I don't think that ALL the problem is with the youngsters. Some of them are doing very well. Hayward aint doing bad at all, we all know cobb is a beast and a few others are doing well for their age and lack of experience. It's the veterans that are lacking and not living up to the hype they built last season.
TT and MM appear to be on the same page, very much unlike the year Mike Sherman had to step aside for TT.
TT is not a spender. He does not put his eggs in one basket. He looks at the financial status of the time long term.
He was willing to tank the 2008 season after Favre left by not bringing in short term veteran help. This is unlike the Vikings who gambled on Favre and Hutchinson and got to the NFC championship game in 2009 but fell into any abyss in 2010 and 2011.
What TT realizes is that some of his picks have physically fallen by the wayside early in their careers. Sherrod should have been a solid starter by now and helped to plug a mediocre offensive line. House has not seen the field.
He gave Justin Harrell 3 chances and he failed. Morgan Burnett has not filled the shoes of Nick Collins. Mike Neal did not fill those of Cullen Jenkins. And possibly he is thinking he should have found a way to keep Ryan Grant instead of having Benson on IR with only Green and inconsistent James Starks in his back field. Had we not had such a porous defense in 2011 he may have drafted a center in the higher rounds. In this case he was forced to sign Saturday who may be done after 2012.
You have to realize that Benson would not even be here had Starks been able to get through the preseason in one piece. TT got Benson cheap. He was hoping to invest in Starks for several years because Grant's price would have been too high at the time. Somehow he felt that Starks could get through a season with Green and Saine playing the fill in spots. This was a risky assumption. Although Grant suffered one major injury while here he was the one proven running back we had since 2007. With Benson out we are relevated to a similar situation we had in 2010 with only Brandon Jackson back there until late in the season when Starks was able to suffice for a couple of months. That said we are still a pass first offense and the running game always seems to take second place.I totally disagree, he could have had Grant anytime up until 3 weeks ago and chose not to. Also, wanting Grant b/c Bensons on the IR is hindsight at its best.