Tannenbaum's Biggest Mistakes?

[eaglenj]

There is a very good chance that Tanny will be gone after this year and most of the board here agrees with that. This team hasnt beat a team with a winning record in 2 years, an atrocious testament to futility that should get multiple people fired.

That being said, what would the board consider to be Tannenbaum's top 5 biggest mistakes that led to the disasterous end to the 2011 season and the debacle that we have witnessed in 2012.

[barkus]

there have been many. I would say the hunter situation was one of the most glaring. Even a casual fan can see he was terrible and he did nothing to uprade that position this past offseason. Howard has been an upgrade but that is not saying much, because he is not very good either.

[SlickBri481]

1. Trading up for Sanchez - overrated him as a prospect, made the panic move to trade up for him when Freeman, a player with better physical abilities, would have fallen to us.

2. Drafting Gholston - we've paid for it for years never having a solid pass rusher and forcing Tanny to be gunshy about drafting another one.

3. Allowing Jags to stay on the rosrer past expiration date - Hunter, Smith to name a couple. Panic traded Hunter, but the damage was already done. Howard is backup-caliber player.

4. Mishandling the offensive skill position players - whether it was downgrading the WR corps, failing to bring in veterans and relying on unknowns, or simply missing on picks and talent evaluation, the skill positions are a disaster at the moment.

5. Tebow - do I even need to say anything? The move that probably showed how clueless he was as much as any when it comes to building a solid offense.

[fidelioion]

To me it's the offensive line deterioration.

It was clear the reason this team was moving the ball offensively was because we had the best offensive line in the game. He simply let it deteriorate.

He had a coach that wanted to "ground and pound" as misguided as that philosophy is, it is what the Jets wanted to do.

Keeping the O-line playing at a high level should have been his TOP priority.

[Beerfish]

Tough to say, I would list a few general and not so general ones in no particular order.

- Letting Edwards go and giving Holmes a huge long term contract. Edwards was the better play maker, had more rapport with Sanchez and though a bit weird was not the total ass clown Holmes is. We are now locked into a guy that is a cheap imitation of a #1 WR and has a terrible attitude.

- Sanchez's Extension. I don't know the particulars of the deal, the cap savvy people can elaborate but it seems like they have an extra year of sanchez voluntarily, when he did very little to really justify it and thus we are committed for another full year.

- Wasting later round draft picks. I'm not talking about trading picks to get players they like (Holmes, Edwards, Tebow). I'm talking about giving Rex a pick, picking Sanchez's buddy, tossing them into trades needlessly as if they were garbage. (Leon Washington and a 6th rounder for a 5th rounder.)

- Being too close to Rex and being his buddy. A good GM should work with his head coach but keep enough of a distance so that he does not get dominated by a strong personality and can keep the coach in line.

- Wasting time chasing Aso. We talk about them going after Peyton Manning but they chased Aso for a long long time and did little else during that time, not improving depth and such.

[eaglenj]

Originally Posted by barkus

there have been many. I would say the hunter situation was one of the most glaring. Even a casual fan can see he was terrible and he did nothing to uprade that position this past offseason. Howard has been an upgrade but that is not saying much, because he is not very good either.

Austin Howard does not make or break a team. You can win a SB with him as your RT....

[eaglenj]

Originally Posted by Beerfish

Tough to say, I would list a few general and not so general ones in no particular order.

- Letting Edwards go and giving Holmes a huge long term contract. Edwards was the better play maker, had more rapport with Sanchez and though a bit weird was not the total ass clown Holmes is. We are now locked into a guy that is a cheap imitation of a #1 WR and has a terrible attitude.

- Sanchez's Extension. I don't know the particulars of the deal, the cap savvy people can elaborate but it seems like they have an extra year of sanchez voluntarily, when he did very little to really justify it and thus we are committed for another full year.

- Wasting later round draft picks. I'm not talking about trading picks to get players they like (Holmes, Edwards, Tebow). I'm talking about giving Rex a pick, picking Sanchez's buddy, tossing them into trades needlessly as if they were garbage. (Leon Washington and a 6th rounder for a 5th rounder.)

- Being too close to Rex and being his buddy. A good GM should work with his head coach but keep enough of a distance so that he does not get dominated by a strong personality and can keep the coach in line.

- Wasting time chasing Aso. We talk about them going after Peyton Manning but they chased Aso for a long long time and did little else during that time, not improving depth and such.

I think this list is pretty spot on. The sanchez extension and Aso situation were awful tactical moves.

I do disagree about braylon though....he has something like 25 catches total since we let him go. Holmes is awful, but we needed to sign one of them, it just didnt work out.

[mrcoops]

#1 Trading up for Sanchez when he could have sat at #17 and picked the big-armed, mobile Freeman who would have been an ideal QB for the windy north-east.

# 2 Extending Sanchez for no good reason despite his average at best play.

# 3 Giving a mega deal to known cancer and #2 quality WR Holmes.

# 4 Throwing mid to late draft picks away without getting value in return. Every draft pick is valuable, but Tanny tosses them around like they are worthless.

# 5 Stubborn refusal to draft pass-rushers or address areas of weakness such as RT this off-season.

[BrickHouse]

Originally Posted by SlickBri481

1. Trading up for Sanchez - overrated him as a prospect, made the panic move to trade up for him when Freeman, a player with better physical abilities, would have fallen to us.

2. Drafting Gholston - we've paid for it for years never having a solid pass rusher and forcing Tanny to be gunshy about drafting another one.

3. Allowing Jags to stay on the rosrer past expiration date - Hunter, Smith to name a couple. Panic traded Hunter, but the damage was already done. Howard is backup-caliber player.

4. Mishandling the offensive skill position players - whether it was downgrading the WR corps, failing to bring in veterans and relying on unknowns, or simply missing on picks and talent evaluation, the skill positions are a disaster at the moment.

5. Tebow - do I even need to say anything? The move that probably showed how clueless he was as much as any when it comes to building a solid offense.

This is a very good summary - left out the picks of Ducasse and Wilson as 1st and 2nd round picks that have been busts thus far. Some will say Wilson isn't a bust, but you expect more than a slot CB taken in the 1st round.

[Snell41]

-Drafting Mark Sanchez, and then extending him and guaranteeing big money to him.
-Giving huge guaranteed contracts to the likes of Bart Scott, Calvin Pace, and most notably Santonio Holmes.
-Trading away countless picks in the draft, and not ending up with any quality players to show for it.
-Completely ignoring the offensive line after his first draft.
-Completely ignoring depth at most positions on the team
-Not being an advocate for the offense when the coach is clearly focused solely on the defensive side of the ball

[Untouchable]

The Sanchez extension and the drafting of Gholston are easily his two biggest f*ck ups.

I don't blame him for the actual drafting of Sanchez. I wanted the kid.

I was wrong. Oh well.

[Seagirt]

Originally Posted by Beerfish

Tough to say, I would list a few general and not so general ones in no particular order.

- Letting Edwards go and giving Holmes a huge long term contract. Edwards was the better play maker, had more rapport with Sanchez and though a bit weird was not the total ass clown Holmes is. We are now locked into a guy that is a cheap imitation of a #1 WR and has a terrible attitude.

- Sanchez's Extension. I don't know the particulars of the deal, the cap savvy people can elaborate but it seems like they have an extra year of sanchez voluntarily, when he did very little to really justify it and thus we are committed for another full year.

- Wasting later round draft picks. I'm not talking about trading picks to get players they like (Holmes, Edwards, Tebow). I'm talking about giving Rex a pick, picking Sanchez's buddy, tossing them into trades needlessly as if they were garbage. (Leon Washington and a 6th rounder for a 5th rounder.)

- Being too close to Rex and being his buddy. A good GM should work with his head coach but keep enough of a distance so that he does not get dominated by a strong personality and can keep the coach in line.

- Wasting time chasing Aso. We talk about them going after Peyton Manning but they chased Aso for a long long time and did little else during that time, not improving depth and such.

Agree with all the above. Plus, wasting a 5th round pick on A FULLBACK,: John Conner,- those guys can be had as 7th rounders/FA. Sanchez had rappor with B.Edwards, holmes and Cotchery-- and the FO broke it up. Letting Rex go after his old player, 37 YEAR OLD , Derrick Mason, whose legs were gone. ETC ETC, we could go on....

[Joe W. Namath]

Making calvin pace the highest paid olb at the time.

[chirorob]

Originally Posted by Beerfish

Tough to say, I would list a few general and not so general ones in no particular order.

- Letting Edwards go and giving Holmes a huge long term contract. Edwards was the better play maker, had more rapport with Sanchez and though a bit weird was not the total ass clown Holmes is. We are now locked into a guy that is a cheap imitation of a #1 WR and has a terrible attitude.

- Sanchez's Extension. I don't know the particulars of the deal, the cap savvy people can elaborate but it seems like they have an extra year of sanchez voluntarily, when he did very little to really justify it and thus we are committed for another full year.

- Wasting later round draft picks. I'm not talking about trading picks to get players they like (Holmes, Edwards, Tebow). I'm talking about giving Rex a pick, picking Sanchez's buddy, tossing them into trades needlessly as if they were garbage. (Leon Washington and a 6th rounder for a 5th rounder.)

- Being too close to Rex and being his buddy. A good GM should work with his head coach but keep enough of a distance so that he does not get dominated by a strong personality and can keep the coach in line.

- Wasting time chasing Aso. We talk about them going after Peyton Manning but they chased Aso for a long long time and did little else during that time, not improving depth and such.

Everyone talks about Edwards. Edwards has done NOTHING since leaving the Jets. Holmes was the Jets only threat, and No One here blamed Tanny at the time.

Sanchez's extension, absolutely.

Wasting mid to late round picks, absolutely. #1, you lose the ability to fill out the roster with younger, cheaper players. #2, you can't find a diamond in the rough if you sell off the rough for Tim Tebow.

My problem with Tanny is his general principal of a few stars/ high priced players and a ton of cheap guys. If players feel there is no competition for their job, they will lose their edge to keep it. Security in the NFL is not always a good thing.

[barkus]

the tebow experiment has also been a total disaster. He has contributed little on the field, has accounted for numerous distractions (not of his doing, to be fair), cost a 4th round pick and is being paid 2million dollars to boot.

this team desperately needs a good football guy in charge

[Beerfish]

Originally Posted by chirorob

Everyone talks about Edwards. Edwards has done NOTHING since leaving the Jets. Holmes was the Jets only threat, and No One here blamed Tanny at the time.

Sanchez's extension, absolutely.

Wasting mid to late round picks, absolutely. #1, you lose the ability to fill out the roster with younger, cheaper players. #2, you can't find a diamond in the rough if you sell off the rough for Tim Tebow.

My problem with Tanny is his general principal of a few stars/ high priced players and a ton of cheap guys. If players feel there is no competition for their job, they will lose their edge to keep it. Security in the NFL is not always a good thing.

I don't care at all that Edwards has done nothing since that time. That is hindsight. At the time we had the choice to retain a guy who had played his best football the year before at a cheaper cost or dumping him and signing a total ass clown who was not a viable #1 guy. Edwards has far more chemistry with Sanchez than Tone.

Also his trade up to get Sanchez was a very very good trade up. The flaw was drafting a Qb then handing him the team right off the bat but the actual trade was a steal.

[Rob0729]

From an outsider point of view:

1.) Drafting developmental players and players from small schools/weak conferences high in the draft - Guys like Ducasse, Ellis, Stephen Hill, Coples, etc. may have the measurables to be great players, but can they adapt to the NFL? So far since 2007, only Mohammed Wilkerson can be considered a good pick by the Jets in the first three rounds (Maybe Keller).
2.) Trading away draft picks - Tannebaum is too quick to trade away draft picks. This team is painfully thin because of it. Say what you will about the Pats' drafts, but they have depth in far more areas because of all their picks. Also trading up means that you must hit on your picks since you don't have many picks to fill in the voids if a high pick you traded up for is a bust or disapointment.
3.) Extending Sanchez to "prove" he is a team leader and franchise QB - His contract handcuff the Jets this year and next. I still think he is still starting because of a money decision, not an on the field decision.
4.) Kowtowing to Santonio Holmes - Rumors were that Holmes refused to re-sign with the Jets unless they agreed to not re-sign Braylon Edwards. They paid him a record breaking contract for good, but not great effort in 2010. Although this is more on Ryan, they allowed him to interview and approve Sanjay Lal before they hired him as receivers' coach. Also, the Jets should have cut ties with him after last season and take the short term hit rather than guarantee him the next guarantee of his contract.
5.) Guaranteeing money for Bart Scott, and Calvin Pace to try to sign Nmamdi Asomugha - And a similiar move of guaranteeing Wayne Hunter's and Eric Smith's salaries when they could have cut bait at the end of the season last year. They failed to get Asomugha anyway. Scott is only on the team because he was uncutable and no one would trade for him. These moves also hurt the Jets to address other areas where they painfully thin (RT, WR< and LB).

[Tinstar]

His biggest mistake was taking on a job he was not qualified to do. The man is a numbers cruncher, and was 1 of the best at that.Now, even that is in question with some of the contracts on this team.

[eaglenj]

Originally Posted by Rob0729

From an outsider point of view:

1.) Drafting developmental players and players from small schools/weak conferences high in the draft - Guys like Ducasse, Ellis, Stephen Hill, Coples, etc. may have the measurables to be great players, but can they adapt to the NFL? So far since 2007, only Mohammed Wilkerson can be considered a good pick by the Jets in the first three rounds (Maybe Keller).
2.) Trading away draft picks - Tannebaum is too quick to trade away draft picks. This team is painfully thin because of it. Say what you will about the Pats' drafts, but they have depth in far more areas because of all their picks. Also trading up means that you must hit on your picks since you don't have many picks to fill in the voids if a high pick you traded up for is a bust or disapointment.
3.) Extending Sanchez to "prove" he is a team leader and franchise QB - His contract handcuff the Jets this year and next. I still think he is still starting because of a money decision, not an on the field decision.
4.) Kowtowing to Santonio Holmes - Rumors were that Holmes refused to re-sign with the Jets unless they agreed to not re-sign Braylon Edwards. They paid him a record breaking contract for good, but not great effort in 2010. Although this is more on Ryan, they allowed him to interview and approve Sanjay Lal before they hired him as receivers' coach. Also, the Jets should have cut ties with him after last season and take the short term hit rather than guarantee him the next guarantee of his contract.
5.) Guaranteeing money for Bart Scott, and Calvin Pace to try to sign Nmamdi Asomugha - And a similiar move of guaranteeing Wayne Hunter's and Eric Smith's salaries when they could have cut bait at the end of the season last year. They failed to get Asomugha anyway. Scott is only on the team because he was uncutable and no one would trade for him. These moves also hurt the Jets to address other areas where they painfully thin (RT, WR< and LB).

This point is not talked about nearly enough. Had we not got involved in this Aso thing, we would not have guaranteed those deals to free up the cap room. We also would not have had to "make nice" with Cro, and in turn overpay for him.

The Aso fiasco has hurt this team so much and is not nearly talked about enough.

[Warfish]

Originally Posted by SlickBri481

1. Trading up for Sanchez - overrated him as a prospect, made the panic move to trade up for him when Freeman, a player with better physical abilities, would have fallen to us.

Hindsight. At the time, it was the right pick and decision. Sometimes teh right decision at the time simply doesn't pan out. Thats Sanchez.

2. Drafting Gholston - we've paid for it for years never having a solid pass rusher and forcing Tanny to be gunshy about drafting another one.

Was a consensus pick at that spot. Now, alot of us thought "trade dwon" at that point, but most analysists and teams felt Ghost was guy at that spot, in a year where there was a legit top group, then Ghost. We were outside the top, and got Ghost.

3. Allowing Jags to stay on the rosrer past expiration date - Hunter, Smith to name a couple. Panic traded Hunter, but the damage was already done. Howard is backup-caliber player.

"Rex's Guys" and "Mangini's Guys".

Agreed.

4. Mishandling the offensive skill position players - whether it was downgrading the WR corps, failing to bring in veterans and relying on unknowns, or simply missing on picks and talent evaluation, the skill positions are a disaster at the moment.

Disagree. I think he generally is building the skill spots correctly, vets and draft picks to develop. I think this group gets more discredit than deserves because too many give Sanchez less discredit than HE deserves.

Only mistake IMO is a big-long-deal for Holmes.

5. Tebow - do I even need to say anything? The move that probably showed how clueless he was as much as any when it comes to building a solid offense.

Apparently, the Owner overruled, or so it sure seems now. The less tebow plays, the less believeable it is that Tanny/Rex ever wanted him in the first place.