Jaws on Fitz

[President Obama]

Fitz is AVERAGE at best .....yes an average QB does have some good things about him. Fitz is smart and can read a defense. BUT He doesnt have the God given ability to be an ELITE QB (which is what you need to win a superbowl) Fitz lacks arm strength ...... and he thinks he can make certain throws when he really cant. Most of those "I think i can force it throws" usually end in an INT.

Why do you people continually say he lacks arm stregth when any one who matters(coaches, gms, recievers, and experts) say he has plenty of arm. I have seen it with my own two eyes, he can chuck it. Ex: stevies drop in OT. That pass was about as beatiful as it gets, not to mention it was in the air for 60 yards.

Fitzpartick's problem is his consistancy, which is A direct reflection of mechanics. If he can better his mechanics, you should see a better fitzpartick. He can make all the throws because if he couldn't, he would not be in the nfl starting for a coach who is considered a qb 'guru' by some.

[AZbacker]

It made more sense the first way you had it.

Fitz haters are going to hate and that is a shame - they missed Jaws points entirely.

Some of you may not like Jaws but I always liked how he broke down film on Edge NFL and other shows - I think he has a good eye for issues.

He is dead on regarding Fitz IMO - when Fitz lost his mechanics, the throw was usually off. It looked like he had different motions for some throws, which is never good.

Jaws is also correct about Fitz capacity and willingness to change - Leaf had mechanics issues but would not take criticism well. Russell and others would not put in the time necessary or did not understand the position - Fitz will do both - understand the reason and put in the time to correct it.

I think he will improve, but it is natural to revert under pressure (that muscle memory thong/thing)- he will still make bad throws, but if he can reduce them, Lee was worth it.

All you guys that think he has a weak arm - T.O. 98 yd bomb - min 50 yards in the air on the money - it is impossible for a weak armed QB to pull off this throw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxCWzyUtFbY

Call him inconsistent on the deep ball, but you cannot say he has a weak arm

To be more exact, it went at least 60 yds in the air and I think the actual stat is 63 yds. If you check the ESPN stats, I think that's how they list it because they don't include RAC. Just adding on to your argument.

Also, that was a bomb to Fitz right, which he is better at throwing because it doesn't mess as much with his feet and hips. The left-side bomb is what throws him off a bit and is what Lee is trying to help him correct. To reiterate what you said, I agree, arm strength has nothing to do with the problem. It's mechanics and the Bills' staff knows that, which is why they brought in Lee.

[B-L&hotwings]

(In no particular order)
Drew Brees
Tom Brady
Aaron Rogers
Eli Manning
Peyton Manning
Cam Newton
Matt Shuab
Ben Rothlisberger
Tony Romo
Mike Vick
Phillip Rivers
Jay Cutler
Matthew Stafford
Matt Ryan

Easily before any of these names? I'm not even sure he should be mentioned before Sam Bradford, Josh Freeman, Joey Flacco or Carson Palmer...

His saving grace, is being coached by Chan Gailey.

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. Here we go again with the rankings.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorysta...qualified=true

Go to this link. Start with yards/game, click on the top of each column. You will see that Fitz is 15 or higher in almost every category. Int's brought his total ranking down to 22nd overall. He was average last year. He'll probably be better this year. Because: we have a healthy o-line. He is healthy. The WR's get an entire training camp to work with him. Geez.

[Buffalo86]

How many Full Training Camps has Fitzpatrick had as the #1 QB?

ANSWER: Zero

I love how that's so much more important than the fact that he's been our starter for 2 years. If he gets a full training camp this year & things don't work out, will you be out of excuses next year?

[FlutieShakes]

It made more sense the first way you had it.

Fitz haters are going to hate and that is a shame - they missed Jaws points entirely.

Some of you may not like Jaws but I always liked how he broke down film on Edge NFL and other shows - I think he has a good eye for issues.

He is dead on regarding Fitz IMO - when Fitz lost his mechanics, the throw was usually off. It looked like he had different motions for some throws, which is never good.

Jaws is also correct about Fitz capacity and willingness to change - Leaf had mechanics issues but would not take criticism well. Russell and others would not put in the time necessary or did not understand the position - Fitz will do both - understand the reason and put in the time to correct it.

I think he will improve, but it is natural to revert under pressure (that muscle memory thong/thing)- he will still make bad throws, but if he can reduce them, Lee was worth it.

All you guys that think he has a weak arm - T.O. 98 yd bomb - min 50 yards in the air on the money - it is impossible for a weak armed QB to pull off this throw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxCWzyUtFbY

Call him inconsistent on the deep ball, but you cannot say he has a weak arm

He is a very inaccurate deep ball passer. One fly route bomb (basically a hail mary) doesn't make up for not being effective in throwing the ball past 25 yards. Pass defenses easily shut us down cause they played shallow and fitz didnt have the arm to make them honest, I felt like every time he took the chance to throw deep, it was usually was horribly out of place.

Anyway, Jaws is just saying Fitz needs to improve his mechanics, thats nothing new. You are saying that Fitz has the capacity and willingness to change as if the change had take place already. Teams with 8 year QBs don't usually bring in coaches to teach them mechanics. This is a last ditch effort to get all we can from Fitz before we get a QB from somewhere.

[Buffalo86]

Now you're just being argumentative. Fitz is plenty capable of getting us to the playoffs. Don't ignore the facts: Fitz is an average to slightly above average QB. (The stats prove that btw). He's working on getting better. At times last year he was great, at times he was awful. Lots of things factored into his "awful" games last year. I have a ton more confidence in Fitz than I ever did in Bledsoe.

Please list the stats to back up your argument that Fitz is an average to above average QB. His past 2 seasons were his best, and he ranked somewhere in the 20s. When there are 32 teams & you rank in the 20s, that's BELOW AVERAGE. I'm interested to see which stats you will give higher priority in order to make your point. Most INTs thrown, perhaps?

I think it's a stretch to say that someone who has never been to the playoffs & has been average/below average (which, despite your baseless claim to the contrary, the stats actually do prove) is DEFINITELY capable of taking us to the playoffs. What would you say if I said Chris Kelsay is DEFINTELY capable of getting 12 sacks this year?

[Hedic]

Please list the stats to back up your argument that Fitz is an average to above average QB. His past 2 seasons were his best, and he ranked somewhere in the 20s. When there are 32 teams & you rank in the 20s, that's BELOW AVERAGE. I'm interested to see which stats you will give higher priority in order to make your point. Most INTs thrown, perhaps?

I think it's a stretch to say that someone who has never been to the playoffs & has been average/below average (which, despite your baseless claim to the contrary, the stats actually do prove) is DEFINITELY capable of taking us to the playoffs. What would you say if I said Chris Kelsay is DEFINTELY capable of getting 12 sacks this year?

I have not posted much, partly because I have a tendency to be WAY to blunt and also a tendency to defend people who are attacked but don't deserve to be attacked. You really NEED to think about changing your claim to be a "truth teller". He is an average (lower end) STARTING NFL qb when half of his wr corp is out and he is playing hurt. He is a TOP qb stat wise 22nd in NFL is cream of the crop btw. Your blind hatred for certain players has eliminated any claim of truthfullness. I would refute you falsehoods but I know others have before.

Btw Kelsey is a pusher not a sacker. DE has more than one job. He is doing his job just fine most of the time (that it's not what you would like isn't his problem). And no I would be happy with 5 sacks from him as he enables other guys to get the sacks just like Phil Hanson did and was underrated because 90 didn't get the sacks most years, 1 year I think he did get 10+. It's not worth it to me to look it up.

[B-L&hotwings]

Please list the stats to back up your argument that Fitz is an average to above average QB. His past 2 seasons were his best, and he ranked somewhere in the 20s. When there are 32 teams & you rank in the 20s, that's BELOW AVERAGE. I'm interested to see which stats you will give higher priority in order to make your point. Most INTs thrown, perhaps?

I think it's a stretch to say that someone who has never been to the playoffs & has been average/below average (which, despite your baseless claim to the contrary, the stats actually do prove) is DEFINITELY capable of taking us to the playoffs. What would you say if I said Chris Kelsay is DEFINTELY capable of getting 12 sacks this year?

Here is the link from my very next post, had you bothered to look at the thread.
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorysta...qualified=true

Are you saying we'll have the same teams every year in the playoffs? I'm sure there's at least one QB each year make it that was never there. Tebow for instance.

I think it's only fair to look at his first year as a starter. He's being coached by a real QB coach for the first time. You use the word definitely I do not, but no big deal. Why wouldn't Kelsey be capable of getting 12 sacks? He was playing out of position the last two years. With Dareus, Williams and Mario occupying at least one guy a piece, are you going to double team Kelsey? Maybe the guy goes nuts this year, who knows? I not saying it will happen but it could.

[diehardbillsfan]

Can someone post the article i cant pull it up at work Thanks!

[DIESEL-USMC]

I have not posted much, partly because I have a tendency to be WAY to blunt and also a tendency to defend people who are attacked but don't deserve to be attacked. You really NEED to think about changing your claim to be a "truth teller". He is an average (lower end) STARTING NFL qb when half of his wr corp is out and he is playing hurt. He is a TOP qb stat wise 22nd in NFL is cream of the crop btw. Your blind hatred for certain players has eliminated any claim of truthfullness. I would refute you falsehoods but I know others have before.

Btw Kelsey is a pusher not a sacker. DE has more than one job. He is doing his job just fine most of the time (that it's not what you would like isn't his problem). And no I would be happy with 5 sacks from him as he enables other guys to get the sacks just like Phil Hanson did and was underrated because 90 didn't get the sacks most years, 1 year I think he did get 10+. It's not worth it to me to look it up.

Hmmmmm are your sure you're not "dog14787" under another name to swoop in and defend? You sound just like him.

[NYCBillsFan]

I love how that's so much more important than the fact that he's been our starter for 2 years. If he gets a full training camp this year & things don't work out, will you be out of excuses next year?

Who said anything about excuses? I'm pointing out a simple fact. I guess we'll all find out how important a full TC as the #1 QB really is.

FTR, I'm not a Fitz homer, but I'm willing to give the guy a chance. Why is it that some posters are so polarized on the Bills starting QB? Instead of dogging him and saying how he won't have success, why not speak on what he needs to improve in order to be successful?

[B-L&hotwings]

Can someone post the article i cant pull it up at work Thanks!

Here you go. I bolded the two statements that stood out to me.

Jaws on Fitz
Posted by Chris Brown on June 12, 2012 – 10:14 am


Appearing on Bills flagship station WGR Sportsradio 550 ESPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski gave his take on the outlook for Ryan Fitzpatrick this coming season.

“With Ryan here’s the thing that I love, and I look at this as a quarterback. When did I get better? I got better in the offseason,” Jaworski said. ”Last year there was no offseason and that hurt guys like Ryan Fitzpatrick who needs that work. He’s going to get that work now because he has an outstanding quarterback coach in David Lee. That’s a critical relationship.”

Jaworski, who spent two months this offseason breaking down every pass thrown by the top 30 quarterbacks in the league, believes a lot of what led to Fitzpatrick’s struggles were related to his throwing mechanics.

“I broke down every pass of Ryan Fitzpatrick from last season,” he said. ”I watched every ball Ryan Fitzpatrick threw. You see a lot of great plays, a lot of positive plays. But the negative plays, the majority of them are based on mechanics. Improper mechanics hurt him. His mistakes were made when his feet were not underneath him, when he wasn’t balanced. Mechanics are the foundation of playing that position on a consistent basis. What I’m looking forward to is the hard work that he’s going to do and seeing a much more consistent quarterback this season.”

In talking about having David Lee as his quarterbacks coach, Fitzpatrick mentioned how no other coach he’s had at this level really schooled him on the proper mechanics of throwing. When asked about this Jaworski was not surprised.

“I’m not trying to bad mouth NFL coaches. They’re as committed to their work as anyone, but I’ve always said that the quarterback position is the worst coached position in the NFL. What happens is you have a lot of prima donnas that make a lot of money and you’ve got a coach that’s making $200 thousand that’s supposed to be tough and disciplined on them and a lot of times players don’t buy into that because of their stature.”

Fortunately that’s not the case with Fitzpatrick, who has bought in completely to David Lee’s mechanical expertise.


I find it interesting that Nix/Gailey have not bent over backwards to replace Fitzpatrick, and Jaws seems to think he's capable, but yet some "fans" think they no better. Despite what our FO has done with this team in two years.

[ericwoodsfan]

I think all of you guys ought to get together, go out and have a beer and wait until the season is underway before you evaluate Fitz.

[Buffalo86]

I have not posted much, partly because I have a tendency to be WAY to blunt and also a tendency to defend people who are attacked but don't deserve to be attacked. You really NEED to think about changing your claim to be a "truth teller". He is an average (lower end) STARTING NFL qb when half of his wr corp is out and he is playing hurt. He is a TOP qb stat wise 22nd in NFL is cream of the crop btw. Your blind hatred for certain players has eliminated any claim of truthfullness. I would refute you falsehoods but I know others have before.

Btw Kelsey is a pusher not a sacker. DE has more than one job. He is doing his job just fine most of the time (that it's not what you would like isn't his problem). And no I would be happy with 5 sacks from him as he enables other guys to get the sacks just like Phil Hanson did and was underrated because 90 didn't get the sacks most years, 1 year I think he did get 10+. It's not worth it to me to look it up.

22nd in the NFL is cream of the crop? How many teams do you think there are in the NFL?

My falsehoods that you would be out to disprove involve the fact that Fitz has never played consistently well over an entire season. I'll be happy if he does, but it has not happened yet.

[Buffalo86]

Here is the link from my very next post, had you bothered to look at the thread.
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorysta...qualified=true

Are you saying we'll have the same teams every year in the playoffs? I'm sure there's at least one QB each year make it that was never there. Tebow for instance.

I think it's only fair to look at his first year as a starter. He's being coached by a real QB coach for the first time. You use the word definitely I do not, but no big deal. Why wouldn't Kelsey be capable of getting 12 sacks? He was playing out of position the last two years. With Dareus, Williams and Mario occupying at least one guy a piece, are you going to double team Kelsey? Maybe the guy goes nuts this year, who knows? I not saying it will happen but it could.

Definitely was a phrase that another poster had used; I was responding to them when you pounced on me. As you said, "had you bothered to look at the thread..." And I really don't think many people consider ypg to be the true measure of a QB. His INT numbers were the worst, and his ypa was pretty bad, too. Again, I would love for Fitz to prove that he's among the elite, but he definitely has not done that yet.

[Buffalo86]

Who said anything about excuses? I'm pointing out a simple fact. I guess we'll all find out how important a full TC as the #1 QB really is.

FTR, I'm not a Fitz homer, but I'm willing to give the guy a chance. Why is it that some posters are so polarized on the Bills starting QB? Instead of dogging him and saying how he won't have success, why not speak on what he needs to improve in order to be successful?

I never said he won't have success; he just hasn't yet. He needs to play consistently over a full season. He has never done that, whether it's injured ribs or any other excuse.

[NYCBillsFan]

I never said he won't have success; he just hasn't yet. He needs to play consistently over a full season. He has never done that, whether it's injured ribs or any other excuse.

That's why I think this year we'll see a different Fitz b/c he's finally had a full off-season as the #1. You might look at it as an "excuse", but it is a reality.

[God Father]

We should keep giving Fitz the benefit of the doubt every year, for as long as he wants to play, even if he never wins another game for us. Also, it's not fair that all of the other NFL QBs had a full offseason to prepare last year & he didn't. Forget top half; he's easily a top 2 QB.

Exaggerate much?

[Buffalo86]

Exaggerate much?

1 billion times per day!

[GodZnKingZ]

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. Here we go again with the rankings.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorysta...qualified=true

Go to this link. Start with yards/game, click on the top of each column. You will see that Fitz is 15 or higher in almost every category. Int's brought his total ranking down to 22nd overall. He was average last year. He'll probably be better this year. Because: we have a healthy o-line. He is healthy. The WR's get an entire training camp to work with him. Geez.

Optimism. This is usually how we set ourselves up for disappointment season in & season out. Can Fitz improve? Maybe. But how can anyone knock someone who is pessemistic until Fitz shows otherwise? Up until this point, he hasn't. Looking at that list tells me exactly what I've believed all along....Chan Gailey has tailored a system around Fitz's strengths. 22nd overall in YPC? Spread the D out, put Fitz in the shotgun as much as possible to improve his line of sight, get rid of the ball as quickly as possible.

The system worked fairly well up until the Bengals game. They showed the NFL how to defend our offense. From that game up until the infamous "rib injury", is it a coincidence that Fitz averaged 1 TD & 1 INT per game in that 3 game stretch before the Redskins game? This is WHILE he was healthy & WHILE our offense was relatively healthy.

I have to give Gailey a TON of credit. He has found a way to get some type of production out of the QBs under his direction. Look at Fitz's numbers pre Gailey & his numbers while with Gailey.

Games-Comp-Attempts-Comp%-Yards--TD's-INT's-Rating
---28-----424----734-------57.8----4,104--21---27----67.7-
---29-----608---1010-------60.2----6,832--47---38----80.2-

If that's not an example of turning water into some wine, then I don't know what is. Definitely NOT top shelf wine, but something you might be able to get a little buzz off.