BillsVet

I thought I heard on the telecast today that TT doesn't see the field real well. He's listed at 6'1, which still is taller than Drew Brees (6'0) and Russell Wilson (5'11). Neither of them have much issue seeing the field and making throws. What precisely has TT done this season to demonstrate he's improved as a pocket passer? I saw the Jags defense load up to stop the run in the first quarter and it worked quite well. If anyone thinks future opposing defenses aren't watching, they're crazy. The idea that defenses don't respect his passing ability should warrant concern after 4 years apprenticing in Baltimore and now with 25 NFL starts. His completion percentage, yards per attempt, and average yards passing per game are all down from 2015. But something tells me the braintrust will remain in place, they'll keep TT, and we're looking at a ceiling of 9 wins.

You may want to delete your signature. Because we're (the team) isn't going to the playoffs this season.

From one Captain Checkdown to another, here is Trentative compared to TT, both in their second season as starter: Trent Edwards 2008: 65.5% completion / Yards per attempt: 7.2 / yards passing per game: 192.8 Tyrod Taylor 2016: 61.3% completion / Yards per attempt: 6.6 / yards passing per game: 193.5 For those saying TT can't be judged because Watkins and Woods have missed time, I doubt the front office earmarks another 27M because their analysis didn't include his top receivers. This is a big decision and he's not really taken the big leap to earn the follow on years to his essentially 1 year deal. And, do you pay a QB that kind of money when he doesn't (as Whaley said last off-season) come from behind? Do you tell the owner, if you're Whaley, to commit another 27M to a player that is average at best? This after they spent big on Dareus, Glenn, Hughes, McCoy, Clay, and Incognito? TT is the perfect QB...if you expect your offense to succeed with the run and your defense is near perfect. Unfortunately, they've handled the QB position as though they can only have 1 option at a time. And right now that's what they have because they're deathly afraid of a QB controversy.

If I'm the owner of this team and care about the W-L total, I want my best players on the field. And when the front office types decide to re-sign a player to the largest contract in team history, I'd want that guy playing. Injuries are one thing, but a player who's physically not taking care of himself, drawing suspensions, and not contributing is a waste of my money. And if that guy isn't playing for being out of shape or a suspension, what's protecting me the owner from wasting money? That's where you hope your principal football decision makers are looking out for me. But in this case, they weren't. I doubt Belichick would invest that kind of money in a player who, despite immense talent, doesn't have the drive to continue improving. He'd pull a Jamie Collins and unload him for something, avoid spending that cash on a player, and already have a replacement in the pipeline who's hungrier and at a lower cost. But this is the Bills and they tend to do their own thing. It's part of the reason why, in 3+ seasons, Doug Whaley's record for teams he's been GM is a mediocre 27-30.

Whatever happened to: “I know it’s been 15 years since the Bills made the playoffs,” Ryan said. “Well get ready, man, we’re going. We are going. . . . My message to our team is to get ready. Start preparing now. Start preparing that we’re going to be playing games in January.” It's been refined to we're having open competition after week 10.

Coaches, players, everything changes yet there is no on-field improvement for this franchise. The real root cause of the problem remains the front office decision makers. From Marv to Brandon to Nix and now Whaley. None of them were/are competent NFL GM's. It's astounding that the current GM and HIS staff swing and miss on so many big decisions (EJM, Dareus contract, Watkins) yet people sing his praises as if he's in line for NFL Executive of the Year. He can barely do an interview without saying something absurd. The Dareus contract is an albatross around their neck. One could say they needed to re-sign him, but they didn't do ownership any favors by giving the player so much room to screw up. That's on Whaley, Overdorf, et al.

You forgot to mention his ability to get his receivers labeled. Then why hasn't Buffalo implemented the Single Wing yet? Check this out: http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/splits/_/id/14163/tyrod-taylor We can debate whether the play-calls are for short passes or the QB is throwing short, but it's most likely a combination of both. Yet, TT is completing less than 46% of his passes beyond 11 yards. He has attempted all of 20 throws over the middle of the field out of 268 attempts. And he's a mere 10-33 for 398 yards on passes beyond 21 yards. Furthermore, two-thirds of TT's throws are to the right or left sideline. Something is not right here and while no one can know the play calls, there hasn't been a lot of improvement for a QB who's in his 2nd year with this offense. QB's in low risk, low reward systems don't get teams to the playoffs. He could run for 1,000 yards and it wouldn't make a difference.

If you're going to demand running stats from a QB as part of the analysis, be prepared to explain the injuries that come with it. TT himself was injured and missed 2 games last season in the Tennessee game when he ran. The QB's who survive and win in the NFL do so with their arm, not scrambling around into the teeth of a defense. There are exceptions like the 250# Cam Newton and Russell Wilson, who now is very much a passer first. TT is not, nor demonstrated the week to week ability to read defenses and make crucial throws when it matters most. Tannehill is average and overpaid. My sense is that's TT's ceiling as well. And neither Miami or Buffalo are going anywhere this year. After 4 seasons apprenticing in Baltimore and 23 NFL starts, one would hope TT would rank better than the 25th or worse in the NFL for completions, completion %, yards passing, and yards/attempt. He ain't getting paid to run.

That's setting the bar high after years of rebuilding. One time in the past 17 years the final game of the season mattered. It's amazing how long this franchise has managed to remain mediocre.

Injuries seem to get Buffalo every year, don't they? It's just bad luck they've continued to be mediocre for so long. Drafting better is a must, but until they develop a strategy that fits with the modern NFL they'll remain a 7-9 win team. Rex hasn't been in the playoffs likely now 6 seasons in a row and it's time to admit his style doesn't work anymore. He needs so many picks on defense that it means the offense is neglected. And that very defense he seems proud of telling us he knows all about isn't working. They've surrendered 100 points in the last 3 games. Yeah, Brady is always going to be a huge obstacle in the way of getting to the post-season. The problem for Buffalo remains that they don't have the QB who can make up for the defense under-performing. Russell Wilson sure did a great job of doing this last night. Credit Belichick for evolving on how to build a team. His first few SB winners were dominated by defense with enough offense thrown in. As the game has changed to favor offense, NE is known for their weapons for Brady and defense doesn't have the priority. That's not to say they're terrible there, only that the HC adapted. Rex hasn't adapted, won't adapt, and we're left with a team stuck in 1985.

Will T/K Pegs have the audacity to fire the greatest GM in the world? Don't they know he drafted Ron Darby AND traded for Jerry Hughes?

Care to comment on how 5'7 165# Nickey Robey is the one draped all over 6'7 260# Jimmy Graham or 6'6 265# Rob Gronkowski?

I'm still amazed they called the QB keeper for the 2 point conversion and other designed QB runs. He's going to get hurt running into the teeth of a defense. That said, his escapability is outstanding. Now to work on the passing accuracy and OTM throws.

Glenn is being paid to play LT. No team invests 60M on someone to play RT. In fairness, Whaley took Kouandijio and Miller is 2014 and 2015 respectively. But it's a huge swing and miss to draft an OT who had medical issues and then watch him not make the starting roster.

You forgot the injury excuse. That gets Buffalo every year. Yet, at WR, Robert Woods goes for 10 and 162 and people still say the receiving group is battered. Charles Clay targeted 4 times. The Bills are what they are.

Some poster's egos are on the line and now bruised so they're forced to make excuses (injuries, coaching). Or, they flat out attack other posters when their prognostications fall woefully short. No GM since Polian has had more resources to win with and yet, the Bills routinely find themselves among the average to mediocre teams. 9 out of the last 10 seasons this team has won 6-9 games. If that ain't mediocrity I don't know what is.

Teams don't typically remain mediocre to average for 4-5 years. They either get above average or sink into being bad. Amazingly, the Bills have rode the rails of mediocrity/averge for the past 5 years (2011-2015) where they've gone 35-45. They've won between 6 and 9 games for nine out of the past ten seasons. People point to Whaley's drafting/trading/signing some solid players. While's he's made some good additions, the goal is to win games and not build individual positions. Right now, he's not done enough of that to warrant keeping his job.

If the season is divided in halves of 8 games, the Bills have recorded 5-3 results 5 times since the playoff drought began in 2000: 2002 1st half: 5-3 (finished 8-8) 2004 2nd half: 6-2 (finished 9-7) 2008 1st half: 5-3 (finished 7-9) 2011 1st half: 5-3 (finished 6-10) 2014 1st half: 5-3 (finished 9-7) Over the years we've seen a lot of changes and no results. The demoralizing aspect to this remains that changes are necessary to advance beyond mediocre to average quality of play. Right now it doesn't look like ownership is willing to be bold and find people who can develop a team identity consistent with winning in the modern NFL.

Doug Whaley saying he's "excited" is a broken record. He probably gets excited going to the dentist for a root canal.

TT was a UFA after 4 years apprenticing in Baltimore. I know Denver attempted to sign him, but he went to Buffalo to have a chance at starting. I'm not so sure he'd be in demand to start many other places save for the woeful franchises as a stop-gap option. It's 8 games into his 2nd full season of starting and his completion percentage is now beneath 60% and his yards per attempt is about 6.4. Last season at this time he was well north of a 65% completion rate and around 7.8 yards per attempt. We're getting to the point, as with every QB, when fans begin debating whether it's the QB or the scheme at fault. Something tells me it's a little of both with the QB having issues processing the speed of the game. Opposing DC's caught up to TT's tendencies and capitalized on his weaknesses.

And how many coaches do you need to develop a game plan and communicate it. Seems like there's too many chefs in the kitchen.

You can't have a QB controversy unless you actually draft QB's. Buffalo hasn't taken a QB who may have challenged the incumbent starter since Trentative in 2007. The Bills have a GM who's gathering players for a HC. Both individuals are building a roster that won't be anything better than average. And going from 8-8 to 10-6 or better is a huge leap that will be hard without a QB who can take over a game and/or make up for sub-par defense or a poor running game.

Wasn't McShay discredited long ago on TBD?

Worst receiving corps in 25 years? Now there's an exaggeration. I don't understand why, with Harvin oft-injured then retiring and Hogan leaving via UFA that they wouldn't look at the WR position this off-season. Whaley entered the the 2016 off-season with an injured Watkins and added the likes of Leonard Hankerson, Jarrett Boykin, Greg Sales, Greg Little, and Walter Powell. This, after having another injury waiting to happen in Goodwin and only Woods on the roster. His response? Draft Kolby Listenbee in the 6th round. I get that talking personnel and risk is beyond some here, but shouldn't a NFL GM anticipate that the WR corps was weak and/or banged up to begin with? And that replacing the departures with who they did probably wasn't a good solution?

It's not hard to stop TT and this offense. Load up to stop the run and force him to throw the ball. Case in point, the league's then 31st ranked run defense stopped Buffalo's running game and made TT throw the ball. When he starts making more down-field throws like he did with Goodwin, defenses will back off. But he doesn't do that enough and so you get what occurred at Miami. And I get that he's without Watkins and Woods, although Clay is used sparingly in this offense. And McCoy has only 20 catches for 97 yards in 7 games. Buffalo's passing offense is becoming more dink and dunk in order to minimize turnovers. People point to the 2 INT's he's thrown in 7 games, but there's a cost to not being aggressive. TT's yards per attempt and accuracy have both fallen dramatically from 2015.