PurplePTSD: Spielman Gets A Modest Evaluation In The Athletic's GM Rankings

Press release from the PurplePTSD:

December 3, 2021

I’m among the increasingly scarce group of writers who believes that Rick Spielman is good at his job. There’s no debating that he has made more than his fair share of mistakes. Nevertheless, he has defied expectations by assembling talent in free agency and has also had some great hits in the NFL Draft. It’s this mixed bag alongside the team’s relatively modest win totals that has led to Spielman not ranking particularly high in The Athletic‘s GM rankings.

First off, their methodology. Mike Sando thinks that it isn’t super fair to compare a GM who has been on the job for less than a year to one who has been working as a GM for a decade or more. That’s a reasonable enough conclusion. The Spielmans of the world have an extensive track record to evaluate. The new GMs don’t, and it’s likely they were brought in because the franchise was doing poorly. So, I’m on board with Sando implementing some structure to his piece. It allows for a more accurate ranking system. The more experienced GMs get evaluated alongside other experienced GMs.

The opening tier considers those who have been in charge for 10+ years. Slick Rick is part of this group.

Unsurprisingly, Bill Belichick takes the top spot. No one can reasonably quibble with this ranking. From there, the debate can start. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th spots are assigned to (in order) Kevin Colbert, John Schneider, and Mickey Loomis. Somewhat fittingly, Spielman gets the 5th spot in the GM rankings. It’s a perfectly pedestrian spot for a Vikings team that often resides in football purgatory. Here is Sando’s assessment:

It is the upward mobility, or lack thereof, that concerns many fans. Minnesota’s Leadership Trinity – Kirk, Zim, and Slick Rick – are good but not great. They’ve never been outright lousy. They’ve never been legit Super Bowl Contenders. The last time the purple made some noise was in 2017, the year before Captain Kirk arrived. The current trio, then, has failed to actually challenge for a SB.

Now, fans and writers alike can find perfectly sane reasons to place the blame on any combination of these three leaders. There’s unlikely to be much of a consensus for who is primarily responsible for the Vikes setting up shop in Lackluster Land, but those three are the main leaders. The praise or blame, very rightly, will primarily rest with them.

Perhaps the Vikings have what it takes to still turn their season around. The depth will again be tested, though there will be key players returning, Michael Pierce and Dalvin Tomlinson foremost among them. Ideally, the team gets healthy at the right time, allowing them to peak as the playoffs arrive. The Leadership Trinity will hopefully get one more shot in the playoffs before any decisions need to be made.

This press release was produced by the PurplePTSD. The views expressed here are the author’s own.