I give it a B+
A Rebuilding year is just that, rebuilding. I didn't expect huge results RIGHT AWAY, and I am still waiting for zero to pull up the preseason prediction thread where I predicted 8-8 (even if we lose, I was close, damnit!)
I said that 2006 was the year to judge TT. Not record-wise, but GM-wise. We got rid of guys like Cledius Hunt and Ahmad Carroll, and brought in guys like Ryan Pickett and Charles Woodson, who weren't cheap, yet people call him tightwad ted...interesting, and by interesting I mean stupid.
And it is becoming pretty apparent that while this man might not be charismatic by any stretch of the imagination, the man can DRAFT his *** off. He turned 7 picks into 12, and four have started almost all season, another has started 10 games and five have contributed as backups. Thanks to what happened in 2006 by GB management, we have Greg Jennings and AJ Hawk for years to come.
Now it is not just players. It is coaches. Ted brought in Mike "who?" McCarthy and that got a lot of hate cuz Mike doesn't have the greatest background. But Ted liked him for whatever reason, and they went that route. I think McCarthy started off very rough but he was consistent and now he seems to be a solid coach and a move that I like. He has pride,passion, and it is showing with the players now. We were 4-8 under a rookie coach. That in itself is NOT a shocker, but the fact that if we win tonight we could be 8-8 IS a shocker. The never-say-die attitude starts with the coaching staff, and its showing, and I couldn't be more happier.
Jim Bates didn't stay with GB as DC or HC. Bob Sanders, the man who was with Bates the last 5 years learning from him and assisting him got the DC job. The scheme stayed the same, which is important. TT knew this. The players knew this. Al Harris said "thank god" when acknowding the scheme would stay the same. Flipping and flopping plans and schemes rarely equates to good things.
Bob Sanders started off bad. Real bad. Like with any coach\player who is a rookie, I always say to give them time. The defense SLOWLY improved. Rookies got experience, and younger players improved. Hawk didn't look too hot at the start, and is now a monster on the field. Poppinga was a joke on pass defense and a lot of people wanted his job, and now he appears solidified at OLB. Changes were made. Carroll was cut. And recently KGB was demoted to a very limited role. The pass defense, which Bob Sanders is not good at and has NO HISTORY coaching for, got better as he started to fit into his DC role...and now, Dec 31st, the defense is the strength of the Green Bay Packers.
So I am giving ted Thompson a B+. I like a lot of what he did. Was he perfect? Hell no. Nobody is. The Manuel pickup was baaaad, and a huge swing and a miss for Ted. Going into the season without WR depth was a questionable move, and when Ferguson got hurt as usual, it exploited the depth. And while he did counter his mistake by getting Koren Robinson, it was still a questionable move. So there was a lot of good, some bad, but it appears we have the foundation of a team that will be competitive for many years
