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Cleft Crusty
my hero
Cliff Christl spent a lifetime covering sports; mostly football. He spoke with Al Davis, Ron Wolf, Mike Holmgren, scouts, position coaches and others in the industry. In his last couple years writing at JS, I think he did a great job passing the knowledge he collected onto his readers. Cleft claimed the resounding theme from his sources was that playmakers were the most meaningful aspect of winning in the NFL. Anything else is almost not worth mentioning according to Cleft.
PLAYMAKER THEORY
APPLIED TODAY
Bubba Franks
Bubba is probably somewhere between a 4/10 and a 5/10 (if you want to go back a couple years and assume he still has some of that left.) Looking at this chart, he falls somewhere in the stumblebum category. In other words, he’s easily replaceable. Taking into age and salary, there is little reason to keep a guy like Bubba Franks.
Corey Williams
C-dub (based on a poll conducted a while back) is considered a 7/10, maybe 8/10 player here. Looking at this chart, he starts to fall under the rare category. With that in mind, he has real value. His pass rushing impact that would be hard to duplicate. In the 4th quarter of the playoffs, when other teams are warn down, our defense should still be rested and impactfull at one of the most important positions on the field. Anylized through the prism of winning, that is hard to replace. Also, when a DT or two inevitably goes down with injury, counting on Muir and Bolston would likely net losses.
KGB
Kabeer is making a high salary, but he still brings heat on the QB. He’s a little older than Williams and makes a little more money (which makes the KGB decision a little tougher). Still, players who pressure the QB are rare so finding a player to replace KGB this year will be either VERY expensive and painful long term or nearly impossible through the draft or fringe markets. The way I read the playmaker concept, KGB's a tough to replace impact player so he justifies a large paycheck, although it would be nice if it were a little smaller.
Summary
Christl’s playmaker theory is as relevant now as it ever was before. Now it’s relevant in a different sense because you not only have to find many of them, but find ways to afford many of them.
I’ve been a big Ted Thompson supporter over the last couple years largely because I think his decisions reflect an awareness that playmakers are rare (evident by taking best player available in the draft). He also seems to have an awareness that he has to afford more of them (evident by not overpsending in UFA while taking advantage of discounts by signing guys early and restricted status and tags to lower competition). He has a tendancy to assume that serviceable stumblebums are a dime a dozen. That might seem like a detriment from time to time because we don't always have someone better, but when it comes time to afford impact, I believe people will see the method to his madness.
my hero
Cliff Christl spent a lifetime covering sports; mostly football. He spoke with Al Davis, Ron Wolf, Mike Holmgren, scouts, position coaches and others in the industry. In his last couple years writing at JS, I think he did a great job passing the knowledge he collected onto his readers. Cleft claimed the resounding theme from his sources was that playmakers were the most meaningful aspect of winning in the NFL. Anything else is almost not worth mentioning according to Cleft.
PLAYMAKER THEORY
APPLIED TODAY
Bubba Franks
Bubba is probably somewhere between a 4/10 and a 5/10 (if you want to go back a couple years and assume he still has some of that left.) Looking at this chart, he falls somewhere in the stumblebum category. In other words, he’s easily replaceable. Taking into age and salary, there is little reason to keep a guy like Bubba Franks.
Corey Williams
C-dub (based on a poll conducted a while back) is considered a 7/10, maybe 8/10 player here. Looking at this chart, he starts to fall under the rare category. With that in mind, he has real value. His pass rushing impact that would be hard to duplicate. In the 4th quarter of the playoffs, when other teams are warn down, our defense should still be rested and impactfull at one of the most important positions on the field. Anylized through the prism of winning, that is hard to replace. Also, when a DT or two inevitably goes down with injury, counting on Muir and Bolston would likely net losses.
KGB
Kabeer is making a high salary, but he still brings heat on the QB. He’s a little older than Williams and makes a little more money (which makes the KGB decision a little tougher). Still, players who pressure the QB are rare so finding a player to replace KGB this year will be either VERY expensive and painful long term or nearly impossible through the draft or fringe markets. The way I read the playmaker concept, KGB's a tough to replace impact player so he justifies a large paycheck, although it would be nice if it were a little smaller.
Summary
Christl’s playmaker theory is as relevant now as it ever was before. Now it’s relevant in a different sense because you not only have to find many of them, but find ways to afford many of them.
I’ve been a big Ted Thompson supporter over the last couple years largely because I think his decisions reflect an awareness that playmakers are rare (evident by taking best player available in the draft). He also seems to have an awareness that he has to afford more of them (evident by not overpsending in UFA while taking advantage of discounts by signing guys early and restricted status and tags to lower competition). He has a tendancy to assume that serviceable stumblebums are a dime a dozen. That might seem like a detriment from time to time because we don't always have someone better, but when it comes time to afford impact, I believe people will see the method to his madness.
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