Very Fair Assessment of Buddy Nix's Time as GM in Buffalo - Pro Football Central

[ghz in pittsburgh]

http://www.profootballcentral.com/2013/05/23/from-nix-to-whaley-analyzing-the-general-manager-transition-in-buffalo/

[stuckincincy]

Good read.

[better days]

Well, I had no idea the Bills tried to hire Cowher or Shannahan for GM. Same drivel I read on this board all the time.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

The part being very true is that should Manuel fail, Whaley would have Nix to blame without him saying it.

[Don't Panic]

Well, I had no idea the Bills tried to hire Cowher or Shannahan for GM. Same drivel I read on this board all the time.

....yet you come back for more on a daily basis.

[mayotm]

The article was fair enough. However, I'm not crazy about people in general stating team's should have drafted a different player after the fact. The article discusses the Bills drating Aldon Smith instead of Dareus. At the time, Smith would have been considered a huge reach. Smith has certainliy been more productive than Dareus, but who is to say Smith's production would have been the same in Buffalo? He plays with more talent and a different scheme in SF. The Bills passing on Gronk is another example. It's obvious that taking Gronk instead of Troup is a no brainer. Hell, I've made as many plays as Troup has. However, would Gronk be the player he is today (or even close) if he had the Bills QB's of the past few years passing to him versus Brady? I think not.

[justasportsfan]

Smith has certainliy been more productive than Dareus, but who is to say Smith's production would have been the same in Buffalo?
I agree. Without any sort of continuity on the defensive side of the ball, it's hard for any rookie (or vet for that matter) to learn/grow/develop in any scheme or position.

[Bill Cody]

This article makes a number of good points. My main complaint is that there was not a top down committment to either a 3-4 or 4-3, we've been all over the map on this and it's been a disaster. I also agree that although the overall talent of the team is a bit better than when Nix got here it's still far from elite. I mean who are the stars? I also agree with the idea that you build a team with certain key positions in mind. We have not done that very often. I don't know how much input Nix had in this draft but it was a more aggressive draft that we've had in recent years.

But....I don't agree that taking the "safe" player is necessarily bad. If you think about it, we were always taking the risky choice before Nix got here and we got a raft of busts.