The X Factor...

I have a philosophy regarding the basic make up of a Superbowl winning roster. Some say defense wins championships, some say a veteran QB is required. Another school of thought revolves around the O-line and running game. A well respected experienced headcoach is another necessity in the eyes of some 'so-called' experts. If we examine the past 10-15 Superbowl champs none of them have any of these elements in common consistently.

In my humble opinion the balance of players in differnet stages of their respective careers is the real X-factor when it comes to winning the big game. The NFL season is a marathon. There is the pre-season, regular season, and the all important playoffs. You need veteran leadership and also young fresh legs.

There are 3 main stages to an NFL players career. It starts with "the rookie stage" which I classify as the first 3 years. Technically a player is considered a veteran as soon as he finishes the first regular season game of his second season. I think thats ridiculous. I see the infancy of a players career as the first 3 seasons. Players on our current roster who fit this category are Sanchez, Greene, Westerman (LB), Woodhead (WR/RB), Gholston, Clowney, Lowery (S,CB), Mike Devito (DE), Kenwin Cummings (LB), Matt Slauson (G), and Ropati Pitoitua (DE/DT).

The next stage would be their "prime". A players prime is usually from year 4- to year 8. Most NFL players are lucky to last 3 years if you check the numbers. Those that show they have the right stuff will move on to their "prime". They are the ones who do the heavy lifting. These are players who are on the field for every possible snap and are the most productive. Guys like Revis, Harris, Mangold, and Leonhard are some examples of our true core of "prime" players.

Finally we have the true "veteran" players. Guys who are into double digits when it comes to there years of service in this league. They usually start to play only in certain packages and situations. They also provide wise leadership and hold the younger, cocky players accountable. In this day and age coaches can only do so much.

If Rex gives a speech I feel very confident that players will listen and be motivated. But if you are a guy like Shonn Greene and your boyhood idol Ladainian Tomlinson gets in your face, you listen and listen good. Shaun Ellis, LT, Jenkins, Faneca, Bart Scott and Damien Woody are our veteran leadership. Big Jenks, Ellis, LT and Scott will start to see their playing time diminish this year in order to make way for our stable of unproven young talent.

The X-factor, in my opinion, is all about how these three groups interact with each other. First of all, every player needs to know what group they are in and except it. If LT demands 25 touches a game or if Revis isn't conditioned properly to be on the field for every defensive snap the whole system falls apart. Secondly, the very young players and the older players need to contribute and make an impact when their number is called.

If a guy like Leonhard sees an endless amount of snaps he is probably going to make some big plays. If guy's like Danny Woodhead or David Clowney gets 2 or 3 touches, they need to make them count. Our older players need to play with a sense or urgency in order to justify their salarys, and the young players have to be hungry... starving actually, in order to justify an increasing amount of playing time.

When all three groups play to their potential it is the same as all three phases of the game clicking (special teams, defense and offense). Every Superbowl winner has had a perfect blend of "rookies", "prime" and "veteran" players.

I have been very critical of Mike Tannenbaum over the past few weeks. I have issues with Cromartie, Pool, and Tomlinson. That being said, he has done an amazing job building this team from the ground up. Guys like our left tackle and center who were drafted back to back and our defensive leaders at CB and MLB who were also drafted back to back have developed into real players. It also is looking like our QB and RB who were drafted back to back last year are also going to be productive, possibly future pro-bowl, starters. He has drafted well and also targeted some very talented undrafted free agents over the past few years. I love unpolished players with huge upside like Westerman and Pitoitua.

Another thing I will give Mr. T credit for is how he gets what he wants. He wanted Favre (even though I sure as hell didn't) and he landed him. He wanted Scott, Pace, Faneca and LT, and he landed them all. He also wanted Revis, Keller and Sanchez and he moved up and landed them as well. Finally he had the guts to dump Mangini and go in a completely different direction by hiring Rex.

I disagree with how MR. T has traded away draft picks for little return. Guys like Favre and Sheppard cost us very valuable picks and we barely got a full season out of each of them. I can also point out some other big mis-cues like the Vilma trade. No one is perfect.

Last year I called for Tannenbaum to resign when it looked like we had no chance for the playoffs. Results are all that should matter when evaluating job performance. I am glad we went on a late season run and Mr. T's job was saved. I just hope he learns from his mistakes and continues to grow as an NFL executive.

If Vernon Gholston should develop, and if we make it to the Superbowl in the next few years, Tannenbaum could become a real legend and Woody Johnson will look like a genius for promoting a former salary cap guru to the top spot in his organization. I will continue to voice my opinion, but I think I should give credit where credit is due.