YoloinOhio Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 (edited) I think in order to fix this problem I would look at the FA list of the defending SB champs this year, and sign the best, most productive one. Someone the guys can look up to because he's done it. The only one we have now is Tyrod and evidently he's not a leader. Spikes could have been that guy, but we cut him too. Aaron Williams wants to be leader. That's cool. But the leader is the leader because he leads and people follow him. If they ain't following him now, good luck. easier said than done. This place would not be attractive for a FA unless their favorite things to do are complain to the media and play ping pong. Edited December 23, 2015 by YoloinOhio
reddogblitz Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 easier said than done. This place would not be attractive for a FA unless their favorite things to do are complain to the media and play ping pong. It's what I would try to do anyway. We have signed some top notch free agents in the past despite losing and such. Mario anyone? LeSean re upped with us. He didn't have to. TO.
Captain_Quint Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Hmmm...the NFL should come up with some sort of program for this. You know, a way to identify the leaders of a team. Maybe come up with a way to give them some sort of tip of the cap on game day. It's at least worth some thought. 'Employees of the Week' may work for what youre proposing.
4merper4mer Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 I think in order to fix this problem I would look at the FA list of the defending SB champs this year, and sign the best, most productive one. Someone the guys can look up to because he's done it. The only one we have now is Tyrod and evidently he's not a leader. Spikes could have been that guy, but we cut him too. Aaron Williams wants to be leader. That's cool. But the leader is the leader because he leads and people follow him. If they ain't following him now, good luck. You know who doesn't think Spikes is a leader? The family he ran off the road when he was #$%^faced.
BADOLBILZ Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 You know who doesn't think Spikes is a leader? The family he ran off the road when he was #$%^faced. You know who doesn't think Ray Lewis is a leader? The family of the two guys that got stabbed to death. Players don't base who they follow on their criminal record.
PromoTheRobot Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 What we've learned from Sammy and Boobie is that cutting Fred was a huge mistake. Fred was the leader in that locker room, and there was no one to take over when he left. This is also an indictment of Tyrod Taylor, who should have been taking the reins, but clearly didn't. I said weeks ago that this team is rudderless and was roundly criticized for it. It appears now that the team IS rudderless. Credit to Sammy for stepping up, especially as a player in only his second year. Shame on the veterans in that locker room for putting Sammy in that position. Maybe we should just blow this **** up. Tyrod did start to lead lately. But indictment?? Are you a lawyer?
NoSaint Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Two critical questions: Has Rex's scheme worked elsewhere? Does Rex have a reputation for having players that love him? Mixed bag/varying degrees for both?
TPS Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 I get a kick out of the argument that these guys are "professionals" and "grown men". These professionals have mostly been pampered during their most formative years in college. Some even get away with serious crimes because of their status. Very few of these guys are leaders. They need leadership from the adults who oversee them in their now professional career. The adults can be either coaches or veteran players, but the perennially good teams tend to have both. You can blame the players if you want, but a good coach would also find, cultivate and use his veteran leaders. Rex may be a good DC, but he is not a good HC.
Chilly Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 There's lots of important aspects of leadership from a position of authority. I wholeheartedly believe having a fun and safe environment is extremely important. That environment needs to make it okay to ask questions, encourage learning, and make mistakes. It also should be fun and needs to be an environment where you feel like the coaches have your back. That being said, hard work and accountability need to also be valued. People should get recognition for being awesome and working hard, and should get called out when they make mistakes. Rex's job is to create an environment where not only that happens from the coaches, but one in which the players give both recognition and accountability to their teammates. I think Rex does a fantastic job at the first part of what I wrote, but it's really hard for us to have the visibility to judge him on the second. I'm not sure he's the best at it but it seems like our players haven't really done it for years either. So who knows.
Mikie2times Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 (edited) What came first the chicken or the egg? It takes a great model to build leaders. I don't know if Rex is providing that model. As far as the players, so few individuals are natural leaders. I don't know how many we have. The combination is not good. Edited December 23, 2015 by KzooMike
Acantha Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 'Employees of the Week' may work for what youre proposing.Sorry, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or my joke was too subtle.
Freddie's Dead Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Tyrod did start to lead lately. But indictment?? Are you a lawyer? IANAL, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 No players took control of this team. Folks, this is the opposite of the inmates running the asylum. This entirely obliterates the argument that Rex can't control his players. You can't control men who aren't willing/able to control themselves. These are professional athletes. These are grown men. Spare me the babysitter excuse. They had an opportunity to seize their own fate, and they failed: http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/12/22/the-bills-havent-had-any-players-only-meetings-this-season/ it sounds like the players want Rex gone, from all the comments from the players coming out the past couple of days. got to disagree with Sammy on this one, it can't be a player driven operation, it has to come from the Owner down to the GM and then the coach. This one of the reason it fell apart; Terry doesn't know how to run football yet and Whaley and Rex are at odds, plus Rex not leading the team as one cohesive unit.
ALF Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 "We're all over the place," defensive back Corey Graham said. "We're all over the place, we don't know what's going on half the time. Half the time guys are running in, running off, guys are trying to get calls, trying to figure it out. We're not going to win because we're not good right now." http://www.syracuse....all_over_t.html "having been through 5 defensive coordinators in 6 years " http://www.wkbw.com/...g-substitutions that would kill morale on any team should have kept defense plays as simple as possible this season, damage already done
Rob's House Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 If only there were a low-cost veteran with leadership qualities that the players respected who was available to us.
smuvtalker Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Can you imagine how absurd a players only meeting would have been? It probably would have resulted in a negotiated resolution, where Sammy would receive 12 targets per game, Ron Brooks would limit ST penalties to 1 per quarter, and Mario would share his fridge. Lmao @ Mario sharing his fridge!
Rob's House Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Two critical questions: Has Rex's scheme worked elsewhere? Does Rex have a reputation for having players that love him? This point seems to be completely ignored. Not to absolve Rex completely, but fans seem to cling to one data point (the defense performed better last year) while ignoring the equally persuasive point that Rex's defenses have consistently outperformed this one. Personally, I attribute the decline to a number of factors - scheme fit, personnel changes, and injuries are all significant. But if this board has taught me anything it's that once fans have their scapegoat they're going to run with it and trying to disuade many or most of them is like trying to take a bone away from a rabid Rottweiler.
buffalonian Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 In terms of a player based leadership problem, it seems possible that the defense specifically really needed a leader to step up. Most of the dissension, at least publicly, seems to surround the defense, who dramatically underachieved this season. Despite several key injuries, the offense actually performed better than probably most of us expected. I think most of us would have eagerly accepted in August, the proposition that Tyrod Taylor would have the 5th best QBR and the Bills would be leading the league in rushing. I'm not sure how to explain the chaos that has surrounded the defense this season, nor am I sure that a strong defensive leader would have helped, but it is one element that clearly has been lacking.
4merper4mer Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 This point seems to be completely ignored. Not to absolve Rex completely, but fans seem to cling to one data point (the defense performed better last year) while ignoring the equally persuasive point that Rex's defenses have consistently outperformed this one. Personally, I attribute the decline to a number of factors - scheme fit, personnel changes, and injuries are all significant. But if this board has taught me anything it's that once fans have their scapegoat they're going to run with it and trying to disuade many or most of them is like trying to take a bone away from a rabid Rottweiler. Not counting this year, when was the last good Jets defense? Your point about Rex's scheme working in the past is true, but in football terms it worked in the distant past, not the recent past. Wee Willie Keeler's approach to hitting worked in the past too. Why didn't the Yankees just make that work all year?
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