The biggest void between TT backers vs. TT haters has been the state of the team when he arrived which, in turn, defines the job he had in front of him and how he has done since he got here.
I am in the camp of those who feel we did not have a very good football team when he got here. We had slid in personnel and performance for at least four years prior to him getting in town.
We were getting older but certainly not better and there was just nothing there that indicated we should continue down the same path we had been on. Certainly not if the goal is the Super Bowl.
All one had to do was look at the depth chart TT was looking at when he got here to know how much work had to be done. Depth chart? What depth? We didn't have any.
I get a kick out of those that say he should get two years or three years to do something. Every GM walks inot a different situation and in some cases, like ours, we should feel FORTUNATE we are heading back upwards in the right direction after a few years of retooling.
This guy took a lot of heat for passing on Wahle, Rivera, and Flanny but he SAW what he SAW and it was the right move because we weren't winning no conference title or no SB back then anyways and we would be looking for a whole new offensive line about now and NOBODY would be talking about the Pack as an up and coming team to look out for.
Let the guy do his damn job. He's only had about fifteen positions or more to address when you consider how thin we were all over the place plus kickers and rotten special teams. Some of us get the fact that's like THREE ROMES and the first one wasn't built in a day.
THANK YOU TT for not coming in here and hanging on to an aging pipe dream and having the guts to make some tough calls and take the heat and having the semblence of a plan and a clue of how to draft.
TT and MM have more conviction and faith in their little finger in what they are doing and who they have doing it than the previous regime had in their entire bodies.
For those that don't understand the importance of that, well, it's everything.
First let me say, that I am on board with your view that the roster was in need of retooling and our depth had been depleted very thin. You will get no argument there from me. We were aging and changes had to be made. We were going to have to rebuild one way or another. But to me that is where some contention comes in.
People say how a keen eye for talent that Ted has. What is the basis of that thinking at this moment? The 2005 draft? How many starters are here from that draft?
2005
Rd Sel# Player Pos. School
1 24 Aaron Rodgers QB California
2 51 Nick Collins FS Bethune-Cookman
2 58 Terrence Murphy WR Texas A&M
4 115 Marviel Underwood SS San Diego State
4 125 Brady Poppinga OLB Brigham Young
5 143 Junius Coston T North Carolina A&T
5 167 Michael Hawkins CB Oklahoma
6 180 Mike Montgomery DE Texas A&M
6 195 Craig Bragg WR UCLA
7 245 Kurt Campbell LB Albany, N.Y.
7 246 William Whitticker G Michigan State.
Five are still on the roster, Collins had a decent first year and struggled, jury is still out on him. Poppinga, struggled early and played better as the year went on. Rogers, no idea. Underwood amd Murphy got hurt. But the rest certainly didn't build depth.
2006, we had to force rookies into the starting lineup and I will give him a glowing report so far on that class. One year and I am impressed.
Now lets look at his attempts at FA...
Klemm, O'Dwyer, Little, Freeman. Hmm the 2005 Free agent class did alot for us. 2006 FA class, Woodson was a terrific signing as well as Pickett was. How did the Manuel signing work out for us?
Keeping our own players... Barrnett and Kampman, those were huge. Jenkins looks very good as well. He difused the Harris issue, all give him great marks. But the huge money given to Bubba has panned out so well either. Walker was the playmaker we needed, but he wasn't able to keep him in Green and Gold.
And you have to account for the fact that with the New CBA clause and the record increases in Cap room, he had the benefit of money to work with. If you haven't well then you better look at the Pickett and Woodson deal again. He wouldn't have been able to frontload the contracts as he did. Same for Barnett. Andrew and Ted have DONE A VERY NICE JOB taking advantage of that. No doubt about it.
With alll the above said, what has Ted proven to us so far? Have their been improvement, ABSOLUTELY. Has he shown to us the fans that we should have complete faith in him, NO. Are we heading in the right direction, Indicators point to YES, but TIME WILL TELL.
I want the Packers to win, and Ted is driving this franchise, so I hope that everything he touches turns to gold. But to chastise us for having an wait and see attitude on Ted and THE PLAN, I am sorry I have a right as a shareholder and fan of the Packers to do so.