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Posted: Friday, 14 December 2012 3:45PM

Bills GM Nix talks drafting a QB yet again



Orchard Park, NY (WGR 550)  -- The way Buffalo Bills GM Buddy Nix has been talking throughout the 2012 season, it seems as though the franchise will put every foot forward to putting a young quarterback in place through the draft.

Speaking on The Howard Simon Show on WGR Sports Radio 550 Friday morning, Nix once again stoked the fire.

"I think there's a time that, in the era that you're in and the development of your team, I think there's a time when you can move up a round to take a quarterback, and I think the time is now for us," he said. "If the guy's there, I keep saying that -- and there'll be one out there. If the guy is there, then I think we'll target, as I've said before, drafting a good quarterback. We need a good, young quarterback and we're going to do our best to get one."

The GM also went on to reference the Cincinnati Bengals in another answer, who drafted wide receiver A.J. Green and quarterback Andy Dalton in back-to-back rounds in 2011, which "turned them around" according to Nix.

A big-time target like Green could also be a target come April for the Bills.

"We need a big time outside receiver," Nix said Friday. "T.J. [Graham] gives us a lot of that, but you still need a bigger guy that can line up out there and catch the ball even when he isn't covered."

The GM also said he believed current top wideout Stevie Johnson would make for a very good slot receiver. For more on that, click here.

Here are some of the other, juicier parts of the segment:

Regarding head coach Chan Gailey's future in Buffalo, Nix reaffirmed his trust in the coach who has gone 15-30 through almost three seasons:

"My stance is, you know what it is, and it still is."

"The fans, I mean, I love the fans. We've got the best… you know, everybody says they've got the best fans in the NFL. We do have 'em. And I feel for 'em, we're all frustrated. But again, the answer I gave is the answer that you get."

If he would ever entrust a rookie quarterback to start:

"Absolutely. I'm not afraid to play young people and I'm not afraid to play a young quarterback. I think you really look at all these guys, and normally the ones … and there's exceptions always… but the one's that come in to good teams got a chance. They've got a chance to be good. The ones that come in to really bad teams, I watched two last night. One second year guy and one first year guy. You know, they struggle some. The one's that have the best guys around them usually do the best."

Defending Ryan Fitzpatrick's performance of this year:

"Well, you can say that, and you've got statistics and that kind of thing. But he actually, his passer rating is… look, all these stats, I could sit here and read them to you that he's better this year than he was last year. The interceptions are down from 23 to 13 and three of those were against the Jets in the first game. The passer rating again is better. He's close to reaching 3,000 yards for the third straight season. Only Jim Kelly's done that. I mean, you can take stats and prove any point."

(To which Howard chimed in, "But it's the eyeball test.")

"I understand, listen to me. Let me finish. The thing that we haven't done, and the [caller- just quoted the record [15-30]. That's the bottom line. And it's not just Fitz, it's not just the quarterback and it's not just the head coach. We've had to upgrade all the way through these three years and we've made progress. We've needed to win more games in the third year no doubt about it."

If he shades away from drafting quarterbacks with less than stellar measurables, like Seattle QB Russell Wilson:

"You know, I know people that have done that, Howard. I mean, Bill Parcells, if the measurables weren't there -- height, weight and speed -- they weren't on the board. You can't do that I don't think, and Bill's been very successful and that's his way of doing it, but I firmly believe that winners come in all sizes. I think Russell Wilson was one. We knew that when we spent a lot of time with Russell. He was on our radar, but we felt like we had to have a speed receiver. They took him in the third. That was a little high for us as far as our needs."

You can hear the entire interview in the audio player below:

All photos courtesy of AP
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