4/25/14: Doug Whaley WGR Interview/Bills' Pre-Draft Presser

[FluffHead]

Some times you just gotta roll the dice and go for it. Depending on the cost I wouldnt' mind trading up to #1 and take Clowney.

 

The problem is, and schopp and BD touched on this, is when/if Manuel fails this year, you're now without that #1 and more and likely can't get a top QB prospect.

[26CornerBlitz]

The problem is, and schopp and BD touched on this, is when/if Manuel fails this year, you're now without that #1 and more and likely can't get a top QB prospect.

 

No team is going to think negatively in that fashion. Who cares what Dope and the Lapdog think? I certainly do not.

[FluffHead]

 

No team is going to think negatively in that fashion. Who cares what Dope and the Lapdog think? I certainly do not.

 

I don't wanna turn this into a Manuel thread. But I don't think it's thinking negatively. When you're unsure if you have a QB, you shouldn't be trading away your main resource to get one.

[26CornerBlitz]

I don't wanna turn this into a Manuel thread. But I don't think it's thinking negatively. When you're unsure if you have a QB, you shouldn't be trading away your main resource to get one.

You might not be sure, but the Bills seem pretty darn sure to me. Who knows whether they're right, but they're moving ahead as if he's the guy.

[johnwalter]

Some times you just gotta roll the dice and go for it. Depending on the cost I wouldnt' mind trading up to #1 and take Clowney.

 

While I agree with your end premise of trading up for Clowney (dependent on cost), I think that justifying moves with vague sportisms like "some times you just gotta" is dangerous. I much prefer thoughtful analysis of risk and reward.

[FireChan]

So if everything said before the draft is a lie, we want a QB right? "I hope all 4 QB's are gone by the time we pick." Sure you do Whaley, Johnny Football here we come!

[3rdand12]

I agree, at 6'6" and 275 lbs, I see Chandler as a very fluid route runner. Good hands, willing blocker.

6 7

 

You might not be sure, but the Bills seem pretty darn sure to me. Who knows whether they're right, but they're moving ahead as if he's the guy.

Bills should not give up anything in next years draft. just in case this season doesnt go as planned.

 

While I agree with your end premise of trading up for Clowney (dependent on cost), I think that justifying moves with vague sportisms like "some times you just gotta" is dangerous. I much prefer thoughtful analysis of risk and reward.

This is not when Bills should risk all the marbles. Clowney ? really ?

Now if Mack drops to 4 or so i might be willing to give up one of my daughters. I have 3 so certainly i can afford one for Mack .

[KOKBILLS]

Now if Mack drops to 4 or so i might be willing to give up one of my daughters. I have 3 so certainly i can afford one for Mack .

 

 

Quote of the day!!!

[juno999]

these pressers are always so boring, just a bunch of non-information, throwing compliments at every prospect.

I thought Whaley did a nice job of blowing smoke all over the place. Does anyone know what the Bills are going to do at 9? Trade up, trade down, or pick someone. Who knows and neither do the other 31 teams. Would you want him to say anything different today with 2 weeks to go?

[3rdand12]

I thought Whaley did a nice job of blowing smoke all over the place. Does anyone know what the Bills are going to do at 9? Trade up, trade down, or pick someone. Who knows and neither do the other 31 teams. Would you want him to say anything different today with 2 weeks to go?

Devilish That Whaley and his right hand Monos.

God i love this guy Doug . Its showing he has learned from Nix on how to keep everyone interested.

[ksm27]

Why didn't Pharrell wear his big Arby's hat to the press conference?

[BUNCH OF MULARKEY]

Monos nucleosis

[FluffHead]

Why didn't Pharrell wear his big Arby's hat to the press conference?

 

Turn down for what?

[johnwalter]

I thought Whaley did a nice job of blowing smoke all over the place. Does anyone know what the Bills are going to do at 9? Trade up, trade down, or pick someone. Who knows and neither do the other 31 teams. Would you want him to say anything different today with 2 weeks to go?

 

of course i advocate whaley not showing his hand just before the draft, just as any fan who roots for buffalo success should.

i was merely pointing out that from a fan perspective, these interviews are meaningless and therefore uninteresting.

[thewildrabbit]

All this talk of trading up for Clowney...

 

Can anyone tell me who the two starting DE's, OLBers are for the Seattle Seahawks? Without looking it up of course, as I know I can't. I can name their QB, RB, and a few DB's.

 

If anything I hope they trade back and pick up extra picks, as the Bills need more then one or two players.

[juno999]

of course i advocate whaley not showing his hand just before the draft, just as any fan who roots for buffalo success should.

i was merely pointing out that from a fan perspective, these interviews are meaningless and therefore uninteresting.

I agree. Whaley was in a tough spot and did well by saying essentially nothing.

[NoSaint]

All this talk of trading up for Clowney...

 

Can anyone tell me who the two starting DE's, OLBers are for the Seattle Seahawks? Without looking it up of course, as I know I can't. I can name their QB, RB, and a few DB's.

 

If anything I hope they trade back and pick up extra picks, as the Bills need more then one or two players.

 

Their top pass rushers? Sure - 1st rounder Bruce Irvin, big free agents in cliff Avril, and Michael Bennet... Clemons was less of a high cost/profile pickup but a major contributor the last several years too. Their pass rush is likely the biggest piece of what makes that team work

 

Your post is a bit like saying the giants had eli, plaxico etc..... And ignoring the "nascar" packages role. Even in THIS presser Whaley discusses their pass rush changing how you have to build your offensive line.

Edited April 26, 2014 by NoSaint

[maryland-bills-fan]

Smokescreens?

 

I think the Bills have worked free agency pretty well to pick up players of known-ability at LB, TE, LOG, and DB, which relieves them of being forced to reach at those positions. They also drafted heavily at WR recently and this group may have high potential that cannot be fully realized and evaluated because of our young QB last year. I would say that our highest needs from the draft are LEFT offensive tackle (Pears needs replacement and at LOT, you don't fix what ain't broke) and Defensive End (we need someone opposite Williams as well as a third guy for depth). We can get one DE from veteran roster cutdowns, so we need only one DE. The Bills need an overall upgrade at a number of other positions, and with the deep draft, we want to increase the number of picks in the first 4 rounds. The draft is deep at a lot of positions (offensive tackle and WR), so we can let other teams burn their picks on WR and take a good starting RIGHT offensive tackle within the first 50 picks. There is no crying need for a shiny toy at the #9 pick. We will use this pick to generate an extra starting player from the first 2 or 3 rounds.

Here is my take on this interview from my perspective. #1 We want to give other teams as many reasons as possible to trade up to take our #9 pick. #2 We don't have to draft a RIGHT offensive tackle at #9, but want others to think we would.

 

 

" The Buffalo Bills believe they've positioned themselves to draft the best player available when their turn comes up next month in the first round of the NFL Draft We can go any position,” General Manager Doug Whaley said Friday during the Bill's annual pre-draft luncheon. If a guy is there with our pick, whenever that pick is – be it one, eight, nine, if he is the guy we think can get us to the playoffs, there's nothing that will preclude us from taking that guy. That's the beauty of how we set it up this year.(So the message is that we might be trading up (#8) or trading down

 

{{{{{{{{Whaley said not having a position crying out for an upgrade makes the job easier and makes the Bills more unpredictable, so other teams cannot assume the Bills are going to take player X, rather than their heart-throb pretty boy)}}}}}}

 

"When you have a pressing need, guys tend to get pushed up the board. When you push guys up the board, that's when you have a greater chance of making mistakes.

 

While stopping far short of giving any concrete clues as to which way the Bills might be leaning with the No. 9 pick in the first round, Whaley did make it clear that giving quarterback EJ Manuel every bit of help possible is a high priority. {{{{{Opps, well if you want the top TE or that top one or two WR, you better jump!!}}}}}}

 

"The perceived notion that the draft is deep at both wide receiver and offensive tackle is accurate, according to Monos.

I think both positions have high-end talent and depth, he said. Those are good positions in this year's draft"

 

Fisher said the top tackles available in the draft Auburn's Greg Robinson, Texas A&M's Jake Matthews, Michigan's Taylor Lewan and Notre Dame's Zack Martin have the flexibility to play either left or right tackle.

 

In this league today, you're getting the same pass rusher from both sides, so it really doesn's matter what side they're on, Fisher said.

 

Whaley further explained why the traditional thinking that left tackle is more important than right tackle is changing, by using an example from the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks."

 

{{{{{{{So the Bills are willing to draft one of the top 3 LEFT offensive tackles and stick him at RIGHT offensive tackle. With the rookie salary slotting scheme, they would be paying him top 10 LEFT offensive tackle money on his rookie contract, and probably more than that after his contract year. But if you want a LEFT offensive tackle, who might have been a overall top 5 pick last year or next year's. get in line with a good trade offer!!)}}}}}}}

 

"Whaley cited the need for more depth at defensive end and linebacker after the switch to a 4-3 base scheme." (TRUTH)

 

"We could use more defensive end depth, but we signed some guys that are unproven, so we're excited and we just have to wait and see there", he said. Linebacker we have a lot of guys that will give us depth, but they're still a little unknown because they haven't been out and shown us what they can do on the field.

 

{{{{{{{(I don't know who these defensive end guys are, but I would expect that in the coming year if they don't grow a red cape, tights and learn to fly, we will see offenses doing audiables away from Mario and doubling him and running over the unproven new DE on the other side)}}}}}}}

 

 

 

Let's examine another "smokescreen" "You Should Trade Up with the Bills" ploy, which is the cornerbacks that the Bills have brought in for visits. Here I have extracted from a recent Walter's Football mock draft the pick at which cornerbacks were taken and detailed both where the Bills pick is AND the cornerbacks that the Bills have brought in for a visit. What caught my eye, was that the Bills have brought in CB's for a visit who are around all of their first 3 round picks. I just cannot see the Bills going CB that early with those other needs and I think they are just sending out the message, "if you want this guy, better trade with the Bills or they are going to pick him up". (note that it looks like a CB in the 5th for sure)

 

The list of where CB’s might be drafted, the Bills picks and the Bills CB visiters:

1/11

..................................................#9 a Bills pick

1/13 Roby(Ohio State)....BILLS BROUGHT HIM IN

1/24

2/46

2/34 Fuller(V Tech)....BILLS BROUGHT HIM IN

..................................................#41 a Bills pick

2/51

2/56

3/73 Breeland....BILS BROUGH HIM IN..............#72 a Bills pick

3/86

3/89

3/90

3/99

.....................................................#105 a Bills pick

4/125

4/126

4/134

...........................................................#137 a Bills pick

5/159....Aikens (Liberty)....BILLS BROUGH HIM IN

5/168....Cockrell (Duke)...BILLS BROUGH HIM IN

..............................................................#169 a Bills pick

5/174

5/176...Gaines (Rice).....BILLS BROUGH HIM IN

 

 

 

Well that is my rant. I expect the Bills to trade down once or twice in the first round and even again in the first 3 rounds. I expect them to draft (maybe not in this order) RIGHT offensive tackle, Defensive End, Linebacker, and then offensive guard, running back and cornerback in the 5^th.

 

Comments?

Edited April 26, 2014 by maryland-bills-fan

[chris heff]

Wel, after reading the transcript I know this, the Bills are going to draft somebody. Seriously though I think the most interesting part was about Tackles. They really don't see much difference between LT and RT as far as importance and draft position. I don't think that is subterfuge.

 

If Watkins and Mack are gone, which is likely, and Mathews falls, you take him. If Mathews and Manzel are there my guess would be Mathews. If Watkins, Mack , Mathews are gone and Manziel falls, that strikes me as a trade situation.

 

For the past couple of years, at this point, I had a pretty good idea who I thought they would take. This year I have no idea.

[KOKBILLS]

Smokescreens?

 

I think the Bills have worked free agency pretty well to pick up players of known-ability at LB, TE, LOG, and DB, which relieves them of being forced to reach at those positions. They also drafted heavily at WR recently and this group may have high potential that cannot be fully realized and evaluated because of our young QB last year. I would say that our highest needs from the draft are LEFT offensive tackle (Pears needs replacement and at LOT, you don't fix what ain't broke) and Defensive End (we need someone opposite Williams as well as a third guy for depth). We can get one DE from veteran roster cutdowns, so we need only one DE. The Bills need an overall upgrade at a number of other positions, and with the deep draft, we want to increase the number of picks in the first 4 rounds. The draft is deep at a lot of positions (offensive tackle and WR), so we can let other teams burn their picks on WR and take a good starting RIGHT offensive tackle within the first 50 picks. There is no crying need for a shiny toy at the #9 pick. We will use this pick to generate an extra starting player from the first 2 or 3 rounds.

Here is my take on this interview from my perspective. #1 We want to give other teams as many reasons as possible to trade up to take our #9 pick. #2 We don't have to draft a RIGHT offensive tackle at #9, but want others to think we would.

 

 

" The Buffalo Bills believe they've positioned themselves to draft the best player available when their turn comes up next month in the first round of the NFL Draft We can go any position,” General Manager Doug Whaley said Friday during the Bill's annual pre-draft luncheon. If a guy is there with our pick, whenever that pick is – be it one, eight, nine, if he is the guy we think can get us to the playoffs, there's nothing that will preclude us from taking that guy. That's the beauty of how we set it up this year.(So the message is that we might be trading up (#8) or trading down

 

{{{{{{{{Whaley said not having a position crying out for an upgrade makes the job easier and makes the Bills more unpredictable, so other teams cannot assume the Bills are going to take player X, rather than their heart-throb pretty boy)}}}}}}

 

"When you have a pressing need, guys tend to get pushed up the board. When you push guys up the board, that's when you have a greater chance of making mistakes.

 

While stopping far short of giving any concrete clues as to which way the Bills might be leaning with the No. 9 pick in the first round, Whaley did make it clear that giving quarterback EJ Manuel every bit of help possible is a high priority. {{{{{Opps, well if you want the top TE or that top one or two WR, you better jump!!}}}}}}

 

"The perceived notion that the draft is deep at both wide receiver and offensive tackle is accurate, according to Monos.

I think both positions have high-end talent and depth, he said. Those are good positions in this year's draft"

 

Fisher said the top tackles available in the draft Auburn's Greg Robinson, Texas A&M's Jake Matthews, Michigan's Taylor Lewan and Notre Dame's Zack Martin have the flexibility to play either left or right tackle.

 

In this league today, you're getting the same pass rusher from both sides, so it really doesn's matter what side they're on, Fisher said.

 

Whaley further explained why the traditional thinking that left tackle is more important than right tackle is changing, by using an example from the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks."

 

{{{{{{{So the Bills are willing to draft one of the top 3 LEFT offensive tackles and stick him at RIGHT offensive tackle. With the rookie salary slotting scheme, they would be paying him top 10 LEFT offensive tackle money on his rookie contract, and probably more than that after his contract year. But if you want a LEFT offensive tackle, who might have been a overall top 5 pick last year or next year's. get in line with a good trade offer!!)}}}}}}}

 

"Whaley cited the need for more depth at defensive end and linebacker after the switch to a 4-3 base scheme." (TRUTH)

 

"We could use more defensive end depth, but we signed some guys that are unproven, so we're excited and we just have to wait and see there", he said. Linebacker we have a lot of guys that will give us depth, but they're still a little unknown because they haven't been out and shown us what they can do on the field.

 

{{{{{{{(I don't know who these defensive end guys are, but I would expect that in the coming year if they don't grow a red cape, tights and learn to fly, we will see offenses doing audiables away from Mario and doubling him and running over the unproven new DE on the other side)}}}}}}}

 

 

 

Let's examine another "smokescreen" "You Should Trade Up with the Bills" ploy, which is the cornerbacks that the Bills have brought in for visits. Here I have extracted from a recent Walter's Football mock draft the pick at which cornerbacks were taken and detailed both where the Bills pick is AND the cornerbacks that the Bills have brought in for a visit. What caught my eye, was that the Bills have brought in CB's for a visit who are around all of their first 3 round picks. I just cannot see the Bills going CB that early with those other needs and I think they are just sending out the message, "if you want this guy, better trade with the Bills or they are going to pick him up". (note that it looks like a CB in the 5th for sure)

 

The list of where CB’s might be drafted, the Bills picks and the Bills CB visiters:

1/11

..................................................#9 a Bills pick

1/13 Roby(Ohio State)....BILLS BROUGHT HIM IN

1/24

2/46

2/34 Fuller(V Tech)....BILLS BROUGHT HIM IN

..................................................#41 a Bills pick

2/51

2/56

3/73 Breeland....BILS BROUGH HIM IN..............#72 a Bills pick

3/86

3/89

3/90

3/99

.....................................................#105 a Bills pick

4/125

4/126

4/134

...........................................................#137 a Bills pick

5/159....Aikens (Liberty)....BILLS BROUGH HIM IN

5/168....Cockrell (Duke)...BILLS BROUGH HIM IN

..............................................................#169 a Bills pick

5/174

5/176...Gaines (Rice).....BILLS BROUGH HIM IN

 

 

 

Well that is my rant. I expect the Bills to trade down once or twice in the first round and even again in the first 3 rounds. I expect them to draft (maybe not in this order) RIGHT offensive tackle, Defensive End, Linebacker, and then offensive guard, running back and cornerback in the 5^th.

 

Comments?

 

I think you make some good points based on who the Bills have brought in...

 

I do think there are a few names the Bills would be willing to just stay put and Draft at #9...I think those names are Clowney, Robinson, Watkins, Matthews, Mack, Lewan, and Evans...The questions come in if all of those names are gone, or maybe if the only name remaining is Lewan...I think it's at that time they field calls and see what they can get...I think the player the Bills would prefer to have in a trade down situation is Ebron...I think if all the other names are gone, and they can't get a trade down they like, they'll take Ebron at #9...The question is how far would they be willing to go down?...And I think based on the names they have brought in the Bills may be willing to trade down a bit...If they trade out of Ebron range my guess is the targets will be Martin, Donald, Moses, Kouandjio, or one of the CB's...