| keg in kc |
07-30-2011 07:24 AM |
I went to bed literally seconds after my right 53 post last night, so I guess I should fill in some details on what I think that means. It's just a philosophical cliche to at once outline the type of player (and character) with whom they want to build the team as well as describe what kind of team that they want it to be. Individually they want team-oriented players who both work and play hard. Football players rather than athletes, and they might not fit squarely into the physical prototype that characterizes the league as a whole. This does not mean they're trying to build a team on the cheap or that they don't want the most talented players they can find, simply that they're looking for the most talented players that fit exactly the mold they're looking for. Talent and character are not mutually-exclusive concepts. So if you can find a guy who's a star but not a 'me first' guy, a player who's going to push to the wall, and then beyond for his teammates, that's who you want. And you use these type of guys to build the best team you can. And that team, as a unit, is the right 53. It's not just a collection of players, like you're playing franchise mode in Madden and filling out the roster with the 53 guys who have the highest stats, it's about building a group of players who can co-exist and execute at the highest possible level. It's a team concept.
That's basically what I think that phrase means. And I could be wrong in my interpretation. Scott Pioli could read that and laugh in my face. But that's what I think it means.
As far as associating what Pioli has done with what Carl Peterson did, I don't really see it. I mean, in a sense, every GM does the same thing: they're all trying to build the best roster in a certain philosophical image. But I don't think Pioli's concept, both for a team and for what he's looking for in individual players, and Peterson's concept line up all that well. I also think Carl gave more leeway and power to his coaches than Pioli does. That is to say, I think Pioli probably has a much stronger hand on the wheel. He wants to build a team a certain way, a team that plays a certain way, and hired a coach that matches him philosophically, whereas Peterson seemed to go through the flavor of the month both with players and with coaches, Marty to Gun to Dick to Herm, offense to defense to whatever the **** that was.
Oh, and I also think that, once the team has a solid enough core established, you can begin to take the occasional risk, to bring in a few players that might fall outside the norm, philosophically. Like bringing in a Randy Moss or a Corey Dillon or an Albert Haynesworth or a Chad Johnson. Players who are so supremely talented that you bring them in despite character or attitude concerns, because you think at that point that your team is good enough, and the character in your lockerroom strong enough, that the potential reward is worth the risk.
I'm not sure the Chiefs have reached that point quite yet. I think they're probably still in the molding stage, have a young enough roster that maybe they don't want to risk a step back or a setback in terms of chemistry. We'll see with the signings this weekend.
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