Buffalo Bills 2016

[WildCard]

That was a well thought out, although brutal, analysis of Whaley.

[ubkev]

See! Whaley sucks.

[Brawndo]

That was a well thought out, although brutal, analysis of Whaley.

He has made some good moves as well, Jerry Hughes and McCoy.

 

I'm attempting to illustrate there are valid reasons to fire him, even though it appears his job is safe

[JujuFish]

He also signed an unproven quarterback to an extension which it appears the team will not be honoring.

 

Have only 35 Million in Cap Space with only 36 players under contract for next season. This figure includes Tyrod's Contract not being picked up

 

Drafted three players in 2016 who are suited best for Rex Ryan's Defense, in particular Reggie Ragland who they gave up their second and pick 117. How will they fit into the new scheme? Prescott was taken 135. Yes it's early, but he looks like the real deal.

 

His drafting can be called into question as well, based on this from Tim Graham

 

"A league-wide roster analysis shows perennial playoff teams have an average 61.1 percent more draft picks on their rosters than the Bills are carrying.

 

The Bills have 22 of their own draft picks on the active roster and 31 overall when counting the practice squad and injured reserve.

 

Those are the lowest figures in the league and substantially behind teams that have made the playoffs within the past five years.

 

The winless Cleveland Browns, whom the Bills pushed around Sunday at New Era Field, are bottoming out on purpose. Yet the 7-7 Bills have fewer draft picks on their roster than the Browns do."

 

In terms of maneuvering to draft Carr, they traded two firsts and a fourth to move from ninth to fourth to draft Watkins. Would their second and third get them back into the bottom of the first to draft Carr in 2014?

 

The fact that it was an overly deep receiver draft is besides the point, but what is relevant is that the trade made to help their quarterback rather then making a move to get a better one.

 

Whaley has been with the Bills since 2010 and has been GM since 2013. With no playoff appearances

In contrast Reggie McKenzie has been the GM of the Raiders since 2012 and has built a playoff team.

 

Both franchises have been historically inept for the past decade, but the future is brighter for one.

 

In terms of luck with quarterback, Buddy Nix was asked why they took TJ Graham in the 3rd RD and not Russell Wilson. Nix replied we had a 4th round grade on Wilson.

 

Fast forward to 2016. It was widely reported by Joe Buscaglia of Channel 7 that the Bills where strongly interested in Dak Prescott and would draft a QB by the fourth round. During the first round of the draft Dallas was actively trying to get Paxton Lynch, so word was out they wanted a QB. Knowing this fact and maybe not allowing history to repeat itself, the Bills should have used pick 92 on the QB they wanted after using three picks on defense to acquire Shaq Lawson and Reggie Ragland.

 

My point is there are quite a few reasons why I want Whaley relieved of his duties. And that doesn't include the fact that reportedly he did not get along with the last two HCs, granted he did not have the final say on either.

1) He gave the Bills a huge out with that contract, which they are taking

2) This doesn't mean much at all right now.

3) That drafting comparison is meaningless unless we only look at the rosters of said perennial playoff teams where it involves their picks from the last three drafts (i.e. the drafts Whaley was responsible for).

4) This goes back to the one mistake I mentioned earlier, and it assumes way too much.  The fact is that they didn't have the pick to play with, and trying to use the 20/20 hindsight game is a worthless argument.

5) So McKenzie has been GM for an extra year.  Let's see how the Bills do next year, then, before trying to say the comparison is cut and dry.

6) Nix is not Whaley.

7) Again, you're playing the 20/20 hindsight game and people were high on Tyrod after last year (tell me how often someone drafts a QB in the first three rounds after their QB goes to the pro bowl).

[Brawndo]

1) He gave the Bills a huge out with that contract, which they are taking

2) This doesn't mean much at all right now.

3) That drafting comparison is meaningless unless we only look at the rosters of said perennial playoff teams where it involves their picks from the last three drafts (i.e. the drafts Whaley was responsible for).

4) This goes back to the one mistake I mentioned earlier, and it assumes way too much.  The fact is that they didn't have the pick to play with, and trying to use the 20/20 hindsight game is a worthless argument.

5) So McKenzie has been GM for an extra year.  Let's see how the Bills do next year, then, before trying to say the comparison is cut and dry.

6) Nix is not Whaley.

7) Again, you're playing the 20/20 hindsight game and people were high on Tyrod after last year (tell me how often someone drafts a QB in the first three rounds after their QB goes to the pro bowl).

1. The point being the contract did not need to be negotiated when it was, the plan up until it was announced was to have Tyrod use this season as a prove it year.

 

2. There are eight teams with less cap space next season, each has an average of 47 players signed for next year compared to Buffalo's 36. Teams that are tight against the cap are generally in win now mode and usually have to begin shedding contracts within a season or two.

 

3. Perennial Playoff Teams draft better

 

4. They used their second on Cyrus Kouandjio, third on Preston Brown and Fourth on Ross Cockrell in 2014. Minnesota traded their second and fourth to Seattle for pick 32, which they used on Teddy Bridgewater, my proposal maybe made in hindsight but there was a team willing to make a deal. The other point is why make a large trade for a WR when there is no QB to throw them the ball.

 

5. Whaley has been in the Bills Organization two years longer, did he have final say on decisions? No but he has been Director of Player Personnel or GM for six years on a mediocre team. An argument could be made he has had enough time

 

6. That was on Nix, but Whaley was in the draft room in 2012 and did not learn from the mistake and appears to have repeated it.

 

7. IIRC Taylor made the Pro Bowl after six other QBs dropped out. Also the Bills themselves said the QB was a priority going into the draft as Taylor was still a large unknown. Jimmy Garoppolo was drafted 62 overall in the second round, when the Patriots already have the greatest QB in the history of the league on their roster. Brady was selected as a pro bowl starter a few times in his career

 

And yes quite a few of my points are made in hindsight, but the Bills pay their personnel department a lot of money to go through these scenarios. If they had the foresight to make a decision like this it's very likely they are not facing a 17 year playoff drought

[Brawndo]

Former Bills Special Teams Coach Bruce Dehaven has passed away

[Doohicksie]

:(

[WildCard]

Couple analysts on ESPN have some great things to say about Lynn, and are predicting he will be the head coach

[TrueBlueGED]

Couple analysts on ESPN have some great things to say about Lynn, and are predicting he will be the head coach

I'd be okay with it. The offense (especially if you think Tyrod stinks) has been mostly fine. Would be really curious what he'd do about the defensive staff, however.

[nfreeman]

It seems like the 2 front-runners are Anthony Lynn and Tom Coughlin.

 

I think I'd be OK with either, subject to a good answer on the QB question. 

 

As far as that goes, I want to either keep TT or bring in a real QB that somehow pops loose (like Rivers, Brees, etc.).  EJ  or some vet retread is definitely not OK.

[Doohicksie]

If Lynn isn't the head coach here, he will be somewhere else.  Teams will inquire.

[Marions Piazza]

yuck on Lynn, there's a reason that he wasn't an OC or Head Coach already, he is not ready.  You don't jump from what the QB coach or RB coach or whatever the heck he was, to OC, and then to Head Coach in less than a year.  He called that bone headed reverse to Reggie Bush in OT that pretty much sealed our fate.  It would be a huge mistake to make Lynn the permanent head coach.  But hey, that would be a very Buffalo thing to do

[Randall Flagg]

I'm wary of a guy that was a backs coach for 15 years suddenly jumping right up the ladder due to a disaster franchise imploding yet again. 

[That Aud Smell]

I'm all fired up now. Sorry. But I think I've finally stumbled on the right word for the role I envision for the Pegulas: patron. Patrons of a community institution.

 

I love the Buffalo Philharmonic. Been attending since I was a young man. I hear they're broke and in danger of disbanding (sorry, Clipper made me do it). Coming into some money in middle age, I endow the Philharmonic with $20 million bucks or something. I make it clear to the leadership that I want the finest philharmonic in the land. That's it. That's the extent of my role. I sit back, enjoy the music, follow the progress toward being that best philharmonic. I don't hire the conductor or rearrange the wind instruments.

You've made the BPO analogy in the past, I believe.

 

You may feel like the Bills are a community institution. But they are not. The Bills are 1 of 32 for-profit franchises granted by an association (that is ostensibly non-profit) and privately owned by two people. Arts nonprofits like the BPO are publicly chartered entities whose purpose is to serve the public interest.

 

In any case, you'd be fooling yourself if you thought BPO board chairs (major patrons) like Lou Ciminelli didn't exert influence over certain orchestra operations, creative direction.

[Stoner]

You've made the BPO analogy in the past, I believe.

 

You may feel like the Bills are a community institution. But they are not. The Bills are 1 of 32 for-profit franchises granted by an association (that is ostensibly non-profit) and privately owned by two people. Arts nonprofits like the BPO are publicly chartered entities whose purpose is to serve the public interest.

 

In any case, you'd be fooling yourself if you thought BPO board chairs (major patrons) like Lou Ciminelli didn't exert influence over certain orchestra operations, creative direction.

It's the holidays and I'm in reruns?

 

Thanks, but all that seems neither here nor there. Terry and Kim are free to think of the Bills that way, and nothing about that style of ownership would necessarily hurt the franchise on the field or off. What would Goodell and the other owners say? "How dare you not meddle!?"?

[Samson's Flow]

It seems like the 2 front-runners are Anthony Lynn and Tom Coughlin.

 

I think I'd be OK with either, subject to a good answer on the QB question. 

 

As far as that goes, I want to either keep TT or bring in a real QB that somehow pops loose (like Rivers, Brees, etc.).  EJ  or some vet retread is definitely not OK.

I think the biggest deciding factor to next year's success will be who is brought in as the defensive coordinator, and how do they see the jumble of defensive players fitting into a coherent scheme. I think there are quite a few talented defensive players on the roster, but they don't fit very well in either the 3-4 or 4-3 schemes at the moment. Just a random assortment of guys.

 

Keeping Lynn is fine, but I think he would need a strong D coordinator, and I don't know if he has been around long enough to have good contacts around the league. Much like Marrone didn't know anyone and brought along seemingly his whole staff from Syracuse. A repeat of that would be a disaster. 

[TrueBlueGED]

I'm wary of a guy that was a backs coach for 15 years suddenly jumping right up the ladder due to a disaster franchise imploding yet again.

On the flip side, I think there's some logic in keeping some level of continuity such that the whole crew can get shitcanned in two years if it doesn't work. I'd rather not be in a spot where Whaley gets the gate in two years, but the incoming new GM has a coach signed for 3 more years already in place.

[Samson's Flow]

Anthony Lynn press conference on WGR right now. 

 

@MarkLud12

Lynn mentioned Tyrod Taylor's oft-discussed issues with throwing the ball down the middle of the field as an area for improvement

 

@PrescottRossi

Lynn: "I don't want a player to be evaluated from one game, just like how I don't want to be evaluated for one game."

 

@PrescottRossi

Lynn on Manuel: "We don't rely on our QBs to run the football, but if he chooses to keep it on a couple of read plays, that's fine."

 

@RapSheet

This was interesting. #Bills coach Anthony Lynn says it would be good to have Tyrod Taylor for an offseason. Not cutting him loose yet.

 

@SalSports

Lynn: "Obviousy with Rex being the head coach and my friend I'd love to have seen him get more time. But this is a business."

 

@JaySkurski

Lynn says Rex informed him of his firing. "He gave me his blessings." #Bills

[SwampD]

What's Rex going to do with that truck?

[inkman]

What's Rex going to do with that truck?

Peel off the Bill's decals and put ESPN on it?

[Samson's Flow]

What's Rex going to do with that truck?

Sell it to some mouth breather in Orchard Park or Cheektowaga?

[Jsixspd]

I'm all fired up now. 

Rex, OTOH, is just plain fired. 

 

 

BTW, video of Rex departing in his giant Bills-wrapped truck.  If it's a wrap vs custom paint, it would only cost about $150 and a couple hours labor to have the installer remove.  

 

http://www.thescore.com/news/1193913

[Brawndo]

Anthony Lynn mentioned he was not in the room when the decision to start EJ was made.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Anthony Lynn mentioned he was not in the room when the decision to start EJ was made.

 

Well his head coaching tenure is starting out great.

 

I'm sorry, but the Bills are a joke.

[Samson's Flow]

Anthony Lynn mentioned he was not in the room when the decision to start EJ was made.

Lynn mentioned he was not in the room when the decision to not play Tyrod was made.

 

Once that was made, it was "our" decision to start EJ.