JohnC

I'm so obtuse I didn't realize that I was maligning myself. Some people deny their liabilities. Not I! I embrace them.

Why not just say that you agree instead of don't disagree? It's as if you are reluctant to publicly agree because you don't want to be associated with someone who is so disreputable?

I agree with you that TT is a better option than Peterman is right now. But I don't think it is outlandish to believe that before the season is concluded the rookie qb is going to be starting. Is Peterman the long-term answer? I doubt it. What Peterman offers the offense is an ability to quickly get rid of the ball and get in a passing rhythm that TT can't do because of his inability to quickly make reads.

What you and many others who are in accord with your thinking don't accept the fact that the team that McDermott inherited was not as good as you and others are suggesting. It was a mediocre roster patched together with acquisitions kept this team floating on the fringes. What is going on now is the same process that happened with the bloviating Rex of bringing in players who are more suited to your schemes. With the exception of Watkins none of the moves made by the new regime are controversial. It is the standard sorting out of players when there is a coaching change. The difference is that it is being done with more overarching thought than the previous patchwork approach that got this team nowhere but stuck in the ditch. The major difference is that draft picks are being added rather than gratuitously given away. Are the Bills going to be much worse this year? Maybe or maybe not. Mediocrity has a wide range in the NFL. But instead of scratching and clawing to be a fringe playoff team there is an attempt to construct a roster that in time will be more coherent and talented than what we have seen over the past generations. I'm sure you are tired of me saying it but this isn't a quick fix. Big deal. I would rather spend time working to build a quality product than be concrete hardened stuck in perpetual mediocrity. Instead of complaining about this new regime taking action to change the dynamic for this languishing franchise you should be upbeat with the change of direction and philosophy.

Close to what? You are either good enough to quality for the playoffs or not. Because the league is designed for parity 50% or more of the teams are close to making the playoffs. The Bills have not been in the playoffs for a generation. Close enough to not qualify is not an achievement I would brag about. Almost getting to your destination is not getting to your destination.

Ragland and Darby were not good fits for the new coach's system. Players are going to be added who fit the system and players are going to be discarded who don't. At least this new regime is adding picks instead of giving away picks. I'll say it again that the roster that McDermott inherited was not as good as many are portraying it to be. It wasn't even close to being a playoff team.

With respect to the highlighted segment I strenuously disagree with your assessment on how good this roster was. The roster that Whaley assembled was built to be no better than a .500 team. The team that wrestling coach inherited was not near being a playoff team. At least now we have a HC and GM who are in sync. There is no quick fix. Instead of gratuitously giving up picks this new tandem are accumulating picks to bolster a very thin roster. That is the right approach to take and it is the smart approach to take.

I agree with you that it was unfair to Whaley to not allow him to pick his own HC. Where I will harshly criticize him is his passivity in finding a qb, either through the draft or free agency. There was no excuse for his lack of focus on the most important personnel decision that is decisive in being successful or not. On that issue the onus was on him. Regardless who the HC was that was foisted on him he had the authority to draft a credible qb. He repeatedly passed when the opportunities were there. That is a failure of his own making.

With the exception of Watkins the players you mentioned were not players that were influential players. Kujo? He was a draft mistake. Darby? After a stellar rookie year he not only was a liability last year he was also not suited for McDermott's zone scheme. Ragland also didn't fit the coach's system. Whether the players listed would have remained with a different coach doesn't change the fact that they weren't the type of players whose replacements couldn't play as well or better. You and others are trying to portray the situation that without the departed players this team was on the verge of breaking through the wall of irrelevance. Stop it! The team that Whaley assembled was at best perennial mediocre teams fighting to be a fringe wild-card team. That might be good enough for you but not for me. The one thing that I like what McDermott/Beane are doing is accumulating picks to build a better roster. That is certainly a better long-term approach than gratuitously giving away picks to get fewer players who will still not get this team over the hump of wretched mediocrity. This is not a quick fix. And the ugly truth is that there was never going to be a fix as long as the organization functioned as it has over the past generation or slow. I'll take the McDermott more strategic roster busting approach than the Whaley patchwork approach that has gotten us nowhere but stuck in the muck of mediocrity.

The teams that participate in the playoffs do.

You are misreading what I stated so you can dismissively go on with your narrative. I am not arguing to tank. That's never been my position. The new regime is going through the process and to a large extent (not totally) clearing out the Whaley selections. This for the most part is going to be done through the draft. That is not a one or two year endeavor. Is it the right approach to take? Not necessarily, but it is the typical approach to take of jettisoning the in-place players for the new regime players. My position has been clear for years. Until there is a franchise qb in place nothing else is matters. It isn't an earthshattering point of view, it is simply basic. A basic concept that this clueless organization seems incapable of grasping. In my view the smartest approach to jolt this franchise was to draft a qb in the last draft. Mahomes, Watson and Kizer were available and would have been credible players to work with, even if they were developmental type prospects. Whether you like it or not the Bills are going to rebuild the roster mostly through the draft. Whether you like it or not it is going to take a few years or more. That's the route this new regime is taking and it is in plain sight to see.

You are smart enough to recognize what is going on here. This is a major rebuild that is going to take up to four years if you count this year. You are right there isn't much difference between good and bad teams. However, the Whaley built teams were never going to be really good because they were built to be marginal wild-card playoff teams. So Pegula unceremoniously jettisoned the former GM for a coaching prospect who had a plan to make this team a serious team instead of striving to be better than a fringe playoff team. As it has been noted many times here on this board Whaley had more than plenty of opportunities to draft quality franchise candidates. He demurred. That is the biggest reason for his departure. When you go up to the plate only to not swing the bat and then strike out there is no point in remaining on the job. This is going to be a painful and gruesome rebuild project. It is going to be done primarily through the draft with accumulated picks. That's exactly what is happening here. Without a doubt you are going to have many opportunities to reasonably complain about particular decisions but in general what is happening here is exactly what is required to do in order to eventually contend. The organization is trying to be somewhat competitive while going through this major endeavor. So for the sake of business there is a balancing act. The organization didn't have to be placed in this ridiculous situation. The absurd Rex hire set this franchise back by years. That blame belongs to the owners. That ugliness is behind us and now the cleansing and restoration are in progress. It's going to take time and patience.

Eric Wood is a good player with good character who is the model type person that McDermott frequently states that he wants on his roster. He's not coming cheap but the length of the contract makes it a smart deal for the team. Wood is the type of player, as is Kyle Williams, who you want them to experience a turnaround that they so deserve to be a part of. I'm not sure that Kyle Williams can get there but I think that Wood can. Eric Wood has stated that the most inspirational player on the team is Kyle Williams. He pointed out that when Kyle talks everyone listens. This was a good move and the right move.

How do you know if the qb you want will be available? My locked in position is if you are in position to get a qb then act sooner rather than later. It's as simple as that.

I respect your opinions but on this qb issue I strenuously disagree with you. To start let's put things in perspective: The Bills have not had a legitimate franchise qb for a quarter century. Think about that! While you talk about a hypothetical that might not come to pass I'm talking about a reality that could have happened i.e. a qb prospect in hand. KC and Houston have two HCs who are qb oriented. Each of them was willing to make a rather expensive deal to acquire a qb that this qb starved franchise was willing to pass on. Historically the Bills are a failed franchise. One of the primary reasons, among many, is that they haven't had a franchise qb for a ridiculously long period of time. Without a doubt one of the primary reasons Whaley is out of a job is that he didn't secure a legitimate starting qb. What makes it even more aggravating is that he had opportunities even past the first round to secure one. When asked what he would have done differently after his departure his response was to be more aggressive in finding a franchise qb. As I said on many occasions: Dithering is not a solution-----it is the problem. Talking about a next year's solution when a this year's solution could have been had is a foolish and self-destructive way of doing business. If you don't believe me then you need to review the record of the Bills over the past generations. JeffisMagic may be annoying but he was right!

What makes Bill B such a great coach is not only exploiting his assets but also managing his weaknesses. Because of the cap few teams can be considered complete teams. So he will mix and match and compensate for what his units don't do well. He's the best coach in the modern game.

My position is when you are situated to select a franchise qb prospect and you currently don't have one then you should seize the opportunity. In the last draft we could have taken a qb prospect at our draft position without trading away picks to get in position to select a qb. Who is to say that Kizer might turn out to be a good qb? He would have been available to us with the trade down deal we made with KC, and we still would have the added first round pick for the next year. When all is said and done is the qb we select next year (assuming we use a first round pick on a qb) going to be better than the prospect (Mahomes or Watson) we could have had last year? Dithering is not a solution----it is the problem.

The wider the qb pool is the greater the chance that we don't have to trade away draft picks to select a good prospect. Having more draft picks to add an infusion of talent will accelerate the rebuild process and allow this new regime to build the roster the way they want to.

I posted this link on another topic so I apologize for the redundancy. This is a 17 minute segment on WGR with Schoop talking to Eric Galko about this year's rookie qb prospects and next years. He is much more upbeat in his assessment in this year's rookie qb class than many are here. He's also positive about this upcoming class. http://www.wgr550.com/media/audio-channel/8-24-eric-galko-optimum-scouting-talks-quarterbacks-mike-schoppmp3

The below link is a 17 minute segment on WGR with Schoop talking to Erik Galko about last year's qb prospects and this year's crop. He also comments on Tyrod and Peterman. His take of this year's rookie qb class is interesting. He is pretty positive about it. As I said in other postings the ideal situation for us is to be able to get a high end qb prospect without dealing off too many picks. http://www.wgr550.com/media/audio-channel/8-24-eric-galko-optimum-scouting-talks-quarterbacks-mike-schoppmp3

Don't be surprised if the wrestling coach inserts Peterman in the starting lineup entering the third portion of the season when the Bills are predictably out of the playoffs. That won't alter the probability that the Bills will still use their first round pick for a qb. Ideally, the Bills won't have to deal off a lot of picks to place themselves in a positon to get the qb that they want. This team still needs an infusion of talent to bolster their thin roster.

I firmly don't believe that TT is a caliber starting qb. But that doesn't mean that he can't carve out a long term and lucrative back up roll in this league. There is a useful role for him in this league. Fitz has parlayed his limited skills into a wealthy career that is still going on. TT is better in some respects and not so in other respects. If he is as smart as I think he is he can have had a career when it is finished in which he is financially set for the rest of his life.

You don't have to have to watch him play in this year's preseason games to determine the caliber of qb he is. It's not a knock on him to recognize what he can do and can't do as a qb. He has had two years of starting with little elevation of his game. He is what he is: An adequate bridge qb. We are fortunate to have him in the short run but need to do better in the long run.

Don't be surprised if by the last third of the season when the Bills are predictably out of playoff contention that HC will be replacing TT as a starter. It won't be because Peterman is an elite prospect but because the staff knows what they have in TT and they then want to get a more extensive view of Peterman and his capabilities. There might be a secondary not publicly acknowledged reason that they wouldn't be too upset in maintaining its better draft position. There would not be anything sinister or inappropriate about playing younger players as the season winds down for non-playoff teams. It happens all the time. It is a smart approach to take when assessing what you have on the roster.

This is an interesting discussion you are having with HappyDays. I think that if Kizer develops into a franchise qb in the next couple of years the Browns will definitely forge ahead of us. Their organization has accumulated good young players to the point of critical mass where their foundation is in place. I still think our new regime is in the process of culling the roster that was inherited, so from that standpoint of we are starting later in the rebuild process compared to the Browns. The best thing that can happen to the Bills is for them to be in position to draft a good qb without having to deal off picks. If Beane can acquire his qb prospect without dealing his picks then next year if the draft is smartly handled the franchise should be able to an infusion of players to accelerate the rebuild process. Would the situation be dramatically different and Whaley still be our GM if he was allowed to hire Hue Jackson, his preferred coach, instead of the owners hiring the buffoon Rex who did great damage? I say yes.