Quote:
Originally Posted by GTripp0012
To try to put this back on track, he missed on:
-Donovan McNabb
-Larry Johnson
-O.J. Atogwe
-Mike Williams (this was just bizarre)
-Artis Hicks
-Jammal Brown
-Ma'ake Kemoeatu
-Joey Galloway
-Roydell Williams
-Rocky McIntosh
-Santana Moss
-John Beck
With the criteria that they must have signed for and underperformed (which is typically relative) for the current regime, that's a pretty exhaustive list. The questionable releases list is about 2/3rds that long.
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Of these guys only McNabb, Beck, Atogwe, Brown and possibly Hicks were guys counted on to make a difference. The rest were, in my opinion, simply guys MS took a flyer on or stop gap folks who did not have a big impact on the ability to subsequently acquire talent (i.e. - delayed development of youth or limited flexibility in free agency). As to MS's "big" signings Wilson, Cofield and Bowen seem to have been solid signings. (Also, I disagree with your take on the M. Williams thing - he was dirt cheap and was progressing nicely until his injury and, if I recall your game analysis, was one of the better linemen when he played)(Also, did we overpay for S. Moss? Maybe, but, in light of our options at the position, I disagree that he was a "miss".
As for the questionable releases, I am sure there are a few. At the same time, every roster in the league (including ours: Jabar Gaffney, K. Lichten, L. Fletcher, W. Montgomery, S. Rocca) includes guys - either through free agency or outright release - that other teams gave up on, didn't value, etc. who later turn things around. Hell, B. Lloyd bilked a few teams before he got his act together. It happens. Has it happened here? Yup. You seem to believe it has happened to MS an inordinate amount. Without a detailed look at other rosters, I think that is a leap.
I get the "MS is not a good talent evaluator" line - that was his rap in Denver and it has followed him here after his epic fail on McNabb. At the same time, I look at the successes he has had in the last two years (Riley, Bowen, Cofield, Wilson, this year's crop of rookies, Carriker, D. Young, Gaffney (again)) and see the aquisition of some good young talent with a sprinkling of maturity.
Bottom line, while the talent management has not been exemplary, it has not sucked either. It seems to me to be somewhere near the league norm with the potential to be much better dependent upon this off season. All the "diamonds in the rough" were not retained for more development; at the same time, some were and some were acquired from other teams. Although MS/BA missed on a couple of important acquisitions, they hit on a few also. Other than the McNabb trade and the reliance on Beck/Grossman, there haven't been any other (in my opinion) epically bad moves. In fact, the trades of McNabb and Haynesworth seem to have gotten us something when nothing was expected. Further, to balance the mismanagement of the QB slot, we have just had the type of draft that may allow the sort of flexibility in talent development/acquisition that this franchise has not had in years, decades even. A follow-up draft in 2012 that even approaches the 2011 one would set right many a wrong. In fact, if the 2012 offseason talent acquisition/managemnt is a duplicate or approaches the 2011 offseason of the same, I will feel pretty damn good about this team for 2012 and beyond.
Like I said, to date, the MS/BA talent management team has, IMHO, been solid if unspectacular (with a couple of truly bad decisions) and, come this time next year, we will see if it can join the ranks of the well managed teams or if MS/BA are just are just singing the same old song to a different melody.