What is your impression of Jeff Ireland as a GM ?

He messes this up this year, we could be a 2 to 4 win team for several years, just like KC.

You think the stadium is empty now......

 

I don't think he hired that coaching staff?

Marshall and Dansby are decent points to bring up. I would have been alright with Ireland being fired after the Marshall trade and contract. Dansby I'm on the fence about. I'm not sure $22M guaranteed is enough for me to consider it very detrimental.

Either way, neither of those contracts look to be stifling the team's finances. I don't think there is a strong case that you wouldn't want Dansby's contract on the books next season if you had that option.

 

Positive. Voted neutral in the previous polls however I saw enough this season to make me believe there is a viable plan in place.

 

I think the ability is there with Jeff to judge personnel, but the results have been mixed. People can argue back and forth over who really had the final say when Parcells was here, but there's little doubt in my mind that Jeff had his fingerprints on practically every move made, and I certainly don't buy the notion that Parcells would have overrode him on players that didn't also have Jeff's seal of approval. I've also not been a big fan of his approach to roster building.

As for his recent (non-Parcells) drafts, there's promise for a solid core. But at this point it's really not much more than promise, so I'm not willing to give Jeff the benefit until I see a little more.

Now we have a boatload of picks and a little cash to spend. Do I think Jeff can do a fair job with it? Yes. Do I think he needs to do better than that? Yes, I do. At this point I don't particularly care what the "percentages" say. Average gets you average. IMO with that bounty he needs to have an off-season that'll get him consideration for Executive of the Year award.

 

No, people will turn on him at some point before he's released (if it comes to that). People turned on Henne before he was gone.

Either way, he's likely immune to real criticism for a couple of seasons. Mike Sherman naturally will be the scapegoat before Tannehill, assuming one is needed.

 

Under any circumstance?
Surely there some instances where big FA money spent would be deemed a good move, no?

 

pretty much what Stringer said. I was counting Tannebaum and Nix, because the mess is currently there for both teams, whether Nix sticks around or not. and I was counting Belicheck as NE's GM. Tannebaum took a gamble when Ryan was first started and it almost worked, so he deserves some credit, but his body of work since then has been awful and now (luckily) they could be screwed for another year. Nix is only slightly worse than Ireland, IMO. the contract to Mario Williams was stupid as hell, he was never worth that kind of money and giving Fitzy a big extension was silly as hell. The fact that we let Henne walk and started again with Tannehill shows me we are one step less stupid than the Bills and Jets.

 

Well the thousands of empty seats already tell you what fans think about him.

Many on here poo-poo'd when it was said that people weren't buying tickets because of Ireland. But there is truth in that if you see TV interviews, fans say that, and look at how attendance has dropped last year, and then this year by thousands more. They are fed up and won't pay money to see a losing product, that is boring as well.

Best WR has 2 TD's ? Are you kidding me ?

 

I voted nuetral because he hasn't put together a winning team yet but in comparison to the GMs we've had in the past he has been much better. He hasn't had the complete swing a miss with high picks like Jamar Fletcher, Ted Ginn or John Avery but he hasn't hit the home run yet either. Tannehill may be that home run but its too early to call it yet.

One thing I think that needs to be considered in his recent performance is that he is now buying groceries for a new cook and the recipe has changed. When a new staff is brought in, they typically start recrafting the roster in their image. To his credit, Ireland has allowed that to happen with Philbin rather than stubbornly sticking by players that he drafted or traded for. Love him or hate him, at lease he is adapting to the new staff and their philosphies.

 

Well, it really depends on the player and the price. Very rarely would I say big FA money has been a good move. I think best case scenario is that the move is neutral. Ideally you want guys playing above their pay, and thats nearly impossible with big FAs (at least non-QBs). Sometimes you get guys who will play to their contract, which is really a neutral move IMO. I'd probably put Dansby in that category. Majority of the time though, big FAs will not play as well as they are compensated. Its the nature of a free-agent market. The team signing the player inherently values him more than anyone, so either the market is extremely inefficient, or the player is overpaid.

 

that seems illogical. we are a pretty firm 7 win team this year and we're one of the youngest teams in the league. logic says we would stay in the same 6-8 win/season range even if he doesn't hit successfully on those draft picks. not that that would be acceptable.

 

Do you think if they fired Ireland and replaced him with Gene Smith, attendance would increase or decrease?

 

One is already needed, and it's the receivers.

 

I'm not a big Ireland fan, but Tannenbaum has been a lot worse. From his trading of draft picks that helped kill their depth to their welcoming of players with character issues and the awful contracts he gave guys like Sanchez and Holmes, he mortgaged the team's future to win while the iron was hot, and the risks he took mostly came up snake eyes.

 

Just a random thing I ended up running into. An example of how valid criticisms of Jeff Ireland sort of have their way of finding you even if you're not looking for them. I was looking at the 2012 Draft's receiver class...sort of just trying to judge for myself how they've done, etc. A very normal exercise if you're inclined toward caring about these kinds of things.

Anyway, the top guys in the Draft at Justin Blackmon, Michael Floyd and Kendall Wright represented pretty well. They totaled 2053 yards and 11 TDs between the three of them.

A.J. Jenkins I had not really considered to be a top guy in this Draft and I'm a little confused as to his being taken there by the 49ers. Was he hurt all year? Or is he just their Michael Egnew? Not a single catch. Similar with Brian Quick, which was another pick that was right at the 1st round/2nd round border that I just didn't understand.

I thought the MIDDLE of this draft at the receiver position really showed out pretty well, after all. From the 3rd to 4th round you have T.Y. Hilton (860 yards, 7 TDs), T.J. Graham (320 yards), Mohamed Sanu (4 TDs), Chris Givens (700 yards, 3 TDs), Jarius Wright (300 yards, 2 TDs) and Travis Benjamin (300 yards, 2 TDs) having some real impact. Guys that didn't necessarily impact as pass catchers still impacted as return men. Keshawn Martin (1100+ total yards this year, 24 ypa on KR, 12 ypa on PR) certainly made his presence felt on returns this year.

The funny thing is while I was looking at all that I remembered something. Back in the Draft when Jeff Ireland was explaining why they didn't select a wide receiver until the 6th round, he explained that the way he had the receiver position graded this year, there was a lull between the top of the draft at the position and the bottom of the draft at the position, and that it wasn't worth it to take any of the receivers in the 3rd or 4th round. Thus they took Olivier Vernon and Michael Egnew with Mohamed Sanu (4 TDs), Chris Givens (700 yards, 3 TDs) and T.Y. Hilton (860 yards, 7 TDs) still on the board in the 3rd/4th round.

 

Well I think he knew he had to do that or he certainly would have been fired. Philbin is Ross' hire, and to undermine Philbin would have been a death sentence.

 

Ive got to say Negative. WR has been a weak spot his entire time here basically. The secondary hasnt been great either ever. The OL still struggling, we have no impact players, or playmakers still. You just cant keep putting the same roster type out over and over and expect different results. Something has to change. IMO we saw a fantastic coaching job this year getting our players to play way over their heads all season long, its time to put a good roster our there.

 

You make a case for Mike Tannenbaum although I would note that he didn't stick with Mark Sanchez (4 years) any longer than Jeff Ireland stuck with Chad Henne (4 years). The difference being as you point out $8 million owed to Sanchez next year whereas the Dolphins are free of Henne completely. However, something must be said for the fact that Tannenbaum assembled TWO rosters capable of going to the AFC Championship Game. The Dolphins haven't come even close to that in Jeff Ireland's time here.

I don't think you have much of a case against Nix.

 

We were a 7 win team with all of the present players.

If he lets many of them walk or they just don't want to resign here, and he has trouble inducing other better or even equal FA's to replace them, and we have to go even younger next year using draft picks and 2nd and 3rd tier FA's we could have the same fate as KC.

 

Nice finds.

Yet people will still think that Ireland is good at evaluating talent and finding playmakers. To me, that shows he's not.

 

So a few rounds of just one draft, with regard to just one position, tell you all you need to know about Jeff Ireland's ability to evaluate talent and find playmakers?

 

I'll give the same response I did the last time this question was posed.



-What is your impression of Jeff Ireland?
-I don't do impressions, my training's in psychiatry.

 

you don't think Mangini and his staff were mostly responsible for those jet teams that reached the afc game, was Tannenbaum the GM when Mangini was there?

 

There is a significant number of Dolfans who have stated and I believe them, that they are specifically staying away because of him. I have seen the TV interviews, and listened to it for 3 years on the local sports radio.

You can choose to believe other wise, but I see the empty seats and I believe them.

Fans at this point are in for change just for change's sake. Anything will show them that Ross gets it and is willing to do whatever it takes to win. Sticking with this guy leaves the impression he is happy with going 7-9 every year. People aren't paying money to see that anymore.

 

Nuetral I still feel he has just began to be in charge of the team that Parcells left behind a half a$$ mess. It seems very obvious that he has set himself up for the future with the saved draft picks. I know every pick can't be a hidden superstar and don't expect it, so to throw away the trash and keep digging is fine with me as long as very good players start being more abundant than the mediocre ones. Next year at this time I feel I won't need to check neutral and can have a honest evaluation of his tenure as GM.

Here's to a good draft class and the team keeping healthy.

 

No, I also look at the rest of the roster, and how weak it has been since his tenure started here, how basically all of our draft picks outside of the first two rounds have been flops. How many of our free agents have been flops. It's more than just that... stop being so shortsighted to benefit your arguments.

 

I believe everything you say, which is why I asked. I was just curious as to how you'd view Miami hiring Gene Smith.

 

Negative. He's great at building mediocre teams.

 

He's had 5 drafts to find them, and will have a 6th this year. That's a pretty good sample size for an NFL GM.....most don't get to have that many drafts, especially with as poor a results as Ireland.

 

I look back at this front office's history with the receiver position and I think there are some valid questions about how they address it going forward.

Clearly you have some feathers in their cap on Brian Hartline and Davone Bess. All credit where it's due there. Hartline has played better than a 4th round pick and Bess is certainly better than a UDFA.

But what about free agent signings like Chad OchoCinco, Ernest Wilford, Anthony Armstrong, Jabbar Gaffney or Legedu Naanee is supposed to give us confidence in their being able to single out underrated veterans?

Though they found a nice one in Davone Bess, what about their continued flirtations with the likes of Brandon London, Roberto Wallace, Marlon Moore or Julius Pruitt is supposed to give us confidence that when they think they've uncovered a diamond in the rough, they may have actually done so?

And even despite finding Brian Hartline in the 4th round, what about the drafting of Patrick Turner (3rd round), Clyde Gates (4th round), B.J. Cunningham (6th round) or even Rishard Matthews (7th round) is supposed to give us confidence that they know what they're doing when they turn their card in for a wide receiver in April?

Hell, look at Ted Ginn. They inherited him from 2007, true enough. But nobody twisted their arm to where they were forced to adopt off season plans wherein Ginn was obviously slated as the team's #1 wide receiver for two straight years. And then you look at the Brandon Marshall trade(s) and to be honest either it was a mistake to trade for the guy or it was a mistake to trade the guy away, people trying to have their cake and eat it too on that one.

It seems like everything they do at that position in particular has a poisoned look to it.

 

Mike Tannenbaum was Terry Bradway's assistant General Manager prior to 2006 and was promoted to General Manager upon Bradway's firing in 2006.

I'm not saying he's a good GM at all. I'm saying it's kind of ironic for Dol-Fans to feel pride in their General Manager being better than Mike Tannenbaum when really there isn't much evidence he is.

 

This team was extremely lucky, almost as lucky in health as 2008. Think of what happens if we'd had two or three more of the OLineman go down, and 1 of Dansby, Burnett, Soliai or Starks go down with season enders ?

 

They did not find Bess. Let's clear that mess up. If he was so great at seeing Bess as a talent, Bess would have been drafted. Not Lionel Dotson, Lex Hilliard, Jalen Parmele and whoever else is missing from our 2008 draft.

After the draft, Bess' agent came out and said they placed Miami as their #1 target, because they were receiver poor.

Ireland gets credit only for signing Bess. But he did not find Bess.

 

I feel I know a bit more (not a lot) about who could and should be the next GM than the general public, because I visit here and take an active interest.

More casual fans know results, and they don't like what Ireland has done. At this point he is a pariah in the eyes of more fans, and they would welcome a yellow dog as GM at this point, simply because HE ISN'T JEFF IRELAND.

 

Negative - I think he is overall a solid talent evaluator, but his team building ability has been very shaky. He has been here for 5 years, Parcells or not, and we are still a below .500 team with a glaringly significant lack of impact and playmaking talent. I feel he may be best in a lesser capacity than GM, where he can evaluate talent but is not responsible for putting the team together.

Still, I think we did improve this season in some regards, and have the ammo and ability to improve a lot this offseason. I was hoping to move on from him, but barring a shocking surprise dismissal, I really hope he has a very successful year.

 

ZING........great post.

 

I had to vote negative. There could be an argument to keeping him for continuities sake, but there are likely to be some good replacements in the very near future.

I seriously hope that Philbin, now with a year to evaluate our current roster, knows what he wants, and can be a positive influence on Ireland. Hopefully he can help him to do a better job of player acquisition.

 

I went with Neutral on this one...
Last year was a very good draft class for us, plus we now have a ton of cap space open with extra picks in the 2nd & 3rd round. I hope he and Philbin have a vision of what type of player's are needed for this team to take the next step forward. This team making a dramatic switch from Sparrano offense to Philbin offense. I hope we do not waste our cap room or reach for postion needs in the draft. We are not going to turn things around in 1 or 2 year's. As this team has a ton of holes to fill still WR, CB, OL & TE. Ireland seems lost in the later rounds of the draft so far, plus he not been killing it with FA either. So I understand why so many people want to see Ireland get the boot. Also Ireland needs to stay away from the Cowboys rejects, there a reason Dallas let's these guys go. I hope we sign FA at the bargain price and add 1-2 FA that fill a huge need and are leaders off and on the field.