Draconator Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 (edited) What if Frank was hired instead of Rex? What would the Bills look like? Who would be the QB (Josh or someone else?) Would Whaley still be the GM? (On second thought, no) Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled we went in the direction the Bills did, because if you compare the Colts today with the Bills today, the Colts are a perennial playoff team, while the Bills are knocking on the door of a perennial Super Bowl team. A lot of "what ifs". With us playing the Colts, might be fun to have at it. Edited January 4, 2021 by Draconator 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 By all accounts he's a great coach. Just doesn't have a SB contender right now after getting incredibly screwed by the QB situation. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasons1992 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 I'll take what I'm seeing. Thanks for playing. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsPride12 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Who cares...we just finished 13-3 and have completely dismantled everybody we've played the last 9 weeks and are heading into the playoffs as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. There's no need to play these fantasy games anymore...this Bills team is the fantasy! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Egg Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 I'm wondering if a record was set for most new threads in this forum the day after a Bills game. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBaumer Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Then we would not be winning the Super Bowl this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyal2dagame Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 What if c a t really spelled dog? Let's look at what can be instead of what could have been...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 It didn’t happen so we’ll never know. It certainly would have been a better hire than Rex. Having said that, I would not change a thing! I am VERY happy with McD, his staff and the FO. Putting up with Rex briefly was worth the feeling our guys give me now. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddo Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 In terms of how things have panned out, with Frank looking like a solid choice for the Colts, it might have been very interesting indeed. Especially if Schwartz had stayed as DC. Think about that one - they were the OC and DC of the Eagles when they won the Superbowl. At a guess, I'd say that Frank would have got Whaley to draft either Watson or Mahomes. With Terry Pegula in the Mahomes camp at the time, it may well have been him, especially if he didn't have a problem working with Whaley, and tbh, I would guess (again, I know) that Frank wouldn't have been too stressed about having Whaley as GM. No idea where that would have taken us, but I think we would probably be still looking like a playoff team. As the OP says, where we are now, is thrilling, but as 'what if' scenarios go, it's one of the more entertaining ones to mull over, when there's nothing better to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayboy54 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Seriously, if we hired Frank and kept Whaley and the FO the same, we’d be sitting here saying, “maybe next year.” It would be the same old Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Who knows? When Reich was a player I thought he'd be Bills HC some day, but it never worked out. I was surprised he didn't go right into coaching after his playing days. It's probably better he didn't because when the Bills were changing coaches every few seasons he might have gotten the Bills job & it would have been really tough to fire such a popular man in Buffalo, especially with guys like Brandon, Nix & Whaley making personnel decisions that would have doomed him here. Of players now in the NFL, I expect Frank Gore to be a head coach one day. In fact, I was surprised the Jets didn't fire Gase earlier & name Gore coach during this season. I guess the NFL isn't like the NBA where the guy is playing one season & the next one he's a head coach with no coaching experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 21 minutes ago, SageAgainstTheMachine said: By all accounts he's a great coach. Just doesn't have a SB contender right now after getting incredibly screwed by the QB situation. Yep... bad ‘luck’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndirish1978 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Now that we're good again can we please stop with these daydream what if scenarios? All roads led us here with a legit QB and solid team that plays for each other. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconator Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 3 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said: Now that we're good again can we please stop with these daydream what if scenarios? All roads led us here with a legit QB and solid team that plays for each other. Did you even read the post within, or did you just judge a book by its cover? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndirish1978 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Yes, I read all 6 lines. It's the same what if scenario post that we used to see all the time when we stunk ie "what if we traded up and got Big Ben instead of JP Losman" except this one posits it would be fun to speculate if we would still be good. We would be different, no way to know how. Most likely worse, since the very specific combination of things that lead to a good QB can't be predicted. Maybe if we drafted Mahomes he wouldn't have been all world because the system-coach-coordinator marriage wasn't the perfect combo that led him to being what it is. These threads are an exercise in futility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 35 minutes ago, SageAgainstTheMachine said: By all accounts he's a great coach. Just doesn't have a SB contender right now after getting incredibly screwed by the QB situation. He just won more games in a season with Rivers than he did with Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Otreply Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 We would be the Colts most likely, Glad it didn’t happen, but that’s just me I suppose. Go Bills!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giuseppe Tognarelli Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 30 minutes ago, loyal2dagame said: What if c a t really spelled dog? Let's look at what can be instead of what could have been...... Right, because we must stay focused and there is no time at all for other fun and interesting discussions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msw2112 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 (edited) I have no problem with the original post. I have often wondered the same thing. I believe that if the Bills had hired Reich, he'd still be the coach and the Bills would still be a playoff team. Whether they would be a Super Bowl contender would depend on whether the team had been able to acquire a franchise QB, as the current Bills team has done. Reich, as offensive coordinator, won a Super Bowl with Nick Foles! He also got very good play out of Carson Wentz before he got injured. He's also won games with Jacoby Brissett and an old, immobile Phillip Rivers. The guy is a clearly an excellent coach. That aside, and despite the years of disarray leading up to the current regime, the Bills are in fantastic hands, both in the coaching staff and the front office. I wouldn't trade our current regime for any other. I'm a big Frank Reich fan and wish him well, except when he's playing against the Bills. Edited January 4, 2021 by msw2112 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalScotts Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 cant live in the past.....terrible hire.....we dont know what were doing..........horrible choice - pretty much what we always say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rc2catch Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Just because you can make a thread, doesn’t mean you should. Reich is having success. We’re having success. All is well. Similar to the Diggs trade it’s wonderful for both sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoTom Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 (edited) Sometimes, what seems to be a mistake turns out to be a blessing. As an undergrad in college, I had a choice between two courses. My advisor recommended one, but I chose the other. Two years later, when I got to grad school, I found out that I needed the course I didn't take, which forced me to spend four semesters getting my master's instead of three. Had I graduated in three semesters, I'd have gotten a job and moved away from my home town five months before the date on which I met this really cool chick. She's now my wife. I don't know what would have happened if I had gone down the other path, but I can't imagine I'd be in a better situation than I'm in now. For the Bills, Rex was the course they shouldn't have taken. It set us back a couple of years, but at this point, I can't imagine it turning out better than it has so far. Edited January 5, 2021 by WhoTom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Depends who the GM would be. So much of our current success is thanks to Beane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyal2dagame Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 45 minutes ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said: Right, because we must stay focused and there is no time at all for other fun and interesting discussions! Here's a fun and interesting discussion... If Reich starts and finishes a Superbowl with the Bills do we win? Doesn't matter, does it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnNord Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 3 hours ago, Draconator said: What if Frank was hired instead of Rex? What would the Bills look like? Who would be the QB (Josh or someone else?) Would Whaley still be the GM? (On second thought, no) Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled we went in the direction the Bills did, because if you compare the Colts today with the Bills today, the Colts are a perennial playoff team, while the Bills are knocking on the door of a perennial Super Bowl team. A lot of "what ifs". With us playing the Colts, might be fun to have at it. I like these questions and feel it’s an interesting idea. IMO I’m not sure whether Reich was really ready to be a HC in 2015. He had one year experience as an OC in San Diego under Mike McCoy who likely had a big say in the offense/playcalling. That team finished 9-7. I think Reich learned a lot about being a HC from working Doug Pederson in Philly. So the Reich you got in 2015 was probably different from the one Indy hired in 2018. Still it’s hard to say because of the QB position. We have no idea what Reich/Whaley would do at QB. I’m guessing they probably don’t bring in Tyrod who Rex advocated for. Does Reich try to resurrect EJ Manuel, roll with Matt Cassell, or try to sign or draft another QB? If it’s the former, I see Reich lasting about as long as Rex did. 1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said: Depends who the GM would be. So much of our current success is thanks to Beane. Also we have no clue who would be the QB under the Reich-led Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Frankish Reich Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, JohnNord said: Still it’s hard to say because of the QB position. We have no idea what Reich/Whaley would do at QB. I’m guessing they probably don’t bring in Tyrod who Rex advocated for. Does Reich try to resurrect EJ Manuel, roll with Matt Cassell, or try to sign or draft another QB? If it’s the former, I see Reich lasting about as long as Rex did. Also we have no clue who would be the QB under the Reich-led Bills OK, I'll bite. I'm going to assume that: - Kyle Orton would've retired after 2014 even if Reich had come in as QB - Reich would've move on from EJ since he's probably a good enough evaluator of QB talent I looked back at the 2015 QB free agent class. It could be the worst in the free agency era. Jake Locker was the top rated one. He retired. Tyrod turned out to be the best and he was an afterthought. Others available: the likes of Jake McCown, Matt Schaub, TJ Yates, Blaine Gabbert. So I'll have to assume Reich would've done the sign a veteran (Schaub, or trade for Cassell as they did under Whaley/Rex; Tyrod wouldn't likely have fit his offense) and draft a successor strategy. Thanks to the Sammy trade, the Bills first pick was 50 overall (Ronald Darby). The best QBs on the board were Garrett Grayson and Sean Mannion. So ... - Schaub/Cassell would've started 6 or 8 games and sucked. Grayson or Mannion would've started the rest and sucked worse. - He might've been able to keep Schwartz as D coordinator, so the defensive collapse wouldn't have happened - Worse offense (you can do worse a lot worse than Tyrod), better defense = the same 8-8. - Back to the draft. You go QB again. This time the top rated QB on the board at 19 overall is Paxton Lynch. Maybe Reich is really smart and trades down to get Dak. But I think Paxton Lynch is his kind of guy (hey, I'll admit I liked him coming out of college). So ... Paxton is an immediate bust too. SCENARIO A: Reich is fired as the team is heading in the wrong direction. They go looking for a new GM and coach. They hire Beane and McDermott ahead of the 2017 season, and ... well, we know the rest of that story SCENARIO B: Reich gets a Bills Legend courtesy Year 3. And he goes right back to the QB draft, still looking for the guy. And two possibilities are on the board with the 10th overall pick. Mahomes and Watson ... Either way, we win a Super Bowl in 2021. (Or 2022 at the latest) Edited January 5, 2021 by The Frankish Reich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie's Dead Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 What if the Queen/my aunt had balls? She'd be the King/my uncle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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