I say a mid to low B. Just assuming all choices were his, has definitely missed badly on some FA pickups. However the signing of Cameron Wake, Karlos Dansby and the UDFA signing of Bess are homeruns. The trading for McDaniel provided quality depth and I still thinking the trade for Marshall will prove to be huge, given he is in the correct offense. I think his drafts have been hit and miss but his ability to spot defensive talent has been great, especially in the secondary. Hopefully Odrick comes back healthy and tears it up next year and shows even more promise in his scouting of talent. He has had bad misses in the draft too, White obviously and Henne can be debated. Overall I think we are MUCH better talent wise than when he took over and I think you can say moreso than at any time since JJ left us with the dominant D that Wanny ran into the ground. So overall I'd say better than average.

 

I said B, as other have said he has done a great job of turning the lineup over especially on the defensive side of the ball. The one area that prevents the grade from being higher is the misses on the OL.

 

B. Very happy with the improvement of drafting. Wish they could hit on the free agents a little better.

 

I give him a B+.

 

Gave him a "C", and feel I was fairly generous in doing so. The White and Turner picks still bother me...a lot.

 

I don't think there is anyone on this web site who can say whether Ireland has called the shots (in regards to personnel decisions) or whether it has been the Big Tuna's call. But I would say that combined (Parcells-Ireland) I would give them a C- grade.

 

C at best simply due to Qb misfires. If you miss at that position not much else matters.

I'm sure the Ford's Theater group put on a rousing performance of "Our American Cousin" but it was a tad overshadows by that whole assasination thing. That about sums up Ireland for me.

 

F passing on Matt Ryan was a huge mistake.

 

Yeah but Lincoln's bodyguard was asleep at the switch. :yes:

 

I am not buying that. We have the best LT in football in Jake Long and I am happy we took him with the second overall pick. Matty Ice probably wouldn't have made us any better had we drafted him. With Henning running things, Ryan would be a pretty average QB.

 

Assuming Ireland made EVERY move? C. Average job, lots of hits and lots of misses.

But considering the reality that Ireland did not make every move, and some of the worst moves were not made by him? Solid B.

 

I don't buy the rumor that Ireland was responsible for some moves and not others. That was put out there to buy him time. Earlier quotes indicate the front office came to at least some begrudging consensus prior to various draft picks.

That said, I graded him a C. Here's how I would break it down

Trades: A+
Non-Draft Scouting (UDFA, waiver wire, CFL): A
Draft: C+ (too many cuts after one season)
Free Agency: D
Demeanor: F (i.e. embarrassing the franchise, admittedly minor)

 

I just have time for the drafts tonight

2008
#1...Jake Long-a stud but not a franchise QB
#32..Phil Merling UNDERACHIEVER for draft position
#57..Chad Henne...not the answer
#66...Kendall Langford...very good value
#110...Shawn Murphy...excuse me while I vomit into my mouth
#195...Donald Thomas...We hardly knew you...adios
#204...Lex Hilliard...special teams and that's it
#245...Lionel Dotson...3 years...3 games this season...2 tackles...enough said

Langford and Long are the only two quality players in this draft

Coming off a 1-15 season with the #1 pick
we should have done much better with this draft

2009
#25...Vontae Davis...future star but could have had Clay Matthews
#44... Pat White...blown pick is the best that can be said regarding this pick
#61...Sean Smith...another pick that could go either way
#87...Pat Turner...wow, were they wrong
#108...Brian Hartline...our #2 wide out would be a #4 with most teams(decent value)
#161...John Nalbone...An APB is needed to find out where he is playing today
#166...Chris Clemons...has looked good and bad at times,ythe jury is still out on Clemons
#181...Andrew Gardner...another offensive lineman who is gone
#214...JD Folsum...gone bye bye

Second draft by this regime with Davis as a future star
Hartline,Smith,and Clemons decent and the rest are turds

2010
#28...Jared Odrick...may be good but another defensive player while ignoring the offense
#40...Koa Misi...may be good but another defensive player while ignoring the offense
#73...John Jerry...could become another Donald Thomas or....
#119...A.J. Edds...injured but any player who has the potential to get Crowder off the field A++++
#145...Nolan Carroll..who knows what he will turn into
#163...Reshad Jones...same as above
#212...Chris McCoy...bye bye
#252...Austin Spitler...1 tackle in the past 5 games

JUST LOOK AT HOW MANY PLAYMAKERS WE HAVE DRAFTED ON THE OFFENSIVE SIDE OF THE BALL

Long-Jerry-Hartline-Henne
or
Murphy-White-Turner-Nalbone-Gardner...NOT 1 PLAYMAKER

"Fantastic group" of offensive playmakers drafted by this regime..

Free agents will be addressed tomorrow

 

Irish has also shown the ability to find Veterans who can be plugged in and can play quickly, that is a key component of having a decent yr.

The other thing is, Irish is a better bargain shopper than he is a full wallet shopper, I suspect his big name FA money could dry up but give him 20% of those funds and he can still find some guys who can come in and play.

Let me remind folks of the hand wringing over Douglas and Grant being waived prior to the season and the "Ross is going cheap" and the plain fact is, the Defensive Line has been a strength, and that is with losing 2 #1 picks due to injuries off of the unit.

 

I voted C, but really I'm at like a C+. I'm pinning the Pat White and Pat Turner picks on him (which really hurt him), along with the FA agent "busts" in Grove, Smiley, Wilford, and Wilson. I am also factoring in the inability to bring in a quality TE to pair with Fasano (especially with such a deep draft like this one).

I like Ireland, and would really like to see what he could do this offseason. I hesitate to give him a higher grade than I did, since I know that I like him and that I think he has done a pretty darn good job considering what he started with.

 

Stay the course. Stay the course.

 

I'm not sure how you can give him a complete grade. There too many rumors over who made what call in the draft. If I had too I'd say C/B.

I'm in the group that would like to see how he does now that the buck stops at him for sure.

 

Ireland & his scouting cadre along with Nolan are keepers. time to integrate Pennington officially into the coaching cadre

 

Excellent post .. but you missed one.

Jalen Parmele.


No stud RB. No Stud WR. No Stud QB. No Stud TE. After 3 years. For a stud WR we had to trade for. I mean, what are they waiting for ... or are they even waiting?

 

Leave to the SD lawyer to spot that.

 

You build the team through drafting. They have not drafted an explosive player for us. Bess is an excellent slot WR and I love the guy. I'll give them credit for bess (even though Bess sought out miami, not vice versa - if they knew he was good they would have drafted him). Ronnie, Ricky, all players from the previous regime. They draft two RBs and neither are any good. The one thing about AJ Smith is he knows how to stock a team. He says you build them 3 deep at each position. Has our FO done that? Top 5 for Brandon is VERY generous but that's an opinion ;)

 

It certainly looks that way. He's done a really great job on the defensive line and linebackers, a so-so job everywhere else in my opinion. I loved the Jake Long pick. Everyone has perfect hindsight now, and retroactively wanted Matt Ryan. The likelihood is that Matt Ryan would have gotten killed here behind a bandaid line and no receivers, and we'd probably be clamoring for his replacement this year. Perfect pick for the situation we had.

But if you can now bring in a guy that has historically drafted very well in those other places, you'd have to entertain the idea. It's not certain that guy will be available, and chances are probably not.

It's easy to upgrade Henning with practically anyone, and possible to upgrade Sparano with half a dozen names. Ireland is the trickiest because he is a B-/C+ GM with upside, and it's not like any A+ GMs are unemployed at the moment.

Jake Long, Wake, Bess, Vontae Davis.. the guy has delivered some darn good players. He's got a decent eye.

 

I've picked C but it is more like a C+/B-.

The White and Turner picks hurt but there is no doubt this defence has a lot of young talent now.

If he stays, then I expect a lot of offence in the draft, this is really the make or break year.

 

I give him a C. He's had some decent drafts, could have been better. Picks like Turner, White, Jerry - these were head-scratchers to fans and we're not even personnel evaluators. Free agency has been what has killed him, IMO. Wake, Bess, Dansby, and Marshall are surely the shining studs of this resume, but the blunders were more, and far more expensive. I don't blame Ireland for the Henne pick because no one could have known Henne would pan out this way - but still, the job of the guy is to find you the franchise players (QB) to lead you into the future. On that front, he failed. I would say he also neglected the TE position pretty bad the last two years.

As a pure GM I don't think he's the worst we could do; unfortunately his marriage to Parcells and Sparano might just dictate his exit. I know I don't want Sparano coaching next year, and I see them as a package deal. I don't see Ireland convincing Ross to fire Sparano, but keep Ireland.... and you can sense Ross is itching to make a change somewhere.

I'd rather have Ireland than Peterson though, I can tell you that.

 

I think he's done a decent job outside the draft. It's the draft though, that is most important for the long run, and the part where I find him most lacking. Well him and Parcells