Rob's House

We should hang out.

I know Carolina shut down Donkey Kong Suh and the Lions, by does anyone know how they did it?

I'd say no, but he might be our best option next year.

My thoughts exactly. Plus, sometimes I find that someone I'd written off as an idiot surprises me.

The more I think about it the worse Whaley comes off to me. I'll elaborate: His first mistake was picking Manuel in the first place. I don't care if a few draftniks had him as a borderline 1st rounder, or if rumor had it Chimp Kelly liked him. He was an iffy pick from the word go. Rumor has it Whaley was sold on EJ's presence, which is great until you need someone who can throw a football. It also seems to me like he was listening to the fans who just wanted a QB so he did the worst thing he could have done. He reached for a scrub QB in a mediocre class, then because conventional wisdom is that you stick with your 1st rd QB no matter what, he passed on legitimate QB prospects this year. Compounding the matter, if trading SJ really was b/c he didn't believe in Manuel then Whaley really is a first class !@#$ up. Look at it this way. We could have Steve Johnson, Robert Woods, and Mike Williams catching passes from Teddy Bridgewater right now AND still have a first round pick next year. Instead we have Kyle Orton as our QB of the foreseeable future. Whaley's two claims to fame are trading back to get an extra 2nd (while wasting the resulting 1st on EJ) and stealing Hughes from Indy. That's all fine and good, but an OLB isn't even in the same league of importance as a QB. And yes, we have a loaded roster, but how many of those players did Whaley bring on? Even if we give him credit for the past 2 drafts, the core of this team was already here. And yes, I'll give him credit for re-signing Wood and A. Williams. At this juncture I give Whaley a C- because I'm feeling generous. And I'm not even taking off points for the Byrd situation. If we make the playoffs I might rise up to a B. Y'all don't have to agree, that's my opinion.

This Bridgewater guy needs to learn to slide BEFORE the yellow line.

Was it ever in the window?

I think Kyle Orton might be my favorite football player after reading this thread.

Yes, it looks bad. That's not to say Whaley has done a bad job overall, but when you invest that much in a player just to see him fail spectacularly after only 4 games into the season that's a black eye. It's not just that he overdrafted a QB that didn't work out. That's a sizable blunder, but nobody's perfect. But then doubling down on him after the season we saw last year was a head scratcher from the outset. And by doubling down I'm not just referring to trading next year's first based on the belief that he had his franchise QB on the roster, but magnified by the fact that he didn't so much as take a flier on a young guy in an historically deep draft, AND had no veteran QB up until a week before the season. The fact that the only QB on the roster right now who was on the roster two weeks before the season started is now the backup does not look good for Whaley. I think he deserves credit for getting Kyle Orton, and if Orton plays well it will substantially mitigate the harm to Whaley's reputation. But I don't know how you can argue that his handling of the QB situation doesn't make him look bad right now.

Eh, they got a playoff appearance, a playoff win, & then a 4th out of him. I've seen worse.

No question it looks bad. He's the GM and his entire strategy for the off season was predicated upon the premise that EJ Manuel was the Bills franchise QB. And this is after seeing him play for a year. Now, only 4 games into the season it's clear he bet everything on a crippled horse. If Orton can bail him out he can salvage his reputation for having finally made a viable contingency plan, but this is bad for him any way you slice it.

Why do you put dropped passes thrown below the receivers' knees on the receiver when Manuel is passing, but the 6 drops of much better passes from Tuel are on him? I haven't noticed too much of this. From what I've seen Hackett's been the go to scapegoat for the EJ at all costs crowd.

This gives me new respect for Marrone. I don't think this necessarily indicates friction between the Dougs, but it tells me Marrone is of the mindset that he's going to do what he thinks is best and if they don't like it They can get someone else to coach.

You gotta admit, it is kind of crazy to think guys that grow up around football and mentored from childhood by professional NFL football coaches would grow up knowing how to be football coaches.

Yes and no. I'm excited that we might still have a chance at the playoffs this year. On the other hand, the fact that people are excited that Kyle Orton is our starting QB says a lot about how EJ Manuel has performed and how poorly Whaley's mishandling of the QB position.

That's the fear of not switching to Orton. We already wasted last year learning about EJ. A rookie QB is going to usually get a year to grow provided he doesn't **** the bed. I understand he missed a few games, but he started 10 games. If you start more than half your team's games in a season you're no longer a rookie and you're expected to make a second year leap. EJ didn't. His first couple of games were just good enough to earn him some more time, but by this week it was clear that he hadn't earned the extra time. By year two you have to show something or you get the hook. He's actually had a whole lot more opportunity than most QBs get. Maybe if he works hard and studies he'll get another chance. But you don't throw away another season, especially a promising one, just to make sure you didn't waste a first round pick on a guy who looks like a bust.

You could change your s/n to FireMarrone

The reality is that EJ's barely an upgrade over Thad Lewis and may nor even be as good as Tuel. One way to more objectively analyze his value is to ask what any other GM would trade for him. I think you'd be lucky to get a 5th.

I agree, but I'm surprised to hear you say they. You're the last guy I expected to hop off the EJ train.

The one with a spotty offensive line and all those top end receivers whose names no one can remember. No ****. If he was just making a money grab he could have stayed in Dallas as a well paid back up without much chance to start.

Some guy who used to play QB for the Bills.

This is a really weak excuse. Even Roy wouldn't use this excuse. I agree we should have stuck with the run, but how does that absolve Manwel from missing wide open receiver after wide open receiver? Half his completions were off ****ty throws. Trying to develop Manwel is pumping a dry well.

The existence of this thread is the realization that EJ = Trent Edwards.

Those sound like excuses, Roy.

If I were a betting man I'd make a considerable wager on Kyle Orton.