I dunno. I think Peters came into one of the worst situations a GM could come into. True, he got to start from ground zero, but he also was forced from ground zero. Look at Harbaugh. He's coming into the Giants with a stacked D line, a punishing running back, a QB with potential, a promising star wide receiver. Peters came into 2024 with nada. There were no foundational pieces to work with. He had to jettison pretty much the whole team minus Terry and the punter.
Yes, having a blank canvas and a new owner is nice. Getting to pick your head coach is nice. But it's also a crap deal. It really is. I mean look at some of us three years later who say... you started with the worst roster in NFL history three years ago. Why the hell isn't this a complete, Super Bowl ready roster already? You didn't get us a receiver. You're an awful GM.
Nobody denies this. He still mostly mishandled the copious resources he was handed that made this an enticing opening for a first-time GM like himself, who had denied many opportunities waiting for the right one to come along. We wouldn’t be talking about how deep in the hole he started if he drafted 2-3 pro bowlers to begin his rebuild, or had any super successful signings who weren’t ancient veterans, etc.
He walked into a big job. He hasn’t put up big offseasons to dig his way out. He’s had three offseasons now, at some point he is his own worst enemy and it becomes about making excuses. He has to draft some studs, and his coaches have to create the environment for them to flourish, in the meeting rooms and on the field. The more optimistic among us can only deny that for so long as the sample size increases. I promise you I’ll be singing a different tune if some reasonable combination of Newton, Sain, Sinnott, LMC, Conley, Amos, Styles, Williams, etc. become the super talented core of our attempt at retool 2.0 here. Notice I’m not even expecting low hit-rate mid/late round lotto tickets to emerge to get here, even though that would help and it’s where the stud GM’s do find gems. I just want some number of our bread & butter picks to start emerging and proving that a really good GM drafted them, becoming the foundation of the rebuild that now feels at least a year behind where it should be, after over-achieving on the field in year one.
It doesn’t matter how bad the roster began when he took the job, when he has mostly drafted mediocre-to-bad players to develop (or simultaneously/alternatively if his coaching staff has failed to develop the players that actually should be better than they look, if you prefer that read).
Everything I said about Peters is fair imo. It begins to sound overly negative when I’m arguing against an overly optimistic take, so I’ll just leave it here, I won’t push back too much more. I don’t think AP sucks, I just have yet to see him do anything special here and I think it’s extremely normal to observe that amongst ourselves while hoping things improve and he grows into a great (or even good) GM. Would I rank him as the 24th or 26th GM in the league? No, I wouldn’t go that far. I think he’s been average, and that’s WITHIN THE CONTEXT of the bad situation you’ve mentioned that we all know about, meaning that’s factoring in making allowances for it. I wasn’t sold average, and I think more optimistic people here also expected better than average when he took over here. Not outcomes, which have all sorts of variables attached and starting average on the field would’ve been very understandable given the hole we were in after Snyder. We overachieved in year one but didn’t build anything sustainable, then didn’t build on it successfully in year two, and now it’s year three and we’re still trying to building a foundation and a coaching staff.
But mainly I’m talking about the draft picks and signings that were executed, that are 100% in AP’s hands that to this point, under the coaching of his hired staff, have not become a roster to be proud of. He can change that, hopefully we’re on that road.
It’s beyond simple. He can very easily shut up fans like me by successfully drafting and signing more really good individual players over time, that his coaching staff successfully develops and coaches to wins. If that sounds like an oversimplification, it’s because it’s a simple equation. Building a good roster coached by good coaches will lead to positive results, and that starts with drafting and signing really good players more consistently than we have. Simple does not mean easy. This is really hard, and it’s the job he was hired for and has the pedigree to do. The more he hits on picks and signings, the more the coaches coach them to develop and win, the more fans like me will believe.