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1) A Buffalo Bills quarterback hasn’t thrown for 300 yards in a game since the 2006 season.
2) The Bills have had only one quarterback throw for over 20 touchdowns in the last 13 years.
3) The Bills have ranked 25th or lower in passing offense since the 2003 season.
4) Since 1997, the Bills have had 10 different quarterbacks start NFL games.
Yes, Joe Ferguson, Vince Ferragamo and Gale Gilbert must all be rolling over in their graves.
The Deal
The Bills are going on year 14 of their search for the next Jim Kelly. God, I can’t believe I was in high school when Jimbo retired. Anyways, the Bills still have the same three quarterbacks that were left on the roster from last year. They took a pass on Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Jake Delhomme and anyone else that threw a pigskin last year. The team was reportedly involved in bringing in Donovan McNabb, even though I didn’t really believe it. I mean, there has to be a middle ground between Edwards and McNabb. Right?
Frankly, the Bills quarterback situation doesn’t look quite becoming. The only thing the majority of us can hang our hat on is that Chan Gailey is going to be calling the plays (Trust me, that’s like hanging a cap on a feather if you ask me). Look, I wasn’t a fan of the Gailey hiring, but he is without question an upgrade over the likes of Alex Van Pelt, Turk Schonert and Steve Fairchild. However, the question is how big of an upgrade is he? We all know what he did with Jay Fielder, Kordell Stewart and Tyler Thigpen. However, they are still Tyler Thigpen, Kordell Stewart and Jay Fiedler and I’m not sure those are the type of names you want on your coaching resume.
Back to the passing game, everyone knows that this is a quarterback driven league. All you had to do was look at the playoff teams from last year to see who was taking the snaps. In short: They weren’t Trent Edwards or Ryan Fitzpatrick like. If the Bills are going to do any damage this year, they need to get some sort of production out of the quarterback position. It was utterly disgusting to see how badly the quarterbacks performed last year. Ralph Wilson said it best, “The Bills have been very boring over the years” and a large part of that is due to the passing game.
It’s because of the quarterback play that the Bills decided to go with an offensive minded head coach to try and ride the quarterback ship correctly. Unfortunately, that ship may as well be the Titanic with these three quarterbacks acting as the captains. I still find it funny that this a three headed quarterback competition. I mean, who ever heard of three quarterbacks battling for a starting job? Anyways, in short: Chan Gailey has his work cut out for him.
The Players
Trent Edwards
Well, it wasn’t too long ago that Bills fans thought Trent was their answer to the next Jim Kelly. I can remember when Rich Gannon said that Edwards was the most impressive rookie quarterback that he had ever watched on film. Okay, who the hell is Gannon anyway? Of course, there was the start of the 2008 season, where the Bills were riding high and the team burst out of the gates with a 5-1 record. Even Peter King awarded Edwards with the first quarter MVP for that season. The Bills were actually becoming relevant again and it didn’t have to do with some bogus off the field signing. It had to do with winning.
Things were going great, except for the fact that the Bills beat some lonely teams at the start of the season and were exploited when the competition got tougher. Not only did the team get exploited, but so did Trent Edwards. Since Edwards 5-1 start, his record in games that he has been healthy to finish is 3-11.
legion of Bills fans that thought they could get their careers back on track. I haven’t found anyone to really rally behind Edwards. No one really likes the guy. I think it’s just the timing of his career. Fans are just sick and tired of watching these terrible quarterbacks come through Buffalo. I’m sure they are just tired of giving themselves reasons to believe that a crappy quarterback is going to straighten his career out.
Why will Edwards win the job?
I think the Bills are giving Edwards every opportunity to win this gig. If they didn’t think that highly of him, then they would have gotten rid of him and brought in a veteran quarterback. Lets not forget that Edwards was a part of a draft class that had Tom Modrak and Ralph Wilson’s finger prints all over it. Say what you will, but I still think it’s a collective effort in the front office at One Bills Drive and those two definitely have clout over who they like. Excluding the politics, Edwards still has the most game experience of the three quarterbacks and has proven himself more in the pro game than Fitzpatrick and Brohm.
Well, because he’s Trent Edwards and he kind of sucks. In all seriousness, I think if Edwards loses this job it will have to do with Brohm’s performance in camp. Edwards seems to be nothing more than a bridge gap to the next guy. If they see something in Brohm, anything to show that he can evolve at the pro level, he’s getting this job. Also, if you were to compare our lasting memories of these three quarterbacks, Edwards left us with the memory of getting injured, checking it down or getting killed on every passing down. Hell, our last nice memory of Edwards was week two against Tampa Bay. Plus, and I know this may sound stupid, but you can sell the “Mystery of Brohm” in the short term as a reason to be optimistic about the Bills chances. I don’t think you can do that with Edwards. Hey, it’s the Bills and they have never been one to shy away from marketing the team with false prophecies.
Edwards has to get back to basics. He has to get back to reading his progressions and finding the open receiver. Too many times last year Edwards had the look of a dear in a headlight when dropping back in the pocket. He didn’t set his feet, and would make one read and if the guy wasn’t open, he would check it down to a running back. It was as if Edwards was scared for his life and wanted to get the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible.
Ryan FitzpatrickCareer stats:
Poor Ryan Fitzpatrick. If you were to look closely at his career numbers, they are almost similar to that of Edwards. Yet, if you were to listen to most experts, it would seem that Edwards is head and shoulders above Fitzpatrick in getting the starting job. Lets not forget that it was Fitzpatrick who outplayed Edwards last year and even got a public vote of confidence from Terrell Owens and Lee Evans. Fitzpatrick did something last year that Edwards couldn’t do…and that was go deep. Hey, Fitzpatrick was only a couple of yards away from eclipsing the 300-yard mark in a game, which at this state of the franchise, seems to be a watershed moment for Bills quarterbacks…like OJ getting 2,000 yards.
Like I said earlier, he was the best quarterback of the three last year. That’s all I got for you because….
Oh, he’s not winning this job. I think the problem with Fitzpatrick is that he’s already viewed as a career back-up quarterback. Plus, his highest of highs doesn’t equate to what Edwards did at the start of the 2008 season. Another thing working against Fitzpartick is that he is really erratic in the short passing game, which is something that Edwards seems to thrive in.
Don’t be sad, Ryan. I’m sure you will get your shot eventually this year, but it won’t be in September. BTW, and this should make Ryan feel better, if I were the coach of the Bills and the team was surrounded by all-pros and expectations were the playoffs, I’d think that Fitzpatrick would give me the best shot to win games. However, that’s not the point in all this. The Bills have to find someone that can be the future of this team. A guy that can grow with a young club. I don’t think Fitzpatrick can be that franchise guy. In fact, I know he can’t.
Brian BrohmCareer stats:
Even with Thurman Thomas being his number one fan, people have absolutely no idea what they are getting with Brohm. The attraction about Brohm is that we don’t know what he can bring to the table. I’ve written before that Brohm may have the most impressive resume of any of the quarterbacks on this roster. Think about, he has only started one NFL game, but at one point he was being touted as a possible first overall selection in the NFL Draft. His senior year of college was awfully impressive, throwing for 27 touchdowns. From what I read online, his stock went down because it was a very impressive croup of quarterbacks coming out in 2008. Of course, it didn’t help that Aaron
Rodgers blew up after Brett Favre left Green Bay. So he can’t really be a bust if he only played one NFL game, can he?
The Bills have to figure out which one of these three guys can be legit starting quarterback, not just for this year, but for the years beyond. If you are only going to judge the statistics and game highlights, Edwards and Fitzpatrick don’t seem to be the long term answers. Both guys have had their chances and have failed miserably at doing the job. All we know about Brohm is that he was great in college, but never got a shot in Green Bay. You can make the case that because of his college background, he has a better upside than Edwards or Fitzpatrick.
Um, the dude was on the Green Bay Packers practice squad a year ago. I mean, he couldn’t even beat out a 7th round pick for a job! How many 2nd round picks have you heard of that went to the practice squad by their 2nd year? Not many. Maybe he really is this bad. Lets not forget that no one else in the NFL decided to take a chance on Brohm when he was just sitting there for the taking.
Hey, if there’s something we can enjoy about the Bills quarterback competition, it’s how the preseason is actually going to mean something this year. I assure you, I don’t think the Bills are going to run their basic playbook during the exhibition season. They are going to want to know what they are getting with these quarterbacks during real game action. As for who is starting, lets lose Ryan Fitzpatrick. He’s already been marked as a career backup quarterback in this league and I don’t think the Bills are interested in having him start opening day.
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