Buffalo Bills Seeking Arm Strength, Toughness, Presence At QB

You don't need to read between the lines of commentary made by Buffalo Bills Assistant GM Doug Whaley on Thursday to know that the team has specific traits that it prefers over others when it comes to scouting quarterbacks.

Talking to fans via a live chat that ran on the team's official website, Whaley was asked two very good questions about what physical attributes the team looks for, which Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com pointed out in a blog post yesterday.

In the first, quoted below, Whaley was asked about whether or not the "Buffalo weather" point repeatedly made all year factors into the team's preferences in a quarterback prospect:

Comment From Babak A,

When discussing QBs, many times you’ll people say "_______ is not a good fit for Buffalo" (usually in reference to the weather). How much stock – if any – is put into thinking about that? And if you do, what are the most important attributes you look for when searching for the right fit for Buffalo at the QB position?

Doug Whaley: You have to put stock into it because it’s going to come into play and one of the main attributes are toughness and arm strength and we’d like to use that weather to our advantage.

The second question stripped the weather element out and asked simply about the team's preferred athletic traits. Whaley's response did not change much.

Comment From Mark

when scouting a QB what are the qualities you and Buddy look for Doug?

Doug Whaley: You have to have a guy with a presence, arm strength, accuracy and an ability to make people around him better.

"Toughness," "presence" and "arm strength" are the predominant themes here, with "accuracy" and "an ability to make people around him better" mentioned, as well. We'll let you interpret that how you will regarding the top quarterback prospects available this year, but the regime is now on record about the game's most important position.