Now the passing on Matt Ryan is just all the more looking like a great failure, and will be the nail in the coffin for these guys. To me, its never been clear, was passing on Ryan a Parcells decision or was it Ireland/Sparano not having enough cojones to tell Parcells "shut up" when that pick was made ?

 

Well, Parcells wanted Chris Long IIRC, based on what I've read. I think Ireland & Sparano went with Jake Long, admittedly the safe pick (but he looks like a HOF left tackle). I do remember someone saying that Ireland tried to pull the trigger on a trade back into the 1st round for Joe Flacco, which would've been a very nice move as opposed to staying pat and getting Merling and Henne later on.

 

I sure do hate phrases like "stable of arms".