TT, just sign Beaver

Great comment here from loyal Packergeeks reader Joe:

“Just sign him. It is one spot out of 80. Take a chance and earn some good PR; the kid has some skills that justify a signing and the fans will eat it up (including me). This just makes good business sense and it ain’t bad football either.”

I couldn’t agree more. I really do think it would be a good PR/business move. Listen, a few months ago, Green Bay fans received the devastating news that Favre was calling it quits. Die-hard Packer fans, no matter how tough, are dealing with the emotional scars of seeing perhaps the most popular Packer ever, retire. While signing Justin Beaver won’t bring Favre back or heal Favre-retirement wounds, it might help infuse some extra excitement for the team at a time we could really use it. Think about how excited we all were when we’d read stories about Donald Driver and how this 7th round pick might make the team. Then he made the team and elevated his game to Pro Bowl level. We love stories like that here and the timing of this story could help Packer Nation move forward.

As far as a football move, as I wrote previously, I think it makes football sense to have a guy like Beaver not only on the 80-man roster, but on the 53-man roster. I know during training camp time, it can become the norm for sportswriters and bloggers to end up lobbying for a bunch of players like this with great stories to make the team, but this is one guy in whom I really believe. He is fast, very quick (”quick as a hiccup” according to McCarthy), very strong, young, hard-working, devoted - and he’s somewhat versatile in that he can return kicks and compete at RB. When I compare his obvious skills to someone like Noah Herron, I can’t help but think there is way more upside with someone like Beaver. I could understand NOT giving Beaver a shot if the backfield had other major talent besides Grant, but it doesn’t. And, while Tramon Williams and Will Blackmon both showed skills as return guys last year and Brett Swain or Jordy Nelson may yet prove to be good in this capacity, why not give a hard-working guy who would do anything for the team a chance to prove himself.

More TT thoughts…

First of all, read RayMidge’s thoughtful comments in the comments section of our previous post. Good points.

One other point that I failed to mention before concerns TT’s money management skills. I still question his decision not to re-sign Mike Wahle, but other than that, TT has managed the Pack’s money very well leaving us in a very comfortable position presently. I can’t help but think that TT anticipated Favre’s retirement and figured it would be sensible to have some extra cap room to help the team through the Favre-less transition. While he appears to be trigger-unhappy, if you will, about signing potentially valuable free agents, it is nice to know that TT could move quickly and convincingly if there happened to be a very attractive free agent who could contribute. Also, he is in a great position to re-sign Packers who presently are playing at a high level.

Adding this into the mix and really thinking through this more, I think it would be more accurate to say I believe TT has done a really good job (not just a good job). I

Ted Thompson voted Executive of the Year

Interesting that the last few posts on Packergeeks have generated some debate over whether or not TT is even good at his trade. Read here about how Sporting News awarded him Executive of the Year, beating out the GM for the Giants.

I feel compelled at this moment to render my own judgment on TT. I’ve had a waffling opinion of TT from the start. When he came in and fired Sherman, I thought he was a quality GM and someone who had the stones needed for team improvement. Then, he looked past Jim Bates to hire Mike McCarthy (Mc-Who?) and I suddenly began to wonder. In the beginning of the MM era, I thought TT had hired McCarthy more as a puppet so that TT could rule the whole organization from his cold, lofty perch. McCarthy of course got off to a 4-8 start and I started thinking TT didn’t know what he was doing with coaches and/or player personnel. But one thing didn’t make sense: why would he take a flier on an unproven coach when there was so much at stake for TT himself for the coach to succeed?

When McCarthy and the Pack turned it around at the end of 2006, I once again began to question my own criticism of TT. After the surprising 2007 campaign, I suddenly started telling people, “yeah, I’ve always thought building through the draft was smart - TT and I think alike” even though I’ve always had more of a balanced building philosophy of draft and free agency . I began lying as I rode the TT wave. Then, Favre retired and questions swirled around about whether or not TT and MM did enough to persuade him to come back. And something still tells me that while that may not have factored much into his ultimate decision, somehow I believe it’s true, TT in particular didn’t make much of an effort.

Now, I look at what he’s done (or hasn’t done) in free agency and I’m starting to wonder again. Sure, results are on his side for his draft-first philosophy dating back to his Seattle days - but I am still left feeling like he could be doing just a bit more in free agency. I agree with brother Steve that this year’s free agent crop is weak, but I still think we should have picked up Warrick Dunn or Billy Volek. I’m pleased with the Chillar pick-up (a told-you-so goes out to those who criticized my frequent criticism of Poppinga), but there were a couple other options it seems he didn’t look into much. And, bringing in Frerotte? That guy is horrible!

In the end, the bottom line is, it is difficult to argue with results. I’d contend so far that TT had one iffy year in 2005 (most of that was Sherman/Rossley’s fault), one OK year in 2006 and one great year in 2007. Overall, it has been a positive progression. I think this year will be a real test though. How good is the defense that TT himself has mostly put together? How many weapons does this offense really have? Will Aaron Rodgers prove he belongs at least among the very solid QBs of the NFL? Will Mike McCarthy continue his creative ways and bring the Packers back to the playoffs? Will TT make 2 or 3 crafty additions to the team through the draft or free agency before this season starts who will make significant contributions?

If I had to make a more conclusive statement re TT though, I would have to say that so far, I think he’s done a good job.

Packers Special Teams 2007 - not bad at all…

Every year, the Dallas Morning News ranks the special teams units of each NFL team. This year, in this article, you’ll see that the Packers ended up tied for 7th. That is a significant improvement over recent years and a lot of the credit ought to go to Mike Stock. As we’ve said previously on packergeeks.com, Stock has done a great job bringing along two young kickers as well as improving our overall coverage and return units. Congrats to Stock for a job well done. Also, congrats to TT and McCarthy for recognizing the importance of special teams (TT for acquiring quality special teams players and McCarthy for letting Stock do his job).

How We Got Here

I think this piece, from the Wall Street Journal on Friday, might be the best one I’ve seen about this Packer squad and Ted Thompson’s role in building it. A couple things stood out to me. Ron Wolf’s comment: “If he’s not the executive of the year, there needs to be an investigation.”

And this statistic: “Nearly 10% of the active players on the remaining eight teams were signed out of college by Mr. Thompson.”

A good chunk of the article deals with Justin Harrell who, the writer reports, wasn’t even in his house at the time he was drafted because he thought he’d go later. It’s an interesting fact, designed to show Thompson as a risk-taker. But it’s a little misleading, as Denver coach Mike Shanahan has said that he would have taken Harrell immediately if the Packers hadn’t done so.  I think the proverbial jury is still out on Harrell, though he has contributed in recent weeks.

Also, I think this fact is quite revealing: “The Packers spent 49% more this season on defensive linemen than the average of the eight teams in the playoffs.”

But maybe my favorite part of the piece is the last line. Says Thompson: “There’s a tendency to say, ‘Yeah, I knew that all along. Oftentimes, it’s a pleasant surprise.”