why is smith our automatic 3rd qb?

[jrober38]

not very well he can't, (ST)

not as good as players trained specifically for the position (WR)

I thought he did a good job at WR last year, and the coaches obviously think pretty highly of him as a returner seeing as they had him as the primary kick returner for most of last season...

On top of that, he can also cover kicks and can play on both punt units. That's where his value lies as the 3rd string QB.

[HiddenInLight]

Not sure I'm following you, how does that change If VY's the 3rd QB?

Let me put it this way: IF VY makes the team (It IS still an if right now) would you rather have him spend his practice time trying to become a more reliable backup QB, or preparing to go out and play wildcat 4-5 plays per game? Every second VY would be spending on the wildcat is a second he could be spending on getting his head wrapped around the offense. He is already having enough trouble learning the offense in the first place. Why add more on top of that?

[Kogno]

I thought he did a good job at WR last year, and the coaches obviously think pretty highly of him as a returner seeing as they had him as the primary kick returner for most of last season...

On top of that, he can also cover kicks and can play on both punt units. That's where his value lies as the 3rd string QB.

Brad Smith looked slow on kick returns and showed very little elusiveness in my opinion. Durability seems like the only plus to me.

[AxionJaxionMVP]

not very well he can't, (ST)

not as good as players trained specifically for the position (WR)



Note: I understand where you guys are coming from.

He can play ALL pretty decent and will work better than average in a pinch. There are few guys in the league who could be used in so many different situations.

[jrober38]

Brad Smith looked slow on kick returns and showed very little elusiveness in my opinion. Durability seems like the only plus to me.

Yet we still had him back there...

Justin Rogers should play there going forward, but the fact remains that Smith brings other things to the table than just being able to play QB.

In a league where practically every game day roster player needs to contribute, it makes a lot more sense to have a guy as your 3rd string QB who can contribute something on some of your teams units, than a guy who will only ever hold a clip board...

[billsfan1516]

Because if you carry 3 QB's you can carry 46 players on game day.. Brad Smith counts as the 3rd string QB and he can still play on the field as other positions. Ultimate utility guy.

[Kogno]

Let me put it this way: IF VY makes the team (It IS still an if right now) would you rather have him spend his practice time trying to become a more reliable backup QB, or preparing to go out and play wildcat 4-5 plays per game? Every second VY would be spending on the wildcat is a second he could be spending on getting his head wrapped around the offense. He is already having enough trouble learning the offense in the first place. Why add more on top of that?

I think VY can help team more by being on the Football field and as the #2 (backup) its to risky to play him.

[billsfan1516]

Brad Smith looked slow on kick returns and showed very little elusiveness in my opinion. Durability seems like the only plus to me.

According to CJ Spiller... Brad Smith is one of the fastest on the team. He said it doesn't look like he's running fast.. but he's got long legs and cover ground quickly.

[Kogno]

According to CJ Spiller... Brad Smith is one of the fastest on the team. He said it doesn't look like he's running fast.. but he's got long legs and cover ground quickly.

could be,

Smith didn't seem to be very effective to me, but he got the job done I suppose without muffing the kicks.

[HiddenInLight]

I think VY can help team more by being on the Football field and as the #2 (backup) its to risky to play him.

VY can't help the team at ALL until he learns the offense. Period. If he ever does pick it up to the point where we can just drop him in to play for an unable fitz and get results almost as good as fitz, that's the only thing VY should focus on. You said it yourself in another thread, it is REALLY hard to pick up an NFL offense that has been in place for a few years, and get your head wrapped around it. How can you pile on more for him to learn and expect better results then the mediocre play we are seeing from him right now.

[Kogno]

VY can't help the team at ALL until he learns the offense. Period. If he ever does pick it up to the point where we can just drop him in to play for an unable fitz and get results almost as good as fitz, that's the only thing VY should focus on. You said it yourself in another thread, it is REALLY hard to pick up an NFL offense that has been in place for a few years, and get your head wrapped around it. How can you pile on more for him to learn and expect better results then the mediocre play we are seeing from him right now.

VY runs the football well naturally, but I get your point Hiddenlight

Number one priority for the #2 is to be prepared to come in and run the Offense properly so it probably would not be wise to throw more on VY's plate then he already has at this point.

Nice discussion fellas, gotta run

[FlaFitz]

Brad Smith looked slow on kick returns and showed very little elusiveness in my opinion. Durability seems like the only plus to me.

First of all most teams don't dress a 3rd QB because they need the roster spot on Sunday.

This allows them to have their 3rd QB - in the Bills case wildcat and emergency QB dressed plus contributing either at WR or on special teams.


As far as slow - as runner he has 118 carries for 854 yards which is 7.2 ypc.

He adds about 9 special teams tackles a year

Then as a returner, a kick returner, he has 89 of them. He's gained 2250 yards which is 25.3 per return, 57 of his returns have been for more than 20 yards, 7 for more than 40 yards and taken 3 all the way. That 25.3 avg? That would have been 7th best of all kick off returners with at least 20.


If they are going to dress someone wouldn't you rather he add all of that rather than stand there and hold a clip board for 16 weeks while wearing a baseball hat instead of a helmet?

[HiddenInLight]

First of all most teams don't dress a 3rd QB because they need the roster spot on Sunday.

This allows them to have their 3rd QB - in the Bills case wildcat and emergency QB dressed plus contributing either at WR or on special teams.


As far as slow - as runner he has 118 carries for 854 yards which is 7.2 ypc.

He adds about 9 special teams tackles a year

Then as a returner, a kick returner, he has 89 of them. He's gained 2250 yards which is 25.3 per return, 57 of his returns have been for more than 20 yards, 7 for more than 40 yards and taken 3 all the way. That 25.3 avg? That would have been 7th best of all kick off returners with at least 20.

Wrong. The third QB now has an extra roster spot that can only be used by the player who is your third QB, and to encourage teams to use that spot the league removed the rule stating that if your third QB goes onto the field, your first and second can not re enter the game, though some teams choose not to utilize the position for cap/money reasons, or simply don't want to use it. Effectively the league created a special roster spot for a wildcat QB

[josh4est]

It's common sense. You have 3 QBs. 1 is the starter, 1 is the backup and 1 is the backup's backup. Why not have one of them be able to play QB, WR, KR, and ST

[FlaFitz]

Wrong. The third QB now has an extra roster spot that can only be used by the player who is your third QB, and to encourage teams to use that spot the league removed the rule stating that if your third QB goes onto the field, your first and second can not re enter the game, though some teams choose not to utilize the position for cap/money reasons, or simply don't want to use it. Effectively the league created a special roster spot for a wildcat QB

They used to be able to dress a 3rd - an emergency QB - and he didn't count toward the 45 man roster. The rule was wiped out and a spot added. So if you dress a 3rd QB it counts toward the 46 man roster. If you don't - you can dress an extra player. That's why the Bills and a number of teams don't dress a "3rd" QB. They have a guy who can play QB in and emergency but can play other spots. No need to dress three when you can dress two and have a utlility guy fill that roll giving them an extra option with that extra spot.

[Dalton]

It's common sense. You have 3 QBs. 1 is the starter, 1 is the backup and 1 is the backup's backup. Why not have one of them be able to play QB, WR, KR, and ST

Common sense is not common on the BBMB.