FanPost

1st Round QBs Buffalo Passed on since 2000

Clearly this team needs to find a QB that can lead the Bills out of this decade plus long playoff drought.

Fitz looks like a solid backup QB but isn't a "Franchise QB." My definition of a Franchise QB is a QB that CONSISTENTLY finds ways to lead his franchise to wins that without that QB playing would be losses.

In the 13 drafts since the last playoff appearance how could they have never used the first pick they had in the first round for a QB? How could they have only taken 1 QB in that time period and done it at the high cost of a trade (2004 2nd {Julius Jones}, 2004 5th {Sean Ryan TE}, 2005 1st {Marcus Spears})?

I originally thought I would be upset by all the misses. That is not the case. It appears that Buffalo is cursed.

Here is a list of the 11 QBs from 2000-2012 that were available when the Buffalo Bills picked in the first round. *

Year

Pick

Team

Player

Position

School

Conference

Trade Notes

Available for Bills

2004

22

Buffalo Bills

J. P. Losman

QB

Tulane

C-USA

from Dallas

1

2006

10

Arizona Cardinals

Matt Leinart

QB

USC

Pac-10

1

2006

11

Denver Broncos

Jay Cutler†

QB

Vanderbilt

SEC

from St. Louis[7]

1

2007

22

Cleveland Browns

Brady Quinn

QB

Notre Dame

Ind.

from Dallas[17]

1

2008

18

Baltimore Ravens

Joe Flacco

QB

Delaware

CAA

from Houston

1

2009

17

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Josh Freeman

QB

Kansas State

Big 12

from New York Jets via Cleveland[R1 - 2][R1 - 3]

1

2010

25

Denver Broncos

Tim Tebow

QB

Florida

SEC

from Baltimore[R1 - 8]

1

2011

8

Tennessee Titans

Jake Locker

QB

Washington

Pac-10

1

2011

10

Jacksonville Jaguars

Blaine Gabbert

QB

Missouri

Big 12

from Washington[R1 - 2]

1

2011

12

Minnesota Vikings

Christian Ponder

QB

Florida State

ACC

1

2012

22

Cleveland Browns

Brandon Weeden

QB

Oklahoma State

Big 12

from Atlanta[R1 -

1

What is strange is from 2000-2004 the Bills selected the only “1st round” QB that was actually available when they picked. Yes JP Lossman was a debatable pick. Yes the fact that a QB wasn't drafted in the first round shouldn't immediately remove him from the list of missed QBs i.e. Drew Brees, 2001 #32 pick by the San Diego Chargers or Andrew Dalton, 2011 #35 pick by the Cincinnati Bengals. However I am going to limit this conversation to QBs that were actually drafted in the 1st round.

So looking at the list are there any QBs you would actually want on the Bills’ roster?

Flacco over McKelvin now seems like a no-brainer today (you can also remove the "Flacco over" part of the sentence and it still works.) 2008 was the middle of a JP Lossman vs Trent Edwards QB battle. Would have throwing another QB in the mix a smart thing? Especially one from the QB factory of the Delaware Blue Hens?

I’m personally a big Josh Freeman fan. I would love him in Red, White, and Buffalo Bills’ Blue. However, go back in time to the year after the 2009 fast start. Trent Edwards looked like a QB, he got his bell rung in Arizona but at the time with an off seasons' rest, you could expect he could get back to where he was in the fast start. Clearly Trent edwards never was able to recapture that high level of performance on the field. The team needed sacks and Brian Orakpo was the no brainer pick. (Let’s just leave the completely indefensible, recklessly stupid Maybin pick conversation to the side.)

2010 Tim Tebow (That is all I will say about that.)

2011 & 2012 the Rookie Salary pool changes everything about drafting a QB in the first round. A team is no longer tied to the Huuuuuuuuuge salary that busts like Jamarcus Russell got or borderline QBs like Sam Bradford. You can swing and miss on a QB with first overall pick and it’s easier to cut bait in a shorter time if need be, obviously you don’t want to do that but it doesn't set your franchise back like it once did. Now you’re seeing an influx of the “second tier” QBs go in the first round. I contend that Ponder, and Weeden would be 2nd or 3rd round guys prior to the rookie salary pool.

Either way I’m not too upset with Dareus over the QBs available.

Stephone Gilmore over Weeden? After the fast start in 2011 and the illusion of Fitzpatrick prior to the alleged cracked ribs, it wasn't exactly a no brainer pick (cue Buffalo Barbarian.) To me I can justify passing on Weeden at #10 overall and hopping he may drop to the second round.

So there you have it. Is there really a QB the Buffalo Bills could have picked when they were up to pick in the first round? It’s not an open and shut case of GM ineptitude as I originally thought. It must be that the Buffalo Bills are just cursed.

*The “what if” of Aaron Rodgers. So in 2003 the Bills had the statuesque Bledsoe in house, and Peerless Price left for Big Money in Atlanta and the illustrious Bobby Shaw took his place. Bledsoe was under contract for 2004 but clearly the end was near. I think everyone believes Roethlisberger was the target. (Another side bar Tommy Maddox had a decent season in 2003 who thought the Steelers were looking for a QB?) Roethlisberger went off the board two picks before the Bills.

So what does Tom Donahoe do? Play it cool and wait for the #43 pick. JP Lossman likely wouldn't be there and you didn't have much on paper after that (debatably JP Lossman wasn't there on paper either but that’s another story.) A little known QB from UVA looked semi interesting, Matt Schuab. You had Krenzel and Sorgi but surely none of them were Franchise QBs worthy of a second round pick. The possible prospects for the 2005 QBs didn’t look strong at that point time. Donahoe made a bold move, he liked to play Fantasy Football in real life with the Bills; wheeling and dealing draft picks. So he made a bold move and traded a 1st in 2005 for a chance at JP Lossman.

If he would have played it cool Aaron Rodgers would have been there in 2005. There is no way to known what could have been if Donahoe didn't pull the trigger on the trade and stay patiently at the #43 overall pick in 2004. Aaron Rodgers may have needed the years to marinate behind Favre to become the Aaron Rodgers we know today. Or maybe not. The Bills are cursed

Well I’m glad I got that off my chest. I feel a little better about the lack of QB play for the Bills over the last 13 years. When will we ever get our guy? Maybe Tyler Wilson in 2013? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXFQDSgEmNw http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/382642/tyler-wilson (He talks kinda like Buddy.)

QBs Drafted from 2000-2012 in the first round:

Year Pick Team Player Position School Conference Trade Notes
2000 18 New York Jets Chad Pennington Quarterback Marshall MAC
2001 1 Atlanta Falcons (from San Diego)[5] Michael Vick Quarterback Virginia Tech ACC
2002 3 Detroit Lions Joey Harrington QB Oregon Pac-10
2002 1 Houston Texans David Carr QB Fresno State WAC
2002 32 Washington Redskins Patrick Ramsey QB Tulane C-USA y
2003 19 Baltimore Ravens Kyle Boller QB California Pac-10 from New England [R1
2003 22 Chicago Bears Rex Grossman QB Florida SEC from New York Jets
2003 1 Cincinnati Bengals Carson Palmer† QB USC Pac-10
2003 7 Jacksonville Jaguars Byron Leftwich QB Marshall MAC
2004 22 Buffalo Bills J. P. Losman QB Tulane C-USA from Dallas
2004 4 New York Giants Philip Rivers† QB NC State ACC traded to San Diego[6]
2004 11 Pittsburgh Steelers Ben Roethlisberger† QB Miami (OH) MAC
2004 1 San Diego Chargers Eli Manning† QB Ole Miss SEC traded to New York Giants[
2005 24 Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers† QB California Pac-10
2005 1 San Francisco 49ers Alex Smith QB Utah MWC
2005 25 Washington Redskins Jason Campbell QB Auburn SEC from Denver
2006 10 Arizona Cardinals Matt Leinart QB USC Pac-10
2006 11 Denver Broncos Jay Cutler† QB Vanderbilt SEC from St. Louis[7]
2006 3 Tennessee Titans Vince Young† QB Texas Big 12
2007 22 Cleveland Browns Brady Quinn QB Notre Dame Ind. from Dallas[17]
2007 1 Oakland Raiders JaMarcus Russell QB LSU SEC
2008 3 Atlanta Falcons Matt Ryan† QB Boston College ACC
2008 18 Baltimore Ravens Joe Flacco QB Delaware CAA from Houston
2009 1 Detroit Lions Matthew Stafford QB Georgia SEC
2009 5 New York Jets Mark Sanchez QB USC Pac-10 from Cleveland [R1 - 1
2009 17 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Josh Freeman QB Kansas State Big 12 from New York Jets via Cleveland[R1 - 2][R1 - 3]
2010 25 Denver Broncos Tim Tebow QB Florida SEC from Baltimore[R1 - 8]
2010 1 St. Louis Rams Sam Bradford QB Oklahoma Big 12
2011 1 Carolina Panthers Cam Newton† QB Auburn SEC
2011 10 Jacksonville Jaguars Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri Big 12 from Washington[R1 - 2]
2011 12 Minnesota Vikings Christian Ponder QB Florida State ACC
2011 8 Tennessee Titans Jake Locker QB Washington Pac-10
2012 22 Cleveland Browns Brandon Weeden QB Oklahoma State Big 12 from Atlanta[R1 -
2012 1 Indianapolis Colts Andrew Luck QB Stanford Pac-12
2012 8 Miami Dolphins Ryan Tannehill QB Texas A&M Big 12
2012 2 Washington Redskins Robert Griffin III QB Baylor Big 12 from St. Louis[R1

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.