This thread was started becuse of Jeff Ireland, and what's going on with people saying he's done a certain sort of job this year. It's time to take a firm stance on this.... Actually that's not true, this thread was started out out of curiosity.... I have another thread with hours of fact-based analysis of stats to predict how we will do at home versus Atlanta. And it has one reply... (from me, because I forgot to add something to the initial analysis). lol. So I wondered to myself... would a meaty, substantive thread like this here one be of more interest here? Let's find out! Who would like to take a piss on the job Jeff Ireland has done? Trolls, come out come out wherever you are. [Social Experiment has begun. Barry sits with clipboard and observes]
that thread title is bull****...and yeah where is shouright, haven't seen him, especially since that lame thread he started in the offseason regarding jeff ireland clay over 100 yards receiving, 1 TD wallace over 100 yards 1 TD grimes 3 PD , INT Wheeler , sack to clinch the game shelby , another FF with very limited reps sturgis (you remember that boneheaded waste of a 5th rounder), 100 for 100 #extendireland
While you're winning everything is good. If Tannehill continues to improve and impress that's likely enough to save Ireland's job and that's fine. Finding a QB is half (maybe more than half) the battle. I'm still not a huge fan of the job he's done overall, but I don't argue with results
Actually, if Tannehill continues to evolve and advance on the road to becoming our franchise Qb for the next decade, IMHO the pressure on Ireland increases significantly. He no longer will have the poor QB play excuse and will now have complete opportunity to focus entirely on drafting pure talent and difference makers. He will no longer need to focus on drafting players to help overcome the deficit on QB play. Now the pressure becomes getting players to help your franchise QB win in the playoffs. I'm not saying anything negative of Ireland here. This is not my point. I only think that the better Tannehill gets, the more pressure it places on Ireland to draft well.
Waay too early for this thread, 2-0 does not a season make. However, Ireland put this D together, you can't argue that, and he put Wallace & Gibson and secured Hartline as well as you must give he and the coaches some credit for Clay, if he keeps up yesterday's level of play. Also you can't write off what Lamar Miller did yesterday. Then on the downside (?) do you crucify Ireland or give him credit for the OL which has been "less than stellar" but did open some running lanes yesterday. Just can't understand any "hate" this early, nor should Ireland be named GM of the year just yet. I recommend you shelf this thread then kick it back up in about 8 more games minimum. And for God's sake give this thread a decent name.
So a GM should get no credit for drafting that good QB, even when most said it was a reach? If Tannehill failed it would have and should have been Ireland's head. If he continued to surround him with sub par talent it would have and should have been his head. Right now, this team looks good from a personnel and production standpoint. After 2 game the only weakness I see on this team is OL, and while that is an area you would like to see upgraded, you can mask a mediocre line with good QB play IMO, and as they gel they could improve. It's still very early, but if you're not giving Jeff Ireland credit for the success of this team so far, then you are carrying past feelings about him because the moves he has made have been really helping this team so far.
Not talking about Tannehill or Ireland, but in general. If a mediocre hits on a great QB, great. But you can still fire him and hire a good GM and keep your QB.
Meh...I don't know enough about that world to criticize or praise Ireland for what he's done. That said, on the surface, I'm pleased with where the team stands in salary cap (gives them plenty wiggle room to extend some of these guys that are earning it, if they continue to do so), happy with the "reach" QB, happy with all of the off-season acquisitions save Clabo, who I'm not impressed with so far. However, I'm of the belief the O line will get their shi* together and be an average/above average group by the end of the season, with 1 of 2 of them earning Pro Bowl level accolades, and I love the potential this team has. Their upside is high in my opinion, and I'm damn glad to be on the ride!
Did anyone get the point that this thread is really about how irrational our posters are, that Ireland threads attract automatic reflexive debate while threads with real substance are less travelled? This was tongue in cheek. So what have we learned: 1) The mere mention of Irelands name is still enough to create throngs of impassioned responders 2) Impassioned or not, no one reads the original post 3) dry humor is insensible when a sensationalistic title blots out out ability to sense irony I could care less about Ireland. And there is certainly no reason to debate him right now. So why does a thread like this evoke so much response, with actual productive threads around? Please stop feeding negative debate and avoid threads like this one, which I created to demonstrate a point, and which has unfortunately succeeded in its aim. Mods, for the sake of worthy discussion let's delete this thread now. Thanks.
And yet they reacted and debated. Some are even mad at me for my negativity towards Ireland. Clearly they missed the part where I said this thread was a farce, a put on, not serious. In the words if Galileo, 'eppur si muove'
It was not serious. But by playing with matches I has started the very forest fire I was preaching against. My lesson is to not pontificate. And being compared to Shou has scared me straight. I wont be trying experiments again.
As I said in another thread, I've been a well known vocal critic of Ireland on this board for sometime. And I've ended up on a lot of your **** lists because of my negative opinion of him. It's sad that some of you base your opinion of members on this board based on their opinion of the GM, but it is what it is. At this point in time I acknowledge the good job he did in free agency. And I've always given him respect for drafting Tannehill. I said I would never hold that move against him even if Tannehill didn't pan out and I meant it. That being said, this team has been 2-0 before. In 2010. Can this re-built roster of Ireland's piece together a winning season? Will the shaky O-line play eventually prove costly? Because if this squad ends up 7-9 or worse again, then it's going to get really hard to defend Ireland. On the flip side, if Tannehill continues to play like he has, then he'll have found the most important piece of the puzzle a GM has to find. One thing that's flown under the radar so far is that besides Sturgis, have any of the 2013 draft class made a significant contribution? It's an honest question. I know Jordan has flashed potential. What about the rest of them? I looked up the draft class today and I didn't even remember who our second and third round picks were. How are they progressing? Plenty of time for them to do so, but I haven't really heard much about them besides the little I read here on these boards. No matter what, Jeffry Ireland is still a pasty legged, nerdy ballboy ginger who has no soul. How did I do on your social experiment?
Sensationalism and controversy will always create more attention than fact-based analysis. This is true of any group, not just this board. The word "fan" is, after all, short for "fanatic". Rationalism and fanaticism don't often go hand-in-hand.
Which is exactly why I'm proud to be a FAN (and not a critic) of my team. I don't need 16-0 to believe.
And yet on this board we actually have great posters who hold a very high standard of discourse, except when certain buttons get pushed. Kind of like the ex, or family member that always sets you off... and Ireland seems to be that ex/family member here. It's an interesting thing to see why, each season, we generally have at least one figure in the organization about whom we feel that strongly. Sometimes two, but generally one. Anyways, I stirred things up needlessly and served only to distract further from rational discourse. But, as you say, that's part of the fun of fandom. We have strong feelings about this team, and everything to do with it. Sensationalism, however attractive at first, doesn't persist, ultimately. Fact based analysis, however, is just as relevant in a month, year or decade.
The verdict is still out. We need contributions from this rookie class. We won't reach elite status as a franchise unless this draft class contributes. I'm not happy that our top 3 picks are limited by injuries, 2 of whom had injuries we knew may affect them this year. Until they contribute the jury will be out on Ireland.
What about the defense he's built? It's not exactly chopped liver, nor should it be written off as a minor accomplishment.
When evaluating the product out on the field, we shouldn't forget that Jeff Ireland's product costs $15M+ less than a lot of his competition. Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
Some posters take this Jeff Ireland thing way too personally. I've wondered if there are family members here. Here is my hate-stance on Ireland: He sucks, for me, at drafting. He fails to take players I like.
You mean like condescendingly being called an Ireland lover, Ireland apologist, Ireland relative, member/president of the Ireland fan club, or even Ireland himself in order to dismiss any and all legitimacy of your posts, as if the only way you could support him as GM is if you had an agenda?
Can you please post a link to the fact based Atlanta game thread. This thread has no interest to me so please don't count this as a post in this thread. Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.
That's a pretty immature way to view it. The overwhelming majority of players I liked have ended up elsewhere but you won't see me grudgingly pouting about it. There's a handful of players I wanted badly this year in rounds 2 and on that we passed over, but at the end of the day none of it will matter if Dallas Thomas, Will Davis, Jelani Jenkins, etc are conducive to winning.
I'm sure once or twice I've labeled posters as Ireland supporters, maybe even used the term Ireland apologist. But I think you're unfairly lumping me in with other posters. I've never accused anyone of having an agenda for supporting Ireland. I've strongly supported everyone's right to defend him, while encouraging mostly objective discussion on the topic which often turns venomous on both sides. Don't act like your position was any less based on emotion than any of the "haters". He's a polarizing figure. Still is. Still will be if this team doesn't finish with a winning record.
