JohnNord

Interesting but based on how he played this season I don’t see him making much of an impact. Also, I can’t remember which reporter said this but someone speculated that the Bills workout might have just been done as a favor to Olsen to drive up demand and salary. They speculated the Bills were never seriously interested. Don’t know if it’s true or not but it’s an interesting thought

Because C. Biscuit and several others here tried to rationalize that Whaley was a good GM, when he was just as ineffective as the other GM’s during the Drought

LOL no he didn’t. They ended the playoff drought after they fired him! McDermott and Beane essentially re-tooled that roster and got rid of all of Whaley’s guys. As far as the “hate” he gets. It’s because he was no more successful than Marv Levy as GM who many consider to be a joke. In 4 years his teams won an average of 7.5 games. A half game better than Marv...congrats I don’t know I think you both are right. Allen was a little rattled but it was because no one was open. KC used 6 defensive backs and 1 LB because they weren’t threatened by our RB’s or TE’s. Their defensive line also beat our OL straight up. It led to him panicking and forcing the football rather than take the 2 yard dump off which he knew probably wouldn’t move the sticks. Constant pressure for a 4 man rush + 6-7 DB’s in coverage = no open receivers

I’m Not sure that it would’ve made a difference but it does make you realize how big that bye week might end up being for the #1 seed. We’ll see what TB does next week

The only good thing about this situation would be all of the reaction for all of the Miami Tua stans LOL

“They were a great team without a great QB.” How many teams can you say that about in NFL History. Just about every one

I’m not saying he’s not qualified - he’s commenting on the game like a lot of former coaches or players have. But let’s not ignore the context. There’s a lot of irony here.... someone who failed in a leadership role criticizing the person who did the very thing that he came no where near accomplishing. Oh yeah, and the person he criticized is likely responsible for his firing and possibly the reason he’s out of the NFL. Also a few things that don’t compute here: Not only did Whaley never find a QB, he bet the future of the team on the wrong on by drafting a “generational talent” who was at best a #2 WR in the NFL. On and averaging 8 wins (really 7.5 wins) in Buffalo is not something to pat him on the back for. The Levy/Brandon/Jauron era is largely considered a joke and they averaged 7 wins a season. I feel that Whaley shouldn’t be held in any higher regard than the other GM’s of the Drought Era. None were very good - so why go out of your way to defend. He made more splashes and won more off seasons but in the end no one knew how to build a winner

There’s a lot of excuses being made for Whaley and if baffles me. He was not in the best situation given how the Bills were run. I’ll give you that - but it also seemed like the GM role was too big for him. People want to point out to individual moves as positives (many of which occurred when Buddy Nix was GM) but Doug has no clue about the organizational transformation which needed to occur in failed organizations like Buffalo. Fortunately, McDermott did. He also had no clue how to build a football team. Bottom line, he was not a good GM and should be held in the same regard as Buddy Nix and Marv Levy when it comes to GM’s

The way some fans rationalize Doug Whaley as GM is almost comical

He never got to hire his own coach? Because Doug will tell you otherwise. I disagree that he was a good GM. He was able to find a few good under the radar players through FA and made a good trade to get Shady. Doug also completely mismanaged the QB position with EJ Manuel. Outside of that, he was poor at the draft and worse - he had no idea how to build a team. IMO Whaley’s ceiling is a Director of Pro Personnel. He was in over his head as GM and the fact that he hasn’t gotten another opportunity in the NFL over the past 5 years is probably proof The difference is the QB’s. Mahomes was not rattled by the blitz and knew where to go with the football. Josh did not Also don’t underestimate the impact of KC’s defensive line which had 2 All Pro players completely beat our OL.

This would be a horrendous hire for Houston.

Unfortunately the Bills got KC’s A game last Sunday

Glad there are people here who can illustrate my thoughts better than I can! I agree with all of your points. To point #3, Whaley does understand this. I’ve listened to the podcast and he won’t really say anything bad about anyone. That includes Doug Marrone, Rex Ryan, Russ Brandon, Terry Pegula etc. In fact, he’ll stretch the truth a bit so he doesn’t have to say something negative about his past. He will offer his thoughts on the NFL as like he’s an analyst on ESPN. But like you said, he probably should’ve more self-aware of this situation Yep and that’s where I’ll agree. I listen to his podcast and don’t see him a bitter to the situation. I’m just saying that I understand fans who question him

Yeah this has been talked about quite a bit. Of course, no one knows what the cap number will be, but if it’s on the lower end teams will be forced to part with some pretty good players....and teams with cap space might be a great place for bargain deals

He has 1 year left on his contract. I can see them giving him a chance to compete but I don’t think they’ll rely on him. If they can make a move at DT, I think they will. If not, I see them bringing in more true 1 tech players as competition. Beane said they were “a little light” on the DL.

I totally don’t buy this.

Exactly, it’s also unrealistic to expect that the game would play out exactly as it did if they made those conversions.

Not really. If your friend got a new job and the guy who she replaced said something critical, you’d have the same reaction. I get why fans don’t hear it. What do you expect them to say? It’s being critical of the person - not necessarily the message. If those big decisions were so easy then why didn’t Doug did fail so many? I couldn’t have said it better myself (and I tried really hard too!) 😀

I think you are being far too generous to Whaley. First off a successful GM does more than draft players. It’s about working with a coach and building a vision and then an actual team. Whaley failed at all of this. While you can question whether “hit” on picks or not, take a look at the draft record of Beane’s first 2 drafts vs Whaley’s 3 drafts. His picks were not home runs, but they were far better than Whaley. We’ve known for decades that QB is a team’s biggest priority. This is why Beane took a risk to get Allen and then developed a plan to see him grow. Whaley did prioritize QB - he just made a terrible choice and WHO he prioritized. Then rather than cutting he doubled down on his bad choice and it likely cost him his job in the end. Let’s call a spade, a spade here. Whaley was not a very good GM

I completely disagree. At one point fans were ok with Whaley. They were also ok with Rex Ryan. Plans change. Losing does that. By the end of 2016 the majority of the Bills fan base were frustrated and soured on Whaley as GM. I don’t remember many shedding tears when he was gone, though there were some supporters. Of course, if you don’t think he was very good himself, you’ll take offense to Whaley criticizing someone who was better than him

I think Beane and the Bills put a maximum dollar value on players like Milano. IMO he knows that his value will probably exceed that number. He’s hoping he’ll take less but likely knows he gone

Only point I disagree with is Edmunds. I don’t feel he’s much better than he was his first or second year. I don’t think he’s good

My takeaways: Bills will upgrade the DL (but like Ed Oliver) Bills still believe in Tremaine Edmunds (UGH) don’t expect a change. Matt Milano is probably gone (said the same thing about Shaq) John Brown is probably gone Don’t look for any crazy additions at CB or in the secondary. Expect a new TE

That explains it then. If you have a favorable opinion of Doug Whaley, then of course it won’t bother you. If you didn’t think he was very good, you’re going to take exception with a person in leadership criticizing the coach who was way more successful. Its like Zay Jones saying that Stefon Diggs is too soft at getting off the LOS. Same reaction Also you said Doug never picked his coaches? That’s your speculation but I listen to the podcast and he never has claimed that. Ty also said that Whaley hired McDermott. So it appears that isn’t true It doesn’t mean he can’t comment. Everyone can comments. But you shouldn’t be surprised that fans are giving him push back. McDermott did what Doug never could in turning around a franchise, so of course fans are going to give him a negative reaction and question his credibility

Haha what I meant is that everyone wants a scapegoat. “McDermott cost us the game” or “Frazier’s scheme is too soft” is simpler than taking a deeper look into the matchups that gave the Bills trouble. IMO the Bills lost to a football team that had elite talent in key positions that the Bills were weak in.