LET'S GO KWESI!

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@SFVikeFan said:
I mean I don't get the whole he doesn't have experience in football personnel complaints.

8 years at SF in R&D.  What do you think he did?  Design helmets, shoulder pads? Personnel evaluation.  Scouts watch tape and grade technique.  He compiles data.  You marry the two.

What do you think PFF is doing?  Why are they so popular with fans, they do EXACTLY what he's done.  Except he spent 7+ seasons in SF surrounded by football people and scouts and not "fans".  Is out of the question he didn't learn talent evaluation from the 49ers?

Analytics is already here dude.  This is an exciting movement to me.  Let scouts scout, then marry their evaluations with the analytics.  Belichik was ahead of his time in that he evaluated every damn possible variable to gain an edge, sadly including cheating with spying to deflated footballs, but he was constantly searching for anything to give his team an edge.

The margin for wins and losses is razor thin.  Look at us this season.  

I'm thrilled to hire a guy who is the smartest guy in the room, who listens, who learns.  We have tried the grizzled old guys with loads of experience who can't adapt or change. 

But let's not pretend this is some hedge fund manager whose only NFL experience is running FFL.  

First off - 100% I hope Kwesi is the best GM we ever had - premise

Nowhere I have seen a poster indicate that he was just a FFL guru or as another poster wanted as a strawman said that someone claimed he was a No Nothing???  

I get the novelty and excitement of having a new GM, I hope it works out.

But is it a decision that cannot be questioned?  

Let me put it this way:  Did the 49'ers fill his R&D position with someone else?  I don't think so.  Do the Vikings have or ever had a position in Research?  I don't see one.  I have never heard of the position he did for 7 years.  Was he a consultant in that position while doing other consulting work or was it a FT position with a salary?  I do not know but it looks like a created position to me.  Just saying. 

Now his 2 years with Cleveland was in an executive position that is on every organization's chart and to me that is experience in the NFL as an executive.  I get that he is brilliant and that is great wonderful I am pulling for him.......but I also expect a real learning curve with some mistakes along the way that a more experienced NFL'er would not have made. 

I guess I am in the Doubting Thomas position.... show me the Money/results.

Right now, I am very cautiously optimistic and will be very curious who he hires as the HC - first major decision.  I don't want a Ryans - 1 year as DC or even a McDaniel 1 year as OC with his ties to 49'ers.  I hope he makes a better decision then just old tie or allegiances.

Hope for the Best but these decisions can be questioned without being used as a strawman argument where someone puts words in your mouth, right?

  

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This hire feels a lot like when the Red Sox hired Theo Epstein to me. I say that as a Sox Fan (yeah... Life really sucked in the 80s/90s). I'm sure I'm drawing meaningless parallels, but it just feels similar to me.

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Official Vikings update 

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I know some people were/are concerned about Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in regards to scouting and the fact that they are not going to do a lot of changes to the scouting department right now. It makes no sense to make changes there just before the NFL combine, draft and free agency. That would be dumb as hell. 

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https://www.instagram.com/vikings/tv/CZN...=copy_link

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I'm very excited about KAM.  This blurb found on vikings nfl site (finally updated) has me on the KAM train...

5. An eye for data

Adofo-Mensah in June spoke at the NFL’s Coaching Summit, which is regarded as one of the most collaborative and informational league meetings on an annual basis.

Adofo-Mensah's session focused on how he evaluates the quarterback position, and included data and metrics that provide a quantitative view to grading a quarterback's short, medium and deep ball accuracy.

"[Analytics] is about evolution, not revolution," Adofo-Mensah said. "We take this framework that has been used for years, and we're just applying it to different things. We're creating decision rules, and we're determining how those decision rules will help us in the future.

"Hope is not a strategy," he added. "There are lots of things that can occur in the future, and it's our job and obligation to study them, understand the risks and choose a course of action that will put us in a good situation no matter what happens."

As he mentioned, analytics is about evolution not revolution.  He will take a hard look at what the the vikings team picture is today, what it needs to be in the near, mid and long term and start making changes.  I'm looking for changes that won't be so disruptive that we start over, but evolve over the next few years and see meaningful results.  If we are 8-9 now, how about 11-6 next year, 13-4 ...

The fact that his focus or study revolved around the QB is even more intriguing.  In the past we seemed to be hope driven.  This person or that person added would finally solve the problem, make us better, but it never seemed to make sense nor did it work (obvious statement). I think R.S. showcased a lot of that via the accumulation of draft picks (one of these has to work) and free agency signings in the past few years.  That is a shitty strategy that obviously hasn't worked.  I'm personally looking forward to seeing his mindset and actions unfold.

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Very exciting!  We have a decision and new lead administrator.  I wish him all the best success!