Rotoworld ranks Whaley as worst GM in NFL

[Rochesterfan]

Yes because Kolb didn't have an injury history.

Some competition that was. It was rigged from the start even before his injury.

Whaleys been ok. I wouldn't say worst in the league, but towards the bottom for sure.

This will be his 5th year and to this point he's got nothing to show for it. Not many GMs would've lasted this long but he's getting a longer leash because the owner doesn't really know what to do.

 

Yes - the competition was rigged - Marrone did not want EJ starting - hence the uptempo offense that needed a veteran QB to run it. The Kolb concussion (albeit a definite potential given his history) was a changing point right out of the gate.

 

I think if the owner thought talent was the issue over coaching - he would of made a change. I think the owner sees talented players - guys good enough for the Patriots to covet, but coaching that puts them in a bad position.

[Rochesterfan]

The Good- Trading for Jerry Hughes, Signing Ritchie Incognito, trading for LeSean McCoy

 

The Bad- Trading up for Sammy Watkins, having the lowest amount of starting draft picks since his tenure in the league, Drafting EJ Manuel, The hiring of Rex Ryan, his drafting in general has been awful (only Dareus remains from the 2011 draft, only Cordy Glenn remains from 2012 draft, only Jonathan Meeks remains from 2013 draft).

 

Way too much bad for me and I think he is definitely deserving of his ranking imo.

That is because you want the list to look bad - we can do this another way:

 

The Good - Trading for Hughes, Trading for McCoy, Signing Richie, letting Byrd walk, Signing Z. Brown, signing Alexander, signing Taylor, putting together the talent for a top 5 defense, putting together the talent for a top 10 offense, resigning Taylor at a reduced contract, retaining Richie, Glenn, Wood from a top offensive line, trading back to draft EJ (if you want to give him the EJ pick).

 

The Bad - trading up for Watkins (has great talent and no previous injury history, but you do not trade up for WR), trading up for a MLB.

 

To me nearly everything else is the result of the coaching changes and that was beyond his control. Why do we have so few players drafted left - because we keep changing systems and needs. To build a team faster for a switchover - you sign FAs that fit the new scheme and that costs you draft picks.

[Mr. WEO]

There is a current shortage. More than half the league is in the same boat, and he's got a guy who's borderline top two thirds. It's the name of the game, unfortunately, and we haven't hit on one yet.

 

His sins are his misses..

[blacklabel]

What I don't get is the Buffalo press consistently trying to crack some type of "story" about this one-voice philosophy. I don't understand what the big deal is and where their confusion comes in. I think most of the people at the head of this team realize Whaley isn't a great speaker, in fact I think he's said it before himself, his focus is behind the scenes. Sure there are media obligations and whatnot but what do they expect him or any other coach to say aside from the standard stock answers? Then they claim to "hear all sorts of buzz" that things aren't long for the Whaley/McDermott era when in reality this team has pulled a complete 180 in terms of things being said in the media. They're quieter and more tight-lipped now than they've been in forever. Yet today during McD's presser he had someone ask the same question in three different ways regarding how decisions would be made between him and Whaley when it came to the draft. Whaley has control of the 53 but that doesn't mean he doesn't take any input from his coaches on who they think they should keep, cut and who they should draft. And these dudes go and write and claim all sorts of dysfunction. Wouldn't it be more dysfunctional if the coach and GM of a team DIDN'T meet, discuss and make decisions together?

 

I dunno. Like I said, I think the guy gets a bum rap over a few moves that haven't panned out. But still, in comparison to past GMs he has this team in much better shape. Unfortunately it's been the coaching situations that have led to mediocrity.

[oldmanfan]

What I don't get is the Buffalo press consistently trying to crack some type of "story" about this one-voice philosophy. I don't understand what the big deal is and where their confusion comes in. I think most of the people at the head of this team realize Whaley isn't a great speaker, in fact I think he's said it before himself, his focus is behind the scenes. Sure there are media obligations and whatnot but what do they expect him or any other coach to say aside from the standard stock answers? Then they claim to "hear all sorts of buzz" that things aren't long for the Whaley/McDermott era when in reality this team has pulled a complete 180 in terms of things being said in the media. They're quieter and more tight-lipped now than they've been in forever. Yet today during McD's presser he had someone ask the same question in three different ways regarding how decisions would be made between him and Whaley when it came to the draft. Whaley has control of the 53 but that doesn't mean he doesn't take any input from his coaches on who they think they should keep, cut and who they should draft. And these dudes go and write and claim all sorts of dysfunction. Wouldn't it be more dysfunctional if the coach and GM of a team DIDN'T meet, discuss and make decisions together?

 

I dunno. Like I said, I think the guy gets a bum rap over a few moves that haven't panned out. But still, in comparison to past GMs he has this team in much better shape. Unfortunately it's been the coaching situations that have led to mediocrity.

Bingo.

[PlayoffsPlease]

Very few GMs don't control the salary cap. Most GMs get to hire the coaches. Two sets of owners didn't trust Whaley too do either. Not sure why the fans think he is a good GM. Seven years in as a Bills employee and his employers don't trust him to handle the entire job.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

"Lost the arguement he never should have had"? Interesting insinuation....

 

what argument ?

[Augie]

What I don't get is the Buffalo press consistently trying to crack some type of "story" about this one-voice philosophy. I don't understand what the big deal is and where their confusion comes in. I think most of the people at the head of this team realize Whaley isn't a great speaker, in fact I think he's said it before himself, his focus is behind the scenes. Sure there are media obligations and whatnot but what do they expect him or any other coach to say aside from the standard stock answers? Then they claim to "hear all sorts of buzz" that things aren't long for the Whaley/McDermott era when in reality this team has pulled a complete 180 in terms of things being said in the media. They're quieter and more tight-lipped now than they've been in forever. Yet today during McD's presser he had someone ask the same question in three different ways regarding how decisions would be made between him and Whaley when it came to the draft. Whaley has control of the 53 but that doesn't mean he doesn't take any input from his coaches on who they think they should keep, cut and who they should draft. And these dudes go and write and claim all sorts of dysfunction. Wouldn't it be more dysfunctional if the coach and GM of a team DIDN'T meet, discuss and make decisions together?

 

I dunno. Like I said, I think the guy gets a bum rap over a few moves that haven't panned out. But still, in comparison to past GMs he has this team in much better shape. Unfortunately it's been the coaching situations that have led to mediocrity.

 

I stopped reading after the bolded part. I ignore those clowns. It works for me.

[baskingridgebillsfan]

I like some of DW's moves but until he hits on a QB he's on borrowed time

Him and 20 other gms?

Bingo.

agreed. Thinking about some other one voice situations. Bill Parcells, never really heard much from George young. Bill Walsh, Bill b, Joe Gibbs , Andy Reid , ect

[oldmanfan]

I think Whaley is on thin ice, with some justification. I am not sure he is fully comfortable in a traditional GM role. Seems happiest scouting/evaluating guys.

[Riverboat Richie]

One thing I've always wondered about with Whaley was that if the stories are true of him getting pushed around by coaches and the owners, why he didn't just quit. Who sits back and takes that much crap. At some point it stops being worth it. If you veto or ignore his input that many times, why bother anymore?

[oldmanfan]

One thing I've always wondered about with Whaley was that if the stories are true of him getting pushed around by coaches and the owners, why he didn't just quit. Who sits back and takes that much crap. At some point it stops being worth it. If you veto or ignore his input that many times, why bother anymore?

I think he's an old fashioned company guy. He'll do whatever his boss wants.

[Riverboat Richie]

I think he's an old fashioned company guy. He'll do whatever his boss wants.

Not good when the boss isn't sure what they want and are depending on you to get them through it all. Needs to stop being a doormat.

[BADOLBILZ]

Yes - the competition was rigged - Marrone did not want EJ starting - hence the uptempo offense that needed a veteran QB to run it. The Kolb concussion (albeit a definite potential given his history) was a changing point right out of the gate.

 

I think if the owner thought talent was the issue over coaching - he would of made a change. I think the owner sees talented players - guys good enough for the Patriots to covet, but coaching that puts them in a bad position.

 

I'm afraid your take is so wrong about the intentions regarding the starting QB that year because you are confused about the "uptempo" offense.

 

The uptempo offense was meant to simplify reads for a young QB.

 

Hence, Chip Kelly stepping in the same year and turning struggling second year player Nick Foles into a 27 TD 3 INT QB.

 

EJ actually looked very good in it initially.

 

Kolb was a complete tomato can.......nobody in football could have believed he'd make it thru a football season.......it was INEVITABLE that the backup would be starting sooner or later..........and they went out of their way to make sure there was no veteran in EJ's way when it happened......cutting the dirt cheap and very solid backup TJax.

 

I'm not sure why this simple fact eludes some Bills fans but it was no secret that Kolb had one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel when the Bills acquired him.

 

Kolb was simply brought in to create a sham competition that EJ would appear to win and that would both give him confidence and also explain/justify their reason for starting a very green young QB.

Edited April 21, 2017 by #BADOL

[Rochesterfan]

I'm afraid your take is so wrong about the intentions regarding the starting QB that year because you are confused about the "uptempo" offense.

 

The uptempo offense was meant to simplify reads for a young QB.

 

Hence, Chip Kelly stepping in the same year and turning struggling second year player Nick Foles into a 27 TD 3 INT QB.

 

EJ actually looked very good in it initially.

 

Kolb was a complete tomato can.......nobody in football could have believed he'd make it thru a football season.......it was INEVITABLE that the backup would be starting sooner or later..........and they went out of their way to make sure there was no veteran in EJ's way when it happened......cutting the dirt cheap and very solid backup TJax.

 

I'm not sure why this simple fact eludes some Bills fans but it was no secret that Kolb had one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel when the Bills acquired him.

 

Kolb was simply brought in to create a sham competition that EJ would appear to win and that would both give him confidence and also explain/justify their reason for starting a very green young QB.

Disagree totally - Kolb was one of the top FA QBs available (albeit with a risk). They wanted to run an uptempo offense with a veteran and that became obvious because shortly after the concussion the team began working on a more traditional paced offense and the uptempo offense went away by week 4.

 

If the plan was to have EJ win the battle and run an uptempo offense - why did they move away from that after a few weeks if as you say EJ looked good in it.

 

The facts point to everything being even they wanted to run a faster pace Chip Kelly offense and have an attacking defense and they wanted someone with experience running that attack - I understand Kolb showed nothing in Buffalo because of the concussion, but we was not going to be beat out by EJ.

 

The fact the Bills moved back and looked to move back again before drafting EJ tells you that they knew he needed work. The fact tha Marrone was not comfortable with the QB situation in either year as seen with the argument at Training Camp and the change to Orton tells me that Marrone wanted a Veteran signal caller to give himself a chance at success.

 

The biggest difference was to see the change in the offense over time - they wanted an uptempo fast paced offense - Kolb gets hurt and the EJ starts game one and they begin to walk back the uptempo offense even though he is alright. By the forth game, they are back to running a traditional offense with more of a rushing attack as they filter through QB after QB. Year two starts and the are a more run first team and then Orton takes over and the passing game begins to open up. Marrone wanted that veteran presence at QB to run his offense and the Kolb injury changed that.

 

Now you can argue whether or not they should have trusted Kolb to stay healthy, but it was obvious from the beginning with the mat his time in Buffalo was doomed.

[baskingridgebillsfan]

 

I'm afraid your take is so wrong about the intentions regarding the starting QB that year because you are confused about the "uptempo" offense.

 

The uptempo offense was meant to simplify reads for a young QB.

 

Hence, Chip Kelly stepping in the same year and turning struggling second year player Nick Foles into a 27 TD 3 INT QB.

 

EJ actually looked very good in it initially.

 

Kolb was a complete tomato can.......nobody in football could have believed he'd make it thru a football season.......it was INEVITABLE that the backup would be starting sooner or later..........and they went out of their way to make sure there was no veteran in EJ's way when it happened......cutting the dirt cheap and very solid backup TJax.

 

I'm not sure why this simple fact eludes some Bills fans but it was no secret that Kolb had one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel when the Bills acquired him.

 

Kolb was simply brought in to create a sham competition that EJ would appear to win and that would both give him confidence and also explain/justify their reason for starting a very green young QB.

I agree E.j wasn;t a disaster at first. I think the injuries and MArrone hurt his development. I can't defend E.j beyond that .

[Bill_with_it]

Disagree totally - Kolb was one of the top FA QBs available (albeit with a risk). They wanted to run an uptempo offense with a veteran and that became obvious because shortly after the concussion the team began working on a more traditional paced offense and the uptempo offense went away by week 4.

 

If the plan was to have EJ win the battle and run an uptempo offense - why did they move away from that after a few weeks if as you say EJ looked good in it.

 

The facts point to everything being even they wanted to run a faster pace Chip Kelly offense and have an attacking defense and they wanted someone with experience running that attack - I understand Kolb showed nothing in Buffalo because of the concussion, but we was not going to be beat out by EJ.

 

The fact the Bills moved back and looked to move back again before drafting EJ tells you that they knew he needed work. The fact tha Marrone was not comfortable with the QB situation in either year as seen with the argument at Training Camp and the change to Orton tells me that Marrone wanted a Veteran signal caller to give himself a chance at success.

 

The biggest difference was to see the change in the offense over time - they wanted an uptempo fast paced offense - Kolb gets hurt and the EJ starts game one and they begin to walk back the uptempo offense even though he is alright. By the forth game, they are back to running a traditional offense with more of a rushing attack as they filter through QB after QB. Year two starts and the are a more run first team and then Orton takes over and the passing game begins to open up. Marrone wanted that veteran presence at QB to run his offense and the Kolb injury changed that.

 

Now you can argue whether or not they should have trusted Kolb to stay healthy, but it was obvious from the beginning with the mat his time in Buffalo was doomed.

There was no plan to sit EJ in order for him to learn. Doug Whaley and Marrone are on record prior to the season speaking abou the two qbs competing and hoping that Manuel wind it. Dont let a post season press conference tell you any different.

The truth about the QB battle: The competition is still ongoing. Despite Manuel's mastery of the two-minute drill in the preseason opener -- the rook even called his own play when the headset went out -- and Kevin Kolb's knee injury, Manuel hasn't been named the starter yet. Competition is king. But in talking with key members of the Bills organization, the sense you get is that they'd all love for Manuel to grab the job with two hands and never let go. That would allow the rebuilding to start off right. "Absolutely, it helps if he becomes the starter and becomes successful; there's no doubt about it," Whaley told me. "When you draft a guy in the first round to be a quarterback, he's going to be the face of your organization, the face of your franchise. And as he goes, we go. And that's part of what we're trying to instill. Let's be aggressive, let's go with it -- if he wins the job." That will be the biggest decision yet in Marrone's young tenure: making the call between Manuel and Kolb. As Whaley says, the best-case scenario is that Kolb continues to throw as well as he did in practice on Tuesday, so that however the race plays out, you don't feel there's a huge drop-off when the backup comes in. But ultimately, the ideal situation is that Manuel's stellar play continues and it's a no-brainer. If not, Marrone told me, there will come a time when he simply must make a decision. "That's what we do, as coaches, general managers, scouts," Marrone said. "The time's going to come, if we have to do it, 10-12 days prior to the first game

[Buffalo86]

One thing I've always wondered about with Whaley was that if the stories are true of him getting pushed around by coaches and the owners, why he didn't just quit. Who sits back and takes that much crap. At some point it stops being worth it. If you veto or ignore his input that many times, why bother anymore?

If you have a job that's far above your pay grade, you might put up with a lot to keep it. It's not likely that Whaley will ever sniff another GM job after this one, so I can understand him wanting to hold onto it for as long as he can.

[JM2009]

I agree E.j wasn;t a disaster at first. I think the injuries and MArrone hurt his development. I can't defend E.j beyond that .

He had to be benched in 2014.

[hondo in seattle]

I know everyone wants to jump on the hate Whaley train but this article is terrible. It is a year to year ranking which is important to keep in mind.

 

Here are some gems:

 

Ozzie Newsome at 5. Ozzie has a reputation as one of the best GMs in the game and deservedly so. However the team no longer has Ray Lewis and they have made the playoffs once in the last 4 years. The last 2 years they have gone 8-8 and 5-11.

 

Dave Gettleman at 8. He actually moved up from 7. In a year where they went from SB runner up to 6-10 and had the Josh Norman screw up.

 

Rick SMith at 9. The same Rick Smith who threw 72 million at Brock Osweiller without ever meeting him and then traded him AND a 2nd a year later to get rid of his mistake.

 

Stephen Jones at 10. This is one where he has them ranked too low imo. I would put him over the above 3 at least.

 

Kevin Colbert at 13 with this writeup: "At some point, Colbert is going to need one of his Cameron Heyward/Jarvis Jones/Ryan Shazier/Bud Duprees to actually be a star." Jarvis Jones no longer plays for the Steelers

 

Jon Robinson at 20. Criminally low for the work he has done with the Titans imo.

 

And on and on...

 

There are reasons to not like Whaley but if you already held that belief this article shouldn't be used as ammunition to prove your point...

 

Good observations.