The Lions Sleep Tonight game thread

Even as much as Ted respects and owes Ron Wolf, I can't see him hiring, promoting and grooming Eliot unless the kid is earning his stripes. I think Ron would feel the same way, maybe even more so as he knows what it takes to succeed and win in this league.

ICYMI Ted's shop is high on grinders and self-effacing types, not on lightweights and self-promoters (the latter a big reason IMO why TT let the otherwise highly-capable Andrew Brandt go). Eliot's public profile is nearly non-existent and I don't think what little we know about him qualifies as douche or silver spoon material.

Sure seems like he has been earning his stripes.

Pro Personnel Assistant - 4 yrs

Asst Dir of Pro Personnel - 3 yrs

Asst Dir of Player Personnel - 1 yr

Dir of Pro Personnel - 3 yrs

Dir of Player Personnel - current

These moves/promotions look like he is being given every opportunity to learn all aspects of the organization. I don't think Thompson promotes him as a favor to (Ron) Wolf.

Earning? Yes.

Earned? Not yet.

And I agree with you, but Trophies (who you were in the response chain to) was saying he hoped TT would step down if Wolf got an offer in order to keep Eliot.

Yes. I do feel that way. That's why I said it. I believe Eliot will become a great GM for this team, for decades.

Imagine if Wolf had taken a more serious look at his own tenure, and the team's best interests back in the day. He should have handed off to Holmgren and stepped down, while keeping an advisory capacity with the Packers. Instead, Holmgren went his own way, and we were subjected to Mike Sherman as GM just a few years later. And he killed us.

Yes.

Yes Sherman as GM killed us. But other than being able to keep harnessing Brent in the HC role what in Holmgren's record as a GM suggests that he'd have excelled for the Packers in that capacity?

Besides if he hadn't gone to Seattle, who would have Ron been able to fleece to get Ahman Green? 

Holmgren was horrible in Seattle as a GM.

Wolf's biggest issue was stepping down when he did. Holmgren had already raided the cupboard on his way to Seattle, already thinning the staff. There was nobody in the organization who was truly prepared to take on the role also. The guys who did do well had a few more years to prepare before taking on the job.

IMO it's a bit like playing a young QB too early: you're asking for disaster because they're not ready for the role at that level. It's not an easy job, and there's a lot of moving parts. I do feel that GM/Head Coach is too big a job for one person. How often does that ever work?

I know what his Settle tenure was. However, there might have been more continuity had Ron Wolf handed the keys to Holmgren vs. Sherman, after a failed Ray Rhodes trial at HC.

We are talking about keeping the band together here. Eliot Wolf is a part of that. IMO, a better option than Schneider. That's my opinion. Not looking for anyone to agree with it. Just throwing it out there.

And, I agree with this too. Not saying Holmgren would have been the die all. But, there would not have been a staff raiding, and we would have maintained some great continuity. Far better than what we saw happen. Add to that, we may have won another SB or two.

Doesn't matter. I simply used it to illustrate a point that you don't let a guy who can be your GM for decades walk because your current GM wants to stay in his position for 2-3 more years.

Don't know if Eliot is the preferred candidate among 1265 power brokers but he'd be well advised to do whatever it takes to get in that position. Stay, or go elsewhere with an understanding its for experience only and the door is open for a return as GM. 

Potentially the best GM job in the league. Why? All financials great, facilities amazing and getting better, and most importantly, no owner to meddle.

Don't know about the GM job that I hope doesn't open for another decade or so, but I have a question about the stupid call in the Hags/Lions game: Since this was a reviewable play (inside of two minutes and potential change of possession on a turnover), why don't they allow the video refs to change that call when it's an obvious mistake? Seems to me a pretty easy fix.

Still disturbing.

We have been failing to ask a crucial question.  What the hell would TT do after retirement?  He'll be here for the next 20 years, even if it's just as a scout.

Eliot has been prepping for the GM job since he was a child and he practically grew up at 1265.

You couldn't make a more perfect candidate if Ron and Ted made a baby together and for all we know they did, and that draft prodigy's name is Eliot Thompson-Wolf and will be the next GM of the Green Bay Packers. 

He's been a candidate in the making for 25 years.

"Eliot’s scouting career unofficially began at age 10, when he joined his father in film sessions at Lambeau Field. His scouting abilities continued to develop as he filed his first report at age 14 for the Atlanta Falcons.

Overall, he has spent more than two decades in official and unofficial capacities working as a talent evaluator. Wolf has contributed to the Packers’ draft preparations since 1993, 23 consecutive drafts overall. He has held nine NFL scouting internships – five with the Packers, three with the Falcons and one with the Seattle Seahawks" 

http://www.packers.com/team/st...b5-8d85-11e979ac48b3

We're in good hands

Dr. Bob and BartManDude,

You both put that so perfectly. That is my sentiment to a T. We won't lose Thompson. Not at all. He will stay on, and he'd make one hell of an advisor and scout. I'll add that I believe this has been their plan all along, should those circumstances present. Ted is all about what is best for his team, and that would include making way for Eliot when the time comes.

Eliot is our GM of the future, and I don't believe there is anywhere else he would rather be than in Green Bay, running the Packers.

Scouting is the 1 thing he still really likes, and he still thinks of himself as just a scout.