Whaley deserves credit

[fansince88]

 

Bullcrap. They KEPT Whaley till AFTER the draft. EVERYONE in the NFL thought that was the most unusual firing. There's only ONE REASON for this move - they respected his talent evaluation. Your logic does not even begin to hold. 2017 draft is Whaley's work.

Disagree

[baskingridgebillsfan]

Whaley is a good talent evalutater . I get his public speaking skills were not great. that said, he really never go to run the thing . His coaches were picked for him , and who knows what else was done behind the scences .

[mjt328]

Doug Whaley did a decent job at drafting. Not really bad like some people want to claim. Not great like others want to say. Decent.

 

It's really hard to judge a GM when the team is constantly changing schemes. He drafted Preston Brown for a 4-3 defense. He drafted Reggie Ragland for a 3-4 defense. One player has been inconsistent because of systems changing. One player was traded before hitting the field because of systems changing. You can find examples like this throughout his entire tenure at One Bills Drive.

 

If fans are honest with themselves, Whaley made some pretty good moves here. But he is always going to be criticized for the foolish Sammy Watkins trade, for attaching himself to EJ Manuel's career for some inexplicable reason, and the bizarre news conference after Rex Ryan was fired. Whaley also never seemed to work well with Buffalo's head coaches (he never really got the chance to hire one by himself), which is a recipe for dysfunction in the front office.

 

His time here wasn't a disaster. It wasn't a success. It was somewhere in the middle, and it's hard to blame the Pegulas for deciding to move on.

[Rico]

Our 2017 draft class, especially White, is looking strong and is a credit to Whaley, the prime talent evaluator for that draft class. One often overlooked (and brilliant) move was one Whaley pulled off towards the end of 2016. He signs Logan Thomas off Detroit practice squad, and to do so he had to add him to the Bills 53 man roster. All based on potential; the guy had never played tight end. The potential Whaley saw last year payed off big time last Sunday. In the years to come, Thomas will evolve into a pro bowl type tight end

Only a matter of time before Lil Doug will be back in the league as GM, Ive also read that on this board. Just like Belichick, second time will be the charm.

[yungmack]

I thought Whaley did a good job assembling talent. I think there were some errors in contracts (specifically no out in Dareus' for suspension). In general though Whaley wasn't the problem. He worked with Rex Ryan; that's a death sentence for any GM.

Whaley didn't do contracts. Most GMs don't.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

No

[Marvlevydraftdaygenius]

Your right. it was not just his drafts but the way he could find a player that was either not drafted or a player that was considered a bust and get them on the bills and all of a sudden are now pro bowl players. Whaley will be missed and don't forget he was the one that signed Hyde, and Poyer.

[billsfan89]

Doug Whaley did a decent job at drafting. Not really bad like some people want to claim. Not great like others want to say. Decent.

 

It's really hard to judge a GM when the team is constantly changing schemes. He drafted Preston Brown for a 4-3 defense. He drafted Reggie Ragland for a 3-4 defense. One player has been inconsistent because of systems changing. One player was traded before hitting the field because of systems changing. You can find examples like this throughout his entire tenure at One Bills Drive.

 

If fans are honest with themselves, Whaley made some pretty good moves here. But he is always going to be criticized for the foolish Sammy Watkins trade, for attaching himself to EJ Manuel's career for some inexplicable reason, and the bizarre news conference after Rex Ryan was fired. Whaley also never seemed to work well with Buffalo's head coaches (he never really got the chance to hire one by himself), which is a recipe for dysfunction in the front office.

 

His time here wasn't a disaster. It wasn't a success. It was somewhere in the middle, and it's hard to blame the Pegulas for deciding to move on.

 

Whaley was an OK GM in my opinion. I think the scheme changes certainly didn't help his track record but he made some bad picks here and there as he also made some good ones too. Whaley as a drafter was mediocre but his best talent was the pro-personnel side where he was able to some fairly good work.

 

The McCoy trade, signing Tyrod, addressing the tight end position with Charles Clay, Zach Brown one year deal, signing InCog and then resigning him, Corey Graham, Brandon Spikes, keeping Jerry Hughes (I also think the original Hughes trade happened weeks before he became GM), and even this past off-season he was still in charge when they signed Hyde and Proyer.

 

There were other smaller depth moves that he made that also were much more productive than they should have been. Overall I think that even if his drafting left a lot to be desired his moves on the pro side were good. I think he grades out as an average GM. Glad McD and Beane are here (You want your coach and GM on the same page) but I can't think of Whaley as a disaster.

Edited October 24, 2017 by billsfan89

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Your right. it was not just his drafts but the way he could find a player that was either not drafted or a player that was considered a bust and get them on the bills and all of a sudden are now pro bowl players. Whaley will be missed and don't forget he was the one that signed Hyde, and Poyer.

Yeah we are really missing him with all his players we cut and traded. And poyer and Hyde were signed because McDermott wanted them. You are really out of touch with what is going on and have some weird infatuation with Whaley, who couldn't find a QB to save his life.

[RoyBatty is alive]

 

Bullcrap. They KEPT Whaley till AFTER the draft. EVERYONE in the NFL thought that was the most unusual firing. There's only ONE REASON for this move - they respected his talent evaluation. Your logic does not even begin to hold. 2017 draft is Whaley's work.

No not at all. I think it is very reasonable to assume it was too close to the draft to fire Whaley, months of preparation potentially down the drain.

 

And what do you men the "NFL" thought it was a most unusal firing, you mean some media talking heads that relish the dramatic.

[papazoid]

McD had final say over last draft.

 

McD and Andy Reid had that trade scenario worked out before draft day.

 

i'm sure whaley had plenty of input.....he just couldn't pull the trigger on anything until McD gave his blessing....I mean a "collaborative" decision was reached.

[Dr. K]

Doug Whaley did a decent job at drafting. Not really bad like some people want to claim. Not great like others want to say. Decent.

 

It's really hard to judge a GM when the team is constantly changing schemes. He drafted Preston Brown for a 4-3 defense. He drafted Reggie Ragland for a 3-4 defense. One player has been inconsistent because of systems changing. One player was traded before hitting the field because of systems changing. You can find examples like this throughout his entire tenure at One Bills Drive.

 

If fans are honest with themselves, Whaley made some pretty good moves here. But he is always going to be criticized for the foolish Sammy Watkins trade, for attaching himself to EJ Manuel's career for some inexplicable reason, and the bizarre news conference after Rex Ryan was fired. Whaley also never seemed to work well with Buffalo's head coaches (he never really got the chance to hire one by himself), which is a recipe for dysfunction in the front office.

 

His time here wasn't a disaster. It wasn't a success. It was somewhere in the middle, and it's hard to blame the Pegulas for deciding to move on.

This

[Bill_with_it]

Whaley didn't do contracts. Most GMs don't.

Whaley himself stated that he approved all contracts.

[Kirby Jackson]

Whaley didn't do contracts. Most GMs don't.

He was certainly involved though.

[May Day 10]

Whaley was bad overall.

 

He does seem to have some good attributes, and was probably somewhat of a victim of the organizational "group think" that took place.... although, him landing that position was a result of his willingness to work with the "group think" which makes him complicit. I also don't think he is wired to run an effective football program from the top, and his inability to get along with coaches was catastrophe, and media missteps bad.

 

For years, decisions were made from murky places. Nobody could put their finger on it. Was it Wilson, Pegula, Brandon, Jauron, Overdorf, etc... nobody could really assign blame and people/fans/media would assign blame or absolve it based on their predetermined positions (such as giving Whaley credit for this draft, but absolving him from "Nix's last draft". Whenever the heat got too much for the Bills to handle, they would just throw another log on the fire and outsource all the blame, whether it was Donahoe, Levy, Nix, Marrone, Jauron, Gailey, Wilson himself, Brandon himself, etc... This management (I suspect has been driven from Brandon and Overdorf) has failed over and over again.

 

 

Now, I it seems that ownership has truly handed over the reins of the franchise as well as accountability to McDermott and Beane. To me that is healthy, and it probably marginalizes the numerous voices from past management. They can craft their cohesive vision for a football team. I like how detail oriented and positive McDermott is. They are going to get the right personalities in, and McDermott is going to show them how to prepare. I still think this season will fall into the crapper eventually, mainly due to depth and not enough weapons on offense, but I am still very encouraged that these guys will get this team into the top third or so of the league on a perennial basis

[Scott7975]

Whaley didn't do contracts. Most GMs don't.

But they do set player/position values and approve contracts.

[The Frankish Reich]

Our 2017 draft class, especially White, is looking strong and is a credit to Whaley, the prime talent evaluator for that draft class. One often overlooked (and brilliant) move was one Whaley pulled off towards the end of 2016. He signs Logan Thomas off Detroit practice squad, and to do so he had to add him to the Bills 53 man roster. All based on potential; the guy had never played tight end. The potential Whaley saw last year payed off big time last Sunday. In the years to come, Thomas will evolve into a pro bowl type tight end

Is "too soon to say" still allowed in this world of hot takes? It's taken me 37 years to decide that Jimmy Carter really want that bad a president after all: inflation finally brought under control through his appointment of Volcker to the Fed (continued under Reagan) military buildup (continued under Reagan) in response to Soviet aggression in Afghanistan that prove essential to the collapse of the USSR, deregulating air travel, making it affordable to the masses (and, umm, miserable for all) ... I've gone from "among the worst ever" to a solid B/B- in my assessment.

[EasternOHBillsFan]

Our 2017 draft class, especially White, is looking strong and is a credit to Whaley, the prime talent evaluator for that draft class. One often overlooked (and brilliant) move was one Whaley pulled off towards the end of 2016. He signs Logan Thomas off Detroit practice squad, and to do so he had to add him to the Bills 53 man roster. All based on potential; the guy had never played tight end. The potential Whaley saw last year payed off big time last Sunday. In the years to come, Thomas will evolve into a pro bowl type tight end

 

NOPE. Can't read that without busting out laughing. You mean to tell me that the draft he leaves suddenly after we found all these really good players?

 

It's not Whaley's draft... he was NEVER this successful!!!!

[TheFunPolice]

Like most things in life it's not cut and dry. Whaley did some nice things here and there but overall I think he's more suited to being director of pro personnel than a GM.

 

That doesn't mean he doesn't have value in the league or that he's totally awful. He just should not be a GM. Never seemed to have a good understanding of value.

Edited October 24, 2017 by TheFunPolice

[gobillsatthebeach]

Who made the decision to hire Dumb and Dumber to coach in his last two years? Is that on him or the owner?