Tillman had a great run with the Riders but his time in Edmonton wasn’t particularly memorable for good things. Trading Ricky Ray for Steven Jyles and trying to justify that it’s a smart football move remains mindboggling. I’m not sure how to read him. Was his time in Edmonton just a blip or a sign that the league has changed too much for him between the Riders gig and Edmonton and passed him by. I’d be curious to know how things work behind the scenes there in Hamilton with Tillman as consultant and Austin as GM as to who does what. We give Austin a fair bit of credit but it could be Tillman who’s going out and finding most of these players. Then again, Tillman may just be in an advisory role and not be heavily involved in player personnel matters.
Saskatchewan had Getzlaf, Dressler, Bagg, Swain all in the lineup for the second half of the season when the team went in the tank. The only starting receiver they lost was Taj Smith who missed all of October. The fact of the matter is that the Riders were fairly healthy in the second half of the season aside from Durant. How many games Dressler had with Durant is irrelevant. When Durant went down Taman needed to find a QB who could get him the ball when it was obvious Joseph and Sunseri could not. The Riders could have easily challenged Calgary to be in the Grey Cup game. Instead, their fans had to watch their team put in an outstanding defensive effort in the west semi only to watch Taman’s big move to replace Durant, Kerry Joseph, throw 5 picks. Most of those moves you mention are great but they occurred in the offseason. He had a championship caliber team that, when it needed him to make a move in season as it started to go of the rails, stood pat, major fail.
I find it very hard to evaluate GM’s. I don’t think we always know what goes into making a decision. One that may seem very obvious to make, or completely senseless, might have circumstances behind it that we’re not aware of and that make it far less simple. Or a GM might be taking (dis)credit for the work of others (scouts and what-not).
I find Popp interesting in that respect. Draw up this list like this five years ago and let’s see where he stands. Yet he didn’t suddenly forget how to do his job.
Just watched both Zach Collaros and Trevor Harris. Young Gale looks pretty good too. You've got to give Barker some credit here for bringing them in and developing them. Solid. The other thing about Barker was, as both GM and HC, stepping down as HC when he could hire Milanovich. These are all great GM moves. Not to mention the getting of Ray. Barker's record really stands up.
Taman tried to get Burris but they wanted Dressler and half our o line. I don’t think you can put last season on Taman. The qb that this team developed to be their number 2 went to Winnipeg and played pretty well. There was no reason to believe based on pre season that Sunseri wasnt good enough to play. Nobody is really expecting your starter to miss half the season.