Very Confused about something guys...

[dallaschiefsfan]

I just can't seem to reconcile the mixed messages I seem to hear about this team...from coaches, fans and pundits/experts.

1. Does this team lack talent or not? On one hand, I'm hearing Len Dawson, Herm and others basically say that the players on the field have to play (ie, coaches can't play for them). On the other hand, others speak about how our draft was great last year and that Herm is a good evaluator of talent. Which is it? Herm can't be that great of an evaluator if the guys he drafts can't play. Isn't it Herm/Carl's fault no matter which way you slice the pie? I can't see how this ever falls to the players--they can't help if they were drafted out of order or overpaid as free agents. My take on the talent: O-line definitely lacks talent. Macintosh is fine...just needs to be moved to RT...but we need a solid LT and a new RG. I'm not convinced Nicewonger is the answer at C. Regardless of one's opinions on whether this team lacks talent or not, in my mind, you elevate and build this team around preferred-player types. On defense, Jared Allen and Derrick Johnson are the guys you want the other guys feeding off of. On offense, it's still Tony G. (geeze...he showed SO MUCH "want" yesterday) and Duane Bowe. These players want to win BADLY...and we need more of their tribe.

2. Are we rebuilding or not? This one drives me nuts. I don't believe you can afford to rebuild in the NFL--you have to ALWAYS be rebuilding while you are always competing. I can't understand any other approach as being rational in today's NFL. San Francisco still seems destroyed by their inability to rebuild while they were competing. Having said that, I'm both confused by Herm's intention on moving the old guys (read, Vermeil's guys) out the door, while bringing in Carney. If you're going to develop some players, then develop a kicker. I remember our lack of patience with Saurbraun several years ago and how he became a great punter for other teams. Kickers are rarely "instantly good" in the NFL. Anyway...I can't seem to get a grasp on what we're doing...but "blowing it up" is stupid and not an option in today's NFL.

3. Is Herm a good NFL head coach or not? This is a question that can't be answered long-term...but we can at least evaluate where he is at this point in his career. He's showed an incredible penchant for turning around a terrible defense quickly. The defense still lacks when it comes to giving up the big play...but an improvement from the leaky defense of the Vermeil era. Herm has also instilled some toughness into the team (once again, mostly on defense). At this point, that still makes Herm nothing more than a great defensive coordinator. I'm most concerned about his inability to see a high scoring offense as something that could be coexistent with a great defense. This just seems myopic to me...and truly separates him from his friend Tony Dungy. When Tony came to Indy, he set out to fix the defense...but not at the expense of a machine of an offense. He kept the good OC and let's that unit operate how it operates best. Herm's seemingly blindness to this approach is disturbing. I know you can't compare Green/Manning or any of the other personnel for that matter...but we had a good system in place and seemed to get quite a bit out of guys that didn't necessarily shine in other systems. I feel like many things would have been different if Herm would have made a HUGE effort to keep Saunders OR get an equally quality OC. Instead he gets Solari...a line-guy. This was the first indication that he might never be a Tony Dungy. This could change, but Herm is officially a bust if we don't get a legit OC during the off-season.