Gailey's talent assessment???

[Dragonborn10]

He started Trent over Fitz(I know he looks great in practice), Spiller and Lynch over Jackson, allowed Kelsay and Johnson to play OLB, Moats was moved to ILB, played Levitre at center, kept Batten on an NFL roster, has now moved Carrington from DE to OLB to DT, and thought Merriman could play a 4-3 DE.

Looks like he was right about Evans, correctly moved Wood to center, and will likely be right about Maybin.

I like Gailey as a play caller but not sold on his HC responsibilites for managing the entire roster.

Your thoughts...

[drinkTHEkoolaid]

Not sure how much input his assistants and coordinators have

[NoSaint]

He started Trent over Fitz(I know he looks great in practice), Spiller and Lynch over Jackson, allowed Kelsay and Johnson to play OLB, Moats was moved to ILB, played Levitre at center, kept Batten on an NFL roster, has now moved Carrington from DE to OLB to DT, and thought Merriman could play a 4-3 DE.

Looks like he was right about Evans, correctly moved Wood to center, and will likely be right about Maybin.

I like Gailey as a play caller but not sold on his HC responsibilites for managing the entire roster.

Your thoughts...

 

that first season was bound to be a wash, so i dont much mind throwing trent in the fire one last time. where else was he supposed to play kelsay? spiller, lynch, and jackson are all 3 very talented players.

 

i dont think its quite as worrisome as you think.

[Captain Hindsight]

He also let Joique Bell go. He is tearing up the league now...

[DrDawkinstein]

He started Trent over Fitz(I know he looks great in practice), Spiller and Lynch over Jackson, allowed Kelsay and Johnson to play OLB, Moats was moved to ILB, played Levitre at center, kept Batten on an NFL roster, has now moved Carrington from DE to OLB to DT, and thought Merriman could play a 4-3 DE.

Looks like he was right about Evans, correctly moved Wood to center, and will likely be right about Maybin.

I like Gailey as a play caller but not sold on his HC responsibilites for managing the entire roster.

Your thoughts...

 

You have absolutely NO idea that everything here was "ALL Gailey's thinking". Sure he is the HC and it's ultimately his responsibility. But you cant lump all of these decisions into a black-and-white "Gailey wanted it this way".

 

There has never been a single head coach or GM in the entire history of the NFL that made 100% correct decisions. And you have to factor in the situation that Gailey came into. For most of those examples you listed, the train of thought was simply "Well this is who we have, let's see how they do here".

 

Give him credit for quickly addressing players/situations that didn't work out.

[Luxy312]

At the end of the day, he's turned over almost half of the roster in 3 years. This is exactly what was needed after 12 years of mediocre teams. Plus, it's not instantaneous. It takes time.

[NoSaint]

 

 

You have absolutely NO idea that everything here was "ALL Gailey's thinking". Sure he is the HC and it's ultimately his responsibility. But you cant lump all of these decisions into a black-and-white "Gailey wanted it this way".

 

There has never been a single head coach or GM in the entire history of the NFL that made 100% correct decisions. And you have to factor in the situation that Gailey came into. For most of those examples you listed, the train of thought was simply "Well this is who we have, let's see how they do here".

 

Give him credit for quickly addressing players/situations that didn't work out.

 

i agree. though hes taken some shots that havent panned out perfectly, i dont think hes made any serious mistakes beyond the initial call to go 34 if we are already back to 43.

[Alphadawg7]

He started Trent over Fitz(I know he looks great in practice), Spiller and Lynch over Jackson, allowed Kelsay and Johnson to play OLB, Moats was moved to ILB, played Levitre at center, kept Batten on an NFL roster, has now moved Carrington from DE to OLB to DT, and thought Merriman could play a 4-3 DE.

Looks like he was right about Evans, correctly moved Wood to center, and will likely be right about Maybin.

I like Gailey as a play caller but not sold on his HC responsibilites for managing the entire roster.

Your thoughts...

 

Um...if memory serves me correctly, when did he start Spiller over Jackson? Spiller got the start in the opening week or two of his rookie season because A) He lit it up in preseason and led the NFL in rushing in just 3 preseason games and B) FJ was hurt during preseason as well as Lynch being suspended.

 

And as much as I dislike Trent as a QB, he was the better QB in camp and preseason the year he won the job over Fitz and Brohm.

 

With Merriman, he didn't switch to a 4-3 to accomdate Merriman, so your statement "thought he could play 4-3 DE" makes no sense. This TEAM switched to a 4-3 and then they tried to find Merriman a role in it and hoped he could do it at DE. Then he couldn't, so they cut him before the season began. So, not sure how you can say "they thought he could play it" as if we signed Merriman this offseason to play in our 4-3. He was already ON the roster when we made the switch.

 

And the other moves were out of NEED, or even desperation, because of the personnel we had and the system we ran. Hence the reason we switched back to a 4-3 as this team is better run as a 4-3 given the personnel and the way they want to build this defense. We had no depth, a plethora of injuries, and we had to work with what we had.

 

So, I don't think any of your points really hold water here...

[K-9]

Um...if memory serves me correctly, when did he start Spiller over Jackson? Spiller got the start in the opening week or two of his rookie season because A) He lit it up in preseason and led the NFL in rushing in just 3 preseason games and B) FJ was hurt during preseason as well as Lynch being suspended.

 

And as much as I dislike Trent as a QB, he was the better QB in camp and preseason the year he won the job over Fitz and Brohm.

 

With Merriman, he didn't switch to a 4-3 to accomdate Merriman, so your statement "thought he could play 4-3 DE" makes no sense. This TEAM switched to a 4-3 and then they tried to find Merriman a role in it and hoped he could do it at DE. Then he couldn't, so they cut him before the season began. So, not sure how you can say "they thought he could play it" as if we signed Merriman this offseason to play in our 4-3. He was already ON the roster when we made the switch.

 

And the other moves were out of NEED, or even desperation, because of the personnel we had and the system we ran. Hence the reason we switched back to a 4-3 as this team is better run as a 4-3 given the personnel and the way they want to build this defense. We had no depth, a plethora of injuries, and we had to work with what we had.

 

So, I don't think any of your points really hold water here...

 

Good post.

 

I think the OP would have a stronger case if Gailey had STUCK to his original personnel decisions rather than change when he did. Many coaches are intractable when it comes to reversing some personnel decisions. Especially QBs and high profile players. I give Gailey some credit for that. But it's not all on him anyway. Especially with regard to D personnel where he delegates most of those decisions. For instance, this is Wanny's D and Gailey has very little input. Especially before the fact.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Joe W]

First commandment: Thou shall not criticize current administration, thou shall blame Dick Jauron for all the Bills problems present and past .

[thewildrabbit]

You have absolutely NO idea that everything here was "ALL Gailey's thinking". Sure he is the HC and it's ultimately his responsibility. But you cant lump all of these decisions into a black-and-white "Gailey wanted it this way".

 

There has never been a single head coach or GM in the entire history of the NFL that made 100% correct decisions. And you have to factor in the situation that Gailey came into. For most of those examples you listed, the train of thought was simply "Well this is who we have, let's see how they do here".

 

Give him credit for quickly addressing players/situations that didn't work out.

Top head coaches don't need to watch a player in 2-5 regular season games to know if they can play at the NFL level or not. All it should take is some film and preseason.

 

Case in point. Both Trent Edwards and Cornell Green in Gaileys first year. It took 5 games before this staff figured out Green was useless, 2 games before they figured out Edwards was useless. I'm pretty certain that Green had a lot to do with how effective Edwards was in those first two games considering he couldn't hold a block for 2 seconds. The Bills started that 2010 season 0-8. The entire preseason and training camp wasted on giving Edwards first string reps is probably a big reason why it took so long to win a game.Not to mention finding a RT off the street to fill in for Green who was cut after 5 games.

 

Most the fans posting here knew after 3 games that Cornell Green was the worst FA RT this team has even brought in, and for 2 mill a season. The fans knew in the offseason that Edwards was done, Gailey didn't! The Bills DC Perry Fewell knew that Edwards was done the year before, its why he benched him over Fitz.

 

Gailey is in his 3rd year and still no top rookie QB!! My guess is all this talk of him being a Megamind and QB guru is a bunch of hogwash. Recall that Fitz stated that until THIS off season with QB coach David Lee he hadn't been taught proper mechanics. So that means in his 2 years previous with Gailey he was on his own, just like Edwards / Losman with Schonert and AVP.

 

If Gailey knew how good Fred Jackson was you think he would have wasted his very first #1 draft pick on a RB?

 

 

This HC was the best Buddy Nix could find to take the job back in 2010, and so far it looks like he needs at least 5 years to get things working correctly. I can only think that next year will be the year Nix / Gailey finally decide to draft a rookie QB. So the 3 year plan turned into a 5 year plan and that turned into a 7 year plan. I don't think RW is gonna make it to see this staff get his team into the playoffs.

[Malazan]

Um...if memory serves me correctly, when did he start Spiller over Jackson? Spiller got the start in the opening week or two of his rookie season because A) He lit it up in preseason and led the NFL in rushing in just 3 preseason games and B) FJ was hurt during preseason as well as Lynch being suspended.

 

And as much as I dislike Trent as a QB, he was the better QB in camp and preseason the year he won the job over Fitz and Brohm.

 

With Merriman, he didn't switch to a 4-3 to accomdate Merriman, so your statement "thought he could play 4-3 DE" makes no sense. This TEAM switched to a 4-3 and then they tried to find Merriman a role in it and hoped he could do it at DE. Then he couldn't, so they cut him before the season began. So, not sure how you can say "they thought he could play it" as if we signed Merriman this offseason to play in our 4-3. He was already ON the roster when we made the switch.

 

And the other moves were out of NEED, or even desperation, because of the personnel we had and the system we ran. Hence the reason we switched back to a 4-3 as this team is better run as a 4-3 given the personnel and the way they want to build this defense. We had no depth, a plethora of injuries, and we had to work with what we had.

 

So, I don't think any of your points really hold water here...

 

I think this post is pretty spot on. What should they have done? Cut Merriman instantly? That serves no benefit.

[eball]

Top head coaches don't need to watch a player in 2-5 regular season games to know if they can play at the NFL level or not. All it should take is some film and preseason.

 

Case in point. Both Trent Edwards and Cornell Green in Gaileys first year. It took 5 games before this staff figured out Green was useless, 2 games before they figured out Edwards was useless. I'm pretty certain that Green had a lot to do with how effective Edwards was in those first two games considering he couldn't hold a block for 2 seconds. The Bills started that 2010 season 0-8. The entire preseason and training camp wasted on giving Edwards first string reps is probably a big reason why it took so long to win a game.Not to mention finding a RT off the street to fill in for Green who was cut after 5 games.

 

Most the fans posting here knew after 3 games that Cornell Green was the worst FA RT this team has even brought in, and for 2 mill a season. The fans knew in the offseason that Edwards was done, Gailey didn't! The Bills DC Perry Fewell knew that Edwards was done the year before, its why he benched him over Fitz.

 

Gailey is in his 3rd year and still no top rookie QB!! My guess is all this talk of him being a Megamind and QB guru is a bunch of hogwash. Recall that Fitz stated that until THIS off season with QB coach David Lee he hadn't been taught proper mechanics. So that means in his 2 years previous with Gailey he was on his own, just like Edwards / Losman with Schonert and AVP.

 

If Gailey knew how good Fred Jackson was you think he would have wasted his very first #1 draft pick on a RB?

 

 

This HC was the best Buddy Nix could find to take the job back in 2010, and so far it looks like he needs at least 5 years to get things working correctly. I can only think that next year will be the year Nix / Gailey finally decide to draft a rookie QB. So the 3 year plan turned into a 5 year plan and that turned into a 7 year plan. I don't think RW is gonna make it to see this staff get his team into the playoffs.

 

Do you believe Rex Ryan is a good head coach? Because if you do, how do you explain Wayne Hunter using the above logic?

[K-9]

Top head coaches don't need to watch a player in 2-5 regular season games to know if they can play at the NFL level or not. All it should take is some film and preseason.

 

Not true. While films of regular season games offer insight, in the case of Gailey that film of Edwards was in another scheme. He needed to see first hand what Edwards could do in his scheme from the get go. Of the three QBs in OTAs and camp that year, Edwards clearly outperformed Fitz and Brohm. Hell, Brohm had a better camp than Fitz. He made the right decision based on HIS assessment at the best time an assessment could be made.

 

What would have made that assessment stupid is if he continued to stick to it out of some misguided ego. He didn't. He corrected it.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Dragonborn10]

Um...if memory serves me correctly, when did he start Spiller over Jackson? Spiller got the start in the opening week or two of his rookie season because A) He lit it up in preseason and led the NFL in rushing in just 3 preseason games and B) FJ was hurt during preseason as well as Lynch being suspended.

 

And as much as I dislike Trent as a QB, he was the better QB in camp and preseason the year he won the job over Fitz and Brohm.

 

With Merriman, he didn't switch to a 4-3 to accomdate Merriman, so your statement "thought he could play 4-3 DE" makes no sense. This TEAM switched to a 4-3 and then they tried to find Merriman a role in it and hoped he could do it at DE. Then he couldn't, so they cut him before the season began. So, not sure how you can say "they thought he could play it" as if we signed Merriman this offseason to play in our 4-3. He was already ON the roster when we made the switch.

 

And the other moves were out of NEED, or even desperation, because of the personnel we had and the system we ran. Hence the reason we switched back to a 4-3 as this team is better run as a 4-3 given the personnel and the way they want to build this defense. We had no depth, a plethora of injuries, and we had to work with what we had.

 

So, I don't think any of your points really hold water here...

Of course all personnel decisions are not made by one person, but there are only two people ultimately responsible. Nix signs them and Gailey decides who makes the team and who plays.

Yes Jackson was hurt in the pre-season but he dressed and played in the first game even though Spiller started.

There was no need to play Kelsay at OLB. They decided he could play OLB. They chose to play him at OLB. They chose to run a 3-4 and decided Kelsay could play OLB instead of finding a player that could.

There was no need to move Moats inside or ever think Batten could play in the NFL.

And if you want to say these were all George Edwards' decisions, I will accept that. But the DC still must report to the HC and the responsibility is with him to put a competitive defense on the field.

[VADC Bills]

Not sure how he is on talent but I'm still waiting for him to have a better season than Dick Jauron.

[Dragonborn10]

Not true. While films of regular season games offer insight, in the case of Gailey that film of Edwards was in another scheme. He needed to see first hand what Edwards could do in his scheme from the get go. Of the three QBs in OTAs and camp that year, Edwards clearly outperformed Fitz and Brohm. Hell, Brohm had a better camp than Fitz. He made the right decision based on HIS assessment at the best time an assessment could be made.

 

What would have made that assessment stupid is if he continued to stick to it out of some misguided ego. He didn't. He corrected it.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

Agree that he finally recognized these things. But they don't have 2-5 games this year to figure out who should play LT, who should be the #2 WR, the starting LB's. They need to win this season or both Gaily and Nix are gone. No way RW shells out this much cash and settles for 8-8 or even 9-7 and no playoffs.

[Kelly the Dog]

Top head coaches don't need to watch a player in 2-5 regular season games to know if they can play at the NFL level or not. All it should take is some film and preseason.

 

Case in point. Both Trent Edwards and Cornell Green in Gaileys first year. It took 5 games before this staff figured out Green was useless, 2 games before they figured out Edwards was useless. I'm pretty certain that Green had a lot to do with how effective Edwards was in those first two games considering he couldn't hold a block for 2 seconds. The Bills started that 2010 season 0-8. The entire preseason and training camp wasted on giving Edwards first string reps is probably a big reason why it took so long to win a game.Not to mention finding a RT off the street to fill in for Green who was cut after 5 games.

 

Most the fans posting here knew after 3 games that Cornell Green was the worst FA RT this team has even brought in, and for 2 mill a season. The fans knew in the offseason that Edwards was done, Gailey didn't! The Bills DC Perry Fewell knew that Edwards was done the year before, its why he benched him over Fitz.

 

Gailey is in his 3rd year and still no top rookie QB!! My guess is all this talk of him being a Megamind and QB guru is a bunch of hogwash. Recall that Fitz stated that until THIS off season with QB coach David Lee he hadn't been taught proper mechanics. So that means in his 2 years previous with Gailey he was on his own, just like Edwards / Losman with Schonert and AVP.

 

If Gailey knew how good Fred Jackson was you think he would have wasted his very first #1 draft pick on a RB?

 

 

This HC was the best Buddy Nix could find to take the job back in 2010, and so far it looks like he needs at least 5 years to get things working correctly. I can only think that next year will be the year Nix / Gailey finally decide to draft a rookie QB. So the 3 year plan turned into a 5 year plan and that turned into a 7 year plan. I don't think RW is gonna make it to see this staff get his team into the playoffs.

Nonsense. There are all kinds of players that play extremely well in practice and preseason games because the game is not as fast, the competition is not as intense (because the players cannot go 100% full contact in game like conditions) and because there is no real pressure on them to perform. No coach can see through that until the actual games are played, and while it is impossible to know, I would bet anything every coach in the NFL would swear that is true. I have never seen a coach say anything to refute that.

 

Trent was excellent by all accounts in both practice and the preseason games, and he had a history of it with the Bills. His problems came ONLY when there was a fierce pass rush in real regular season games when his brain was not able to function as strong, he didn't read the defenses or rush well, he panicked easily into dumping the ball off, and his confidence to make a play downfield greatly diminished. He never showed that in practice and I don't recall ever seeing that in preseason either.

 

In the Spiller case, if you recall, both Freddy and Lynch were hurt in training camp, forcing Gailey to play Spiller immediatelt, and he looked great in preseason. He immediately saw the difference when the real bullets were flying and he pulled him, mostly for the fact that he couldn't pass block.

[FleaMoulds80]

Agree that he finally recognized these things. But they don't have 2-5 games this year to figure out who should play LT, who should be the #2 WR, the starting LB's. They need to win this season or both Gaily and Nix are gone. No way RW shells out this much cash and settles for 8-8 or even 9-7 and no playoffs.

 

Did you see what they had to work with when they came to Buffalo? I think they're doing an admirable job.

[DrDawkinstein]

Agree that he finally recognized these things. But they don't have 2-5 games this year to figure out who should play LT, who should be the #2 WR, the starting LB's. They need to win this season or both Gaily and Nix are gone. No way RW shells out this much cash and settles for 8-8 or even 9-7 and no playoffs.

 

This thread just went full retard.