How long does it take to build a champion?

saintswhodi · 01-25-2005, 11:15 AM

This is a key question to me. Many people say, we need to look at this position and this position and this one before we look at qb. My question is, how long does that process take? What we are talking about doing is getting a frugal free agency team to spend money on key positions AND to draft well when they have not shown the acumen to do so. SO let's say all goes as planned. We get Edge Hartwell, we get a decent LT, we draft a safety and away we go. These players are ALL learning a new system. If our coach doesn't get an extension, they may be learning another new one in a year depending on team success. The qb we have may be learning a new system. Meanwhile Joe Horn is getting older, Charles Grant needs a new contract, Stallworth needs a new contract, LeCharles needs a new contract, players that we did draft and who have performed will need to be extended. But we don't yet have a champion. So Joe Horn, who is right now the life of our offense retires. Because we are so keen on going after D, we have not addressed this need so it becomes a need in another season. McKenzie needs a new contract, but he is 30. Mitchell may or may not be the answer at safety so we may need to address that. So basically, we are talking about several seasons of fixing a D while offensive players retire or become cap casualties or get traded or whatever. SO then we have our D, maybe, but no O. And I would HATE to imagine Brooks without Joe. HATE IT. So we are looking at the minimum two seasons before we are fielding a respectable D as it appears Venturi may be hanging around for at least one more. We also need a DT, I forgot about that. So we will be addressing that after next seaosn if not this one.

Sorry about the rant, so here's my point. Why is it that whenever we talk about fixing this team, if anyone says QB he instantly gets reminded of 5 other positions someone feels there is a greater need for? I have a couple of people say we can win with this qb, I have heard NUMEROUS others say simply there isn't anyone else with his "talent" that we can get. But what I see is, for at least two more years we will be fixing this D. If McCarthy goes we get one new offense and if Haslett goes after another sub-par season we get another. Even supporters of our qb admit it is a scary proposition to have him learning a new offense and having us trying to win while he is doing that. So why wouldn't we fix qb sooner rather than later? While we still have Joe. While the draft is deep at key positions? I just don't understand. I don't see how bringing in two or 3 new players to our scheme will make us THAT much better in one year. Maybe some do. But I do see how fixing the qb position can make us a better TEAM immediately. No more false love, no more great qb sorry team, none of that. The locker room becomes a better place and people respect the players around them, not hear crickets while your qb speaks to the team before the most important game of the season but a newcomer,MM, gets a roaring response. Discension from you KEY position on the team has a trickle down effect. So someone tell me, if we don't address qb with urgency, how long will it take for us to build a champion?

01-25-2005, 11:15 AM	#1
saintswhodi 5000 POSTS! + Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 6,941	How long does it take to build a champion? This is a key question to me. Many people say, we need to look at this position and this position and this one before we look at qb. My question is, how long does that process take? What we are talking about doing is getting a frugal free agency team to spend money on key positions AND to draft well when they have not shown the acumen to do so. SO let's say all goes as planned. We get Edge Hartwell, we get a decent LT, we draft a safety and away we go. These players are ALL learning a new system. If our coach doesn't get an extension, they may be learning another new one in a year depending on team success. The qb we have may be learning a new system. Meanwhile Joe Horn is getting older, Charles Grant needs a new contract, Stallworth needs a new contract, LeCharles needs a new contract, players that we did draft and who have performed will need to be extended. But we don't yet have a champion. So Joe Horn, who is right now the life of our offense retires. Because we are so keen on going after D, we have not addressed this need so it becomes a need in another season. McKenzie needs a new contract, but he is 30. Mitchell may or may not be the answer at safety so we may need to address that. So basically, we are talking about several seasons of fixing a D while offensive players retire or become cap casualties or get traded or whatever. SO then we have our D, maybe, but no O. And I would HATE to imagine Brooks without Joe. HATE IT. So we are looking at the minimum two seasons before we are fielding a respectable D as it appears Venturi may be hanging around for at least one more. We also need a DT, I forgot about that. So we will be addressing that after next seaosn if not this one. Sorry about the rant, so here's my point. Why is it that whenever we talk about fixing this team, if anyone says QB he instantly gets reminded of 5 other positions someone feels there is a greater need for? I have a couple of people say we can win with this qb, I have heard NUMEROUS others say simply there isn't anyone else with his "talent" that we can get. But what I see is, for at least two more years we will be fixing this D. If McCarthy goes we get one new offense and if Haslett goes after another sub-par season we get another. Even supporters of our qb admit it is a scary proposition to have him learning a new offense and having us trying to win while he is doing that. So why wouldn't we fix qb sooner rather than later? While we still have Joe. While the draft is deep at key positions? I just don't understand. I don't see how bringing in two or 3 new players to our scheme will make us THAT much better in one year. Maybe some do. But I do see how fixing the qb position can make us a better TEAM immediately. No more false love, no more great qb sorry team, none of that. The locker room becomes a better place and people respect the players around them, not hear crickets while your qb speaks to the team before the most important game of the season but a newcomer,MM, gets a roaring response. Discension from you KEY position on the team has a trickle down effect. So someone tell me, if we don't address qb with urgency, how long will it take for us to build a champion?