BillsVet

INtensively disINterested with this thread. A poster with "Lombardi" in their screen name needs to be better. A lot better.

You don't get paid for what you've done. It's for what you're going to do. Backs have a short shelf life and they age rapidly. Shaun Alexander is a perfect example of a guy who got huge money and then fell off the face of the earth. He had his best season at 28 and then dropped precipitously. Alexander's 2005 season is a lot similar to Murray's 2014: 370+ carries, 1800+ yards and the next year they did not produce half the season after. I'll grant that Murray has less miles on his tires, but he's also been banged up in recent years as well. And both Seattle of 2005 and Dallas 2014 had good OL's.

Roman has to be the more important one. The HC is a known defensive guy who'll bring his guy to "manage" the defense. The OC has more work to do and less talent to do it with. If they're going to be a run first team as some suspect, then they'd better be darn good about it with Manuel. NFL defenses are good at stacking the box to stop the run and forcing bad QB's to make mistakes.

Perhaps. The RB position is still devalued, and I still don't see anything changing that.

They're playing DB and perhaps LB as well. Getting to the QB is next to being the QB for getting paid. Ben Tate got 2 years and 7M last year and was cut fairly early in the season. Besides, with QB's taking up more cap room than ever, it stands to reason there'll be other positions who won't earn as much. It's not an insult, but for cap managers it makes sense. He won't get that kind of cash anywhere else. Not from a team interested in improving where it matters most. How many of the 8 teams that played last season this season have great backs? Aside from Murray and Marshawn Lynch, every other team that played in the divisional round had no better than an above average back.

It looks like Mitch McConnell is on your avatar there. LOL They want to win now and hiring Rex says that. Everyone knows it's not going to happen with a solid running game and game manager QB. Time to think big and bold. Yet, there is a difference between being bold and then throwing caution to the wind. L'audace, l'audace, toujours, l'audace!

Thank goodness. I was worried there for a second Rex's hiring would disrupt the space-time continuum.

It would be a little scary. OK, really scary.

Kroenke really wants a losing team so he can move the team to LA.

I really don't understand why the media must validate or affirm an individual fan's opinion. Who cares what any of them say? It cannot ruin the fact that Buffalo is coming to terms with Rex Ryan to be their next HC.

Jimmy Sexton did a number on Brandon, as Eugene Parker has done as well. While Russ may talk a nice game for the fans, he doesn't have the experience to deal with sport agents. The results bear that out. And we see what Sexton has been up to lately with Marrone, although the NYC media has quickly thrown a wet blanket over that. I think Marrone is more a product of his agent than actually a top candidate for a HC position. And I think the same holds true back in 2013 when Sexton manufactured this image of a highly in-demand coach who in reality wasn't.

No reason to listen to a guy who inexplicably cost them another 4M and hired Marrone. Cue the Brandon apologists, but if the last HC search was any indication, Brandon should stick to what he's done outside of football operations.

Nix started talking QB after it was clear in 2012 that Fitzpatrick wasn't getting this team further along. IIRC, it was about November 2012 or so.

Then what happened in 2010 when Nix was trying to hire a HC?

If HC's are wary of Manuel, then fans should be as well. Some will say he's raw, but after 2 years with an NFL organization that shouldn't be the case anymore. I get that some people refuse to believe EJ's not starting material, but after throwing more than 400 passes, he's about a 58% completion guy combined with a low yards per attempt (6.4 yards). Given these metrics, I don't think it's only a coaching thing with EJ. Coaching can only get him so far and these prospective HC's know this.

Outstanding analysis there. Russ apparently is still upset Eugene Parker made him look like a chump when he was GM (of football).

That Jimmy Sexton never stops planting false rumors. When the coaching musical chairs stops Marrone will be left standing. And there's nothing his agent can do about it.

Pittsburgh had 1 HC hired during his tenure there, and I'm sure Kevin Colbert didn't need someone from Pro Personnel assisting much. And here in Buffalo, it's been made clear that Brandon and Nix made the Marrone hire. No one's saying he hasn't worked in a NFL front office or that he hasn't handled pro personnel or amateur scouting. Just that he's not hired a HC before. It is obvious that, unlike when Brandon led the search in 2013, Whaley has lined up several qualified candidates for interviews.

The Bills need a lot more salvos fired in order to clear out the old guard though.

Lot of sophistry right there. The fact remains that the GM said they planned to make the playoffs (hence the Watkins trade) and they did not do so. The new narrative being pushed here is that it was Marrone and/or the staff (specifically offensive) for not having a better offense. Is there enough talent on offense right now to win? Because now the debate has devolved into blaming it entirely on coaches without much focus on talent. Whether or not players regress isn't necessarily a coaching thing anyway. Ever get behind in games and lose motivation? Because the Bills have had a lot of that over the years. I guess people forget the team has tried guys like Colin Brown, Kraig Urbik, Chris Williams, Cyril Richardson, and Erik Pears at guard in the past 2 years. Can coaching improve those guys to play against outstanding interior OL? Nah, couldn't be. When things go wrong, it's usually someone in management's fault. It's partially the fault of the coaches, but would there be as many issues if the team could have found decent guards and figured out the QB on the first shot? Probably not.

None of this has anything to do with Kouandjio and Manuel. The reality is, they added offensive coaching in 2014 to help Nate. Specifically, QB coach Todd Downing, Senior Offensive Assistant Jim Hostler, while retaining OL coach Pat Morris. And, they were in the 2nd year of whatever system they ran! It's sooooo convenient for people to blame Marrone now that he's gone. I get the guy was a jerk and probably not a good coach, but he was a symptom and not the disease here. Personnel acquired is the problem, and that's Whaley's thing. He's failed to build an OL, and even the guys Marrone finally had to play (Urbik) were mediocre. I guess people forget about Jim McNally, who, despite being a renowned OL coach, couldn't get much out of the OL circa 2007, save for Jason Peters (who was 2nd team All-Pro that year). You can have all the coaches in the world, but without some talent you're left hanging. And the talent in 2014 on the OL, specifically the interior, was severely lacking. That's on the guy trying to convince prospective HC's that Manuel needs more development.

Back into form CB. Did it really take more than 2 seasons to see that Blaine Gabbert wasn't good enough? Because if there's one guy I see who has EJ's career arc it's that guy. Why does a team need to wait 3 years before figuring a guy can play? Do you need to see miss on passes down-field and check down to backs and TE's? Heck, Buffalo's own WR's, Woods especially, were echoing this sentiment. For as good as this team has been finding defensive talent, they've done very little for offensive personnel. Well, aside from trading away their top pick in 2015, signing scrubs like Chris Williams, and trading for guys like Bryce Brown who couldn't supplant a RB 8 years older.

Manuel and Kouandjio.

Did we re-invade the Holy Land and I missed it?

Yep. And regardless of whom they report to, no one's going to take the job being hamstrung by an incompetent GM. It's scary the highest ranking football person in the organization, who the new owners are relying on to provide advice and lead a coaching search, traded away a first round pick when they were more than 1 player away, and has drafted what look like 2 busts within the first 2 rounds in his first two drafts. Unreal.