Excellent article regarding Xanders...

[crush17]

Here's a great article by TJ "The Dude" Johnson over at IAOFM.

Really raises some great questions. Have a read...

http://www.itsalloverfatman.com/bron...ers-experience

Xanders doesn't have a failure in communication. I can get past the awkward radio interviews or the ungrammatical Q&A (if I must). What he's got is a failure to communicate his failures. For a franchise that now films coaches as they arrive at the airport, it's a complete joke that they won't bare their souls regarding Xanders. Instead, the entire tenure of Xanders under McDaniels is shrouded in mystery.

[SoCalBronco]

I enjoyed this line:

Xanders has contradicted himself because he's an opportunist.

QFT.

[meangene]

Great article. Pretty much nails it.

[Mr. Elway]

Obviously something is amiss with the Xanders situation. He's the odd man out in the new organization. But I don't believe for a second that Elway doesn't realize the man's shortcomings. He's keeping him on staff because the draft is a year-long process that's 70% over, and overhauling the personnel department right now could easily mess up a really important draft. I suspect Elway thinks that Xanders is a decent enough personnel man, and with himself and Fox to contribute to the major decisions, they have enough brain trust in the building to make this draft day a success. But I bet they'll end up ultimately replacing him with a GM who's a better fit.

[Tombstone RJ]

Again, this is more of an indictment of the "Broncos Way" than Xanders. If Xanders has real GM power and only answers to Elway, and if the Broncos continue to lose, the finger will be pointed squarely at Elway and Bowlen, why? Because they didn't hire a true GM to begin with.

I'm sure Xanders will be scapegoated if the team doesn't win due to a lack or talent on the field. That being said, the Broncos know it's much, much, much better if Xanders succeeds in his job and I'm pretty damn sure Elway knows this too. If Xanders fails then the Broncos fail and Elway and Bowlen fails. What is the front office gonna do next if Xanders tanks, bring in a real GM to clean house??

Fact is Xander's success is imperative moving forward and the Broncos know this. They will do what it takes to make sure Xanders is successful, and Fox is the first step in that direction.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Swish.

[bronco0608]

How hard is it really to be a GM? Outside of knowing the CBA, contract law, and player monetary values, any diehard fan could do it in my opinion.

I mean, how hard is it draft a player? Or sign a player that has been performing?

When you have 20 dedicated scouts telling you this or that player is the man, all you really have to do is pull the trigger.

I don't believe Xanders is as big a buffoon as people make him out to be. He's a football guy through and through. Been doing this for years.

Is he going to take Dontay Moch with the 2nd overall pick? No. If you look at Xanders picks the past two years, they haven't been great, but they have been that bad outside a couple of moves (which every GM has to go through).

If Xanders can go follow the Pittsburgh model of consistency with coaching and developing their own players, we should be alright.

[primetime714]

Its an interesting article, but honestly its a bit silly for people to want to know what decisions were all McDaniels and which Xanders was on board with. It was a completely different situation. McDaniels couldn't work with Cutler, Marshall, and Hillis. They didn't fit with his philosophy and his scheme. Xanders couldn't change Josh's personality or coaching if Josh was to stay it was clear those guys would have to go. And if you look at the returns we got in those trades we got decent value for how those players performed under McDaniels. I mean Hillis barely was given an opportunity under McD and that's why we got nothing for him. Cutler and Marshall both provided nice returns in terms of draft pick compensation.

Mike Nolan and McD also clashed. I'm sure any GM would've wanted to keep a defensive coordinator like Nolan, but if the head coach can't work with him and the GM answers to the coach what do you think is going to happen?

The one thing I'd like to know about is his invovlement in the drafts and free agency. I think those are the areas he could've had more involvement in. Our drafts under McD were not great, but also not terrible. I mean in two years we got what should be about 5 starters on offense (Tebow, Moreno, Walton, Beadles, and Thomas) and 2 or so on defense (Ayers, Cox, Bruton/McBath). In free agency the team was moderately successful with Dawkins, Lloyd, Bannan, Gaffney, and others.

So from what I can tell on matters that Xanders might actually have had some control over the team didn't do too poorly. Not great, but let's remember that Josh set the philosophy and direction of this team and in doing so he burned some bridges and forced some personnel changes.

Why then do the Broncos hide Xanders involvement? It's likely cause he was on board with the moves because with Josh at the helm the team didn't exactly have alternatives there and besides anyone that even remotely clashed with Josh was immediately shipped out the door. Would it have been a smart move for Xanders to stand up to Josh? Not at all. He likely kept his head down and mostly just ran our scouting department and a lot of the day-to-day stuff. Not awe inspiring work, but the Broncos are placing blame on McDaniels because he deserves most if not all of it. I personally am willing to give Xanders a chance. Is he the best candidate for the job, no probably not. However I do feel like he has the ability to work within the collaborative front office setup the Broncos are working to build and that's why they kept him.

[bronco militia]

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah......xanders is a p***Y, thats why they hired elway blah blah blah.


some people like the sound of their own voice

[CBF1]

Maybe I missed it, But why is this a GREAT article Appears to me that the guy was never really onboard with Xanders in the first place.

[baja]

This guy read my mail.

[strafen]

I don't think Xanders is totally inept, otherwise he would've been out by now.
I don't think he'll be working with an ultimatum over his head either.
I'm not sure the way things are going to work is by putting a lot on his plate to see how he handles it.
I also don't think he'll have veto power on personnel decisions during the draft. I think is going to be by general concensus and mutual agreement.

[tsiguy96]

Originally Posted by bronco0608

How hard is it really to be a GM? Outside of knowing the CBA, contract law, and player monetary values, any diehard fan could do it in my opinion.

I mean, how hard is it draft a player? Or sign a player that has been performing?

When you have 20 dedicated scouts telling you this or that player is the man, all you really have to do is pull the trigger.

I don't believe Xanders is as big a buffoon as people make him out to be. He's a football guy through and through. Been doing this for years.

Is he going to take Dontay Moch with the 2nd overall pick? No. If you look at Xanders picks the past two years, they haven't been great, but they have been that bad outside a couple of moves (which every GM has to go through).

If Xanders can go follow the Pittsburgh model of consistency with coaching and developing their own players, we should be alright.

agree 100%. some people want to make him out as a total retard who has never earned a shot to do anything in the NFL, when hes been in it for almost 2 decades.

[orangemonkey]

This article is a bunch of BS. What the hell is left to know about Xanders? It's pretty damn simple. Bowlen/Ellis gave all the power to ****head because they bought into his brilliant offensive mind and plan. ****head made all of the decisions, collected yes men and failed miserably. Xanders didn't have the balls to stick up to ****head, Nolan did. End of McD era in Denver.

The Duke was brought in to wreck shop.

[TomServo]

xanders is like a us army general or anyone in the presidents staff who disagrees with the commander in chief.
if you feel That strongly. resign. and quit collecting the full paycheck.

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by bronco0608

How hard is it really to be a GM? Outside of knowing the CBA, contract law, and player monetary values, any diehard fan could do it in my opinion.

I mean, how hard is it draft a player? Or sign a player that has been performing?

When you have 20 dedicated scouts telling you this or that player is the man, all you really have to do is pull the trigger.

I don't believe Xanders is as big a buffoon as people make him out to be. He's a football guy through and through. Been doing this for years.

Is he going to take Dontay Moch with the 2nd overall pick? No. If you look at Xanders picks the past two years, they haven't been great, but they have been that bad outside a couple of moves (which every GM has to go through).

If Xanders can go follow the Pittsburgh model of consistency with coaching and developing their own players, we should be alright.

If it were easy we could staff the rotate the position among the Orangemane members and put the salary back into defense.

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by primetime714

Its an interesting article, but honestly its a bit silly for people to want to know what decisions were all McDaniels and which Xanders was on board with. It was a completely different situation. McDaniels couldn't work with Cutler, Marshall, and Hillis. They didn't fit with his philosophy and his scheme. Xanders couldn't change Josh's personality or coaching if Josh was to stay it was clear those guys would have to go. And if you look at the returns we got in those trades we got decent value for how those players performed under McDaniels. I mean Hillis barely was given an opportunity under McD and that's why we got nothing for him. Cutler and Marshall both provided nice returns in terms of draft pick compensation.

Mike Nolan and McD also clashed. I'm sure any GM would've wanted to keep a defensive coordinator like Nolan, but if the head coach can't work with him and the GM answers to the coach what do you think is going to happen?

The one thing I'd like to know about is his invovlement in the drafts and free agency. I think those are the areas he could've had more involvement in. Our drafts under McD were not great, but also not terrible. I mean in two years we got what should be about 5 starters on offense (Tebow, Moreno, Walton, Beadles, and Thomas) and 2 or so on defense (Ayers, Cox, Bruton/McBath). In free agency the team was moderately successful with Dawkins, Lloyd, Bannan, Gaffney, and others.

So from what I can tell on matters that Xanders might actually have had some control over the team didn't do too poorly. Not great, but let's remember that Josh set the philosophy and direction of this team and in doing so he burned some bridges and forced some personnel changes.

Why then do the Broncos hide Xanders involvement? It's likely cause he was on board with the moves because with Josh at the helm the team didn't exactly have alternatives there and besides anyone that even remotely clashed with Josh was immediately shipped out the door. Would it have been a smart move for Xanders to stand up to Josh? Not at all. He likely kept his head down and mostly just ran our scouting department and a lot of the day-to-day stuff. Not awe inspiring work, but the Broncos are placing blame on McDaniels because he deserves most if not all of it. I personally am willing to give Xanders a chance. Is he the best candidate for the job, no probably not. However I do feel like he has the ability to work within the collaborative front office setup the Broncos are working to build and that's why they kept him.

McD says he made the decisions because no one else would make them. He might be covering his azz but he has a right to defend himself because obviously, he's being scapegoated by the Broncos.

Xanders has much to prove. If he was too weak to call the shots under McD then he might be too weak to call the shots under Elway. Point being, the man has to make his presence known and he has to stick by his guns. If the Broncos fail on the talent side of the ball then he will be scapegoated. However, if the Broncos succeed in having a talented team that Fox can coach up, then Xanders will have the ability to build his resume and perhaps stay with the Broncos or go to a team that will be more traditionally set up.

There's no more excuses for Xanders, he needs to make decisions, enforce those decisions and let Elway just be the PR guy. If he tanks, at least he goes down swinging with no regrets...

[baja]

That will be a challenge for him because he can't even handle soft ball question from a local radio person.

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by baja

That will be a challenge for him because he can't even handle soft ball question from a local radio person.

yep, however I will give him the benefit of the doubt. He might just be a lousy interview...

[Dedhed]

Originally Posted by bronco0608

How hard is it really to be a GM? .... any diehard fan could do it in my opinion.

The ignorance of this is breathtaking.

[Dedhed]

Overall, it's a pretty specious article.

[meangene]

Originally Posted by baja

That will be a challenge for him because he can't even handle soft ball question from a local radio person.

Really... he should just stick to bringing the doughnuts and pizza.

[KipCorrington25]

I agree with the theory he's a future patsy, kept around as insurance to scapegoat later if things don't turn around fast enough. It's actually a good idea if you think about it.