BillsVet

Maybe Dabo Swinney, Chan Gailey, and the recently departed Bills coaches knew more about CJ than some would give them credit for. Spiller never touched the ball more than 260 times in 9 D1/NFL seasons which seems to indicate he wasn't durable enough to be an every-down back. The guy either "needed a blow" or was constantly getting dinged up. Not much of a return on a top 10 pick, especially when he's the first pick to begin a major rebuild.

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Transcript-Bills-introduce-Tom-Gibbons-and-Chuck-Cook/ed4da251-c62f-4859-8007-f66dffba96c1 Buddy hired Gibbons and Cook, but only after Modrak was fired in May 2011. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/05/04/bills-fire-longtime-personnel-executive-tom-modrak/

Notice how it's Whaley firing guys Buddy Nix hired? Tom Gibbons, Pro Personnel Director went in January. Chuck Cook was demoted and Whaley replaced them with his guys...Monos and Fisher back in 2013/4.

I would agree that QB's should be showing something by year 3 and it is indeed a big transition from college to the pros. It's pretty much make or break for EJM in 2015 and IIRC, the GM has said as much. If he does become the guy they envisioned when picked 2 years ago, well great. I'm interested in seeing how the QB trio fares in camp given the new coaching staff.

You're not a career-minded GM, HC, assistant, or a veteran player trying to win now though. This isn't just about EJ. It's about getting a team into the playoffs and QB play remains the big question mark. If it makes people feel good to say the guy's working hard, so be it. But at this point I've heard a lot of that and there aren't results when the real snaps are taken. And I really don't care if I'm labeled a "hater" because that's what those who can't debate will say in the face of skepticism about a player who hasn't been consistent.

EJ may not have as much time on a roster, but he's more game experienced than Taylor.

How do you find a very good to franchise level QB if you don't take one? Besides, we're told you can't evaluate QB's until they've been in the league a few seasons. Right? Isn't that the mantra preached whenever anyone remarks EJ isn't showing progress?

Kiko didn't fit their defense for 2015 and Spikes was a 2 down guy. That said, Brown was put into the lineup early, wasn't a liability in coverage and improved throughout the season.

Forget it, he's rolling. But it's interesting to see how often Sammy is used by Roman within an offense that'll be more run-oriented. If Cassel wins the job and they can use the PA pass (as we're told MC is adept at) Sammy should have plenty of opportunities.

Luck may get you a TD here, a turnover there, or a winning FG, but talent is the quality that provides consistency throughout a season. I fail to comprehend why fans consistently cite luck as the thing keeping this team from winning. And it's tiring to hear people make excuses about why the Bills haven't found a good QB, not necessarily a franchise guy. They've missed so many opportunities, particularly draft day 2011, 2012, and 2014 which gets us to 2015. Now, they're depending on a journeyman they traded low picks for (Cassel), a complete unknown (T. Taylor), and a first round pick who's shown precious little in 2 seasons (Manuel). The coaching staff is better and the skill positions are better. The question is will the QB position negate all of it.

I have a feeling his leap will be somewhat like this:

Castle? Whatever happened to Chas. Rhinegold?

As a combat veteran who has attended games where the Bills did their "Salute to Service" in hindsight, it feels insincere, considering they were paid to do so. I'm all for the NFL and their franchises being successful, but honoring the military should be something you do out of the goodness of your organization, not because someone paid you to do it.

You have an uniformed opinion.

Pro Personnel has been hit and miss the past few years and admittedly, Whaley's sample size isn't very large. I would argue however he was in transition to the GM during the winter/early spring of 2013. McKelvin and Wood are the guys who've regressed from 2013 to 2014, and both were signed in the former year. Wood has struggled more since his 2011 knee injury and it's been pretty obvious. IIRC, he admitted his level of play regressed this season and it's not fair to conflate that in the context of the entire OL, although the 2014 OL was very poor.

Perhaps I was slightly harsh, because the interior of that OL was putrid last season. Cyril Williams, Kraig Urbik, and Erik Pears aren't much to write home about. Eric Wood, from the moment he called out Aaron Maybin, has been a fan favorite. I also like how he described the Toronto series a few years ago, but it doesn't remove the fact his play fell off a little last year. He's a guy to watch in 2015 given what we hope is improved G play on that OL.

I've never heard of this term "glue contract", but it explains why the Bills inexplicably gave Chris Kelsay a 4 year 24m deal early in the 2010 season. I guess Whaley really did learn a few things from Nix, because both have re-signed under-producing players to deals well beyond their team value. BTW, which other NFL GM's are wont to provide "glue contracts" to their veteran players who are good in the locker room? The things I learn from this board. You doubt Doug Whaley? Blasphemy!

Kouandjio is not nor ever will be a LT in the NFL. No matter how much work does in the off-season, it won't remove the fact he's not agile enough to handle the quicker pass rushers. As to Cordy, well, it's a contract year. If anyone thinks that doesn't factor so much into personnel decisions, think again. It could also be this staff's attempt to motivate him. At this point, everything is conjecture and symbolism over substance.

I thought the receivers were highly thought of, considering one is a renowned 2014 top-5 pick and the other was a solid receiver taken in the 2nd the year of Manuel's selection. Which one is it? Is it the QB not playing at the level of the receivers or the receivers not keeping pace with the QB? To me, when the receivers are being thrown balls that could get them a serious injury, it tells me the receivers aren't wrong. Go back and watch the tape of the Houston game when Manuel almost gets Robert Woods killed on a short pattern. And there were other examples of receivers being hung out to dry. All of this reminds me of some fans in 2007 who claimed that if Losman had better coaching, he'd be as good as Eli Manning. Objectivity, especially with regard to Manuel, is the endangered species here.

This first part of the response is really an immature way to respond to someone who puts forward a non-cheerleading post about Manuel. I get this is a fan's board, but characterizing those with counter-arguments to what most fans say is off the mark. At the same time, I keep reading how Manuel hasn't progressed because he had such poor coaching. That his development can now begin with better people in charge. And yet no one on the team seems to be talking Manuel up...at all. In fact, there's a lot of discussion about Tyrod Taylor, he of the 35 career NFL passes variety. That should make fans, even the rah-rah ones, stand up and take notice. Especially those who believe Manuel is just some better coaching away from success. Manuel doesn't strike me as just needing better coaching. He needs mechanics and better decision making. We'll see what happens when camp starts in July.

You've gotta wonder if they'll attempt to renegotiate Mario's contract. He's going into the 4th year of a 6 year deal and the cap hit is substantial each year IIRC.

It means Duke Williams and Jonathan Meeks aren't long for this team.

The HC and OC are markedly better than their predecessors. I my mind, that relates to the fact they've performed well at the job they were hired to do here. It's a slightly different scenario, but Dan Snyder tried to spend big on coaches over 10 years ago and it didn't work. Here, one would expect NFL types like Rex and Roman would have game-plans to use their talent better than people like Marrone and Hackett.

Any analysis of the trade needs to include the financial impact because McCoy came over on a sizable contract and Alonso's was still a rookie deal. No one knows how these two players will be in new environments and I get that fans are giddy over the prospect of McCoy in their backfield. But, at some point, the Bills moves this off-season will affect their ability to make moves down the road. Of course, that's not the issue because they know they're in win-now mode. Hopefully they get those wins this season.

And the fact he's been chronically injured throughout his career. But he at least got to take a picture with Marrone in snow March 2014.