Twitter rumors about Bills new structure, fate of Rex/Whaley

[RyanC883]

Rex and bis brother can look hard all they want from home looking at job ads.

 

I hope your right. It's pretty fn clear that its Ryan and not the Players. Take a top 5 D and destroy it with your stupid scheme. If Ryan stays, Thurman must go. Pettine or Schwartz hired, and Rex told to HC and stay the F away from the D and personnel decisions. If Rex doesn't like it, too bad.

[TC in St. Louis]

When the Pegulas wake up in the morning, they sneeze and hundreds of thousands of dollars land in their hankies. They could fire Rex and it would be like spare change. It's not the money. It's that they want to have a championship. They thought Rex was the right guy to bring that to the city. It's not the money.

 

Hey, Rex might be the right guy. I like him as a leader.

 

But I think the Pegs will hire somebody to take over. If Rex isn't willing to let go of the defense, he's got to go. We had a great defense with basically the same players. If anything, we have more talent now than last year. What we lack is Jim Schwartz and his leadership. If we had that right now, we'd be in the playoffs.

 

Rex has to accept that. His defense has been the downfall of the team. Fix that, get a couple free agent OL, we good.

[Mango]

I never understood the czar hysteria. Each team should have one, isn't that the point of the GM. If you as team owner find yourself incompetent of making te right football decisions for your franchise, hire a president to preside over it all. Either way the answer is to step aside and let the football people do football things. If they fail find a new one, hire a consultant with whome you trust to find a new GM and get out of the way again. Having a guy act as the pen optic for the GM, ony says we don't have the right GM. If they start over ruling said GM in the draft, FA, and re-signings, aren't they then just the GM?

 

It comes back to, for Terry, the Ted Black role. What was his job? Why have him? I always hated Terry's quote saying something like "Ted isn't the only one in the room with a hockey iq" (paraphrasing). He's got to do a better job of letting the sports people do their sports thing.

 

A Csar only muddies the waters, and becomes a sounding board for outside (owner) influence.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Mango

[nucci]

I never understood the czar hysteria. Each team should have one, isn't that the point of the GM. If you as team owner find yourself incompetent of making te right football decisions for your franchise, hire a president to preside over it all. Either way the answer is to step aside and let the football people do football things. If they fail find a new one, hire a consultant with whome you trust to find a new GM and get out of the way again. Having a guy act as the pen optic for the GM, ony says we don't have the right GM. If they start over ruling said GM in the draft, FA, and re-signings, aren't they then just the GM?

Yep........If you don't want Whaley, fire him and hire another GM to run the football side....INCLUDING letting him choose the HC

[LeGOATski]

 

3 Pro Bowl Defensive Lineman not good enough for ya?

Apparently, not.

[quikchomp]

Not to be homophobic, but I always found him a little creepy after he kissed Kordell Stewart on the sideline.

"not to be homophobic, but I am going to be completely homophobic."

 

It's 2015....c'mon man

[Nanker]

Ron Wolf or Pat Kirwan would be excellent consultants, as would Dan Reeves.

[A Dog Named Kelso]

Yep........If you don't want Whaley, fire him and hire another GM to run the football side....INCLUDING letting him choose the HC

When is the last time the Bills let their gm pick a coach? Again a problem with leadership.

Edited December 21, 2015 by A Dog Named Kelso

[4merper4mer]

When is the last time the Bills let their gm pick a coach? Again a problem with leadership.

I think Donahoe picked Greggo. That was a hoot.

[Reed83HOF]

 

3 Pro Bowl Defensive Lineman not good enough for ya?

 

can't say that anymore

[Acantha]

But his biggest flaw is that he doesn't make decisions quickly or makes them too quick. He's got two moves. Lock onto the first read and throw a 1-3 yard pass or wait 3-4 seconds for the deep ball. That won't cut it long term. Some of it is play calling too. How many slant routes have we seen Sammy run mid-field? I don't recall any.

 

Anyway, on the fate of Rex and Whaley, I don't know how I feel. Whaley isn't calling plays. Should he be the fall guy for failed defensive schemes and play calling? I don't see how quite frankly. None the less, there's always going to be someone to blame. Rex won't be a 1-year and done coach here in Buffalo. I think there's almost no chance of that. The Pegula's would look like complete idiots if that were the case. It looks bad now, but I don't believe for a second that starting over completely is the answer.

To your 1st point about TT, I'm choosing to be positive about his future. I think he had a really rough year, even when he had good stats in games, a lot was masked by Watkins being ridiculously good. Taylor wasn't horrible, but IMO he didn't play well, even when some fans were gushing over him.

 

On the bright side, most of his faults are exactly what you expect from a rookie QB. He played better than most rookies, and should have given his time in the league, but all of the same problems you see in rookies (as you listed in your post) is what you saw in Taylor as a first time starter.

 

At this moment, I think Taylor needs time to develop, just like any new QB. He's not losing us games, so he shouldn't be replaced. Let him grow in the position.

 

As for what's going to happen to leadership, the one thing that I want is for the Pegula's to name one person to oversee all football operations; and let's not be too tricky here and just call the person the GM, mmmkay?

 

I've been vocal that I think Whaley has done a very good job here overall, and I think he's the best person for the job. But if the Pegula's disagree fine, just find the best person for the job, give them control and move on. None of this, "the coach doesn't report to the GM" BS.

 

IMO, the biggest mistake has already been made, and that's Terry and Kim's insistence on picking the head coach. I don't agree with firing a coach after 1 season, but T&K need to admit they made a mistake and let their GM do whatever needs to be done in order to move on, whether that be keeping Rex or not.

 

Now people want an intermediary to go between the GM and coach? What??? Just let the GM pick his guy to begin with and there's no need for another layer of managerial nonsense!

 

I think this whole Whaley bashing is just taking the easy way out. You want to bash him for Manuel? Who would he have drafted in that draft that was better? Geno Smith? Mike Glennon? It was the worst QB draft in a long time and it just happened to coincide with when the Bills and Nix decided they needed to draft a QB...bad timing. We sit here and say the Bills could have drafted a franchise QB but yet there were none available to be drafted in that draft...

People also forget about Nix's recorded phone call. There was basically no choice for the Bills but to draft a QB high. For the record, I still would have taken Barkley over Manuel, not that it's worth much.

[stevewin]

@JaySkurski

Ryan says the #Bills will "look hard" in the offseason whether his scheme needs to be adjusted, or players that fit it better are needed.

That is the part that is most frustrating to me. How many times have we had to go through a 3 year transition to find players that fit a new scheme - only to move on to the next regime/scheme rinse and repeat. The real tragedy in this case of course is you already had the scheme AND the players that fit - and now you ruined that. Even someone like Mario - they can cast him off and say he was a useless malcontent now, but if he was in the same role/scheme as last year he might have played at Pro Bowl level again this year. Think of all it took to get him - and now he's been relegated to being disposable. WHY WOULD YOU DISMANTLE A TOP DEFENSE IN THE LEAGUE JUST FOR YOUR STUPID SCHEME!!!!

[papazoid]

@SalSports

Rex: "Absolutely, 100%" he and Doug Whaley get along. Says he has great respect for him and believes feeling is mutual

 

 

which is why i think Russ Brandon is the source of the "rogue" comments

[KOKBILLS]

@JaySkurski

Ryan says the #Bills will "look hard" in the offseason whether his scheme needs to be adjusted, or players that fit it better are needed.

 

Nothing like waiting to "look hard" at something that should have been a no-brainer a year ago...

[reddogblitz]

On the bright side, most of his faults are exactly what you expect from a rookie QB. He played better than most rookies, and should have given his time in the league, but all of the same problems you see in rookies (as you listed in your post) is what you saw in Taylor as a first time starter.

 

 

Probably because he's not a rookie.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

The Legend of Doug Whaley > The Legend of Kiko Alonzo.

 

He's had his moments, taken some risks, and made a lot of the kind of moves we as fans have wanted to see for a while, but he's done nothing worthy of the praise he gets from the fans (or at least a sizeable chunk of the fan base.)

 

The extent to which people go to defend him is amusing too. I get that Rex has been a disappointment, but to hear some of you talk one would think he'd taken over a dominating squad rather than a glorified .500 team.

He took over a 9-7 squad with a top 5 defense, which added a DROY candidate, a perennial pro bowl running back, an outstanding tight end and a marginally better QB with exceptional mobility. He coached that same squad into a 6 or 7 win team.

 

Perhaps Whaley missed the mismatch between the roster and Rex Ryan's scheme and should have been the one to blow up the defensive roster... But Rex has a hand in that too for refusing to adapt to the talent.

 

The praise he has earned is deserved in contrast to his predecessors. While not perfect, and certainly not the NFLs best GM, and given that he is horrendous in front of a microphone or camera, he's the best GM in buffalo since the 90s.

[reddogblitz]

@JaySkurski

Ryan says the #Bills will "look hard" in the offseason whether his scheme needs to be adjusted, or players that fit it better are needed.

 

I could have sworn several times throughout the course of the season he said he was going to do that.

[Acantha]

Probably because he's not a rookie.

Did you not read the next 9 words? Edited December 21, 2015 by Acantha

[26CornerBlitz]

That is the part that is most frustrating to me. How many times have we had to go through a 3 year transition to find players that fit a new scheme - only to move on to the next regime/scheme rinse and repeat. The real tragedy in this case of course is you already had the scheme AND the players that fit - and now you ruined that. Even someone like Mario - they can cast him off and say he was a useless malcontent now, but if he was in the same role/scheme as last year he might have played at Pro Bowl level again this year. Think of all it took to get him - and now he's been relegated to being disposable. WHY WOULD YOU DISMANTLE A TOP DEFENSE IN THE LEAGUE JUST FOR YOUR STUPID SCHEME!!!!

 

 

Nothing like waiting to "look hard" at something that should have been a no-brainer a year ago...

 

Rex is a defensive genius right?

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

@JaySkurski

Ryan says the #Bills will "look hard" in the offseason whether his scheme needs to be adjusted, or players that fit it better are needed.

Just need Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and his scheme works fine.

[papazoid]

@JaySkurski

Ryan says the #Bills will "look hard" in the offseason whether his scheme needs to be adjusted, or players that fit it better are needed.

 

Rex is a one trick pony with his 3-4 defense. he ain't changing....but the players will be.

[dulles]

Pegula bucks will have to listen to a lot of excuses and it all falls on rex. If whaley has to go it's not the end of the world for me. But whaley could very well pull a nice power move and say...I put this team together let me get my coach outside of brandon and the pegulas. Doesn't the new tv contract come in next year which means an extra 30 or 40 mil for the bills? There's the coin to pay off rex's deal.

The Pegula's are incredible wealthy. This is not even equal to a car accident for most people. This is Rex's remain salary $22.5 (original deal was 27.5 for 5 years). Divide that by the Pegula's $3.8bn and you get 0.59%. Yes, a lot of money, but a small drop in the bucket for the Pegs. If they want to make this change, they will. I'm not saying that they ARE, but I am saying money isn't really a problem.

[Peter]

I guess the anti Rex people are out in full force.

 

I like and support Rex and hope that he continues as HC. I am as disappointed as anyone that we are not in the playoffs yet again. As for the defense and team as a whole, the injuries have killed us.

 

Defense: Aaron Williams, Kyle Williams, Bradham, now Gilmore, our primary LB back ups . . . .

 

Mario Williams - I always defended him. This year, he looks like he is on strike and does not want to get hurt. I never thought I would say this, but we can replace what little production he has had with pretty much anyone on this board. The guy should be embarrassed. I do not think that the Bills (whoever is the coach) can risk committing as much money to him going forward given that he may phone it in again.

 

Tyrod Taylor - I like his potential, but it seems as though he has not been the same since he got hurt against the Titans. The good news is that those in the media that were ready to give him HUGE contract just a couple of weeks ago seem to have taken a step back.

 

Running Backs - I like both Shady and Williams, but they have had their injury issues as well.

 

Right side of our line - injuries/illness again.

 

For those of you who might say that "injuries are not an excuse" - They certainly help explain the year that we have had. Moreover, I am raising this (not Rex who seems to go out of his way to take full responsibility for everything and also has the players backs even when they do not deserve it.

 

Just my two cents.

[PromoTheRobot]

 

 

which is why i think Russ Brandon is the source of the "rogue" comments

I think you are right.

[FireChan]

"not to be homophobic, but I am going to be completely homophobic."

 

It's 2015....c'mon man

It's current year bro, think how I think.

[reddogblitz]

For those of you who might say that "injuries are not an excuse" - They certainly help explain the year that we have had. Moreover, I am raising this (not Rex who seems to go out of his way to take full responsibility for everything and also has the players backs even when they do not deserve it.

 

 

Injuries are no excuse for this team. Every team has injuries. We've had teams in the past with a lot more injuries that were still able to go 6-10 or 7-9, probably what we're going this year. Carolina is missing their best WR for the whole season. Seahawks have had their entire RB corps decimated and are playing other team's cast offs at that position. I remember 2 years ago due to injuries we were down to Goodwin and Graham as our starting WRs and won (with EJ at QB no less).

 

As far as injury riddled seasons go, this one is not that bad IMHO.

[The Big Cat]

 

Injuries are no excuse for this team. Every team has injuries. We've had teams in the past with a lot more injuries that were still able to go 6-10 or 7-9, probably what we're going this year. Carolina is missing their best WR for the whole season. Seahawks have had their entire RB corps decimated and are playing other team's cast offs at that position. I remember 2 years ago due to injuries we were down to Goodwin and Graham as our starting WRs and won (with EJ at QB no less).

 

As far as injury riddled seasons go, this one is not that bad IMHO.

Defensive starters missed 13 total games this year.

 

We're up around 35 already this year.

 

But no, it's "an excuse."

[papazoid]

Rex is Russ Brandon's "guy".

 

he was brought in to raise expectations in order to sell season tickets and sponsorship deals.

 

mission accomplished.

 

except cutting freddy screwed M&T. hence the going "rogue" leak.

 

only a "business" mind would overlook the fact Rex is a 3-4 guy on a team with 4-3 personnel.

Edited December 21, 2015 by papazoid

[26CornerBlitz]

 

Injuries are no excuse for this team. Every team has injuries. We've had teams in the past with a lot more injuries that were still able to go 6-10 or 7-9, probably what we're going this year. Carolina is missing their best WR for the whole season. Seahawks have had their entire RB corps decimated and are playing other team's cast offs at that position. I remember 2 years ago due to injuries we were down to Goodwin and Graham as our starting WRs and won (with EJ at QB no less).

 

As far as injury riddled seasons go, this one is not that bad IMHO.

 

They both have Franchise QBs, excellent coaching staffs who have been together for several seasons, and very good defenses. Three very important factors where the Bills simply do not measure up.

[reddogblitz]

Defensive starters missed 13 total games this year.

 

We're up around 35 already this year.

 

But no, it's "an excuse."

 

No it's not. Not for this team.

 

We've lost games due to shooting ourselves in the foot. Plenty of our starters have played a key role. Nigel missing the tackle in the Giants game and our healthy for the most offense only mustering 10 points. Tyrod throwing a pick in crunch time twice and fumbling away a 3rd. Hogan dropping a key pass yesterday was not due to injuries nor Tyrod overthrowing open guys. McCoy fumbling on the 4 yard line. A healthy Aaron Williams freaking out and being a cry baby vs the Patsies** game 1 putting us in a big hole. On and on.

 

We won vs the Titans when McCoy AND Sammy were out. No excuse needed for that game I guess.

 

Plenty of uninjured starters have committed critical penalties.

 

The team has just not played well enough to win. No reason to think the injured guys would have not screwed up just as much become some of the did before injury (Nigel, Aaron Williams, McCoy).

Edited December 21, 2015 by reddogblitz

[1billsfan]

I guess the anti Rex people are out in full force.

 

I like and support Rex and hope that he continues as HC. I am as disappointed as anyone that we are not in the playoffs yet again. As for the defense and team as a whole, the injuries have killed us.

 

Defense: Aaron Williams, Kyle Williams, Bradham, now Gilmore, our primary LB back ups . . . .

 

Mario Williams - I always defended him. This year, he looks like he is on strike and does not want to get hurt. I never thought I would say this, but we can replace what little production he has had with pretty much anyone on this board. The guy should be embarrassed. I do not think that the Bills (whoever is the coach) can risk committing as much money to him going forward given that he may phone it in again.

 

Tyrod Taylor - I like his potential, but it seems as though he has not been the same since he got hurt against the Titans. The good news is that those in the media that were ready to give him HUGE contract just a couple of weeks ago seem to have taken a step back.

 

Running Backs - I like both Shady and Williams, but they have had their injury issues as well.

 

Right side of our line - injuries/illness again.

 

For those of you who might say that "injuries are not an excuse" - They certainly help explain the year that we have had. Moreover, I am raising this (not Rex who seems to go out of his way to take full responsibility for everything and also has the players backs even when they do not deserve it.

 

Just my two cents.

 

I think Rex and the Bills are like one of those weird celebrity marriages that seemed like a good fit at the time but they both rushed into it without thinking it all the way through.

 

It just seems like the Bills are a team that need a head coach with more common sense than bravado and one who has a much firmer hand that will have the respect of his players.

 

Rex just doesn't get that the NFL game is changing exponentially. It changes from week to week. Game plans should change from week to week. You need to be able to go from running attack to passing attack. Fast pace offense to slow pace offense. You need to practice end of half and end of game situations a lot more than they clearly do now. Rex is just a laid back guy who would have probably been a great head coach in the seventies, but his style is a disaster in the modern game that the NFL has become.

 

I think many here have come to the conclusion that there is no getting different results with Rex. That he's had his day, and it's probably time for him to go into broadcasting.

[LeGOATski]

Defensive starters missed 13 total games this year.

 

We're up around 35 already this year.

 

But no, it's "an excuse."

We've seen the bad game management, poor play-calling, and discipline issues.

 

Injuries are just one thing.

[Manther]

 

Sorry, I don't want a has been coming in like Polian or Levy.

I don't either. I don't like the term Czar either. But, since the Pegula's are new to owning a football team I think an advisor to them would be good. And, not Pollian.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

I did not know this. Brandon reminds me of a barker at a cheap carnival, except he is about big time money. It's all he knows and really all that Ralph probably ever wanted from him.

 

IMHO Brandon is the one who should go, but the Pegulas seem to be engraving "In Russ We Trust" on their ownership and Brandon has successfully obtained plausible deniability for any football operations decisions he may or may not be making

Rex is Russ Brandon's "guy".

 

he was brought in to raise expectations in order to sell season tickets and sponsorship deals.

 

mission accomplished.

 

except cutting freddy screwed M&T. hence the going "rogue" leak.

 

only a "business" mind would overlook the fact Rex is a 3-4 guy on a team with 4-3 personnel.

 

This is one of the more plausible theories I've heard, except that I think Rex charmed everyone with his "I'm not a scheme guy, I'm a football guy" Happy Talk

[Manther]

 

I think Whaley's problem as GM has been not being able, for whatever reason, to be on the same page with his coaches. In Marrone's case, I believe it was because Marrone insisted he had to have a certain kind of player who just isn't commonly available and when Whaley got him the closest thing he wasn't willing or able to adjust to make it work (OLmen in particular). We see what he's doing now as an OL coach, what's that product like?

 

The problem with getting "on the same page" with Rex is that Rex was loudly and all over the media when he got here with "not being a scheme guy" and "everybody wants 6'7" guys who can run a 4.4, just get me good football players and I'll put them in positions to succeed" (not exact quotes, but it's easy to find the interviews where this is the gist.

 

I believe that Rex probably sold the same line to the Pegulas and Brandon and Whaley during his interviews. I think he charmed all of them equally and said what they wanted to hear. That's a problem if what you say does not reflect your reality.

 

Rex can talk the talk, but apparently he is not able to walk the walk. It's very hard for a GM to support a coach adequately if the coach won't be up-front and honest with the GM about what he really needs and wants. I also think there are signs that Rex has gone against Roman at times in what Roman wants and sided with Whaley - which is part of a HC job description, but the HC has to have great judgement and be balanced betwenn O, D, and ST in making those calls and I'm not sure Rex has shown this.

 

Whaley has, IMO, quietly rebuilt the Bills scouting and personnel departments to produce consistent quality both in drafting and in pro player acquisition. Every team and every GM has misses. The miss rate in the 1st round is something like 50% and goes up from there as you proceed down the draft.

 

Agreed, well said.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Defensive starters missed 13 total games this year.

 

We're up around 35 already this year.

 

But no, it's "an excuse."

 

If it were just getting outskilled and outphysicaled, decimating injuries are an excuse I'd accept.

 

The thing is, even when the starters were in, we were undisciplined, overly penalized, had poor clock and challenge management, and I questioned the schemes we were running defensively.

 

Remember the astoundingly puzzling lack of pressure in the first NE game? When as far as I recall, all the starters were playing?

Edited December 21, 2015 by Hopeful

[KOKBILLS]

 

 

Rex is a defensive genius right?

 

According to Rex yes...Yes he is...

[reddogblitz]

only a "business" mind would overlook the fact Rex is a 3-4 guy on a team with 4-3 personnel.

I read this 3-4/4-3 think over and over on here. However I remember Rex telling us he doesn't run a certain offense. Not a 3-4 or a 4-3 or and Umbrella D or a Flex D or whatever. He runs what's best for the players he has. That's what he said.

[BuffaloBaumer]

I guess the anti Rex people are out in full force.

 

I like and support Rex and hope that he continues as HC. I am as disappointed as anyone that we are not in the playoffs yet again. As for the defense and team as a whole, the injuries have killed us.

 

Defense: Aaron Williams, Kyle Williams, Bradham, now Gilmore, our primary LB back ups . . . .

 

Mario Williams - I always defended him. This year, he looks like he is on strike and does not want to get hurt. I never thought I would say this, but we can replace what little production he has had with pretty much anyone on this board. The guy should be embarrassed. I do not think that the Bills (whoever is the coach) can risk committing as much money to him going forward given that he may phone it in again.

 

Tyrod Taylor - I like his potential, but it seems as though he has not been the same since he got hurt against the Titans. The good news is that those in the media that were ready to give him HUGE contract just a couple of weeks ago seem to have taken a step back.

 

Running Backs - I like both Shady and Williams, but they have had their injury issues as well.

 

Right side of our line - injuries/illness again.

 

For those of you who might say that "injuries are not an excuse" - They certainly help explain the year that we have had. Moreover, I am raising this (not Rex who seems to go out of his way to take full responsibility for everything and also has the players backs even when they do not deserve it.

 

Just my two cents.

There will ALWAYS be injuries and every other team seems to get by just fine when it happens. The depth here sucks and that goes to Whaley specifically.

[Reed83HOF]

 

I could have sworn several times throughout the course of the season he said he was going to do that.

 

There wasn't effective communication from the top down and he could see what we saw on TV, the jumbo-trons weren't showing it. They have a new system in place now. I won't get into details, but it has been addressed...