NFL's Best Talent Evaluators

[vince]

Best talent evaluators take risks, make hard decisions
By Floyd Reese
ESPN.com

Read it here.

[RashanGary]

I love seeing Thompson get this praise. For all of the unwaranted bullshit he recieved after taking over a mess, he stuck true to what he believed was right and cleaned it up faster than anyone thought possible.

His name is being called on more and more of these lists. I believe the ownership is the most important part of a team because they determine the GM and screw with him. Assuming you have a good owner, the GM is the most important piece. The rest will fall into place over time as long as the GM knows what he's doing. We have the President (or at least it appears that way) and we have the GM.

We'll have many, many more years of success in GB. (even AFTER Favre)

[cheesner]

I love seeing Thompson get this praise. For all of the unwaranted bullshit he recieved after taking over a mess, he stuck true to what he believed was right and cleaned it up faster than anyone thought possible.

His name is being called on more and more of these lists. I believe the ownership is the most important part of a team because they determine the GM and screw with him. Assuming you have a good owner, the GM is the most important piece. The rest will fall into place over time as long as the GM knows what he's doing. We have the President (or at least it appears that way) and we have the GM.

We'll have many, many more years of success in GB. (even AFTER Favre)

As with any business, it all starts at the top. THe Pres's decision to hire a GM is his most important. A GMs most important decision is who to hire at coach. Winning is a combo of coaching and talent. I wonder sometimes if coaching is more important. Perhaps TT is hitting on all these picks or perhaps MM is more responsible as he knows how to motivate and teach. No way of ever knowing, but this is clear, if either HC or GM are weak, the team won't have success.

[Partial]

I don't think one good year guarantees success long term. There is not enough evidence to predict that. Let's not forget they stayed very, very healthy, and inherited a pro-bowl corner, a pro-bowl receiver, two stud tackles, a hall of fame quarterback, a stud defensive end, a stud middle linebacker, etc.

Thompson has decently so far. I'm not willing to call him a good general manager just yet.

[gbpackfan]

I'll call him a good GM. In fact, Teddy looks down right COOL in that picture!

[Patler]

Yup, there are plenty of examples of teams that are one year wonders.

The roster SEEMS to have been turned around, from an aging team in decline to a young team poised for the future. However, it remains to be seen if it does continue to make playoff noise in the future.

My biggest complaint about Wolf agrees with his "flatulence in a directional air disturbance" comment. To have Favre, decent backs, a changing group of but competent receivers, a one-time #1 defense, etc. and really have only a two year run is a huge disappointment. He did not maintain quality as well as he built it.

[The Leaper]

My biggest complaint about Wolf agrees with his "flatulence in a directional air disturbance" comment. To have Favre, decent backs, a changing group of but competent receivers, a one-time #1 defense, etc. and really have only a two year run is a huge disappointment. He did not maintain quality as well as he built it.

Wolf never built much of an offense. Levens? Bennett? Brooks? Chmura? The Super Bowl era was probably the weakest offensive unit of the Favre era. Favre CARRIED that unit. He put up Peyton Manning type numbers with a pre 2007 Tom Brady type cast.

Wolf's major contribution was defense...and the lynchpiece obviously was Reggie White, who was already exiting his prime when he came to Green Bay. By 1997, White was in serious decline. So was Jones, Dotson, Robinson...that Super Bowl defense was a very veteran group.

Wolf's strength was never his ability to draft college talent. IMO, he was very mediocre in that regard. His fundamental knowledge of what makes a good football player helped him succeed in later rounds by not taking chances...but his disasters in the early rounds were numerous and well documented. Wolf got his big guns via free agency, not the draft. He found a lot of good role players in the middle of the draft, who complimented his free agent studs well.

That is where Thompson has an advantage on Wolf. Today, free agency isn't nearly as profitable for GMs as it was in Wolf's days in Green Bay. Even if Wolf was around today at his peak, he would have a hard time procuring the talent he did in the early to mid 90s via free agency. Thompson's strength in evaluating young players coming out of college is now the best way to build a team, despite the lure of free agency to cure your woes.

[Carolina_Packer]

and with the cap going up and (most) teams doing a good job signing their core players, it makes for a pretty modest crop of free agents, impact-wise.

[Patler]

Today, free agency isn't nearly as profitable for GMs as it was in Wolf's days in Green Bay. Even if Wolf was around today at his peak, he would have a hard time procuring the talent he did in the early to mid 90s via free agency. Thompson's strength in evaluating young players coming out of college is now the best way to build a team, despite the lure of free agency to cure your woes.

Wolf said as much when he retired. He said it was becoming more and more frustrating because even if you could diagnose the weaknesses of your team you could do little to fix it until the next draft . He said he enjoyed it more when trades were possible for decent players, and free agency made good players available.

[cheesner]

I don't think one good year guarantees success long term. There is not enough evidence to predict that. Let's not forget they stayed very, very healthy, and inherited a pro-bowl corner, a pro-bowl receiver, two stud tackles, a hall of fame quarterback, a stud defensive end, a stud middle linebacker, etc.

Thompson has decently so far. I'm not willing to call him a good general manager just yet.

All those players were with the Packers when they went 4-12. Clearly the Packers are getting much better talent wise at all positions. I heard that from several opposing coaches and players throughout the season as well as what I have seen on the field.

I am willing to call TT a good GM. The jury is still out on if he is a great GM, but by all indicators it is looking very promising.

[RashanGary]

Thompson's strength in evaluating young players coming out of college is now the best way to build a team, despite the lure of free agency to cure your woes.

I don't think this is completely true. I think Thompsons strength is evaluating talent.

It's not just the draft. I think he does it accross the board. I think it shows up in the way he extends contracts. I think it shows up in him not making mistakes in UFA. I think it showed up when he was one of only two teams shooting for Randy Moss. It showed up with Woodson and Pickett (two of the more productive UFA's of the last couple years).

Does he use UFA alot? No. It's not because he can't evaluate the talent as well in UFA and his strength is the draft. It's because the talent isn't there IMO.

[The Leaper]

I don't think this is completely true. I think Thompsons strength is evaluating talent.

How can you say this when he whiffed horribly in FA on Manual, Klemm, and Walker? The trade for Morency was a wash. He has yet to really fortify the interior of the OL after 3 years. In terms of FA talent, where is the talent Thompson has brought in with a bold stroke?

There are three moves that I give TT a lot of credit for. The first pickup is Pickett...who is a top flight and relatively young run-stuffer that TT got for cheap. The next is Donald Lee...who has turned into a fairly reliable TE. The last one is finding Atari Bigby.

Signing your own FAs isn't all that impressive to me. Re-upping with Kampman, Barnett, Driver, Jenkins, etc were no-brainers by and large. Thompson painted himself into a corner with Franks and was forced to overpay. I'm still not convinced paying Harris more money was a good idea, since his days are numbered. Not matching Houston's offer to Green was a no-brainer as well.

Woodson was a nice pickup, but Thompson probably would not have gotten him if 31 other teams had basically passed on him...and Woodson has more or less said as much. I can't give him much credit on the trade for Grant either...he was at the mercy of who the Giants wanted to give up, and he was fortunate that it was Grant they parted with.

I just don't see many moves outside of the draft where Thompson has shown a great ability to acquire significant talent. I'm not saying he's a total loss in that regard...probably just average. Going after Moss is pointless if you don't actually land him. Thompson's strength is clearly identifying young talent...then being able to keep the good ones around long term. That's certainly not a knock on a GM.

[MadtownPacker]

Thompson's strength is clearly identifying young talent...then being able to keep the good ones around long term. That's certainly not a knock on a GM.

I will take that over any other strength. It will keep the team young and competitive. With FAs Gms know what he is getting and most likely the player has peaked. Doesnt seem as hard to do.

[RashanGary]

I don't think this is completely true. I think Thompsons strength is evaluating talent.

How can you say this when he whiffed horribly in FA on Manual, Klemm, and Walker? .

I don't have time to read through your whole post but the reason he whiffed on those guys is becuase he barely thought anything of them. He had nothing at OG and had to bring in someboyd with no money. He didn't go out on limbs with any of them (except Manuel). This stuff has been discussed 100 times. I'm surpised you still bring this up like these were Thompsons UFA love interests. They were junk brought in because he hoped they'd be better than the junk Sherman left him and he had no money or no time to really fix it.

He had a very fast moving rotating door. He took many low risks early. A few panned out, many didn't. that's who the scrap heap works and all of the guys you mention (except Manuel) are scrap heap guys.

[RashanGary]

I just don't see many moves outside of the draft where Thompson has shown a great ability to acquire significant talent. I'm not saying he's a total loss in that regard...probably just average. Going after Moss is pointless if you don't actually land him. Thompson's strength is clearly identifying young talent...then being able to keep the good ones around long term. That's certainly not a knock on a GM.

Clearly you're wrong. The reason he hasn't gotten as much in UFA is becuase there isn't as much there.