dave mcbride

I think your general point is good, but I also think that Watson and Wentz are at least very good (better than good) with greatness potential in them. And you can't argue with Goff's production. I mean, just look at Watson's numbers. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WatsDe00.htm

He was actually good in Buffalo. Now, with far better coaching and preparation, he's the best in the league at his craft.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/10/30/stephon-gilmore-on-why-he-is-best-cornerback-in-nfl He ached to know how they did it. “I know they’ve got a great quarterback, but these other guys are always in position to make plays,” Gilmore recalls thinking. “Five years in Buffalo, you see that and you are like, I don’t know what it is. What are they doing different? Then, to actually get on their side, is totally different.” --- In Buffalo, Gilmore studied film on a projector at home. But the Patriots watch so much footage during the day that often Gilmore has nothing more to see at night. “Sometimes we even watch the same film 10 times in a row, and it’s like, I already watched this,” he says. “But you are not going to forget it in a game.” --- During his five years in Buffalo, Gilmore had three different coaches and four defensive coordinators. When Rex Ryan arrived in 2015, many expected the former Jets coach to use Gilmore the way he had used Revis. But the Bills’ staff relied less on man coverage than coaches had in New York; they kept Gilmore on the right side of the formation rather than let him follow the top receiver. “[The Patriots] demanded more of him,” says Dennis Thurman, Gilmore’s defensive coordinator for his last two seasons in Buffalo. “They needed him to handle the responsibility they placed on him, and in return he is paying them back for believing in him. He had to prove he was worthy of that contract, and now I think he has outperformed it.” Gilmore did become a Revis—just for the world champions. During New England’s Thursday-night game against the Giants, in Week 6, Revis tweeted that Gilmore “by far is the best corner in the game right now.”

If someone a little less even-keeled or megalomaniacal said this (Rex? Gregg Williams?), I'd be concerned, but consider the source. Say what you will about McDermott's coaching ability, but he is nothing if not respectful and even-keeled.

Yeah, I mentioned Brown in a subsequent post. I was unaware of the other two, but now that you mention it, I recall Mike Williams. Never heard of Lerentee McCrary!

"Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"

I'm not really trying to pump up Whaley. I was just pointing out that he wasn't some sort of mad trader on deadline day.

I view them more as a team, especially in the late Nix era. In 2013, I strongly believe that Whaley was running most things, not Nix, who I believe had basically checked out.

I think that's fair.

The Eagles don't have a winning record (and their record is the same as the Titans - 4-4).

Agreed. Aside from the first drive that ended with an Eagles FG, I felt like the Bills couldn't stop the Eagles passing game when the Eagles needed to make a play.

I think this is right. That was a massively bad trade in retrospect. I can see being a little gunshy after that debacle.

Andy Reid and Sean Peyton are two of the best QB evaluators and coaches in the league, period. They wanted him. I'd trust their opinion about his talent level coming out, and the fact that both wanted him tells you all you need to know. The fact that teams that kill QB careers for a living - Chicago and Buffalo - didn't take him tells me nothing.

The lack of a good QB was always THE problem. The Bills ran out some very talented defenses, receivers, and RBs over the years. It's why they were never 2-14 despite bad quarterbacks.

The dark lord may well have known and engineered it such that the one guy he knew he could beat in a crucial game, Andy Reid, would end up with Mahomes.

Yeah, I know that, but the question was specifically about trades. As for the Bills acting responsibly or not before his arrival, I don't know. Their main problem was an inability to hit on a QB.

I do think that Whaley played a large role in the drafting of Manuel. He did all of the scouting and worked him out personally on a rainy day in FL. Fun fact: he was almost certainly the anonymous Bills front office person who talked down Matt Barkley after going to his pro day at USC.

Andy Reid and Sean Payton were the two people who were all in on Mahomes.

PS - Bryce Brown is who you're thinking of. They did give up a 4th. He didn't work out.

That wasn't a trade for a player, however. That's the issue. Also, with regard to Manuel, at least they traded down before taking him. They netted Alonso out of that, which they later turned into McCoy.

Whaley's trades for players: Kelvin Sheppard for Jerry Hughes Kiko Alonso for Lesean McCoy A fifth and a seventh for Matt Cassel and a sixth Trade deadline trades: I'm fairly certain the number under Whaley was zero.

I suppose that going after a guy like AJ Green in FA next season is the better move than trading a second and a third (for instance) for him now if you think your ceiling with or without him is maybe a WC win before getting destroyed by one of the better teams on the road in the divisional round. The issue is that he has to nail his draft picks. In the third year of the McDermott/Beane regime, White was a great pick, and I think Edmunds probably qualifies as a strong pick considering what he brings to the pass defense. I suppose Dawkins rates as a pretty good pick; he seems to be having a solid season and is a legit LT starter in this league. The jury is out on the other high picks (except for Zay, a failure), and of course it really all comes down to Allen. Allen is a below-average NFL qb right now, but he's not terrible and he's clearly talented.

Good post. I know a lot of people don't love Football Outsiders, but they now have us ranked 25th overall in DVOA, partly because the schedule the Bills have played is basically garbage except for NE and Philly. They had us trending downward after the Miami game, and that Philly game proved them right to an extent (i.e., getting dominated at home). The teams the Bills have beaten are ranked 24, 26, 30, 31, and 32, and the next four opponents are ranked 29, 23, 32, and 21. They also get 20 and 30 in two of the final three games. https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teameff/2019 Anyway, the roster remains quite mediocre overall despite some bright spots (Tre White, John Brown).

I can't think of a worse run team in a while than this year's Jets. That is a team that went into the season with some very good talent (Leonard Williams, Mosley, Bell, Quinnen Williams, Anderson, Adams, and at least the promise of eventual high-end talent with Darnold), and they're staring into the abyss of a 3-13 season. What a dumpster fire. I mean, at least Miami has a plan that makes some sense on paper and is fully executing it.

Arguably cost them the game last night.