That was a great read, thanks for sharing. I actually agree. Just look at last year for example. Percy was healthy and playing. They were force feeding him the ball early on, and having very little success. Percy was a terrible route runner, so he was reduced to running simple, low percentage routes with little success. Teams were recognizing this, and knew how to defend it. The Hawks were obviously getting away from their identity (the run), and it simply was not working.
Trading for Jimmy still boggles my mind. I hated the trade when it happened, and I hate it even more now. You would think Pete and John would´ve learned their lesson with Percy. ¨Let´s give a king´s ransom for a guy who is great in a scheme that´s totally different from ours, and in the process, ruin our cap flexibility!¨ It´s bull crap. Getting rid of arguably our best lineman and a valuable pick in the draft is not what good teams do. If they were really hard up for a stud TE, why not go for Maxx Williams, or Clive Walford? Why not use the 31st pick on an obvious need on the O-line? I can´t even remember what linemen were available at the pick anymore, but still. Or maybe, just maybe, they should´ve not drafted Christine freaking Michael and drafted Travis Kelce (who went three picks later to KC) instead!
This is tired. Stop throwing away your picks for expensive vets. Stick with your identity and develop your own players. Or maybe they know they can´t evaluate talent, so they avoid drafting. Who knows anymore. Pete and John always get lauded for finding ¨diamonds in the rough¨ late. Who? Sherman, Chancellor, and Maxwell? Jordan Hill? Sure. But what about all the busts they´ve drafted. Why waste a seventh rounder on some turd when you could´ve taken La´el Collins instead? You knew you needed linemen. Naw, we just got Glowinski, Poole, and Sokoli instead, we´re good on linemen. Whatever. In all Pete and John´s years here, they´ve allowed Cable to hand pick his guys. And who does he have to show for it? Okung? No, he´s awful. Sweezy? Highly unlikely he improves. Britt? The jury´s still out.
Sorry guys, rant over. Reading that article just got me fired up. I had to vent. It´s just frustrating that for the last few years, they seem to want to get away from their identity. Only to have their experiment fail, so they´re forced to go back to the ground game, and surprise!, they succeed.