When the Buffalo Bills said they were looking for an experienced veteran to back up quarterback Trent Edwards, most of us were thinking someone like Jeff Garcia, Brian Griese, Jon Kitna or even Gus Frerotte.
Ryan Fitzpatrick didn't come to mind, and for good reason. Fitzpatrick (born Nov. 24, 1982) is less than one year older than Edwards (Oct. 30, 1983) and has played in five fewer NFL games (19 to 24).
Bills Chief Operating Officer Russ Brandon had this to say about Fitzpatrick: "Over the course of Ryan's career, he has been a very productive player."
Brandon's standards aren't very high.
Fitzpatrick has a 4-10-1 record as an NFL starter with St. Louis (0-3) and Cincinnati (4-7-1 last season).
In his 19 NFL games, he was 297 of 507 (.586) for 2,682 yards, with 12 TD passes, 17 interceptions and a 66.9 pass rating.
He has good mobility but has been sacked 47 times (including a total of 15 times in games against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh last season).
With Cincinnati last season, he was 221 of 372 (.594) for 1,905 yards (158.8 yards per game), with a poor 5.1 yards per attempt, eight TD passes, nine interceptions and 38 sacks. His passer rating was 70.0.
One of Fitzpatrick's top assets is intelligence. He scored 48 out of 50 on his Wonderlic test as an NFL rookie in 2005.
The Bills are pretty smart too, at least in terms of signing a No. 2 QB who is no threat to challenge Edwards for No. 1. But the addition of Fitzpatrick doesn't inspire much confidence if the thus far injury-prone Edwards misses significant playing time.
Ryan Fitzpatrick didn't come to mind, and for good reason. Fitzpatrick (born Nov. 24, 1982) is less than one year older than Edwards (Oct. 30, 1983) and has played in five fewer NFL games (19 to 24).
Bills Chief Operating Officer Russ Brandon had this to say about Fitzpatrick: "Over the course of Ryan's career, he has been a very productive player."
Brandon's standards aren't very high.
Fitzpatrick has a 4-10-1 record as an NFL starter with St. Louis (0-3) and Cincinnati (4-7-1 last season).
In his 19 NFL games, he was 297 of 507 (.586) for 2,682 yards, with 12 TD passes, 17 interceptions and a 66.9 pass rating.
He has good mobility but has been sacked 47 times (including a total of 15 times in games against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh last season).
With Cincinnati last season, he was 221 of 372 (.594) for 1,905 yards (158.8 yards per game), with a poor 5.1 yards per attempt, eight TD passes, nine interceptions and 38 sacks. His passer rating was 70.0.
One of Fitzpatrick's top assets is intelligence. He scored 48 out of 50 on his Wonderlic test as an NFL rookie in 2005.
The Bills are pretty smart too, at least in terms of signing a No. 2 QB who is no threat to challenge Edwards for No. 1. But the addition of Fitzpatrick doesn't inspire much confidence if the thus far injury-prone Edwards misses significant playing time.
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