BillsVet

Does anyone remember 5 years ago the Bills getting turned down for interviews by the likes of Brian Schottenheimer, Jim Harbaugh, et al.? Now they're getting interviews, but as with back then, they still don't have a QB. And yet Whaley is insisting that they do or will have one for what I figure is one of if not two reasons: 1. He made the call on Manuel and league insiders know this. He's going to take the heat for it if Manuel doesn't develop and doesn't want someone who'll go another direction. I suspect he wants to use resources on the OL, perhaps RB, and TE and hope Manuel improves tremendously. 2. He doesn't see a way for them to get a better option this off-season. EJ's thrown 437 NFL passes. Coaching may not have been solid, but to lay the blame on Marrone (who's out the door making it convenient) is a cop-out. Manuel at his best cannot get this team to the playoffs. And it should be expected that Buffalo make the post-season in 2015. It'll be interesting to see who they end up with. Because career minded people like NFL DC/OC/HC's don't sign up for wet-nursing QB's.

Don't worry, it'll end in about 8 months. Then we can find out whether or not EJ is Akili Smith v2.0.

Ever heard of Norv Turner? Besides they had a new OC and scheme almost every year Smith was there. EJ lacks the things which can't be taught. Pocket presence, accuracy, and an ability to read defenses. Shanahan ain't got time for that.

And Wilfork sat down after achieving a performance incentive in his contract. Which one I'm not sure.

It's always best to stand pat and wait for the QB to come to you. Not having a first round pick means the Bills' leverage is severely weakened. It means they have almost no opportunity, short of trading their 2016 first rounder, to move up if a QB is available. I'm not saying one will be, but it also means they can't trade down to acquire extra picks either. When you mortgage your future, eventually the piper needs to be paid. Maybe there won't be a good QB available at 19. What I do know is the Bills have almost no shot at getting one between about the mid first round and deep into the second. That is, unless they want to trade more picks. From a strategic perspective the trade for Watkins made no sense, especially considering what they had at QB. Instant gratification fans will never see that though.

Is Mike Tomlinson related to LaDainian? If so I'd want the latter for RB coach.

I'm sorry but what team allows their 73 year old GM to pick a HC? And some ascribe the Bills not making the playoffs to bad luck. And why would Russ Brandon essentially abdicate this crucial decision to a guy everyone knew was out the door? Russ has never pushed off a decision he could make since being named CEO and later president. I would love for the next HC to have a close relationship with Whaley. The last coaches haven't, but I think that's more because personalities didn't mesh. And that's because the person hiring the GM and HC were hired by an amateur in Brandon.

At the end of the day Doug, can your thin skin endure the NYC media?

That Eugene Parker. 😉 Gotta hand it to him...he worked hard after getting paid and suffering a serious injury. There were many who didn't think he'd do that. Not Russ Brandons finest moment.

I'm not arguing those guys aren't replaceable or were exceptional options. I'm saying the team looks bad and it won't help in their ability to hire another coach or attract free agents.

They've lost their starting QB, their HC, and had a respected executive turn down a job offer in 72 hours. They need to hire a HC, determine who will do that, and probably hire a team president. Who leads that search? It is a surreal turn of events for a team that hasn't done well in public relations over the years. And ownership is still silent.

I want to like the Pegula's, but right now the franchise they paid 1.4B for is in off-season free fall. Perhaps there's a plan, but I get the feeling they are putting out fires and there was no plan after the season concluded. Terry and/or Kim need to respond.

I think Brandon goes if he can take his hand-picked team of chiefs, his executive assistant, and of course, his copy of Ralph's HOF bust. That and a nice severance package of the final money owed on his contract. Lol

The timing of this is so perfect. These insiders have to "pay" for their information and this is one way how they do it.

When did TBD become a site for individuals to generate clicks for their threads?

Who's to say this team doesn't slide back to 6 or 7 wins next season? There's going to be a new QB, the OL isn't strong, and the OC and HC couldn't game-plan to maximize the use of their primary weapons, one of whom they traded a king's ransom for. Buffalo was 11th in the AFC in points scored and their offensive rankings in 2013 and 2014 were poor. I don't see a QB on the horizon who'll improve that in 2015, nor do I see an innovative group which can somewhat compensate for that.

So you're in favor of keeping Pat Morris?

After the Oakland loss Marrone made it a point to say he was disappointed in the OL play, which I think many took as a shot at Whaley for not getting better talent. I have no idea what their talent identification and draft day process was, but to think he is totally outside that sphere is outrageous. We really don't know what he wants to do on offense because it's changed drastically from 2013 to 2014. First they wanted to be uptempo and this year it was anything but. Frankly, if he's concerned with personnel maybe he shouldn't have let things go late into the season before admitting the OL was not good enough. Worse, I think he wants more control over personnel as a result of his relationship with Whaley. I'm not sure he's earned that yet.

I'm still not clear the lead football guys, Whaley as top personnel guy and Marrone as HC, have moved any closer in 2 seasons toward establishing an identity that'll work in today's NFL. At yesterday's PC, Marrone talked how they wanted to maintain their defensive success and improve the special teams play. So they picked up more talent to help Crossman and some contributors to solidify the defense. Mission accomplished I guess. Yet, only after talking defense and ST did Marrone get around to talking about the offense and specified reducing turnovers as a goal. That's wonderful in theory, but if it means (as I suspect it does) they'll try to accomplish this with fewer throws downfield then what era does Marrone think this is? No one's winning in the NFL of 2014 with good defense, good ST play, and a safe conservative offense that tries to nickel and dime opponents. Heck, everyone's offensive focused, even Belichick and the Steelers seem to be offense first now. And the best I can see this team going with their "plan" is 9-7. It's the latest incarnation of Jauron ball, only this time they had more on offense and a better defense. What good is it to straddle the line between mediocrity and average? I suppose someone will say that they don't have a QB or a better OL and that's why they're not good offensively. Well, 2 years in that's the wrong answer and the fault lies with the GM and HC who've now gone through 2 QBs and are no closer to a long term answer than they were in early 2013.

I'm going to go ahead and disagree in true Bill Lumbergh fashion with your take. But I get why you disagree. Fair enough.

KtD you and I both know that Nix didn't retire unexpectedly in May 2013. Are we to believe Brandon didn't have a plan in place for Nix to step down and Whaley take over when he became team president? For a guy like Brandon to not have a plan and figure Nix would be there until the latter told him he wouldn't is a stretch. This is business/marketing guru Russ Brandon we're talking about here. Furthermore, remember when they went looking a HC early in 2010? They couldn't get an interview, save for Fewell, Leslie Frazier, and Gailey. And so the choice was Gailey. Fast forward 3 years and all of a sudden they get all these HC candidates? Why? What changed? Couldn't it be that Brandon told the HC candidates that the GM was changing to make the position as Buffalo HC more appealing? It wasn't because Brandon had replaced RW as defacto owner either. I don't buy for one minute that anyone but Brandon selected the HC, or that Russ had the biggest vote among Nix and Whaley on the HC. And that Nix was being pushed aside behind closed doors upon Brandon taking over. The results were disastrous and no way would anyone worth a dime keep the same GM in place and expect to get decent HC candidates.

Whaley didn't hire Marrone. Marrone is close to Brandon, who did have the most say in hiring him. Heck, before the Oakland game, Brandon was talking to Marrone in the fieldhouse while the former was in shorts and a sweatshirt. This conflict is the product of the team president deciding on a HC and not the GM, who should have the say given that much of his success or failure is the determined by that HC. And people wonder why the franchise can't get it right for 15 years.

The excuse making begins. At least this year injuries cannot be cited for why the Bills failed to reach the playoffs. Beat two of the following: HOU with Fitz, KC at home, MIA away (after the bye) and OAK in Week 16. But it didn't happen and they're on the outside looking in - again.

I found it interesting that GR began using Sal Capaccio for their sideline reports on gameday. I thought that was Joe B.'s thing, but apparently he's been shifted toward being an "insider" who reviews All-22 film. Joe B. does what many "insiders" do to maintain their reputation. They make few bold predictions and provide analysis that allows them room to maneuver. That said, he seems like a nice enough guy, but I would think he'd be more than just analytics and tossing softballs to Bills people. Of course, consider that GR wants to maintain the radio contract and isn't going to attack their partner, who could always take the contract away.

QB's who have accuracy problems coming into the NFL typically leave the NFL with accuracy issues. And I'm not talking about completion percentage, which is a statistic that doesn't measure accuracy. What is strange is that Hackett's scheme, which as far as I can see is a WCO, requires a very accurate QB. Why they drafted a QB with accuracy issues to fit this offense makes little sense to me. EJ excels when he can throw to a point target and has avoided making throws to players close to coverage. You're not going to have many of the throws he likes, which is why he checked down so often to backs and tight ends. When Marrone talked yesterday about turnovers, he talked about reducing them. Well, that's good, but I think the way he'd like to reduce them is to play conservative football. And they have most likely coached EJ in this way, which makes me question their coaching ability on offense. A QB has to make the sum greater than the parts. And EJ cannot do that right now or probably by the opening of the 2015 season.