Ripple effect of Bills Scouting Implosion

[spiketex]

I see where Buffalo Bills owner, Terry Pergula fired his GM, Doug Whaley and the entire Bills Scouting Department. When something like this occurs, it will take time to appoint a complete new team. I'm curious if other teams like Miami keep a running assessment of the key scouting prowess on all other teams and look at this as an opportunity to pounce on certain talented individuals with consistent success at finding great players. Does this represent an improvement opportunity for us to seize?
Across the NFL, which teams have the best scouting network to identify talent? How do the best ones differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack? It may be a dumb question but can the best scouts be poached by paying more?

 

[HoustonPhinFan]

Its a very good question. I am also curious. I would think the scouting departments are one of the most critical groups at a team. Logically, other teams must be poaching and paying the scouts higher than the others.

 

[dolphinlifer]

if gase, grier and bum don't work out, ross should def follow suit, shoulda done that before gase though. Not sayin gase was a bad hire but the rest...

 

[AJ Duhe]

If anyone has inside knowledge of Buffalo's front office, it would be Grier and Tannenbaum. Both have been in the AFC East for a long time, and I'm sure they're always looking for talent to add to our scouting department.

With that said, how do you measure the track record of these scouts? For example, a scout could be standing on the table for certain prospects and Whaley just ignored the analysis and drafted his preferred guys. Look at the Bills roster. There's not a lot of homegrown talent there. What's that say about the quality of their college scouting department?

 

[Beach Bum]

So...Whaley taking...

1. Tre'Davious White (CB)
2. Zay Jones (WR)
2. Dion Dawkins (OG)
5. Matt Milano (LB)
5. Nathan Peterman (QB)
6. Tanner Vallejo (LB)


...got him fired? If that was our draft, how would you feel about that? I didn't follow what they did, but it looks like they had a lot of picks from other teams, so they might have traded around a bit. Anybody know why the owner fired Whaley and his staff? The team seems young, fast, and competitive to me. They always give us fits.

 

[BahamaFinFan78]

So...Whaley taking...

1. Tre'Davious White (CB)
2. Zay Jones (WR)
2. Dion Dawkins (OG)
5. Matt Milano (LB)
5. Nathan Peterman (QB)
6. Tanner Vallejo (LB)


...got him fired? If that was our draft, how would you feel about that? I didn't follow what they did, but it looks like they had a lot of picks from other teams, so they might have traded around a bit. Anybody know why the owner fired Whaley and his staff? The team seems young, fast, and competitive to me. They always give us fits.

I don't think that got him fired. I think he was gone from earlier, but they kept him on as they were doing most of the leg work on the draft. I heard the coach was the final say in the draft room.

 

[WaxOn WaxOff]

I like their draft, doesn't fit our needs though. I also heard the head coach made the picks, not the GM. I don't think there will be any "ripple effect" from this.

 

[MD]

Though Whaley made some head scratching decisions, the Bills had a roster good enough to compete for the playoffs. The issue the last 2 years was along the sidelines.

As long as the Pegula's own the Bills and Sabres, Buffalo sports will remain mediocre.

 

[roy_miami]

I don't think that got him fired. I think he was gone from earlier, but they kept him on as they were doing most of the leg work on the draft.

Its a bizarre philosophy. It would be like hiring an interior decorator, hating what they did on the first few rooms but letting them finish the house just because they did some legwork already. Its one of the last remaining stands of not giving in to the age of the internet. They are overthinking it big time. All they need is a decision maker (preferably the head coach) and somebody like TeddSlim breaking down film. Thats it. Let the interwebz do the vetting. Let the interwebz and mock drafts uncover a prospect you might have missed.

If I were in the Bills situation I totally would have fired them before and hired Tedslim as a consultant. Think about the press it would generate: they have a fan in the war room helping make the picks!!! Think about how cool it would be as a fan on a message board to have a peer in there helping make the picks, and picking his brain making suggestions the night bfore on the board.

 

[datruth55]

I was interested in becoming a scout at one point and started researching it. Found out that there's a boat load of nepotism in NFL scouting. If you're not related to someone who's already a scout or good friends with them it's very difficult to break into the business. Unless any of the scouts on the Bills know someone high up in the Dolphins organization they're not getting a job with the Dolphins no matter how well they spot talent. Just the nature of the beast.

 

[jazz015]

Well obviously that whole organization is a mess. Apparently it was not well received around the league either. To hand your franchise over to a rookie coach with no HC experience doesn't look good on ownership. There is a lot of chatter that the coach engineered the firing to bring in Carolina's assistant GM. Another poor look as it means your coach may have engineered a firing of the guy that hired him to bring in his friends. You also do not fire the GM after the draft due to the amount of organizational work they are responsible for.

Say what you want about our problems, but that is something else over in Buffalo. At least with our trio there is cohesion and as of now, a clear direction for the franchise. Glad that is not our problem

 

[PSU Cane]

I was interested in becoming a scout at one point and started researching it. Found out that there's a boat load of nepotism in NFL scouting. If you're not related to someone who's already a scout or good friends with them it's very difficult to break into the business. Unless any of the scouts on the Bills know someone high up in the Dolphins organization they're not getting a job with the Dolphins no matter how well they spot talent. Just the nature of the beast.

Pretty much the same thing i found after sniffing around for years seeing if there was a way to crack into the business, even as an assistant or unpaid intern.

 

[Dolphins83Draft]

love the way you think, get stronger while you watch teams in the division get weaker!

 

[DKphin]

I see where Buffalo Bills owner, Terry Pergula fired his GM, Doug Whaley and the entire Bills Scouting Department. When something like this occurs, it will take time to appoint a complete new team. I'm curious if other teams like Miami keep a running assessment of the key scouting prowess on all other teams and look at this as an opportunity to pounce on certain talented individuals with consistent success at finding great players. Does this represent an improvement opportunity for us to seize?
Across the NFL, which teams have the best scouting network to identify talent? How do the best ones differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack? It may be a dumb question but can the best scouts be poached by paying more?

I would say no.

 

[Not Sure]

If anyone has inside knowledge of Buffalo's front office, it would be Grier and Tannenbaum. Both have been in the AFC East for a long time, and I'm sure they're always looking for talent to add to our scouting department.

With that said, how do you measure the track record of these scouts? For example, a scout could be standing on the table for certain prospects and Whaley just ignored the analysis and drafted his preferred guys. Look at the Bills roster. There's not a lot of homegrown talent there. What's that say about the quality of their college scouting department?

If you watch who the Bills have been drafting. There has definitely been an emphasis on the ACC. Lots of FSU Clemson guys over there.