TED THOMPSON---WORTHY OF CRITICISM ???????????????????????????

[Patler]

One thing we have to acknowledge is that, extremely more so than with previous GMs, we have no idea what TT was thinking, what he wanted to do, what he tried to do, or what offers he made; because he doesn't tell us. Wolf seemed to relish providing great detail to the media; however, it wasn't always accurate. Sherman, too, told us a lot. Remember that he told us before the draft and after it, that the guy he really wanted in 2004 was JP Losman (I am ever so grateful to Buffalo for snatching him away!) Both often told of trades that were considered on draft day, and willingly evaluated players both before and after the draft.

TT tells us nothing, but we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that means he is doing nothing. I made the mistake of thinking that they were holding off discussions with Raji, because there had been no inkling of any negotiations. Only recently we learned that they have had a very sizable offer on the table for months, and it is Raji who has not countered it. There was a similar situation with Jennings, I suspect Jenkins, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn Wells, too.

Certainly TT is open to criticism, but if we do so we should be willing to admit that we don't know what he has tried to do, or why things might not have worked. As such, we can criticize the result, but we really know nothing about the effort.

[Patler]

I will say this about Tramon, I think everyone overvalued him*.

They year after his deal, prior to the injury, he was struggling in a big way.

I thought his injury was in the first game of the year he signed the contract?

[Cheesehead Craig]

Overall I think TT has done a very good job with the club. He's drafted players for positions of need and they keep getting hurt. Is that really on him?

Of course he's going to make mistakes on drafting players, all GMs do. I like that he's not the kind of guy who will completely change his thinking and process on a whim. Of course that has it's drawbacks as well. Such as not seeming to be able to adjust and such.

I think that this offseason though, TT needs to have a big sit-down with MM about his coaching staff. That's where I think he needs to show some serious leadership. We all know that MM is a loyal guy for his coaches, but it's been shown that there's issues with Capers, Slocum, Perry, Whitt, and Campen. The training staff as well needs to be looked at given how bizarre a lot of injuries are on this team and how the info on these is confused, contradictory, and downright wrong too often (see Cobb). Something just doesn't pass the smell test with that group.

That's where I feel TT has to make some improvements and changes and direct MM to cut some of the dead wood. If he does not, then I feel he deserves a fair amount of criticism.

[denverYooper]

Old Packers hand Demovsky trots out the idea that 2011 and 2012 look bad for TT:

http://espn.go.com/blog/green-bay-packers/post/_/id/4405/mcmillians-release-an-indictment-on-drafts

2011:
T Derek Sherrod
WR Randall Cobb
RB Alex Green
CB Davon House
TE D.J. Williams
G Caleb Schlauderaff
LB D.J. Smith
LB Ricky Elmore
TE Ryan Taylor
DE Lawrence Guy

2012:
LB Nick Perry
DE Jerel Worthy
CB Casey Hayward
DT Mike Daniels
S Jerron McMillian
LB Terrell Manning
T Andrew Datko
QB B.J. Coleman

2011 looks like the real uff-da! for Thompson. 2012 might be fine if Perry, Hayward, and Daniels can stay healthy.

[Patler]

Old Packers hand Demovsky trots out the idea that 2011 and 2012 look bad for TT:

http://espn.go.com/blog/green-bay-packers/post/_/id/4405/mcmillians-release-an-indictment-on-drafts

2011:
T Derek Sherrod
WR Randall Cobb
RB Alex Green
CB Davon House
TE D.J. Williams
G Caleb Schlauderaff
LB D.J. Smith
LB Ricky Elmore
TE Ryan Taylor
DE Lawrence Guy

2012:
LB Nick Perry
DE Jerel Worthy
CB Casey Hayward
DT Mike Daniels
S Jerron McMillian
LB Terrell Manning
T Andrew Datko
QB B.J. Coleman

2011 looks like the real uff-da! for Thompson. 2012 might be fine if Perry, Hayward, and Daniels can stay healthy.

Yet, most of those 2011 guys are still kicking around the NFL, so he couldn't have been too far off, especially when he was picking dead last in each round. Had Sherrod not been injured, people might look at 2011 completely differently.

[woodbuck27]

Overall I think TT has done a very good job with the club. He's drafted players for positions of need and they keep getting hurt. Is that really on him?

Of course he's going to make mistakes on drafting players, all GMs do. I like that he's not the kind of guy who will completely change his thinking and process on a whim. Of course that has it's drawbacks as well. Such as not seeming to be able to adjust and such.

I think that this offseason though, TT needs to have a big sit-down with MM about his coaching staff. That's where I think he needs to show some serious leadership. We all know that MM is a loyal guy for his coaches, but it's been shown that there's issues with Capers, Slocum, Perry, Whitt, and Campen. The training staff as well needs to be looked at given how bizarre a lot of injuries are on this team and how the info on these is confused, contradictory, and downright wrong too often (see Cobb). Something just doesn't pass the smell test with that group.

That's where I feel TT has to make some improvements and changes and direct MM to cut some of the dead wood. If he does not, then I feel he deserves a fair amount of criticism.

" I think that this offseason though, TT needs to have a big sit-down with MM about his coaching staff. " Cheesehead Craig

You think that TT should address this issue this 'off season' !?

Why so late?

TT should have been addressing this issue to MM since before this season began.

He certainly should have been addressing that to MM throughout this season.

PACKERS !

[pbmax]

I thought his injury was in the first game of the year he signed the contract?

Did he play with it for a while? Because I remember him playing like death warmed over during the early part of the season, right out of the gate.

[pbmax]

Yet, most of those 2011 guys are still kicking around the NFL, so he couldn't have been too far off, especially when he was picking dead last in each round. Had Sherrod not been injured, people might look at 2011 completely differently.

I made a thread for that article. His numbers include not counting Hayward or Cobb on the team. Gives a slightly inaccurate tint to those drafts to ignore them.

[pbmax]

Did he play with it for a while? Because I remember him playing like death warmed over during the early part of the season, right out of the gate.

Maybe I am confusing the injury with its impact on him the following year. He did get injured in Game #1, 2011 running into Collins.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/06/28/tramon-williams-insists-shoulder-injury-isnt-career-threatening/

[Cheesehead Craig]

" I think that this offseason though, TT needs to have a big sit-down with MM about his coaching staff. " Cheesehead Craig

You think that TT should address this issue this 'off season' !?

Why so late?

TT should have been addressing this issue to MM since before this season began.

He certainly should have been addressing that to MM throughout this season.

PACKERS !

I can only think of what TT can do going forward. Perhaps there were discussions on coaches on the "hot seat" on the staff prior to the season and likely there has been during the season. I'm sure TT has been doing evals during the season on these guys. But other than when TT made MM get rid of Bates, he's let MM handle the coaches from what I've understood. So that's why I'm hoping that TT does get more involved and that we hear that it's him that's pushing for change. Canning coaches during a season isn't all that common, unless it's a HC, and even that is pretty rare. Usually that's done in the offseason, hence my reference to that timeframe.

[Patler]

Did he play with it for a while? Because I remember him playing like death warmed over during the early part of the season, right out of the gate.

Ya, he did play with it. He sat out game #2 and played the rest of the year one-armed.

[Patler]

Maybe I am confusing the injury with its impact on him the following year. He did get injured in Game #1, 2011 running into Collins.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...r-threatening/

Probably. We all expected the old Tramon the following season, but in TC it came out that he still did not have full strength in it, and he said there was a linger numbness that might always be there. It was then that I noticed more hesitancy in the way he played. He had become somewhat timid as a tackler, which I think might be from the long effect of the injury. It looked as if he started to protect himself.

[Bossman641]

If I'm looking at positions to realistically assign TT blame on I'd rank them as follows.

1. Safety - didn't really love any of the FA safeties and Reid went too early to realistically target him in the draft. Hindsight 20/20 - a safety in the fourth would have been better than Tretter or Franklin but that's without me knowing who was available and how they've performed this year.
2. Backup QB - Harrell and Coleman should have been abandoned earlier
3. ILB

The DL is a real weakness right now but that projected as, and was, a strength of the team for the first 6-7 weeks. I really don't know what is going on there - if it's just Pickett getting injured and Raji freelancing a bit or what.

[Guiness]

Granted he didn't play much, but what makes you think that Wallace would do any better? Against the Bears it looked like his arm was at best half of Flynn's.

Backup QB isn't a position to waste money on. A 4-7 round pick that you can develop is the best bet, but the Packers had more glaring needs. They still have those glaring needs, in part because the last couple of drafts were not that great. That is on TT.

This. Seneca did not play well when he was on the field, and I suspect the Packers felt the same way.

[Patler]

This. Seneca did not play well when he was on the field, and I suspect the Packers felt the same way.

He didn't play well in the Bear game replacing Rodgers, but we also learned that he had had very little time with the first string, the same as for Tolzien the next week. But, Wallace looked decent in the opening drive when he was prepped and started the game the following week.

But, no matter. As others have now noted, apparently the injury was serious, and he is now having surgery.