Ted Thompsons five worst moves as GM

[PackerDNA]

I’m happy to see Vainisi get his due. In addition to being a great talent evaluator and being at the center of bringing Lombardi to Green Bay, he was a trailblazer regarding the draft. "Jack had a network of people all over the country," said Pat Peppler, former Green Bay scouting and personnel director from 1963-'71. "He worked very hard and was respected in the colleges. I was an assistant at North Carolina State, and I'd give Jack scouting reports at the end of the season for $100. I got to know Jack well over the phone but never met him in person."
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/37525989.html

That hard work and organization led to the best draft in Packers history, the 1958 draft. Vainisi definitely set the table for Lombardi but he died in November of 1960. The driving force behind talent acquisition thereafter was Lombardi. What would have happened if Lombardi never gave up the HC job in Green Bay and didn’t have cancer? Of course there’s no way of knowing. But I’m confident just his presence would have prevented what happened from 1968 on. The evidence for that notion is when Lombardi arrived in Washington for the 1969 season to take over the Redskins, they hadn’t had a winning record for 13 seasons and he led them to a 7-5-2 record.

Indeed. What would have happened had Vainisi lived longer?

 

[Packers907]

Don't forget Vainisi, even though he wasn't officially GM. I'm also not sure that I would put Lombardi that high up on the list. He plucked a few top players for sure, but the cupboard was getting bare when he left Green Bay.

He was responsible for bringing Lombardi to Green Bay. So you definitely have to put him high on this list.

 

[TJV]

Indeed. What would have happened had Vainisi lived longer?

I'm so grateful to have witnessed every game of the Lombardi Packers, I seldom think about that or about a healthy Lombardi staying in Green Bay as GM/HC beyond 1967. Vainisi and Lombardi were apparently close and if Vainisi hadn't died at 33-years old, perhaps Lombardi wouldn't have felt as burned out as he probably did after the 1967 season because Vainisi could have been the de facto GM. If both had lived to average life expectancy and both stayed in Green Bay, that would have been a very scary proposition for the rest of the league. The Packers talent acquisition from 1961 and beyond may have been even better.

 

[7thFloorRA]

I think one of his worst moves was to give Brad Jones an extension and go into a season with him as a starting ILB. He was f-ing horrible from day one.

Another one was not addressing a glaring weakness at TE this past off season. You knew you had holes to fill there the day the 2014 season ended. All he did was get a 3 year project on day 3?

Another could be drafting Nick Perry. Stop giving Dom guys that have to change their bodies and change their position. DE to OLB is a pretty hard transition.

 

[jrock645]

I think one of his worst moves was to give Brad Jones an extension and go into a season with him as a starting ILB. He was f-ing horrible from day one.

Another one was not addressing a glaring weakness at TE this past off season. You knew you had holes to fill there the day the 2014 season ended. All he did was get a 3 year project on day 3?

Another could be drafting Nick Perry. Stop giving Dom guys that have to change their bodies and change their position. DE to OLB is a pretty hard transition.

Yeah im also getting a bit tired of the project types. I get that guys have to adjust and grow into nfl game speed bit some of these picks are reaches. Datone jones is another example... He may have found his niche as a hybrid edge rusher but it took the coaches 3 years to find something he does well. Im not a fan of picks that take that much scheming.

As for brad jones... Yep. I scratched my head a lot at that one when the extension was announced.

All that said, i was appalled at deafting a safety in the 1st to play corner... Seems to have been a slam dunk pick. As they say, its a crystal ball business.

 

[7thFloorRA]

I was shocked at the safety to play cb 1st rd pick but then I read up on him and it said he was the best db on the team and played safety out of neccessity but ideally was a corner.

 

[jrock645]

I was shocked at the safety to play cb 1st rd pick but then I read up on him and it said he was the best db on the team and played safety out of neccessity but ideally was a corner.

It certainly goes against conventional thought, and I was highly skeptical. But as Vic always says about the crystal ball business you have to project what a guy will do based on what he has done..

 

[TJV]

I think one of his worst moves was to give Brad Jones an extension and go into a season with him as a starting ILB. He was f-ing horrible from day one.

Extending Brad Jones was obviously a mistake but remember the circumstances in 2012 that led to it. The Packers lost Bishop and DJ Smith to injury and Jones took over and played almost every snap the rest of the season. According to McGinn he diagnosed pretty well, attacked downhill and tried to be physical but struggled in coverage. Starting 10 games, he had 77 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 passes defensed and one forced fumble. Was it reasonable to expect the 27-year old would improve on his first season starting? In hindsight, the error was keeping him, but at the time I think the error was "just" overpaying a guy who started the previous season third in line at ILB.

 

[Carl]

I think one of his worst moves was to give Brad Jones an extension and go into a season with him as a starting ILB. He was f-ing horrible from day one.

Another one was not addressing a glaring weakness at TE this past off season. You knew you had holes to fill there the day the 2014 season ended. All he did was get a 3 year project on day 3?

Another could be drafting Nick Perry. Stop giving Dom guys that have to change their bodies and change their position. DE to OLB is a pretty hard transition.

Yes, Perry hasn't worked out but DE to OLB is a very common successful transition. It would not be a good idea to not look a players who may be able to transition.

 

[Poppa San]

In case anyone asks, I fixed what I can only assume was a typo in the original title. A pet peeve of mine.

 

[Crockett&Tubbs]

Another could be drafting Nick Perry. Stop giving Dom guys that have to change their bodies and change their position. DE to OLB is a pretty hard transition.

While I have obviously rooted for Perry, that one made me mad as well. I CLEARLY remember seeing a clip of a pre-draft interview of Perry where the person asked him which he prefered: Stand up OLB or hand-on-the-ground DE. I expected he'd answer it smart by saying "whatever a team wants me to do" or "I love both", something like that which we usually hear.

But he said 4-3 DE, hand on the ground. At that point, I crossed him off my list and didn't want to take him.
I wanted safety Harrison Smith from Notre Dame because we needed to replace Nick Collins and I thought this guy was what we needed back with MB.

And I admit if we went OLB, I wanted Courtney Upshaw from Alabama. I don't think he's done anything either so that appears to have been a mistake..... many of us were expecting we'd take Shea McClellin, but the Bears took him much sooner than projected.

Looking back, if we could redo it, taking ILB Bobby Wagner would have been the best pick. Seattle got him in round 2, after our Perry pick.
In round 2, we selected Jerel Worthy a handful of picks before Lavonte David was taken by Tampa Bay.

Of course, round 3 saw the Jaguars take a punter, and Seattle take Russell Wilson 5 picks after.
Jacksonville also took WR Justin Blackmon at #5 overall, just ahead of Luke Kuechly, Dontari Poe, Ryan Tannehill, and Fletcher Cox who were all top-12 selections.

It's picks like those which shape franchises and history.......no wonder why the Jags never win.

 

[Half Empty]

In case anyone asks, I fixed what I can only assume was a typo in the original title. A pet peeve of mine.

Great to see grammar Nazis again, even if it has to be a mod. Can't get on board with seriously considering any comment that a fourth-grader could correct. There are still several threads on other boards from the last Packer game that ask "should the Pack have went for 2?".

(Note - need to add the apostrophe to Thompsons.)

 

[Poppa San]

Great to see grammar Nazis again, even if it has to be a mod. Can't get on board with seriously considering any comment that a fourth-grader could correct. There are still several threads on other boards from the last Packer game that ask "should the Pack have went for 2?".

(Note - need to add the apostrophe to Thompsons.)

I'm not too concerned over punctuation especially when doing a lot of posting from a phone. I'll fix what looks to be a word chosen or auto corrected wrong. I'll also put brackets back in on quotes so the forum software sees them. I never intentionally change the meaning and many times will PM the author to edit their own post. Do wish more people ( not just here) would proofread before sending.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

I'm not too concerned over punctuation especially when doing a lot of posting from a phone. I'll fix what looks to be a word chosen or auto corrected wrong. I'll also put brackets back in on quotes so the forum software sees them. I never intentionally change the meaning and many times will PM the author to edit their own post. Do wish more people ( not just here) would proofread before sending.

Isn't it proof reading ?

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Isn't it proof reading ?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proofread

Not to be confused with poop reading.......which we all do on occasion.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proofread

Not to be confuse with poopreading.......which we all do on occasion.

My mistake. I speak the queens English.

 

[Half Empty]

Is 'queen' supposed to be capitalized? Shouldn't 'queens' have an apostrophe?

 

[Poppa San]

Is 'queen' supposed to be capitalized? Shouldn't 'queens' have an apostrophe?

Not when a mod does it.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

Not when a mod does it.

Touche......lol

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

Is 'queen' supposed to be capitalized? Shouldn't 'queens' have an apostrophe?

 

[adambr2]

Not saying Thompson does a bad job by any means but drafting Khyri Thornton in the 3rd round is right up there with me. He passed on a lot of good players for Thornton and for a 3rd round DE not to crack the roster in his 2nd year is a pretty big statement of failure.

It feels like a pick where he was trying to be the smartest man in the room and overthought things.

Every GM makes some mistakes, but that one bugged me a lot.

 

[jrock645]

Not saying Thompson does a bad job by any means but drafting Khyri Thornton in the 3rd round is right up there with me. He passed on a lot of good players for Thornton and for a DE not to crack the roster in his 2nd year is a pretty big statement of failure.

It feels like a pick where he was trying to be the smartest man in the room and overthought things.

Every GM makes some mistakes, but that one bugged me a lot.

yeah he's had some reaches but that one appears to be just a terribly bone headed pick. Maybe just trying too hard to see what he wanted to see?

 

[El Guapo]

Let's be reasonable when it comes to evaluating a GM. You can either have a guy that goes down the list and picks the player that everyone expects you to select, based upon mock drafts and what not. The opposite would be the guy who goes with his gut, picking specatular gems out of nowhere yet striking out in fantastic fashion as well.

IMO - you want a GM who is a little of both, balanced and adept at both picking the expected and finding the occasional gem. Yet, it's obviously not possible to do both flawlessly.

So to post on a forum that someone was boneheaded or trying to be the smartest in the room, just seems downright ridiculous. GMs will always draft with their guts, drafting some players that don't pan out and others that exceed expectations. The question should be how often does he draft players that contribute to winning.

 

[JBlood]

Stop giving Dom guys that have to change their bodies and change their position.

Are you sure that Capers (or any coach) has no input into draft picks? If coaches have no say, and don't like it, they should move on. If they do have input it's on them to develop players; and if they fail they should move on both for suggesting the players, and for not developing them.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Coupled with their regular season record (108-67-1) under TT and the fact that under his watch the Packers seem to always lead the league in Players who have only played in the NFL with one team, the Packers, says a lot about his ability to evaluate talent. I'm not saying he shouldn't loosen up and fill some holes with a FA on occasion (Ted's biggest flaw IMO), but I find it hard to be critical of his ability to build a quality team with players he has hand picked. We can all cherry pick bad draft picks in the history of the NFL and try to use them to evaluate a GM, but in fairness, you better include the ones that the GM got right too.