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- May 27, 2005
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I must admit I'm so tired of New England's dynasty. It's certainly impressive running on almost 20 years now. It's also interesting that its the only dynasty in the salary cap era. So, in that sense the NFL got exactly what it was looking for in competitive equity.
The more I look at how the Patriots approach team-building, the more I realize that gone are the days of out-talenting the competition. I remember back to those old-school dynasties. The Dolphins from the early 70's, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Dallas. Those teams were absolutely stacked with elite talent.
From that standpoint, I think it's hard to compare teams from pre-salary cap to now. Most teams maybe have two or three elite players and even the bad teams don't seem to be able to keep talent. I remember back to the 1974 Steelers draft. Four hall of famers from one draft: Swann, Lambert, Stallworth and Webster. Today, how many of those players could a team keep after their rookie contracts?
Which finally leads me to my point. Yes, you still want elite players. Obviously, in the best case scenario at quarterback, pass rusher, left tackle and corner. That's probably it salary-cap wise. So I really like the approach the Dolphins are currently taking. Draft and sign players who are versatile. In that way, if injuries hit the team is more prepared to handle them.
Let's be honest, the New England approach has worked. I know a lot of people will point to Tom Brady and say that's why. He's a big part of it. But Brady really doesn't have to do as much as many other quarterbacks either. He doesn't often need to carry a team the way Aaron Rodgers or Matt Stafford (when he's going good) do.
Not a knock on Brady, but we are talking about an efficient, conservative offense that doesn't challenge down the field that often. When they do, it's the mismatch with the tight ends mostly.
If you can't out-talent the opposition like Jimmy Johnson used to do, the next best approach is to out-coach them (we have no idea there yet), get versatile players etc. Maybe Miami is finally on the right track?
The more I look at how the Patriots approach team-building, the more I realize that gone are the days of out-talenting the competition. I remember back to those old-school dynasties. The Dolphins from the early 70's, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Dallas. Those teams were absolutely stacked with elite talent.
From that standpoint, I think it's hard to compare teams from pre-salary cap to now. Most teams maybe have two or three elite players and even the bad teams don't seem to be able to keep talent. I remember back to the 1974 Steelers draft. Four hall of famers from one draft: Swann, Lambert, Stallworth and Webster. Today, how many of those players could a team keep after their rookie contracts?
Which finally leads me to my point. Yes, you still want elite players. Obviously, in the best case scenario at quarterback, pass rusher, left tackle and corner. That's probably it salary-cap wise. So I really like the approach the Dolphins are currently taking. Draft and sign players who are versatile. In that way, if injuries hit the team is more prepared to handle them.
Let's be honest, the New England approach has worked. I know a lot of people will point to Tom Brady and say that's why. He's a big part of it. But Brady really doesn't have to do as much as many other quarterbacks either. He doesn't often need to carry a team the way Aaron Rodgers or Matt Stafford (when he's going good) do.
Not a knock on Brady, but we are talking about an efficient, conservative offense that doesn't challenge down the field that often. When they do, it's the mismatch with the tight ends mostly.
If you can't out-talent the opposition like Jimmy Johnson used to do, the next best approach is to out-coach them (we have no idea there yet), get versatile players etc. Maybe Miami is finally on the right track?
