Greg Gabriel Blasts Ed Oliver and Believes He Has “Bust Potential”

[Phil The Thrill]

Going back and listening to the draft coverage of my podcasts.  I was way behind on Moranalytics and I listened to a show before the draft with Greg Gabriel - the Buffalo-born ex scout and personnel guy.  Greg is super opinion and seems to hold his philosophy in high regard.  Bills fans either respect Greg for his experience or disregard his opinion for being out of touch (remember he said Peterman was going to be an NFL caliber starter...but apparently forgot it).

 

At the time of this interview before the draft Ed Oliver was rising and many thought NYJ would take him at #3.  Pat Moran asked Greg about the Bills taking Ed (he said he was a “Top 6 lock”), and that’s when Greg went on somewhat of a rant.  I did the best I could to transcribe.  Might be off by a little but this is the gist:

 

Time stamp: 32:00

 

“I’ll say this. Right now there’s a number of people speculating that he’s going to go to the Jets at number three and Gregg Williams thinks he can be another Aaron Donald. I’ll tell ya right now.  I think that’s a mistake. I don’t like him. I don’t like him at with the Bills at 9.  I think he’s a middle of the first round player at best, and there’s bust potential in him.  Because you go back and you look at the tape and the tape isn’t very good. 

 

He didn’t make many plays. He’s kind of lackadaisical. He had a problem with the coaching staff later in the year. You know I look at that and it turns me off from from football.   Because you want a guy playing down in and down out.  And that’s not him.

 

Personally from my standpoint if the Jets take him that’s great. It means the bills get to play against him twice a year.”

 

The discussion then turns to Rashan Gary to the Bills and Greg says both Rashan and Eddie are bad fits for the Bills based on their attitudes:

 

Time stamp: 39:00

 

 

“From what I’ve been told, the type of person that Sean McDermott wants is a great player in the locker room. A glass heater so to speak. A guy that’s all team.  And to players like Oliver and Gary to me are the opposite of what he’s looking for the Buffalo Bills team.  Now could they still take these guys?  Absolutely, I just think thats not what they’re looking for.”

 

All in all, Greg felt the Bills would draft Jonah Williams or TJ Hockenson and he was high on both.

 

He also says he was wrong on Josh Allen last year but it was because he was only going on what he saw on tape and didn’t know the type of person/leader Allen is.  He expects him to make progress similarly to a Trubiaky...maybe a Goff.

 

You can hear the audio yourself at 32 and 39 minute mark:

 

http://moranalytics.com/ep-113-greg-gabriel-plus-final-bills-four-round-mock-draft/

 

Edited May 2, 2019 by Hapless Bills Fan
superlarge type

[Malazan]

He also says the Giants did a great job in the draft

[ColoradoBills]

Oh no, we suck again.

[YoloinOhio]

Unemployed scouts are the best. They can say whatever they want for attention. 

[Just Joshin']

The verdict is in so cut Oliver, fire Beane.

[billsbackto81]

15 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

 

 

He also says he was wrong on Josh Allen last year but it was because he was only going on what he saw on tape and didn’t know the type of person/leader Allen is.  

 

 

Looks like he's going 0 for 2.

Could you at least acknowledge the kid played out of position and has been a consensus Top 5 pick for the last year. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by billsbackto81

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

....Gabriel is a home grown Buffalo/WNY boy....when the Bears cut him loose as a scout/personnel guy, there were plenty of posts all over for OBD to hire him and it NEVER happened...sour grapes?....Mr. Irrelevant trying to hang on in NFL circles are an expert source?....

[Warcodered]

Coats are serious business and if you can't respect the process by which people are selected to have them I don't see how you can be successful in the NFL.

[atlbillsfan1975]

Well anyone who thought the Bills should of picked Hockenson with the issues on the D-Line and Oline doesn’t know the Bills very well. Not to mention the fact that TE’s in the first are a luxury pick. I like what the Bills did and think the Bills addressed the biggest needs with the right picks. 

 

Edited May 2, 2019 by atlbillsfan1975

[nikuman]

Is "Moranalytics" a play on the words "moron analytics" perhaps?  In this case, of course....

Edited May 2, 2019 by nikuman

[Phil The Thrill]

1 minute ago, nikuman said:

Is "Moranalytics" a play on the words "moron analytics" perhaps?

 

Play on the hosts last name - Pat Moran

[YoloinOhio]

1 minute ago, atlbillsfan1975 said:

Well anyone who thought the Bills should of picked Hockenson with the issues on the D-Line and Oline doesn’t know the Bills very well. Not to mention the fact that TE’s in the first is a luxury pick. I like what the Bills did and think the Bills addressed the biggest needs with the right picks. 

 

My boss is a lions fan (and a Michigan fan too wtf did I do to deserve this btw) and was bitching yesterday about the Hock pick. I know she didn’t pay attention to the draft process and insisted this was one of the bigger names and assured he was a different type of TE then Ebron. I lied though saying I would have taken him at 8 ahead of Oliver, I would not have. 

[The Wiz]

He does know that last year's tape means nothing since he won't be a zero tech right? 

[nikuman]

2 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

 

Play on the hosts last name - Pat Moran

 

Doh!

[Lurker]

18 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

He also says he was wrong on Josh Allen last year but it was because he was only going on what he saw on tape and didn’t know the type of person/leader Allen is.  

 

LOL!    That line just blew up his whole credibility to critique Oliver or any player for that matter....

 

[Reader]

One thing I really like about what Beane and McD are doing is that they seem to be bringing in guys who are very mentally tough. Oliver, Dawkins, Allen, etc... all seem like guys who would use this as fuel to succeed.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Reader

[Andrew Son]

Calling him lackadaisical is beyond laughable.

[JoeF]

I hope Teerlink finds this and plays it for Ed over and over......

[Nihilarian]

Clearly a typo is should read http://MORONalytics.com

 

No player is wart free and Oliver had his issues. The biggest issue was he was played at nose tackle by Houston which caused teams to double, triple team him and he still caused havoc. Now imagine him playing at DT...Good Night! 

[Lurker]

Then there's this counterpoint, from Fairburn in today's The Athletic (which of course makes Gabriel look even lamer):

 

"...Seeing Oliver’s pro-day workout live cemented it for Beane, though. It wasn’t about how Oliver performed in the drills. It was about how he responded when coaches from various teams wanted to see him run specific drills afterward. Oliver wasn’t getting much rest because there was only one other defensive lineman working out that day.

 

“He kept going,” Beane said. “He didn’t quit. He was huffing there, but he kept going and he never stopped. I liked the fight. He didn’t complain. I was thinking to myself, ‘This guy’s going to die.’ But he answered the questions there.”

 

The questions about Oliver never seemed to surround his ability, but rather his coachability. Beane did the necessary recon, talking to coaches at Houston but also having a 20-minute conversation with former Houston coach Major Applewhite, who is now on Alabama’s staff. Applewhite and Oliver had a public incident on the sideline during a game this season, but

 

Beane left his conversation with Applewhite comfortable with it.

 

“Ed says what’s on his mind, but it’s genuine,” Beane said. “If you want to call it unfiltered, it’s not in a bad way. He’s just going to say what he thinks once he trusts you. When I talked to Major Applewhite, he told me the whole story, how Ed handled it, how he was remorseful. He thought part of it was Ed’s competitiveness. He wanted to be on the field and wasn’t on the field and felt like he was letting his teammates down. Maybe he was a little emotional about that. It was an ESPN game and they blew it up. If it was any other game, it never would have been an issue. It was the perfect storm.”