I was able to ask some questions of BuffaloRumblings.com's Brian Galliford. He was kind enough to give us some insight into the Buffalo Bills. Click the jump to check out his answers.
1. What went wrong with Trent Edwards? He went all pre-season as the started, began the season as the starter, and then was straight up released after Week 3?
Yep. That's these new-look Buffalo Bills in a nutshell. I can tell you why he was released - he was playing some truly horrific football, in every way imaginable. What I can't tell you is why the team couldn't see that coming. GM Buddy Nix and head coach Chan Gailey have explained themselves up and down, and their general thrust is this: they wanted to see what Edwards could do, saw that the answer was "not a thing" after two games, and rather than let him run their scout team, they cut him.
The Bills currently have 3 former Jacksonville Jaguars on their roster, how are Marcus Stroud, Drayton Florence, and Akin Ayodele working out for the Bills?
Florence is the team's most-played cornerback, and also by far the most-penalized. His lack of top-notch athleticism causes him to hold and interfere quite frequently, but when he's not cheating, he's a fairly steady performer. Stroud is still getting used to playing the five technique, and is a shell of the player he was in Jacksonville. He's solely a run-down defender at this point, and he's getting less effective seemingly with every outing. When everyone's healthy - that one day a year in Buffalo - Ayodele is a backup and a solid special teamer. The Jets made him look rather foolish trying to defend the run as a starter last weekend.
The Bills snapped a streak of straight sell-outs and will have a blackout this week. We Jaguars fans know the perils of blackouts, is it a growing concern for the Bills?
I'm sure it's a concern for the team - why wouldn't it be? - but there's an easy fix: win some damn football games. This fan base is incredibly loyal, and I can personally guarantee that there are perhaps thousands of fans that want, with every fiber of their being, to spend inordinate amounts of money on this football team. It's just not justifiable at this point in time. The team will trend upward financially when they trend upward on the field of play.
First round pick CJ Spiller has seen a whole lot of action early and appears to be behind Fred Jackson on the depth chart. what's holding him back?
Chan Gailey thinks he's playing "too fast," meaning that Spiller has gotten by with his unique acceleration and speed on every level he's ever played, and is pressing and impatient at the NFL level. Gailey is trying to slow him down and getting him to trust things to develop in front of him more. He'll be fine; with Marshawn Lynch out of the picture, he'll see an increase in his workload almost by default.
Has Ryan Fitzpatrick given the Bills the spark on offense the coaching staff thought they were getting when they made the switch?
There's no question that he has. The numbers don't necessarily reflect it, but I've never seen Fitzpatrick play as well as he has over the past two games. He made one bad throw and got hit on another in New England; if he had those plays back, I think rational football fans could have argued that he was the better quarterback on the field that Sunday. He played pretty well against the Jets, too, making some really tough runs, firing up his teammates, and barely missing on some long gainers. The best way to describe Fitzpatrick is that he's a gamer. He'll make some throws that leave you tearing hair from your skull, but you can't question his heart or his toughness. He is the prototypical backup quarterback.