There are 2 highly rated quarterbacks in this draft and it is fair to say that Andrew Luck is far and away the better prospect of the 2. I guarantee, it is going to become a more scrutinized topic as we get closer to draft day and there will be some people that come out and say that Robert Griffin III or RG3, as he is better known, is the better choice. This is a ludicrous statement as Andrew Luck is as good as it gets for quarterback prospects. Is he going to be the next Peyton or Tom, only time will tell, but what I can say is that he won't be the next Tim or Jamarcus, as in Tim Couch and Jamarcus Russell. Barring an unforeseen injury that would affect his ability to play the position, he will at the least become a good to very good quarterback with the sky as the limit for him. He has all the intangibles and will be in the league for a while.
RG3, is a good prospect and is a somebody I am pulling for, but if Cam Newton did not do what he did last year, RG3 would probably be looking at a mid to late first round status. The main issue is that he is not built like Cam as he is not as big, or even close to as big (Cam is 6'5", RG3 is maybe 6'1"). I do like RG3 and I am pulling for him, but outside of Brees and Vick, it is tough to play thpe position at that height at a high level. Brees is a passing freak of nature as he is maybe the most accurate passer in this game and Vick is the best running quarterback to play the game and he has an incredibly strong arm. RG3 will potentially be a better passer than Vick but he is an injury away from being limited as it is the legs that will free him up to make easier passes, much like Vick. I am pulling for RG3, as he was fun to watch and whenever you make Baylor a team that people are talking about, you get a check in my book.
Andrew Luck will succeed no matter where he goes, I don't think the same can be said of RG3. If Mr. Griffin lands in Cleveland, can anybody state with certainty that they see him being definitely successful. I for one, would love to see it happen and almost certain that the Browns will trade up to get him as the Rams are not going to get rid of Bradford and the Vikings just picked Ponder with their first round pick last year. Bradford is better in my opinion and might set the league on fire if they get him Justin Blackmon with their first pick. Ponder has a lot of the qualities that RG3 has and showed some bright spots last year and I don't see them taking another qb in this spot. It will be fun to watch and I hope they both succeed, but let's not make it seem like they are interchangeable.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Peyton will be Worth the Risk
First things first, Peyton should not and will not stay with the Colts. I won't blame Irsay for getting rid of him as he is a huge hit to the cap and he will be getting the best quarterback recruit in a very long time. It is fair to say in my opinion that Andrew Luck is a can't miss prospect and you don't get these opportunities very often. They will be going from a legend to a probable legend in the making. The issue you have is that keeping both Peyton and Luck could work, but there isn't much reason to see if it does. Peyton is as competitive as it gets and he can not wait to find a new team and make a run at it. The way the Colts are set up is not the same and Peyton realizes this and he is better off finding a better situation, which he will be able to do and might even be able to bring guys like Reggie Wayne and Jeff Saturday with him. Andrew Luck is probably going to want to start right from the get go as well and why not, he has all the intangibles and could have been the number one overall pick the last 3 years, so yeah, I would say he is ready. What people don't realize is that Peyton does not have a spinal injury that is threatening him in a way that if he takes a bad hit that he will be paralyzed. He has been cleared and is going to need time to get his arm strength back and people need to remember is that his brain is the main reason he excels, so it would stand to reason that he is well worth the risk. He may not be bringing a team to a Super Bowl, but there is a chance and the main thing is that he will make a lot of bad teams much better, making him well worth the risk.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Thoughts on Super Sunday
I have had a few days to collect my thoughts on the game from Sunday and although I have not listened to much of the analytical perspective that has gone on, I have heard snippets and as usual much of it is people just trying to get a rise out of people and make some headlines. Here are some of my thoughts.
Eli Manning is not better than Tom Brady or his brother. People need to stop living in the moment and take a step back, because it is not even close in either regard. That being said, if you had to start a team now and had to choose out of the 3, you could make a case for picking Eli mainly based on age. I don't think either had great games, as outside of that really nice throw Eli made to Manningham late in the game, they both kept it fairly conservative with passes under 10 yards. Of course, this made it seem like they were playing out of their minds as they both had over 100 qb rating halfway through the game.
Tom Brady, probably had his worst big game in my opinion as this was the first big game situation that he played bad despite great protection. Both sacks the Giants had were coverage sacks as Brady forgets that there are receivers on the field besides Welker and Hernandez. He very rarely threw to the outside despite the fact that the Giants corners are not that good and when he did, they were successful throws.
Another item I hear is that Brady needs some more new weapons. Last time I checked Brady threw for almost 5300 yards and 40 touchdowns, which I don't think happens that often. Gronkowski is probably the best tight end in the league wherever he plays and Wes Welker is probably the best slot receiver in the league. Hernandez could easily be a top 5 tight end in the league, instead we use him as a receiver and he had 75 catches for over 900 yards. Deion Branch is a serviceable receiver that Brady is very comfortable with. Ocho should have got more looks in my opinion, but this goes to another point I am about to make so I won't get too far into it. Some times people just need to simplify and realize that Brady had a bad game.
Is it possible that everybody is smarter than the greatest coach of this era? Why do we second guess some of the personnel decisions he makes when the Patriots are constantly sitting in the same position. Is it possible that we run a certain type of offense that allows Brady to get rid of the ball in a safe and effective manner, which we drive down the field fairly easily all season? Belichick is way ahead of all of us and does not really care what any of us say. He knows what works and he realizes that money plays a big part of how a team is developed. Has anybody realized that big name receivers, rush ends and cornerbacks command big salaries, yet we have none. How does this go unnoticed? There is a reason he does what he does and it works. That game could have been easily won with 18 undrafted guys, 5 of them starting. Get over it people, he is much smarter than you, stop second guessing him.
Wes Welker, who I have met and think is a prick, is getting unjustly ripped apart for that late so called drop. I know that he is coming out and saying that he needs to make that catch and that is what he is supposed to do. That is the kind of player he is, he is not going to point out the obvious, which is how does Tom Brady, with no pressure, make that pass almost uncatchable. If people want to name Tom Brady one of the greatest of all time, you need to make that pass easily. Last time I checked, nobody is saying that Welker is the greatest of all time, but he made a great effort just to get his hands on that ball. I don't mind Gisele saying what she said as I am sure she had enough by that point from hecklers and Brady is her husband, and most important she has never played the game so she doesn't realize the finer points of the game. I challenge anybody who disagrees with this to go outside and recreate the situation and attempt to do both aspects of that play, pass and catch. I personally feel that I can make that throw 8 out of 10 times, but make that catch only 2 out of 10, by the way I am a much better receiver than quarterback. Welker was running full speed straight up the field and had a ball thrown behind him to the point where in one motion, he had to stop, jump up and to his back shoulder and try and catch a ball that was meant for Gronkowski. Welker is 5'9" and has had a torn up knee and people expect him to make that catch easily is laughable. The fact that he got his hands on the ball impresses me more than anything else. I pray that Brady comes out and states how bad of a pass that was and takes all of the blame for that pass, because he very well should.
Enough of this rant as it is now time to focus on my favorite part of the season, which is getting ready for the draft and figuring out who are going to be the next crop of guys that I can blog about.
Eli Manning is not better than Tom Brady or his brother. People need to stop living in the moment and take a step back, because it is not even close in either regard. That being said, if you had to start a team now and had to choose out of the 3, you could make a case for picking Eli mainly based on age. I don't think either had great games, as outside of that really nice throw Eli made to Manningham late in the game, they both kept it fairly conservative with passes under 10 yards. Of course, this made it seem like they were playing out of their minds as they both had over 100 qb rating halfway through the game.
Tom Brady, probably had his worst big game in my opinion as this was the first big game situation that he played bad despite great protection. Both sacks the Giants had were coverage sacks as Brady forgets that there are receivers on the field besides Welker and Hernandez. He very rarely threw to the outside despite the fact that the Giants corners are not that good and when he did, they were successful throws.
Another item I hear is that Brady needs some more new weapons. Last time I checked Brady threw for almost 5300 yards and 40 touchdowns, which I don't think happens that often. Gronkowski is probably the best tight end in the league wherever he plays and Wes Welker is probably the best slot receiver in the league. Hernandez could easily be a top 5 tight end in the league, instead we use him as a receiver and he had 75 catches for over 900 yards. Deion Branch is a serviceable receiver that Brady is very comfortable with. Ocho should have got more looks in my opinion, but this goes to another point I am about to make so I won't get too far into it. Some times people just need to simplify and realize that Brady had a bad game.
Is it possible that everybody is smarter than the greatest coach of this era? Why do we second guess some of the personnel decisions he makes when the Patriots are constantly sitting in the same position. Is it possible that we run a certain type of offense that allows Brady to get rid of the ball in a safe and effective manner, which we drive down the field fairly easily all season? Belichick is way ahead of all of us and does not really care what any of us say. He knows what works and he realizes that money plays a big part of how a team is developed. Has anybody realized that big name receivers, rush ends and cornerbacks command big salaries, yet we have none. How does this go unnoticed? There is a reason he does what he does and it works. That game could have been easily won with 18 undrafted guys, 5 of them starting. Get over it people, he is much smarter than you, stop second guessing him.
Wes Welker, who I have met and think is a prick, is getting unjustly ripped apart for that late so called drop. I know that he is coming out and saying that he needs to make that catch and that is what he is supposed to do. That is the kind of player he is, he is not going to point out the obvious, which is how does Tom Brady, with no pressure, make that pass almost uncatchable. If people want to name Tom Brady one of the greatest of all time, you need to make that pass easily. Last time I checked, nobody is saying that Welker is the greatest of all time, but he made a great effort just to get his hands on that ball. I don't mind Gisele saying what she said as I am sure she had enough by that point from hecklers and Brady is her husband, and most important she has never played the game so she doesn't realize the finer points of the game. I challenge anybody who disagrees with this to go outside and recreate the situation and attempt to do both aspects of that play, pass and catch. I personally feel that I can make that throw 8 out of 10 times, but make that catch only 2 out of 10, by the way I am a much better receiver than quarterback. Welker was running full speed straight up the field and had a ball thrown behind him to the point where in one motion, he had to stop, jump up and to his back shoulder and try and catch a ball that was meant for Gronkowski. Welker is 5'9" and has had a torn up knee and people expect him to make that catch easily is laughable. The fact that he got his hands on the ball impresses me more than anything else. I pray that Brady comes out and states how bad of a pass that was and takes all of the blame for that pass, because he very well should.
Enough of this rant as it is now time to focus on my favorite part of the season, which is getting ready for the draft and figuring out who are going to be the next crop of guys that I can blog about.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Super Sunday Prediction
This has been one of the hardest Super Bowls to predict. There are so many reasons to like the Giants in this one as they have more talent, their pass rush, our defense vs their offense. I have heard many people make predictions and pretty much every NFL player that has made a pick has picked the Giants. Most of them have been kind to the Patriots, saying how much they respect them and expect it to be close, but in the end they all have the Giants winning by a few points, just to be respectful. There was one player, who I have heard a couple of times mention something that we have long forgot in New England, the Underdog Mentality.
I live in Boston and most people who know me, realize that I am an unbiased football fan that likes to watch good football. I have long stated that Belichick sits only behind Vince Lombardi as greatest coach and despite what people think, mainly my brothers, I think and know that Tom Brady will go down as one of the top 3 greatest win, lose or draw. Despite this, I do not sulk if the Patriots lose on a random Sunday, but I watch every game appreciating the greatness that I am witnessing.
Outside of Vegas, there is nobody that I have seen state that the Patriots are going to win this game, except for Matt Forte from the Chicago Bears. He stated much of what I have been thinking these last couple of weeks, nobody is giving the Patriots a chance and when that happens vs a combination like Belichick and Brady, bad things tend to happen to their opponent. The Giants are doing and saying everything which is anti-Patriot and are acting nothing like the team that beat the Patriots a few years back that laid in the weeds, much like we are doing. You don't think that the Hooded One is coming up with elaborate schemes to stop these guys. This defense, according to Trent Dilfer, who I think is the best analyst at the moment, stated how Belichick has started to trust his defense to run more schemes, which in turn has led to better defense. Everybody keeps focusing on Edelman or what the Patriots did earlier in the season and are forgetting that everybody in that locker room hears what everybody is saying and Belichick will make sure of this as well.
I truly believe that the Giants are the more talented team, which is why I go insane when people tell me that Tom Coughlin is anything besides a slightly above average coach. If Belichick had this team, they probably would be 14-2 and still going to the playoffs. Everybody thinks that he drafts badly, but people fail to realize the financial aspect that he takes into account, because it is above our pay grade. He is in the Super Bowl, with Julian Edelman playing cornerback, this is not an accident. The great Giant pass rush, that everybody has said will crush us and is the main reason that we can't win, will be neutralized. The Hooded One, does one thing very well and that is take away the strength of the other team. If he has to max protect all game, so be it. Tom Brady will be able to take advantage of an average secondary and will be big this game, come Hell or Highwater. This is coming from an unbiased fan that has a good feeling of what is coming. I also think that we will force the Giants to beat us by running the ball on offense and much like the Ravens did to us, keep seven guys back to cover the pass on most occasions.
So fans of New England, have faith in being the underdog, as that was once our calling card. It seems that many around here are scared of this Giant team, but you only have to listen to the chatter and realize one team isn't talking that much. Sounds a lot like it used to be and that is not a good situation for the Giants and I am pretty sure Tom Coughlin knows this. Not that I really have to even make a prediction, because if you have been reading this you know which way I am going and that is with the New England Patriots winning the Super Bowl this Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised if they win by seven or more either. Enjoy the parade this Tuesday Tommy!
If you want to read a great article about Tommy Boy, go to this link:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2011/story/_/id/7525476/tom-brady-12-things-not-known-new-england-star-quarterback
I live in Boston and most people who know me, realize that I am an unbiased football fan that likes to watch good football. I have long stated that Belichick sits only behind Vince Lombardi as greatest coach and despite what people think, mainly my brothers, I think and know that Tom Brady will go down as one of the top 3 greatest win, lose or draw. Despite this, I do not sulk if the Patriots lose on a random Sunday, but I watch every game appreciating the greatness that I am witnessing.
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| This Guy Will Have the Patriots Ready this Sunday! |
I truly believe that the Giants are the more talented team, which is why I go insane when people tell me that Tom Coughlin is anything besides a slightly above average coach. If Belichick had this team, they probably would be 14-2 and still going to the playoffs. Everybody thinks that he drafts badly, but people fail to realize the financial aspect that he takes into account, because it is above our pay grade. He is in the Super Bowl, with Julian Edelman playing cornerback, this is not an accident. The great Giant pass rush, that everybody has said will crush us and is the main reason that we can't win, will be neutralized. The Hooded One, does one thing very well and that is take away the strength of the other team. If he has to max protect all game, so be it. Tom Brady will be able to take advantage of an average secondary and will be big this game, come Hell or Highwater. This is coming from an unbiased fan that has a good feeling of what is coming. I also think that we will force the Giants to beat us by running the ball on offense and much like the Ravens did to us, keep seven guys back to cover the pass on most occasions.
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| Game Face all day this Sunday! |
If you want to read a great article about Tommy Boy, go to this link:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2011/story/_/id/7525476/tom-brady-12-things-not-known-new-england-star-quarterback
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Gronkowski Will Play in this Game, One Way or Another
I think it is fair to say that Gronkowski will play in this, it will just be a matter of how much and in what situations. It is my belief that he does not half to play the entire game, especially if they decide to go hurry up for most of the game. Going hurry up will be a key in this game as the Giants will be forced to keep in their nickel package and more important, this will tire out the Giants pass rush for the second and fourth quarters. If this is the case, Gronkowski's great blocking skills will not need to be as much of a factor as the Giants will have a smaller defense on the field. Gronk needs to be on the field on third down and inside the Giants' 20. In these situations, it will not matter how healthy he is because the Giants will have to keep two guys watching at all time due to his size and athletic ability. Gronk may not be his normal self, but the mere fact that the Giants will be forced to move another guy to cover him in the red zone, opens up the rest of the group for Brady. So have no fear New England fans, Gronk will play this Sunday!
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