Torgo

Our former assistant GM Billy Devaney is currently having yet another rough season as GM of the Rams.  

That crossed my mind when I recently heard Mr. Blank attribute the recent Falcons success to three key hirings, starting with Rich McKay and followed by Thomas Dimitroff and Mike Smith.  

Hearing that from Mr. Blank and hearing the beginnings of anti-Devaney rumblings in the St. Louis media reminded me of the way that the media here (especially the sports radio stations) widely blamed McKay for anything and everything that had gone wrong in Atlanta in 2005-2007.  If it rained, it was McKay's fault. 

Some of it was way off base.  For example, Jeff Schultz over at the AJC pinned the team's horrid 2003 offseason and draft on McKay.  And yes, it was a terrible offseason.  The team traded away its first round draft pick for wide receiver Peerless Price, who they signed to a long term deal.  The other key free agent of that offseason was defensive back Cory Hall, who signed a five year contract.  And the key player of that draft class was safety Bryan Scott in the second round, followed by fullback Justin Griffith in round four, and players named Jon Olinger, LaTarence Dunbar, Waine Bacon and Demetrin Veal in the late rounds.

(Side note:  that Falcons draft had a classic Mel Kiper moment.  The one pick of the bunch that Darth Helmet Hair blasted was Griffith in the fourth.  He said the pick didn't make any sense to him, because with Dunn and Duckett, the team certainly didn't need another running back.  Kiper missed that Griffith was a fullback, and Atlanta's long time starting fullback Bob Christian had just announced his retirement after suffering major concussions the prior season.  The irony is that the one pick that Kiper openly criticized turned out to be the only one of the bunch that panned out for Atlanta.)

So yes, the personnel moves in 2003 were rather dubious.  But blaming McKay is utter nonsense.  For the record, Rich McKay was the general manager of the Buccaneers at the time.  He didn't come to Atlanta until 2004.  The guys at the AJC might as well blame Sean Payton for last year's collapse of the Panthers.

Need proof that McKay wasn't so bad as GM?  Never mind that he built a Superbowl winning roster in Tampa.  Instead, just look at the current roster of the Falcons - four full offseasons since he handed over the GM duties to Dimitroff.  

John Abraham was a McKay acquisition, as were Roddy White, Jonathan Babineaux, Brent Grimes, Tyson Clabo, Justin Blalock, Ovie Mughelli, Stephen Nicholas and Eric Weems.   A big knock on McKay back in 2007 was that none of "his" players made the Pro Bowl.   That was rather obvious after 2007 - no Falcons players made the Pro Bowl at all in the wake of The Bobby Petrino Experience.  But six of the nine Falcons that appeared in the most recent Pro Bowl were brought into the organization by McKay.



Some (but certainly not all) of the general fan base now realizes that Arthur Blank isn't just being kind to his top executive when he includes McKay among the hirings that brought about the team's improvement.  McKay had outstanding drafts in 2004 and 2005, and even brought aboard a good supply of prospects in that dismal 2007 season.

And perhaps one day even Jeff Schultz will come around and recognize McKay's positive impact on building this franchise.