massraider
Footballguy
Bill Belichick--Smart guys will tell you that building a winner is one thing, but maintaining one is much harder. Belichick refuses to mortgage the future for the present, trading away Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins for draft picks, and yet still maintained a strong defense. Went 3-1 the first 4 games with two different inexperienced QBs, and continually keeps the players motivated. Probably in the top 3 in coach of the year talk for the past 15 years. I can't make much of an argument against him. Team is constantly, constantly, better than the sum of the parts.
Andy Reid--There was one point this season when everyone realized all at once that the Chiefs have been killing it since middle of last year, and Reid has quietly been killing it in KC with pedestrian WRs, his most dynamic weapon on IR for the better part of two years, and his best pass rusher on IR for half the season. Any AFC West fan will tell you the Chiefs never beat themselves, and always seem to outsmart their opponent. Having one of the best records in the league with a QB that can't throw it further than 15 yards is really impressive, and despite the cries of 'CLOCK MANAGEMENT!!' that have followed him to KC from the hyenas in Philly, Reid is one of the better coaches in the league.
Jack Del Rio--I don't believe he is one of the game's top strategists, his value has been in infusing a young team with confidence, and the game-winning two point conversion in New Orleans week 1 set the tone. No coach has had more gambles pay off this year, some high profile gutsy calls have worked out. Oddly, that might also be why he isn't the coach of the year. The fact that the Raiders couldn't put teams away, and maybe played to the level of their competition hurts him here. I say oddly, because compared to where this team was when he took over, one could make an argument that with this talent they shouldn't have been in so many close games.
Jason Garrett--Yo......this team was 4-12 last year. No one thought Dallas had a championship defense, and suspensions robbed them of their top two pass rushers. They lost a Pro Bowl QB right off the bat, plugged in a 4th round QB, and had the #1 seed wrapped up with weeks to spare. Underrated coaching job, especially coaching amidst the pressure and circus that Dallas always is.
Mike Mularkey--A weird choice? Maybe, and he won't win, but he deserves some props. 6 months ago, everyone with a typewriter was making 'Exotic Smashmouth' jokes, and he was on preseason lists of hot seat candidates. He built an ofense for the players he had, an offense no one was running, and the Titans were a tough out all year, going from 3-13 to 8 wins this year, at least. This team beat the Lions, Packers, Broncos, and Chiefs ths year. I love when someone that everyone is kicking comes back and proves everyone wrong, and Mularkey did that.
Ben McAdoo--6 wins last year, and 10 wins this year. He has a QB on the downswing, no running game to count on, and the Giants have gone 8-2 the last ten weeks, and swept the NFC #1 seed. Aside from Cowboys, not a ton of impressive wins over top opponents, but they beat the teams they played. He got effort from bonus baby free agents, and re-energized a fading locker room.
Dan Quinn--The Falcons sort of snuck up on people early on, after the Quinn honeymoon last year, things cooled off considerably. Getting Matt Ryan to play at the top of his game, and getting solid defensive effort from a bunch of rookies and cast off vets. Can wrap up #2 seed next week. Quinn, like Del Rio, might be a beneficiary of an Exec of the year as much as being a coach of the year himself.
Adam Gase--Solid candidate, and should be among top choices, IMO. 6-10 last year, and no one liked the direction this team was going. 6 wins to 10 wins, and this team started out 1-4, with the lone win coming over the Browns in OT. Amazing turnaround this year, getting the team to tear off 9 wins in 10 games after that is unreal. He got this record with Tannehill putting up pretty much the same numbers as last year, and getting great production from afterthought RB Jay Ajayi.
Exec of the Year Candidates
I'm a personnel/draft geek, so I admit these choices interest me more. Plus, I always believe grading a front office is more quantifiable than a coach.
Bill Belichick--No splashy FA moves, but brought in Chris Hogan, Chris Long, re-signed Blount, and drafted Malcolm Mitchell, Joe Thuney, Elandon Roberts. Acquired picks for Chandler Jones, Jamie Collins, and probably gained a 4th or 5th round comp pick in 2018 by signing Michael Floyd for a few weeks. Belichick the GM finds guys that are good at doing one or two things well, and BB the coach puts the players in a spot to do those things.
Chris Grier--Olivier Vernon walked, Lamar Miller walked, and the team got better. Grier traded down with the Eagles, getting their starting MLB, and watched Laremy Tunsil fall into their lap, with an assist from a gas mask bong, not a popular move at the time, but so far, so good. He also brought in Andre Branch, and got some good play from him, and Isa Abdul-Quddus, who was valuable when Reshad Jones went down. Probably not a front runner here as his draft was unimpressive overall, but deserves a mention.
Reggie McKenzie--I believe Reggie deserves exec of the year more than Del Rio does coach of the year, and his 2016 was solid, but not sure if he had the best 2016 of any exec. The Raiders turnaround was much more of a product of previous moves by Reggie, like drafting Mack/Carr/Cooper. However, he did sign Osemele and Bruce Irvin, both great FA moves, but Sean Smith and Reggie Nelson it can be argued have not paid off. He re-signed Donald Penn, a guy many Raiders fans thought was done. Penn was a Pro Bowler. Picked up Perry Riley as a free agent, and Jalen Richard was signed after a tryout, he wasn't even a priority UDFA. All the Raiders draft picks made the team, as did 6 UDFA. Very fair to note that the Raiders had all kinds of money, and no big contracts, so Reggie has pretty much had a blank check, and hasn't had to make tough decisions that guys like Belichick have been making for years. He has been adding free agents/UDFA and draft picks as well, excuse me, better than anyone for a few years now.
Jon Robinson--Worked to build a team around their players, focusing on the O-line, drafting Conklin, signing Ben Jones, turned the #1 pick into Jack Conklin, Derrick Henry, and a 1st and 3rd next year. Made an unpopular move in getting DeMarco Murray, and made some solid 2nd tier FA moves in Rashad Johnson and Rishard Matthews. Sebastian Tretola and Kevin Byard contributed as rookies, and all that without getting anything from Kevin Dodd (IR). Titans had what looks to be a very, very solid draft. Very good offseason.
Jerry Jones--Jerrah for exec of the year! I know, sticks in my throat as well. But results are results. Without a ton of cap space, Jerry managed to not lose anyone, and draft his QB and RB for the forseeable future. Jerry stuck with Garrett, and drafted his season-saving QB in the 4th round. Dak wasn't his first choice? Doesn't matter, they drafted him. Draftees Maliek Collins and Anthony Brown both contributed, and mark my words, Charles Tapper is gonna be a player for them. He didn't make any amazing moves in FA, but had biggest impact draft in the NFL.
Jerry Reese--Hey, anyone can spend a bunch of money on good players, right? Not right. Not even close. Getting big ticket FA's to fit is difficult, and Snacks Harrison, Olivier Vernon, and Janoris Jenkins were ALL moves that were criticized, and all have paid off. Re-signed JPP, drafted Eli Apple (another unpopular move), Sterling Shepherd, Darian Thompson (who was playing a lot before season-ending surgery) and Paul Perkins. He also got some solid play from 2nd tier FAs like Keenan Robinson and Kelvin Sheppard. Always give extra credit when unpopular moves work out.
Howie Roseman--No exec made more massive moves than Howie did. He put himself in a position to get his QBOTF by trading some overpriced bad fits to MIA, drafted Wentz, re-signed Malcolm Jenkins, Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry, Lane Johnson, Zach Ertz, and signed Nigel Bradham, Rodney McLeod. Then traded Sam Bradford for MIN 1st rounder in 2017, re-acquiring some draft capital he gave up in the Wentz deal. The Eagles may have finished the season badly after a strong start, but things are going in the right direction.
Thomas Dimitroff--I'm a big fan of his offseason. Signed cheap vets that helped this year, like Clayborn, Shelby, and even Sean Weatherspoon. Made some big ticket moves that also paid off in Alex Mack, Mohammad Sanu, Killed it in the draft with Keanu Neal, Deion Jones, Austin Hooper, and De'Vondre Campbell. Re-signed his RT, Ryan Schraeder, to an extension in season, a move which will probably result in a bargain RT through 2021.
Andy Reid--There was one point this season when everyone realized all at once that the Chiefs have been killing it since middle of last year, and Reid has quietly been killing it in KC with pedestrian WRs, his most dynamic weapon on IR for the better part of two years, and his best pass rusher on IR for half the season. Any AFC West fan will tell you the Chiefs never beat themselves, and always seem to outsmart their opponent. Having one of the best records in the league with a QB that can't throw it further than 15 yards is really impressive, and despite the cries of 'CLOCK MANAGEMENT!!' that have followed him to KC from the hyenas in Philly, Reid is one of the better coaches in the league.
Jack Del Rio--I don't believe he is one of the game's top strategists, his value has been in infusing a young team with confidence, and the game-winning two point conversion in New Orleans week 1 set the tone. No coach has had more gambles pay off this year, some high profile gutsy calls have worked out. Oddly, that might also be why he isn't the coach of the year. The fact that the Raiders couldn't put teams away, and maybe played to the level of their competition hurts him here. I say oddly, because compared to where this team was when he took over, one could make an argument that with this talent they shouldn't have been in so many close games.
Jason Garrett--Yo......this team was 4-12 last year. No one thought Dallas had a championship defense, and suspensions robbed them of their top two pass rushers. They lost a Pro Bowl QB right off the bat, plugged in a 4th round QB, and had the #1 seed wrapped up with weeks to spare. Underrated coaching job, especially coaching amidst the pressure and circus that Dallas always is.
Mike Mularkey--A weird choice? Maybe, and he won't win, but he deserves some props. 6 months ago, everyone with a typewriter was making 'Exotic Smashmouth' jokes, and he was on preseason lists of hot seat candidates. He built an ofense for the players he had, an offense no one was running, and the Titans were a tough out all year, going from 3-13 to 8 wins this year, at least. This team beat the Lions, Packers, Broncos, and Chiefs ths year. I love when someone that everyone is kicking comes back and proves everyone wrong, and Mularkey did that.
Ben McAdoo--6 wins last year, and 10 wins this year. He has a QB on the downswing, no running game to count on, and the Giants have gone 8-2 the last ten weeks, and swept the NFC #1 seed. Aside from Cowboys, not a ton of impressive wins over top opponents, but they beat the teams they played. He got effort from bonus baby free agents, and re-energized a fading locker room.
Dan Quinn--The Falcons sort of snuck up on people early on, after the Quinn honeymoon last year, things cooled off considerably. Getting Matt Ryan to play at the top of his game, and getting solid defensive effort from a bunch of rookies and cast off vets. Can wrap up #2 seed next week. Quinn, like Del Rio, might be a beneficiary of an Exec of the year as much as being a coach of the year himself.
Adam Gase--Solid candidate, and should be among top choices, IMO. 6-10 last year, and no one liked the direction this team was going. 6 wins to 10 wins, and this team started out 1-4, with the lone win coming over the Browns in OT. Amazing turnaround this year, getting the team to tear off 9 wins in 10 games after that is unreal. He got this record with Tannehill putting up pretty much the same numbers as last year, and getting great production from afterthought RB Jay Ajayi.
Exec of the Year Candidates
I'm a personnel/draft geek, so I admit these choices interest me more. Plus, I always believe grading a front office is more quantifiable than a coach.
Bill Belichick--No splashy FA moves, but brought in Chris Hogan, Chris Long, re-signed Blount, and drafted Malcolm Mitchell, Joe Thuney, Elandon Roberts. Acquired picks for Chandler Jones, Jamie Collins, and probably gained a 4th or 5th round comp pick in 2018 by signing Michael Floyd for a few weeks. Belichick the GM finds guys that are good at doing one or two things well, and BB the coach puts the players in a spot to do those things.
Chris Grier--Olivier Vernon walked, Lamar Miller walked, and the team got better. Grier traded down with the Eagles, getting their starting MLB, and watched Laremy Tunsil fall into their lap, with an assist from a gas mask bong, not a popular move at the time, but so far, so good. He also brought in Andre Branch, and got some good play from him, and Isa Abdul-Quddus, who was valuable when Reshad Jones went down. Probably not a front runner here as his draft was unimpressive overall, but deserves a mention.
Reggie McKenzie--I believe Reggie deserves exec of the year more than Del Rio does coach of the year, and his 2016 was solid, but not sure if he had the best 2016 of any exec. The Raiders turnaround was much more of a product of previous moves by Reggie, like drafting Mack/Carr/Cooper. However, he did sign Osemele and Bruce Irvin, both great FA moves, but Sean Smith and Reggie Nelson it can be argued have not paid off. He re-signed Donald Penn, a guy many Raiders fans thought was done. Penn was a Pro Bowler. Picked up Perry Riley as a free agent, and Jalen Richard was signed after a tryout, he wasn't even a priority UDFA. All the Raiders draft picks made the team, as did 6 UDFA. Very fair to note that the Raiders had all kinds of money, and no big contracts, so Reggie has pretty much had a blank check, and hasn't had to make tough decisions that guys like Belichick have been making for years. He has been adding free agents/UDFA and draft picks as well, excuse me, better than anyone for a few years now.
Jon Robinson--Worked to build a team around their players, focusing on the O-line, drafting Conklin, signing Ben Jones, turned the #1 pick into Jack Conklin, Derrick Henry, and a 1st and 3rd next year. Made an unpopular move in getting DeMarco Murray, and made some solid 2nd tier FA moves in Rashad Johnson and Rishard Matthews. Sebastian Tretola and Kevin Byard contributed as rookies, and all that without getting anything from Kevin Dodd (IR). Titans had what looks to be a very, very solid draft. Very good offseason.
Jerry Jones--Jerrah for exec of the year! I know, sticks in my throat as well. But results are results. Without a ton of cap space, Jerry managed to not lose anyone, and draft his QB and RB for the forseeable future. Jerry stuck with Garrett, and drafted his season-saving QB in the 4th round. Dak wasn't his first choice? Doesn't matter, they drafted him. Draftees Maliek Collins and Anthony Brown both contributed, and mark my words, Charles Tapper is gonna be a player for them. He didn't make any amazing moves in FA, but had biggest impact draft in the NFL.
Jerry Reese--Hey, anyone can spend a bunch of money on good players, right? Not right. Not even close. Getting big ticket FA's to fit is difficult, and Snacks Harrison, Olivier Vernon, and Janoris Jenkins were ALL moves that were criticized, and all have paid off. Re-signed JPP, drafted Eli Apple (another unpopular move), Sterling Shepherd, Darian Thompson (who was playing a lot before season-ending surgery) and Paul Perkins. He also got some solid play from 2nd tier FAs like Keenan Robinson and Kelvin Sheppard. Always give extra credit when unpopular moves work out.
Howie Roseman--No exec made more massive moves than Howie did. He put himself in a position to get his QBOTF by trading some overpriced bad fits to MIA, drafted Wentz, re-signed Malcolm Jenkins, Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry, Lane Johnson, Zach Ertz, and signed Nigel Bradham, Rodney McLeod. Then traded Sam Bradford for MIN 1st rounder in 2017, re-acquiring some draft capital he gave up in the Wentz deal. The Eagles may have finished the season badly after a strong start, but things are going in the right direction.
Thomas Dimitroff--I'm a big fan of his offseason. Signed cheap vets that helped this year, like Clayborn, Shelby, and even Sean Weatherspoon. Made some big ticket moves that also paid off in Alex Mack, Mohammad Sanu, Killed it in the draft with Keanu Neal, Deion Jones, Austin Hooper, and De'Vondre Campbell. Re-signed his RT, Ryan Schraeder, to an extension in season, a move which will probably result in a bargain RT through 2021.
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