Exploring the Buffalo Bills Future QB Options

The Bills announced today that they're going to start former Harvard QB Ryan Fitzpatrick this week over former Stanford QB Trent Edwards this week. Though both of these athletes probably scored really well on their SAT's, neither have scored too well in the NFL and it's almost a guarantee that the Bills will have to move into 2010 with a new "face of the franchise."

Chances are that the Bills new head coach is going to want some say in who this quarterback is, especially if the Bills bring in Mike Shanahan who the team has reportedly already reached out to.

As I've already talked about countless times on this site, this upcoming draft is quarterback heavy in the first three rounds. The following QB's will likely declare draft eligible; Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Colt McCoy (Texas), Jake Locker (Washington), Tony Pike (Cincinnati), Tim Tebow (Florida), Dan LeFevour (Central Michigan), Ryan Mallett (Arkansas), and Jevan Snead (Ole Miss) giving the Bills a chance to choose which Quarterback fits them best moving forward.

Note: I know the Clausen isn't guaranteed to come out, and Snead is looking likely to play a senior season. I also know that Locker is a baseball prospect, but all signs point to him sticking with football professionally.

So what wills the Bills do? Owner Ralph Wilson is notoriously cheap, but the team has been in QB turmoil since Jim Kelly called it a career. Whether it was Rob Johnson or Doug Flutie or Drew Bledsoe or J.P Losman or Trent Edwards the team has been unable to make the right decision when it comes to choosing the teams QB of the future.

There's also the possibility that the Bills take the veteran route. QB Brooks Bollinger is likely to go from the UFL Championship game straight to an NFL roster; the Bills may be the first team to give him a call. He'd be cheap, and if he shows any hope the Bills could move forward with him.

Jason Campbell highlights a QB free agent list in 2010 that also includes Brodie Croyle, Kyle Boeller, Kellen Clemens, and Troy Smith. The only names on that list that jump out for the Bills are Campbell and Croyle. There is a chance they give Clemens a shot.

So what do the Bills do?

They'll probably have a top 15 pick, but if they land in the top 10 it will be after Clausen, Locker, and Bradford are off the board; especially with Cleveland, St. Louis, Washington, and Seattle looking for Quarterbacks. If the Bills can land ahead of two of those teams, they'll probably settle on one of those QB's.

I can't see the Bills settling on Tim Tebow, despite what he'd do for brand identity, and Colt McCoy just wouldn't fit in Buffalo, although he's probably the most likely QB to land in Buffalo if they draft in the first round. If the Bills draft after the first round look for them to give Tony Pike a good look, afterall he's a big guy, or potentially Dan LeFevour, the QB who has skyrocketed up draft boards.

Knowing the Buffalo Bills, they're more likely to go with a veteran than a rookie. The only success the team has had with QB's post Jim Kelly came from aged veterans Drew Bledsoe and Doug Flutie, who combined started on playoff game.

In the past, Wilson's team has caught the dead end of the stick in drafting Jim Kelly, who opted to play in the USFL for three seasons before finally coming to Buffalo, and when the team brought in Rob Johnson to a huge contract.

If Wilson opts with a veteran to take over his team, look for Jason Campbell to find a new home in Buffalo.

At least that's what I've rationalized. But when it comes to the Bills who knows?

The Golden Age of the Quarterback

I recently read this article contemplating whether or not this was "the greatest QB era in history?"

If you're going to ask me for a one word answer it'd be "no." Two words "no way." Three words "not a chance." You get where I'm going with this?

Right now the state of the QB position in the NFL looks as good as it's looked all decade. Probable Hall of Famers Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb, Kurt Warner, and Brett Favre all have their teams playing at .500 or better, while other talented QB's such as Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, and Jay Cutler are all looking like QB's who will stick around the league for the next 4 to 5 seasons.

Another positive trait this current QB situation has is a slew of young guns who could potentially develop into top tier talent, QB's such as Chad Henne, Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers, Kyle Orton, Tony Romo, and Matt Cassell. And let's not yet write off Jason Campbell, Alex Smith, Matt Leinart, Vince Young, JaMarcus Russell, Kellen Clemens, Chris Simms, Brady Quinn, Trent Edwards, and Brodie Croyle as busts. Odds are at least one of them will turn it around and become a Pro Bowl talent.

And while some QB's like Kerry Collins, Jake Delhomme, and Matt Hasselbeck look like they're on the back 9 (more like 3 to 1) of their careers, they're still names that we'll hear about for a long time, and it's good to see them play.

All of this taken into account, I strongly doubt this will go down as the golden age of the QB; the sole reason being that the decade of the 1990's existed.

At one point in the 1990's, more specifically 1994 (as the article mentions) we were blessed with seeing Dan Marino, John Elway, Warren Moon, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Brett Favre, and Jimmy Kelly all in their prime, or something near it. Joe Montana was also in the league at the time, though he was nearing his end, but was still a winning QB. That's 7 QB's who were hall of fame bound all playing competitive football at the same time.

Take into account that Drew Bledsoe was beginning his reign as a passing machine, Boomer Esiason was still pretty good, Phil Simms was ending his career (which should have ended in Canton), Dave Krieg was still hauling the ball around, Vinny Testaverde was starting to develop, and Mark Brunnell was was sitting on the bench somewhere behind Brett Favre and you had 14 of what I consider to be (as of this second in time) the 50 greatest QBs of all time all in the same NFL at once. Expand this time frame as a window from 1993 to 1998 and you could easily steak the claim as the mid 1990's as the premiere time for the QB.

How many QB's from today, let's say the window of 2004 to 2009, will be in the Hall of Fame? Well, Manning, Brady, and Favre are certain. McNabb and Warner are likely, that's 5. Throw in Roethlisberger and you have a confident 6. After that there are a lot of potential Hall of Famers; Eli Manning already has a great shot and due to the numbers game he'll probably end up there. Steve McNair, who retired after the 2007 season may have a chance, but the way his life ended will probably overshadow the way he played in the NFL. Drew Brees and Philip Rivers, forever tied at the hip, both have impressive numbers but zero rings. There's a good chance that can eventually change.

(Note: from 1993-1998 there would be 9 Hall of Famers, because you'd have to include Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner who both came into the league in 1998. The means that Manning, Warner, and Favre double count for both era of the mid to late 90's, and the era of the mid to late 00's.)

So how many players from this era will be enshrined in Canton? Who knows? The number may blow the mid 1990's away, but it will likely come up short. Don't forget, there was a time in the mid 1990's when it looked like Bledsoe, Brunnell, and maybe even Neil O'Donnell were on their way to great careers. It's usually hard to make it to Canton, just ask Boomer and Simms.

No matter how many players from this decade make it Canton, I still don't think it would compete with the early 90's. Maybe it's nostalgia, but for me personally, the way that John Elway, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Brett Favre (in the 90's), and Steve Young played signified the way the QB position should be played. The inter-competitive nature between these players helped create the Quarterback Club, and gave Peyton Manning and Drew Brees records to fight with. When John Elway raised the Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl XXXIII, proclaiming the end to the 1998 season, the Golden Age of the QB also came to end.

Why You Should Give the UFL a Chance

Tonight at 9 P.M eastern the United Football League will kickoff it's inaugural season. The idea of the league is usually met with chuckles from resonated thoughts pertaining to the XFL, however, this league is different.

Unlike the XFL and USFL, the UFL is not meant to compete with the NFL, it's here to compliment it. All four teams; the California Redwoods, Las Vegas Locomotives, New York Sentinels, and Flordia Tuskers, will run pro style schemes, and are lead by former NFL head coaches Denny Green, Jim Haslett, Ted Cottrell, and Jim Fassel.

Unlike the USFL which stole NFL prospects and talent such as Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly, Steve Young, Reggie White, Doug Flutie, and Doug Williams; the UFL will be comprised mostly of players who lost their jobs in the now defunct Arena Football League, undrafted rookies, aging veterans, and players most of us will consider scrubs.

Some players currently on UFL rosters that you may recognize include QB Mike McMahon, RB Obafemi Ayanbadejo, RB Tatum Bell, P Todd Sauerbrun, TE Jermaine Wiggins, WR Craphonso Thorpe, DE Simeon Rice, QB Quinn Gray, RB DD Dorsey, and the current Starchild of the league, former first round QB from the Buffalo Bills: none other than J.P Losman.

Okay, I get it, that list of players wouldn't make you watch an NFL playoff game, let alone a non NFL professional football game.

So here's the number one reason why you should give the UFL a chance... the stadiums in which they're playing their games offer a unique opportunity to watch football at a high level!

October 17, NY Sentinels vs California Redwoods in AT&T Park in San Francisco.
October 30, Las Vegas Locos vs Florida Tuskers at Tropicana Field in Tampa.
November 4, Las Vegas Locos vs NY Sentinels at Citi Field in Queens.
November 12, Florida vs NY in Hartford.
Nov 20, NY vs LV in Los Angeles.

Maybe it's just me but seeing a high level football game in those places sounds cool. Especially AT&T Park and Citi Field. I say if you live in those areas give the league a chance.

My second reason to follow this league is that the overwhelming odds are some of these players will end up on your NFL team. After the lowly XFL's one season in the spring of 2001, the league MVP Tommy Maddox landed a spot on the Steelers roster, eventually leading the team to the playoffs. Rod Smart, better known as "He Hate Me," landed a gig with the Carolina Panthers, eventually starting on special teams in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Like Maddox, WR Yo Murphy immediately caught fire in the NFL, helping the St. Louis Rams to Super Bowl XXXVI. Seahawk fans may remember DB Kelly Herndon for his "pick six" in Super Bowl XL, but before he lined up in the biggest game of his life, he sported a Las Vegas Outlaws uniform.

Other notable XFL'ers included Jet Kevin Swayne, Lion Mike Furrey, and Corey Ivy.

To sum it up, some of these players are going to end up as impact players in the NFL, and odds are strong that some of these players are going to make an impact in the NFL this season!

The NFL has always lacked an in season minor league system where pro level talent can develop into pro level players. I honestly feel as though the UFL will develop into this. The NFL needs this, for the past four to five years their minor league system have been our federal prisons.

So I'm not asking you to skip tonight's Angels vs Red Sox game to catch a sneak peak of the next Kevin Swayne, but I am saying give the league a chance. If anything it may help you find a sleeper in your Fantasy Football league just in time for league championships.

edit: you can catch most of the games on Versus. Home of the NHL which the UFL should pretty much be equal to in ratings (sorry Hockey fans).