Wouldn’t It Be Nicer If We Were Younger?
by Dave Gardner
After the waive of cuts, signings, and retirings, Dave Gardner takes a look at the five teams who are on their way to a youth movement.
When new head coaches or general managers get hired, it’s rarely with the fortune of inheriting a playoff-caliber team (i.e., Mike Tomlin). These coaches or general managers typically are brought in with palms waving around them, but their popularity doesn’t last. This is because their first mission is roster evaluation, and that means fan favorites are likely to be cut. They generally purge the players from the old regime and bring in their own guys.
For new general managers like Thomas Dimitroff and Jeff Ireland, they stare at rosters that are devoid of talent, and carry with them the enormous burden of making every pick in their first few drafts a starter within three years or less. For most teams in this situation (i.e. Atlanta), stockpiling draft picks through trading veterans is a great way to rebuild. For others, they sign stop-gap players who are able to perform capably for two or three seasons until the younger players are ready to assume starting roles.
For new head coaches, the pressure is on to mold this talent in a constantly decreasing window. Coaches tend not to get seven or eight years anymore to prove their worth - some don’t even make it past the contracts that they sign when they are hired before they are looking for work again. At the same time, they have to appease the veterans on the team who see the youth movement in progress and fear being cut or traded (or in some cases, desire to be cut or traded).
A complete roster overhaul can take three years or more, but it’s the best way to build for the long-term success of the franchise. It’s an extremely difficult feat, but if it is accomplished, it means job security for a very long team. Here are five teams that are looking to rebuild their rosters:
Atlanta Falcons
After Dimitroff was handed the keys to this franchise, he almost immediately parted ways with the Falcons over-30 club, cutting veterans Rod Coleman (DT) and Alge Crumpler (TE) among others. Last year’s roster featured 19 rookies and 11 first-year players. The percentage of those numbers who will be starting or be major contributors next season will likely grow under new head coach Mike Smith.
The Falcons will benefit from owning an array of picks in the first three rounds of the draft. They will pick five players among the first 68 chosen (owning picks 3, 34, 37, 48 and 68). That gives them an incredible amount of flexibility on their draft board. They could move down in the first round, or they could package a couple of their second rounders to move back up into the first round if they see a player that they like. Either way, it seems like the Falcons finally have the franchise in the right hands - the hands of people who care about it more than they do themselves (ahem… Bobby Petrino).
Miami Dolphins
Bill Parcells has a great track record with cleaning up rosters and rebuilding teams. When he took over football operations for the Cowboys in 2003, they had suffered three straight 5-11 seasons. Two years later (2005), they missed the playoffs by one game, and in 2006 they reappeared in the playoffs. With the benefit of Parcells hires in the coaching staff and Parcells players on the roster, the Cowboys went 13-3 and won the NFC East without him last season.
Now, although he won’t be coaching, he will be having a tremendous influence on both the coaching staff and the front office. He already hired several of his Dallas assistants to coach in Miami and Dallas V.P. of College and Pro Scouting Jeff Ireland as his general manager. More importantly, he has already begun to remake their wretched roster, adding players like Chris Crocker, Jason Ferguson and Nathan Jones on defense and Justin Smiley, Josh McCown and Ernest Wilford on offense.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers started rebuilding two seasons ago under Mike Nolan but were held hostage by many veterans who wouldn’t give up their positions. However, they figure to be much lighter going into this season, losing five players over 30 — Larry Allen, Trent Dilfer, Marques Douglas, Derek Smith and Bryant Young. It’s clear that they have some young talent on the defensive side of the ball (Nolan’s area of expertise), but they are still lacking at the offensive skill positions.
Their main hang-up is the position of quarterback where Alex Smith has yet to prove himself worthy of the top overall selection in the 2005 draft. Retooling the passing offense should be a goal with new offensive coordinator Mike Martz in place. The 49ers need everything from wide receivers to offensive linemen in abundance to be more successful in 2008 - and to keep from another coach rebuilding this team.
Kansas City Chiefs
Is it good news or bad news that a team that went 4-12 has 12 starters over 30? It seems to be bad news when they don’t really have any players who are in their prime (23-28). In addition to those 12, there are 29 players who have played two or fewer seasons in the league. The Chiefs (especially head coach Herm Edwards) are hoping that those younger players are ready to show their potential now, as the once-proud franchise is growing impatient with mediocrity.
The Chiefs have talent in a lot of places, but they need to get younger in several key spots. Along the offensive line, they have almost no starting talent; In the secondary, they are aging quickly; and their skill positions on offense are lacking outside of receiver Dwayne Bowe. The Chiefs have been on a run with their last few first-round picks, and hold 10 picks in this year’s draft. They had better use them wisely.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles have managed to remain competitive while making their transition. They are not afraid to release vested veterans who are popular with fans; they make all their moves with the best interest of the football team in mind. They had 15 starters last season who had been in the league for five seasons or fewer, while still holding veterans in key position (QB Donovan McNabb, S Brian Dawkins).
Don’t be fooled by the presence of the veterans, though, as the Eagles are just a season or two away from a complete overhaul. Many believe that the Eagles themselves feel they have a Super Bowl-caliber roster and are giving McNabb one more shot to win it. If/when he doesn’t, Kevin Kolb will take over a team with an immense amount of talent. As such, they will be looking to add more powerful offensive linemen and more dynamic wide receivers to help Kolb’s transition into the starting role as smooth as possible.
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