I never said RF didn't listen to his scouts. I said: 1) I heard 2 announcers say that RF was high on Paradis. And I did.
It was the part where you then said: "
Making me feel like he was the one that pushed for him" that I took issue with. Just like people thought it was Francis that pushed for Lindholm (which has been a common perception here on HF for years), assumptions based on minimal information aren't good assumptions. You then used that as part of your statement where he: "
does seem to use his gut at times with surprise picks." Whether you meant to imply it or not, when you say a guy uses his "gut" more with surprise picks, it implies that he's not listening to the data round him (ie..the scouts), but going with his gut instead. I'm not sure how else to interpret that.
And 2) reiterated what TD had to say about changes and the GM's job specifically. I never once said "I personally don't think RF listens to his scouts." The only thing I said, and still think, is he sometimes reaches a little for player he likes, more so than the average GM maybe. But I also said I think he got us some good players that way, and glad he did. Don't extrapolate that to be what you think I meant.
I explained it above why I interpreted it that way. If that was an incorrect interpretation, then I stand corrected.
I don't mean to be argumentative, just want to set the record straight that I do like RF, and didn't want that to be misunderstood. Wasn't ripping him, only meant to join the conversation about past picks.
It's fine. I don't mind a different viewpoint and don't think you are being argumentative. I just disagree with the premise of "Francis uses his gut more" (which to me implies he is ignoring the scouting data), and using the selection of Paradis (which occurred under JR) as a data point to support that position.
To me, this comes down to Dundon wanting things done a certain way and Francis not being initially hired into the job to do them that way and the two of them not seeing eye to eye. All the other stuff about Francis pissing Dundon off (not from you), Francis going with his gut too much when drafting, etc.. is just idle speculation based on limited insight.