It's year #4 for Donahoe

[Frez]

It's year #4 for Tom Donahoe. I would like to ask all of you WHAT has he done for making our team better since John Bulter and Wade Phillips left the team? How much time does he need to improve us? I for one have to question Tom Donahoes evaluation of talent in requards to free agents and the draft. I think he has made more mistakes than we all know right now. I'll start by saying Bledsoe was the BIGGEST mistake of many. Do you really believe Bledsoe will win us a Superbowl? I highly doubt it. His best days are years behind him.

Gregg Williams
Ryan Lindell
Mike Williams (See Bryant McKinnie)
Trey Teague
Willis McGahee when we already have a #1 RB?
Kris Ferris
Mike Pucillo
Ryan Denney


I'm just a little upset with my struggling Buffalo Bills right now and I point the finger at Mr Donahoe. I think Mr. Doanhoe is a very stubborn man and will not admit to his mistakes. 17 and 32 says it all to me!


Thoughts? Am I way off target here? :peace:

[The Spaz]

You have a point with some of those. Adding Kris Ferris on that list is a stretch, what did he cost us?

[Frez]

Kris Ferris was a bust with the Steelers, why even bring him here?

Donahoe is 17-32 and counting.

[HenryRules]

He had an excellent half-day of drafting and since then has been average at best.

He's the president and must take all the blame/credit for the Bills performance.

In general, I think he has done a horrible job building our offense (which he has tried to do primarily through the draft).

We have used 1 1st or 2nd round pick on OL, while at the same time, we have used 7 of those picks (4 1sts, 3 2nds) on QB, WR, RB. Our OL sucks ... wonder why?

[Frez]

He had an excellent half-day of drafting and since then has been average at best.

He's the president and must take all the blame/credit for the Bills performance.

In general, I think he has done a horrible job building our offense (which he has tried to do primarily through the draft).

We have used 1 1st or 2nd round pick on OL, while at the same time, we have used 7 of those picks (4 1sts, 3 2nds) on QB, WR, RB. Our OL sucks ... wonder why?


What do you think about our QB? Can he take us to the promised land or not? It's my belief Bledsoe was a big mistake. :fury:

[HenryRules]

What do you think about our QB? Can he take us to the promised land or not? It's my belief Bledsoe was a big mistake. :fury:

I don't think the trade was a good one. However, if guys like Mark Rypien and Trent Dilfer can be QB's for SB winning teams, I think that Bledsoe can be too.

[Mr. Cynical]

I think Mr. Doanhoe is a very stubborn man and will not admit to his mistakes. 17 and 32 says it all to me!


Thoughts? Am I way off target here? :peace:No, you are not way off target. As president and GM, TD is ultimately reponsible for the team's success and failure, just like the CEO of a company. And when the company doesn't produce, the CEO gets the axe, regardless of whether or not it was directly his fault. A 17-32 record is like having your company's stock go down close to 50%. If we do not finish 500 or above this year, his 4 year record will be something like 23-42. Not many CEO's would survive that record, and neither should TD IMO.

[G. Host]

Mike Pucillo was a late round pick; nothing to complain about.
Coaches decide who plays not GM.

[justasportsfan]

I'll wait and see what Mularkey can do. I guess since it was the first game, he and Clemens were trying to call it safe. We may not have looked great but at least we didn't suck like last year. Maybe he'll be more daring against the Raiders. I don't care if he's a rookie coach. He's got enough veteran players and vet coaches. On ethings for sure, someone like Pacells could flourish with a line-up we have. I'd be disappointed if we don't make playoffs.

[Frez]

Mike Pucillo was a late round pick; nothing to complain about.
Coaches decide who plays not GM.


I disagree G baby. I think Donahoe has more say than we both know. He's not with the Steelers anymore because of his power struggles with Bill Cowher.

[Hemlepp53]

It's year #4 for Tom Donahoe. I would like to ask all of you WHAT has he done for making our team better since John Bulter and Wade Phillips left the team? How much time does he need to improve us? I for one have to question Tom Donahoes evaluation of talent in requards to free agents and the draft. I think he has made more mistakes than we all know right now. I'll start by saying Bledsoe was the BIGGEST mistake of many. Do you really believe Bledsoe will win us a Superbowl? I highly doubt it. His best days are years behind him.

Gregg Williams
Ryan Lindell
Mike Williams (See Bryant McKinnie)
Trey Teague
Willis McGahee when we already have a #1 RB?
Kris Ferris
Mike Pucillo
Ryan Denney


I'm just a little upset with my struggling Buffalo Bills right now and I point the finger at Mr Donahoe. I think Mr. Doanhoe is a very stubborn man and will not admit to his mistakes. 17 and 32 says it all to me!


Thoughts? Am I way off target here? :peace:


Hmmm.. Not sure how to answer this right now being the Season has jsut begun. Who knows maybe I am placing too much faith in the Coaching Staff... I do disagree with the selection of Willis McGahee.. He can become the next Superstar Runnig Back if he can gain the forum he had in the NCAA. If I'm not mistaken several Star Backs have come into the league injured from NCAA and mande huge impacts... With all draft picks we take chances.. no matter the size of the chance... Drew Bledsoe is our Prime QB Right now and I do have faith in his skill as our starter this year and I for one would like to say TD needs to focus on our O-Line... That has been a major mistake of his. Poor Selections in reguards to the O-Line... Damnit man.. I didnt want to comment on this because of the season start timing.. See what ya did to me... I need to stop now but ohhh I dont wanna... LoL.. Good Piece of reading and it did make my mind begin to stir..... :peace:

[Mr. Cynical]

I disagree G baby. I think Donahoe has more say than we both know. He's not with the Steelers anymore because of his power struggles with Bill Cowher.
Yep. :up:

[Mr. Cynical]

What do you think about our QB? Can he take us to the promised land or not? It's my belief Bledsoe was a big mistake. :fury:
I thought it was a good idea at first, but after last year I don't. IMO they should have dumped him and his mult-gazillion dollar contract in the offseason. Can get the same or better performance for half the price. Playing "ok" or "not to lose" is not worth his price tag.

To HR's point, if a Rypien can win it, then Drew can too. However we don't have the same offense as the Hogs did, *especially* that line.

[The_Philster]

I disagree G baby. I think Donahoe has more say than we both know. He's not with the Steelers anymore because of his power struggles with Bill Cowher.
The power struggles were about Cowher having more say in personnel decisions, not in who plays. :shakeno:

[Frez]

The power struggles were about Cowher having more say in personnel decisions, not in who plays. :shakeno:


Is there a difference? :hitself:

[The_Philster]

personnel decisions equate to signings, contracts, draft decisions and the like...the coach almost always has a lot of input but the GM has the final say. If I remember correctly, Cowher basically wanted that final say, relegating Donahoe to being basically a contracts guy for the most part

[G. Host]

I disagree G baby. I think Donahoe has more say than we both know. He's not with the Steelers anymore because of his power struggles with Bill Cowher.

Nope. I have heard the same thing elsewhere and still think people have Macavellian ideas about Donahoe where none exist. He got knocked out of Pittsburgh because Steelers thought a coach was more valuable than a GM and Cowher insisted that he have GM-like powers.

Personally I do not like Coach-GM's and I do not care what those coaches say who insist that if a coach is going to be blamed for the soup, they should be able to pick out the vegetables. If they had followed that advice Gregg Williams would be picking players - think about that.

[The_Philster]

:scared: I'd rather not think about that...don't want nightmares. :cry:

[Uncle Jesse]

I'd be disappointed if we don't make playoffs.

"Playoffs?.......Playoffs?......You wanna talk about playoffs?....Are you kidding me?......Playoffs?" -Jim Mora-

Sounds like he could say this for the Bills.

[finsrclowns]

The choice of GW was a huge mistake, and was a big part in the record. IMO TD picked a good coach this time and he has assembled a pro staff. Obviously the proof of that will be in the pudding, but who knows that 17-32 record might be almost reversed if MM was entering his 4th year as HC with this staff. I firmly believe Man Boobs and Killdrive were the root of many problems, though certainly not all.

If we had won yesterday the mood here (including mine) would be pretty positive. I'm still sick. Yesterday wasn't perfect by any means but can anyone that saw that game not feel we're already light years ahead of last year?

This team is going to play a lot of close games this year, some of which we will lose (although if we lose many more like yesterday I'll be found in the booby hatch). I look for some of the training wheels to come off the offense as the line gels and the coaches get comfortable with what they have. The key will be to get better every week and stay in the hunt. 3-3 will do that although I'm still hoping for 4-2.

[Ickybaluky]

An opinion from outside:

Your being a little hard on Donohoe. While he hasn't hit a lot of home runs since his first draft, he has drafted some good players. Between the draft and free agency he has put together a pretty good core of players to build around, and has them contractually bound to the next few years. Though he has had his hits and misses (like all GMs), overall he has done a decent job getting talent and managing the cap.

I think Donohoe ultimately will be judged by the 2 big risks he took the last 2 drafts:

1) Drafting McGahee

McGahee is now healthy and can contribute, so the question is how good can he be? Personally, I thought drafting McGahee was a bad move at the time. If felt they already had a back in Henry, and bigger needs were ignored to take a big risk (I think a building team like Buffalo shouldn't take that kind of risk). I think he further compounded it by signing him to a incentive-laden deal, which means McGahee will want to play (which is why he is *****ing about not playing). However, if McGahee can regain his form and turn into the kind of special talent he looked like he would be in college, then Donohoe wins.

2) Drafting Losman

I thought moving up and taking Losman was a very good move. I don't know how Losman will develop, but I think this was a move Buffalo had to make, so why wait if their scouting staff thinks Losman is it? Buffalo had tried trading away draft picks to get a veteran (Rob Johnson and Bledsoe) and bringing in a guy from Canada (Flutie), and it didn't work. The best way to get a QB is by drafting one and developing him, something the Bills hadn't done since Jim Kelly. Then he hired a QB-friendly staff (Mularky, Clements and Wyche), a smart move.

Bottom line: Donohoe has done a decent job with a tough situation he inherited. He isn't GM-of-the-year material yet, but if McGahee and Losman become the centerpieces of his offense for the next 5-10 years, then he will ultimately be successful. If not, he lilkely is looking for work.

[G. Host]

Bills tried drafting and developing but the player could not handle headlights. That player was Todd Collins. You need to have a staff who can develop a QB before you can draft one. The Bills did it in right order this time.

[Mr. Cynical]

Bottom line: Donohoe has done a decent job with a tough situation he inherited. He isn't GM-of-the-year material yet, but if McGahee and Losman become the centerpieces of his offense for the next 5-10 years, then he will ultimately be successful. If not, he lilkely is looking for work.Everything you said is a fair assessment for the most part. However, as I stated earlier, the bottom line is results on the field, not on paper. He is already 17-32, but he has a "pass" this year because of MM/TC being rookies.

However, if we do not finish 500 or above this year, and if miss the playoffs again in '05, that will be 6 years without the playoffs. In that case he is gone. Well, let me rephrase that. He SHOULD be gone, but Ralph may not have the desire to start over again at his age and may just ride it out w/ TD.

But the bottom line is the GM is ultimately responsible for the team's success and failure, regardless of what he does. If a team doesn't make the playoffs in 5 or 6 years, he needs to go.