Comments on: Nathaniel Hackett: You’ve got to make the quarterback comfortable

By: terrbo

terrbo — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 02:59:01 +0000

This is a funny article.

Ryan Fitzpatrick has been made very comfortable. Chan Gailey was so smitten with Fitzy’s brains and understanding of the offense, that he practically made the QB a co-offensive coordinator.

Since being handed the starters job, Fitzgerald has not faced any competition to hold onto it. Other QBs have been brought in to compete for the backup job, with Tyler Thigpen.
Fitzgerald is a winner in the film room. Coaches love him. He doesn’t go out and make big plays on the field. He doesn’t inspire or motivate his teammates. He is a born backup, but he has the brains and enough ability to convince coaches he should start.

By: billsfan4eva

billsfan4eva — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 17:26:45 +0000

edwinmoses says:Jan 11, 2013 8:28 PM

billsfan4eva – I agree.

Good call. I agree with you also. It would be nice to see Stevie in the slot… He would be a match up nightmare for opposing defenses.

By: edwinmoses

edwinmoses — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 01:28:56 +0000

billsfan4eva – I agree. I think we also need to get a legit #1 wideout to help Stevie out and allow him to move into the slot and have more East West space. (just as Nix as expressed interest in doing). Maybe a guy like Dwayne Bowe.

By: richc111

richc111 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:58:21 +0000

I am sure having a OC with no NFL experience will make any QB in Buffalo feel comfortable!!!!

The Buffalo Bills home of the dream job.. if you have a dream to coach in the NFL come to Buffalo they make dreams happen. Russ Brandon got his dream job.. Marrone got his dream job. Hackett probably had a dream one day that he would coach in the NFL someday. Now the fans sit back and have nightmares!

By: billsfan4eva

billsfan4eva — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:58:14 +0000

Fitz is a goner. I would like to see him stay and hold it down until a rook developes or Alex Smith. Money is the key with Fitz tho. I don’t make the decions (thank the lord) but our 1st rounder needs to be an impact player and it doesn’t look like a QB is the answer this year in the 1st. I am not oppsed to Nassib in 2nd but I don’t want to see a 1st on a QB. I agree, LB, TE, WR…. If The K-gun is going to be used, remember even Jim kelly said everyone thought The K-Gun was named after him, but it wasn’t. It was actually named after Keith McKellar(Our good TE) So TE is where I would love to see an upgrade, a star TE would help open up the offense and Fitz/Alex Smith, have both been shown to like looking for the TE’s. Fitz with Chandler and Smith with Vernon. Just look at Vernons drop in production since Kaepernik took over. I think things are def looking up for The Bills.

By: imageflood

imageflood — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:10:09 +0000

I see the logic some of the commenters here are using to keep Fitz around next year, but economics dictate that it’s not going to happen. The scheduled bonus for Fitz is just too costly to justify paying it. Bills could use that money more effectively to bring in Alex Smith to hold down the fort until Nassib (or another college prospect) comes up to snuff. Dream on, I guess…

By: steelerben

steelerben — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:38:38 +0000

@ ihatethejets23 – That team is BEGGING to be a run first offense. Take the ball out of the QB’s hands and only make him complete short dink and dunk stuff. With Pettine coming on to get more out of the defense, you don’t need to be scoring 35 points a game to win.

Give it another season until something good comes out of the draft at QB and ride out another year of Fitzpatrick. No sense in wasting a first rounder when you can be getting something at TE, WR or Safety in the first round this year.

By: truths4all

truths4all — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:35:39 +0000

In Arizona, Whisenhut did just the opposite – he put so much pressure on his QBs with the aim of making the uncomfortable and to break them down, they all deteriorated in their play except for Kurt Warner who just ignored Whisenhut and implemented his latest version the Greatest Show On Turf.

By: wrathofgodzilla

wrathofgodzilla — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:33:34 +0000

Fitz locks on to his receivers as soon as the ball is snapped. They need to teach him to scan the whole field. The defense just reads his eyes like a book and make him look like an idiot.

By: rabidbillsfan

rabidbillsfan — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:11:21 +0000

I’ll be completly honest, and this will probably not make friends with any fellow reporters who cover the Bills. They should keep Fitz this season. The guy is an absolute sponge when it comes to learning an offense. Yes, we need to draft a guy, and the way it sounds, it will be Ryan Nassib. But look at Tennehill in Miami, he had Sherman as his HC at A&M and his OC in Miami and he still struggled. Knowing the playbook and executing against NFL defenses are two completly diffrent things. I said this a few weeks ago, Fitz is a 6-win QB, if Marrone can find a way to extract another 4-5 wins from the rest of the team, then thats the way to go. You can gradually insert your rookie into NFL speed while already having a solid understanding of the offense. Again, this is if the draft Nassib. However, either way, who backs up the rookie if you let Fitz walk? It’s been years since Buffalo had “Another option” at QB during the season. If you start with Fitz, you can justifiably pull him if he struggles for the younger kid and roll from there, but if you start a rookie, and have some lame-duck Backup, you are stuck between a rock and a hard place if the rookie struggles. As far as the defense, I mentioned the hybrid scheme the other day, they have more players than anyone thinks that can fit both schemes. I just hoope they can fix the corners, I still don’t see the “Gilmore is great” thing everybody keeps talking about.

By: misterzurkon

misterzurkon — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:10:08 +0000

Game managers don’t win big games, particularly with the way the NFL is going. “Game manager” is as indicative of the potential success of a quarterback as the phrase “He’s a winner”.

By: eatitfanboy

eatitfanboy — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:02:36 +0000

Boy, I have to hand it to Bills fans.

How they manage to stay excited about their team when they are handed one uninspiring hire after another, whether it be Buddy Nix or Chan Gailey or Doug Marrone or Nate Hackett, is beyond me.

Marrone may turn out to be a fine coach and Hackett a fine coordinator, but a coach who had a respectable but not stellar run at a Big Least Conference school and a college level OC who thinks the concept of keeping the QB comfortable is so groundbreaking that he needs to mention it 3 times in one paragraph?

Probably not the dream combo fans were looking for.

By: ihatethejets23

ihatethejets23 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:43:05 +0000

The Bills offensive line isn’t in bad shape but keeping Fitzpatrick would be a mistake unless we are a run first offense with Fitz as a game manager.

By: steelerdeathstar

steelerdeathstar — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:42:43 +0000

Always had the feeling that Fitzpatrick can be more consistently productive than he’s shown so far. He has good backs and a solid O-line. Maybe some better coaching and a little upgrade with WR/TE depth will help? Nassib would certainly seem to be an option, especially given the circumstances…