Gang Green Nation
More team building wisdom
With the Jets starting anew AGAIN it might be wise to learn from past mistakes made by former general managers and learn from successful general managers. We are using the Philadelphia Eagles as the epitome of drafting prowess since they are the reigning Super Bowl champions and were 80% formed by their drafting ability.
The Eagles added Saquon Barkley in free agency in the offseason which was the final move that put them over the top. They didn’t make a huge move like that until they had a team they thought could compete for a championship. They didn’t delude themselves in thinking they were that close when they weren’t. Instead, they had the insight to make the move because they did a great job of self-scouting.
Scouting & Drafting
Self-scout your team with a harsh eye
The only way to get better as a team is to have the correct players on your team. Many general managers are reluctant to move a player they drafted because they will be accused of poor scouting by fans and/or the media. The only way to avoid this is to not listen to either group. You need the best players possible, so don’t let hubris get in the way of making your team better. It was Buddy Ryan who said, “If you listen to the fans, you’ll be sitting up there with them.” If you don’t self-scout your team correctly, you will suffer the same fate.
In the 2020 NFL draft the Eagles selected wide receiver Jalen Reagor out of TCU with the 20th overall pick. He was not the receiver the Eagles thought he would be. To make matters worse, the next pick, #21 by the Minnesota Vikings, was Justin Jefferson from LSU, who has since developed into arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL. At pick #25 the San Francisco 49ers selected wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who has nearly 300 receptions and 25 touchdowns to his name.
You could say that the 2020 draft was a bust for the Eagles, but in the second round the Eagles selected quarterback Jalen Hurts, who this year was named Super Bowl MVP, so it wasn’t all that bad. The Eagles didn’t worry about past failures, so in the 2021 draft they had the 10th overall pick and used it to select wide receiver DeVonta Smith from Alabama, who has more than 300 career receptions and 27 touchdowns.
The moral here is that no general manager is perfect; even Super Bowl winning general managers make mistakes. The key is to recognize your mistakes as quickly as possible, then rectify them with another player. Don’t allow outside influences to make the decisions for you. Don’t just hope things will change for the better. Take the hit, then correct the mistake. Of course, if you make too many mistakes, they show you the door.
Drafting/Scouting
The two go together, since you can’t make the right draft selections if you don’t scout well. Even...
