Andrew Brandt Article about The Process with Eagles

[BigBuff423]

Andrew Brandt did a nice job showing the strategy and events that led to the Eagles getting Wentz, trading Bradford, and "accelerated the process" by tearing down the organization and building on cornerstone players. 

 

https://theathletic.com/148448/2017/11/06/brandt-a-mixture-of-smarts-and-serendipity-helped-the-eagles-land-carson-wentz/

 

"When referring to The Process about a Philadelphia sports team, the conversation usually turns to the NBA’s 76ers. The Process is an ideology, meticulously crafted by former general manager Sam Hinkie, that rejects mediocrity, tearing down the franchise to its studs and building it with cornerstone players destined for sustained success."

 

"In the first half of a season that no one saw coming—don’t believe them if they say they did—the Eagles have the NFL’s best record (8-1), are widely regarded as the NFL’s best team, and continue to win convincingly despite injuries to their best cornerback (Ronald Darby), best offensive lineman (Jason Peters) and most versatile offensive weapon (Darren Sproles).  There are many reasons for their stunning success, but the primary one is that they found a generational player to lead them.

Carson Wentz gives the Eagles, and Eagles fans, reason to believe they will be championship contenders for years to come. A combination of deft trading and leveraging of another team’s desperation in 2016 is now paying dramatic dividends"

 

Brandt explains how the Eagles took the risk in playing Carson Wentz in his Rookie season and of course, how now it's contributing to their teams' wins and overcoming the difficulty of injuries to some key players.

 

The Process, has been used by McDermott but if you buy into this principle as noted above, you MUST begin at the QB position. Something the Bills fans seem to know more than the team itself. Every year we're convinced the Bills have found a "cheap" or "fast" way to get a QB so they can also have All-Pro players surrounding the aforementioned QB to be better. Yet, what most of us fans have learned that apparently the Bills Front Office has not, is that the QB MAKES those players around him better, not vice-versa - they are great because your QB is great. There is a litany of examples from both history and contemporary players where a good WR or TE or RB goes to another team and never gains the type of production they had with their prior team that was manned by a great Quarterback. 

 

I can only hope that because Beane was hired after the Draft and that McDermott decided to simply stay the course for a year and build Draft picks, evaluate some players to keep, and feel fully convinced to let other players go after this year to release some FA money, they actually do intend on selling-out for a QB, no matter the cost - because in the end, it will be well worth it. 

 

In full disclosure, I was counted among those who wanted to give Peterman a chance, because I believed the Offense would improve based on his strengths to staying in the pocket, anticipate a WR / TE open, and get the ball out faster. I was wrong....but, also, the Offensive line is atrocious and the Defense could NOT stop anyone. So, while Peterman is not ready, his Rookie production - or catastrophic lack thereof - was exacerbated by the previously mentioned deficiencies. I also wanted Peterman to start because to me, if the Bills brass does not know definitively that he either IS or IS NOT the answer to QB, it would lead to vacillation and equivocal planning toward the QB position. Hopefully, this last game highlights the absolute desperation that should be the Bills state of thinking regarding the QB position and how it can immeasurable alter the course of their future. But, only 2018 will answer these questions for us fans....something we apparently understood years ago that Marv Levy, Russ Brandon, Buddy Nix and Doug Whaley never figured out. 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2017 by BigBuff423

[Billzgobowlin]

I believe this is a good philosophy, the down side is do the players lose hope before the process is finished.  Also I think Peterman got a raw deal yesterday.  A lot of those INTs were bad luck.  He threw them because he was trying to be a competitor but he had zero room to step up and that left side of that line folded bad.  This team is 5-5 no matter who was at QB.  Is this game indicative of who Peterman is?  I don't think so.  Is Peterman a starting QB?  I don't see how.  This should convince the Bills to jump up in the draft to get the QB they need for once.  Don't be like Cleveland settling for bottom tier or pass on Deshaun Watson.  Make it happen this year

[BeginnersMind]

I have no problem with "the process." I went into the season expecting 5-11.

 

Like most here, I got sucked into the 5-2 optimism vortex. I am also a Sixers fan and just so everyone knows, "the process" took a lot longer with the Sixers than even Hinkie thought. First you tear it down. That takes a couple years. Then you add talent. That takes a while. Then, and this is the hard part that the now-talented Sixers are figuring out now: You have to find out how to win. This year's Sixers are massively talented and maybe as talented as anyone but they are young and blow leads. They are young and have massive comebacks. They beat great teams. Lose to crap teams. It's aggravating but while "the process" of tanking to get players and clear empty contracts is over, "the process" of winning takes time too. 

 

I look forward to the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Sorry to Kyle Williams, Shady, Eric Woods, Richie, and other solid vets who will not probably be around for that. I hope the fan base is patient. No more Rex Ryan bluster and bravado band-aids.   

Edited November 20, 2017 by BeginnersMind

[BigBuff423]

9 minutes ago, BeginnersMind said:

I have no problem with "the process." I went into the season expecting 5-11.

 

Like most here, I got sucked into the 5-2 optimism vortex. I am also a Sixers fan and just so everyone knows, "the process" took a lot longer with the Sixers than even Hinkie thought. First you tear it down. That takes a couple years. Then you add talent. That takes a while. Then, and this is the hard part that the now-talented Sixers are figuring out now: You have to find out how to win. This year's Sixers are massively talented and maybe as talented as anyone but they are young and blow leads. They are young and have massive comebacks. They beat great teams. Lose to crap teams. It's aggravating but while "the process" of tanking to get players and clear empty contracts is over, "the process" of winning takes time too. 

 

I look forward to the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Sorry to Kyle Williams, Shady, Eric Woods, Richie, and other solid vets who will not probably be around for that. I hope the fan base is patient. No more Rex Ryan bluster and bravado band-aids.   

 

The only one I really feel bad for is Kyle Williams...man has been a constant professional and worked hard and done a hell of a job for his entire career, despite the merry-go-round of coaches and coordinators. Eric Wood seems like a nice guy, and also seems to be a good teammate but really an average Center for most of his career and I just don't think he's done a great job in pass protection overall and intermittently does well enough in the running game. Richie, eh...he's been a good guy since coming to Buffalo, but you know the rest and he didn't start and stay here and Shady, had ample opportunities in Philly and was traded, so it's not like he chose to come here although he too has done and said the right things for the most part since being in Buffalo. 

 

As for Rex Ryan "bluster and bravado band-aids", couldn't agree more....at this point, I'm just for letting Peterman play, let him get the experience and look to 2018.

[All_Pro_Bills]

A simple definition of a 'process' is a series of steps or actions that do something.  In this case the process should be to build a championship caliber professional football team.  So every action taken to this point by the organization should be part of the plan and not some one-off move.  Ex., moving Darius should have been something on the checklist that was decided during the 'getting to know you' time before the season and when the opportunity came to make the trade with the Jags they executed that step.  I expect that acquiring a QB to run the offensive should also be a step although its tough for me to see what it is at this point.  As there are so few great QB's available I suspect they are in lock down mode when it comes to showing their hand. 

 

Professionally, I've worked on many large process changes and cultural transformations.  Most of them make sense but very few are entirely successful.  I think for a several reasons.  The first is expectations and over-promising.  These things take time but everyone gets impatient and wants instant results.  Executives and stakeholders want to see those big cost savings and quality improvements.  So they start measuring everything and driving behavior contrary to the plan.  In the case of pro-ball it would be owner meddling to soon.

 

And from a capability perspective either you know what your doing or you don't know what you are doing.  A process doesn't make people smarter or more talented.  Also most culture changes require a large turnover of personnel in an organization.  In this case the 45 man roster.   People know this and how motivated can they be expected to be knowing they are going to be replaced regardless of them 'buying in'?   From my observations most cultural transformations fail because rather than adopting the new culture you get imitation of the culture and not the real thing. 

 

Based on what I've seen to this point I feel Beane and McDermott  are going in the right direction while acknowledging a few gaffs along the way.  Clearly we're in the turmoil phase of the transition.  How they handle it is going to be important to adoption of the process.  Admitting to the mistakes and doing some minor course corrections would be the best way to handle it now after 3 blowouts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BigBuff423]

6 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

A simple definition of a 'process' is a series of steps or actions that do something.  In this case the process should be to build a championship caliber professional football team.  So every action taken to this point by the organization should be part of the plan and not some one-off move.  Ex., moving Darius should have been something on the checklist that was decided during the 'getting to know you' time before the season and when the opportunity came to make the trade with the Jags they executed that step.  I expect that acquiring a QB to run the offensive should also be a step although its tough for me to see what it is at this point.  As there are so few great QB's available I suspect they are in lock down mode when it comes to showing their hand. 

 

Professionally, I've worked on many large process changes and cultural transformations.  Most of them make sense but very few are entirely successful.  I think for a several reasons.  The first is expectations and over-promising.  These things take time but everyone gets impatient and wants instant results.  Executives and stakeholders want to see those big cost savings and quality improvements.  So they start measuring everything and driving behavior contrary to the plan.  In the case of pro-ball it would be owner meddling to soon.

 

And from a capability perspective either you know what your doing or you don't know what you are doing.  A process doesn't make people smarter or more talented.  Also most culture changes require a large turnover of personnel in an organization.  In this case the 45 man roster.   People know this and how motivated can they be expected to be knowing they are going to be replaced regardless of them 'buying in'?   From my observations most cultural transformations fail because rather than adopting the new culture you get imitation of the culture and not the real thing. 

 

Based on what I've seen to this point I feel Beane and McDermott  are going in the right direction while acknowledging a few gaffs along the way.  Clearly we're in the turmoil phase of the transition.  How they handle it is going to be important to adoption of the process.  Admitting to the mistakes and doing some minor course corrections would be the best way to handle it now after 3 blowouts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agreed on all points. It will be interesting to see what falls out of the shake-up tree after the 2017 season with Beane and his staff in place and how they go about getting the remaining players to do what you mentioned: an authentic buy-in of culture change. 

 

New players are a must, beginning with QB, but you're also right about the transparency of the HC and staff, if it's not there, no one will buy-in, now or later.

[BeginnersMind]

"The process" would have gone a lot smoother if they had gone 2-5 in the first 7 games. Then these last two losses would not have been surprising. 

[Jerome007]

46 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

Based on what I've seen to this point I feel Beane and McDermott  are going in the right direction while acknowledging a few gaffs along the way.  Clearly we're in the turmoil phase of the transition.  How they handle it is going to be important to adoption of the process.  Admitting to the mistakes and doing some minor course corrections would be the best way to handle it now after 3 blowouts. 

Well, that's what changed since the 2nd blowout, and even more so after this one. Most of us, and I'm sure, most of the PLAYERS, now doubt the "process" too. McD and staff look like amateurs now. And while I like many have disliked Dennison and Castillo since week 1, we still trusted McD and Frazier. Who does today? I didn't think that there would be voices clamoring for a new coach or praising Rex this year! Yet here we are.

 

And in all that, the Bills can STILL make the playoffs, as unlikely as it feels right now. The draft talk assumes that the Bills staff will select the right players. You trust them on this?

[BigBuff423]

31 minutes ago, Jerome007 said:

Well, that's what changed since the 2nd blowout, and even more so after this one. Most of us, and I'm sure, most of the PLAYERS, now doubt the "process" too. McD and staff look like amateurs now. And while I like many have disliked Dennison and Castillo since week 1, we still trusted McD and Frazier. Who does today? I didn't think that there would be voices clamoring for a new coach or praising Rex this year! Yet here we are.

 

And in all that, the Bills can STILL make the playoffs, as unlikely as it feels right now. The draft talk assumes that the Bills staff will select the right players. You trust them on this?

 

Beane was seen as a rising talent, and the FO he's assembled since his hire has been lauded as outstanding. He and his staff have not even had ONE Draft to determine what they can do. As for Pro Personnel, losing Darby has not made sense to me, outside of that, I think they've done fairly well considering....see Hyde and Poyer, see EJ Gaines who was just part of the trade for Watkins, not the whole package and considering what he's meant to the passing Defense, I think it's considerable. I don't like the compensation for Dareus, and I didn't agree with trading Darby, but otherwise, the early signs are promising but yet to know what value has truly been gained.

[Jerome007]

You're right. So we'll see about Beane. But McD? He lost a lot of feathers in the last 2 weeks! 

[BeginnersMind]

3 hours ago, Jerome007 said:

Well, that's what changed since the 2nd blowout, and even more so after this one. Most of us, and I'm sure, most of the PLAYERS, now doubt the "process" too. McD and staff look like amateurs now. And while I like many have disliked Dennison and Castillo since week 1, we still trusted McD and Frazier. Who does today?

 

You thought this team would be anything other than in tank mode this year? With a new secondary, aging line, no LBs worth a spit, and this offense? 

 

Come on: maybe 8 guys on this team would start on any other NFL roster. 

 

I got sucked in too. This is not a one year rebuild. This is a 3-4 year one. It is going to suck before it gets any better. 

[BuffaloBill]

To the OP:

 

Thank you for posting this.  If, a big if, the Bills find a QB then all of this short-term pain will be worth it.  The fact that McDemott did not come out today and declare Tyrod as the starting QB in KC tells me that the rest of this season is really about understanding who they have on the roster and preparing for the draft.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

5 hours ago, BeginnersMind said:

"The process" would have gone a lot smoother if they had gone 2-5 in the first 7 games. Then these last two losses would not have been surprising. 

 

This.

 

I think the flukey early wins have tainted perspective.

 

[KD in CA]

6 hours ago, BigBuff423 said:

Every year we're convinced the Bills have found a "cheap" or "fast" way to get a QB so they can also have All-Pro players surrounding the aforementioned QB to be better. Yet, what most of us fans have learned that apparently the Bills Front Office has not, is that the QB MAKES those players around him better, not vice-versa - they are great because your QB is great.

 

 

From reading this board, I'd say most of the fans (at least the vocal ones) have absolutely NOT learned this;  I keep hearing all we need is a top-5 defense, solid OL, another great RB and expensive wide receivers and Taylor will be just fine!

[Doc Brown]

All the writing is on the wall for the Bills to draft their franchise QB in 2018 after the Watkins trade.   Two first and two seconds to bargain with should give the Bills the pick of the litter next year.  We whiffed in 2013.  Let's hope they get it right this time.

[Sweats]

I completely understand about building around cornerstone players, but in all actuality, who are our cornerstone players anymore?

 

Shady

Kyle Williams

Incognito

Glenn

.........all of which may very well be gone after this season.

 

Who else is a cornerstone player to this FO?

[BADOLBILZ]

 

 

If we all do the exact same thing.......we'll all be winners!

 

 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

9 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

If we all do the exact same thing.......we'll all be winners!

 

 

or, hey we can do what people around here want to do...just plug holes in the draft and muddle around .500 for another 200 years.

 

[ndirish1978]

5 hours ago, BeginnersMind said:

"The process" would have gone a lot smoother if they had gone 2-5 in the first 7 games. Then these last two losses would not have been surprising. 

 

This. People wouldn't be nearly as upset right now if we hadn't started out well and given everyone a sliver of hope that we were anything more than a 6-10 team.

[Reed83HOF]

53 minutes ago, BuffaloBill said:

To the OP:

 

Thank you for posting this.  If, a big if, the Bills find a QB then all of this short-term pain will be worth it.  The fact that McDemott did not come out today and declare Tyrod as the starting QB in KC tells me that the rest of this season is really about understanding who they have on the roster and preparing for the draft.

 

Step back and look at every move that has been made (sans Benjamin) it has never been about this year. Shedding a bad contract, getting value for a player you won't resign or one that doesn't fit your scheme and evaluating everyone on the roster for picks and players under contract for 1 -2 more seasons that are very team friendly doesn't exactly screen win now.