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MRW

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Posts posted by MRW

  1. Why is Whaley so great at identifying talent? What late round picks or street free agents of his beside Nickell Robey have panned out? Bradham, who looked to be one, is having a truly horrible season, unfortunately. Where are his Dion Lewises, Richard Shermans, Julian Edelmans, Chris Harrises, Kyle Williamses, and -- dare I say it -- Jason Peterses?Incognito was a great signing (probably a Rex guy but I'll give credit to Whaley too), but of course he was known to be good already. Where are those unheralded guys who flat out perform on this squad? Hogan and Robey are the best we've got, and they're not great. The Patriots are always loaded with them. That's who you have to compare Whaley against. He's ok, but let's be honest. The best players either preceded him or or are high picks or expensive FAs.

     

    I'm loath to give him credit for TT, who Rex had targeted.

     

    So let's see, Whaley gets blame for picking EJ, even though he was not the GM, but does not get credit for TT even though he was the GM? Seems like a no-win situation you're setting him up for here.

  2. I don't mean the loss to NE was a disappointment; no one has been able to beat them this year.

     

    I mean being outclassed was the disappointment; we were not capable of giving them a game and that game was not a lot different than almost all of them over the last decade. That was the disappointment.

     

    You know, that's a common sentiment, but what would "giving them a game" have looked like? Really, anyone who just wants to gloss over the fact that the Bills ended up losing that game by a TD + 2 point conversion needs to explain what their standards are. And yes, you can tell me all about garbage time, the Pats* let off the pressure, etc., but the game is 60 minutes and a game where you trail by a score with two minutes left and the ball is not one where you didn't give your opponent a game.

  3. But c'mon, the fact we all learned about this, and given the basics of social media these days, this sort of stuff gets out and is broadly disseminated.

     

    Yeah, but at some point don't people get sick of looking for something to be outraged by? A comment someone makes in a reply on their own personal account is the modern equivalent of an overheard comment in a bar and doesn't merit much of a reaction. I can't be the only one sick of seeing people combing through other people's online activity to hold them up to public shaming.

  4. So is it the bad quarterbacking? The bad game planning? Or is it Sammy? Let's look at what Sammy can control: yards after a catch (YAC). Last year: 5.4 YAC per reception. Meh. OBJ was 5.7. Demaryius Thomas 6.1. Golden Tate 7.3. DeSean Jackson 8.6 if you need a "played with bad QBs" comps.

     

    OK, so you say that's not fair. Apples to oranges, etc. EJ and Orton couldn't hit Sammy in stride like Eli hits OBJ in stride, or RG3 hit DeSean in stride (huh?). So let's look at YAC for Bills WRs only. That's fair, right? I mean, all our WRs had the same crappy EJ and Orton throws coming at them and the same Nate Hackett plays called. YAC per catch, 2014:

     

    Sammy 5.4

    Hogan 4.8

    Chandler 4.2

    Woods 3.3

     

    So Sammy was just a tick more slippery than ... Chris Hogan. Well there's a ringing endorsement of his "just get me the damn ball" theory ....

     

    Seems like an odd stat to get hyperfocused on.

  5. By the way, got in a little dig at Whaley. I guess nothing new there, but more specific from what I recall-- e.g., assured him he was safe after hurting his hamstring only to cut him a few weeks later.

     

    I suppose, but it really sounded like a more measured tone to me, and a recognition of the reality that nothing is guaranteed. He'll probably never be buds with Whaley but he may be over the immediate anger he felt.

  6. No, but if everyone is in lockstep (especially with the spring rumors) they probably should have tried to steer it away from Freddy. I would say something to the tune of, "I really think that Watkins would be the best fit. You want to people to associate your brand at the top and he is about to be one of the top players in the NFL. You guys would be getting a real bargain because in 2 years his image will be associated with M&T and Gatorade." That is pretty rough but you get the point. Just kind of be cognizant of what MAY happen. As I said earlier, we learned the hard way. We had players on tickets that had been traded, 3 story signs that cost 6 figures that had to be taken down midseason, etc... You do not need to consult the marketing people but they need to be keenly aware of the team (on and off the field).

     

    That is why I used Mario as an example. Next year at this time, he would NOT be the guy that I centered my marketing around. he wouldn't be on my ticket stock, commercials, in arena signage, etc... While I believe that he WILL be here there is a small chance that he won't. If you are set on using players (I always liked to use fans, mascots, etc...) use someone that will definitely be there (like Watkins).

    That's an interesting point, but is any of that responsibility on Whaley? Or is this a situation where the marketing people screwed up and want to point the finger back at Whaley? If you, as an outsider, can identify players to avoid centering a campaign around, shouldn't they as well?

     

    Edit: And if the leak/complaint is coming from these marketing/PR people, I'd say that that's an indication that maybe we shouldn't be trusting them with information about moves the team's going to be making, until it's official.

  7. Let's say you own a radio station and your program director sits in a staff meeting with the sales department and finds out you just landed a big advertiser who he doesn't like. So the next day, right before the campaign starts, he tells the Djs to trash the advertiser on the air.

     

    Now, he's a very good program director and he doesn't care about what the sales department does.

     

    But, don't tell me that days won't be wasted by you trying to make amends and making sure that if he decides to pull crap like that in the future, you would like a little heads up.

    That is just a god-awful analogy.

  8. Cheating is and always will be part of sports. People tend to focus only on the most nefarious and clandestine, like Spygate or this football issue (which I find to be mundane and its impact way overstated and am more troubled by lying and refusal to own it). But outside of these major efforts to gain an advantage, holding is cheating. It creates an unfair advantage and if caught a penalty is handed down. But it's cheating. And many times those who cheat in this manner, or pass interference, don't get caught. Often it results directly in a win for the cheater. Yet it goes away a day or so later, only carried on by the team in the short end of the outcome who cry "we got screwed" and everyone else, in the "refs can't see everything, everywhere" camp chalk it up as part of the game, rather easily accepting it. It has pissed off this town twice: No Goal and the Music City Miracle. Both clearly cheating if in fact they were illegal. Now you may say, well it's about intent. In both those case, intent is unlikely. I doubt Hull intentionally was in the crease, like his entire focus was to get in the crease and score. And the MCM was just a bad pass by a non-QB, certainly unlikely to be intentional, but again if cheating is basically the act of eluding being caught for something illegal to gain an advantage, then its cheating. I think this issue is has risen to suck meteoric levels because of who it is. If this was the Buccaneers, now one would give a crap. The Patriots are good, have been for far too long. People want to knock them down and make this into more than it is.

     

    Who cares, lets move on.

     

    You gloss over the question of intent, but it's critical. Cheating is intentionally doing something against the rules of the game to gain an advantage or perceived advantage. Holding, jumping across the line early, pass interference, those aren't cheating - although in some cases, like when Seattle dares the officials to call them for contact, you might be able to make a case. But you're lumping together ordinary in-game infractions with extraordinary, largely out-of-game violations, and it's not clear why.

  9. So to review:

     

    According to the Brain Trust at OBD:

     

    Chip Kelly = bad.

     

    Russell Wilson = bad.

     

    Johnny Football = bad.

     

    EJ Manuel (or Manual based on the prevalent spelling here) = GOOD.

     

    Got it.

     

    You can't just say "to review" and then make up a bunch of positions and attribute them to the team's management.

  10. this.

     

    so are we agreed that a 1st round qb is ,at best, a 50/50 proposition?

     

    that the odds aren't all that much longer for a mid round pick?

     

    i think recent history bears that out. Then why not go best available mid round qb til you find one? what's that vaunted bills anaytics dept been up to? there must be a statistical analysis on drafting a qb…any fool can tell you that drafting one is the most commonly successful method. you have to actually draft some in order to find one.

     

    If the bolded were true, I'd agree with you. But I think you're significantly overestimating the chances of hitting on a mid-round qb pick.

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