dave mcbride

I do think that Whaley played a large role in the drafting of Manuel. He did all of the scouting and worked him out personally on a rainy day in FL. Fun fact: he was almost certainly the anonymous Bills front office person who talked down Matt Barkley after going to his pro day at USC.

Andy Reid and Sean Payton were the two people who were all in on Mahomes.

PS - Bryce Brown is who you're thinking of. They did give up a 4th. He didn't work out.

That wasn't a trade for a player, however. That's the issue. Also, with regard to Manuel, at least they traded down before taking him. They netted Alonso out of that, which they later turned into McCoy.

Whaley's trades for players: Kelvin Sheppard for Jerry Hughes Kiko Alonso for Lesean McCoy A fifth and a seventh for Matt Cassel and a sixth Trade deadline trades: I'm fairly certain the number under Whaley was zero.

I suppose that going after a guy like AJ Green in FA next season is the better move than trading a second and a third (for instance) for him now if you think your ceiling with or without him is maybe a WC win before getting destroyed by one of the better teams on the road in the divisional round. The issue is that he has to nail his draft picks. In the third year of the McDermott/Beane regime, White was a great pick, and I think Edmunds probably qualifies as a strong pick considering what he brings to the pass defense. I suppose Dawkins rates as a pretty good pick; he seems to be having a solid season and is a legit LT starter in this league. The jury is out on the other high picks (except for Zay, a failure), and of course it really all comes down to Allen. Allen is a below-average NFL qb right now, but he's not terrible and he's clearly talented.

Good post. I know a lot of people don't love Football Outsiders, but they now have us ranked 25th overall in DVOA, partly because the schedule the Bills have played is basically garbage except for NE and Philly. They had us trending downward after the Miami game, and that Philly game proved them right to an extent (i.e., getting dominated at home). The teams the Bills have beaten are ranked 24, 26, 30, 31, and 32, and the next four opponents are ranked 29, 23, 32, and 21. They also get 20 and 30 in two of the final three games. https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teameff/2019 Anyway, the roster remains quite mediocre overall despite some bright spots (Tre White, John Brown).

I can't think of a worse run team in a while than this year's Jets. That is a team that went into the season with some very good talent (Leonard Williams, Mosley, Bell, Quinnen Williams, Anderson, Adams, and at least the promise of eventual high-end talent with Darnold), and they're staring into the abyss of a 3-13 season. What a dumpster fire. I mean, at least Miami has a plan that makes some sense on paper and is fully executing it.

Arguably cost them the game last night.

Neither is Finley. I have to think they're playing for #1 overall.

Finley is never going to be the answer. My suspicion is that they're eyeing Miami and noticing that that Fitz might actually gut out a win or two for the Phins (Fitz did it for the 0-8 Bills in 2010, after all). At 0-8, they have a chance to get the inside track on getting #1, and they don't want to miss that chance.

He is not the problem there.

Yes! Assuming he's there, he'll give you at least one.

One of my best friends in life -- Mike Miller, from Tonawanda -- is the owner (and founder) of Delilah's. Give him the business! It is also a freaking phenomenal bar.

He won't average 3.2 ypc for KC, that's for sure.

What Bell gives is a RB who is equally a threat in the run game and pass games. He is a 3-down back, and it totally changes how a defense has to play you on a play-by-play basis. Gore, who I love, is a running threat only. Bell is a very rich man's TJ Yeldon.

The Chargers were 9-23 in the two years before he got there. It wasn't just one bad season; they were terrible. His biggest advocate all along wasn't Rex; it was Bill Parcells, who Lynn coached for. Parcells told many that he'd be a very good head coach, including Rex Ryan. Given Parcells' track with guys he's championed over the years (Belichick, Coughlin, Sean Payton), I'll take his opinion over anyone on this board.

That's not an argument.

https://www.si.com/nfl/chargers/news/chargers-ken-whisenhunt-firing-steve-steichen-interim/ Is he a bad head coach? He was 21-11 going into this season, and he took over a team with a bad record (5-11).

Why would you say that? The Bills offense produced in 2016 when he was the OC, and prior to this season he was 21-11 at SD (and he took over a 5-11 team). My own suspicion is that the ending of the Titans game might have brought things to a head. That was some terrible playcalling at the goal line by SD. Not sure who was responsible. EDIT: "Whisenhunt’s playcalling, particularly his insistence to get Gordon involved when he was clearly ineffective, led to the frustration of fans and the team. Philip Rivers was shown arguing with the coaching staff early on in the game on Sunday." https://boltbeat.com/2019/10/28/chargers-fired-offensive-coordinator-ken-whisenhunt/ Looks like stupidly slamming Gordon in twice with no timeouts (he fumbled both times too) was Whisenhunt's call, and it also looks like Rivers was unhappy with him.

I think Daboll has made some questionable calls, but I also think he's the most creative OC the Bills have had since Gailey was calling plays (and Marchibroda before that). This is a fan base that ran Dan Henning out of town after one season (Marv allegedly quit because he didn't want to follow Ralph's advice and fire him). Henning had been saddled with an awful QB (Todd Collins), yet people blamed him. He was immediately hired by Parcells afterward as QB coach, and Testaverde that season had the best season of his career. The Jets that season went 12-4 and went to AFC championship game. He then became the OC for a Carolina team that got to the SB with Jake Delhomme and lost on the last play of the game in a shootout. The point is, more often than not it's about the Jimmys and the Joes, not the Xs and the Os. OCs and DCs are easy targets.

Bledsoe's lifetime record and numbers vs. teams with a winning record was truly abysmal. Unfortunately, I can't find that information on the internet anymore, so I'd have to reconstruct it from PFR. Too much work, but trust me, it's true.

As I said in another note, the Bills’ 3 rbs are averaging 5.1 ypc on 120 carries. Allen is averaging 4.4. 5.1 is extremely high. The Bills clearly have a competent running game through their rbs. Also, if you’re going to make that sort of argument, you have to take out all qb runs. There are more than you might think for teams like the pats because of kneel downs.

The ravens’ game will be at home and quite possibly in terrible weather (December 8). I wouldn’t write that one off. Baltimore is good, but hardly great.

Don’t overlook two wins in GB vs a 13-3 and a 15-1 team.