State Of The Buffalo Bills Roster: Biggest Offensive Need?

See Gronkowski, Davis, etc.

Long term is QB

could not agree more. It would be nice to have a QB who can throw the ball accurately more than 10 yards down the field. Heck even on his short passes, he is not very consistent. I agree with K. The team does in fact have a limited ceiling with Fitz at the helm.

it’s hard to imagine that the decision-making duo sees a quarterback on the verge of 30 as up-and-down as Fitzpatrick as the long-term starter

Define long term? Thirty really isn’t old for a quarterback. I would say he is entering his prime so it’s not really that hard to imagine.
He could play out his contract if things go positive.
Glaring holes are wide receiver talent and o-line depth. Tight end and developmental/franchise QB would be a bonus.

A developmental QB is a must, not a 7th rounder. Getting a Brady in the 6th round is as likely as Nix winning the lottery.

I’m going with a dominant OT, the line has become solid. A truly dominant player would be the final piece of the puzzle to finally putting an outstanding offensive line together. The Bills offense then would have an identity, with a great O-line an offense can do so much damage and control the clock~helps both sides of the ball.

Look, we can beat this issue to death, but reality is that Fitz is our long term QB for now and for the forseeable future. So sayin QB is our biggest need, I feel is a mutepoint. This team badly needs an upgrade over it’s #2 and #3 options in the pass game. When we had a hot start David Nelson was averaging almost 80yds/game, when teams cued in on the slot our offense went stagnent for like 4 games and well im sure everyone on this sight knows how the rest of the season went. David played a big role but we need upgrades, we need a #2 that can win 1 on 1 matchups, we need a slot WR that understands zones and where to sit in those zones.

So i am saying nix needs to find a qb with a cannon arm cut thigpen and make smith the number 2 receiver

Surprisingly, I went TE.

I still think QB is their biggest offensive need because the QB is the biggest difference-maker. But your commentary on the situation is depressing and convincing enough that it’s not worth begging they draft one of prominent significance.

At this point, I can only look forward to a new regime’s tenure for that eventual QB wish.

I put my vote there. Bell is an injury waiting to happen and Harrison is a question mark. Depth here is needed. Truth be told, I don’t think anywhere is a NEED, as much as a want. It seems we are in a good position offensively…better than I can remember in a long time.

I vote WR at #2, but even there we have some good potential with what we have assuming Stevie comes back.

In the end, I think you try to sign an experienced LT vs drafting one so that there is less need for development timeline. I say let Bell walk if someone else is interested and invest in someone high quality.

Use the draft to find a playmaker at WR and tE. But be okay waiting. This draft should once again be about defense for the first 2 days.

That’s an easy one. I don’t believe Ryan Fitzpatrick could ever lead a team to a championship, so until this franchise has someone that can, they’ll always be losers to me. I like Fitzpatrick. I’m glad they have him under contract as I think he’s a legitimate “bridge” QB that can keep an offense interesting while a prospect is developed. The immensely untalented, timid, inefficient, and pathetic Trent Edwards was not even watchable. Fitzpatrick is a HUGE step up from those days. But until this team seriously attempts to add a franchise signal caller, they’re building to be respectable rather than win a championship. That’s a lame goal.

I agree that we need an upgrade at QB too, but to me Fitz is servicable. WR is not, and if we lose Bell then Hairston starting at LT with no backup is a disaster waiting to happen.

if we lose Bell then Hairston starting at LT with no backup is a disaster waiting to happen.

If we lose Fitz, we have no back-up and is a disaster waiting to happen.

I would say QB, but then you’d still have the problem of who would the new guy throw the ball to. Outside of Stevie, I still really don’t see a guy on this roster right now who can consistently create separation or get open.

We aren’t winning a playoff game as long as Fitz is our QB, I don’t care how much talent you give him to work with, It’s kinda like Flutie, once his weaknesses were exposed, it was all over. The Fitzpatrick code has been cracked and he has been exposed.

Plenty of good reasons on this thread and on others that I won’t recount here.

I think it’s WR but I voted OT. If they think Hairston is the guy, cool. Get a depth option with experience a la Demetrius Bell. If they think he’s not, draft one of those studs at 10. They need one strong WR opposite Stevie. They might think it’s Easley and that’s fine by me if they re-sign Stevie. Go with Easley, Jones, Hagan and maybe you get lucky that Easley is great or something.

so with the 10th pick in the draft, we only need a TE, QB, WR, and OT!!!! That about cover it so far???

And the Bills finished with 23.2 points a game. Thats 14th in the league. The Bills averaged 351.5 yards a game, also 14th in the league. They averaged 231.4 passing yards a game, 15th in the league. And rushed for 120.1 yards a game, 13th in the league. To me these stats prove a few things.

1. Gailey actually does run the ball enough.

2. Even with all the injuries the offense racked up, the bills were still slightly better than average in the passing game. Not bad for a guy, whom from reading the comments on here, doesn’t have the arm strength or accuracy to complete a handoff.

So why don’t we give Fitz a few more weapons, get everybody back healthy, beef up the D some , and then see what happens. Remember this is a team that was starting Brad Smith at WR this season due to injuries. Fitz probably isn’t the long term answer, simply due to age, but looking at the numbers…………where’s the problem? This team can, and does score points.

Let me think, hmm, were have no offensive needs! :)

Get a solid OT who we can keep on the roster for 10 + years. This will put Levitre in the G spot where he belongs. While I think the O-line did great this year given the injuries that forced them to adjust, there needs to be consistency and depth to take it to the next level.

BPA

There is no position on the offense that I think is “completely settled”. The only argument is RB- and that would change the instant Fred were traded. I don’t believe that will happen, unless Buddy Nix is a liar, but, he has deviated from things he has said before, so it isn’t an impossibility.

There is no ONE need that supersedes another on our offense. We need WRs. We need TEs. We need QBs. We can use OL- at any spot. Urbik and Colin Brown and wood played center. Urbik and rinehart and levitre played guard. Bell is likely gone. No one backs up Pears (young? who even knows if he can do anything, we haven’t seen him.) Hairston could be the undisputed LT, and even as a big fan of the kid, I recognize that’s a really bad idea. There is NO offensive need (unless we are settled with Fred) that I would question.

What if I told you that the Bills could draft a top wide receiver and an outside linebacker or a top pass rushing prospect and a linebacker (but would have to sign a speed receiver and Stevie Johnson in free agency) and still get a QB who: 1.) played his entire college career in cold weather; 2.) lost only 3 games in his college career; 3.) finished in the top 10 all-time in passing yardage and QB rating in college history; 4.) holds the record for most TD passes in college history; 5.) is the son of a coach and was considered to be “like a coach on the field” by his head coach and many analysts; 6.) was a graduate student his senior year in college; and 7.) was a Heisman Trophy runner-up; in the third or fourth (maybe fifth) round of the draft to develop as a possible franchise QB. Would you go that route and try to solve the Bills’ most immediate needs while, at the same time, attempting to see if you could find that elusive franchise QB later in the draft? Do you think that the Bills should try to do that?

It is possible that the Bills could choose to do that. They could choose to address their immediate needs on defense and at WR and still draft the QB that I described above. His name is Kellen Moore and he should be available in the middle rounds of this draft.

Before you scoff about his size and arm-strength, please consider the following: 1.) while Kellen Moore is short, he’s about the same height as Drew Brees and, in a NFL training program for a year, he could easily fill out some while serving as a back-up to Fitz; 2.) Moore is no dummy and is well aware of his physical short-comings, so he has been getting advice from Drew Brees for the last two years on how to compensate for his lack of height; 3.) while many have questioned Moore’s arm-strength, he had no trouble throwing the deep ball to Titus Young in the wind and cold in Boise and had very few passes picked off during his college career, even by good defenses.

The NFL has become a QB driven league where accuracy, the intelligence to grasp an offense and read defenses, and leadership ability are at a premium. No, Kellen Moore does not have the size or arm strength of Andrew Luck or the running ability, elusiveness and deep accuracy of Robert Griffin III, but he has already shown that he does have those three essential qualities. Additionally, one of the things that Buddy Nix has said that he looks for in a player in the draft is whether that player has been a consistent winner in college—and Kellen Moore certainly has been that.

Moore has the kind of qualities that could make him a franchise QB if he goes to a team with coaches and an offense that will maximize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses (Chan Gailley is that type of coach). Or he could end up being a bust or just a career back-up. So, there would be a risk in drafting him. BUT: the Bills wouldn’t have to spend a high # 1 draft pick or even their # 2 pick to get him. Depending on how the draft goes, a third or fourth round pick would be all that they would have to spend—and that would make him a lot less of a risk that even, say, what they would have to use to get a Steve Tannehill (who was a much less accomplished QB in college).

While I’d take a look at some of the other second-tier QBs at The Combine, Moore is definitely a guy that I would seriously look at in the middle rounds because as much as the Bills need to look for a franchise quality QB, at this point in time they still have some gaping holes at other positions that are in worse shape than the QB position is with Fitz around.

Why not go hard after Matt Flynn? I know a large number of people immediately think Rob Johnson, but Flynn could be the answer here. I am not saying that Flynn is or is not a definite elite QB at this point, but he has a lot of potential. Bring in Flynn, dump Thigpen and let Fitz and Flynn fight it out for the starting job. If you think Fitz is the answer, then you have significantly upgraded your back up QB. If Fitz isn’t the answer then you have a potential elite QB in Flynn and a decent back up, which is what Fitz is and always be. Think back to the Super Bowl years when they had Frank Reich backing up Kelly. Reich could come in and maintain until Kelly could get back in the game. You have the potential to have the same thing again. Drafting a late round, or even a first round QB has a significant potential to be a bust, and even if they are not a bust usually takes several years to develop into the QB that compares to Rodgers or Brady. Buffalo doesn’t seem to have the luxury to wait around several years for the right QB to develop.

I don’t see how overpaying two obvious scrubs at QB means that we’re “set in the short term at the position”!

He completed 62% of his throws, for 3,832 yards. He threw for 24 TDs and 23 INTs. That’s Ryan Fitzpatrick, ladies and gentlemen! Replacing that kind of production is not our NUMBER 1 offensive need!

Stevie had 76 catches for 1004 yards. David Nelson had 61 catches in the slot for 658 yards. The next WR was Brad Smith with only 23 catches for 240 yards. Until he has a WR corps that’s worth a hill of beans, Fitz is not the NUMBER 1 offensive need. When Brad Smith and Donald Jones are your No. 2 wide receivers, Fitz is not the NUMBER 1 offensive need.

We all want someone else at QB, but let’s be realistic. Fitz is in the top half of QBs in this league. Let’s get him at least TWO legit threats at WR before we say he’s the problem.