Braintrust
Ozzie Newsome (GM and executive VP)
George Kokinis (Dir. Pro Personnel)
Erik DeCosta (Dir. College Scouting)
Vincent Newsome (Asst. Dir of Pro Personnel)
Lionel Vital (National Scout)
Joe Hortiz (National Scout)
Strengths
Hitting big late in the first round. Rarely missing early in the first round. Hitting on undrafted free agents. Signing key veteran free agents.
The skinny
Take a look at the list of late first-round talent Ozzie Newsome, his current and former (GM’s like Shack Harris of the Jags and Phil Savage in Cleveland) crew have brought in: linebacker Ray Lewis (26th in 1996), safety Ed Reed (24th in 2002), tight end Todd Heap (31st in 2001), receiver Mark Clayton (22nd in 2005) and guard Ben Grubbs (29th in 2007). At the top of the first, they’ve been just as good – left tackle tackle Jonathan Ogden (4th in 1996), CB Chris McAlister (10th in 1999), LB Peter Boulware (4th in 1997), RB Jamal Lewis (5th in 2000), NG Haloti Ngata (13th in 2006). Add in the likes of Adalius Thomas (186th in 2000), Dawan Landry (146th in 2006), Chester Taylor (207 in 2002) and OL Tony Pashos (173rd in 2003) and that’s a lot of productive players from all rounds during Newsome’s 11 years.
As for veteran free agents, quarterback Steve McNair, receiver Derrick Mason, DE Michael McCrary, TE Shannon Sharpe and DT Sam Adams have all been productive hits. Brian Billick’s role in the drafting and shaping of a great many of these players should also be noted. "; spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i++] = new Array("","Green Bay Packers","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i-1].body = "Green Bay Packers
Braintrust:
Ted Thompson (Exec. VP, GM and Dir. of Football Operations)
John Dorsey, (Dir. of College Scouting)Reggie McKenzie, (Dir. of Pro Personnel)
John Schneider, (Personnel Analyst to GM)
Shaun Herock, (Asst Dir of College Scouting)
Strengths
Hitting on trades, draft choices and undrafted free agents in equal measure.
The skinny
The Packers GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy are just starting to get their footing but judging from the first three seasons, Thompson is going to keep McCarthy well-stocked. Having learned the personnel trade under Ron Wolf in Green Bay, Thompson was with the Pack from 1992 through 1999. Those were good years in Green Bay. Thompson went to Seattle and helped stock that franchise for NFC West dominance then returned to Green Bay in 2005.
Some of the big hits for Thompson and his staff were seen this year – a 2006 undrafted free agent Atari Bigby paid huge dividends, a trade for Giants scrub running back Ryan Grant paid more dividends and the promising heir apparent to Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, could pay more than any. A lot of folks like the way this department works.";
spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i++] = new Array("","Indianapolis Colts","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i-1].body = "Indianapolis ColtsBraintrust
Bill Polian (President)
Chris Polian (VP of Football Operations)
Dom Anile (Sr. Consultant to Player Personnel)
Bob Terpening (Executive VP)
Tom Telesco (Dir. of Player Personnel)
Clyde Powers (Dir. of Pro Personnel)
Bob Ferguson (Asst. to Dir. of Pro Personnel)
Strengths
Tremendous guts and foresight in pulling trigger on big decisions. Excellent at finding players that fit their scheme and building depth. Great success in plugging in “role” free agents.
The skinny
At the end of the 2007 season, all 22 of the Colts position players had played for only one team in their careers. Logically, that team was … Indy. How can you come up with a better referendum on a team’s ability to pick its players? Whether it’s making the (at the time) tough call on Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf, dealing Marshall Faulk and drafting Edgerrin James or finding end of the first-round talents like Tony Ugoh or Joseph Addai in the past two years, the Colts have been tremendous at procuring talent.
Indianapolis has simple offensive and defensive systems and it knows which players will work in that system. A good example of the Colts drafting ability? In 2004, their first pick came in the second round. They used the 44th overall pick on Bob Sanders, the 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. They also got in that draft Robert Mathis, Jake Scott, Jason David and Gilbert Gardner. And coach Tony Dungy has been terrific in getting the most from those players. ";
spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i++] = new Array("","New England Patriots","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i-1].body = "New England Patriots Braintrust Strengths The skinny And that group blocked for Tom Brady – that aforementioned sixth-rounder – in a season that saw the Patriots shatter many of the game’s offensive records. Belichick and Pioli share most of the work and Pioli doesn’t get the outside credit he deserves for the job he’s done. The Patriots’ staff has been cherry-picked over the years (ex-Director of Player Personnel Tom Dimitroff just became the Falcons GM) but as long as Pioli’s and Belichick are doing the personnel bit, the Pats won’t stray far from the top. ";
spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i++] = new Array("","New York Giants","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i-1].body = "New York Giants Braintrust: Jerry Reese, Sr. VP and GM Strengths: Drafting character players. Hitting on mid-level free agents. Doing well late in the first round. The skinny Jerry Reese, who’s just 43 but has been in Giants personnel since 1994, deserves a big nod for that. So too does former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi. And while the acquisition of Eli Manning was chewed apart for the better part of three seasons, Manning and the Giants personnel staff gets the last laugh. Praise also goes to the pro personnel people who brought in Plaxico Burress, Sam Madison, and Kawika Mitchell, all of whom are responsible for big impacts.";
spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i++] = new Array("","Pittsburgh Steelers","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i-1].body = "Pittsburgh Steelers Braintrust Strengths Offensively, the Steelers have complemented the toughness of longstanding vets like Hines Ward and surrounded him with players like Ben Roethlisberger, Santonio Holmes and undrafted Willie Parker. How well the combination of Colbert and coach Mike Tomlin operate remains to be seen. ";
spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i++] = new Array("","San Diego Chargers","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
spt_2008_NFL_scouting_dept[i-1].body = "San Diego Chargers Braintrust Strengths The skinny Little more than a year later, he worked the draft day deal with the New York Giants that netted the Chargers Philip Rivers, Nate Kaeding and Shawne Merriman. In addition to Gates, special teamer Kassim Osgood was another undrafted free agent unearthed. Corner Antonio Cromartie was a risky pick as he was coming off an injury as he entered the 2005 draft. He went to the Pro Bowl this year. In 2006, the Chargers used a second-round pick on Marcus McNeill and he wound up in the Pro Bowl. In 2007, an in-season trade for Chris Chambers swung by the personnel department (a nod here to the pro personnel staff) helped make the Chargers that much more potent. ";
// END editorial data
Bill Belichick (Coach)
Scott Pioli (Vice President of Player Personnel)
Nick Caserio (Director of Player Personnel)
Larry Cook (Scouting Department Consultant)
Ernie Adams (Advisor)
Jay Muraco (College Scouting Coordinator)
Undrafted free agents. Hitting big late in the first round. Shrewd trading. Plugging in veteran free agents. Draft success on Day 2.
When the Patriots won the Super Bowl in 2001 they did so with a sixth-round quarterback they took 22 months earlier, a few leftovers from the Bill Parcells Era (Adam Vinatieri, Troy Brown, Willie McGinest, Ty Law, among others) and a collection of free agent castoffs from other clubs (Mike Vrabel, Antowain Smith, Otis Smith). That was lightning in a bottle. To stay at or near the top over the next six seasons culminating in 2007’s perfect regular season, they had to populate their roster with talent without the luxury of drafting early in the first round. Take their offensive line: the Patriots snuck ahead of the Jets via a draft day trade in 2001 to take left tackle Matt Light in the second round. They spent the final pick in the first round on guard Logan Mankins in 2005. Center Dan Koppen was a fifth-round pick in 2003. Right guard Stephen Neal was an undrafted free agent who didn’t play college football the Pats originally signed in 2001. And right tackle Nick Kaczur was a third-round pick in 2005.
Chris Mara, Sr. VP of Player Eval
Kevin Abrams, Asst. GM
David Gettleman, Dir of Pro Personnel
Marc Ross, Dir of College Scouting
Jerry Shay, Asst. Dir of College Scouting
Ken Sternfeld, Asst. Dir of Pro Personnel
Hasty? Not really. Even though they went 10-6 in the regular season before winning the Super Bowl, the Giants’ depth helped it withstand injuries. Meanwhile, their blend of youngish veterans (Justin Tuck, Chris Snee, David Diehl, David Tyree, Gibril Wilson, Osi Umenyiora, Matthias Kiwanuka) and rookies (Aaron Ross, Steve Smith, Jay Alford, Kevin Boss and Ahmad Bradshaw) salved the wounds of dysfunction that had been festering.
Kevin Colbert (Dir. of Football Operations)
Doug Whaley (Pro Personnel Coordinator)
Ron Hughes (College Scouting Coordinator)
Joe Greene (Special Asst)
Mark Gorscak (College Scout)
Phil Kreidler (Pro/College Scout)
Unearthing player after solid player to fit their system. Not getting caught up in measurables but evaluating practical football ability. Steady, steady, steady.
The skinny
Their 2007 draft didn’t yield many returns last season but the Steelers’ under unassuming Director of Football Ops Kevin Colbert have been consistently terrific. Defensively, they can lose a guy like outside linebacker Joey Porter and plug in a player like James Harrison who goes to the Pro Bowl. The lion’s share of the Steelers defense has been added since Colbert took over, including standouts like safety Troy Polamalu, nose tackle Casey Hampton and outside linebackers Clark Haggans and Larry Foote.
A.J. Smith (Exec. VP and GM)
Buddy Nix (Asst. GM, Dir. of Player Personnel)
Ed McGuire (VP of Football Ops)
Jimmy Raye (Dir. of College Scouting)
Dennis Abraham (Dir. of Pro Scouting)
John Spanos (Asst. Dir. of College Scouting)
Guts. Lots of guts. Strong in undrafted free agency and on draft day at the top of the draft. Willing to make trades. Excellent at finding players who complement each other on the field.
Led by unflinching old-school personnel man, A.J. Smith, the Chargers have gone from the worst team in football to one of the best in a short time. Smith, who learned from George Allen in the USFL and Bill Polian in the NFL, methodically worked his way up the personnel ladder in 27 NFL seasons. He went from Buffalo to San Diego to work for his friend, highly respected John Butler in 2001. When Butler died from cancer in April 2003, Smith was made GM. Later that month, the team signed tight end Antonio Gates as an undrafted free agent.