BillsVet

No one knows for sure what is wrong with Richie, but I had hoped his involuntary psychiatric hold in May would get him the help he needs because the man is not mentally well. Nor is he suited to playing professional football. It's bizarre that he's training hard, but continuing to act out. I hope he has a moment of clarity to see that he needs help.

It's not that cut and dry. Whaley put together teams either treading water or trending downward. And, it took a huge expenditure of cap dollars to get there. After 4 years of Marrone and Rex the Buffalo Bills were out to sea without wind and featuring broken sails. They weren't going anywhere. I get that no one wants to hear patience, but I'm more open to it now that there's at least some plan in place. I couldn't get there under previous regimes because the plan was either short sighted or knee-jerk. This was always a 2-3 year rebuild, given the need to find new personnel. And, to get out of a bad cap situation, find better talent evaluators, and put together a plan that worked in the modern NFL.

I can't recall teams using DE's who can't rush the passer and are strictly run defenders. Besides, McDermott's defense needs to generate pressure from the front 4. Lawson doesn't do that, but copy and paste remains adamant that he won't be cut. He may be in large part because they owe him nothing and didn't pick him.

So much hate. Did Tim kick your dog? ?

Some people have far too much time on their hands.

I knew there was a problem with EJM when he announced after Rookie Mini-Camp in 2013 that the playbook was easier than at FSU. http://miamiherald.typepad.com/florida-state/2013/05/ej-manuel-says-fsu-offense-harder-to-learn-than-buffalo-bills-.html Either little Nate was too simple or EJ was talking out of his fourth point of contact. Perhaps both, but that sort of statement from a rookie is mind-numbing. EJM has been told he's the best since HS and I actually believed it. When Marrone benched him, it probably didn't make sense to him because he'd never had anyone tell him he wasn't good enough.

Symbolism over substance. Had a guy at work years ago talk about how, "sweat doesn't count...results do." Still, I wish Allen the best and hope he becomes the guy.

The old prove a negative argument. A sign of desperation. Keep on keeping on. Or posting relentlessly.

Whaley was also the guy who was leaking to the media at the end of 2016 that it was all Rex's fault. RR is obviously a loudmouth who didn't work extremely hard, but it's difficult to land another NFL job when you're blasting the HC through the front office. And I fully acknowledge that him not getting to hire a HC was not ideal. Brandon essentially hired Marrone and of course TPegs chose RR. That said, it doesn't surprise me Whaley isn't in the NFL yet. He's gonna have to earn his way back into the league after his personnel decisions and behind the scenes shenanigans. That, and he wasn't know as the hardest working dude in the league.

I know BADOL said this earlier, but Shaq's explosion off the snap is really poor and even in college it wasn't all that great. McD's defense needs to generate a pass rush from the front 4 and he can't have one DE who's not a threat to get to the QB. Shaq may be healthy and buying in to keep his career going, but it's not going to make his a quick twitch type.

Something is amiss, but it's impossible to specify anything at this point. Perhaps being sent for a psych evaluation can determine this, but we cannot. I have no idea if it's CTE or mental health issues, but it is something. We know much more about the brain, but not nearly enough and especially considering everyone's is different.

What about high frequency posters who clog and or start numerous threads seemingly every day?

I attribute this to a more competent HC and OBD being in place. The writers and columnists see these people and typically know what right looks like. That's not to say it's a guarantee McBeane will be successful, just that they have a plan which doesn't change every year.

That's nice. I took Latin for a few years as well. There are many reasons why the NFL is losing audience, one of which is players protesting during the anthem is not received well by many in the general public. The NFL's ratings issued started in 2016 and I'm cannot be solely attributed to these protests. But they are most certainly part of the league's issues, or else they wouldn't have taken the step of instituting this new policy. Alea iacta est. The only reason this policy change has occurred is that the NFL is losing money. If the league was making as much as they were and TV ratings were high, ownership and the commissioner wouldn't care at all.

Sal Caffe Latte said this morning that Groy is like the 6th man on a basketball team because he offered flexibility at both guard positions and center. I laughed. An OL isn't a basketball team despite the common number of starters. I wasn't a big TT fan, but his mobility made a less than ideal group at OL look better than they were. Whomever plays QB better have eyes in the back of their head.

A Field Grade officer no less?

There are indeed multiple reasons for the ratings going down. Changing viewer behavior and, among other things, dilution of the product are definitely contributing causes for declining ratings. I always found it hilarious back in 2016 when the league blamed the Presidential Election for lower ratings.

You're at Ft. Hood? LOL Conflating the idea of ratings being down does not remove the fact the NFL has taken a hit in viewership, particularly since 2016. And I suspect that this coincides with the protests, although other things have happened.

It's amazing what happens when the cameras are removed. I applaud the NFL's solution because it still allows players who won't stand to protest outside of camera range where it's made into a spectacle. The NFL, whether they want to admit it or not, is taking a hit financially and has acted. TV ratings are down, largely because fans don't want to watch social justice causes front and center at game time. People just want to watch football and not be inundated with politics. And, given that TV ratings are down, advertisers aren't going to pay for commercial time, which means the networks aren't going to pay more for the TV contracts at the next contract negotiations. Which means the NFL may take a loss in revenue...which cannot happen in business. The players don't care about that...until it's CBA time again. What happens when the league talks about lowered TV revenue influencing the next CBA? I'm sure De Smith would argue, but it could be reality if the social justice stuff continues. The NFL is walking a fine line here trying to appease as many groups as possible. Unfortunately, they're losing more of their base fans than they'd like and now have to backtrack. PS. I'm a combat veteran. And if they want to kneel then so be it. Most of them are making millions playing a sport in the most free country in the world protesting against an issue that statistically isn't.

Trading up is something both Whaley and then McD/Beane have done multiple times. In 2 drafts, Beane and/or Coach McD have moved up 4 times, 3 to draft a non-QB. I've criticized Whaley for the reach up to get Watkins as a bad use of draft resources. Yet, BB/McD have moved up those three times to draft Edmunds for a third to move from 22 to 16, and last year with JOnes (another 3rd) to move from 44 to 37) and then to take Dawkins at 63 (75th and 2 5th round picks). We're going to see how it turns out, but early returns for Jones aren't good. And I'm not talking about what was clearly a mental health issue earlier this off-season.

I don't see Buffalo walking away from Jones because they traded up to 37 (from 44) to draft him last year. That move cost them a 3rd (91st). Still, he had a bad shoulder last season and now has had another surgery. Gotta wonder about his durability at this point.

What prompted this to come out now, 8 years later? One thing I do know is Doug Whaley is not employed with a team 1 month after the draft concluded.

Others have covered the front office leadership debacles from 2001 to present. Those hirings (Levy, Brandon, Nix, Whaley) are the worst because they set in motion bad personnel decisions. During the playoff drought, it was insisting on one guy as the answer at QB and then adamantly refusing to draft another QB high. Levy/Jauron going with Losman in '06. They spent a 3rd on Edwards in '07, then didn't bring in any competition (Fitz was advertised as a backup) to Trentative.. Next, Nix/Gailey ignoring the QB position and thinking Fitz would be the man. They drafted no one in 2011-12, leaving them a huge problem in 2013 when the QB class was putrid. Then, Whaley insisting EJM was the guy, failing to draft anyone in '14 when the talk at OBD was EJM couldn't play. They went with TT in '15 and Whaley made sure Cassel was traded to get his boy EJM onto the field. They drafted no one of note (Cardale was a project) in '16 and only now with a competent (it seems) GM in Beane have they used a high pick on a QB. Either way, there wasn't much competition at QB for too many years while other teams relentlessly tried to improve the position until they got their guy. Cliff notes version: Not getting competition at QB for years, and when they made a move toward that way, it wasn't genuine or with a high resource.

If Josh Allen doesn't throw for 4,000 yards and 35 TDs by the end of mini-camp I'm so done with this team.

What makes you think he's physically capable of repeating his 2013 season? It's kinda like talking about Dez Bryant in that people know the numbers and think the guy just needs a chance or has had time to get to 100%. Both are players whose injuries have reduced them to nothing remotely close to their peak years. People cite the 40 times as if it's still applicable. But, they had a season a few years ago and that somehow means the guy is ready to tear it up again. It's a wish and a prayer.