The more I think about the reasons behind the firing of Rex Ryan, the less they make sense. Terry Pegula alluded to the Defense, so Rex’s mediocre D must have been THE reason, right? That has been the main point of all the fans who supported the move as well.
So, if that was the case, and if we were as “close” as Whaley says… in order to be successful, the Bills would only need to hire a good DC and keep the Offense with Lynn. The formula ads up: Good Running game (check) + Good Defense (pending) + Good QB (check) = Playoffs.
However, the Bills’ public declarations / behaviors / rumors have been as weird as they’ve been in years. They are afraid to tell us which the plan is, maybe because they don’t even have one. Here’s where I don’t buy that the *main* reason of Ryan’s firing has to do with the Defense. And yes, my theory involves the QB.
It is clear that Tyrod was Rex’s boy. It is also clear that Rex was going to stick with Tyrod as long as he was the coach (unless some better option at QB was available, I think… but that’s speculating). So, what do you do with Rex when you want to move on from the QB? Unless you wanted a split organization, you had to get rid of the HC. And that’s what happened. Yes, Rex’s Defense was bad, but the team wasn’t awful; and -using the words of the Organization- in sake of “continuity”, it would’ve made sense to keep Ryan a third year.
For weeks now, I’ve thought that Tyrod was a goner (at least with the deal as is). That became clearer with him getting benched and Kelly / Polian publicly speaking against him. Now national media is reporting in this same sense. Why? Because, in the Bills’ mind, he’s not good enough. Good enough for what? That’s an endless discussion.
Here’s the false dilemma, though. All the arguments surrounding Tyrod’s option have to do with the following statement: we either commit to him as our long term option, or we seek to improve in the draft / FA. That’s what they’ve done, right? The Bills have passed on every QB on every draft when they think they have the chosen one. They try to build around a “promise” of QB: During the Fitz and Manuel tenure, they were committed to them and ignored the position. Since 2011, they have drafted 2 QBs: EJ and Cardale (and those count as one because Cardale was drafted to replace EJ as the backup QB). And, as Joe pointed out, since 1998, Bills have drafted 4 (FOUR!) QBs (31st in the league).
Why the hell do we have to choose between committing to a QB and drafting one?! Who says that, as long as you named a starter, you can’t keep drafting a QB?! We have been used to choose because that’s what the Bills do, they marry to a QB and, like a good spouse, they are forbidden to just look for better ones. And that’s wrong.
Again, what’s the plan? If you want to tank, get rid of Tyrod, draft Defense (or whatever position really) and hope for the best in the 2018 class. But if the Bills really believe they “are close”, they should keep Tyrod AND (not OR) keep looking. I believe this is the best way to go especially with the running attack that the Bills have, but hey… what do I know?
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