Better GM...Thompson or Wolf

[Joemailman]

Who gets the blame for the 2001 draft? Wolf or Sherman? Officially it was Wolf's last draft, but some feel Sherman was actually calling the shots. If it was Wolf's draft, al least he knew when to retire.

RD SEL # PLAYER POSITION SCHOOL
1 10 Jamal Reynolds DE Florida State
2 41 Robert Ferguson WR Texas A&M
3 71 Bhawoh Jue SS Penn State
3 72 Torrance Marshall LB Oklahoma
4 105 Bill Ferrario G Wisconsin
6 198 David Martin TE Tennessee

[vince]

The succession plan had already been announced at the time of the draft if I recall correctly. My perception of Wolf is that he would have probably overseen the setting of the board and then deferred the final draft-day decisions at that point to Sherman, but we'll likely never know the truth.

Like I give Thompson a complete pass for his first year's record based on what he inherited and how he went about rebuilding the team for the future, I'd give Wolf a pass for that last draft based on what he knew about his decision and the future direction of the franchise.

Brutal draft though - consistent with most of the drafts for the next 4 years or so after that.

[Deputy Nutz]

Wolf's team's missed playoffs 3 times in his 8 years as GM. Thompson has missed the playoffs three times in his 6 years as GM.

[Deputy Nutz]

You can't give GM's passes in this comparison. Both GM's started with an empty cupboard, the slight difference is that Thompson had to deal with a cruddy salary cap situation left by Sherman.

[Patler]

What Wolf inherited for a roster was not nearly so bleak as many remember. It was a roster that Infante got nothing out of.

Ruettgers was in the middle of his career. Wolf also inherited competent guards in Hallstrom and Moran, and a center in Campan. Ed West, Jackie Harris, Sharpe and Majkowski gave him players to be decent with.

On defense he inherited Butler, Paup, Cecil, Tony Bennett, Johnny Holland, Brian Noble, Matt Brock.

Chris Jacke was there as well.

Not a great roster to be sure, and many were with Wolf only a couple years due to FA, etc. But he inherited a mixture of young and old competent players good enough to put 8-8 or 9-7 in reach with good coaching, better attitudes and a few new players.

[Bretsky]

What Wolf inherited for a roster was not nearly so bleak as many remember. It was a roster that Infante got nothing out of.

Ruettgers was in the middle of his career. Wolf also inherited competent guards in Hallstrom and Moran, and a center in Campan. Ed West, Jackie Harris, Sharpe and Majkowski gave him players to be decent with.

On defense he inherited Butler, Paup, Cecil, Tony Bennett, Johnny Holland, Brian Noble, Matt Brock.

Chris Jacke was there as well.

Not a great roster to be sure, and many were with Wolf only a couple years due to FA, etc. But he inherited a mixture of young and old competent players good enough to put 8-8 or 9-7 in reach with good coaching, better attitudes and a few new players.

You threw several JAG's who were starting for GB in there with guys Wolf inherited IMO. If Sharpe had a whole career in GB I think we win more than one title. But I don't disagree that he was left with talent that might mirror a .500 team with top of the notch level coaching........hmmmm....which he got right off the bat I think...as opposed to MM...who had to weed his way through some of his rejects. But that prolly doesn't fall to the GM anyways since there are assistants.

[Bretsky]

TT has a good chance of surpassing Wolf, but he hasn't done it yet. I think judging Wolf has to take into account what he inherited. Green Bay was the bottom of the barrel as far as the NFL goes. When he traded a 1st round pick for Favre (seemed like a slightly crazy idea at the time), and convinced White to come here, that transformed this franchise in a way that TT didn't have to do. The Packers hadn't had a losing season in 13 years when TT took over. That said, TT has drafted better in the early rounds than Wolf, and has more impact players than Wolf had. Therefore, his chances of surpassing Wolf are very good.

I'd probably go with this too; but I fully expect TT to pass Wolf

[Patler]

You threw several JAG's who were starting for GB in there with guys Wolf inherited IMO. If Sharpe had a whole career in GB I think we win more than one title. But I don't disagree that he was left with talent that might mirror a .500 team with top of the notch level coaching........hmmmm....which he got right off the bat I think...as opposed to MM...who had to weed his way through some of his rejects. But that prolly doesn't fall to the GM anyways since there are assistants.

At least they were all guys who could play in the league. Every .500 team has JAGs. As I said, not all great by any means; but he didn't have to work miracles to get to .500 either.

Wolf had an advantage that is often ignored. He was hired and spent time with the Packers before the end of 1991. He got to see his roster in practice in person and be familiar with what he was inheriting heading into the off season before his first "real" season. He even mentioned it as an advantage for him.

TT came in after the season, just shortly before free agency hit. He once mentioned that he knew very little about the players he inherited, and holed up in his office for a couple weeks watching game tapes from the previous year. Just before the draft he commented that after reviewing tapes the roster was not quite what he expected it would be. He evaded further questions directly, but implied that their roster didn't live up to their record.

[Deputy Nutz]

Thompson was hired on to replace Sherman who was still the head coach. It was an awkward situation. Wolf was able to hire his own coach right away.

[Iron Mike]

[cheesner]

TT has a good chance of surpassing Wolf, but he hasn't done it yet. I think judging Wolf has to take into account what he inherited. Green Bay was the bottom of the barrel as far as the NFL goes. When he traded a 1st round pick for Favre (seemed like a slightly crazy idea at the time), and convinced White to come here, that transformed this franchise in a way that TT didn't have to do. The Packers hadn't had a losing season in 13 years when TT took over. That said, TT has drafted better in the early rounds than Wolf, and has more impact players than Wolf had. Therefore, his chances of surpassing Wolf are very good.

Wolf made some great moves, that is for sure, but TT has built a team that is much positioned to have long term success. The future looks much better now after the first SB win than it did for Wolf after his first SB win. I think that both GMs inherited situations with their own issues. TT inherited a legend at QB who was no longer able to win the big one. The level of difficulty that imposed upon him cannot be understated. He has almost entirely turned over his roster in the time that he has been here, so he really did not have the pieces he needed when he took over.

Right now I would rate TT an entire notch above Wolf, with TT having the opportunity to become an all-time elite GM.

[sharpe1027]

TT certainly chose to completely overhaul the roster, but I think that Wolf should get credit for being able to evaluate and use the guys already on the roster. Different approaches, similar results to date. We'll know in a few years if TT's approach really is sustainable.

[bobblehead]

One thing no one mentioned that I was hoping someone would. If TT had won a superbowl with Favre instead of Rodgers I would say that Wolf still gets the nod. The fact that TT had to find and develope his own marquee QB and win with him puts him on equal footing with Wolf. Add his better success in finding impact guys through the draft and putting so much chemistry together is what puts him over the top.

Many GM's can take over a team with a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning and win. How many could have had the stones to cut ties with a HOF QB to insert his own unproven guy and then win a superbowl 3 seasons later? Wolf gets huge props from me because when he made the favre trade I said "who the fuck trades a first round pick in a deep draft for a QB that went in the 2nd round the year before in a weak draft? To top it off the guy did NOTHING in his first season to upgrade his value" That and trading a draft pick for a coach. I wasn't a wolf fan early, but the man proved his merit. I think TT did that as well and then some.

[Scott Campbell]

Ted hasn't yet trained a young GM protege that takes us to another Superbowl victory.

[Tony Oday]

Well win one more SB then the discussion is moot