Punch

Joe Flacco is the only name that jumps out, although I doubt he makes it to free agency--- not to mention, he has a number of drawbacks.

Howard Simon has broken a number of bits of info from his "sources" over the past few days--- Whisenhunt as a major candidate also traces to Simon, but I'm not sure that he's the frontrunner.

Arizona DC Ray Horton should be an option. The Bills are interviewing him tomorrow.

That's interesting--- although I wouldn't hate Mike Tice as OC with Lovie. There's an O-line in place in Buffalo which they didn't have in Chicago.

Having the right analysts in place will be crucial to this system having positive results--- and of course, as you say, how effective are the current methods of analysis at projecting football success? The Patriots and 49ers may be the model, but what are they doing exactly? Very interesting potential here.

The dropoff in Darren McFadden's production from 2011 to 2012 had as much to do with the coaching/scheme change as anything else after Hue Jackson was replaced by Dennis Allen. His scheme might be a good fit for our offensive personnel, although we'd certainly need another deep threat at WR. This isn't an endorsement of Hue Jackson per se, but he is a talented offensive coach.

That is probably where it should fall, as it is statistical analysis--- although this may be an area where fresh young minds from outside of the organization should be brought in. Great take, and a total sea change from where the organization was viewed the last time. It seems like candidates are lining up.

I agree. I hate to see a thread derailed by attack dogs that disagree. This has--- if nothing else--- put the Bills on the front page of every sports news organization's website and given them prime airtime at the most crucial part of the HC hiring season. They just need to make the right pick.

The Raiders should have retained Hue Jackson, but having said that, I hope the Bills only interest is to "leave no stone unturned".

OK.

Moneyball is not necessarily the strategy of a money strapped team, though. The Boston Red Sox hired Bill James (arguably the father of sabremetrics) when they couldn't lure away Billy Beane in 2002--- it was "moneyball" that directly lead to the Red Sox 1st World Series title in 86 years. Oakland was essentially priced out of competition for a few years because the big spending teams started utilizing the same philosophy and targeting the same previously undervalued players--- but they were now getting paid. In other words, I don't think this is a sign the Bills don't want to spend money, but it is a sign they'd like to be an organization on the cutting edge of football evaluation.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens. Sadly, I feel Ralph made a point to travel to WNY for the holiday party as a part of this transition.

This is a little paranoid, I guess. I think this was an organizational process Ralph wanted to start when he named Donahoe President in 2001, but that situation was such a disaster he insulated himself with the inner circle and we've been stuck spinning our wheels ever since. SDS is spot on below:

Russ Brandon has final say--- on everything. Wilson has ceded total control to Russ Brandon. Ralph is still the owner, but he is completely out of the decision making process. That is the point of the press conference.

Yes, Ralph owns the team. The whole point of this news is that "the buck stops" with Russ. He alone has final say on everything.

It underscores that point, doesn't it? You're right, "this isn't that hard".

Brandon is no longer reporting to anyone--- not even Wilson. How did you miss that?

Two interesting and equally valid takes from twitter regarding this news: Paul Peck ‏ @ PeckOnSports Massive change isn't always best idea. Bills are making changes, using some of same people in new roles. Some will be unhappy. I like it. @ BfloBlog Man, if only the Bills had a visionary like Russ Brandon working for them before today

Someone posted in the shoutbox that only the Bills could make major changes to the front office without any new hires--- which is valid. But I think cautious optimism is called for because the youth of this organization is taking over. Football analytics, new stadium, no restrictions on coaching search, no more meddling--- if this all comes to fruition, it should be a New Age for the Bills. But it could be as you say, and nothing more than a new paint job. I don't believe that to be the case, though I remain cautiously optimistic.

That was exactly the thought that I had. Howard Simon has been on point with info on the Bills, so his source claiming they will "go hard" after Kelly is interesting. I hope the interview of Whisenhunt is only to ask him about Horton, or in the even Horton would bring him in as OC.

Yes, I didn't like to hear his name. That's the only sticking point for me so far.

I respect that, but the purpose of this PC is not really about Nix. According to Russ, Nix's status wasn't in question.

It would make sense that the Bears would be interested in Levitre, but at this point it's only logic based speculation that one of the top young free agent OGs would be a target.

I like Marty Schottenheimer, but I'm tired of hearing his name in this context. He is not mentioned in regards to HC hires because his coaching career is in the past. I'm interested in the future, and the Bills should be as well.

Hopefully Nix/Whaley wouldn't hire him if he wanted to blow up one of the strengths of the team.