Well, this will not come across accurately for what I had in mind but: Ireland has succeeded because he stuck to the basic, 5 must haves, and when the talent in the draft doesn't match what they want in a player, they turn to Free Agents or make trades for talent that can play, but hasn't had a chance to play. Wanny would simply try to sign FA's who had a pulse and could fill a hole, there was no strategy that was detectable during the Wanny era let alone a simple yet complex strategy they use now. Could you imagine the catastrophe of losing OGun in a give away trade via Cap Concerns, or losing Gus Frerrotte because his contract was so poorly designed happening under Ireland? The real question is, why did they pass on them, and did they have those 5 must have positions already filled? Consider that in 08 they took Jake Long, LT problem solved, but we needed a LG, an important position but not as important as LT, so they picked DThomas and made it work, we needed a Qb, but passed on Ryan and went with Henne, we needed a passrusher, they chose Merling. They did not have to bother with Cb as Will Allen and Andre Goodman were already on the roster. The downside is, they incorrectly judged things in 09 and we had a draft that featured the #2, #3, and #5 picks contributing..nothing..but we were still almost a .500 team..due to following the 5 Musts, which meant we weren't bad, we weren't good in 09, which was sorta the goal of a good GM when things go wrong. Look at the teams that picked Top 10 in 07, and picked top 10 in 2010..how many of the names are the same? I'd bet most were still there in 08 and 09 as well...and they still haven't followed Parcell's simple rules.
I know it is a lot easier to pick the BPA when using 20/20 hindsight. That is why I mentioned it. Obviously nobody has a magic crystal ball and that is why there are busts in the 1st round. That is not what I am talking about. I put together that list of players the Lions passed on to illustrate a point. Over the long haul if you focus on the BPA instead of focusing on your needs you will end up with a very good football team. As fans we fall in love certain players mainly because we have a need at a certain position. For example there was not a lot of demand for us to draft Kareem Jackson this year but if he goes on to have a Hall of Fame career we will look back and wonder why we passed on him.
Hard to know since he has been in the shadow of Parcells but I would say his track record is better than most.
BTW Adewale Ogunleye is free agent. I wonder why he hasn't been signed yet and I wonder if we are interested.
