Bills quarterbacks

When the QB of the future arrives, Bills should let him season

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Sometime in the near future the Buffalo Bills will need to acquire a player that can be pegged as the quarterback of the future. While it is certain that Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t the quarterback of the future, when his replacement will be brought in is far less certain.

Discount Double Check was able to season behind a veteran before taking the reigns in Green Bay.

The safe assumption for the Bills will be to draft a quarterback in order to make a proper investment in the position and the future of the team. The free agency or trade option is always there, but a majority of the league’s elite quarterbacks were acquired with a draft pick. The question that will eventually need to be asked is; how long should this player be given to blossom?

In a league that has created a “what have you done for me lately?” culture, there isn’t much room for error for quarterbacks. Typically the higher a player is drafted, the shorter the time is for them to meet expectations. Just ask David Carr, Tim Couch or J.P. Losman. All first round picks who never found their way as starters in the league, now they’re either serving as a backup, winning UFL championships or on TV. However, are top prospect quarterbacks given too little rope to hang themselves with?

Alex Smith was all but declared a bust up until last season.  Suddenly, thanks to a QB friendly coach – and defense – Smith has begun to enjoy success and show some of the strengths that made him the first overall pick in 2005. That is seven years worth of ups, downs, trade rumors and other starting quarterbacks with his team only to arrive at the point the 49ers expected when they picked Smith first overall.

Obviously the Nines are being rewarded for their diligence, no matter how long it took. Seven years is probably far too long to wait if a quarterback is expected to blossom into the franchise cornerstone that comes along with a high draft pick. For most teams in the NFL, it seems as if three seasons is usually the magic number when it comes to quarterbacks, coaches or just about anyone else. Continue reading →

Bills have options despite shortage at receiver

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Food for thought: the Bills have four specialists, four wide receivers and four quarterbacks. You might say three quarterbacks and five wide outs depending on your point of view.

Regardless, the Bills enter week one with a very interesting set up in terms of their 53-man roster. Tavaris Jackson, Tyler Thigpen and Brad Smith are all filling a role behind Ryan Fitzpatrick as Buffalo’s signal caller. Meanwhile, only Stevie Johnson, David Nelson, T.J Graham and Donald Jones are the wide outs for Buffalo’s typically spread open attack.

Dorin Dickerson’s versatility may fill the Bills need for receiving depth.

The choice to retain Thigpen was obvious. Jackson, while a fine option to fill the backup role behind Fitzpartick, hasn’t learned the offense yet and would leave the Bills crippled if Fitzpatrick was injured early in the year. In addition, Brad Smith has a wonky groin and seems better suited as a receiver than quarterback.Smith’s groin could potentially keep him out of, or limited, against the Jets. There is still five days until kickoff which allows for plenty of healing time. Regardless if Smith plays or not, there is a better chance he will be contributing as a receiver rather than at QB (outside of wildcat plays).

What might be the best option would be to cut ties with Smith. He hasn’t proven to be worth the investment they made, particularly with so few spots available for gimmick tools (see: kickoff specialist). It might just be in the best interest of the team to retain Thigpen as a third string passer, cut ties with Smith and fill the vacant spot with a proper receiver from a practice squad, waiver wire or free agency.

It seems safe to assume that the Bills will not attempt to go through the season with just four receivers while carrying an equal number of quarterbacks. At some point they will cut ties with a signal caller to free up a roster spot for either a playmaker or some other position of need. In the short term, however, they do have some options. Continue reading →

Jackson in, Young out as backup QB carousel keeps spinning

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Well, that was fun while it lasted. For a brief moment, the Bills had the first and third picks from the 2006 NFL draft on their roster.

For what it’s worth, one is a $100 million superstar and the other was a re-tread that Buddy Nix decided to take a chance on. I’ll let you take a guess which one just got released. On a side note, the 2006 Draft was the one in which the Bills took Donte Whitner at number eight ahead of such players as: Jay Cutler, Haloti Ngata, Chad Greenway, Kamerion Wimbley and Tamba Hali. Oh, the Bills also traded back into the first round for John McCargo that season. Isn’t this fun?

After acquiring Tavaris Jackson from Seattle for an undisclosed draft pick, the Bills chose to part ways with Vince Young after a relatively mediocre preseason from the former University of Texas star. While Young had a seemingly firm grasp on the backup quarterback job, he didn’t have a firm grasp on his place on the Bills roster.

Young enjoyed what was reported to be an adequate training camp and offseason, along with a strong performance against the Vikings in Buffalo’s second preseason game. However, he threw a pair of interceptions against the Steelers on Saturday and certainly didn’t look like he had a very good grasp of the offense.

Young’s lackluster performance against the Steelers looked to be the cherry on top of the sundae for him to be shipped out the door. Young looked lost in his few series against Washington in the first preseason game. Granted, he was playing with the threes and had to rely on his legs behind a patchwork line. However, it was more of the same happy feet and poor decision making on Saturday night. This time, his struggles came at the expense of the Bills and Steelers backups.

Signing Young in the spring time came as a decent reprieve from a pattern of late round prospects getting most of the looks from the Bills. Of course, Young was just above average under center this preseason, which expedited his departure. Continue reading →