Draft Review w/ Ireland: "If our board is right, we killed it"

This was one of my complaints about Ireland, besides not valuing playmakers and elite athletes over linemen. The whole bunker mentality that pervaded Davie was massively counter productive.

I'm with FN..glad to see a sea change in the media strategy.

 

Listening now. Great interview.

 

I thought it was interesting that he said he doesn't focus on height, weight speed much.

 

I think Ireland may well have had some additional training in talking to the media, it wouldn't surprise me if they brought in a pr consultant or two to help with this and with our public image in general. Compared to how difficult he found it early on (remember the first interview), this is a much more confident and assured communicator. Of course not having that obnoxious whale on his shoulder relieves a lot of the pressure too.

 

Agreed. Kind of going against Parcells on that which is good in my opinion and I think he has shown that through his picks. Also at this point, he brought up Clyde Gates as a guy whose speed transfers to the field, without any solicitation. There has been some speculation that he really likes Gates, I think this might be a small piece of evidence for that point.

 

He's worked hard, no question. Really doesn't come off as just arrogant anymore, but very rational in his picks and how he approaches the game. He's learned quite a bit in terms of how to attack free agency, picking and choosing smaller signings, adapting to what the coach needs. Ireland's approach to resigning players has been very solid as well, you can see that by his picking the correct guy to resign in Soliai at the right price.

He let go of Bell, it was the right move.
Brandon Marshall had to go, that was the right move.

It will take time, but people through dramatic effort can improve. I'm far from saying Ireland isn't a douchebag anymore, but his efforts have come across very differently as of late.

 

Only fools are know it all's...

And it appears Jeff has been humbled enough to stray from his previous stubborn way's. People can change for the better and I think he just might have.

 

Very nice video.

 

I concur. Awesome to see Jeff open up and speak candidly.

 

I think that the people who had pigeon holed Ireland based on the drafts under Parcells are looking foolish. Some were saying "he won't take a QB in the first", "he sticks to the height, weight parameters" and "he doesnt value play makers". It should be pretty obvious that those have all been disproven.

 

I think now we are seeing the real Jeff Ireland. When he was locked down under the shroud of Parcells it gave most fans an inaccurate perception of him. For whatever reason, whether his own volition or at the behest of Steve Ross, it's good to see.

 

Seems like now the kind of guy ya wouldn't mind kicking back with and having a few beers while candidly talking football.

 

I think we've seen enough evidence at this point, to say the talent acquisition and the MO for dealing with the media was all Parcells rules. I'm not even sure how it can be argued anymore.

I think we're seeing that one of the consensus best scouts in the country is being allowed to do his job his way. I think because of Parcells his development as a GM has been stunted, but he is basically starting to blossom now. I cannot stress enough that his job was/is not to find good players, but good players for the system they're running. They are running a different system now, which is why this draft and FA look different then they did before.

This is why I wasn't ready to jump on the CLB bandwagon.

 

Can you feel the love?!?! Looks like we've turned the corner.

 

Is this all he's had to do all along? Just say "we killed it"?

Seems like he's just replaced one platitude with another.

 

I remember it was not too long ago that I posted a comment something to the effect that I was losing faith in Ireland and that something had to be done in order to change that perception before it crippled this team. As of late, I have been slowly backing away from that ledge. Hopefully, by this time next year my doubts of Ireland will be mostly erased and we can focus on making this team a contender again.

I will be the first to admit that I criticized Ireland for only getting two 3rd round picks in the Marshall trade when we gave up two 2nd round picks, but it was the right move to trade him as you said even if it was slightly less value then we would have liked to receive in return.

I am very optimistic about this draft and look forward to seeing some players like Gates, Wallace, Odrick, Jones, Clemons, Smith, Wilson, Caroll, Jerry, Murtha, Gardner and Thomas all take the next step in their development which was poor with our previous coaching staff.

 

Yet look at other Parcells proteges, like Bellicheat & Satan. They are draconian when it comes to the media. I think Ireland needed to see that is not how you do it. Let's be fair, it was only one off season before he started to change. He had this drilled into his head by Parcells for awhile.

CLB means Chicken Little Brigade. I coined it, so if it pisses anyone off I deserve all the wrath.

 

Yeah, he really has been making the media rounds starting about 7 days before the draft, he has done everything except post here.

I'm 100% convinced Ross put his foot down to sell tickets rather than Ireland having second thoughts on openness. Almost every appearance coincided with the host shilling the Fan Fest....

Whatever the motivation, it is good to see and hear. He has come off pretty well.

 

It's more than that. He's had two offseasons where he focused on bringing in play makers and he took a QB in the first. The last two drafts have looked like they were part of a plan. Now that he's talking more openly, the plan is becoming more evident to the fans.

 

I would disagree on the basis that behavior didn't change the day after Parcells snuck out the back door.

I would also disagree here, namely because being a GM has less to do with being a good scout and more to do with being a good manager of resources. A 6-10 team in salary cap hell does not have well-managed resources.

 

Why would it? That's how he was trained for the job. Its not like it took forever for him to change. Just one off season.

I don't understand with what you're disagreeing with. Basically what you're saying doesn't in anyway have anything to do with what I said.

I said he was a highly regarded scout, who became a GM. That would normally take some time to transition but he was further hampered by having to follow Parcells rules for talent and media.

 

I'm not sure how they are in cap hell. They are $60M under the cap for next season. This season there isn't anyone who is grossly overpaid. The closest you can argue would be Karlos Dansby. There really are no bad contracts on the books.

 

Sure, but its still rhetoric.

 

What I heard in that interview was that essentially he wasn't serious about the quarterback position until this year.

 

The one line may be rhetoric, but the point is that people aren't coming around just b/c of the rhetoric. There's substance behind it.

 

When he says they killed it, I personally think he means they had Martin rated a 1st rounder, Cunningham and Matthews both rated much higher than 6th and 7th rounders, possibly Kheeston Randall rated a 3rd or 4th rounder.

 

Of course that's what he meant...well that and getting the QB he coveted. Was there any confusion on what he meant?

 

I would say it's a matter of interpretation whether raising your level of personal involvement means you weren't serious before.

Since he said he had a 1st round grade on Tannehill since last August, I would guess he was scouting QBs all along. He probably just didn't have anybody who really excited him last year who was potentially in range (I know that's how I felt about the last class). Tannehill was a prospect he was excited enough about to want to gather the info personally.

 

The critics of Egnew tend to just say he's another Missou TE (lots of college yards, small NFL production). I haven't watched him enough to have any strong conviction about his all-around game, but in general I find that generalizations based just on previous players at the same school did are lazy evaluations.

 

It's called being liberated from the man who really didn't give a sh$)...It's now more obvious than ever that Ireland did not have say until last year, he's damn excited about his draft..good for him, and that's all some of us having been trying to say, that there is a chance this dude has a special eye and I for one want to found out, we should know by midseason what we have in Jeff Ireland, the real Gm.