Some context

2004 Bills

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2004.htm

• 9-7-0, Finished 3rd in AFC East Division
• Scored 395 points (24.7/g), 7th of 32 in the NFL.
• Allowed 284 points (17.8/g), 8th. 
  
• Differential of 111 points (6.9/g), 6th.  
• Expected W-L: 11.0-5.0.

2004 Draft Class :

• 1st, Lee Evans, WR
• 1st, JP Losman, QB
  • Traded 2nd (#43) + 2015 1st (#20) for DAL's #22
• 3rd, Tim Anderson, DT
• 4th, Tim Euhus, TE
• 7th, Dyland McFarland, OT
• 7th, Jonathan Smith, WR

Notable Players

2005 Bills

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2005.htm

• 5-11-0, Finished 3rd in AFC East Division 
  
• Scored 271 points (16.9/g), 24th of 32 in the NFL.
• Allowed 367 points (22.9/g), 24th. 
  
• Differential of -96 points (-6.0/g), 27th.  
• Expected W-L: 5.2-10.8.

2005 Draft Class :

• 1st, Traded to DAL in 2004 to get QB JP Losman
  • DAL selected DE Marcus Spears (#20). Notable players remaining at the time : WR Mark Clayton, CB Fabian Washington, QB Aaron Rodgers, QB Jason Campbell, WR Roddy White, TE Heath Miller, OG Logan Mankins
• 2nd, Roscoe Parrish, WR
• 3rd, Kevin Everett, TE
• 4th, Duke Preston, C
• 5th, Eric King, CB
• 6th, Justin Geisinger, OG
• 7th, Lionel Gates, RB

Notable Players :

Note :

• QB Drew Bledsoe went to DAL. Stats : 3639 yds / 23 TDs / 17 Int
• RB Travis Henry went to TEN. Stats : 335 yds / 0 TDs

Bills Records :

Year previous to Mularkey was 6-10. Year After Mularkey was 7-9. The Bills under Dick Jauron, Chan Gailey, and Doug Marrone did not equal the 9-7 record until 2014, when Doug Marrone was fired.

2012 Jacksonville Jaguars

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/jax/2012.htm

• 2-14-0, Finished 4th in AFC South D
• Scored 255 points (15.9/g), 30th of 32 in the NFL.
• Allowed 444 points (27.8/g), 29th. 
• Differential of -189 points (-11.8/g), 31st.  
• Expected W-L: 3.4-12.6

| | Player | G | Yds | TD | Int | | :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- | | | QB | Chad Henne | 10 | 2084 | 11 | 11 | | QB2 | Blaine Gabbert | 10 | 1662 | 9 | 6 | | RB | Maurice Jones-Drew | 6 | 414 | 1 | | | RB | Rashad Jennings | 10 | 282 | | | | WR | Cecil Shorts | 14 | 979 | 7 | | | WR | Justin Blackmon | 14 | 865 | 5 | | | TE | Marcedes Lewis | 16 | 540 | 4 | |

Note :

• Chad Henne and Blaine Gabbert split games. Henne played in 10, but started 6. Gabbert played and started in 10.
• RB MJD played 6 games due to injury. In the 3 years previous, MJD had established himself as one of the top RBs in the league :

Records :

Year prior to Mularkey, with Jack del Rio fired midseason as HC (and Dirk Koetter as the OC), Jaguars were 5-11.

2012 Draft Class :

• 1st, Justin Blackmon, WR
• 2nd, Andre Branch, DE
• 3rd, Bryan Anger, P
• 5th, Brandon Marshall, LB
• 6th, Mike Harris, CB
• 7th Jeris Pendleton, DT

Some interesting points :

• 2 HC jobs, 3 Seasons Total. (plus the partial season when the Titans fired Whisenhunt)
• In 2004, Had combination of Drew Bledsoe, Willis McGahee, and Eric Moulds.
  
• In 2004 Draft, Lee Evans was the 1st pick
• In 2004 Draft, sacrificed next year's 1st round for JP Losman. This draft selection (and trade) effectively sealed Mularkey's fate.
• Drafting JP Losman in the 1st meant that he was the QB of the future and Drew Bledsoe would be allowed to leave.
• 2005 Draft suffered as a result of the 2004 trade.
• JP Losman was not the QB of the future
• Jacksonville selected Blaine Gabbert in 2011 by trading up with WAS
  • Gave #16 + 2nd round (#49) to move up #10. Notable players available at #10 : JJ Watt, Nick Fairley, Robert Quinn, Mike Pouncey, Ryan Kerrigan, Nate Solder.
• Gabbert was effectively made the QB of the future that Mularkey inherited in 2012.
• In 2012, Jacksonville traded 1st (#7) + 4th (#) for TB's 1st (#5) to trade Justin Blackmon.
• The next WR drafted was at #30, AJ Jenkins.
• Then selected a Punter in the 3rd round, notably ahead of QB Russell Wilson, but also instead of DE Olivier Vernon, Brandon Brooks, Demario Davis, Sean Spence, TY Hilton.
• It is unsurprising that a 5-11 team that loses a 2000 scrimmage yard RB would end up 2-14.
  
• Very few of the drafts have yielded much talent and most of these drafts have been thinned out due to trades.
• It's not clear how much say Mularkey had in these drafts. Presumably, he was instrumental in JP Losman, but that is purely an assumption. The selection of a punter does NOT seem like a choice an offensive-minded HC would make.
• Mularkey rarely had much to work with (roster talent) and it shows up when we notice that in the years after he was fired, the team has not performed markedly better.
• Mularkey seems to be an unknown and the record does not seem to really be any real indicator on whether or not he was doing a good job (that would take a different, detailed assessment). He was not given much time to build a roster, nor was he given much talent to begin with. In both cases, he had a 1st or 2nd year QB who was not really prepared for the NFL game.