Yes as the title suggests I am using this post to roll out my 2012 Fitz projection. You too can go on record in the comments section, and vote as to what you think Fitz's numbers will look like this year.

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I know this article may seem a little untimely but I needed to get this off my chest and hopefully some Rumblers out there will 'feel me' and leave your comments. I feel the need to gauge our opinions on the extension itself and what it means for our future at the position. And like an annoying scab the NFL's favorite catch phrase 'FRANCHISE QB' continues to linger within Buffalo Bills Nation. I leave you fellow Rumblers with 4 questions.....

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It's a pretty boring time of year for NFL fans. We've had an exciting offseason to say the least, and all of us are dying to get to the season. I am no exception to that. But there has been a constant discussion on this board since 2010 about Ryan Fitzpatrick's suitability for the position of QB for this team, moving forward. I'm sure some of you are sick of it, but I decided to add some fuel to the fire nonetheless. There have been several posts advocating one way or another, and others that had simply delved into his statistics from last year to try to come to a conclusion about his general play. One of my favorite posts was by buffalo_bills (Analysis of Fitzpatrick's Stats) in which he examines Fitz's stats during various stretches of the year.

What I've decided to do with this post is satiate my curiosity regarding an argument that Fitz supporters often make: Fitz throws interceptions when playing from behind because he's trying to make something happen. This implies that, if the defense plays better in general, Fitz will play better. I honestly have no problem with that argument, if it is in fact true. The better the defense plays, the less pressure on the offense in general, even moreso (in my opinion) than the inverse (as I don't believe the offense playing better takes as much pressure off the defense).

And so I compiled some statistics regarding Fitz's 24 TDs, 23 INTs, and 2 lost fumbles. For each statistic, I logged when it happened during the game (quarter and time), as well as (and most importantly) what the score differential was at that time. Hopefully, some analysis of these statistics will shed some light on what the game situations were like when Fitz threw his TDs and INTs. And please note that this analysis does not take into account field position, which is important because I remember at least one INT in which Fitz simply heaved it long on 4th down, effectively punting the ball. Hopefully, the statistics should give a good picture of the overall situation.

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3x the Loving & Questioning of the 2012 Bills, with progressively longer rants, but not as bad as the last time, lol. Hey, I was bored just now, so that begot this...

...syke! but seriously, hopefully this begets rec's [yuck on the shameless plug] --

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Alright Bills fans...

In the interest of the way this offseason has gone and the recent Brees/Bowe discussions that have taken place here on this website, we might as well take a look at Winslow.

The Bucs have made it quite apparent that they want to move him, presumably at least in part because his contact guarantees his (3.3 million, I think) salary even if he gets injured. With them looking to move back to pounding the ball, I would imagine they will also favor a TE with more skill as a blocker.

So what say you, folks? A high end pass-catching TE. Yay or nay, why or why not, and for what?

(I would lean towards no, but I am fairly indifferent. I just felt like it would be a solid discussion topic)

It is not often in the history of a sports franchise that one could carry out a scientific survey of fans and produce results in which the fans are close to 100 percent satisfied with the decisions made by management during the offseason. but the straw polls that have been carried out by various media outlets and at rumblings have shown extremely high levels of support for what has happened these past few months. Indeed, in the history of the Buffalo Bills, one would be hard pressed to imagine an offseason that unfolded in a more spectacular and positive fashion as the offseason of 2012. Below, I discuss what the offseason means for the Bills as a team and an organization, and what fans can expect to experience over the course of the upcoming regular season.

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I know that Bowe may be a tough get, but is there anyway we could get him via trade? He has been franchised and has yet to sign. There are mixed reports on how he feels about the front office. It may be unrealistic, but a diesel 6 foot 3 WR to play along side Stevie would be awesome! What do you guys think would be fair and realistic to give up via next years picks and current personel???

As many of you know I live in Montreal and there are many Patriots fans around these parts. Being a huge Bills fan I always seem to be the butt of all jokes. Over the years these obnoxious fans have really gotten under my skin. I tell you this so that you can understand the backdrop for my quick little story...

I own 8 season tickets and two of my buddies each own 4 and I won't lie to you, one of them is a big Patriots fan. The only reason he owns season tickets at the Ralph is because they are accessible and affordable. He called me a few weeks ago asking me if I could be kind enough to call in to buy additional individual tickets for his buddies (all Pats fans)

I not only refused but I also might have made a comment along the lines of... "Tell you jack#ss friends to go fly a kite! Let them go online like everyone else and I hope they are sitting at the top of the Rock-pile where they deserve to be. Better yet, I hope there are no available seats for them!!

I hate to admit it but I am enjoying this. I love the positive feel around here and the outlook to this season. I'm normally not a vindictive person but the accumulated condescending insults over the years have made me this way and now that our games are clearly selling out, I see no need to be nice to those jerks.

On another side note, I am loving the fact that all is not well in Patriots Nation. Love the situation with Welker. I was thinking about this yesterday, Nix has done an incredible job this year. He addressed our biggest hole in the biggest way through free agency, he was amazing in the draft getting a top gun CB in Rd1 and being so incredibly patient and letting top round talent just fall to us, like Glen, Sanders and Carder. He addressed every position of need during the draft without selling the farm or overspending. He's did good on his word and re-signed our biggest guys like Stevie and Freddy. He's managed to sign all but one of our draft picks. Everything right now in Buffalo is humming on all cylinders! The Pats have the Welker issue that's getting ugly, the Jets are a joke right now with the Tebow circus and I haven't even see one draft pick signed in Miami. Their owner is an absolute moron, I am so happy for where we are right now, the average age of our key groups is so young, we are poised for the future! Playoffs here we come!!

Go Bills!

Hello fellow Rumblers.

It is May 20th and we are all going nuts. How good is the team? Can they make the playoffs? These are answers that none of us can know. So, I wanted to do something a bit different. I wanted to write an article about ranking each guy like Madden would. This won't be a homer thing however (at least I hope you don't perceive it that way because I am very high on this team.) I will cover the starters and key backups.

Before we start tho, we need to establish what the numbers mean. Even though I plan to grade them between 1-99, no one will get a score of 1-65. In my book:

65-71 Below Average

72-76 Average

77-84 Above Average

85-89 Star

90-94 Superstar

95-99 Megastar

QB Fitz is the starter. I believe he is a top 12 QB on a good team. My rating- 83. He does some things very well, and needs to really improve in other areas. This is his make or break year. He has a good OL, good weapons, and (finally) a defense that should be able to hold teams to under 30 pts per game. His backups: Young is a 79. It's a what have you done for me lately league and VY has done very little over the last year. Thigpen is a 76 IN CHAN'S OFFENSE. I do believe the battle for the backup spot is very tight. If VY has more turnovers then TD's and Thigpen throws 2 TD with 1 INT, I believe he wins the backup over VY. Part of the role of a backup QB is to NOT LOSE the game. If the Bills feel VY can't do that, then why keep him?

HB Fred Jackson gets a 96. He does it all well. He can run, catch, get extra yards, block, he's a complete back. The only thing stopping him from being a 99 is his age and the injury last year. CJ's rating is 89. I love Spiller, but, he is not as tough as Jackson. He isn't as good blocking or picking up the blitz. He's a star, but, not yet a Superstar.

TE Chandler is a tough one. I'd rate him as an 80. He is a matchup nightmare, but, his lack of speed and not being a great blocker prevent him from being elite at the position. Not much is really known about the other 5 TE's at the pro level, so, I won't rank them. Dorin has a chance to be special.

WR Stevie is a 94. He's a superstar and finally paid like one. What stops him from being elite is his speed. He is fast, but, he is not dominant like a megastar would be. I think this is a solid (if not generous) rating for him. Here comes the controversy. Donald Jones to me is rated 76. I think he is average, but, has above average speed and below average hands. He certainly can move up. Easley is hard to rate due to his lack of work, but, he could be 79 based on potential. David Nelson's rated 84. He is above average at what he does. As a slot guy, he is a nightmare for teams. I think he can get better, but, lets face it, he won't ever be Wes Welker. That doesn't mean that he can't be a major weapon and great safety valve for Fitz. Hagan is a 77 to me. He can certainly go up, but, based on what I saw last I can't grade him much higher. He is just slightly above average. Graham is a 72 at this point. He has a lot to learn.

Sidenote: Everyone says we reached. However it is also known that at least 2 other teams had him as a third round pick. I think it is impossible to call this a reach without knowing who the other teams were. Someone said once on here that if 4 think he is good and 40 think he is bad, the masses might be right. Well, that is not necessarily true. What if those 4 teams were the Bills, Steelers, Green Bay, and Baltimore. Now, that doesn't seem like such a reach does it? I am not saying those are the teams, but, u have to admit, if they were the teams interested in him, that makes getting him look far better.

LT is a Battle between Hairston (78) and Glenn (with no game footage AND assuming the Bills are right, I can't go higher then a 76 for now). For now, Hairston is a solid slightly above player at LT and the battle between the 2 will only make both of them better. The sleeper here is Sanders (72), who might end up the LT of the future.

LG has Andy Levetrie (92). I think he's a superstar, one of the top 8 LG's in the game. He isn't dominant, hence the top 8 rating.

C Eric Wood (90) is also a superstar, when healthy. The only thing stopping him from being higher is his unlucky nature and 2 horrible injuries. There is still hope tho.

RG is a battle between Upbik (84) and Rhinehart (83) and it will be a good battle. Both are good, but, not dominant. They need to get better at run blocking. The entire team needs to use their huge weight advantage to wreck some havoc. If either man can "get it" in run blocking, you could be looking at a truly great line.

RT is a semi battle in the fact that Pears (87) is the starter and has had some great games, and some terrible games. He is good in this offense tho and can hold his ground against most (not named Wake). I do believe the loser of the Glenn/Hairston battle could factor here. In 2 years down the road, the OL could look very different with (as the Bills hope) would look like: Glenn (92), Levetrie (96), Wood (96), Hairston (91), and Sanders (91) as the line. Or you could flipflop Glenn and Sanders, either way, wow, that is a great OL.

Poll

How did I do?

• Great, please do the defense next
• OK, please do the defense next, but, be more realistic
• Total homer, watch some football first
• Go back to bed and sleep for 100 years please.

  134 votes | Results

Buffalo Bills Draft Theme's [we know Buddy's got 'em, ie: SEC]
1) Balancing: skill sets, need, value
2) agile, mobile, hostile
3) flyers first, bigs & backers w/high worth

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