Polian Willing to Help Bills, But Doesn't Want Czar Role

[YoloinOhio]

 

Is prime Peyton Manning coming with him? Notice the team Polian built collapsed in utterly embarrassing fashion once Manning got hurt. The guy was a great executive for a while. His recent track record says that's no longer the case.

technically that was Chris's team, but he operated the same way as his dad and no decision got past Bill anyway

[Hapless Bills Fan]

@viccarucci

Bill Polian willing to lend a hand to help #Bills end 16-year playoff drought: http://bit.ly/1OjezEA

 

Translation: he wants neither accountability nor responsibility, but for a fee, he'll mouth off?

 

I think we already know we need an upgrade on OL and a QB of the future.

 

16 years out and you'd turn down a consultant? Babies born during the 1999 season are now driving cars. That's a long time. Why would you turn down help?

 

Because consultants are people who want to mix in with neither accountability nor responsibility.

 

If your GM, who is living and breathing your team 24/7, really needs to be second guessed on what players to keep and what players to let go and what players you need, you don't need a freakin' consultant. You need a new GM.

 

Example: our "aging and unathletic" OL. Cog, who has arguably been the best player this year and a big part of McCoy going to the probowl, is 32, and Wood is 29. The others are youngsters. Either they'll develop and pan out (Miller, Henderson) or they won't. It's possible we need a different LT and RT (should Glenn really be playing with one kidney? should Henderson really be playing with Crohn's? for their personal good?), but snapping out a "sound bite" about the "aging and unathletic" OL is catchy, but really lacks substance as advice. Right now two of the best players on the OL are the oldest.

 

Ditto the thing about the number of players the Bills have who are over 30. It's a sound bite. It sounds great, who could argue? When you look under the hood, though, two of the older players are the long snapper and the kicker. Both long snappers and kickers historically have long careers. Is replacing them really a priority? Carpenter, maybe, but for performance, not for his age. Mario Williams will likely go if Rex stays - he is highly paid and unsuited to Rex's scheme (which players outside a rare handful are suited, by all accounts?), but he was a pro-bowler last year. This year, Manny Lawson was one of our best players. So again, the sound bite is catchy but it lacks substance as advice. Right now one of the historically best players and one of this year's best players are the oldest. Perhaps they should go, but on performance, scheme fit, and cap issues, not age. The only place where I can see the age argument is with safety Corey Graham and DB McKelvin, who need to spend their lives chasing after fast guys and are at an age where they're gonna slow up.

 

This is all shoot-from-the-hip, off the cuff stuff.

 

I am now wondering if Mario Williams heard Polian's take about Ryans D before he pontificated.

 

It seems pretty evident that Polian also sees that Rex's scheme was a big problem for the defensive players. That being the case, it seems pretty logical that the #1 thing to let go is Rex and his scheme.

 

Excuse me, my baby born in 1999 is gonna go take her driver's test tomorrow and I must go scream now.

Edited December 24, 2015 by Hopeful

[Omar Little]

 

You mean the great Jim Sorgi could carry forward the success?

 

Not sure if this post is trying to knock me or Polian. Either way, you'd think the great Polian's team could've gone a little better than 2-14 sans Manning if it were so well built by a GMing genius.

[Marty McFly]

16 years out and you'd turn down a consultant? Babies born during the 1999 season are now driving cars. That's a long time. Why would you turn down help?

Right?? Bring Polian in as an consultant. Dont see why its a big deal, maybe your rather have Buddy Ryan on our team huh?

[Omar Little]

technically that was Chris's team, but he operated the same way as his dad and no decision got past Bill anyway

 

Chalk unwarranted nepotism up as another reason not to want Bill.

[Marty McFly]

Stop writing revisionist history. He never left he was fired by Wilson, mainly for saying Wilson's daughter shouldn't be a scout for the team.

WOW. is that true? what a bad business move.

[26CornerBlitz]

 

Not sure if this post is trying to knock me or Polian. Either way, you'd think the great Polian's team could've gone a little better than 2-14 sans Manning if it were so well built by a GMing genius.

 

Definitely Polian. He had no viable backup behind Manning.

[purple haze]

If the Pegula's want a football czar then they need to go on and let Whaley go. I don't see how adding a person over Whaley will enhance communication or cohesion. If it is known that Roman wanted Cassell over EJ then Roman is a crazy. Cassell showed what he was in Dallas. EJ isn't great either, but at least he can run around more than Cassell. That said, Polian is right, EJ needs to go. I don't think he's saying anything Whaley and scouts don't already know however.

 

I hate the idea of firing a coach after one year, but Rex willl not mesh his scheme with the available personnel. I wouldn't mind if he was shown the door.

[Omar Little]

 

Definitely Polian. He had no viable backup behind Manning.

 

Thought so. Just wanted to make sure.

[Rob's House]

 

Is prime Peyton Manning coming with him? Notice the team Polian built collapsed in utterly embarrassing fashion once Manning got hurt. The guy was a great executive for a while. His recent track record says that's no longer the case.

Clearly the HOF resume is a fluke.

[Omar Little]

Clearly the HOF resume is a fluke.

 

A quote from the very post you responded to: "The guy was a great executive for a while."

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

So aside from Watkins and McCoy but not for much longer, everything is AFU? Sweet!!!

[26CornerBlitz]

So aside from Watkins and McCoy but not for much longer, everything is AFU? Sweet!!!

 

Major overstatement here. AFU is Cleveland or SF.

Edited December 24, 2015 by 26CornerBlitz

[Rob's House]

 

A quote from the very post you responded to: "The guy was a great executive for a while."

Exactly. He was great until 5 years ago and then he became an abject moron who knows less about building a successful NFL franchise than your average message board poster. We're on the same page.

[reddogblitz]

Definitely Polian. He had no viable backup behind Manning.

It was part of the tank strategy. A strategy often fawned over on TBD.

[YoloinOhio]

Exactly. He was great until 5 years ago and then he became an abject moron who knows less about building a successful NFL franchise than your average message board poster. We're on the same page.

he deserves to be in the HOF for his work - ironically though I've seen most of what he said today posted by average message board posters. Edited December 24, 2015 by YoloinOhio

[26CornerBlitz]

It was part of the tank strategy. A strategy often fawned over on TBD.

 

Manning could have been injured at any point with Sorgi as their backup QB. They would have been dead as a team.

[Heitz]

the issue to me is that instead of hiring a czar who would be held accountable for putting the plan in action and the results of the plan, they would be paying him for the plan and then Whaley carries out the plan, one that he may or may not agree with, and is held accountable for the results. Um no thanks. If that happens and I am Whaley, I walk out the door. Maybe that's not what Polian is proposing would happen but it sounds like it, since he doesn't want an actual job with the Bills.

 

Exactly - the last thing we need is another level of management that may spin us into some other direction that NO ONE agrees with (even if the current direction doesn't appear to be working at the moment).

 

He also drafts and signs certain types of players. Many on this roster wouldn't be here. Shady, incognito, Darby, etc. nope. Too many red flags. Until he has a Peyton or Kelly at QB, he needs those guys. He has a ton of draft misses for that reason. Telesco is his mini me in SD and has exact same draft record because of his stubbornness on only drafting and signing a certain character type.

 

Loved the quote: “You can win with Tyrod if the other pieces are good,” Polian said. “If there are six or seven Pro Bowlers at other positions, you can win with Tyrod. But he’s not the quarterback of the future. He’s not Jim Kelly, and, although he doesn’t have the same track record, he’s probably comparable to Frank Reich. But he’s not 6-feet-4 like Frank Reich. He’s small and he’s going to get hurt, and he did."

 

Tyrod isn't Jim Kelly!? Nooooo. And please, who in the league current IS comparable to Jimbo? That's what I thought...

[Omar Little]

Exactly. He was great until 5 years ago and then he became an abject moron who knows less about building a successful NFL franchise than your average message board poster. We're on the same page.

 

Well, his questionable-at-best thoughts on the O-line don't make him look better than an average message board poster. It's a group that needs improvement, but not because of its advanced age. The right side is the problem, and the starters there (Henderson and Miller) have a combined three years' experience. Old man Incognito is terrific. So is Glenn, who's 26. Wood isn't great, but he's solid enough - and not even 30 yet.

[HalftimeAdjustment]

The story about Jim Leonhard is really telling. He is a player we knew was marginal but who hung on in NY for a while. Polian's story seems a bit too specific to be false.