Bills Off-Season 2013 Style (Wilson, Barnett, McGee released, T Jackson re-signed)

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

Just not his biggest fan. He dropped one in the Miami game(though the refs called it a fumble for some dumb reason)

He might run good routes but hes not worth the cash he got, just like Fitz. Everybody knows he;s a #2 WR at best. Donald Jones is probably more talented than him but it's TBA. Graham has the speed to become a #1. Nelson is a solid #3.

Those were bad drops though, at crucial times. But it's okay for people to be on Fitz for the crucial INT's. Stevie and Graham drop some of the shorter slant passes though.

Guess I'm not cool enough to be an "everyone". Stevie is an excellent receiver and soon he will have QB that can throw a decent ball reliably.

 

[Cirris]

And DeSean Jackson doesnt? Dude has had his own drop issues and can't stay healthy.

yeah, he likes to drop the ball before he enters the endzone.

 

[SECRET SQUIRREL]

Just not his biggest fan. He dropped one in the Miami game(though the refs called it a fumble for some dumb reason)

He might run good routes but hes not worth the cash he got, just like Fitz. Everybody knows he;s a #2 WR at best. Donald Jones is probably more talented than him but it's TBA. Graham has the speed to become a #1. Nelson is a solid #3.

Those were bad drops though, at crucial times. But it's okay for people to be on Fitz for the crucial INT's. Stevie and Graham drop some of the shorter slant passes though.

You've gotta be F'ing kidding me with this comment... No sane person would think or say this. SJ is easily our best WR AINEC. Hell, I really am not a fan of his act most of the time but to deny the guy has talent is just showing your unsubstantiated hate for him.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

Isn't Jones even slower than Stevie? That opinion is lulzy.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

When it's 3rd and 7...you want a guy like Stevie who can consistently get open 8 yards down the field to move the chains. That's where Stevie's real value is--the prototypical possession receiver. And that's hugely important.

Johnson is the kind of receiver that should get 100 receptions a season. The average won't be amazing, but the offense will work its way down the field.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

Pettine is the guy you want. They are seeking him, now better get him!

Pettine has only ran 3-4 schemes though, which should make one weary since our personnel is really better suited for 4-3. WGR posted a couple different potential 3-4 lineups, so maybe it could work, but I'd definitely want to know how he would proceed with our personnel before endorsing him.

But if he says he can make the talent work...by all means grab him.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Guess I'm not cool enough to be an "everyone". Stevie is an excellent receiver and soon he will have QB that can throw a decent ball reliably.

We hope. I would like to see Graham with a QB with the big arm. Though, he dropped some easy short passes this season. So i'm a little worried in general. Maybe it's not getting enough reps, the ball enough, not sure. But the kid can fly. That bomb in Minny with Young was somethinng. Thats about the only way I could justify keeping Vince Young this past year If you needed a boost and wanted to try and hit a homerun for a spark if needed.

 

[zbubble]

I think they are, but in no way did anything Russ say indicate that. His response was as vanilla as they come. "We're going to be aggressive" is his catch phrase.

He'll be on a short list of a half dozen people like the head coaches were. That's all I got from it.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Pettine has only ran 3-4 schemes though, which should make one weary since our personnel is really better suited for 4-3. WGR posted a couple different potential 3-4 lineups, so maybe it could work, but I'd definitely want to know how he would proceed with our personnel before endorsing him.

But if he says he can make the talent work...by all means grab him.

Yeah, here they are:

http://wgr550.com/What-would-the-Bills-look-like-as-a-3-4-team-/15216817

It sounds like Mario wasn't as bad in a 3-4 as I would think. I kind of like the 2nd lineup more though.

 

[zbubble]

His INT's went down by 7. With the same TD's. that is a bit encouraging. I know he's thrown INT's with the game on the line but what about the D not showing up for tennessee and the second NE game?(He did his part to win those days, they didn't) The Rams game was bad but I still blame Gailey, the whole 2nd half they abandoned Spiller(like in the 4th in Indy and the 2nd half in Houston) The only game I really was mad was the Miami game. Though, Johnson's early fumble may have changed the whol complexion. The blowouts to me are on the whole team.

And with the INTs going down by 7, how many more wins did that produce? Zero.

Statistics can be pretty useless at times, especially when comparing QBs. With a minute and a half left on the clock, no timeouts, and 80 yards to go, do you want your QB throwing 5 yard dumpoffs over the middle? Sure his completion percentage goes up, but unless by some miracle someone breaks a 70 yard run after catch, you have no chance to win the game. You're going to run out of time.

Or what about 3rd and 10 with 4 WRs and a RB running routes and you choose to throw to the one guy not on the other side of the sticks? Of course time and time again you end up one yard short. But yay for completion percentage!

Ultimately he's the one that decides who to throw the ball to, and he just doesn't make smart decisions with it.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

With Fitz, what you see is what you get.

And I think most if not all of us can agree--what we get just isn't good enough.

I say roll the dice on the unknown. Sure, maybe a rookie won't be as good--maybe it's a bust. Or maybe you get Fitz v2.0. But maybe you get lucky and you get someone who can actually be the franchise QB.

It's a chance worth taking at this point. Yes, things could be worse than Fitz...but they could be better too. And I think you have to take that chance.

 

[BuiltTagonTough]

According to the morning paper cutting him before he gets his performance bonus would only save about 500k in cap space. It's 10m one way and 10.45 the other. If that's all we'd save by cutting him, why not just keep him and let someone beat him, the way Kaepernick did with Smith?

 

[Myllz]

According to the morning paper cutting him before he gets his performance bonus would only save about 500k in cap space. It's 10m one way and 10.45 the other. If that's all we'd save by cutting him, why not just keep him and let someone beat him, the way Kaepernick did with Smith?

Because his contract goes beyond 2013-2014.

 

[JThorne]

The next opportunity to get rid of him might cost more.

 

[Paxon]

Pettine has only ran 3-4 schemes though, which should make one weary since our personnel is really better suited for 4-3. WGR posted a couple different potential 3-4 lineups, so maybe it could work, but I'd definitely want to know how he would proceed with our personnel before endorsing him.

But if he says he can make the talent work...by all means grab him.

Pettine's had a lot more experience than you give him credit for. Whether in Baltimore or NY, he's ran plenty of mixed looks and hybrid fronts. There's really no question that he can run a 4-3 or a 46. The philosophy he comes from is based much more around 'attacking/aggression' than 'base (3-4)'.

The real question is just how good he himself really is. Obviously Rex is responsible for a lot of what went on with the defense. How much is Pettine responsible for and how much can he recreate/adapt on his own?

I really wouldn't worry about the 3-4 thing. That's no guarantee he wouldn't go that route if he got the job, of course.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

And with the INTs going down by 7, how many more wins did that produce? Zero.

Statistics can be pretty useless at times, especially when comparing QBs. With a minute and a half left on the clock, no timeouts, and 80 yards to go, do you want your QB throwing 5 yard dumpoffs over the middle? Sure his completion percentage goes up, but unless by some miracle someone breaks a 70 yard run after catch, you have no chance to win the game. You're going to run out of time.

Or what about 3rd and 10 with 4 WRs and a RB running routes and you choose to throw to the one guy not on the other side of the sticks? Of course time and time again you end up one yard short. But yay for completion percentage!

Ultimately he's the one that decides who to throw the ball to, and he just doesn't make smart decisions with it.

I will agree with you. Nothing changed last season and this. I think QB wins are a bit of an overrated stat. They only control one side of the ball. Wins should be a team stat. Fitz isn't playing D. If the D was as good as advertised he actually wins more games this year. For what it's worth...despite the horrible D I think this years squad was better.

He did have those back to back 2 minute drives vs Oakland and NE. So he can do it, I forget how. But...if memory serves he hit a big play vs NE. He nearly did it this year in NE. It didn't help that 2 timeouts were taken away from him and the HC called a bogus route for his rookie.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Pettine's had a lot more experience than you give him credit for. Whether in Baltimore or NY, he's ran plenty of mixed looks and hybrid fronts. There's really no question that he can run a 4-3 or a 46. The philosophy he comes from is based much more around 'attacking/aggression' than 'base (3-4)'.

The real question is just how good he himself really is. Obviously Rex is responsible for a lot of what went on with the defense. How much is Pettine responsible for and how much can he recreate/adapt on his own?

I really wouldn't worry about the 3-4 thing. That's no guarantee he wouldn't go that route if he got the job, of course.

Good point, you would hope being under Rex for 8 years that he would be just as good, if not better. He should have learned a lot. I don't see any excuse for him not to have.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

Pettine's had a lot more experience than you give him credit for. Whether in Baltimore or NY, he's ran plenty of mixed looks and hybrid fronts. There's really no question that he can run a 4-3 or a 46. The philosophy he comes from is based much more around 'attacking/aggression' than 'base (3-4)'.

The real question is just how good he himself really is. Obviously Rex is responsible for a lot of what went on with the defense. How much is Pettine responsible for and how much can he recreate/adapt on his own?

I really wouldn't worry about the 3-4 thing. That's no guarantee he wouldn't go that route if he got the job, of course.

Yeah, that's pretty much where I'm at. I guess after George Edwards debacle, I'm weary of someone coming in and trying to shove a square peg in a the circle slot. I want someone who is going to find a way to maximize the talent we have whether it is 3-4 or 4-3, and if Pettine can do that I have no problems with him.

 

[buffswords]

Rob Ryan released as Dallas D-Coordinator.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Rob Ryan released as Dallas D-Coordinator.

Interested? YOU BET!

Had no idea this was coming. Jones said changes were coming but I was thinking more Romeo and Garrett.

 

[Paxon]

Rob Ryan released as Dallas D-Coordinator.

Now that's interesting. There's no way he'd ever go to the Jets, is there? That'd be something.

 

[Zman5778]

Interested? YOU BET!

Absolutely not.

IMO, he's the most overrated DC in football today.

His "scheme" is some form of a 3-4 that relies HEAVILY on the blitz. If the blitz doesn't get there, his defenses look really bad really quick.

PLUS, he brings the circus with him -- which isn't something I want a first-time, fresh-out-of-college coach to deal with

 

[Taro Tsujimoto]

I bet he'd love the opportunity to play against his brother twice a year.

In other news:

Nathaniel Hackett will be the Bills' next offensive coordinator.

https://twitter.com/ByTimGraham/status/288836703534317570

He was under Marrone in the same position at Syracuse.

 

[Mit Yarrum]

Looks like it's legit. Apparently he worked for the Bills before going to Syracuse.

 

[Zman5778]

Looks like it's legit. Apparently he worked for the Bills before going to Syracuse.

Graham's next tweet says that he's gonna be the OC.


No issue here. Marrone's an offensive guy, and Hackett probably knows his system best.