Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

[The Toe Show]

http://www.buffalobills.com/video/audio/Fred-Jackson-Buffalo-is-home/ebd98ddd-b537-47a2-aa0f-66875e93eda4

Fred Jackson is making waves trying to get back in the league. He plays in the Spring League Showcase game on July 15th.

As the #1 Fred Jackson fan, I'll be rooting him on - bigly.

I'd say we've signed 3 or 4 different players in an attempt to replace him: DiMarco (the pass-catcher), Tolbert (the pass-blocker), whatever Joe Banyard and Cedric can bring, he also has the goal-line / spell game we lost with Gil.

So, to the Bills brass, here's how you rationalize it, assuming a passing-grade showcase:
- locker-room leadership (fans don't actually know, but for #billsmafia it is unanimously accepted as a stone-cold fact)
- karma (thanks Whaley - that move will go down as disturbingly petty, Reggie Bush had -17 yards rushing GOOD EYE, BRO!)
- opening-day ticket sales, marketing (don't act like you don't know what i'm talking about, Russ)
- save some cap while setting half our backfield free without upsetting a single fan
- worst-case, going 6-10 becomes more palatable with a farewell tour

What do you think will happen?

[Night Train]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

If only we could reset father time.

Who doesn't love Fred ?

[YardRat]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

Maybe the biggest mistake made during the Whaley/Wrecks fiasco.

[Homegrown]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

Fred was awesome, imagine if we an offense of guys like Fred...and a defense with all Freds, and then at the intrasquad scrimmage, it was 11 Freds vs 11 Freds....22 Freds on the field, all wearing #22...whoa!,!

[Night Train]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

Who doesn't love Fred ?

Oh, that's right...Whaley..

[JoeMama]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

http://www.buffalobills.com/video/au...f-66875e93eda4

Fred Jackson is making waves trying to get back in the league. He plays in the Spring League Showcase game on July 15th.

As the #1 Fred Jackson fan, I'll be rooting him on - bigly.

I'd say we've signed 3 or 4 different players in an attempt to replace him: DiMarco (the pass-catcher), Tolbert (the pass-blocker), whatever Joe Banyard and Cedric can bring, he also has the goal-line / spell game we lost with Gil.

So, to the Bills brass, here's how you rationalize it, assuming a passing-grade showcase:
- locker-room leadership (fans don't actually know, but for #billsmafia it is unanimously accepted as a stone-cold fact)
- karma (thanks Whaley - that move will go down as disturbingly petty, Reggie Bush had -17 yards rushing GOOD EYE, BRO!)
- opening-day ticket sales, marketing (don't act like you don't know what i'm talking about, Russ)
- save some cap while setting half our backfield free without upsetting a single fan
- worst-case, going 6-10 becomes more palatable with a farewell tour

What do you think will happen?

Says you!

[Thurmal]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

Maybe the biggest mistake made during the Whaley/Wrecks fiasco.

Would love to see an alternate universe where he stayed on the team, which, during those years, was DESPERATELY lacking in the leadership department. Maybe a guy like Karlos Williams, who looked to be a true late-round stud, has a decent role model and doesn't throw his career away. I think even a veteran presence like him in the huddle goes a long way towards calming nerves and, subsequently, maybe turning some close losses into wins.

[Goobylal]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

I'd love to bring him back as a coach.

[JoeMama]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

I'd love to bring him back as a coach.

If there's anyway F-Jax can teach the kind of patience and vision that defined him as a player, he'd make one hell of an RB coach.

Leadership has always come naturally to him, so that's already a +1 in his favor if he takes up coaching.

[Luisito23]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

Some of my best memories come from having watched Freddie run on Sundays...

He was humble and always gave it his best...

What's not to like?

[Oaf]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

According to that interview, Rex called Fred to bring him in before training camp, only for the Bills to opt for Bush instead.

What a terrible decision.

[CoolBreeze]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

I know most of you, like me hate Russ Brandon. But signing Fred Jackson to put asses in the seats is a total Russ Brandon thing to do. The love for Jackson here is still strong, so I would bet the idea has already been floating around in his head

[Arm of Harm]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

Maybe the biggest mistake made during the Whaley/Wrecks fiasco.

The biggest mistake during the Whaley era was the decision not to draft Derek Carr, because we were supposedly "all set" at QB with E.J. Manuel.

After being released by the Bills, Fred Jackson had 100 rushing yards for the Seattle Seahawks, averaging 3.8 yards per carry. He also had 257 receiving yards. Replacing Jackson with Reggie Bush was a mistake, because Jackson was the better of the two. But Doug Whaley made much, much bigger mistakes than that.

[Goobylal]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

The Bills weren't going to draft Carr a year after taking EJ. Especially with a bunch of other QB needy teams passing on him in the 1st round. The Raiders got lucky.

[Arm of Harm]

Re: Fred Jackson PR Campaign and Spring League Game (FRED-WATCH)

The Bills weren't going to draft Carr a year after taking EJ. Especially with a bunch of other QB needy teams passing on him in the 1st round. The Raiders got lucky.

The very instant they announced the Manuel pick, I felt a sense of sports-related heartbreak. For me the pick was as bad as the Music City Miracle; not as bad as Wide Right. In that instant I knew that Manuel would be "the plan" for the next several years; thereby precluding the Bills from using early picks on any other QB prospect. The Manuel pick also told me the Bills' front office couldn't evaluate QB talent; and that the team was very unlikely to find a successor to Jim Kelly while that front office remained intact.

Had the Bills hired a real GM immediately after the Manuel pick, it's quite possible they would have drafted Carr the next year. But instead of hiring a real GM, they hired the guy who'd prepared glowing recommendations for E.J. Manuel. Of course they weren't going to take Carr or any other QB in the first round at that point. The cause of EJ becoming "the plan" was the Bills' front office incompetence. That "plan" would not be changed until its underlying cause had been eliminated, or until Manuel's actual playing experience made it glaringly obvious, even to someone as obtuse as Whaley, that Manuel was not the answer at QB.

You wrote that the Raiders got lucky with Carr. Obviously, there's an element of luck with any draft pick. But there are also patterns, tendencies, probabilities. You draft the players who give you the best probability for success, knowing that no one draft pick represents a guarantee of anything. As a general rule, QBs selected primarily for their physical gifts--such as Losman and Manuel--represent a much lower probability of success than guys selected for their pocket passing, for their accuracy and rapid information processing. Derek Carr represented a much higher probability prospect than E.J. Manuel. Even though, before the fact, it would have been impossible for anyone to guarantee success for Carr or failure for Manuel, the Raiders certainly put themselves in a position where they were much, much more likely to experience success at the QB position than we were.