Rotoworld's top ten NFL GMs

[kearly]

Something to talk about before free agency craziness begins: Rotoworld ranks the top 10 NFL GMs in the game right now.

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/4 ... s-best-gms

My thoughts:

With Pete, JS being number one should be automatic. Having him #4 is just silliness. In the post-Pete Carroll era, I think that's where JS will really prove how good he is, as he's being carried a great deal by Carroll right now. But that is then, this is now. Right now, JS is to GMs what Mike Trout is to baseball. Good at everything. Amazing at everything.

As much as I respect Belichick as perhaps the best HC/GM ever, if we are talking purely about how impressive his GM skills are without factoring coaching, I would put Ozzie Newsome ahead of him at #2. Newsome consistently has top 5 or top 10 draft classes every year, despite picking late, and is a master of working the waiver wires and phone lines when affordable talent can be had on the cheap or an unwanted asset can be unloaded for something in return. Newsome is not some young buck, he's been at this game a long time and yet he is still one of the most adaptable, intelligent, and humble GMs in the game.

I don't know if Trent Baalke would even have a job right now if he had hired a guy like Jim Schwartz instead of Jim Harbaugh. I will give him credit though, he actually ran the franchise a year sooner than I thought- March 2010. So he was the guy who led the charge on a very good 2010 draft. He also hired Harbaugh. I still think his tenure is a house of cards, glued together by Harbaugh's genius.

1- Schneider
2- Newsome
3- Belichick
4- Thompson
5- Whoever is running Cincy

 

[Scottemojo]

Ted Thompson's refusal to use free agency for the last many years has been a huge weakness, not a strength.
Baalke had one really good draft. So did Ruskell. Baalke's best skill has been stockpiling picks so that he has draft day fluidity and can move around as he pleases.

I would have no problem with Newsome first on that list. I think that while John Schneider has been awesome, some of the moves Seattle has made have been Pete's calls. Trading for Harvin was all Pete.

I think Cincy is really run by the owner. He has been a draft day genius for about 5 years now. I don't know what changed.

I don't know how seriously we can take that writer. John Schneider gave Pete permission to bench Flynn and start Wilson? LULZ.

 

[NYCoug]

With Pete, JS being number one should be automatic. Having him #4 is just silliness. In the post-Pete Carroll era, I think that's where JS will really prove how good he is, as he's being carried a great deal by Carroll right now. But that is then, this is now. Right now, JS is to GMs what Mike Trout is to baseball. Good at everything. Amazing at everything.

Great comparison with Trout, I love it. So true too. And I agree 100% that JS is going to really prove his worth once Pete steps down... whenever that sad day is. Hopefully far, far into the future, but who knows. He's getting older and has already accomplished a lot. The dream scenario is that we 3Pete and he retires at age 64, just like the great John Wooden. I think John (with Pete's help of course) will know exactly who to hire to replace Pete and that while all definitely won't be the same, the Seahawks will still bring the same approach as they did under Carroll on Sunday's. Or, Pete could really be serious about the whole "win forever" thing and secretly be a Highlander. There can be only one.

Regardless, WE all know that Schneider's the best GM in the game at the moment and that we're in good hands with that man. Plus, he created the greatest photo of all-time, how can you not love this man?!

 

[RichNhansom]

Pretty amazing how much you have to ignore or just plane get wrong to not put John #1 there.

Baalke is a huge stretch also. Surrounded by chaos and has 1 proven starter since McLoug han departed. If he has yet another bad draft he will be exposed for what he really is. A below average GM that is being victimized by the coach he brought in and only in conversation because of that coach's ability to win.

McLoughan should get credit for that roster.

 

[JesterHawk]

Way to go 12'sh!

 

[Sarlacc83]

I can now successfully scratch off rotoworld as a viable source of information.

Belicheck's drafts have yielded starters (but he's mostly getting credit for Tom Brady). Newsome is in the process of rebuilding a roster that got very old. Thompson, well, his kudos basically start and end with Aaron Rodgers right now. Meanwhile, Schneider is drafting All-Pros in the 5th round. Preposterous hypothesis.

 

[SouthSoundHawk]

He made some decent points about JS, but sort of glazed over everything that makes him great. Lazy ass work.

 

[Marvin49]

Pretty amazing how much you have to ignore or just plane get wrong to not put John #1 there.

Baalke is a huge stretch also. Surrounded by chaos and has 1 proven starter since McLoug han departed. If he has yet another bad draft he will be exposed for what he really is. A below average GM that is being victimized by the coach he brought in and only in conversation because of that coach's ability to win.

McLoughan should get credit for that roster.

Nonsense.

Mike Iupati. Anthony Davis. Navorro Bowman. Aldon Smith. Colin Kaepernick. Bruce Miller. Eric Reid. All starters drafted by Baalke after Scot left.

Add to that free agents Donte Whitner, Carlos Rogers, and Jonathan Goodwin.

Thats ELEVEN quality starters.

McCloughan was a good GM. I liked the guy and was sad to see him go. He jumpstarted the talent on the roster, bus Baalke was McCloughans right hand man all those years and took over the draft in 2010 when Scot was fired.

Go ahead and hate Baalke all you want, but ONE quality starter? Please.

EDIT: BTW, Even I agree that Schneider should be #1 on the list. The proof is the Lombardi trophy in the lobby and all of the players on the team who are on their rookie contracts.

 

[Dtowers]

I can now successfully scratch off rotoworld as a viable source of information.

Belicheck's drafts have yielded starters (but he's mostly getting credit for Tom Brady). Newsome is in the process of rebuilding a roster that got very old. Thompson, well, his kudos basically start and end with Aaron Rodgers right now. Meanwhile, Schneider is drafting All-Pros in the 5th round. Preposterous hypothesis.

Yep this. Belichick's draft get universally praised and any draft day trade gets lauded as fleecing other GMs but if you dig into his drafts the past 5-6 years they have been below par. I wouldn't even rank him in the top 5 and taking into account past 2-3 years maybe not even top 10.

Rotoworld is a FF site that tries to add their own spin to news items and they aren't very good at it. Good for getting straight facts but any time their opinions pop up just ignore them.

 

[mikeak]

Bellicheck the coach is fantastic

Bellicheck the GM not so much

I mean seriously how can anyone put the GM in a top 10. There is a reason everyone said how great the coaching was this year. Overcoming losing one TE to prison and one to injury doesn't make a coach look great for winning games. Overcoming all other problems with that team is what makes the coaching look so good or overcoming the GM part........

 

[Dtowers]

^^^^ bingo! This guy gets it.

 

[davidonmi]

I don't agree with Belickeck, but the only one I really have a problem with is Thompson. He can put together an offense with the best of them, cobb, nelson, lacy, rodgers, jennings, etc. were all his draft picks.
However he deserves plenty of blame for the defenses he's put out lately

 

[SouthSoundHawk]

However he deserves plenty of blame for the defenses he's put out lately

They can't blame him for having a bad defense when it's nonexistent to begin with.

 

[amill87]

Nonsense.

Mike Iupati. Anthony Davis. Navorro Bowman. Aldon Smith. Colin Kaepernick. Bruce Miller. Eric Reid. All starters drafted by Baalke after Scot left.

4 of those starters have been drafted in the first round. Baalke has been really good in the first round. After that, not so much. Out of 31 picks outside the first round, only 3 have become starters so far*

For comparison sake, out of 35 picks outside the first round, Schneider has drafted 9 starters so far*. Schneider has drafted 3 starters in the first round (I'm not counting James Carpenter). Schneider also traded one first round pick for Harvin, who while may not be starter, he is the highest paid player on the team at the moment.

Out of 31 picks outside the first round, Newsome has drafted 5 starters. Newsome has drafted 2 starters in the first round.

Out of 31 picks outside the first round, Belicheck has drafted 7 starters. Belicheck has drafted 2 starters in the first round.

Out of 31 picks (trend here?) outside the first round, Thompson has drafted 3 starters. Thompson has drafted 0 starters in the first round.

Basically Schneider has been the best in the draft since 2010 but we already all knew that.

 

[Dtowers]

Baalke has been really good in the first round.

 

[amill87]

Baalke has been really good in the first round.

I think Baalke is a sup par GM. Just like most GMs, he does hit on his first round picks. Even Schneider had a miss (James Carpenter). Baalke's short comings are not in the first round, they come from later in the draft. After the first round is where the good ones leave their mark.

 

[kearly]

I can now successfully scratch off rotoworld as a viable source of information.

Belicheck's drafts have yielded starters (but he's mostly getting credit for Tom Brady). Newsome is in the process of rebuilding a roster that got very old. Thompson, well, his kudos basically start and end with Aaron Rodgers right now. Meanwhile, Schneider is drafting All-Pros in the 5th round. Preposterous hypothesis.

Rotoworld is great this time of year, you'd be missing out.

I think he got the top four picks right, just the wrong order. It is a joke to have JS #4, of course. For that to make any sense, you'd have to say Pete is the NFL's #1 coach by a huge margin, and I'm guessing if this guy ranked HC's, he probably wouldn't have PC in his top 3.

With Thompson, I thought he killed the 2013 draft. Jones had 3.5 sacks as a rookie DT playing a relative handful of snaps, Eddie Lacy won offensive rookie of the year, David Bahktiari was the guy I called the biggest OL steal in the draft and he made me look very smart for saying so, Micah Hyde was another guy I loved who made me look smart in GB, Johnathan Franklin looked outstanding in limited action last season. Nuked that draft. I would put Thompson's track record in the draft up in the conversation with the top guys, and he hasn't had a coach-crutch to lean on like several other top GMs do (his coaching staff is dead average, IMO).

That team is exposed for being soft sometimes, especially when missing Rodgers. But the same would be true for every team with an uber-elite HOF shoe-in QB except possibly the Patriots. Put JS in Green Bay with that finesse oriented coaching staff and Green Bay would not likely morph in a group of hurly burly ass whompers.

Ted Thompson's refusal to use free agency for the last many years has been a huge weakness, not a strength.

Yup.

One thing I actually respect about John Elway is that he uses Peyton Manning to help him recruit free agents, and as a result he has gotten a few very good players on bargain deals. Green Bay has been an elite team for years, they even won a SB. Yet Thompson has never used this leverage to woo upper tier free agents to bargain deals. Thompson is good at what he does, but he's a little inflexible in his philosophy.

Last year nobody expected Seattle to spend almost any money because the cap situation was difficult, and they ended up adding the most FA talent of anybody and it played a major role in winning a championship. Even with money being super tight right now, I would not be shocked at all if Seattle had 1-2 eyebrow raising additions from other teams in FA this year because JS is always working the lines for "what if" scenarios.

 

[kearly]

Nonsense.

Mike Iupati. Anthony Davis. Navorro Bowman. Aldon Smith. Colin Kaepernick. Bruce Miller. Eric Reid. All starters drafted by Baalke after Scot left.

Add to that free agents Donte Whitner, Carlos Rogers, and Jonathan Goodwin.

Thats ELEVEN quality starters.

McCloughan was a good GM. I liked the guy and was sad to see him go. He jumpstarted the talent on the roster, bus Baalke was McCloughans right hand man all those years and took over the draft in 2010 when Scot was fired.

Go ahead and hate Baalke all you want, but ONE quality starter? Please.

EDIT: BTW, Even I agree that Schneider should be #1 on the list. The proof is the Lombardi trophy in the lobby and all of the players on the team who are on their rookie contracts.

Classy post. I'm not disagreeing with you, but I do think it's funny that the only good player he's pulled out of rounds 4-7 was Bruce Miller, aka the guy who was involved in the biggest fight Harbaugh and Baalke had (with Baalke having his way).

I think Miller is really good and would trade a 5th round pick for him in a heartbeat, but when a fullback is the best player you can point to in rounds 4-7, that pretty much says it all about coach/GM cohesion. Those late rounds should be coaches picks, because they won't get by on just their talent very often. Gotta coach them up.

 

[Marvin49]

Nonsense.

Mike Iupati. Anthony Davis. Navorro Bowman. Aldon Smith. Colin Kaepernick. Bruce Miller. Eric Reid. All starters drafted by Baalke after Scot left.

Add to that free agents Donte Whitner, Carlos Rogers, and Jonathan Goodwin.

Thats ELEVEN quality starters.

McCloughan was a good GM. I liked the guy and was sad to see him go. He jumpstarted the talent on the roster, bus Baalke was McCloughans right hand man all those years and took over the draft in 2010 when Scot was fired.

Go ahead and hate Baalke all you want, but ONE quality starter? Please.

EDIT: BTW, Even I agree that Schneider should be #1 on the list. The proof is the Lombardi trophy in the lobby and all of the players on the team who are on their rookie contracts.

Classy post. I'm not disagreeing with you, but I do think it's funny that the only good player he's pulled out of rounds 4-7 was Bruce Miller, aka the guy who was involved in the biggest fight Harbaugh and Baalke had (with Baalke having his way).

I think Miller is really good and would trade a 5th round pick for him in a heartbeat, but when a fullback is the best player you can point to in rounds 4-7, that pretty much says it all about coach/GM cohesion. Those late rounds should be coaches picks, because they won't get by on just their talent very often. Gotta coach them up.

Oh, I can name a number of lower round guys who are good, they just aren't starters because they have a vet in front of them.

Daniel Kilgore will start this year (replacing Goodwin). Chris Culliver will probably start this year (replacing Rogers). Kendall Hunter has been a very good #2 RB. Marcus Lattimore and Tank Carradine will get their shots. Joe Looney looks to be a quality player. So does Quniton Patton and Corey Lemonier.

I didn't include any of them because they weren't yet "quality starters". They are unproven. That has more to do tho with the players they are stuck behind than those players abilities.

BTW...not comparing to Schneider. What he's done late in the draft in the last few years is unheard of. He deserves to be #1 on the list.

 

[Marvin49]

Nonsense.

Mike Iupati. Anthony Davis. Navorro Bowman. Aldon Smith. Colin Kaepernick. Bruce Miller. Eric Reid. All starters drafted by Baalke after Scot left.

4 of those starters have been drafted in the first round. Baalke has been really good in the first round. After that, not so much. Out of 31 picks outside the first round, only 3 have become starters so far*

For comparison sake, out of 35 picks outside the first round, Schneider has drafted 9 starters so far*. Schneider has drafted 3 starters in the first round (I'm not counting James Carpenter). Schneider also traded one first round pick for Harvin, who while may not be starter, he is the highest paid player on the team at the moment.

Out of 31 picks outside the first round, Newsome has drafted 5 starters. Newsome has drafted 2 starters in the first round.

Out of 31 picks outside the first round, Belicheck has drafted 7 starters. Belicheck has drafted 2 starters in the first round.

Out of 31 picks (trend here?) outside the first round, Thompson has drafted 3 starters. Thompson has drafted 0 starters in the first round.

Basically Schneider has been the best in the draft since 2010 but we already all knew that.

I'm not comparing to Schneider and I've already said he should be first on this list.

The key tho to your statement is 3 starters YET. There are many more sitting behind vets like Frank Gore, Justin Smith, Jonathan Goodwin and Carlos Rogers.