BuffaloBillsForever Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 New Bills GM Doug Whaley integral in EJ Manuel pick 53 By Chris Wesseling Around the NFL Writer Published: May 17, 2013 at 04:35 p.m. Updated: May 18, 2013 at 02:49 a.m. The Buffalo Bills raised plenty of eyebrows after taking EJ Manuel with the No. 16 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, making him the first quarterback to go off the board. New general manager Doug Whaley isn't shy about taking ownership of the pick, even if he was second-in-command to Buddy Nix at the time. "I was an integral part in the drafting process of EJ Manuel," Whaley said on NFL Network's "NFL Total Access" on Thursday. "I was the person that handled the draft process and setting up the board." Breer: The 'surprise' that wasn't EJ Manuel over Geno Smith wasn't that shocking, Albert Breer says, considering questions that surrounded Manuel on the field. More ... Whaley did allow that it was a "collaborative effort" between area scouts, cross-checkers, coach Doug Marrone and Nix, but the new front-office boss is comfortable with hanging his hat on Manuel after vetting the quarterback in the pre-draft process. "We have a philosophy that the information makes the decision," Whaley explained. "We think that we did enough due diligence, and the information pointed us all to this point that EJ would be the guy we feel will take the Buffalo Bills into the future." Whaley's confidence is refreshing after Nix seemed to be in over his head while running the show for three and a half years. According to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, Whaley is a "bright young star" who has impressed colleagues with his smarts and personnel acumen in his time with the Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bills finally seem pointed in the right direction. It now falls on Whaley's hand-picked franchise quarterback to end the longest active playoff drought in the NFL. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000204027/article/new-bills-gm-doug-whaley-integral-in-ej-manuel-pick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 This has been well documented for quite some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Fans with a short term view may find this damning, but I don't think EJ's story has been fully written yet. And Whaley has made a number of good moves. I expect the Bills to finish over .500 and if they do, Whaley stays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starrymessenger Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I confess I don't know what to make of Whaley. To me he is one of these people who are quite capable of being at the same time very good and very bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in Chicago Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 New Bills GM Doug Whaley integral in EJ Manuel pick 53 Why are you bringing up articles from May 2013 ? And starting a new thread for them ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I wouldn't give up on Whaley yet. We're living through some of his errors and some of his home runs. EJ and Kuandjo look like whiffs. You know he would be scooped up and probably be a solid GM for someone else. I'd say let him grow here and continue to get better as a GM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I have no problem with Whaley thus far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangarang Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I like Whaley and his eye for talent. I would still trust him to draft out next QB. However, trading up for Watkins when EJ was still a huge question mark has to count for something. He bet the farm on a guy with a pretty shaky rookie year and lots of doubts surrounding his ability to succeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickelCity Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Count me as a Whaley fan. Related or not, I'm also excited to see Orton over the next couple weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proteus Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) I like Whaley but the Watkins trade, how he handled the QB situation in the off - season and thinking Chris Williams was adequate enough for the offensive line in free agency are things that when accumulated, could definitely get him fired. That said, if the Bills get into the playoffs, all is forgiven. Edited September 30, 2014 by Proteus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Schick Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 No real positives to back this up yet, but i have to say I am impressed with the decision-making under Whaley. The FO obviously has a plan, and are not blindly married to any portion of it. I guess itll get real interesting if it gets to point of firing Hackett or even Marrone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I'm pretty sure Brandon made the pick. I mean, wasn't he shuffling papers in the war room? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) I also hope that the EJ story has not been fully written and that this is an opportunity for EJ to develop under Orton as I presume the original plan was when the Bills signed Kolb. I also love having Sammy on the team. Nevertheless, we certainly gave up a premium to get him when you compare what the Dolphins gave up to move up more spots just the year before. We overpaid. Farmer simply out negotiated Whaley. Nevertheless, just as with EJ, I think that Whaley deserves more time to see what he can do. Edited September 30, 2014 by Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mango Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 CK is the worst part of the Watkins trade. We'd all feel better/ok with it if we either just gave up last years second or found a more immediate impact there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starrymessenger Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I also hope that the EJ story has not been fully written and that this is an opportunity for EJ to develop under Orton as I presume the original plan was when the Bills signed Kolb. I also love having Sammy on the team. Nevertheless, we certainly gave up a premium to get him when you compare what the Dolphins gave up to move up more spots just the year before. We overpaid. Farmer simply out negotiated Whaley. Nevertheless, just as with EJ, I think that Whaley deserves more time to see what he can do. Plenty of good wideouts in last years draft. And a good looking QB prospect went at the tail end of the first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Bills fans demand QBs be drafted every year. Some may not have wanted EJ but they wanted Geno, Nassib or Barkley. We'd be in the same boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starrymessenger Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Bills fans demand QBs be drafted every year. Some may not have wanted EJ but they wanted Geno, Nassib or Barkley. We'd be in the same boat. It's all just retrospective analysis but they would have been better off waiting a year and bridging with a vet, as they had already planned to do anyway with Kolb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Hindsight Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I thought Russ Brandon was making all football decisions. I saw him on the phone once Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negativo Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 We knew this, but good to put it out there to remind Whaley apologists. The EJ overreach failed miserably. Projected a late 2nd, early 3rd round pick with a long learning curve, Whaley picked him at #16 and declared him the face of the franchise. What due diligence besides interview handshakes and back slaps did he do, exactly? Too early to tell on Watkins, but it's not an overreach to think Whaley overreached on him, too. WR is not the position you throw away top picks for, especially potential Top 10 picks for a bad team. Watkins may have potential to become a Pro Bowl receiver someday, but this was not the time, place or position for that move. The Bills are rebuilding and NEED PICKS! The Cowboy dynasty was built on trading a pro-bowl skill player for PICKS, not the reverse. Whaley is the Minnesota in this deal. The Ditka trading his draft for Ricky Williams. The bell tolls for thee, Whaley. Marrone, too. Probably Brandon, as well. Pegula will install his own executive team and clean house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonprophet Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 However, trading up for Watkins when EJ was still a huge question mark has to count for something. He bet the farm on a guy with a pretty shaky rookie year and lots of doubts surrounding his ability to succeed. The Bills needed a #1 receiver regardless of who's at QB and, with the memory of last season's QB carousel in mind, drafting a player who increases the efficiency of whomever stands behind center makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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