Not Just EJ and the young players, it seems the front office is in learning mode, too

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Which all comes back to Doug Marrone and I have no doubt he's running the show at one Bills Drive these days.

His Monday presser was very telling as he ranted along about the QB decision. The key words to me from him was "developing a QB" and he went about different ways of doing it even. There was no doubt in my mind that that was what sold Nix and Russ back when they hired him and he did make it happen in Syracuse. So in truth, it is not about this season, it's about getting a QB, and more or less, identify other players on this team.

In the same line, they liked what they saw from Tuel in pre-season and wanted to keep him, which is fine in the big scheme of things. Last Thursday they found out Tuel was not ready at all. Now they are caught in a pinch.

On the special team front, again they had the "developing young players" mind set where they kept the injured kicker and went with Powell instead of Moorman from camp. One bad game, they revert the strategy. The signing of the LB Powell and CB Smith has a lot to do with special team ability than anything else.

To me, I'd rather stick with their strategy and go with it. The balance side is that they have to keep the locker room while building a team. It's something I think Marrone himself is still learning. One thing for sure, this is not Syracuse where you turn over players much quicker than a pro team. It'll be a big challenge.

[YardRat]

Re: Not Just EJ and the young players, it seems the front office is in learning mode,

I think Marrone and his staff have a lot of input into player acquisition, as opposed to the previous regime when Nix came right out and said Gailey didn't have much say in the acquisitions...it was Buddy's job to get the players, and Chan's to coach them.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Not Just EJ and the young players, it seems the front office is in learning mode,

I think Marrone and his staff have a lot of input into player acquisition, as opposed to the previous regime when Nix came right out and said Gailey didn't have much say in the acquisitions...it was Buddy's job to get the players, and Chan's to coach them.

Chan Picked Fitz and I'm sure had a lot of say in player/personnel since it was his offense. Chan also picked Wanny and I'm almost sure Wanny wanted Mario to run the 4-3.

[blackonyx89]

Re: Not Just EJ and the young players, it seems the front office is in learning mode,

I have to be honest, I think at times the organization are over thinking in their moves in the front office and on the field personnel wise. I know they're being aggressive in their new approach to running the team, but don't do it if it means hurting the franchise and players. They're "learning on the fly" but at least they're piecing together a team that will finally make some noise the league.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Re: Not Just EJ and the young players, it seems the front office is in learning mode,

I honestly believe the hope we Bills fan seen now is the talent infusion from the draft. Say what you will about Nix's old age and mistakes, all this happened when he got here AND once he got away from drafting players for certain schemes (which I gotta believe is Chan Gailey's favored topic). We finally had a scout guy in the GM position after the Donohoe (admin back ground), Levy (never scouting in his life), amd no one for awhile. You hope the trend continues with Whaley.

[trapezeus]

Re: Not Just EJ and the young players, it seems the front office is in learning mode,

the pros are the bills are starting this rebuild with a young QB who has potential. could they have had a backup that would have panned out better than kolb? yes.

Tuel was not ready for the thursday game. i would have liked to see him perform after 10 days of practice. i'll give the coaches the benefit of the doubt that tuel might just not be ready for it yet, but the only way to have him be a long term solution is to have him in some games in a year where winning isn't necessarily an option.

if they won't play him here now, he might not really be a reliable backup at anypoint.

I think Tuel might be done if the bills take a qb in rounds 2-4 next year.

[kishoph]

Re: Not Just EJ and the young players, it seems the front office is in learning mode,

On the special team front, again they had the "developing young players" mind set where they kept the injured kicker and went with Powell instead of Moorman from camp. One bad game, they revert the strategy. The signing of the LB Powell and CB Smith has a lot to do with special team ability than anything else.

?

[Generalissimus Gibby]

Re: Not Just EJ and the young players, it seems the front office is in learning mode,

The only problem is that they've been in a "learning" mode for almost 53 years now and they still don't know how to run a winning franchise.

[Dont drink the water]

Re: Not Just EJ and the young players, it seems the front office is in learning mode,

On the special team front, again they had the "developing young players" mind set where they kept the injured kicker and went with Powell instead of Moorman from camp. One bad game, they revert the strategy.

Previous staff cut Moorman, partly due to dispute w/ST coach. New ST coach w/o lots of winning experience and front office brought another rookie competitor. They discovered when you have a rookie QB, a rookie HC and a rookie OC an almost rookie punter is not what you need - you need someone dependable even if high is not as high.

[TigerJ]

Re: Not Just EJ and the young players, it seems the front office is in learning mode,

I think the Bills went with Shawn Powell in part because of his youth. The other part was his big leg. He's been somewhat inconsistent right along. I think the Bills came to the conclusion his inconsistency wasn't going to disappear as they'd hoped with a little experience. I think they'll still be looking to replace Moorman in the next offseason with a younger bigger leg and hope they get some more consistency next time.