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Further proof this guy is a Vikings fan! No mention of trading up to draft a punter. It's common knowledge was a control freak with his assistants, why should it be any different in the front office.
POSTED 3:00 p.m. EDT; UPDATED 4:44 p.m. EDT, October 4, 2006
SHERMAN THE ONLY ONE TO BLAME FOR HORRENDOUS DRAFTS?
It's becoming fashionable in the land of cheese and Lord Favre apologists to blame the team's track record of poor drafts during the Mike Sherman era on the guy who served for a period of time as both head coach and general manager.
But, the last time we checked, Sherman wasn't the only front-office employee when guys like cornerback Ahmad Carroll were selected. Carroll, the team's first-round pick in the 2004 draft, was cut on Tuesday after being burned more thoroughly than a freckle-faced teenager who fell asleep in a tanning bed.
If anything, Sherman might have had too much talent in the building. From "personnel analyst to the general manager" John Schneider (is that anything like assistant to the traveling secretary?) to director of pro personnel Reggie McKenzie to director of college scouting John Dorsey to the late Mark Hatley, the Packers were perceived as a Pro Bowl personnel department durin Sherman's time as the poobah.
During his tenure as G.M., there were whispers that Sherman didn't rely sufficiently on his lieutenants. But based on the stuff we've gleaned during five years of following the NFL as closely as a hungry dog watching its master eat a bag of beef jerky, someone had to set the table for Sherman when he picked guys like Carroll.
The compilation of a team's draft board is a collaborative process, and there typically isn't much winging it that goes on while the pick are being made. Teams routinely labor for weeks over a ranking of all players, and a ranking of the players at each position.
It's highly unlikely, then, that Sherman caught a wild hair after the Rams took Steven Jackson with the 24th pick and decided out of the blue that Carroll was the right call at No. 25. We can only assume, then, that the brain trust in Green Bay previously had determined that, between Carroll and Chris Gamble (who'd be drafted by the Panthers a few spots later), Carroll is the better player. And as history has demonstrated, he isn't.
A similar argument can be made for every other failed Sherman pick.
And if the truth is that Sherman had a goofball approach to the draft, ignoring the painstaking research that had been done and opting instead to throw darts or flip coins, our guess is that one of the capable and talented men working in the front office would have said something about it to someone in a moment of exasperation.
But all we've ever heard is that Sherman didn't do a good job of delegating. Surely, he didn't built the board on his own. Surely, others had input in the mistakes that were made.
We mention all of this for one reason. Though to the casual cheesehead some solace can be had in the notion that Sherman is out of the building, the more discerning Packer backer realizes that there are still many common threads between the regime that presided over some bad drafts -- and the one that currently is in power.
POSTED 3:00 p.m. EDT; UPDATED 4:44 p.m. EDT, October 4, 2006
SHERMAN THE ONLY ONE TO BLAME FOR HORRENDOUS DRAFTS?
It's becoming fashionable in the land of cheese and Lord Favre apologists to blame the team's track record of poor drafts during the Mike Sherman era on the guy who served for a period of time as both head coach and general manager.
But, the last time we checked, Sherman wasn't the only front-office employee when guys like cornerback Ahmad Carroll were selected. Carroll, the team's first-round pick in the 2004 draft, was cut on Tuesday after being burned more thoroughly than a freckle-faced teenager who fell asleep in a tanning bed.
If anything, Sherman might have had too much talent in the building. From "personnel analyst to the general manager" John Schneider (is that anything like assistant to the traveling secretary?) to director of pro personnel Reggie McKenzie to director of college scouting John Dorsey to the late Mark Hatley, the Packers were perceived as a Pro Bowl personnel department durin Sherman's time as the poobah.
During his tenure as G.M., there were whispers that Sherman didn't rely sufficiently on his lieutenants. But based on the stuff we've gleaned during five years of following the NFL as closely as a hungry dog watching its master eat a bag of beef jerky, someone had to set the table for Sherman when he picked guys like Carroll.
The compilation of a team's draft board is a collaborative process, and there typically isn't much winging it that goes on while the pick are being made. Teams routinely labor for weeks over a ranking of all players, and a ranking of the players at each position.
It's highly unlikely, then, that Sherman caught a wild hair after the Rams took Steven Jackson with the 24th pick and decided out of the blue that Carroll was the right call at No. 25. We can only assume, then, that the brain trust in Green Bay previously had determined that, between Carroll and Chris Gamble (who'd be drafted by the Panthers a few spots later), Carroll is the better player. And as history has demonstrated, he isn't.
A similar argument can be made for every other failed Sherman pick.
And if the truth is that Sherman had a goofball approach to the draft, ignoring the painstaking research that had been done and opting instead to throw darts or flip coins, our guess is that one of the capable and talented men working in the front office would have said something about it to someone in a moment of exasperation.
But all we've ever heard is that Sherman didn't do a good job of delegating. Surely, he didn't built the board on his own. Surely, others had input in the mistakes that were made.
We mention all of this for one reason. Though to the casual cheesehead some solace can be had in the notion that Sherman is out of the building, the more discerning Packer backer realizes that there are still many common threads between the regime that presided over some bad drafts -- and the one that currently is in power.
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