The Randle Injury - One Year Later

It was Saturday, January 27, 2024, and the New York Knicks were in the process of routing the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden for their 6th win in a row. Julius Randle was driving to the basket when he was fouled by Jamie Jaquez with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter. The power forward tumbled to the floor, grabbing his right shoulder; the first sign that something was very wrong. You could've heard a pin drop in the building as his teammates helped him up and he raced to the locker room, hunched over in obvious pain. 

The preliminary reports said that Randle had suffered a dislocated right shoulder and that he would be out approximately 2-3 weeks. As it turned out, 2-3 weeks was extremely optimistic. Randle wound up missing the rest of the season, including the playoffs. He would eventually undergo surgery. 

The Knicks, even without Randle, finished with a record of 50-32, good for second place in the Eastern Conference. But depleted by injuries to other players, including O.G. Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, they simply ran out of gas against the Indiana Pacers in the second round, and lost the series in seven games, leaving their fans to wonder what might've been.

Imagine for a moment that Tom Thibodeau had pulled Randle out of the game with 5:29 left and the score 112-96? The Heat, for all intents and purposes, looked cooked that night - pardon the pun. Of all the criticisms Thibs has faced over the years, the one that has stuck is that he tends to ride his starters like a bronco bull.

Imagine a season in which Randle is healthy. Instead of winning 50 games, the Knicks win 55, maybe more. They go into the playoffs with a starting rotation of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Anunoby, Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein, with Donte DiVincenzo, Precious Achiuwa, Deuce McBride, Bojan Bogdanović and Robinson coming off the bench. They most certainly would've beaten the Pacers, and they likely would've extended the Boston Celtics to a seventh game before losing.

Of course the real question is whether, given that "what if" scenario, Leon Rose would've pulled the trigger on the KAT deal? There's no doubt that since his arrival from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns has been a tremendous addition to this lineup. And with Hartenstein signing with the Oklahoma City Thunder over the summer, he has given the Knicks something they haven't had since the days of Patrick Ewing. A center that can score AND rebound.

Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference at all. Maybe once Hartenstein bolted, the die was already cast. It's no secret that the Knicks had been pursuing Towns for well over a year. And with Robinson's return date still up in the air, I seriously doubt Rose would have entrusted the center position to a rotation of Randle, Achiuwa and Jericho Sims.

But given the lack of production from the bench, it's fair to say that a roster that included DiVincenzo would've been deeper, even if it was weaker overall, if that makes any sense. And let's be honest, some of the losses the Knicks have suffered this season were a direct result of a non-productive bench and an overworked starting rotation. This is unsustainable. Either Thibs starts trusting his bench more, or Rose has to make a trade to strengthen it. 

With the Knicks up against the second apron, it's going to have to be the former. Fortunately, Thibs appears to have gotten the memo - finally. Against the Memphis Grizzlies, he went to his bench early and often. The result was a season-high 52 points from the bench. Of course, the Knicks blew out the Grizzlies, but the point is the starters didn't have to play 38 - 40 minutes, like they've been doing most games. Brunson actually sat out the entire fourth quarter. 

The goal for the Knicks in the second half of the season should be to have the starters average no more than 34 minutes per game. To do that, the bench has to produce when they're on the court. The more they contribute, the more Thibs will trust them. But the reverse is also true: the more Thibs trust his bench, the more productive they will likely be. It cuts both ways.

For now, though, the Knicks are 31-16, pending the outcome of tonight's game against the Denver Nuggets. That's good for 5th best in the NBA, even with a low-scoring bench. When / if Robinson comes back, they will be even better and deeper. 

How the Rantanen Deal Impacts Drury's Pursuit of J.T. Miller

In the first blockbuster trade of the 2024-25 NHL season, the Colorado Avalanche sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Martin Necas, Jack Drury and two draft picks - a 2025 second rounder and a '26 fourth rounder. The Chicago Blackhawks, as part of the deal, agreed to retain 50 percent of Rantanen's salary and sent Taylor Hall to the Hurricanes in exchange for a '25 third round pick. 

Leaving aside for the moment that Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson is a shoo-in for the patsy of the year award for getting a lousy third rounder in exchange for eating half of $9.2 million and relinquishing a still serviceable forward, the Avs are the clear winners here. They get an outstanding young winger under contract next season who is having a career year and a solid checking center for a pending UFA they likely weren't going to be able to re-sign. 

While Rantanen is a better player than Necas, he's not that much better. The fact is this trade does nothing to address Carolina's two biggest needs: elite goaltending and depth at center. Two years after losing Vincent Trocheck to the New York Rangers, the Hurricanes still haven't found a replacement for him. Jesperi Kotkaniemi is at best a 3C. Not only aren't the Canes a better team, you could make the argument they're worse off now than they were before the trade. And if it turns out they can't re-sign Rantanen, this will go down as the most expensive rental in league history. 

Now for the main course: How does this trade impact Chris Drury's pursuit of J.T. Miller? In a word, it improves his chances. With Carolina now seemingly out of the picture and the Vancouver Canucks stuck in a corner, Drury's leverage to land the former Ranger has gone up considerably. Word has it that Miller is pulling a Patrick Kane by informing Jim Rutherford that he will only accept a trade to an Eastern Conference team, preferably the Rangers. If that's so, Drury can wait out his counterpart. 

Stat Boy Steven thinks an acceptable trade would be Filip Chytil, Adam Sykora and a first round pick for Miller (25 percent retained). I would go further and make the first rounder conditional on the Rangers making it to the conference finals. Otherwise, it's a second rounder only. 

Why trade Chytil, especially when he's under contract for the next two seasons at $4.43 million? The reason should be obvious enough. For all his talent, Chytil is a disaster waiting to happen. He missed all but ten games last season after sustaining a concussion in what looked like a rather routine collision with Sebastian Aho of the Hurricanes. Let's face it: every time he gets checked, it's a potential career ender. If Drury can move him for a two-way player that wins face-offs and who scored 103 points last season, he'd be a fool not to.

I know what you're saying - I read your posts on Twitter. Another 31 year old center who's under contract through the 2029-30 season. What on Earth could Drury be thinking saddling the organization with that much term? At least Neil Smith had a Stanley Cup to show for his eleven years in the front office. All Drury has to show for his efforts is two trips to the Eastern Conference finals. But ask yourself this question: if Chytil had been healthy during last year's playoff run, how many more games would the Rangers have won? Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference against a team like the Florida Panthers, or maybe it would've made all the difference in the world. The point is we'll never know. 

What we do know is this: betting on Chytil not to get injured again is like playing Russian Roulette with a loaded chamber. Aside from his leave of absence earlier this year, Miller has missed a grand total of five games over the last four seasons. That's about as durable as it gets in today's NHL. On his first day back in a Rangers uniform he'd be the team's number one center.

Bottom line, unless Vancouver is unreasonable, Drury needs to pull the trigger and make the deal. After going through a hellish December, the Rangers have turned their season around this month. The playoffs are now very much in sight. But making the playoffs is not the goal; winning the Cup is. If J.T. Miller can get them closer to that goal, it's worth taking a shot.

Cohen and Stearns Are Taking a Huge Risk

"The hard part about playing chicken is knowing when to flinch." 

- The Hunt for Red October

If the reports we're hearing are to be believed, the New York Mets have decided they're not going to flinch at all. Their "final" offer of three years, $70 million to Pete Alonso was rejected by his agent, Scott Boras. They have now pivoted to Plan B. Part One of Plan B was the re-signing of Jesse Winker yesterday to a one year, $7.5 million contract. Winker hit .253 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs last season. He will platoon for the DH spot with Starling Marte. The second part of Plan B is addressing the bullpen. With the signing of A. J. Minter to a two-year, $22 million contract, pending a physical, they appear to have done that. Minter was 5-4 with one save and a 2.62 ERA. He should make an ideal set up man for Edwin Diaz. 

Look, do I think Boras overplayed his hand here? Without question. He gambled that the demand for Alonso would be so great that the Mets would have no choice but to acquiesce to his demands. Obviously that didn't happen. And now with pitchers and catchers only a few weeks away, Alonso appears to be on a desert island with few, if any suitors.

That's not the Mets fault. It's not their responsibility to manage the financial affairs of one of their own free agents, even if he is an overall good guy who's popular with his fellow teammates. And it's not the obligation of Steve Cohen to overpay for an asset that the market has already determined isn't as valuable as the player's agent thinks it is. How do you think Cohen got to be so rich in the first place?

But that doesn't mean that Cohen and his GM David Stearns aren't taking a huge risk here. Let's face it, while Juan Soto is a much better hitter than Alonso, without the Polar Bear in this lineup, the Mets are ostensibly repeating the same mistake the Yankees made last season when Soto and Aaron Judge were the primary run producers on the team. That worked out so well that Soto couldn't wait to get the hell out of the Bronx.

Mark Vientos had an outstanding 2024 season. In his first full year in the majors, he batted .266 with 27 HRs and 71 RBIs playing third base for the Mets. There's no guarantee he'll be as productive in his second full year; there's also no guarantee he'll be able to make the transition to first base. Alonso may have had his shortcomings but he was a good first baseman who could be counted on to hit 40 plus home runs per season. Even in a down year, he still managed to hit 35 dingers. His production will be missed.

Maybe all this is just a ploy to get Alonso to reconsider. Get him to realize that the ship is leaving port with or without him, and maybe he'll come to his senses. With Boras as his agent that isn't likely to happen. The only thing old Scott thinks about is his wallet. If he could get $500 million for Alonso to play on the moon he'd do it in a heart beat. That's the problem with choosing agents like Boras. They never consider the interests of their clients; only their own bottom line.

Then there's the rumor - and let's be polite and call it a rumor - that Stearns is pursuing a trade for Vladimir Guerrero, Jr from the Toronto Blue Jays. The 26 year old first baseman batted .323 with 30 home runs and 103 RBIs. He signed a one-year, $28.5 million deal to avoid arbitration. Forget for a moment that any team looking to land him would pay a king's ransom in prospects, he's a pending free agent after this season. And while he probably won't command the same money Soto did, he's not going to be cheap. Think $500 million over 12 years. And keep in mind, before Soto hit the market, I thought his contract would come in around $600 million. I was off by $165 million. To paraphrase Bill Murray in Ghost Busters, "No salary is too high" when it comes to baseball.

For now, this is the Mets projected lineup for the 2025 season:

Francisco Lindor - SS
Soto - RF
Vientos - 1B
Brandon Nimmo - LF
Winker / Marte - DH
Jeff McNeil / Luisangel Acuna - 2B
Francisco Alvarez - C
Tyrone Taylor / Jose Siri - CF
Brett Baty - 3B

Not bad, but hardly the 1927 Yankees. And if the starting rotation doesn't pan out, or if Soto struggles in his first season with the team just like Lindor did in his first season, the Mets will have a tough time competing for a Wild Card spot, much less the division.

Far be it for me to tell Steve Cohen how to spend his money, but I think he should reconsider his offer to Alonso. Maybe Pete isn't worth what he's asking for, but let's be honest, was Soto really worth $765 million? You and I both know the answer to that. If Boras rejected $70 million over three years, try upping the ante to, say, $90 million over three, with an opt out after the first year. We're talking about a home grown player who's third in team history with 226 home runs. That has to count for something, even in these cut throat times.

Bottom line, the Mets lineup is stronger with Alonso hitting behind Soto than Vientos. Cohen knows it, Stearns knows it, Boras knows it, Carlos Mendoza knows it, and Pete knows it.

Re-sign the Polar Bear. It's the right thing to do.

Knicks Hit a Road Block

When the New York Knicks beat the Utah Jazz at the Garden on New Year's Day, it was their 9th win in a row. They were 24-10 overall - 19-4 in their last 23 - and only a half game behind the Boston Celtics for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference. After a rough start, they were finally "rounding into shape," as I wrote at the end of December.

Well two days later they played the Thunder in Oklahoma City. For most of the game the Knicks were the better team. They led 66-54 at the half, 88-80 after three, and 97-92 with 6 minutes to go in the 4th. They were on the verge of a signature win that would catapult them into legit contender status. Even their most ardent skeptics would have to take them seriously now, right?

And then all of a sudden the wheels came off; the Knicks, who had their best quarter of the season in that first half, missed shot after shot, with their captain Jalen Brunson the prime culprit. OKC outscored New York 25-10 the rest of the way to win the game 117-107.

Though disappointed, the Knicks remained confident. It was just a bad ending to what was an otherwise strong game. They decided to put it behind them. Then came the game against the Bulls in Chicago. Like the game against the Thunder, the Knicks were ahead at the half. Only this time, the collapse didn't occur in the final six minutes; it happened much earlier. The Bulls ran roughshod over the men in orange and blue 41-17 in the 3rd quarter and won the game 139-126.

Words like "low energy" and "fatigue" were used to describe what the problem was. Not to worry, the Knicks reassured us, now that they were home, they would be fully rested and ready to go. Then the Orlando Magic - a team that more closely resembled a MASH unit than a basketball roster - came to town and beat them 103-94. The losing streak was now three. Alarm bells were starting to sound at the Garden.

What was happening? I mean losing to the best team in the Western Conference was understandable; even losing to the Bulls could be chalked up to a team simply running out of gas after a long road trip. But how do you explain losing to a team that was missing four starters from its lineup on your home court? You can't. 

When then Knicks defeated the lowly Toronto Raptors 112-98 two days later, the fears were temporarily allayed. Everyone was eagerly looking forward to the rematch with the Thunder at the Garden. New York had some unfinished business with OKC. This time, they would close the deal. 

But it was the Thunder that closed the deal, and decisively. They raced out to a 31-17 lead after one, and 70-43 lead after the first half, on their way to a 126-101 rout. It was the most humiliating loss of the season for the Knicks, and it was as baffling as it was thorough. 

All of a sudden this team that Kendrick Perkins thinks is the second best in the East looks very pedestrian. While they are still in third place in the conference, there are some major concerns that aren't going away.

Ian Begley shared some of them on Twitter after the game:

With tonight's blowout loss, Knicks fall to 0-5 vs. teams that entered play tonight w/a better overall record than their 25-14 mark. They are 9-11 vs teams that entered play tonight w/record of .500 or better (including 3-1 vs ORL). NYK is 1-6 vs top 8 teams in NBA standings.

While contenders don't always beat other contenders, they typically don't go 1-6 against them. For example, the game before they beat the Knicks, the Thunder lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 129-122. The Cavs had a one-point lead going into the 4th quarter and actually increased it.

So what's wrong? In a nutshell, the Knicks are struggling on both ends of the court.

On defense, while they still have the league's 8th best points against average at 110.5, there have been huge lapses in their coverage on the court. Way too often, opponents are left wide open to hit three pointers, or convert back-door plays under the basket. Last season's team was relentless on defense. Opponents generally feared playing the Knicks because of the way they made them work for their baskets. This season, opponents rarely break a sweat looking for an open shot.

On offense, while there's no doubt that this starting five is better than last season's, there have been inconsistencies. Over the last 10 games, the Knicks are shooting only 29 percent from downtown. They normally shoot 38 percent from three. When the Knicks are winning, they excel at ball movement. They are 7th in the NBA in assists with 1060. However, when they lose, it's usually because they hold onto the ball too long, making it easy for opponents to double team them. 

The lack of depth on this roster is another cause for concern. Without Deuce McBride the last few games, and with Mitchell Robinson still several weeks away from returning, Tom Thibodeau only had two players he could count on coming off the bench: Cam Payne and Precious Achiuwa. At this point Jericho Sims is practically an afterthought. What this means is that not only are the starters playing more minutes than they should, when they are on the court they have to produce. There's no way the Knicks can win with Mikal Bridges scoring zero points and OG Anunoby scoring only four.

Look, the Knicks are not the only winning team that's struggling right now. The Boston Celtics are just 6-6 in their last 12 games. I'm sure there are concerns in Beantown, but I doubt they're panicking. And neither should the Knicks. There's plenty of time to correct what's wrong. If Leon Rose has proven anything it's that he won't hesitate to make changes if it will improve the roster. With the Knicks up against the second apron he will have to get creative though.

Bottom line, the Knicks aren't quite where they want to be, but they're getting there. Trust the process.

Will the Real New York Rangers Please Stand Up

For most of the 2024-25 season, the New York Rangers have been a shell of the team that won the Presidents' Trophy and came within two wins of advancing to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 2014. After getting off to a 12-4-1 start, the Blueshirts went 6-16-1 over their last 23 games going into last night's game against the New Jersey Devils at the Garden. They were 5-10-1 against teams that made the playoffs last season, and two of those losses came against the Washington Capitals - the team they swept in the first round last year.

The numbers were growing alarming. The goal differential over this stretch was a league-worst minus 31. How bad is that? The Chicago Blackhawks were a minus 21 over the same stretch, and they're one of the worst teams in the NHL. The once vaunted power play converted on only 8 of 62 attempts for a putrid 12.9 percent. The penalty kill wasn't that much better. In 56 times shorthanded, the Rangers successfully killed off the opposing power play 77.8 percent of the time. And as if to add insult to injury, the team's save percentage - the one stat that they could always point to with pride - was a woeful .881 - 7th from the bottom.

Talk about slumming. The wheels were rapidly coming off on the season. Titanic? Try Lusitania. It was looking very much like Chris Drury was going to be a seller at the trade deadline.

And then the Rangers did something peculiar; something we haven't seen them do in a very long time; they played their best, most inspiring game of the season against a team that in the last two meetings outscored them a combined 10-1. Last night's 3-2 OT win over the Devils was as exciting as it was unexpected. The power play went 2 for 3; the penalty kill 4 for 4. And even though they didn't score at 5v5, they dominated most of the play - especially in the 3rd period - outshooting New Jersey overall 32-23, and out chancing them 29-25; 10-8 in high-danger chances.

I don't want to get too carried away here; after all, it's only one game. But I don't want to minimize it either. It's one thing to get outplayed and have to rely on Igor Shesterkin to save the day, which pretty much has been the formula the last three seasons; it's quite another when the 18 skaters in front of him collectively hold one of the most explosive teams in the NHL to two goals. To put this in perspective, the last time the Rangers played the Devils in December, they managed just one HD scoring chance to New Jersey's 11. To say they phoned it in would be putting it mildly.

Even before last night's game there were signs of life. Against the Dallas Stars, the Rangers were less than 3 minutes away from a 4-3 win before K'Andre Miller turned the puck over in the defensive zone and the Stars tied the score, eventually winning in OT. Apart from Miller's mistake, they played well enough to win that game. Indeed, the Broadway Blues have played only one bad game the entire month of January. After a horrific stretch, the Rangers are slowly beginning to resemble, if not that Presidents' Trophy team, at least one that can make the playoffs.

What is responsible for this turnaround? Put succinctly, the core is producing. Mika Zibanejad has awakened from his season-long coma. He has a five-game scoring streak, with two goals and three assists. Artemi Panarin has a goal and three assists in his last three games. Vincent Trocheck has three goals and two assists over that same stretch. Alexis Lafreniere finally broke his 13-game goal drought with a pair against the Stars. And Adam Fox scored his second goal of the season; his first was an empty netter against the Sabres in Buffalo on December 11.

Now for the sixty-four thousand dollar question. Is this turnaround for real, or are we simply in the eye of a perfect storm that was in the process of destroying the entire season? After all, even bad teams are capable of having good stretches, right?

I suppose we'll know soon enough. The Rangers hit the road to play the Vegas Golden Knights, the Colorado Avalanche and the Utah Hockey Club before returning to the Garden to face the Columbus Blue Jackets. Every one of those teams has a winning record; Vegas currently has a league-leading 59 points. They finish the month at home against the Avalanche and the Carolina Hurricanes. If the Rangers are going to make a push, they will have to do so against some of the toughest teams in the NHL. As Steve Valiquette said after last night's win, the easy part of the schedule is over.

The problem with digging a hole is that sometimes you can't climb out of it. You eventually run out of runway, to use another analogy. But for now, at least, this team has apparently decided to put up a fight. They look nothing like the team that slept walked through December and most of November. 

At the half-way mark of the season, the Rangers record stands at 19-20-2. They currently sit in 5th place in the Metropolitan Division, four points out of the second wild card spot, with four teams ahead of them. Their task is indeed daunting, but it's one they brought on themselves.

As a friend of mine is fond of saying: "How do you deal with a sink full of dirty dishes? One dish at a time."

John Mara Stays the Course

Doug Pederson's record over the last three seasons:

2022: 9-8
2023: 9-8
2024: 4-13
Total: 22-29

Brian Daboll's record over the last three seasons:

2022: 9-7-1
2023: 6-11
2024: 3-14
Total: 18-32-1

Guess which coach got fired Monday?

The below attachment will answer that question.

As a rule, I don't subscribe to the theory that the first arrow out of ownership's quiver should be firing the coach or manager. The fact that it has become the default option for so many underperforming teams over the last couple of decades explains in large part why some franchises succeed while others continue to spin their wheels. 

But for the life of me, I cannot comprehend the reasoning behind this decision by Mara. It makes absolutely no sense. Anyone who was paying attention knew full well that Daboll had lost the locker room. For all intents and purposes his players quit on him weeks ago. Think about it: Had the Indianapolis Colts not been so inept last Sunday, the Giants would've lost their last 12 games of the season. You don't keep coaches who preside over that kind of collapse. You thank them for their service and show them the door as quickly as possible.

To be fair, Daboll is not solely to blame for this disaster. He had some help. The guy who hired him, Joe Schoen, took a team that was already bereft of talent and somehow managed to make things worse. It pains me to admit it, but the 2022 team that beat the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card game consisted primarily of players drafted or signed by Schoen's predecessor, Dave Gettleman. If it's ok to criticize Gettleman for taking Daniel Jones with the 6th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, it's equally ok to ask why Schoen elected not to take a quarterback in a draft that was loaded with QBs.

Whoever said you can't draft a quarterback if you already have one obviously never bothered to check in with the Atlanta Falcons. They took Micheal Penix Jr with the 8th pick in last year's draft after they had already signed Kirk Cousins to a lucrative free agent contract. Well, after Cousins struggled over the first 14 games of the season, Penix took over. The rookie competed 58 percent of his pass attempts for over 700 yards, with 3 touchdowns and 3 picks. And if his coach was a halfway decent clock manager, his team would've been mathematically alive for a playoff spot going into week 18. 

Bo Nix was taken by the Denver Broncos with the 12th pick in that draft. He threw for 3775 yards with 29 TDs and 12 INTs. In his rookie year he managed to get the Broncos into the playoffs for the first time in nine years. As good as Malik Nabers was this season, who would you rather have, him or Nix? The point is Schoen blew it by not taking a QB last year. The fact is neither Shedeur Sanders nor Cam Ward are as talented as Nix. And Schoen would have to trade up from the 3rd pick in order to get a shot at either one of them. 

This is the group Mara wants to keep intact? These two guys? I'm all for keeping the faith and showing patience, but this is ridiculous. Rewarding Schoen and Daboll with another year at the helm is an insult to the fans who have had to endure more than a decade of humiliation. Since the Giants last Super Bowl title in the 2011 season, they have had three winning seasons and two trips to the playoffs. For a franchise that has been in existence for 100 years that is simply unacceptable.

And keep in mind, I'm not even blaming Schoen for his decision to re-sign Jones over Saquon Barkley. We've been over this, but the fact is there was no way to franchise tag Jones and still keep Barkley. There just wasn't enough cap space. But even allowing for that, as a talent evaluator, Schoen leaves much to be desired.

The sad truth is there isn't one position on this roster that doesn't need serious attention. Kayvon Thibodeaux, who was supposed to be the next Carl Banks, took a major step backwards this season after an impressive 2023 campaign in which he recorded 11.5 sacks. While Brian Burns was a nice addition, the defense as a whole was terrible. They had only 5 interceptions on the season. Only the Cleveland Browns (4) had fewer. Offensively, the 273 points the Giants scored was the second worst in the NFL. Again, only the Browns (258) scored fewer. They had only three first quarter touchdowns the entire year. Shameful doesn't begin to describe this season. If this is the process Mara was referring to in his statement, I can only imagine what he was smoking when he wrote it.

I'm old enough to remember the Andy Robustelli Giants of the 1970s. They never finished higher than 4th in the NFC East. Wellington Mara was the owner back then, and he was as tone deaf as his son when it came to the boo birds. It wasn't until "The Fumble" in '78 that Wellington and his nephew Tim were finally shamed into making a change. Pete Roselle convinced them to hire George Young as GM, and it was Young who assembled the roster that eventually went on to win two Super Bowls. 

By the way, Young's first pick in the 1979 Draft was a little known quarterback out of Morehead State by the name of Phil Simms.