Do the Buffalo Bills Need a Quarterback?

We need defensive help and lots of it. OLB’s ILB’s DE’s Corners,Safeties. We need to beef up the defense and then next year take a look at Luck,Barkely,Foles, etc.

I feel like there is better value for the Bills by choosing an outstanding defensive player at # 3. Dareus, Peterson, Fairley, Miller, or Bowers, could be long term star players for them.
The bottom line is how the Bills FO evaluates the QBs. If they have Newton or Gabbert in the top five, I think they have to take them. If they have them around # 10 or higher, like you, they should pass.

The second round QB options look pretty good; possibly Locker, Ponder, or Kaepernick. I think at least two of them will be there.

Then again there is a lot of defensive and other offensive talent available at # 35 that make another QB pass reasonable. Leave the QB until 2012?

The Bills are in one of the toughest divisions in football. You may pick up a game or two a season against the Dolphins, but in any game against the Pats and Jets, you’re in danger of getting out-coached, and you’ll probably get out-talented. So you need a unique player at QB to get wins against those teams.

I think Newton’s best fit is in Buffalo, not for the financial (jersey sales) or fan support (attendance) ramifications of the pick but for schematic and situational reasons:
Chan Gailey is a great coach of quarterbacks. He turned a career backup (Fitzpatrick) into a legitimate starter and Gailey has, as you say, made the team play hard and relatively well despite an overall lack of talent. Gailey is also uniquely gifted in working with athletic quarterbacks. He is the guy that turned Kordell Stewart into a true #1 quarterback in Pittsburgh (albeit relatively briefly), and Tyler Thigpen flourished in KC under Gailey. I think that Newton couldn’t find a coach better suited to developing his talents and maximizing their effect on the field.

Also, while the Bills are generally untalented, they do have excellent running backs in C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson. Having a quarterback that can take off and run off of boot-action is hugely beneficial for running backs because edge defenders have to honor their assignments and can’t collapse on the running backs. To put it another way, a running quarterback is to a running back what play action is to a throwing quarterback; just as play action freezes secondary defenders and opens bigger throwing lanes, so the threat of a QB draw or option play freezes box defenders and opens bigger running lanes.

For evidence of the advantage a running QB gives his running backs, you need only look to the success of CJ2K (who became CJ2K with Vince Young at QB), and the ATL running backs (Warrick Dunn) while Vick was under center, and the Steeler running backs while Kordell Stewart was under center.

A combination of Newton and Jackson/Spiller would be really exciting offensively, and could actually make them competitive because Gailey is creative enough to put them all to use.

For the record, I’m not a Bills fan, but I live in the area. I’d be thrilled if they picked Newton — because it would make the local broadcasts on Sundays worth my time!

that way, it will insure that one of those defensive studs will be available when the Titans pick at no.8.

With options in the second round in Ponder, Dalton and, maybe, Locker, there’s still a chance to improve the QB position without rolling the dice by picking Newton or Gabbert too early. Grab a true stud on the D-line, last years draft had only 1, BTW, and go home happy on Day 1. Play it right and you can improve with each pick, not just the first one.

but unless Pat Peterson is on the board, this team can’t afford to keep beating around the bush with the QB spot.

Sure Newton and Gabbert might not be the best prospects, but it seemed Gailey got something out of Fitzpatrick, which says a lot.

This franchise needs to take a god damn risk already. Maybe these QBs are more risky then others, but how many years are they not going to go after a franchise QB, or at least make an attempt?

Its not like doing so or otherwise will set them back. They’re pretty far back as it is. Who the hell knows, maybe they actually strike gold on a QB?

Teams such as the Bills who struggle with attendance and are tough to market on a national stage like to focus on creating a buzz.

Just a side note. The Bills have a rabid fanbase and they only really struggled with attendance this year because the economy is down and it was pretty clear from the start that the team was going to be bad. Normally, the vast majority of games (except possibly the yearly Toronto debacle) are sold out.
Additionally, you can market pretty much any team (from a large or small city) if they’re good. Are the 49ers hard to market? Are the Dolphins hard to market? No. They just suck right now so your average ESPN-watcher doesn’t give a rat’s ass about them.

I must say that Fitzpatrick is an above average qb……..I don’t understand why people downgrade him just because of his team and his popularity.

Reason being is that we couldn’t stop a paraplegic from running all over us last year. Until this situation with the D is addressed and we can finally keep teams off the board and get offenses off the field it’s going to matter very little what QB we have calling plays. In this draft alone there are a bevy of immediate playmakers on defense that we could get with the #3 pick. Plus I hear all the time that the Bills could take Newton, or Gabbert with the 3rd pick and groom him to play in 2 or 3 years. Fundamental problem with this is that with a pick as high as #3 you need to draft someone who can contribute NOW, not 3 freakin years from now!

The value and risk just isn’t worth it. There are a handful of quality QB prospects, but I’m not sure any of them are worth a top 3 pick. The fact that no QB is by far and away the #1 prospect says a lot about this draft class IMO.

Buffalo has a way of staying in games. With a better front 7, we might actually win those close games a little more often instead of giving it away. I’m really hoping Dareus is available for us in the first round. Get better against the run, better at collapsing the pocket, getting pressure on the QB and less of a “bend but don’t break” mentality. In the glory days, we had a great offense. But we also had a pretty solid defense with Bruce, Hansen, Biscuit and Talley. I’d like to see them get back to that and hope that we can land a Locker, Kaepernick or Ponder in round 2. That would create some excitement for us Bills fans… just as much if not more than going big with Newton at #3 overall. We can’t afford to miss on this pick. Not with this QB class.

With that defense, you select the best defensive player available, which is Peterson or Dareus. Fitzpatrick is an ok player with a shit defense. get that defense half good and theres no telling how good he could be