1191 replies to this topic

[vel]

This was an article centered around the Texans' GM Rick Smith and how he handled losing players like Mario Williams, Eric Winston, Mike Brisiel and trading away Demeco Ryans for next to nothing. I took an excerpt from the article that I thought was good and something TD employed, letting Lofton and Weems walk and cutting Ovie and dangling Grimes along. The offense and defense are changing and TD is changing the roster with it.

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"One important thing I've learned is when your core changes, you've got to be willing to change your philosophy too,'' said Smith. "Your core of players has to be a living, breathing thing, and you have to be willing to examine it all the time to be sure you're comfortable with it. The good thing about making those types of decisions is being able to be emotionally detached a bit. I don't have the attachment to the players that a coach does.''

Smith said he's studied NFL history at length, and he's studied business models of different business leaders. One that he's adopted is former GE boss Jack Welch's 20-70-10 philosophy: the top 20 percent of your employees are standouts and must be nurtured. The majority, the 70 percent, are the working class -- needed but still able to move if the right situation arises. The lowest 10 percent have to be churned and replaced, because a company always is looking for ways to get better by importing new blood. "If you have a 53-man roster, maybe you've got 10 or 11 core players,'' Smith said, "and then 25 to 30 roles players, and then you're always looking to churn the bottom of the roster.''

Read more: http://sportsillustr...l#ixzz1wrf4lwUw

We have our core 10-11 players. Ovie and Lofton were part of that, but those parts were no longer need in the new offense and defense we are employing. Ovie was more expensive and a Pro Bowler, but Ewing is more versatile and cheaper and will fit better in a more dynamic offense. Lofton would only play 2 downs here if resigned. All though he was great for us the last 4 years, the shift in the defense resulted in the shift for the need in Lofton. The same can be said for letting Boudreau go for Pat Hill. Yes, the OLine struggled, but I don't think it was anything Boudreau could have done, the RG spot just sucked. With a shift in offensive scheme comes a shift in the way the OLine will be blocking.

I think TD continues to show that he is the man for the job, regardless of the opinions of the trolls of this board. He is constantly working to make this team better. He didn't flinch at the opportunity to turn his $57MM investment into a sub package player if he could add an All Pro to his roster. Tough decision, but makes the roster better on both sides of the ball.

[toldyallgoham]

vel, on 04 June 2012 - 05:17 PM, said:

I think TD continues to show that he is the man for the job, regardless of the opinions of the trolls of this board. He is constantly working to make this team better. He didn't flinch at the opportunity to turn his $57MM investment into a sub package player if he could add an All Pro to his roster. Tough decision, but makes the roster better on both sides of the ball.

so thats smart ?   Thomas Bernie Madoff ...TD running a ponzi scheme  more like covering up one of his HUGE MISTAKES ...lol

[Gritz]

vel, on 04 June 2012 - 05:17 PM, said:

I think TD continues to show that he is the man for the job, regardless of the opinions of the trolls of this board.

....and he came like a meth addict chasing a $100 bill being pulled through a trailer park.....

LOL.

[falconsd56]

Gritz, on 04 June 2012 - 05:34 PM, said:

....and he came like a meth addict chasing a $100 bill being pulled through a trailer park.....

LOL.

That might be the most epic post in the history of the board.

We are not worthy of you Sir

[FalconFanSince1970]

Rick Smith hasn't handled jack sht yet in HOU. What if they take a step back?

Tell me how Lofton was gonna be a two down backer when the team told him during negotiations that they viewed him as a three down backer?

So TD showed he's the man for the job by virtually admitting he psd $57M away on Dunta who will become a part time player? LMAO.

[Falconsfan567™]

FalconFanSince1970, on 04 June 2012 - 05:38 PM, said:

Rick Smith hasn't handled jack sht yet in HOU. What if they take a step back?

Tell me how Lofton was gonna be a two down backer when the team told him during negotiations that they viewed him as a three down backer?

So TD showed he's the man for the job by virtually admitting he psd $57M away on Dunta who will become a part time player? LMAO.

How did the Falcons tell Lofton he's a 3 down backer when the reason we didn't re-sign him was because he was only going to play 2 downs here? Even Lofton said he was told he was only viewed as a 2 down linebacker by the Falcons.

[Gritz]

FalconFanSince1970, on 04 June 2012 - 05:38 PM, said:

So TD showed he's the man for the job by virtually admitting he psd $57M away on Dunta who will become a part time player? LMAO.

There's no doubt Dunta hasn't even come close to earning the contract he got when he became a Falcon.....From everything I know about the way Nolan likes to align his corners though Dunta playing the slot isn't really going to qualify as being a PTP.

You seen the list of QBs we're going up against this Fall? Dunta may ask for a "field mileage" incentive being worked into his contract. His butt will be on the field plenty.

[Falconsfan567™]

Gritz, on 04 June 2012 - 05:44 PM, said:

There's no doubt Dunta hasn't even come close to earning the contract he got when he became a Falcon.....From everything I know about the way Nolan likes to align his corners though Dunta playing the slot isn't really going to qualify as being a PTP.

You seen the list of QBs we're going up against this Fall? Dunta may ask for a "field mileage" incentive being worked into his contract. His butt will be on the field plenty.

Yep. And Robinson has said he's better in the slot. That when he was better early in his career he was playing the slot a lot.

[FalconFanSince1970]

falconsfan567, on 04 June 2012 - 05:43 PM, said:

How did the Falcons tell Lofton he's a 3 down backer when the reason we didn't re-sign him was because he was only going to play 2 downs here? Even Lofton said he was told he was only viewed as a 2 down linebacker by the Falcons.

You should go back and listen to the 790 the zone interview with Lofton where he explicitly says the Falcons told him they viewed him as a three down backer.

[Clark Kent™]

falconsfan567, on 04 June 2012 - 05:46 PM, said:

Yep. And Robinson has said he's better in the slot. That when he was better early in his career he was playing the slot a lot.

IIRC in Houston he was getting destroyed in the slot. Or am i not remembering right?

[Falconsfan567™]

FalconFanSince1970, on 04 June 2012 - 05:51 PM, said:

You should go back and listen to the 790 the zone interview with Lofton where he explicitly says the Falcons told him they viewed him as a three down backer.

The last thing I read had quoted Lofton as saying he was told that he was only a 2 down linebacker and he responded to that by saying he had played 99% of the snaps the last 3 years.

[Falconsfan567™]

Clark Kent, on 04 June 2012 - 05:54 PM, said:

IIRC in Houston he was getting destroyed in the slot. Or am i not remembering right?

I don't know. All I know is what Robinson himself said about being excited to be back in the slot and how he said that was where he liked to play at.

[FalconFanSince1970]

Gritz, on 04 June 2012 - 05:44 PM, said:

There's no doubt Dunta hasn't even come close to earning the contract he got when he became a Falcon.....From everything I know about the way Nolan likes to align his corners though Dunta playing the slot isn't really going to qualify as being a PTP.

You seen the list of QBs we're going up against this Fall? Dunta may ask for a "field mileage" incentive being worked into his contract. His butt will be on the field plenty.

I've seen the schedule and I'm pretty sure the teams we face will not run 3,4 and 5 wides 100% of the time. So Dunta will be a part time player. TD has $23M of our cap tied up on corners. Wow.

[Gritz]

FalconFanSince1970, on 04 June 2012 - 05:58 PM, said:

I've seen the schedule and I'm pretty sure the teams we face will not run 3,4 and 5 wides 100% of the time. So Dunta will be a part time player. TD has $23M of our cap tied up on corners. Wow.

No one runs those sets most of the time.....besides, with the way Smitty and Nolan run rotating substitutions, I still maintain Dunta won't be a part time player....

I'm not even defending Dunta. I'm not a Dunta guy. If he doesn't jack his game up to the next level I want him to be on the first thing smoking out of Atlanta.

[vel]

FalconFanSince1970, on 04 June 2012 - 05:38 PM, said:

Rick Smith hasn't handled jack sht yet in HOU. What if they take a step back?

Tell me how Lofton was gonna be a two down backer when the team told him during negotiations that they viewed him as a three down backer?

So TD showed he's the man for the job by virtually admitting he psd $57M away on Dunta who will become a part time player? LMAO.

And they told Michael Jenkins he was still in the plans even after getting Jones. Dunta is making $5MM this season isn't he?

TD has shown me he isn't scared to make tough calls. Cutting Ovie? Letting Lofton walk and not overpaying? The Grimes situation? Accepting he missed on Jerry just one year after drafting him?

As much as I dislike the taste of Dunta's contract, it isn't hindering this team from making moves. I hate that Grimes may only be here for this season, that has nothing to do with Dunta. If TD wanted to sign Grimes, he could make it work. If TD was happy with Dunta, he wouldn't have made him restructure AND still go get Samuel.

You love being anti FFS70, but swift has you fooled if you think TD is a bad GM. Of course he is going to miss on some, but he has assembled one of the better rosters in the NFL.

[big_D]

falconsfan567, on 04 June 2012 - 05:55 PM, said:

I don't know. All I know is what Robinson himself said about being excited to be back in the slot and how he said that was where he liked to play at.

He can be excited to be in the slot but he better be more consistent. He had good games but a few flubs against Brees and Camster if I remember correctly.

[vel]

big_D, on 04 June 2012 - 06:25 PM, said:

He can be excited to be in the slot but he better be more consistent. He had good games but a few flubs against Brees and Camster if I remember correctly.

His tackling will need to DEFINITELY need to get better.

[Clark Kent™]

big_D, on 04 June 2012 - 06:25 PM, said:

He can be excited to be in the slot but he better be more consistent. He had good games but a few flubs against Brees and Camster if I remember correctly.

What? Just Brees and Cam? Lol no,  more like just about every QB we faced last year.

[FalconFanSince1970]

falconsfan567, on 04 June 2012 - 05:54 PM, said:

The last thing I read had quoted Lofton as saying he was told that he was only a 2 down linebacker and he responded to that by saying he had played 99% of the snaps the last 3 years.

Ugh no. Go back and listen to the interview again. It's still up.

http://www.790thezon...s.aspx?PID=2446

The question was did the fact that the Falcons viewed you as a two down backer come up in contract negotiations? His answer was no, they said they viewed me as a three down backer with an above average coverage rating.

[FalconFanSince1970]

vel, on 04 June 2012 - 06:19 PM, said:

And they told Michael Jenkins he was still in the plans even after getting Jones. Dunta is making $5MM this season isn't he?

Ugh according to Lofton the Falcons were the first team to make him an offer. If offering a contract to a player isn't keeping in your plans then you may be more clueless than I originally thought.

Quote

You love being anti FFS70, but swift has you fooled if you think TD is a bad GM. Of course he is going to miss on some, but he has assembled one of the better rosters in the NFL.

McKay built half the roster bro.