BuffaloRush

when I people bitching about others starting threads.

Agreed... Williams had a great pre-season. Never should have been cut. Beane has control of the roster so technically it was a Beane move

Not going to happen

As draft day approaches, it makes me wonder what really went on at Two Bills Drive at this time – specifically with the firing of Doug Whaley and the hiring of Brandon Beane at GM and the role of Sean McDermott in one or both of the moves. If you recall Sean McDermott was named HC on January 11, 2017. At the time Whaley was coming off a horrendous end-of-the-year press conference and a disappointing year. While Rex Ryan was fired, Whaley was considered “safe” by many in the media. But while he remained GM in title, despite the fact that he hardly made any public comments under the “one voice” mantra that McDermott preached. At the combine in March of 2017, McDermott talked quite a bit about working with Doug and his staff Whaley was fired after the draft on April 30, 2017, and we all know the reasons for the timing of firing your GM after the draft. But my question is - when did Terry really make the decision to fire Doug Whaley and to hire Brandon Beane? And did McDermott have a significant role in either of those moves? Did Terry plan to fire Whaley before the coaching search? Or did Terry make the decision when he hired McDermott? Was McDermott given a private assurance that Doug would be on his way out after the draft? I always thought it was odd how McDermott when asked about Whaley, McDermott said “I am comfortable with the situation.” It seemed conspicuously brief as to suggest there was something in the works and that’s what makes me think. Was the plan to originally have a marriage between Sean and Doug (as it was with Rex Ryan), until McDermott gained enough power/cache in the building to advocate going in a new direction? Was Doug completely blindsided by the move? Or was he fired before the draft, but agreed to stay employed to help with the draft? (Polian was actually fired nearly one full year before he actually left) And then there is Brandon Beane – was he the unofficial successor from the start? Given the connection to McDermott, sas this something that was informally agreed to in-private, well-before April 2017. I do remember people linking Beane to McDermott shortly after he was hired. Was the interview process legit? Or was Beane really the candidate the entire time? I know there’s a lot of really knowledgeable people in TBD. I also know Bills fans love good conspiracy theories – so what happened between Doug Whaley getting fired and Brandon Beane replacing him? Share your best guesses below:

So are you also giving McDermott credit for the 2017 offseason moves?

Sure it’s all speculation but that’s part of their jobs. They didn’t report it as facts and made it clear that it was an opinion

Should we add Mike Tolbert to Doug Whaley’s resume?

Wow that really really sucks! It was so great to see him beat it last time.

Nope... but he did cite his tweet which said the Bills would be open to keeping Tyrod next season

After listening to The Bills Beat podcast from the NFL Combine, I think I’d have to agree with Joe Buscaglia sentiment that Tyrod Taylor is likely gone from the Bills roster next year. Some people here felt that Beane and McDermott’s praise of Tyrod means he’s staying. Joe and Matt Fairburn didn’t see it that way. - They feel the the positive comments are a smoke screen to make it look like the Bills are more heavily invested in Tyrod to drive up his trade value. - He believes that the Bills might eat the $6 guarantee in dead money and trade him after FA starts because it makes his salary more attractive which could yield an a higher draft pick. Other teams won’t have to take on the $6M if the Bills pay it. - McDermott and Beane gave many qualifiers after many statements I.e. Tyrod and Nate are our quarterbacks “right now” or “until otherwise.” - McDermott made a comment about Tyrod being able to add a “playoffs” to his resume. Why would he need to be updating his resume? - Finally Fairburn noted that McDermott used some of the same language in the Rapaport story. He didn’t make the jump that McDermott was the source, but that was the impression I was left with. Maybe it’s just me. So despite what you might see or hear it sounds very much like he’s on shaky ground.

We were talking about overall use of analytics in game management and fourth downs are just one part it. It doesn’t change the fact Philadelphia has been one of the teams that heaving use analytics both on the field and off (personnel etc). My my point is, the Bill Polians of the world who want to doubt th validity of data used to make game-time decisions is very short-sighted. The team that just won the Super Bowl would agree

Thats fine if you agree with Polian’s view on analytics. The team that just won a Super Bowl as a big underdog would strongly disagree

Nope... but I’m saying it should definitely be one factor, and a very big one, in on field decisions. I believe that Philadelphia has the right model with an analytics person having direct communication with the head coach. You seem to discount the role of analytics for on field decisions in your original post, as Polian did in his interview. I guess it’s important for coaches to just rely on their “gut instinct,” “down and distance” and the “feel of the game” to make decisions. See how far that gets you. Listen to the interview he claimed to be the first to use analytics in the NFL!!!. He also believes analytics should be used to determine injuries and not football decisions.

Fair enough - but there were plenty of people that said similar things about Watson. Not saying Jackson will have the same kind of impact, but there are many parallels

But Beane also said on John Murphy Show that he was looking for a QB. It made me think it's a long shot that they would draft Jackson unless he somehow falls. Keep in mind there were many critics about DeShawn Watson a year ago too

All semantics aside, he is correct. Philly is among the leaders in 4th down % and Pederson’s innovative use of on-field analytics has been credited toward the success of the team.

Many fans...right here on TBD feel that whaley did an awesome job as GM

^ How anyone could have watched the Eagles beat NE at SB52 and they say this is beyond comprehension. Pederson is regarded as one of the most forward thinking coaches in the NFL and a huge reason is how he uses his analytics team for football related decisions. I completely disagree with OP. Also if you heard the Polian interview he really did sound like someone whose time has passed him by. He sounded very old-fashioned and borderline senile. He also claimed he was the first person to use analytics ugh. I am so glad that he is not our football czar - he doesn’t have it anymore

Vic is connected - Gabriel is not. Please name 1 story that Greg Gabriel reported first. I’ve been following him for about a year on twitter. All he said this year was how bad Tyrod was and how Peterman could have been better

Or people want to question someone who is purely speculating without any inside sources. i can respect Vic Carucci. He’s a good reporter, has broken stories with the Bills, and has many relationships with the organization. It’s Greg Gabriel who I am questioning. He’s purely guessing her. He also does not have the credibility or sources that Carucci does. If you follow him on Twitter he legit talked up Peterman all year long while trashing Tyrod. That’s why I’m not a fan. Attack the messenger my ass!!!!

The argument to that is... you need to have competent people making those draft decisions. How many QB prospects did Cleveland miss? They had the right idea - they just made the wrong selections. Much like the Sabres over the past few seasons, draft picks are great but you need to hit on those picks.

Not for nothing but Greg Gabriel is a moron who’s time has passed him by. Keep in Mind Greg also thought NathanPeterman was the second coming of Tom Brady. He walked his praise back a bit after the 5 INT

Or you could blow your draft capital and end up like Philadelphia

I disagree. I think the offensive mindset NFL product is much more exciting than in years past. The rules do favor the QB and it’s getting nearly impossible to defend a receiver without PI

I actually had no idea who Eddie Eddins was