What Thompson Didn’t Learn From Wolf
By Aaron Nagler on Mar 05, 2010 with 35 Comments
- Punters are important
When Wolf retired from running the Packers, he said one of his biggest regrets was not paying punter Craig Hentrich, who went on to sign with the Titans, go to 2 Pro Bowls, and lock down the punting job in Tennessee for 12 years. Wolf spent the rest of his tenure trying to patch that hole, with little success. Thompson, as we all know, is so far following a similar path. Not content with Jon Ryan, for mystery reasons that have never fully been explained, Thompson cut the young punter on the eve of last season and went with Derrick Frost, one of the worst punters ever to don a Packers uniform.
- Admit Your Mistakes – Early
Following hard upon that lesson unlearned, Thompson then did not follow his mentors teachings by allowing Frost to hold his 2008 squad hostage for 3/4ths of the season. One of the smartest things Wolf ever did was fire Ray Rhodes after one season, after it became apparent he was in over his head. No such luck as Thompson watched Frost boot clunker after clunker, putting his defense in perpetually awful field position. You could FEEL McCarthy’s frustration after the third or fourth week of answering the same questions about the horrible punter on his squad, as if he wanted to scream “Ted makes me play him!” Finally, when even a casual observer like my mother was saying “This guy is awful” – Thompson finally cut the cord. For Kapinos. Now that the team has suffered through a full season of Kapinos’ ineptitude, Ted has finally seen fit to search for a real NFL punter. (This after pussy-footing around with a real punter last offseason) Two years too late, Ted is finally in a position to replace Ryan.
- Protect Your Franchise Quarterback
Everyone and their brother who watches the Packers will tell you how awful the offensive line has been under Ted Thompson. Yes, he had to “clean up Sherman’s mess” – a popular phrase that was thrown around quite a bit early in Thompson’s tenure. Well, the mess has been cleaned up ever since Thompson’s hand-picked successor to Brett Favre became the starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, and Thompson is still counting on the likes of Alan Barbre and Duke Preston to protect him. Pssst – Ted! All the cool kids are spending first round picks on guys to keep their franchise upright!
- Use All Methods Available To Build A Champion
Ron Wolf was not afraid. Not afraid to make a mistake, not afraid to pull the trigger on a trade, not afraid to sign a “washed up” vet (Wilkerson, Robinson) – Thompson is deathly afraid. Of everything but the draft. Yes, he’s found great talent, like Greg Jennings and Jermichael Finley. But an NFL roster will always have holes, and those holes need to be filled or at least papered over. Thompson’s steely reliance on the draft and the draft only to maintain his roster has left holes in several places and kept the special teams forever young and making mistakes.
Regular readers know I am a Thompson fan. But he has not won a championship, and that is the only reason to do what he does. His teams have been wildly inconsistent from year to year. If he’s going to “put it all together” he has to learn the lessons his mentor’s experience should have taught him years ago.
Filed Under: Ron Wolf • Ted Thompson
First on the new server! (Right?) Anyway, 100% agreed, although I have to think time has probably washed away the memory of many of Wolf’s mistakes. But like you said, he won a championship. All is forgiven when you do that.
Don’t agree Aaron…
Reggie White signed a 4 year $17 million dollar deal with us, and the money being thrown around now is just downright ridiculous. I’d rather just continue with Thompson’s plan right now, build through the Draft, lock up your guys, and sprinkle in FA when it’s needed. Wolf’s era of Free Agency just can’t be compared to Thompson’s, it’s apples and oranges.
As for as admitting his mistakes early, he’s definately done that, on numerous occasions. Brohm, Rouse, Manual, etc. People think Ted has this huge ego and letting those guys go as early as he did would prove otherwise IMO. I blame the Offensive Line failures FAR more on Campen than I do Thompson because he’s given him plenty of players to develop and the only guys we have to show for it are Colledge, Spitz, and Sitton.
People get bent out of shape EVERY YEAR when Free Agency starts and the Packers don’t sign anybody. You just have to have complete faith in Thompson’s plan, like I have come to realize. It’s been 4 years and if anybody doesn’t think the arrow is pointing WAY up for us right now, you’re kidding yourselves. Let all of these teams make headlines from March-June, we’ll make headlines once September starts, believe it.
Brett – agree on Brohm, completely disagree on the others, esp Rouse. He kept Rouse over Smith because Rouse was HIS draft pick, even though Smith was clearly the better fit for the defense.
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And I agree that the path Thompson is on right now, in general, is the right one. But completely disregarding free agency for anything other than bottom feeding is a big mistake.
I would have to agree with pretty much everything you said…
But I would like to add in the notion of maybe Ted’s hands are tied?
Mark Muprhy was on local show on WSSP 1250 am Milwaukee..And he made a comment that profits are tied to how much cap is left..
I have also heard that in the last few years the board has dipped their hand into the football side more and more…
What does that mean?? Maybe nothing, but maybe the board is giving Ted cues on what can and cant be done..
But that’s just your opinion(on Rouse) Aaron, there’s no proof of that. Nobody knows what happened behind the scenes, there could have been something that went on behind the scenes. I’ve heard things like he refused to play STs, got in a fight with Rodgers in the weight room, which wouldn’t be shocking when you consider his reputation and his past. You’re not going to convince me that Ted just let Smith go and kept Rouse because it was HIS guy, I think something HAD to go on behind the scenes.
He doesn’t completely disregard Free Agency though. Charles Woodson? Ryan Pickett? Brandon Chillar? Donald Lee? No excuses, we’re still reaping the benefits of those signings BIG TIME. Just admit it my friend, you’re jealous of all these other teams throwing ridiculous amounts of money at these medicore players haha. I know Free Agency is a hard time for a lot of Packer fans but if you guys would just trust Thompson and be patient until the season comes, I can just about guarentee you won’t be disappointed.
Has Thompson made mistakes? Sure he has, what GM hasn’t? But the positives FAR outweigh the negatives right now and there is nowhere for this football team to go but up, reguardless of how much money he does or doesn’t spend in Free Agency. Ask NFL guys who they think will be the dynasty of the 2010s and I’d bet ya a pretty penny the majority of them would say us, and there’s a reason for that! Patience Aaron, Please!
This is a little off-topic, but twice in recent days (on this site and at jsonline) I have read reports about Ted Thompson and his indecisivness/waffling in personnel matters. I would love to know who the source is for this rumor. Is it someone in Thompson’s inner circle who is leaking the information? Someone who wants TT’s job? Or wants him gone? Or is just loose-lipped? Or is it misinformation?
Brett – yes, it’s just my opinion. That’s why I wrote it…on my blog.
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And yes, as I’ve written several times, Thompson has used FA as a tool to build his roster at times, but not nearly enough. It’s all well and good that he signed Woodson when no one else wanted him – but if your only mode of attacking free agency is to wait until everyone else has passed, you’re not using every method available to you. No, I’m not jealous of teams spending on mediocre players (look up what I was saying this time last year when everyone was upset the Pack wasn’t going after Canty, etc)
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As for – “there is nowhere for this football team to go but up” – please. Did you miss 2008?
Spending 1st round picks on offensive lineman is simply not required. Look who was protecting Brees and Manning in the Super Bowl and where they were, or weren’t in several cases, drafted. I guess someone better tell the Saints and Colts they aren’t the cool kids.
ron – I hear you, but the Super Bowl exists outside this year, no? Historically, a high pick is required at LT to win that game…
Oh you mean 2008 when we had all the injuries and the terrible Sanders calling the defense?
Gotta love when people leave out information like that, ever so conveniently.
Come on Chris – you really think 2008 was all because some guys got injured and Bob Sanders, the SAME Bob Sanders who coached in the NFC Championship game the year before, was calling the defense? Talk about leaving things out…
But you’re stating it like it’s a fact “He kept Rouse over Smith because Rouse was HIS draft pick, even though Smith was clearly the better fit for the defense.” Just not going to buy that Ted kept the lesser player so he wouldn’t look bad, doesn’t make sense to me.
He’s also made moves via the trade market ala Ryan Grant, and given up a kings ransom to move up and take Clay. Ted is conservative, there’s no disagreeing with that, but I guess we’ll just agree to disagree on his method of building a football team. I don’t see the Steelers or Colts signing any big name guys in Free Agency. Now sure they’ve won championships but it took Polian 9 years and Colbert 5 years, building a championship doesn’t happen overnight.
Of course I didn’t miss 2008, that’s ancient history right now, not even going to sit here and name all that has changed since then. 2008 was an anomaly, we lost an uncomprehensible amount of games by 4 points or less. By now way shape or form was the 2008 team devoid of talent, just happened to have the most unclutch Defense and STs in the NFL. Do you honestly not believe our arrow is pointing up? Like I said, every year Packer fans get all bent out of shape when Free Agency starts, wish people realized the season doesn’t start tomorrow. Just not going to get the knee jerk reaction from me 2 hours into Free Agency, like I said, the positives far outweigh the negatives and there’s 6 months left until REAL football begins.
Brett – actually, we agree more than we disagree. But I’ll never be convinced that Ted is doing things the ‘right’ way until he wins a championship. Period.
Guess we’ll agree to disagree my friend…and anticipate the rest of the offseason.
That’s fair, you’ll be convinced soon enough, only 10 more months!
I believe the phrase, “all cock and no balls” comes to mind when I think of this.
re: Rouse v. Smith. Aaron, come on…”Smith was clearly the better fit for the defense”? Dude, the bottom line is they both sucked. You wanna rip Thompson for not ditching them both and finding somebody who WAS decent…fine. But Smith has been cut by how many teams now? Three? It’s pretty obvious he isn’t “clearly the better fit” for ANY defense.
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I do agree on the punter, and I’m heading the line complaining about the drafting of Brohm and Jordy Nelson instead of O linemen with those two picks. We should be moving that Brohm pick into the LT position right now, and watching Cliffy cash his $30 million check from Dan Snyder.
Riddle me this, Ruppert – if Smith was SUCH a horrible fit…why did Thompson put a claim in on him when the Rams released him?
JOKE! I will not say anymore…
Because 90% of our secondary (exaggerated) was injured, and yes, Smith is better on D than Matt freaking Giordano, and he did have some experience with the team. No way does he make a claim on Smith if our secondary wasn’t all banged up. I wouldn’t begrudge him if that waiver claim was an attempt to bolster yet another year of miserable special teams, either.
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I might agree that Thompson was admitting a mistake by making that waiver claim on Smith after he cut him, though… Neither Rouse nor Smith is good enough to really even have a debate over, IMO.
Ruppert – what did he do that let you know he was so horrible? I saw him out of position once or twice, but so is Nick Collins from time to time. The guy made plays, was constantly around the football and wasn’t afraid to hit. People say “he was cut by the Rams, he sucks” – no, he sucked in their defense. He was a great fit for what the Packers are doing and it will never make sense to me.
“He made plays?” It was preseason, Aaron.
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“Great fit” How so? Did we not hear rumors that he either had an attitude problem, or at least freelanced too much? Tell me how those two traits are a great fit with Thompson, McCarthy and Capers.
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This guy is marginal, period. Would you say he is clearly better than the guy we put in his place–Derrick Martin? It’s not like we ditched Martin and made that waiver claim. Maybe he thought we’d be better off with both of them in the defensive backfield during a game than the likes of Matt Giordano and ol’ #24. Again…no waiver claim unless our secondary was all injured.
Ruppert – he made plays when with the Steelers as well. Yes, got burned as well. But the guy was battle tested in regular season games and would have been a great fall back if (it turned out when) Bigby got injured.
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As for rumors, that’s all they are. So what? Again, I judge by what I see on the field, and what I saw, I liked. A hell of a lot more than what I saw out of Rouse, and yes, better than Martin, at least from scrimmage. Can’t say I watched him closely on special teams to make that determination.
Is it impossible that our opening day, totally healthy secondary, contained guys that were ALL better than Smith? IMO, yes. Once injuries hit, however, Smith was available and was better than guys like my whipping boy Matt Giordano. I think it’s just that simple.
I just wish TT would do something in FA but year after year its the same old bullshit where he sits on his hands till they are numb and then trys to throw a dart and see if it sticks. right now we are losing kampman and clifton while the bears and lions are making progress to better their teams. Its hard for me to accept this when I see the rest of the NFC north making strides while we let key FA’s go
PackerFan – the new league year is less than 12 hours old. Let’s let things play out a bit. Remember, everyone had the Bears in the Super Bowl last summer, and we see how that turned out. Overall, Thompson and McCarthy are correct – most improvement will come from within.
I’m just not seeing it. Five defensive starters (if you count Chillar) were acquired by free agency. What do you want?
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He brought in a starting RB through a trade…
5 defensive starters? Pickett, Woodson. Harris was a trade and done by Sherman, I believe. Who else? (And, I don’t think Chillar counts, but what the hell.)
Bigby and Tramon Williams were both free agents.
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Now, I recognize that they don’t “count” to fans because fans hadn’t heard of them before Thompson brought them in. But that illustrates the point that casual fans know PRACTICALLY NOTHING. Bigby and Willaims have been much better players than some of the players Packers fans were clamoring to sign.
Oh, right. They were undrafted free agents. That doesn’t strike me as really what people clamor for when talking about Thompson spending in free agency. But I guess you’re technically correct.
It’s not just a technicality. Both players had been on other rosters and failed to make the final cutdown. If a supposed “big name” player, like Koren Robinson, become available in September does that mean its only “technically” a free agent signing?
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The difference between the Koren Robinson signing at the Bigby/Williams signings is that casual fans had heard of Robinson. That’s because casual fans don’t pour over other team’s rosters, watch endless film, etc.
Point taken, DD. I hadn’t realized that Atari and Tramon had been cut by other teams before joining the Packers. I thought they were signed right out of college as free agents.
Also, if you made a list of all the free agent db signings in the NFL that worked out better than Bigby/Williams, all things considered, it would be a relatively short list. Of course, at the very top of the list would be (ahem) Charles Woodson.
Damn….Got a few cry babies AGAIN
Every year its the same thing..
“I just WISH Ted would do something”
what part of the last 4 years or so makes you think this would be different?
This just puts to rest (at least for me) that people were wrong in saying Ted wasnt going after people so it would push Brett out…
Nice conspiracy that again is being proven wrong..
Ted wont be going after guys right away get over the idea he will…Just because no names are being talked doesnt mean they arent looking..
Recall Lavar Arrington? Yeah…I am sure most people HERE were bitching then that Ted wasnt even calling the agent…As they arte bitching about that Lavar was in 1265 getting a tour
So unless you know for a FACT then maybe shut up and wait and see
Well said Aaron, however…like Brett said…TT and Wolf are in two different era’s in regards to free agency. FA and the salary cap were some of the reasons that Wolf retired. Wolf often said his biggest mistake was not giving Brett Favre enough weapons, looks like TT has learned from his mentors mistake by surrounding AR w/ Jennings, Finley, Jones, Nelson. Now the #1 priority is to protect #12. Some mock drafts have us taking LT Bruce Campbell, the junior out of Maryland. Ted needs to stick to his plan, spend wisely in FA…right now the future is so bright. Remember when he arrived…Sherman had left the cupboards empty of young talent after going on his terrible spending spree for over priced talent. Joe Johnson…did this stiff even play 1/4 of the season? He had plenty of mistakes in FA and I won’t even get into his draft day flops…perhaps a good story for the future? I bet though that Ted won’t trade up to draft a punter in the 3rd round.