and frankly dehaven's ST coaching is disgusting as well, a number of kick returns against us in jets, indy, fumbled kickoffs, no confidence in FG kicking and firing the best punter. i'm dubious on the guy when he doesn't have tasker doing all his dirty work. sure he's got a couple kick returns for TDs, but leodis looks super comfortable back there.

nix selected those guys too. i just hope the brain trust is discounting the the chiefs are the worst in their division, the browns are the worst in their division, the cardninals are the worst in their division, the dolphins are worst in their division and the jags are worst in their division. They've gotten smoked by the best teams, sans one patriot game. They need to do a lot better than this to be a playoff team.

in someways, i'd rather have the 3-13 G. Williams team back because they fought hard but fell short every game. bills are pissing away game and not in them. signs of really questionable coaching and talent. part of me wants to believ ethey are close, my gut says they are really far away.

[BuffaloWingEater]

I think you guys are way off marks.

I actually liked what he said -

"his priority was to build up the offensive and defensive lines before using an early draft pick for a qb."

Whether you like it or not, Nix has a plan and he's sticking to it. I heard him said about Newton, RGIII, Luck, each of which is a no brainer for him. Other QBs available to him (Dalton, Wilson etc.) falls into what he described above - they have enough warts coming out of college that may need to have a good line in front of him. His comments about Kaepernick is telling in that regard

-----Nix said at that time Kaepernick was a product of a "pistol" formation system where he often had one receiver out, and if the receiver was open he threw to him and if not, he ran it. He and his staff weren't convinced enough to take him there, and Nix had seen him personally.
-----

I have to believe time is right this off season to draft a not-so-perfect QB with a high ceiling.

I have a distinct feeling that Nix may feel more comfortable drafting a QB that has played pro-style offense.

the problem is that this qb draft class is not strong.

[Albany,n.y.]

the problem is that this qb draft class is not strong.

That's the biggest problem with the Bills, always a day late & a dollar short in the draft. If it's a strong QB draft they don't draft a QB, then draft one in a weak year. The best example is we draft Lynch (whose main problem was he was a thug coming out but since we traded McGahee, we had to take a 1st round RB. If the Bills want to draft thugs, then put up with their off the field stuff & just play them, but don't draft one & then trade him because you couldn't mold the guy in your image) with Revis on the board, then the next year we draft McKelvin with C. Johnson on the board. They always seem to look myopically at this year's draft to fill a hole instead of looking at the big picture. Too many times they draft position instead of best player in a bad draft for that position. That kind of thinking gets you JP Losman when you didn't succeed in trading up for Roethlisburger-it's called panic management & it doesn't seem to matter who the GM is (is it Ralph?). Now without that panic move, they could have drafted Schaub, but our lousy scouts probably had him as a career backup-so now Schaub is the QB of the NFL team with the best record & we have what should be a career backup as our starting QB.

[better days]

Considering the fact the Bills had talked up Glenn before the draft & some had the Bills taking Glenn in the 1st round, it was dumb luck that he lasted to the 2nd round. Even though he got lucky, a smarter GM would not have taken the chance of losing a guy so highly rated on the team's board & moved up a few places rather than just sit there and hope nobody else drafts him. This is one of Buddy's problems-he's too passive on draft day. This time he lucked out but more often than not, he's going to get burned. All it would have taken was 1 team picking Glenn in the 2nd round & Buddy would have been screwed. It was totally dumb luck his passivity paid off. Look at the rest of his picks in the past 3 years and can you honestly say he doesn't have one of the worst draft record among GMs in the past 3 years?

Nix knew no other team would take him higher because he was the only GM that thought Glenn could play LT in the NFL. Everyone else thought Glenn was a Guard period.

[D2K]

Nix knew no other team would take him higher because he was the only GM that thought Glenn could play LT in the NFL. Everyone else thought Glenn was a Guard period.

This ^^^^^

O-line play became over-rated when covering receivers became so much more difficult, due to how contact with receivers was more tightly enforced. Prior to that, it was much more critical, because you couldnt count on guys getting separation from defenders so quickly.

Kurt Warner, in his prime with the Rams, really needed an Orlando Pace playing at a HOF level. An aging Kurt Warner with the Cardinals did not. IMO, the NFL should move the legal contact zone up to 7 yards. I hate how short passing has completely changed the concept of defense and inflated the numbers on offense.

[Albany,n.y.]

Nix knew no other team would take him higher because he was the only GM that thought Glenn could play LT in the NFL. Everyone else thought Glenn was a Guard period.

He was projected to go in the 1st round as a guard. You talk like nobody takes guards in the 1st round & top of the 2nd. In fact, Carolina took G Amini Silatolu one pick before Glenn. Unless Buddy had a spy in Carolina's front office who had intimate knowledge of their ranking of Gs in the draft, there's no way he knew no team would take Glenn ahead of him. He was passive & got lucky. For the record Kiper had Glenn his 2nd rated G and Silatolu his 7th ranked G-good thing someone in Carolina had a different opinion. BTW Slatolu is starting at G for Carolina, but I'm not sure how he's doing.

[better days]

He was projected to go in the 1st round as a guard. You talk like nobody takes guards in the 1st round & top of the 2nd. In fact, Carolina took G Amini Silatolu one pick before Glenn. Unless Buddy had a spy in Carolina's front office who had intimate knowledge of their ranking of Gs in the draft, there's no way he knew no team would take Glenn ahead of him. He was passive & got lucky. For the record Kiper had Glenn his 2nd rated G and Silatolu his 7th ranked G-good thing someone in Carolina had a different opinion. BTW Slatolu is starting at G for Carolina, but I'm not sure how he's doing.

Or Nix knew that Silatolu was a better fit for the system Carolina runs than Glenn was. Or who knows? The point is Nix knew other teams viewed Glenn as a guard, not a LT & took a risk. Worked out well for the Bills because both Gilmore & Glenn are studs that will help this team for a long time.

BTW it has been reported Miami will not resign Jake Long who they drafted instead of QB Matt Ryan. The draft is very much a crapshoot.

[TigerJ]

I think in his recent comments, Nix has said essentially that he felt that the right way to building a team was to work on developing the lines and then to make sure you had a good QB. That's what he's been doing of course. If I were Fitzpatrick I wouldn't be too happy right now, but what can the guy do? He's been pretty poor on the field, and had Nix said he's a great QB, he wouldn't have had much credibility. Serviceable essentially means if he has a strong enough team around him, you can win some games, but he's not the franchise guy you envision leading your team to any kind of championship.

[Albany,n.y.]

BTW it has been reported Miami will not resign Jake Long who they drafted instead of QB Matt Ryan. The draft is very much a crapshoot.
See post 20 for my already stated opinion on why Miami was stupid "building the line" when a franchise QB with no character flaws (like a different #1 pick Russell who wasn't vetted properly by the Raiders) was available with the top pick in the draft.
It's more of a crapshoot when you're desperate & Buddy's drafting has made this team now desperate for a QB-which could mean we end up drafting the next JP instead of the next Ryan.

[The Jokeman]

See post 20 for my already stated opinion on why Miami was stupid "building the line" when a franchise QB with no character flaws (like a different #1 pick Russell who wasn't vetted properly by the Raiders) was available with the top pick in the draft.
It's more of a crapshoot when you're desperate & Buddy's drafting has made this team now desperate for a QB-which could mean we end up drafting the next JP instead of the next Ryan.

Look at the Falcons more closely and you might see that many of the pieces they had in place well before and/or at the time of Ryan's arrival. Examples, left OT Sam Baker was drafted in the 1st Round in the same draft Ryan was selected. Roddy White was drafted three years before Ryan, Michael Turner was brought in the same year as Ryan. DE John Abraham and Justin Babineaux etc were in place well before Ryan's arrival.

As the Falcons, much like the Colts last year, weren't as bad as their records indicated but their then franchise QBs were absent from their teams the year prior (see Peyton and Vick) which caused them to slide hard in the draft and able to get a quality QB like Ryan and Luck. Though I'd love to see the season play out like it has and see a Texans vs Falcons Super Bowl as it will be interesting to see who wins. As people forget that Matt Scuab was originally a 3rd Round pick of the Falcons (in the same draft as Losman) and be interesting to see which team ends up winning.

[Typ0]

wow a lotta coulda shoulda woulda up there ^^^^. From where I sit we have seen our share of both lousy QB play and lousy coaching. Not a good combination. And also not good for us to really see what the problem is either because lousy QB play can make a coach look lousy and lousy coaching can make a QB look lousy. Being a bills fan is painful....