BillsVet

Tyrod Taylor: Training Camp All-Star I can't wait for someone to cite training camp statistics as evidence he's turned a corner in now his 7th NFL training camp. Oh, wait. It should be alarming the OC has said what he has. Amazing the Bills find QB's who think it's still college and there will be wide open receivers. Yet, when they're not the offense breaks down quickly.

What is Reggie's dad doing posting here? To the point, your opinion is based on what? A youtube video? Or just the natural off-season fantasy that an unknown factor will work out. He's never played a NFL down, is learning a new scheme and one that requires LBs to cover and run well. He's not a Thomas Davis type and it's not a guarantee he fits in McD's defense. Not to mention, the new coaching staff owes him nothing, 2nd round pick or not.

I've always loved your methodology. Ask a loaded question, demand an answer to said question, receive no suitable answer, and declare victory. It's brilliant. Kouandjio's release occurred because 1. By all reports, to sign Streater. 2. They've drafted Dawkins and still have Mills with Glenn the starting LT. CK wasn't going to be in the mix at RT. 3. He offered cap savings(1M+ as a pre-June 1st cut). 4. His lack of versatility because it was likely he wouldn't start. Being a swing OT means playing both positions if called upon. CK can't do that. This has nothing to do with conflating the argument by citing "88 players" nonsense. Now, answer my question: Why are you on a never-ending crusade to defend all Whaley decisions? Why do you feign support of Whaley players now? What could possibly have happened to make your opinion moot?

Why do you so fervently defend a now former member of the team? Why do you deflect from the fact he wasn't good enough to play under two coaching staffs and has (EDIT:now) been cut by a third? And go figure, I'm defending the team's personnel decisions now. But you're not defending the team, only the player and, as an extension, the former GM who selected him. Agenda? Nah, couldn't be.

He was the swing tackle for the previous coaching staff. He isn't (now wasn't) that for the new coaching staff who clearly didn't see enough to retain him for even training camp. I don't know what happened to him last month, but it could very well be a mental health issue. And I highly doubt a capable player (in your opinion) would be released this early because of that. You've conveniently blamed this strange incident because you can't bear to believe the player wasn't good enough for the new coaching staff. The depths Whaley cheerleaders have to go to defend lil' Doug. He's gone and so are more of his players. Thank goodness.

It's not as necessary to have excellent interior DL with the modern NFL. Dareus is entering his 7th season and he's demonstrated that conditioning isn't a priority. That might work when you're 22 or 23, but not after the wear and tear of 6 seasons in your rear view mirror. I would expect his missed games to increase if his work ethic doesn't improve.

I doubt the incident in the field contributed much and, if it is a mental health issue, releasing a player for that reason seems far-fetched. It's another draft pick who didn't produce. And the new regime has no obligation to him, 2nd round pick or not. He couldn't get on the field as a 2nd round pick for the previous staffs. It's not a stretch to say the current HC and staff had the same opinion.

Uninspired because you weren't on board with firing the GM? Or uninspired because you've deemed them incapable of winning at this early juncture? McD/Beane seem more suited to the modern NFL than their predecessors did, which was essentially get a better player here and another one there. This isn't about simply being in the playoffs..it's sustaining a winner season after season. Because the Bills have mastered mortgaging their future for the present and it failed miserably. I'm ready for a new calculated approach.

The lifers, it turns out, will lose the war. They delayed it after T/K Pegs bought the team, but it was inevitable with the results we've become accustomed to.

Worlds are colliding here. I think somewhere the space-time continuum has been disrupted. To the OP's point though: We all want to make the playoffs and the sooner the better. If it's this season, great. The likelihood based on roster composition and the positions you've mentioned make it a tough sell. Some of the stronger areas of the team last year may not be in 2017. If it goes further, it can go to officer candidate school or a service academy and become Lieutenant Noplayoffs.

You've conflated the discussion into all teams having depth at positions. Well, yeah but that's not the point. Buffalo has starting and depth issues all over the field, save for perhaps interior OL and DL. Name another position where they are strong other than...FB. And I would point out that players age, player performance isn't always carried over from season to season, the schedule will be challenging, and their depth will be challenged.

It's a perennial occurrence on TBD that fans cite injuries for Buffalo not succeeding. And that's going to happen in 2017 because they're razor thin across the board, save perhaps interior OL, and DL. One injury disrupts just about every other position. RB depth is nil and McCoy has had a balky hammy for a while now. WR depth is a complete unknown and the starters aren't close to set. Others here already made the case they're thin at LB (even playing nickel) and the secondary is still completely new. Beyond Hyde, there isn't a capable starter there. Starters and depth at corner are an unknown and the talent drop off will be evident if one of them gets hurt. I like where the management is going. But installing new schemes on both sides of the ball is a double edged sword. While it means other teams aren't sure how to plan for them as well, the players need to learn what the staff wants to do...again. The off-season purge was years perhaps decades overdue. Doing things right takes time and I can't see them, with this schedule, winning more than 6 games. No one's calling it a rebuild, but that's precisely what it is.

Selected a QB with his first rounder in 2013. Traded up to take the then ranked top WR in 2014. Traded for McCoy (at RR's urging) in 2015. Signed Clay the same year. Nix and Whaley seemed like scouts miscast in management roles. That there wasn't alignment between coaching and the front office isn't hard to see, but it's a subject that goes too deep in the weeds for many. But if you're looking for improvement, that relationship needs to be there. And it hasn't been since Polian and Marv were working together.

Welcome to corporate America. If you're complaining about resources, you likely won't be complaining long. Whaley didn't have the perfect situation. He also had it far better, at least in resources, than preceding GM's who worked within RW's antiquated system.

I think TPegs has found his football man and, to borrow a favorite Brandon word, "empowered" him to make substantive changes. We don't know how that'll work out, but I'm confident that McD and whomever the GM is will be ownership's true football people. And Russ will remain in his role. If Smithers attempts to interfere, I think unlike with the Whaley front office, there will be push back because saving their skin isn't the primary objective anymore.

I think everyone wants results. At the same time, the first evidence is there to show this isn't the same old same old. This isn't status quo packaged as new. This isn't Marrone pointing at the lifers 3 years ago and Russ stepping in to protect them. It's the closest to real substantive change there's ever been at OBD. It's going to be a new regime both in terms of coaching AND in the front office next season. Sure, McD could be unsuccessful. But he won't be unsuccessful because RW cronies were still pulling the strings from behind the scenes. He's the first HC in some time who'll control his own destiny. He wouldn't have taken this job without that assurance.

It's called human nature, grown men or not. Almost no one wants a reduction in their role or less attention, especially when money is involved.

Perhaps TPegs is a George Costanza fan?

If TT suddenly finds the ability to see down field, sure. Makes you wonder how Clay would respond to getting fewer targets though if Barnidge is also on the field.

In a roundabout way, McD was the consultant some of us have advocated for going back to TPegs purchasing the team in 2014. It's still ironic that Whaley pushed to get RR fired, won that battle, and then lost the war because the successor at HC promptly demanded the GM's tenure end.

I know. Does this mean I'm becoming a Bills homer?

Check McD's resume. Besides, how many years did Belichick or Carroll or Andy Reid work in a front office before becoming coaches? He's been in the league since the late 90s and I'd like to think he's learned what he needs to do to be successful. He's worked for coaches that understand the alignment necessary between personnel and the coaching staff.

People act like it's unprecedented for a new CEO type to come in the building and end the status quo. If there's a new leader in town it's typically because the previous one wasn't successful and changes needed to be made. McD did what any decent CEO would do upon taking over a sinking ship. He pushed for changes and control to reverse the continued slide into oblivion. And that meant axing an underwhelming GM and his staff. It's not all Whaley's fault, but he was more of a problem than a solution. He's the one standing up and making the changes, knowing full well that he'll take the arrows if things don't work. This is a tremendous change after years of people pointing at others when there was continued failure.

(EDIT: Right now) I'll take that over faith in the former GM.

Results matter and Doug Whaley didn't get results. Sure, he didn't have the perfect situation with which to be successful, but he had a whole lot more to work with than many of his predecessors. I can't imagine him having to work under the constricted spending that occurred during the RW years. Imagine having to trade your only All-Pro player because they couldn't come to terms on an agreement. Imagine having Overdorf release players out from under you. The new ownership who inherited him did what they're allowed to do. Now it's on Coach McD. 30-34 is all that matters.