Is John Schnieder the best GM in NFL history?

[Lords of Scythia]

I mean who's better? Maybe the guy who pulled off the Hershal Walker trade for the '90s Cowboys and built one of the great dynasties of all time. I guess this is a question that should be asked when Wilson is at the end of his career here. We're not a dynasty at this point, but we've got long-term potential -- and it's on all these undrafted or low/mid picks that JS spotted. Getting Wilson in the 3rd round is looking like the best draft steal...ever? Montana was a third pick too. SF then was running Walsh's WCO, which was hyper-innovative at the time (in the NFL, but it'd been around for years in college), so their gm was assisted by one of the great legendary coaches. At the very least, JS is top 5 gms all time, arguably the best.

 

[Sac]

Tom Brady is clearly the best all time draft value. That's not even really debatable.

 

[Seymour]

I'd give up Schnieder before giving up Paul Allen if given the choice. Just sayin' who personally I believe the real key to our success is. That and the real question is unanswerable.

 

[RichNhansom]

Maybe but just like Walsh he is finding players for Carroll who seems to be able to get the most out of everyone.

The question is if Pete were not his coach, would he still be finding all these gems?

I love JS and especially love how he and Pete work together but if I'm being completely honest I don't know how to grade the talent on pur roster because I don't know if some of these guys would still be as good as they are had they started in a different system.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Schneider has made a ton of mistakes. If we were measuring cost to benefit, I doubt he'd come up as the greatest.

Fortunately, all you really have to do as a modern NFL general manager is find a star QB, and none of your other moves will really matter.

 

[HawkGA]

Schneider's never even won Executive of the Year.

Yes, I think that is a travesty.

 

[ApnaHawk]

Ron Wolf. Until Schneider can match his resume with multiple teams, its not close. Luckily he was his understudy

 

[seahawkfreak]

Bill Polian has a pretty good resume

 

[LickMyNuts]

Schneider has made a ton of mistakes. If we were measuring cost to benefit, I doubt he'd come up as the greatest.

Fortunately, all you really have to do as a modern NFL general manager is find a star QB, and none of your other moves will really matter.

You are right. However, Schneider has an almost unhuman ability to accept his mistakes and fix them. Especially rare amongst high powered individuals at the top of their game.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I think John needs at least another couple SB titles before being put into this conversation.

Rooney, Halas, Walsh, Polian, Beathard, Wolf, Newsome to name some that I'd put above Schneider right now.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

Schneider's never even won Executive of the Year.

Yes, I think that is a travesty.

I agree. It's not just drafting Russell Wilson in the 3rd. It's building a defense that will gone down as perhaps the best of all time and trading for one of the elite RBs of the past 5 years. The list goes on.

 

[kearly]

They made an academy award nominated movie about Billy Beane, but only after advanced stats like WAR had already entered the mainstream consciousness.

PC/JS is to the NFL what Beane was to Baseball. Both are visionary GMs that found new and insightful ways to build effective sports teams. But until Seattle wins about five SBs, or until stats like DVOA become very mainstream, he'll probably just be seen as a top GM, and not as a generational GM.

Seattle is already one of the best DVOA teams in history, and it doesn't feel like they are coming down off that mountain any time soon. The Seahawks are basically the 90s Cowboys, except with a much wider SB window. Right now, PC/JS are impressing the hell out of stat geeks, but mainstream NFL fans still tend to favor wins and championships as metrics, regardless of the performances or context.

 

[Sac]

There's a synergy between Pete and John.

Pete knows what he wants, and John goes and gets the ingredients.

Too many other teams coach and gm bicker over what's best for the team, and philosophy, and personal.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

, but mainstream NFL fans still tend to favor wins and championships as metrics, regardless of the performances or context.

Because that's all that matters in pro sports. If that's not all that matters, then you can make a case for 20 dudes who changed the sport in one way or another.

 

[drrew]

Ron Wolf is the best ever and I'm not sure it's even that close.
He built the Raiders in the 70s and won a SB.
Art Shell
Gene Upshaw
Ken Stabler
Jack Tatum

He built them again in the 80s and won a SB.
Howie Long
Marcus Allen
Matt Millen

He then builds the Packers in the 90s to win another SB.
Reggie White - first big FA signing
Brett Favre

 

[volsunghawk]

Schneider's got a long way to go to get on Ron Wolf's level.

And whoever was making the personnel calls for the Steelers in the early 70s deserves massive praise.

 

[onanygivensunday]

Schneider's got a long way to go to get on Ron Wolf's level.

And whoever was making the personnel calls for the Steelers in the early 70s deserves massive praise.

He does, but it's not fair to compare the pre-salary cap GMs to the ones that are saddled with it now.

 

[pmedic920]

Not sure about JS being the Best GM but I think there is a good case for JS/PC being the best duo.

I also agree that you really need to base this off the Salary Cap era because that created a whole new dimension to the job/jobs.

 

[ivotuk]

Undoubtedly

But he learned from the best in Green Bay, and his pairing with Pete Carroll is a once in a generation blessing for this team, and the NFL. They're work (PC, JS) is being emulated all over the NFL and with more success than any other grouping I can think of.

What they've done late round and UDFA picks is nothing short of Unbelievable.

And lest we forget, huge kudos to a former poster by the name of McIntyre for calling that one well in advance. IIRC, he wrote that up even before John Schneider had been called about an interview.

Found the article:

http://www.scout.com/nfl/seahawks/story ... r-hawks-gm


Fortunately for all NFL fans, Brian's writing skills were recognized by NFL.com.

http://www.nfl.com/news/author?id=09000d5d829de0d4

A worthy twitter to follow:

https://twitter.com/brian_mcintyre?ref_ ... r%5Eauthor

 

[bmorepunk]

I mean who's better? Maybe the guy who pulled off the Hershal Walker trade for the '90s Cowboys and built one of the great dynasties of all time. I guess this is a question that should be asked when Wilson is at the end of his career here. We're not a dynasty at this point, but we've got long-term potential -- and it's on all these undrafted or low/mid picks that JS spotted. Getting Wilson in the 3rd round is looking like the best draft steal...ever? Montana was a third pick too. SF then was running Walsh's WCO, which was hyper-innovative at the time (in the NFL, but it'd been around for years in college), so their gm was assisted by one of the great legendary coaches. At the very least, JS is top 5 gms all time, arguably the best.

There's an argument to be made about whether he's "the best" even right now, but it's hard to clearly put him in front of Belichick, Thompson, and Newsome.