Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Did Ruskell Just Get Lucky?


As long as we're playing "what if" games this week, while the NFL and the Union plays with the future of the league, here's a new one for you.

What if Tim Ruskell just got lucky last season?

What if Spencer turns out to be a bust, and Lofa and Hill were just dumb luck picks? What if Herndon and Darby and JJ were great pick ups just because he had great info on them from his Falcons/Buccaneer days, and he really isn't that good of an evaluator of talent?

The bar is set pretty high for him in Year 2, and the contract situations of Alexander and Hutchinson, as well as the long list of free agents, amid the unrest of the CBA will be a difficult proving ground for Mr. Ruskell to continue his mastery of the roster.

While nobody can argue that he had to have SOME affect on coming into the Seahawks organization and taking them to their first Super Bowl, what if it was all just luck or borrowed intel from other teams?

I hope year two of the Tim Ruskell era is worth much more than the two dollar bill!

17 comments:

  1. I think it's too early to speculate. Let him make some moves, THEN we can start second-guessing. I know that goes against the idea of this post, but I think Seahawks fans should have nothing but thanks and praise to Ruskell for the city's first Super Bowl until we have reason to believe otherwise. 

    Posted by Uff

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  2. Awww, c'mon Uff, play along...I'm just trying to generate some traffic here on the Street!  

    Posted by alba

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  3. Okay, okay...

    [ahem]

    Yeah, Ruskell's a real GENIUS. I'm sure Falcons fans love Michael Vick's long contract and inability to adapt to the NFL. Judging by the Seahawks' improbable run, I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.

    (Sorry, Tim)

    Seriously, though, of the top dozen or 15 teams under the cap (I'm trying to remember King's numbers from MMQB), the Seahawks were the only playoff team listed besides the Jags. And the Hawks have more cap space than Jax and weren't a total pretender. I say he's legit... until proven otherwise, knock on wood.

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  4. alba i am so glad that you are on this blog. Only you could come up with these topics and they're really good by the way.

    Anyways now to the topic, last years draft i thought Ruskell was a lunatic not for drafting offense in the first round when we needed defense but because we drafted a middle linebacker name Lofa Tawhatever in the 2nd when he was projected in the 4th and we traded up of all things to get him, that made me hot. But we all know what turned out to be Lofa Tawhatever so Ruskell is a genius and meezy is the lunatic.

    I don't doubt Ruskells talent evaluation, he's been doin his entire professional life. He knows what he's doin unlike Mel Kiper Jr.

    Ruskell first year wasn't luck, the guy is gonna build a dynasty so sit on that Pioli u stupid loser Patriot reign is over, and dead for the rest of this decade atleast.

    In Ruskell we trust until he drafts someone like THE BOZ. Then he's a lunatic and i was the first one to say it. 

    Posted by meezy

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  5. I doubt it was luck. His teams usually do well.

    Hell, he could draft me and I'd score 10 touchdowns. He's got that magic touch.

    Besides, the Falcons didn't hire him away from a divisional rival because he sucked.  

    Posted by Alan

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  6. well i have a couple thoughts on this...

    the draft, IMO...is the same as always...everyone always says, wait a few years...and of course should the drafthave immediate impact...they dont go by the golden rule...well, im waiting a couple more years before i go gaga over the draft...

    Boulware for example had major immediate impact his rookie season...this year hes been solid, but didnt stand out as much...so yeh im waiting on the draft thing

    Also, I do feel Paul Allen deserves a ton of credit...and im hoping he dumps the TBlazers and buys the Sonics to keep them in Seattle...

    Finally, Reinfeldt, IMO is just as important as Ruskell...should our team go deep into the playoffs again this year, I will give Ruskell a ton of credit...but right now, Reinfeldt is my MVP...that man has amazing cap solutions...

    Ruskell's choice of players was not as important as his will to go through with everything he says...whether its luck or not, ill give Ruskell a TON of credit just for carrying out his plan...

    ...maybe he is the first GM type, in sports...that we can actually trust

    Luck? Maybe a little...but he couldnt do it without the whole team (Allen, Todd Lewienke or whatever, Reinfeldt, Will Lewis, among others)...that my friends...is CHEMISTRY...and with chemistry...you go far...as proof from our team to our FO 

    Posted by adp

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  7. Oh, and I wanted to give an example on the luck factor...

    ...Jamie Sharper, a guy everyone seems to forget about...didnt work out...its not Ruskell's fault...its just bad luck...

    its a crapshoot but with the way they do contracts, everyone we sign seems to be low risk/high reward...something i prefer

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  8. Also, Uff, in response to Ruskell's handling of the Vick contract, I don't blame him. As a quarterback, Vick is...I won't say bust, but he isn't as good as we thought. That said, I still consider him to be one of the most dangerous players in the league. When and if he gets the quarterback position down, I'm sure Atlanta will be glad he's on their side.

    He's still a young player with a lot of potential. It might be too big of a contract, but in all honesty, I don't fault him for making it.

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  9. I forgot to mention Reinfeldt. Reinfeldt is the one whos makin all these contracts work.

    Boulware wasn't a starter till like the week 15 his first year. he was brilliant because he had key int's at crucial points in the game. He usually only played on nickel downs. Tatupu on the other hand has played and started every game. He should be able to put up the same numbers as last year.

    Jamie Sharper is a stud. Don't cut this guy. He gotdinged up just when the DB's got injured so they put him on the IR to free up a position for Pruitt i believe. He could have come back he was healthy enough just didn't have space for him with all the DB's bein injured and Hill playin at a high level. If nuttin else he will be a good techer for the young linebacking group.  

    Posted by meezy

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  10. keep Sharper for no other reason than the stupid media pundits like to write about guys with tons of hair sticking out of their helmets!!! 

    Posted by alba

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  11. ADP said best, Allen deserves a lot of credit for kicking whitshit to the curb and bringing in specialists. No more one guy doing 3-4 things. There's a cap guy, the talent guy, the coach guy, the marketing guy...and me the drunk guy in section 110 praying nobody is standing around Herden when he spontaneously combusts as a receiver goes by. 

    Posted by bokonon

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  12. for god's sake, Bok, if you're going to bust on my boy Herndon, at least spell his name right!!! 

    Posted by alba

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  13. thanks Bok and exactly...

    Ruskell and Reinfeldt and even Lewienke and Lewis made huge contributions...

    ...but if Whitsitt stayed, Reinfeldt wouldnt of been back, Ruskell would most likely not be here, and Holmgren might not of been here...its amazing how big that move Paul Allen made was... 

    Posted by adp

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  14. Bok: I would say somethin about you not spelling Herndon's name right but i did agree that alba could have full rights to him as long as i got full rights to Trufant so call him herden harden hard on i don't care.

    Now Paul Allen was the hero of last season. I agree with ya ADP i want him to dump the Blazers and buy the Sonics and he needs to get the Mariners while he's at it. 

    Posted by meezy

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  15. Luck's a big part of management but it's an especially big part of personnel. Don't let anybody tell you different. ;)

    Tim Ruskell absolutely got lucky this year. I once heard Ron Wolf say in an interview that if you bat .200 in personnel you're a superstar. Ruskell probably batted an even "300" this past season. Consider that his two big free agent signings (i.e., Dyson and Sharper) didn't produce squat (mostly due to injury). Yet even that didn't matter because every single one of his minor moves came in at or above expected value (e.g., Bryce Fisher, Joe J). He even got value out of guys he pulled off the street like Manuel, Josh Scobee, and Joe Tafoya. And this is all after drafting a #1 pick without expecting any immediate payoff.

    C'mon. It would be hopelessly naive for us fans to expect this much value to come from new acquisitions every year. It is just not possible. Most years even the right personnel move doesn't always work out; and it's not even anyone's fault, just the nature of the beast. No one blasted Seattle for taking Brian Bosworth in the supplemental draft; not from a football perspective anyway. It just didn't work out (and how).

    Did Ruskell get lucky? Hell yes, but then so does every team that wins. It's part of the equation. It's impossible to win without benefitting from circumstances beyond your direct control. Nonetheless, I think you judge sports front office people on two broad criteria. 1. Does the strategic plan make sense?, and 2. How does s/he manage the "controllable" variables (e.g., salary cap, organizational culture).

    On those criteria Ruskell busted the curve. Strategically, he has stressed building the roster from the back to the front; that is "up" from the rotation guys rather than "down" from the superstars. As a result Seattle managed to smooth out the huge drop off between the starters and the rotation guys. He's really been the first GM to sort of replicate the "Patriot" model. Managerially, he was masterful at controlling the things he could control. The cap was in good shape when he got here but he managed to play a big role in changing the organization's culture. Starting with the offseason conditioning programs, then the release of players who wouldn't get with the program, and his refusal to overpay for talent, he completed an ongoing transformation of the culture in Seattle. He helped create a culture that did not cause the team to win but one that stopped hindering the team from winning. That wasn't luck. That was skill, timing, and discipline. He both embodied and demonstrated all the things the organization lacked. 

    Posted by dave crockett

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