Could Bruce Allen be smarter than we think?

[Prowl33]

Playing devils advocate here... but is it possible?

Not talking football smarts, but just business and in general. Everyone makes mistakes big and small, but lets look at some of the major decisions he has made.

Brings in Shanahan, gives him control to pick players and coaches, minus the RG3 incident which was likely more Danny driven and Bruce going along with it because he had to. A coach with proven success that most everyone thought was a great decision. He coached us for 4 years which is longer than anyone else Danny has kept around, giving him ample time to make something happen.

Then Shanny gets canned, Bruce takes over the GM role, were there any great candidates last year? Tries to handle the role, realizes he isnt really fit to handle that responsibility, so Scot becomes available and Bruce goes after him because he is obviously an excellent choice.

Just another look at it

[riggofan]

Personally I don't think Allen (or Snyder for that matter) are dumb. I think they're smart enough guys. Their big flaw IMO is arrogance.

[DEHog]

Sm was "availible"...but he may have said no???

[SkinsJock]

Bruce Allen did not bring Mike here - Mike influenced Dan to hire Bruce - Mike thought that no matter who came here to be HC they needed someone - Bruce and Snyder made Mike feel he would have 'control' but they screwed him ...

Bruce is very good at certain things but he's not at all good at knowing which players or coaches to bring in here or anywhere

no doubt, Bruce Allen is smart - he's just not football smart

[markshark84]

Personally I don't think Allen (or Snyder for that matter) are dumb. I think they're smart enough guys. Their big flaw IMO is arrogance.

Agree. I'd say, however, that neither are football smart. That has been proven over and over and over and over again.

Additionally, if Allen left the organization tomorrow, what would be the effects? Does he add value by being in Redskins park? Now that we have a GM in charge of talent selection and management, what is his actual job? Is he in charge of running the stadium, marketing, accounting type functions?

[oj]

Having a high IQ and good judgement are entirely different, we need people with good judgement.

[riggofan]

Personally I don't think Allen (or Snyder for that matter) are dumb. I think they're smart enough guys. Their big flaw IMO is arrogance.

Agree. I'd say, however, that neither are football smart. That has been proven over and over and over and over again.

Additionally, if Allen left the organization tomorrow, what would be the effects? Does he add value by being in Redskins park? Now that we have a GM in charge of talent selection and management, what is his actual job? Is he in charge of running the stadium, marketing, accounting type functions?

Exactly the things you listed. Basically the team CEO and not the job you want the GM doing.

Allen btw has always had a good reputation as contracts/numbers guy. He's definitely done a good job of cleaning up our terrible salary/contract situation and ending some of the bad practices that were killing us for so long.

[Prowl33]

Personally I don't think Allen (or Snyder for that matter) are dumb. I think they're smart enough guys. Their big flaw IMO is arrogance.

Agree. I'd say, however, that neither are football smart. That has been proven over and over and over and over again.

Additionally, if Allen left the organization tomorrow, what would be the effects? Does he add value by being in Redskins park? Now that we have a GM in charge of talent selection and management, what is his actual job? Is he in charge of running the stadium, marketing, accounting type functions?

He is basically running the organization and Snider is the money guy at this point.

[SkinsJock]

Bruce Allen should not be involved in any of the decisions regarding who comes in here to coach or play .. AT ALL

his ONLY expertise is with the contracts and dealing with the agents & maybe suggesting to Dan when it's time for an underwear change

[OldSchool]

I don't think we can really understand how good Bruce is because I feel Dan Snyder runs just about everything and for a 7 figure check Bruce goes along with it. I think Marty would've been very successful if Dan Snyder would've been content to let him run the show. I think Shanny would've turned the Skins around if the Snyder hadn't forced the Griffin deal. Bruce Allen just gets lost in the Snyder messes but good for him he gets a 7 figure salary for his troubles.

[welch]

I think Allen is better than we usually give him credit for being.

[riggofan]

I think Allen is better than we usually give him credit for being.

I agree. He's a former player, obviously grew up under one of the great Redskins coaches, and has been an NFL exec for twenty years. Its not entirely fair to lump him in as Dan Snyder Jr. and say he shouldn't have any input on players or coaches or whatever.

[SkinsJock]

Vinny Cerrato did well and was highly regarded before he came here - he didn't suddenly lose that

Bruce Allen is possibly a lot better than he's shown but the fact is he has not done well after becoming a yes man like Cerrito before him

I'm sure Bruce Allen is a whole lot better than nearly everyone here at THN at determining who are better players and coaches

he just should not have anything to do with what NFL personnel we need to become a better franchise

Bruce Allen's 'influenced by Dan Snyder who knows ZERO

[Kilmer72]

Bruce Allen did not bring Mike here - Mike influenced Dan to hire Bruce - Mike thought that no matter who came here to be HC they needed someone - Bruce and Snyder made Mike feel he would have 'control' but they screwed him ...

Bruce is very good at certain things but he's not at all good at knowing which players or coaches to bring in here or anywhere

no doubt, Bruce Allen is smart - he's just not football smart

I wouldn't blame anyone other than Mike for his lack of success. All you have to do is look at what happened post Elway.

[Irn-Bru]

Allen btw has always had a good reputation as contracts/numbers guy. He's definitely done a good job of cleaning up our terrible salary/contract situation and ending some of the bad practices that were killing us for so long.

I think this is something we all take for granted. Ever since Allen got here, our situation has gone from having a top-heavy roster with lots of dead cap to a pretty tight and efficient distribution among our players. Now that we have someone who can pick talent, I expect that we'll replace our handful of overpaid players in the next 1-2 seasons with people who play better for less money.

[Prowl33]

Allen btw has always had a good reputation as contracts/numbers guy. He's definitely done a good job of cleaning up our terrible salary/contract situation and ending some of the bad practices that were killing us for so long.

I think this is something we all take for granted. Ever since Allen got here, our situation has gone from having a top-heavy roster with lots of dead cap to a pretty tight and efficient distribution among our players. Now that we have someone who can pick talent, I expect that we'll replace our handful of overpaid players in the next 1-2 seasons with people who play better for less money.

I wouldnt conpletely agree. I think last year we had the highest paid offensive line in the league.

[SkinsJock]

Allen btw has always had a good reputation as contracts/numbers guy. He's definitely done a good job of cleaning up our terrible salary/contract situation and ending some of the bad practices that were killing us for so long.

I think this is something we all take for granted. Ever since Allen got here, our situation has gone from having a top-heavy roster with lots of dead cap to a pretty tight and efficient distribution among our players. Now that we have someone who can pick talent, I expect that we'll replace our handful of overpaid players in the next 1-2 seasons with people who play better for less money.

I wouldn't completely agree. I think last year we had the highest paid offensive line in the league.

I think that what FFA was referring to is the big picture here and not nit picking ... we used to have a terrible cap situation

hopefully Snyder gives Scot time to figure out who he needs to keep in the FO and scouting departments and Bruce becomes a part of the FO team and does what he does best - we could get lucky and see great progress in a couple of years ...

[Kilmer72]

Yes he is smarter than we think. He may not be that GM we wanted but look at his family. If genes run in that family then he has smarts. He controls the cap for us. He fills in where needed. He also knows not to talk to the press (WAPO) Need I say more? lol... He is that guy coming off the bench like Reed Doughty. He may not be that super star but, he is a jack of all trades and master of one (the cap). I like him as president and I have faith he will do that job just fine and step in when needed. Nuff said!!!!