todd

Huh? That makes no sense on any level.

Excellent post, KTD (as usual). Every post regarding supposedly switching schemes should reference this. Pettine said he would design the scheme around the personnel, and he did.

The most disastrous thing would be if the new guy decides he wants an entire new staff. That would set us back a year.

Agreed with your assessment of Frusciante. The interplay of his guitar and Flea's bass is essential to the chili sound. The only problem with Stadium was the total overcompression. Barely listenable on some stereos. Disagree on Foos, tho. Any album with a tune like White Limo on it is OK in my book. The whole Wasting Light album was recorded analog, so it has a fantastic warmth to it, although whoever mastered it could have done a better job. Since it was analog, and the instruments couldn't be tweaked and faked like you can on a digital recording, it couldn't be produced the same way. Retakes were punched in and out, not cut and pasted.

Suck it, Brady!

I know a little about analytics from an IT standpoint. You don't just hire somebody and then BOOM! you immediately have analytics. It doesn't work like that. Any analytics project is a multi-year effort. Here are the general steps for setting up a new analytics department, once the director of analytics has been hired: Create initial budget. (2 weeks) Create staffing strategy & hire analytics staff. This will be the first set of hires to stand up the system (2-3 months) Determine what software platform is best for what you are trying to do. There are a number of excellent platforms to choose from. (1 month) Purchase and install servers & software, or contract with 3rd party hosting/cloud facility for hardware/software install. (1.5 months) Determine measures. Determine what data you actually want to measure. (initial 2 -3 months, ongoing process) Create data collection routine & strategy. This would include ETL (extract, transform, load) processes from any existing data stores (HR systems containing salary, etc) (2-3 months) Create cube (BI data structure) (2 months?) Create reporting interface and mashup/display front end. (1-2 months) Refine, refine, refine. Develop more measures. Report on measures (forever) That's over a year of development just to start utilizing analytics. Sure, some data is useful before that, but my point is that this is a serious project that will take a while to show results.

He's a real wanker.

This would be a mistake by Pettine. Cleveland is destined to fail. Their ownership is possibly the worst in the NFL. Who would want to take a job where they fired a guy after one year? Just a stupid, stupid place to go. Pettine will have other opportunities. Cleveland sucks.

Agree. I expect they will bring in some punting competition. The Bills need to flip the field they way they used to when Moorman used to have a giant leg. He's a solid vet, and there's something to be said for that. One of his strengths used to be his speed on broken plays or trick punts. Not sure he has that speed any more.

I'm detecting a crusade.

Are there crossman defenders?

Pretty good draft pick, I'd say. Especially after some here were starting to think of him as a bust. Speaks volumes to letting a player developer for 2-3 years.

I think you are right, however I think the 49rs will beat them. They have the defense to do it, and the offense to hurt them bad.

This is exactly why we shouldn't draft a QB in the first round. Giving up on Manuel would be the same as drafting Mike Williams or Aaron Maybin. A waste.

That's a head scratcher for sure.

Whaa whaa! Sounds like the real issue here is you disagree with my opinion that it is stupid to draft a QB in the first round again.

Oh really? If we totally give up on our first round pick last year and draft another QB in the first round the Bills are incompetent fools? So ignoring other positions of need after drafting a QB in the first round last year is actually a GOOD move? Holy crap, that's awesome comedy. Please explain how 1) You are qualified to call EJ a bust after one year, including your years of scouting and pro football analysis, statistics, and understanding of Buffalo's offense. 2) Why bailing on a first round pick after one year and creating a quarterback controversy helps the team, and 3) Your professional assessment of Manziel's strengths and weaknesses, and how you think his personality will mesh with the Buffalo Bills, how he will overcome his douchebagginess along with his personality defects, massive displays of immaturity, and off the field issues. I'd love to hear your analysis.

It is common knowledge that Jauron pushed for him, and others didn't want the pick. One of the reasons DJ is gone. I don't know how anyone can look at this past draft and not call it very good after one year. Of course, it conflicts with people's desire to B word and whine about stuff that happened 5 or 10 years ago, but whatever.

You'll need to be careful with those facts. Bills fans don't deal well with things that a) Don't happen immediately or b) Allow them to see things in any other colors than back & white.

Here's the thing - when it comes to money, I bet the Bills could make up for the lost $$ from the Rogers donation by making a few playoff appearances. Playing in Toronto with Canada's crappy support for the Bills definitely contributes to the Bills inability to win enough games to get to the playoffs. TL;DR: Playoffs = $$ Wins = Playoffs Toronto <> Wins

That's not accurate. Actually, they tried to resign RF, but he wouldn't. Buffalo wanted him as a starter to begin, but have him mentor Manuel.

No way. You need to give time for a QB to develop, and that's what needs to happen with Manuel. It would be stupid to dump picks to get another QB. It isn't being conservative, it is being smart. Carelessness doesn't make a good team, and getting a douchebag like Johnny Football wouldn't help. See the REdskins. They are careless, and they are no better than Buffalo.

I think the Bills would probably stupid to trade up, given the need for more picks. If anything I hope they trade down and find other players like Kiko. I also don't think we'll see them take a quarterback until mid-to late rounds. You can't draft a QB in the first round and not give him a chance to develop. That would be really, really stupid.

+1 This will certainly lead us to a winning season. Not at all! Analytics in any industry takes a good long time to show results. This is not good for impatient, uninformed Bills fans, but good for the Buffalo organization. Installing analytics is quite an involved process, from software / hardware systems, ETL, determining what measures you want to look at, to making sure you have the correct data, to setting up the proper reports, getting the right staff who can pull the data, etc. It's a pretty cool industry, and there's quite a bit more to it than looking at a few spreadsheets. It drives me nuts when people don't give stuff time to work.

Yeah - let's be like the Jets!