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Originally Posted by Dam8610
Ballard can draft, better than most GMs in NFL history……..
That said, successful organizations become that way by drafting and developing players. It won't matter who they sign if they can't draft and develop the replacements.
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I mostly agree with the second statement. However you are saying he can draft replacements and I largely agree. So why isn’t that the team’s philosophy? Why over his 8 years has he almost exclusively relied upon his drafting ability? He should be bringing in vets for the rookies to learn from, compete with, and to bring an acceptable level of play until the young guys develop. That is not the philosophy or strategy - unless he gets a huge bargain, then maybe. They used to claim it was because of the “culture” they wanted to develop and that has shown to be a failure The team has not developed some great winning culture. It’s been much closer to dysfunctional than good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dam8610
As for last year, Ballard thought that last year would be a development year, so he drafted a secondary to develop.
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Sure I could buy that for last year. Makes sense. Now explain lack of WR to me with Rivers. Explain the OL choices with Ryan. Explain having no DE on the roster with double digit sacks for their entire career with Wentz. Last year was not some situationally specific decision by Ballard, it was a continuation of the philosophy we’ve seen pretty much every year. That’s a big part of my issue with him. I’d love to see some larger, year specific decisions that make sense. We don’t see them. For lack of a better saying he “does what he does”. Every year. Whether the QB is Luck, Rivers, Wentz, or Ryan his words and actions have been the same. So far, no difference with AR. Pretty much every year. You can look at them in isolation and try to explain them away but the trend is obvious. And largely matches his words and stated philosophy.