***2013-14 Buffalo Bills Tour of Greatness Thread***

[DeadlyDynasty]

Quick recap of the events that have transpired since January 1, 2013:

-Russ Brandon has taken over football operations from the Cryptkeeper
-Doug Marrone is our new HC...finally some fresh blood who's not a re-tread HC. Ran a pro-system at Syracuse and is big on accountability from his coaches and players.
-Hired OC Nathaniel Hackett from Syracuse and DC Mike Pettine from the Jets.
-Did not tender scrub WR Donald Jones (bye-bye, faggot).
-Just cut LB Nick Barnett and SS George Wilson (captain of the D).

Marrone is already cleaning house on some of the old, useless vets. Fitz should be on the chopping block next (and Thigpen was already mercifully released). Marrone already alluded that Spiller is going to be a focal point, which pretty much means Freddie's ass is riding the pine now.

It's all about the draft now. It's not the best draft class so I prefer they use their 2nd on a QB--maybe trade back into the first round at most. At #8 we need the best LB or WR available. The Bills might have the worst LB corps in NFL history as of right now.

[gaKNOW!blee]

Get Kelsay the fuck off this team...gotta be the worst player in the league.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Get Kelsay the fuck off this team...gotta be the worst player in the league.

It's amazing he's had a job in the NFL for 10 years.

[Chinook]

I'll lend the Bills some of my support this year. I'm really hoping to see someone else win the AFCE this season.

Is Buffalo staying in the 3-4 this season? If so, it's possible Te'o will be available in the second round. If not, I hear Demeco Ryans is on the block in Philly.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Fuck no to Manti Te'o. More good news, though: Terrence McGee just got cut, and reports are that Kelsay is soon to follow. Marrone's laying waste to all the scrubs, so he's already my favorite Bills coach since Marv Levy. Word is they're trying to restructure Fitz's deal too. If we can save even more cap space on his deal then keeping him around isn't so bad--as long as it's understood that we'll be drafting a QB early who'll compete for his job.

[Bill_Brasky]

Marrone did a great job at Syracuse and had those guys playing really hard and really well. I'm excited for you DD, he seems like he knows what to do and he's not gonna waste any time doing it.

[Chinook]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8951930/tarvaris-jackson-re-signed-buffalo-bills

Jackson gets re-signed to a $4.5M/1 deal. With him and Fitzpatrick back in the fold for next season, how likely are the Bills to take a quarterback high in the draft?

Also, $4.5 Million is a lot to give for a backup, he Jackson in position to be the starter next season?

[gaKNOW!blee]

It says could be worth up to 4.5 mil...obviously he's not going to be getting that if he doesn't play.

The bills will still take a QB in the first two rounds, this doesn't change anything.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Well, looks like Fitz is staying for now...they both could still be cut before the season starts though

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I put the O/U at 6 wins. Maybe even 5.

[Chinook]

Funny.


Ryan Fitzpatrick: Chat between Nix and Dominik secretly taped

During a secretly taped phone conversation, Bills GM Buddy Nix hinted that he sees Ryan Fitzpatrick as a backup.

Nix was shooting the breeze with Bucs GM Mark Dominik, unaware that the call was being recorded. When talks reached the subject of quarterbacks, it got ugly for Fitzpatrick, who counts $10.45M against the cap. "We just can't afford to pay that kind of money for a guy who's fighting for probably a backup job," Nix said. It confirms the Bills will force Fitzpatrick to redo his deal and bring in true competition for the starting gig via the draft or free agency.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NFL&id=3240&line=257603&spln=1http://m.nbcsports.com/rotoworld-main-headlines/sport/rotoworld-hl-nfl?article=1378316

We'll see what happens with him now.

[benefactor]

Fitz is gone...guess it was true.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Fitz was a fun guy to root for, but he just doesn't have any talent. He's the perfect b/u QB, though.

[Spur-Addict]

Bills interested in Kevin Kolb LOLOL

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000155345/article/kevin-kolb-reportedly-draws-buffalo-bills-interest

[AaronY]

What kind of weirdo GM is recording his conversations?

[AaronY]

There's a lot of weirdos involved in the NFL. All these Mike Mayock types who sit around thinking about football 1440 minutes and parroting the phrase "due diligence" over and over

[Spur-Addict]

Bills close to finalizing a deal for Kevin Kolb. Stop gap I guess.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9116035/buffalo-bills-sign-kevin-kolb-sources

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/report-buffalo-bills-finalizing-deal-free-agent-qb-234505571--nfl.html

[Spur-Addict]

2 Year deal for Kolb. Maximum of 12-13 Million

[DeadlyDynasty]

http://i.minus.com/ivUIFlPm1ODak.gif

[chunticakes]

lol kolb. wtf is you alls gm thinking?

[Creepn]

Fuck your Bills.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Why the Bills drafted EJ Manuel in the first round:

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/65051/page/NextLevel/why-bills-drafted-ej-manuel-in-first-round

[DeadlyDynasty]

J.T., did you hear about the Jerry Hughes-Kelvin Sheppard swap our teams made? Both have been major underachievers so far but hopefully their new systems maximize their talent. What can you tell me about Hughes from his 3 seasons at Indy? All I've read is that he was a pass-rushing stud in college but it hasn't materialized in the pros. Early Rumors have Pettine using a 3-4 D with Hughes playing the Sam.

Complete homer take, but I think Da'Rick Rogers is going to be one of the biggest UDFA steals in awhile. Super-talented WR with all the physical tools, but had drug problems in college. It's nothing but potential on paper right now, but good lawdy we improved at WR with Woods, Goodwin, and him. Manuel has some toys to play with now, and has the scrambling ability to offset our weakened o-line (well, just the OG position really). I just wish to hell we had a TE...this Gragg kid from Arkansas looks undersized.

Our defense will rise or fall on our pass rush. Hopefully Pettine can correct the lack of a rush last year--he certainly has some tools to work with.

[J.T.]

With respect to Jerry Hughes... when we took him in the first round it was a major WTF moment for the Colts franchise. They still had Freeney and Mathis under contract and I guess he was a retirement/free agent insurance for one of them. This was a year after they took Donald Brown in the first round when Addai was putting up decent enough stats in Peyton Manning's offense. So it was two years in a row of first round picks that were to puff up the depth chart and not fill holes... two of the three reasons the old regime is gone, imo (3rd and most important obviously being thinking you don't need a backup QB worth a damn when your starter is Manning).

As for what he did on the field... he really didn't get a whole ton of snaps. And when he did, he wasn't that good. He showed some improvement last year. Think he had like five sacks. But my biggest memory of him is gonna be as the guy who whiffed on tackling Antonio Cromartie on that long KO return that set up the Jets in field goal range right before Jim Caldwell called the dumbest timeout since Chris Webber. Colts media seems to think he's a hard worker based on practice and locker room observations. So I think if he gets more playing time he could turn out to be a decent second stringer, but that's probably his ceiling if you want me to be completely honest. Seems like both teams got about the same value in this trade, tbh.

[DeadlyDynasty]

5 sacks for a depth rusher isn't bad tbh. Hopefully it's just a case of the system...like you said, didn't make sense to draft him when you still had your bookend DE's. Maybe a shift to the 3-4 will do him some good. Besides, we're so incredibly thin at LB that he's going to see heavy action, for better or worse.

[DeadlyDynasty]

I would love it if they signed Dansby--although i'm curious why he hasn't been picked up already

[J.T.]

Just looked it up. Hughes has five career sacks. But four of them were last year. And that was playing OLB in our 3-4 hybrid so maybe he does have some upside for you guys.

[Samuel Eto'o]

Why the Bills drafted EJ Manuel in the first round:

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/65051/page/NextLevel/why-bills-drafted-ej-manuel-in-first-round

Very surprised to see you on board with this move.

[Lincoln]

Read option with spiller and Manuel will be sick

[DeadlyDynasty]

Very surprised to see you on board with this move.
We hit rock-bottom long ago, this move can't hurt us.

[DontStopBelieving]

I would love it if they signed Dansby--although i'm curious why he hasn't been picked up already

Dude thinks he's the best LB in the NFL. Probably asking for too much $

[DeadlyDynasty]

Dude thinks he's the best LB in the NFL. Probably asking for too much $
Yeah his agent needs to go down on the price for sure, but he's still a very good LB imo. Buffalo would be wise to sign him to a 2-year dea,l and he could work the inside with Alonso.

[AaronY]

I was amazed by all those Yi Jianlin vs. The Chair style videos Manuel had on ESPN around the draft he was like repeatedly throwing the ball through a tiny hoop from 30 yards out while back pedaling..it was pretty amazing..I know there are stories of scrubs like David Klingler doing all kind of crazy stuff like that, but I don't see how having the ability to do that could hurt and plus with unlike Yi and Klingler, Manuel has faced top level comp

[AaronY]

FOLEMyMkDdU

[DeadlyDynasty]

FOLEMyMkDdU
Dude looked good. He's got a cannon and a quick release to boot. 5-0 in bowl games ain't too shabby either.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Cards got Dansby back....fuuuuuuuu

[DeadlyDynasty]

GM Buddy Nix steps down and Doug Whaley takes over...the last remnants of the old regime have been swept away. Legitimately excited about this team's future now.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Da'rick Rogers tore it up in OTA's--really excited about this kid and thought we got an absolute steal of an UDFA. HC Doug Marrone seems to be doing it right too--bringing in officials this early on to help cut out penalties (historically horrible in that regard). At one point Rogers made a great leaping catch over Ron Brooks then decided to stand over him and gloat. Marrone sent him to the sidelines and reamed his ass out.

It's looking like a 5-6 win season, but with parity being what it is Buffalo always has an outside chance at a playoff run--especially in a weak AFC.

[DeadlyDynasty]

ESPN Insider article on EJ Manuel (found on billszone.com, courtesy of Homegrown):

Reasons to believe in EJ Manuel

Why the former Florida State QB can lead Buffalo to a top-10 offense


Quarterback hasn't been a position of strength for the Buffalo Bills in their history. Yes, the Bills did have Jim Kelly (whom I wish the best in his battle against jaw cancer) and Jack Kemp, but their fourth-highest rated passer in Pro-Football-Reference.com's career approximate value register is Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was recently cut after leading Buffalo to a mediocre 20-33 record in his four years under center.

The necessity for upgrading at that position is a primary reason the Bills selected EJ Manuel in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft.

That pick was seen as something of a reach given many of Manuel's question marks. Scouts Inc. noted in its pre-draft analysis of Manuel that while his physical tools and leadership qualities are unquestionably strong, he had notable issues with reading progressions, decision-making under pressure and pass accuracy.

Given those weaknesses, it doesn't look possible for Manuel to replicate the recent dominant rookie seasons posted by Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III -- especially since Manuel needs to first beat out Kevin Kolb for the starting job. Yet the metrics show there is a good chance Manuel could help the Bills field a top-10 offense in 2013 if he is the starter.
That may sound far-fetched at first glance, but the Bills were not far away from being a top 10 offense in yards per play last season. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Buffalo averaged 5.58 yards per play, a mark that ranked 13th in the league.

The primary reason for that ranking is a rushing attack that was one of the best in the NFL. Last year, Buffalo's blockers topped the league in the good blocking rate (GBR) metric with a 52.3 percent mark. (Note: GBR gauges how often the offense gives a ball carrier good run blocking, which is very roughly defined as plays when they do not allow the defense to disrupt a rush attempt.)

That dominant performance is a major part of why C.J. Spiller was able to rank sixth in the league in the good blocking yards per attempt (GBYPA) metric that measures how productive a back is when given good blocking. His 9.1-yard GBYPA total placed fourth among lead running backs (those with the most carries on their team) and no back was given a higher GBR (53.9 percent of his rush attempts qualified as good blocking).
The offense also had some strong suits in the passing game. ESPN Stats & Information had Fitzpatrick ranked 10th in short pass yards per attempt (defined as passes thrown 10 or fewer yards downfield). That quality showing was due in part to the Bills' aforementioned run-blocking prowess, as Buffalo leaned heavily on a dose of screen passes to rack up those gains.

The Bills also have a top-flight vertical wideout, Steve Johnson, who averaged 22.2 yards per reception on throws 11 or more yards downfield (which is the definition of a vertical pass). That mark ranked him 16th out of the 36 players who had at least 20 vertical receptions last year.

Buffalo upgraded its receiving corps by adding WRs Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin via the draft. Woods' 2012 season was something of a drop-off from his 2011 campaign, but he ranked fifth in my pre-draft comparison of the top wide receivers in the 2013 NFL draft, and Goodwin provides a vertical threat.

All of these items show that Manuel has a lot of capable offensive talent around him, so the top-10 offense question really centers on whether he can produce better numbers than Fitzpatrick did last year.

In many ways, the bar for improvement is quite low, as Fitzpatrick ranked 27th in Total QBR last year (45.8); he had nine games with a Total QBR of under 50.0 and four games with a Total QBR of 31.8 or less. Since 50.0 is the median number for this statistic, Fitzpatrick clearly performed at a below-average level in half of his games.

His numbers start to look even worse once the short passes are taken out of the equation, as Fitzpatrick averaged a meager 8.85 yards per vertical pass attempt. For perspective, Brady Quinn (9.21), Matt Cassel (8.95) and Mark Sanchez (9.45) -- among the worst passers in the NFL last year -- all did better than Fitzpatrick in vertical YPA.
It isn't a given that Manuel will be able to top that figure, but he did place eighth in the nation in yards per attempt last year (8.76). That figure was higher than the YPA marks posted by Geno Smith and Matt Barkley, and Manuel didn't have the benefit of throwing to two dominant wide receivers as Smith (Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey) and Barkley (Woods and Marqise Lee) did.

As Gary Horton notes in this article, new Bills coach Doug Marrone's up-tempo West Coast offense will provide Manuel with an opportunity to use his athleticism to run the ball if nothing is available downfield.

While Manuel's rookie limitations will almost certainly preclude his moving the Bills' vertical pass numbers into an upper-tier range, even if he is able to move only the vertical numbers to a mediocre level, it will still be a significant plus for this offense and could be the steppingstone needed to vault this platoon into top-10 contention.

[lefty]

A lolgerian :cry

Go Bills :cry

http://www.syracuse.com/orangefootball/index.ssf/2013/04/zach_chibane_heads_to_buffalo.html

[Ryan Fitzpatrick]

lefty, we signed rookie EJ Man'sgame to a 4-year deal and cut Tarvaris Jackson. 10-6 here we come!:smokin

[lefty]

lefty (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=6896), we signed rookie EJ Man'sgame to a 4-year deal and cut Tarvaris Jackson. 10-6 here we come!:smokin
We stacked :elephant:

[Ryan Fitzpatrick]

Zach Chibane looked good in minicamp i heard

[lefty]

Zach Chibane looked good in minicamp i heard
Good to know; thanks for the news

[Chief Brody]

Manuel looking alright so far...Robert Woods, OTOH, is going to be a stud:smokin

[gaKNOW!blee]

Decent scrimmage tonight...No Mario, CJ, Stevie, Kyle Williams, Chandler and obviously Byrd.

Manuel started rough, then led 3 straight TD drives.

The rookie WR's have some serious talent. Woods skills are well documented, but Goodwin plays much bigger than he is and Rogers is a beast. All had great catches tonight.

Jerry Hughes could wind up being a steal for Buffalo, apparently has showed well at camp and had a few sacks tonight.

Alex Carrington (PFF secret superstar) continues to improve.

Our LB's seem to actually have some speed for once with Kiko and Bradham

Gilmore is said to be having a great camp, but the rest of the secondary worries me. Aaron Williams is playing better at safety, but you never know which Mckelvin you're going to get and who knows what is going through Byrd's head.

[Chief Brody]

Decent scrimmage tonight...No Mario, CJ, Stevie, Kyle Williams, Chandler and obviously Byrd.

Manuel started rough, then led 3 straight TD drives.

The rookie WR's have some serious talent. Woods skills are well documented, but Goodwin plays much bigger than he is and Rogers is a beast. All had great catches tonight.

Jerry Hughes could wind up being a steal for Buffalo, apparently has showed well at camp and had a few sacks tonight.

Alex Carrington (PFF secret superstar) continues to improve.

Our LB's seem to actually have some speed for once with Kiko and Bradham

Gilmore is said to be having a great camp, but the rest of the secondary worries me. Aaron Williams is playing better at safety, but you never know which Mckelvin you're going to get and who knows what is going through Byrd's head.
Kyle Williams is the most overrated player on our team...would really like to see some injury-free, inspired play out of him this year. Hope Stevie's ok, but hamstring and groin injuries tend to linger throughout the year.

How did Manuel look from what you saw? I know his arm is good, but was he quick in his progressions?

Our LB's have nowhere to go but up (worst unit in the league last year)--and although they are very young--I welcome as much speed as we can get there.

As long as Gilmore is playing bump-and-run he'll be a stud...play him back and he'll get torched. I'm also weary of McKelvin as our #2--would much rather see him as the Nickel. AW is much better suited at safety--but it better be FS as a b/u to Byrd. I don't trust his soft ass against the run.

Totally agree on Carrington. If KW is our most overrated Bill, AC is our most underrated.

WR has me the most optimistic. Your report on Goodwin is exciting (and hopefully a harbinger of things to come), but I'm crazy about Woods and Rogers

[Chief Brody]

Goddamn, Buffalo has ridiculous speed at the skill positions on offense. Stevie and Woods are sure things, but if Graham and Goodwin can get the ball in space and get separation then this could be a fun offense. CJ and EJ are also fast as fuck for their positions. Probably looking at 6-10 again this year, but this time they'll be fun to watch and should improve throughout the year.

[Chief Brody]

Bills offense runs another high play total (http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2013/08/17/bills-offense-runs-another-high-play-total/) Posted by Chris Brown on August 17, 2013 – 2:55 pm

The tempo of Buffalo’s offense caters to them running more plays than the average NFL club on a game to game basis. After running 85 in Week 1 of the preseason, they came close to matching that total Friday night.
Again Minnesota, Buffalo ran a total of 78 offensive plays on 13 possessions. Last season Buffalo averaged 61.5 plays a game. So far in two preseason games the Bills are averaging 81.5.

Think about averaging 20 more offensive plays a game and what that means in terms of touches for C.J. Spiller, Stevie Johnson, Fred Jackson, etc.

[Chief Brody]

Stuck with Kolb...fml

[gaKNOW!blee]

He's baaaack!

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/8919161/128762919.0_standard_352.0.jpg

[Chief Brody]

niiice...we need det nigga Byrd and his .380

[Chief Brody]

Bills sign QB Matt Leinart:lmao

[benefactor]

championship

[Darth_Pelican]

Kolb's concussion labeled as "serious" and ESPN is reporting that is could threaten his career. As long as Manuel is healthy week 1, he is your guy.

[Darth_Pelican]

:lmao Jeff Tuel

http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=9601766

[gaKNOW!blee]

Gilmore also out 6-8 weeks.

All you fuckers on this site who bitch about being a fan of your team...Please, I welcome you to try being a Bills fan for even 1 month. It's one punch in the stomach after another. That's why I say any Bills fan who thinks Jairus Byrd will be on the team in 2014 is out of their fucking minds.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Gilmore also out 6-8 weeks.

All you fuckers on this site who bitch about being a fan of your team...Please, I welcome you to try being a Bills fan for even 1 month. It's one punch in the stomach after another. That's why I say any Bills fan who thinks Jairus Byrd will be on the team in 2014 is out of their fucking minds.

...and we cut Da'Rick Rodgers too, who is immensely talented but raw.

Being a Bills fan is like having AIDS and Alzheimers, with each new day someone having to break the news to you again that you have AIDS.

[bigzak25]

That was a good piece of Bills ass you served up for dem Skins on saturday. Much obliged. :tu

[Borosai]

...and we cut Da'Rick Rodgers too, who is immensely talented but raw.

Being a Bills fan is like having AIDS and Alzheimers, with each new day someone having to break the news to you again that you have AIDS.

You speaketh the trutheth.

[Chief Brody]

Bills sign QB Matt Flynn:lol

[jeebus]

well, when you release Fitzmvp from the team, this is the karma that it produces.

[spurraider21]

we are deeply sorry


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u0EL_u4nvw

[Holden_Caulfield]

:lmao isnt pat white and dennis dixon still available? does this mean its jeff tuel time?

[Spur-Addict]

:cry Schedule is too harrrrrrd

:dramaquee NFL no play fair

"We certainly have talked to the league about this because it's been disappointing where teams are coming off a bye or a long week," Bills president and CEO Russ Brandon told WGR-AM. "This (Sunday) is the second time we're playing the Jets coming off a Thursday night game and now we're playing them coming off a bye"

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000281153/article/buffalo-bills-contact-nfl-about-fairness-in-scheduling

[DeadlyDynasty]

:cry Schedule is too harrrrrrd

:dramaquee NFL no play fair

"We certainly have talked to the league about this because it's been disappointing where teams are coming off a bye or a long week," Bills president and CEO Russ Brandon told WGR-AM. "This (Sunday) is the second time we're playing the Jets coming off a Thursday night game and now we're playing them coming off a bye"

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000281153/article/buffalo-bills-contact-nfl-about-fairness-in-scheduling

Everybody's entitled to a Seahawks schedule, tbh

[Spur-Addict]

Everybody's entitled to a Seahawks schedule, tbh

Schedules vary from year to year, no use crying about it.