Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

[ghz in pittsburgh]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/colin-kaepernick-almost-raider-glad-wasn-t-161153070.html

I guess he was never in Bills' Radar then. Hind sight is 20-20. I'd guess the 49ers must've contacted the Bills as well. I wonder what the price the Bills were asking then.

Certainly a Buddy Nix miss, though tons of people complained that Kaep was drafted too high.

Now back to EJ Manuel. In a couple of years if he pans out, you bet there will be stories somebody somewhere throw something across the room when the Bills announced their pick @16.

This story also points to the importance of keeping your intention vague, something Nix didn't do well as a GM. Whaley, from the school of the Steelers, should do better in that department.

[swiper]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

IDK about this player. The 49ers did well with Alex Smith. Then surprised opponents with Kaepernick's play because it was different from Smith. I think he came back to earth a bit by the end of the season kind of signifying that, perhaps, defenses were starting to catch on how to defend against him. Russell Wilson seemed to be the better of the two. I guess there's just not a enough of a body of work for me regarding Kaepernick. Who else could see Smith excelling in KC and Kaepernick having setbacks in SF this season?

[Thief]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

Anyone who thinks Kap's success was just because he surprised people didn't see him play enough. Dude completely is NFL legit.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

I wanted us to draft him in the 3rd

[The last buffalo fan]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

I wanted us to draft him in the 3rd

That's way too high, I'm fine in the 5th

[feldspar]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

I wanted him in the second. When that didn't happen, I wanted Mallett in the third. I had my eye on Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins last year. I'll always wonder if the Bills would have taken Cousins in the 4th if the Redskins didn't unexpectedly taken him. This year, I was hoping that the Bills took Landry Jones in the 4th round despite having taken Manuel in the first...kinda like what the Redskins did the year before. Double down on the position because it's THAT important. I'd rather have the insurance of Landry Jones than Duke Williams. Nix said that the Bills "very seriously" considered taking a second QB in this year's draft.

It's inexplicable that the Bills never got a legitimate developmental prospect in the event Fitzpatrick didn't work out, something I NEVER had faith in. Kind of inexcusable, really, and that was Buddy's largest blunder. Even worse than hiring Gailey.

I think this article should be a lesson to those that think that the Bills took Manuel too high and should have traded down again. I also read this:

The perception by many is that the Bills' selection of Manuel at No. 16 overall was a reach. Representatives from multiple teams have told me, however, that they saw the former Florida State star as the top quarterback in the 2013 draft class. One highly placed source for a team other than the Bills said Manuel was the best "by a wide margin."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/blog/rob-rang/22203399/finding-the-fits-alonso-could-star-as-qb-of-bills-defense

Count me as one of the people that were shocked that we picked Manuel. I did not see that coming. But if other teams knew that the Bills liked Manuel, they may have tried to trade ahead of us to get him, a lot like what the 49ers did to the Raiders to get Kaepernick in the 2011 draft. It's very possible that he would have been gone by our second round pick. The Bills did the right thing. They got the man they wanted and picked up Kiko Alonso in the process. Drafting a QB usually has a different set of rules than other positions...the "value" is different. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Manuel here.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

Nix is not a forceful GM. He works with the HC, which is OK. Most of the NFL teams structured that way. The reason for me to say that is in the draft of guys like Troup, Sheppard, wooing Mario. Chan wanted 3-4, so he drafted guys like Troup. When Chan hired Wannestedt, Nix went out and got Mario and Anderson. The 2nd draft during Chan's time is full of guys the coaching staff manned the senior bowl. You can see the influence of the coaching staff. In that scenario, it will be poisonous if the HC believes in a QB on the roster and the GM spends a high pick on another QB. That's why I say hiring Gailey is really the biggest biggest mistake Nix made. Chan Gailey simply is not a HC material, he's one sided, has no overall vision of the team for future. He's too much into his little world of spread offense, getting usage of undrafted guys.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

That's way too high, I'm fine in the 5th

I guess I was closer than you Nenita.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

Nix is not a forceful GM. He works with the HC, which is OK. Most of the NFL teams structured that way. The reason for me to say that is in the draft of guys like Troup, Sheppard, wooing Mario. Chan wanted 3-4, so he drafted guys like Troup. When Chan hired Wannestedt, Nix went out and got Mario and Anderson. The 2nd draft during Chan's time is full of guys the coaching staff manned the senior bowl. You can see the influence of the coaching staff. In that scenario, it will be poisonous if the HC believes in a QB on the roster and the GM spends a high pick on another QB. That's why I say hiring Gailey is really the biggest biggest mistake Nix made. Chan Gailey simply is not a HC material, he's one sided, has no overall vision of the team for future. He's too much into his little world of spread offense, getting usage of undrafted guys.

this.

Nix had Brees and Rivers in SD. I think he knew a thing or two about qb's. It's speculation but I wouldn't be surprised that he listened to Chan when it came to Fitz.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

I gotta say EJ Manuel is high risk. Somewhat a try by Nix to adapt to the new world influenced by the guys like Luck, RJ III, Wilson, Kap, Dalton. Brees and Rivers were much safer picks, 4 year starters, lots of tapes, yearly progression...

Many people attributed Kap's success to Harbough for being a QB guru (guess what, he has no failures so far. Tutored Luck in college; raised Smith to a level he's never been; groomed a long term project Kap to where he's today). We have to see what Marrone does for Manuel. At least he had some success with Nassib at Syracuse.

[The Jokeman]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

I gotta say EJ Manuel is high risk. Somewhat a try by Nix to adapt to the new world influenced by the guys like Luck, RJ III, Wilson, Kap, Dalton. Brees and Rivers were much safer picks, 4 year starters, lots of tapes, yearly progression...

Many people attributed Kap's success to Harbough for being a QB guru (guess what, he has no failures so far. Tutored Luck in college; raised Smith to a level he's never been; groomed a long term project Kap to where he's today). We have to see what Marrone does for Manuel. At least he had some success with Nassib at Syracuse.

Yeah but Marrone didn't do much for Chase Daniels in New Orleans as OC. That said I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as he did develop G Brandon Moore with the Jets. As to me Marrone first and foremost is/was an offensive lineman/coach. I will give him credit working with young Hackett to develop Nassib from an unknown to a 4th Round pick. Of course to me HC's roles aren't to develop players but instead develop strong assistant coaches who develop great schemes to make the most of their talents and make important game time decisions when a game is on the line. My only criticism is I really would have preferred finding an OC with more NFL experience and perhaps leave Hackett as his QB coach to learn behind said OC.

[BillsFever21]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

this.

Nix had Brees and Rivers in SD. I think he knew a thing or two about qb's. It's speculation but I wouldn't be surprised that he listened to Chan when it came to Fitz.

Nix wasn't the GM in San Diego. Whatever input he may have had the final decision came down to John Butler plus Brees and especially Rivers were highly touted.

I'm not saying he screwed up with Manuel and that will play itself out but he doesn't know his QB's that well when he passed on guys like Kapernick, Dalton and Wilson in two separate drafts when we needed a QB to begin with. However Gailey felt about Fitzpatrick it's the GM's job to make the final call especially when he was a career journeyman QB to begin with. He needed a backup plan and he didn't.

If Gailey talked him out of drafting one of them guys because of Fitzpatrick then that's the fault of Buddy Nix. He is the one who hired Gailey in the first place and then the guy who agreed to give Fitzpatrick a big contract after one good month of football. All of that falls on Nix.

[swiper]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

Anyone who thinks Kap's success was just because he surprised people didn't see him play enough. Dude completely is NFL legit.

I saw him play plenty. He's a fad.

[BillsFever21]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

Yeah but Marrone didn't do much for Chase Daniels in New Orleans as OC. That said I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as he did develop G Brandon Moore with the Jets. As to me Marrone first and foremost is/was an offensive lineman/coach. I will give him credit working with young Hackett to develop Nassib from an unknown to a 4th Round pick. Of course to me HC's roles aren't to develop players but instead develop strong assistant coaches who develop great schemes to make the most of their talents and make important game time decisions when a game is on the line. My only criticism is I really would have preferred finding an OC with more NFL experience and perhaps leave Hackett as his QB coach to learn behind said OC.

That's also been my biggest criticism up to this point. It's not very common to have a 33 year old OC in the NFL let alone one that never worked his way up the NFL ranks to begin with and proved himself by doing a good job as a QB coach or other positions.

I also would've much rather had him as a QB coach to start off before making him an OC. It will be Marrone's offense and he will be the guy calling the plays but it's still important to have a guy with experience at OC to help get the offensive unit ready for the game and coaching them up. Some past successful and failed HC looking for a job would've been ideal or even somebody who previously had some type of success and experience as an OC or even as a QB coach.

At least let the guy get his feet wet before throwing him into the fire for the first time in the NFL as an OC. In a couple years if he did a good job as a QB coach then he could've worked his way into the OC position. I want Marrone focused on his position and not trying to teach somebody to be in charge of the offensive staff during the week. The only positive is that he has worked with Marrone at Syracuse but that's a whole different ballgame then being an OC at the NFL level.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Re: Interesting Article On Kaepernick Draft

Nix wasn't the GM in San Diego. Whatever input he may have had the final decision came down to John Butler plus Brees and especially Rivers were highly touted.

I'm not saying he screwed up with Manuel and that will play itself out but he doesn't know his QB's that well when he passed on guys like Kapernick, Dalton and Wilson in two separate drafts when we needed a QB to begin with. However Gailey felt about Fitzpatrick it's the GM's job to make the final call especially when he was a career journeyman QB to begin with. He needed a backup plan and he didn't.

If Gailey talked him out of drafting one of them guys because of Fitzpatrick then that's the fault of Buddy Nix. He is the one who hired Gailey in the first place and then the guy who agreed to give Fitzpatrick a big contract after one good month of football. All of that falls on Nix.

Again my point has been the biggest wrong of Nix tenure as GM is the hiring of Gailey and gave him 3 years.