The Vinny and the Scouts Appreciation Thread

[SmootSmack]

Last year I made a point of saying that Cerrato and his team of scouts needed to step up and unearth hidden gems. I think maybe it's time for me to retract that statement. We've rightfully praised Snyder for doing whatever the team has needed under duress this season (Sean Taylor's funeral, Todd Collins being there for the birth of his daughter, and Gibbs for holding the team together when all hope seemed lost (as he has done so many times in his career. But what about the third member of the triumvirate? Should we start giving some more credit to Cerrato?

Sure we've made mistakes, but look at the guys we've "unearthed" that have stepped up huge this year: Heyer has held down the RT spot not even a full year after being undrafted out of college; Lorenzo Alexander has done everything short of drive the team bus, Leigh Torrence has markedly improve the past two weeks to be a dependable nickel (still has a ways to go, but he's getting there); Reed Doughty has overcome the serious illness of his son along with the burden of replacing Sean Taylor and, with the help of Williams and Gray, has been able to maximize his strengths and be a solid starter on defense; late picks Golston and Montgomery have held down the interior allowing "no names" like Chris Wilson, Khary Campbell, and H.B. Blades to make plays...and so on.

Anyway what I'm getting at, and piggybacking off a post that skinsfan69 has, is let's not overlook the impact Cerrato and the scouting team has had on putting together the 53 man roster that we've had to dig deep into this season to make the playoffs