Doug Whaley joined L.A. Bills Backers to watch games this morning

[GG]

Which of the above is playing well right now?

 

Chaz Reingold, of course.

[26CornerBlitz]

Whaley must have been at the UCLA game: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/172717-cfb-week-10-bills-scouts-at-2-games/

[thewildrabbit]

Fwiw, my opinion is that Marrone holds a lot more weight on selections of offense linemen then any other position, and for obvious reasons. I guarantee that he and Whaley spent hours and hours watching film on the free-agents and that Chris Williams was as much a Marrone pick as a Whaley pick. But Whaley is the one responsible for the roster.

 

Also, when he said "our bad" when talking about not having a QB coach I believe he was basically covering for Marrone, who would be the one making that decision. The coach picks staffs, not the GM. He didn't say my bad. And he likely wouldn't say Marrone didn't want it. So he was likely taking blame when it wasn't really his call.

 

I didn't ask him about the Tuel and Thad issue, or back to TJax, and personally that was my biggest problem with him, until just before the season when he got Orton, and we know how that turned out.

It could be with Marrone making those decisions. Then, what does it tell you about his evaluation acumen when he fails so badly in an area he is a supposed guru in?

 

At what point does Whaley take charge like he did with Kyle Orton, and say this is the direction we are going so deal with it. I seem to have gotten that impression with the Orton situation, and Tuel to the PS, Lewis to off the roster.

[Kelly the Dog]

Whaley must have been at the UCLA game: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/172717-cfb-week-10-bills-scouts-at-2-games/

Yeah he was. He said so. It was a combination work and family trip. Then he is visiting west coast schools this week.

 

I asked him what his typical work day is when he visits a school like USC or Washington. He said he gets there at 8 am and watches their tape for hours. Then gets lunch. Then watches practice and then hours of more tape. He will talk to the coaches but usually not the players. They aren't really made available. They talk to the players at the combine and pro day and visits to OBD. He said more teams are practicing in the morning lately, not sure why, which is good for them to watch practice earlier. I had hear him say he spends most of his week on the road scouting before in interviews.

[thebandit27]

isnt schwartz playing well? i havent watched a ton of the giants but i know PFF had them 3rd with no "duds" the last line ranking i saw... they also mentioned beadles as doing alright, but maybe not as impactful as hoped (but not bad), and i also noticed that Asomougha was ranked 11th in pass blocking in the lions vs falcons preview i just pulled up. 2013 also had A LOT of free agent guards with starting experience.

 

He has turf toe and is yet to step on the field in 2014

 

Chaz Reingold, of course.

 

That SD OL is awful--dead last in the NFL in yards/carry (3.1). They're lucky they have Rivers and his lightning-fast release, or he'd be getting demolished every play.

[Bangarang]

Another thing he said was "our bad" concerning not having a QB coach last year because Hackett was in his first year on the job and was dealing with all the injuries and really didn't have time to spend with EJ during the season and EJ would often be on his own. Coaches usually hire staffs like that.

 

EJ would often be on his own? How does something like even happen? A raw rookie QB is left alone to correct his own mistakes and teach himself? Is that what really happened? Yikes..

[Kelly the Dog]

It could be with Marrone making those decisions. Then, what does it tell you about his evaluation acumen when he fails so badly in an area he is a supposed guru in?

 

At what point does Whaley take charge like he did with Kyle Orton, and say this is the direction we are going so deal with it. I seem to have gotten that impression with the Orton situation, and Tuel to the PS, Lewis to off the roster.

Yeah, those are good questions. It's probably sticky with the OL. Maybe this is where the rumors of contention between management and coaches comes from. I always believed Marrone was behind the Tuel nonsense and Whaley finally took control. That made the most sense to me. And the Pears experiment is clearly Marrone.

 

Also, we are 5-3. Marrone is doing something right. It's not as though we are completely underachieving. I remember posting over the summer that I guarantee there were heated discussions between coaches and GMs. On every team. These are high ego guys in huge pressure jobs with strong opinions on 70 different players. Of course they are going to violently disagree on some important ones. It's impossible not to.

[Coach Tuesday]

EJ would often be on his own? How does something like even happen? A raw rookie QB is left alone to correct his own mistakes and teach himself? Is that what really happened? Yikes..

 

Isn't that amazing? In a $1.5B business, this was allowed to happen. I'm flabbergasted.

[hondo in seattle]

FtD... one of the most entertaining and informative posts in a while. Cool stuff.

 

I think any GM would come across as knowledgeable. Good to know Whaley is also likeable and down-to-earth.

 

Wonder how much you can infer from omissions. Whaley didn't praise Marrone much... Does that mean he's not enamored with his head coach?

 

Also wonder if there was a little hubris involved in the Williams signing. Being that Marrone is an ex OL, maybe he thought he could salvage Williams.

[Kelly the Dog]

 

 

EJ would often be on his own? How does something like even happen? A raw rookie QB is left alone to correct his own mistakes and teach himself? Is that what really happened? Yikes..

I think he was talking about when, say, Thad was still fairly new to the team, and then got hurt, and suddenly an UDFA QB was thrust into their lineup, their fourth QB. Hackett had to get the offense prepared and spend all his waking moments getting Tuel prepared so there were a couple weeks when EJ was hurt that he wasn't getting much coaching. Not having a QB coach when Hackett and Marrone were in their first years, was a mistake. Since they were both offensive guys and worked with QBs a lot, it wasn't as egregious as it sounds. But it was a mistake because when the injuries hit, knocking your vet out, then your rookie, then your next vet, they didn't have time for EJ. It just wasn't good planning in case of disaster striking, which it did.

[Bangarang]

Isn't that amazing? In a $1.5B business, this was allowed to happen. I'm flabbergasted.

 

It just boggles my mind to hear that's how things were.

[Kelly the Dog]

FtD... one of the most entertaining and informative posts in a while. Cool stuff.

 

I think any GM would come across as knowledgeable. Good to know Whaley is also likeable and down-to-earth.

 

Wonder how much you can infer from omissions. Whaley didn't praise Marrone much... Does that mean he's not enamored with his head coach

He was just answering the questions posed to him. I wouldn't read into Marrone at all. I imagine he thinks Marrone is doing a pretty good job overall.

[negativo]

Kelly The Dog, you just kicked Tim Graham's ass.

[Maddog69]

"He didn't say anything I was really surprised by. The most interesting thing was he said Orton at practice is yelling at the receivers, and told them if they weren't trying and open in practice he wasn't throwing to them in the game. And they all smartened up quick"

 

Maybe I am naive, but shouldn't that be a coaches job, specifically the position coach? If these guys are not trying in practice that is a BIG problem.

Edited November 3, 2014 by Maddog69

[Kelly the Dog]

 

 

It just boggles my mind to hear that's how things were.

A mistake. Clearly. Going into the season, they had a coach who was an offensive guy who works with QBs, and an OC who works with QBs, and they signed a veteran QB. They thought there would be pretty of time and minds for coaching. That proved badly wrong when four guys got hurt, but it would have been impossible to foresee that. Ej getting hurt three times, Kolb getting hurt, Thad getting hurt, and having to prepare Tuel, an UDFA. No one could have foreseen that.

 

But a first year HC and a first year OC should not, clearly should not, have gone into the season without a QB coach. That was really the issue.

 

"He didn't say anything I was really surprised by. The most interesting thing was he said Orton at practice is yelling at the receivers, and told them if they weren't trying and open in practice he wasn't throwing to them in the game. And they all smartened up quick"

 

Maybe I am naive, but shouldn't that be a coaches job, specifically the position coach? If these guys are not trying in practice that is a BIG problem.

I didn't see it that way. It was more that Orton is just a take charge QB. And says this is what I want out of you guys and you do it or I'm not throwing you the ball. I don't think a rookie QB can say something like that. He doesn't have the experience or authority. Yes, players should be trying in practice. But it didn't sound like they were loafing. Orton just took over, like players have alluded to in interviews (and like defensive guys have said Schwartz is more demanding that Pettine was).

[Fan in San Diego]

Cool stuff. Thanks for sharing. Must have been fun to chat with Doug. You lucky dog.

[NoSaint]

 

 

He has turf toe and is yet to step on the field in 2014

 

 

i assume the "he" schwartz? ill be honest, most sundays i do not seek out individual guards to watch, so unless someone looks terrible or i have a reason to track them down its kind of relying on rankings for broad strokes opinions (i know to take with a grain of salt). they were simply mentioned highly as a unit and specifically as having no one play poorly.

 

the others were specific commentary on the players. and i also think looking at it with foresight its fine to say schwartz was a better prospect (even if not perfect) than williams.

Edited November 3, 2014 by NoSaint

[Captain Hindsight]

EJ would often be on his own? How does something like even happen? A raw rookie QB is left alone to correct his own mistakes and teach himself? Is that what really happened? Yikes..

Jeez. No wonder he struggled so much.

 

"He didn't say anything I was really surprised by. The most interesting thing was he said Orton at practice is yelling at the receivers, and told them if they weren't trying and open in practice he wasn't throwing to them in the game. And they all smartened up quick"

 

Maybe I am naive, but shouldn't that be a coaches job, specifically the position coach? If these guys are not trying in practice that is a BIG problem.

Yes and no. If a coach is trying to allow leaders to step forward, which Marrone has said he would prefer, it makes sense to let them police themselves.

 

I'm sure it was more lackadaisical than not trying

[Kelly the Dog]

 

 

EJ would often be on his own? How does something like even happen? A raw rookie QB is left alone to correct his own mistakes and teach himself? Is that what really happened? Yikes..

I think you're reading into that too much. These guys spend all day watching film together. They spend hours in the quarterbacks room going over plays and game plans. They spend hours in practice together. Ej was there for all of that. It's just a small portion of the time in the scheme of things when Hackett would need to spend his extra time getting Tuel or Thad ready to play, that a QB coach could have been working with him. But frankly, a QB coach would have been spending 90% of his time working with Tuel and Thad, too. He wouldn't have been off with EJ alone.

[thebandit27]

i assume the "he" schwartz? ill be honest, most sundays i do not seek out individual guards to watch, so unless someone looks terrible or i have a reason to track them down its kind of relying on rankings for broad strokes opinions (i know to take with a grain of salt). they were simply mentioned highly as a unit and specifically as having no one play poorly.

 

the others were specific commentary on the players. and i also think looking at it with foresight its fine to say schwartz was a better prospect (even if not perfect) than williams.

 

Yes, Schwartz sorry...I was posting quickly and did not recognize the ambiguity of my response.

 

I get what you're saying--I actually wanted Schwartz in FA this year. My post was more to point out that the perceived riches at the position in FA can't exactly be counted on to provide any more than what we got out of Williams, who was actually serviceable before he got hurt.