Should Mike Zimmer have been fired or only Rick Spielman?
JoeBanzai
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First round picks are very important to building a good team.
In his first two years Rick Spielman drafted Adrian Peterson (a no brainer as Peterson had dropped several spots because of injury) and traded a first round pick to acquire Jared Allen.
Very good moves.
Since then he has selected exactly one guy in the first round, who turned out to be a superior player;
Harrison Smith.
Here's a look at the rest. Where they were picked and how many games they started for the Vikings;
Horrible selections 12
Matt Kalil (number 4 overall) 66 starts.
Christian Ponder (number 12 overall) 36 starts.
Sharrif Floyd (number 23 overall) 24 starts.
Trae Waynes (number 11 overall) 53 starts.
Laquan Treadwell (number 23 overall) 16 starts.
Mike Hughes (number 30 overall) 7 starts.
Teddy Bridgewater (number 32 overall) 28 starts.
Jeff Gladney (number 31 overall) 15 starts.
Garrett Bradbury (number 18 overall) 45 starts.
Sam Bradford (number 14 overall pick traded to Eagles) 17 starts.
Cordarrelle Patterson (number 29 overall) 22 starts.
Percy Harvin (number 22 overall) 43 starts.
Spielman also traded out of the first round one time.
Some of these guys were talented ballplayers and got hurt or went crazy, and Bradbury might not be a total bust.....yet, but some of these guys weren't even NFL qualified.
The ongoing offensive line problem has been a big issue as well with O'Neill being the only above average guy drafted. Bradbury was supposed to be a superb player and was benched last year for an admitted lack of effort. When your QB, who eats up a lot of your salary cap, has little or no mobility, getting offensive lineman who can pass block should be a priority. Cutting your left tackle before the season with no option other than an injured first round pick rookie wasn't that brilliant either.
Rick also liked to grab those 7th rounders getting 32, (yes 32) of them in his 15 years as GM. 2 of those guys ended up contributing to the team, and none of them (surprise) became star players.
To be fair, Spielman did better in the second round picking guys like Eric Kendricks, Dalvin Cook and Brian O'Neill.
Mike Zimmer came in and improved the defense that had averaged #26 in points allowed the previous 3 years to averaging #6 for the next 6 years.
Then came 2020;
They lost the entire defensive line, with some injured and some were let go for salary reasons. They also lost both starting cornerbacks and the starting "slot" corner, lured away by big money offers and finally LB Anthony Barr played in just 2 games because of injury. The addition of Michael Pierce at Nose Tackle was negated as he opted out for the season because of covid.
Three of the 8 players lost had been to the pro bowl in 2019 and Barr had gone 4 times previously. Defense drops to 29th in points given up.
Then came 2021;
Pierce, Danielle Hunter and the reacquired Everson Griffen play in only half the games due to illness/injury, new addition at cornerback Bashaud Breeland is a disaster, while Patrick Peterson plays well. Defense improves slightly, to 24th.
They lose 6 games by 4 points or less, all of those games coming down to the final play or OT.
Zimmer rubs a lot of people the wrong way, but I would think his track record that shows he could have improved the defense next year.
If the Vikings decided to get rid of Spielman and figured the new GM would want to bring in a new Head Coach of his own, I guess that makes sense, but I worry that the Vikings got rid of the guy who really knows defense and that's where this team really needs help right now.
Ownership needs to choose the right GM who can draft better and a good Head Coach or the Vikings might become the...........................Detroit Lions.
Comments
GM and Coach HAVE to be on the same page.
Which did not happen in Miami.
Yes, very good point.
I am then assuming that the GM needs to be hired first and he gets to more or less pick the HC unless someone gets offered both jobs.
Zimmer did a lot of good work for the Cowboys.
I like his no nonsense way of coaching, it seems that I am in the minority these days.
I have read that it may have been a difference of opinions regarding Tua in Miami. Something to the extent that Flores wasn't a believer in Tua as opposed to the GM's confidence in Tua.
I agree that it was time for Zimmer. A head coach needs to be the head coach; not calling plays. Their job is to steer the boat - not to row the boat. All you had to do was look how the defense finished each year under him. Yes, there were injuries but to drop off that much was embarrassing.
As for Spielman, at first I was a bit ticked. But then I started to think of how long he's been here (15 years) and I also started to think about the high draft picks over the years that have not done much. Maybe he's on par with other teams GMs in that respect - who knows? But they're not paid and retained to be on par. 15 years is a long time for a GM if you're not reaching that end goal of a super bowl.
I did not go to GM school but I could never figure out the philosophy of compiling a whole bunch of lower round picks. I guess they figure greater volume = greater chance to hit on the picks? Personally, I would have traded 3-4 away for a higher pick (especially in years where there was a bunch of talent in the draft). Things might have been different if they would have gotten some good O lineman in the last few years.
They need to bring in someone that won't "clean house". Vikings have a lot of talent, a great new stadium and new practice facilities.
.....
Here in Cowboys country, I used to often hear people wishing the Cowboys had fired Garrett and replaced him with Zimmer. That talk softened quite a bit the last few years, but it's still talked about for sure.
He lost almost the entire defense 2 years ago, expecting to get it back to where it was in one year seems unfair.
He didn't like to play rookies and he should have cut Breeland right after his social media comments.
I just hope they don't blow the whole team up, they are not that bad.
Both.
Now trade Cousins.
Erik
Zimmer, Flores and Nagy will all get head coaching jobs.
Nagy lead the Bears to the playoffs with Trubisky. Fired with a winning record.
Either management or Flores wanted Tua, the other didn’t. (Just me speculating) Miami made a mistake firing him.
Zimmers message just got old. I think paying that kind of money at the time for Cousins looked good at the time but hasn’t panned out with playoff victories. I don’t think the blame can be 100% on Cousins. But looking forward the QB position has changed drastically in just 4 short years. I think a change of scenery for both would be beneficial. I can think of 14 teams that would welcome Cousins.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Fire both, Zimmer can't recognize talent when he has it, Spielman paid crazy money for a QB (Cousins) that guaranteed they would be OK to average at best (which they were until they became bad this year). If they had re-signed Keenum, they could have spent the extra funds on other needs. Couldn't have have possibly been worse, probably better. Yikes.......
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They will need someone to play QB
He never came right out and said it, but I don't think Zimmer wanted Cousins. If you decide to have a guy like Cousins as your QB, you need to be able to pass block or you are just wasting your money.
With last years defense losing 8 starters, you know they were going to be bad. Zimmer couldn't rebuild fast enough and he went with too many free agents and didn't play a couple of pretty solid young DB's already on the roster.
I would have kept Zimmer for at least another year and seen if he could fix the defense. Spielman needed to go. I do see that this will give the new GM a choice of bringing in "his guy", I hope he brings in a good one.
If Danielle Hunter and Michael Pierce both play next year fully recovered from injury, the defense will get a lot better.
I think the Vikings and Ravens need to take a look at their conditioning practices. Way too many injuries every year. Is it just bad luck or something else?
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.