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09 Apr 2007
Four Downs: AFC East
by Bill Barnwell
Buffalo Bills
You could make several arguments about who the heart of the Bills defense was in 2006. One train of thought would say that middle linebacker and defensive playcaller London Fletcher-Baker set the tone for the team in the center of the field, recording 146 tackles and four picks. Another, perhaps, would venture to say that stud cornerback Nate Clements gave the Bills comfort that one side of the field would shut be down, as Clements and the Bills held #1 wide receivers to a -25.0% DVOA, third in the league. A third might even point to the player on Fletcher-Baker's right, Takeo Spikes, who set an inspirational tone while spending the whole year struggling through injuries.
Pick whoever you want, but it doesn't really matter now. They're all gone.
The big move was Clements, whose new eight year, $80 million contract with the 49ers has a whopping $22 million in guaranteed money coming to, arguably, the second-best cornerback in football. The move is a serious one for the Bills; while they were third against #1 wide receivers, they ranged from 17th to 27th against other receivers. While there's no one on the market who the Bills can replace Clements with, they haven't even made a single move as of yet to patch up the secondary. The player whom this move impacts the most, really, is free safety Ko Simpson. The fourth-rounder had the luxury of being covered for in 2006, but in 2007, he'll be expected to cover other people's mistakes.
His fellow second-year safety, on the other hand, will be covering for the players in front of him. Donte Whitner had a year well-regarded by Bills brass, but he'll be expected to do a lot more now that two starting linebackers are gone. Fletcher-Baker left for the questionably greener pastures of Washington, signing a five-year, $25 million deal. While he's not likely to see the end of that deal (when he would be turning 37), Fletcher-Baker has yet to miss a game in his career, a valuable asset for a Redskins team with no appreciative depth at linebacker. The Bills are yet to replace Fletcher-Baker with anyone, and their starter at middle linebacker for the moment is the unheralded John DiGiorgio. Get your delivery puns ready, Sunday Night highlight crews.
Spikes, on the other hand, was dealt to Philadelphia alongside backup quarterback Kelly Holcomb, with defensive tackle Darwin Walker coming in return. Walker's a good pass-rusher from the interior and fits the Bills mold of quick, slightly undersized defensive linemen. Walker will rotate around the defensive line along with Larry Tripplett and 2006 first-rounder John McCargo, who missed most of his rookie campaign with a broken foot. Spikes is likely to be replaced by backup Angelo Crowell, who started in an injured Spikes' stead in '05. Either way, the Bills front seven is extremely likely to suffer.
Those moves are all more damaging than the one that received the most coverage this off-season: Willis McGahee, after a Penthouse interview burying Buffalo, was dealt to Baltimore for a pair of third-round picks. McGahee has the cachet of being a star running back, but he isn't. Astute observers would note that his two 100-yard games in 2006 came against the Jets, who had the worst rush defense in football last season. His DVOA, which has remained remarkably consistent for his three seasons (0.4% in 2004, -1.3% in 2005, and -1.6% in 2006), isn't the stuff of star players -- it's the home of guys like Vernard Morency, Greg Jones, and Artrose Pinner. While the price the Ravens paid wasn't that expensive, the contract they gave McGahee was. Durability concerns alone would make the contract ill-advised, but the running back the Ravens are getting is not the one they're paying for.
In lieu of replacing McGahee with an expensive running back, the Bills seem to be investing their leftover money in the offensive line. Three offensive linemen have made it over to Buffalo this off-season, with the most prominent being Redskins guard Derrick Dockery. Dockery received a seven year, $49 million contract, or in relative terms, about .92 Hutchison. Dockery will be entrusted with creating holes in the middle and keeping interior rushers off of J.P. Losman's sorta-blind side in 2007. The Redskins offensive line was rather good at running toward and behind Dockery in '06, ranking fifth in the league in adjusted line yards to left tackle and seventh to the middle of the field and at guard. They also ran a much higher percentage of plays to the left side than the right, which could speak some about their confidence in Dockery. On the other hand, Dockery won't have Chris Samuels to the left of him this year.
The Bills also brought in Langston Walker from Oakland and Jason Whittle from Minnesota. The latter is a handy reserve, but not someone who should be relied upon to start for any lengthy period of time; Walker was part of the much-maligned offensive line in Oakland, but he may have been one of the better parts, as Oakland ranked ninth in running at right tackle in 2006. Of course, Oakland had the worst pass protection by a large margin in 2006, and Walker was a huge factor. He tied Robert Gallery in allowing eleven sacks, and committed eight penalties for 55 yards on the campaign. On the other hand, Walker has blocked five kicks in his career, so maybe the Bills plan to get their Frank Beamer on.
Overall, while the Bills are a team with several very good young players in the lineup, it's hard to make any sort of argument that the Bills did anything but dramatically regress in 2006. The goal of a team with any desire to win is to hold onto players like Clements, not let them go. While letting McGahee go was the right move, the lack of a ready-made replacement will hurt the Bills some simply by giving them another position to fill.
Free Agency Remainders and Draft Needs
This is a team with lots of gigantic holes to be filled. Replacing Fletcher-Baker and Spikes is probably the most pressing need, as the least amount of depth exists behind them at the moment. While the Bills have been linked to California running back Marshawn Lynch with the 12th overall pick, it would be repeating the same mistake they made when they drafted McGahee. It's simply not that difficult to find an effective running back. Middle linebacker Patrick Willis is the best selection to fill the Bills' needs. While drafting a halfback wouldn't be a disaster, the Bills would be smart to wait till 2008 and save their money for Michael Turner (although rumors have him visiting Buffalo this week).
Bringing in another corner would seem to be on the Bills' list, but with second-year corner Ashton Youboty the expected starter in 2007 across from Terrence McGee, the Bills might want to bring in a veteran as opposed to another rookie. Former Bengals corner Tory James might make sense as a veteran mentor. Finally, a real wide receiver to play across from Lee Evans would be nice. No, Peerless Price, you don't count when you average eight yards per reception. While there are red flags on Antonio Bryant's record, he'd be a value pickup and, if Willis McGahee is right, there's not really many places to go and get in trouble at in Buffalo, anyway.
Miami Dolphins
Free agency has seen the Dolphins lose several useful spare parts and replace them with different ones, but the moves they have made aren't likely to dramatically impact the team's performance in 2007.
New England, in some sort of parting grab at Nick Saban, signed Wes Welker and Sammy Morris away from the Dolphins, with Welker's RFA status netting the Dolphins second- and seventh-round picks. Welker's loss will hurt the Dolphins some, but his skill set is relatively easy to find: There are a lot of guys willing to go over the middle and catch eight yard in-patterns for the minimum salary, and very few of them cost second-round picks. The Dolphins will actually come out ahead on the move in the long run. Morris was a player whom the Dolphins always seemed to want to include in the running game, but the second that they actually gave him the ball, they immediately regretted it and took it away. The Dolphins signed former Lions fullback Cory Schlesinger, who's on the downside of his career but should be equal to the task of replacing Morris' production on special teams and as a blocker.
The offensive line saw underrated left tackle Damion McIntosh leave, with Kansas City signing him to a six-year contract. It's worth noting that when McIntosh played left tackle in 2005, the Dolphins were fifth in the league at running behind left end and first behind left tackle. In addition, when McIntosh returned to left tackle in 2006, the team's offensive line play improved markedly. While McIntosh is not a star, he'll be a useful part on an always-excellent line in Kansas City. The Dolphins signed Chris Liwienski and Seth McKinney in free agency, hoping the former can return to tackle without too much of a drop off. It's unlikely to work out.
Tight end Randy McMichael also left the side, re-joining former Dolphins coach Scott Linehan in St. Louis on a three-year, $11 million contract. After trying to trade McMichael, the Dolphins saved themselves from a $3 million roster bonus by cutting him. His move to St. Louis also allows him to join Leonard Little in some sort of NFL Repeat Offender Scumbag Crew. Replacing McMichael in Miami is former Packers tight end David Martin, who posted a better DVOA than McMichael in 2005 and has shown signs he could be an effective starter. For the Dolphins, the money budgeted for McMichael is probably better spent elsewhere, so this isn't a bad move.
The Dolphins' big move, though, was signing Joey Porter from the Steelers. The always controversial and sometimes half-shirted Porter has had a quiet off-season outside of beating up Levi Jones at the Palms in Las Vegas. See, he's already better than McMichael! While Porter is yet to be charged with anything beyond misdemeanor battery, there's nothing in the Basic Strategy books I've read that say punching NFL left tackles helps you win. As for Porter's football abilities and how they will affect the Dolphins defense in 2007, there was talk around the league that Porter's ability to beat blockers in one-on-one situations was on the wane.
(Editor's Note: Except in night clubs.)
Moving from the Steelers 3-4 to the mixed Dolphins scheme, Porter is likely to be employed in a fashion that's out of his comfort zone. The differences between the two schemes are too big for people to accurately say how Porter will adjust, but expect him to struggle some at the beginning of the season.
A smaller move also saw the Dolphins ditch long-time kicker Olindo Mare, whose accuracy has been on the wane, for Giants kicker Jay Feely. Finally, quarterback Joey Harrington was released, leaving Cleo Lemon and the ghost of Daunte Culpepper on the roster.
Free Agency Remainders and Draft Needs
There's been significant talk of Miami trading for Trent Green, which shows the lack of confidence that the Dolphins have in Daunte Culpepper ever becoming a useful quarterback again. Whatever assets would need to go to Kansas City in exchange for Green should be used to restock the rest of the roster. Signing David Carr would have been a better move, but he's gone to Carolina.
There are very few positions on this roster that don't require some sort of upgrade. Even the Dolphins' position of strength, their defensive line, is aging and needs fresh blood. A good place to start, though, would be wide receiver, where Chris Chambers celebrated a festival of incompletes and Marty Booker is aging. At the ninth pick, however, Ted Ginn or Robert Meachem would be a reach. That's all right -- the Dolphins can trade down and use the extra picks to restock their defensive line and grab someone like David Harris to eventually replace Zach Thomas in the middle of the Dolphins' defense.
New England Patriots
March saw the Patriots, for the first time under Bill Belichick, really open up the purse strings. While the Morris and Welker moves were discussed above, the happy surprise for Patriots fans was the five-year, $35 million contract given to Adalius Thomas to breathe some life into a decaying Patriots linebacker corps. While there's every reason to believe that Thomas will succeed in New England, he might be perceived as a failure in his debut season. What the Patriots need more than anything else is a linebacker who can cover running backs (whom the Patriots ranked 22nd in the league defending against, a hole in their pass defense for years) and stop receivers coming over the middle (the Patriots gave up big games to guys like Welker and Mike Furrey, neither of whom are known for their ... deceptive quickness). As someone who's played cornerback and safety before, Thomas can do that, but the number Patriots fans are going to expect him to match is his 11 sacks for 2006. Don't expect Thomas to match that or be employed in a way that would allow him to do so. Thomas will take Tully Banta-Cain's spot in the lineup, with the overachieving seventh-round pick moving on to San Francisco.
The next big signing saw Donte' Stallworth arrive from Philadelphia on a six-year, $30 million contract with one year and $3.6 million guaranteed. Stallworth brings a downfield option that the Patriots simply didn't have last year; while Reche Caldwell averaged 12.5 yards per reception, Stallworth was up at 19.1. With Stallworth down the field and Welker and Ben Watson staking out territory over the middle, the rest of the Patriots wide receivers will be fighting for scraps; that's why fellow newcomer Kelley Washington might see more time on special teams than he will in the offense. Playoff hero Jabar Gaffney's roster spot might come down to the health of Chad Jackson, who tore his ACL in the AFC Championship Game; Gaffney's aversion to special teams isn't likely to play well when Belichick is finalizing his roster in September.
One loss in the receiving corps was tight end Daniel Graham, who'd developed into a useful player by the end of his tenure in New England, if not one worthy of a first-round pick. Signed by Denver, he was replaced by Belichick's white whale from 1995, Kyle Brady, who signed a two-year deal. Brady will be expected to fulfill Graham's blocking role, while David Thomas' role in the passing offense will increase.
Corey Dillon also requested and received his release, a move not likely to dramatically affect the Patriots unless Laurence Maroney struggles in returning from off-season shoulder surgery. Perceptions of Dillon's performance last year were inflated by games where he'd score lots of cheap fantasy points (the nine carries for 25 yards and three touchdowns game against Detroit comes to mind) but not really deliver much on his carries. He ranked 21st in the league in DVOA, a far cry from his championship-caliber 2004. Dillon's hidden strength was his excellent pass blocking, but those responsibilities are likely to be picked up by Morris. As for Maroney, remember that "the Boston Herald didn't report until yesterday that Maroney had shoulder surgery" does not mean the same thing as "the Patriots didn't know until yesterday until Maroney had shoulder surgery."
Finally, Asante Samuel was tagged as the team's Franchise Player. The failure to sign him to a long-term contract in 2006 was almost unquestionably the wrong move relative to the market when Nate Clements' contract and Samuel's playoff performance are considered. Assuming Samuel signs his franchise tender, Patriots fans have an excellent contract year and a bitter goodbye to look forward to.
Free Agency Remainders and Draft Needs
The Patriots own the 24th and 28th picks in the draft (draft value: 1400, equivalent to the #8 overall pick). Although they don't like drafting linebackers, their team desperately needs to alleviate the pressure being placed on the rapidly aging Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi. Moving Vrabel inside will help some, but both players have lost a step. Most mock drafts have linked the Patriots to Penn State outside linebacker Paul Posluszny, which pretty much ensures that the Patriots will not draft Paul Posluszny when the day comes. Go check and see how many mock drafts forecast Laurence Maroney and Logan Mankins the last two years. Besides, the Patriots really need an inside linebacker, not an outside one. The aforementioned Patrick Willis would fit, but he's unlikely to make it to #24, and the Patriots don't have a second-rounder to package in order to move up. An alternate move would be to draft a safety like Reggie Nelson or Michael Griffin to eventually replace Rodney Harrison in the secondary, with "eventually" likely meaning "sometime around Week 5." While some mocks have prescribed a running back, the Patriots already have four who can expect to see playing time in 2007 and are unlikely to draft one in the first round two years in a row.
New York Jets
The off-season after the pleasant surprise that was the Jets' 2006 has been quieter than anyone else's in the AFC East. The big move was the acquisition of Thomas Jones in a trade that swapped the 37th overall pick for the 63rd. Jones replaces the released Kevan Barlow, and represents a solid addition to the Jets offense; while he'll turn 29 before the season, he hasn't been worked particularly hard throughout his career, and his DVOA has been relatively consistent over the last few seasons. In fact, Jones is a similar-quality back to McGahee, but while Jones got a four-year, $20 million contract, McGahee got a seven-year, $40 million deal. Advantage, Jets.
Fullback B.J. Askew left the club as well. While he made some noise at the beginning of the free agency about wanting to play halfback, Askew moved to Tampa Bay, where he will be expected to play approximately no halfback. Darian Barnes has come over from Miami, and he'll compete with James Hodgins for the starting job if no one else makes their way over. The Jets also got a new backup quarterback, with Marques Tuiasosopo taking over for Patrick Ramsey.
The Jets also made several moves to shore up a porous defensive line. First was the acquisition of former Cowboys DE Kenyon Coleman, who signed a five-year contract. Coleman has experience playing in the 3-4 with Dallas, but his performance record doesn't seem to indicate much in the way of future difference-making. Next was the signing of Dolphins defensive end David Bowens, primarily a pass rusher with Miami and likely to fill the same role in New York. Former Bears first round pick Michael Haynes has also signed; while Haynes isn't likely to live up to his first-round selection, his signing represents a low-cost move with a lot of potential upside. Finally, former third overall pick Andre Wadsworth signed a contract for the minimum; Wadsworth hasn't played since 2000, when he underwent microfracture surgery. Hey, it's worth a shot.
Free Agency Remainders and Draft Needs
The Jets are in a comfortable position and can choose to go a number of different ways in the draft. The defensive line acquisitions seem to indicate that the Jets will try and shore up the line with free agents and hope that the incumbents improve. They could choose to draft a cornerback like Texas' Aaron Ross if faith in Justin Miller has waned too severely, or even go for local running back Brian Leonard, out of Rutgers, to provide a blocker for Jones.
Later this week: AFC North.
Uh, Bill... a Mr. Harrison on line 1... something about a lack of respect...
Uh, whoever the editor is---
if Levi Jones' version of that incident is true, it was actually Porter and six others vs one. So, yeah, Porter's ability to take someone on one-on-one is still in doubt. :D
Why don't the Pats have a second rounder this year? I thought the Wes Walker trade is for a second rounder next year and not this.
Well I'm grouchy too about letting both Spikes and LFB leave at the same time, but I don't think it's as bad as all that. The Bills needed to pay attention to their OL and DL first, and that's what they've been doing. If they do draft a running back in the first round, I'll be back to full-scale depression again.
In the third paragraph, I think it is supposed to be "appreciaBLE linebacker depth" instead of "appreciative", unless of course you mean the linebacker depth didn't say 'thank you' enough.
Good article.
Kelley Washington might see more time on special teams than he will in the offense? The final knock on the squirrel in Cincinnati was that he could not play special teams because of his neck injury. I don’t believe he ever played special teams. Strictly a WR#3/4 and viewed as a liability overall. A strange signing, baring injuries I would not be surprised to see Washington go as the last cut before the season.
Interesting that the Jets signed Kenyon Coleman. I watched quite a bit of them last year, and it seemed to me that Dewayne Robertson was playing well, but not really doing the job of a 3-4 NT. I would have quite liked to see him take Van Oelhoffen's place at end and let Rashad Moore play NT, I think that would be a better fit for them. Coleman is rank average, and while he couldn't be worse than KVO, he's nothing to shout about.
I also think the Jets could do worse than trading Vilma to a 4-3 team, moving Victor Hobson inside and drafting someone like Anthony Spencer or Jarvis Moss to play OLB, but only if they could find someone willing to make it worth their while in trade terms.
The numbers on Stallworth's contract are wrong - those were the early (wrong) numbers, if memory serves. Stallworth's guaranteed $3.6M in 2006, and that's it. After that it's a whole truckload of money to keep him, and his agent's already called it a one-year contract multiple times, so everyone knows that's what it is.
I thought that the Bills made the correct decisions in the players they let go. MLB and cornerback are not really vital positions in the cover two defense.
Michael Griffin to the Pats makes a lot of sense too.
#3 - Miami has a pick in the second-round they received from New England. I don't recall any other transaction between the two...
#6 - Yes, he has. After Washington refused to play special teams for a while, he started to and it was his ticket back into the lineup.
#7 - That's the thing. They could trade their best player on defense and use their #4 pick in a role unsuited for him...or they could not play the 3-4.
#8 - Of course, correct. My bad on that.
#9 - Most successful Cover 2 teams have a pretty great MLB. Also, the Bills' lack of an alternative at the position makes the situation even more dire.
I would say the Washington signing is similar to the David Terrell signing, or when they brought JJ Stokes in for a look. They might just want to see if the guy has talent and just needs a change of scenery or better coaching. Although Washington had a very good receivers coach in Cincy (which can't be said of Terrell or Stokes in their first career stops). I would agree with the theory that he will be a late cut in camp.
I would also second the idea that the Jets should trade Vilma and possibly Robertson to teams where they would fit the scheme, even if they might not seem to get decent value in any trade. They don't represent good value playing in schemes where their liabilties are exposed anyway so trade them away and use the picks to find guys who do fit. There is nothing dumber than watching coaches try to bash square pegs into round holes.
Bill
I can see your point, but Shelton Quarles was hardly a dominant player in the middle for the Bucs. It is most important to have the Will backer who can dominate in space and run with a receiver. The smaller, mobile, pursuit style middle linbacker is a reasonably fungible position and there should be a few available in this draft at the end of the first day.
#10 Fair point, I was blindly assuming that Mangini was a 3-4 only guy because of his association with Belichick, but of course that's a pretty weak assumption. The only player who that scheme seemed to be getting the best out of last year was Bryan Thomas.
I think that Robertson might be better on the end, but I really felt that he looked more like a #4 draft pick last year than he had in previous years (not saying much, I know), and it would be nice to see him back in a 4-3 system. Vilma doesn't look like he would ever get used to the level of exposure to blocking that being a 3-4 ILB involves, so I think they really should trade him if they're determined to run it.
#12 - True. They also had a Pro Bowl DT, DE, good corners, and a Pro Bowl safety. The Bills have...a bunch of guys. Therein lies the difference.
#13 - I agree with you in the sense that it would be better to trade him than force him to be the square peg in the round hole. I'm just saying that moving to the 3-4 wasn't a good idea in the first place.
This was an ok column, but there just weren't enough miniature horse jokes in it. I can appreciate trying to mix it up a little, but sometimes, you've just got to pay tribute to the classics.
Let me guess, the secret word for today is 'waned', right? What do I win?
At least Joey Porter beat up a 300 pound guy instead of his wife ( Mcmichael). But Levi Jones didn't look like he was lying when he said Porter had 5 other guys with him and "jumped" him, and only started attacking after the other guys jumped in.
Random question: How come when a guy like London Fletcher leaves Buffalo people start to say things like " he was getting old anyway" or " he lost a step", but then when the Redskins bring that guy in it's " he was the heart of that SB rams D", "he's a stud etc.". Is that just more and more redskins hype/optiminsum? It seems like when a team GETS a player his value is jacked up, and when the LOSE a player his value is jacked down unless it's an extreme ( Losing a true super star) and then the fans really mourn the loss of the guy.
Concerning the Jets, they have to be figuring that Clemens will be the #2 QB this year, don't they? I mean, after all, he was on the cover on the world's best football annual in 2006. Of course, Tuiasosopo has been playing in QB hell so perhaps he's better than his limited performance suggests.
Paul Poslozny was I believe a finance major who doubled with something else and got excellent grades. I'm not saying that makes him smart, but when you compare what some of the other first round picks majors it says something. Mixing the job of college football, and a real major says something. You would think the Pats would value that intelligence and that workmans attitude.
I think off the top of my head Brady Quinn, Paul Poslozny, Levi Brown, An thony Gonzales, Joe Thomas, and Adam Carriker had "real" majors.
19:
"You would think the Pats would value that intelligence and that workman's attitude."
We hear statements like this all the time. Is there any actual at least semi-objective evidence that the Patriots, or for that matter any other team, prefer 'smarter' players more than other teams?
19:
"I think off the top of my head Brady Quinn, Paul Poslozny, Levi Brown, An thony Gonzales, Joe Thomas, and Adam Carriker had “real� majors. "
Not to be controversial, but that's pretty much all the white players expected to go in the first round vs Levi Brown. I also read that the Patriots had one of the largest numbers of white players on their squad for their superbowl trips in '03 and '04. Could that have anything to do with their image of picking 'smart' players?
Mixing the job of college football, and a real major says something.
Yeah. It says "he went to Penn State."
Oh great.
Here we go...
Re: 17
Chris, wait until Samuel starts his holdout and is traded. By then, he'll be a terrible cover CB who was only able to get playing time because so many other DB's on the Pats were injured. Look at AV last year -- overrated, can't kick off, etc.
Re: 21 - "Not to be controversial,"
That's hilarious. I can see how you earned your username.
I'm wondering after Porter's fight with/ambush of Levi Jones if the Dolphins are suffering some buyer's remorse. Or are they thinking 'yeah, that's what we need more of on this team'?
I think you got only half the comparison on McGahee there, Bill.
The other comparisons would be McGahee vs. Jamal Lewis (an improvement) and the Bills line vs. Baltimore's, as unsettled as it is (much better last year than Buffalo's).
Why would we not expect McGahee to have better production than Lewis, then, which is what Baltimore is paying for? The Bills may not have lost much, but Baltimore has certainly gained, once you take both persepctives into account.
Re: 8, 10
Not only that, but only $2 mil of that $3.6mil is really guaranteed. The other $1.6mil is 16 separate $100,000 roster bonuses (presumably to give the Pats partial protection should Stallworth get hit with a drug suspension).
24- That is an interesting point with AV. While a pat he was "mr. clutch", but when he went to the colts he was " overrated, over valued, and more fungible".
22- Pat, your a Penn State guy aren't you? My favorite Poslosny quote was at the combine when he worked out dispite not being expected to. They asked him why he worked out ( and could have tarnished his high status) and Paul responded, " we're linebackers, and we work".
20- Football smarts.
21- It's not like I "made up" the fact that those named players were business and finance majors ( and Brown graduating early), while most of the other guys were AT BEST sociology majors and other guys majoring in less. Let's just say that some guys were more impressive "student" athletes than others. Some GM's would probably rather prefer a few tenths of a point on a 40 time, while other GM's would rather have the guy that's smarter in the classroom and better in interviews ( and seemingly better character). Example: Some teams would rather have Hines Ward, some teams would rather have Plaxico Burress and that is what makes the NFL go around.
On a side note, I think Dusty Dvoracheck ( spelling), had one of the highest wonderlic scores, but the guy has mental or depression problems. So just because somebody might be "book smart" doesn't mean his is neccesarily a "low risk" or "high character" player, but you would think there is some correlation.
"There are a lot of guys willing to go over the middle and catch eight yard in-patterns..."
Yes, many are willing. Considerably fewer actually do. There aren't a bunch of guys surpassing Welker's FO metrics.
PLAX! Represent the 7-5-7! Holla!
Sorry...I'd like to see the average wonderlic scores for the guys coming out of my homeland. It just seems like we breed 'em really dumb here - Vick, Plaxico, Allen Iverson.
#27 - It's true that McGahee will (likely) be a better back than Lewis. That doesn't mean that McGahee will be a good back or value, though, especially at that price. Baltimore's gained at the running back spot slightly, but they would've been smarter to give an equally effective but much cheaper running back (Corey Dillon comes to mind) a smaller deal and hold onto Adalius Thomas.
#30 - Welker was 47th in the league by DVOA last year. There are plenty of receivers ahead of him.
29:
My question stands: is there any direct evidence that some teams disproportionately favor football smarts OR 'book smarts' over other traits, relative to other teams? I think we grant lots of players 'football smarts' if their teams win a lot, or they perform well, but that doesn't necessarily have to be the case: football 'dumb' players can be good as well, based on their athleticism.
I've actually read that Patrick Willis might be something like a Lavarr Arrington type player: great when running around the field and making plays on pure instincts, but he really struggles when he's given a specific limited role to fill. So even if he falls to the Pats I'm not sure he would work out so well in their D.
Re: Smarts
Weren't the Rams known a couple of years ago for drafting guys will really high wonderlic scores?
And also, I think Amobi Okoye graduated as a 19 year old, so he must be pretty smart.
33- It is difficult to evaluate intelligence. Colleges have that problem with grade point averages, standardized test scores, EC activites, letters of recomendation etc. Some people take watered down classes, some people aren't good test takers etc. It is difficult to give a person a single "intelligence value".
On the other hand, some teams value character higher than others ( yes, I am looking at you cincinatti). The steelers choose not to resign Plax or Joey. Now we really don't know if these guys are intelligent ( although I'd imagine not), but they are at least perceived as lower character guys, compared to Hines, Jerome, etc.
You don't always have to have a 4.0 to play quarterback. People argued whether or not Terry Bradshaw could spell "CAT" or not. He couldn't even qualify to get into LSU because of terrible academic performance. Bradshaw admitted that he wasn't very book smart, but said that he didn't have to be a genius to see whether or not a guy was open. Frank Gore is a guy who didn't even graduate highschool, but is doing just fine in the league thus far.
To answer your question, YES, some teams value speed more than others, some value character/smarts more than others, and some value receivers more than others ( Matt Millen).
It’s not like I “made up� the fact that those named players were business and finance majors
FWIW, where I come from the Business major is one of the most BS degrees you can get. Not sure about Finance.
re: 27
Well, the Ravens are only paying McGahee $5mil per year for the first 4 years of the contract, I doubt that Dillon would sign for much less than a 1yr/$5mil deal. Dillon has had much more wear and tear on his body than McGahee, so he's probably more of an injury risk and has a greater collapse rate (sorry, its baseball season).
I don't think there is any doubt that Bills did the right thing in getting rid of McGahee though, two 3rd rd picks for a guy who was leaving for FA in a year was a good move.
What did Okoye major in? Psychology.
There are probably kids in highschool taking AP and AB classes with a harder workload than a psychology major at Louisville.
People hype up how he " was considering going Ivy league". That is nice and all that he was "considering it", but there are players in the draft that DID do it. It's nice that he speaks well and he is certainly labeled a "high character guy", but if he weren't trying to be a football player it wouldn't be as impressive.
22- Pat, your a Penn State guy aren’t you? My favorite Poslosny quote was at the combine when he worked out dispite not being expected to. They asked him why he worked out ( and could have tarnished his high status) and Paul responded, � we’re linebackers, and we work�.
I wasn't suggesting Poz isn't smart. It's just that all Penn State athletes typically have a real major, or appear as if they've got real academics. That doesn't mean they're smart (though they could be) - it just means that it's not simple to fluff by at Penn State as an athlete. Pretty much the only athlete I can remember recently leaving Penn State without graduating was LaVar Arrington.
I'd add Victor Abiamiri ( finance major ND), Trent Edwards was a Poly Sci major but stanford is stanford as two other high ranking players with academics. There are other guys with noteworthy academic achievement, but I'm saying that a lot of guys at the top basically majored in "football". Nothing wrong with that, but when other guys were doing football AND academics it makes it more impressive. Not even from an "intellicence" point of view but a "work hard" and time management point of view.
1. Methinks that understanding the human psyche (sp?) is more difficult than number crunchers realize. It's not like it's a Philospohy degree (Would you like fries with your order?)
2. Frank Gore didn't graduate from HS? How was he able to play NCAA atheletics without a HS diploma?
39- Do you attribute that to Joe Pa? I wasn't saying PP is smart, I just liked how he said " we're linebackers and we WORK".
I thought when Joe Pa won the title they asked him if it was his best team he's ever coached. He responded by saying something to the effect of "we'll see in 20 years when we find out who these men really are in the real world".
I'd also like to throw out there that the late Eddie Robinson had an 85% graduation rate at Grambling. I wonder how many other coaches can say that? I wonder if some of these big schools even hit a 50% mark.
There are probably kids in highschool taking AP and AB classes with a harder workload than a psychology major at Louisville.
Any reason to say that, or did you just feel like incredibly insulting all psychology majors and/or the University of Louisville?
That's got to be the most asinine thing I've ever heard you say.
"That’s all right — the Dolphins can trade down and use the extra picks to restock their defensive line and grab someone like David Harris to eventually replace Zach Thomas in the middle of the Dolphins’ defense"
Is it really that easy to trade down? The main theme of the MMQB this week is about how hard it is to do that because of the high risk:reward ratio of the high draft picks, which makes sense.
Do you attribute that to Joe Pa?
Partially. It's the university's stated goals. Paterno's probably one of the few college coaches alive that can reasonably state that when he disagrees with the direction of the University, the University changes, not him. So it's him, but when he leaves, I doubt it'll change.
I’d also like to throw out there that the late Eddie Robinson had an 85% graduation rate at Grambling.
You have to compare the graduation rate to the rest of the school. Public universities graduate a lower percentage. Private universities graduate a higher percentage.
I would like to rescind the words "number crunchers" from post 41 and just say "some people."
No offense to you number crunchers.
Welker has something better than deceptive speed, acc. to Peter King:
"He will not be denied."
43- I said that because Okoye graduating at 19 with a "psyche" degree really isn't that impressive. If he wasn't a football player he's probably have a difficult time finding a decent job with that degree. Oh, and I'm sure I've said more asinine things.
Here's one for you guys to chew on...
Quentin Moses, DE out of Georgia. He was an all SEC Recreation and Lesure studies Major. Does that mean he was a mean frisbe gold player or something? Can you even be an academic all american as a lesiure studies and recreation major?
PK is a Foreigner fan?
I think this coming draft is a make or break draft for the current Dolphins GM. I see the Dolphins as having lost a lot of "depth" this off-season. However most of the players they lost seem to be league average production players. They picked up one older potential impact player at a position their D co-coordinator has gotten good production from similar players with those skill sets. I think the Dolphins aren't going to be a factor this year unless the hit 2-3 homeruns in this draft. However there is less pressure if some of last years draft class shows up for year 2. I'll also point out the Dolphins are very thin at DE having lost Bowens to the Jets. I think the GMs toast if he has another draft class like last year.
Oh, and I’m sure I’ve said more asinine things.
You're right. You said this: If he wasn’t a football player he’s probably have a difficult time finding a decent job with that degree.
Give me a break. It's either a social sciences degree or a natural sciences degree. Either one has plenty of career opportunities, especially with graduate work.
49. He just discovered them through iTunes.
As far as I can tell Okoye has took no graduate classes. There are "opportunities" if you pursue further education, but most psyche majors don't step out of college and make good money.
There are “opportunities� if you pursue further education, but most psyche majors don’t step out of college and make good money.
You didn't say "make good money". You said "he'd have a difficult time finding a decent job." Low-end social sciences jobs ($25-30K) are relatively common, and there's decent upward mobility with experience.
You're not talking about someone who has a custom design-your-own major that consisted primarily of basketweaving and Appreciation of Modern Cinema.
As far as I can tell Okoye has took no graduate classes
As far as I can guess, you don't know what classes he's taken at all, so speculating about how 'fluff' his degree was is the silliest kind of speculation. And insulting, I might add. Give the kid the benefit of the doubt rather than underhandedly insulting him on a message board.
Re: 36
I'm biased. But I assure you, a Finance degree is no joke.
53- Your right, I don't know what classes he took, but some people have notes that they took Grad classes as well. Okoye doesn't have anything of that nature noted.
If somebody "wanted" to go Ivy league, it isn't as impressive as somebody who " went" Ivy league.
I'm much more impressed with a finance major, engineering, double major ( like Quinn).
A lot of those people who graduated in psychology couldn't even get jobs after college. I wouldn't call a 25-30K job a "decent" job and I'll bet most people wouldn't either.
I said most of those first round prospects were psychology/sociology or worse. Quentin Moses being " all SEC academic" in lesiure and recreation cracks me up. He must be a real cerebral guy. Oh wait, I can't say that... I don't KNOW him.
Did Chris major in douchebaggery?
I’m much more impressed with a finance major, engineering, double major ( like Quinn).
It's freaking Notre Dame. Who cares what he majored in? If there ever was a football school where you don't have to worry about the intelligence of the players coming out, it's Notre Dame.
Oh wait, I can’t say that… I don’t KNOW him.
It's not just that you don't know him. You don't know him. You don't know the courses he took. You don't know the program. You don't know the university. Instead, you're just being a presumptive all-around jackass based on your "opinion" of what impressive majors are.
At a lot of universities, several "joke" majors sound perfectly reasonable, whereas other "real" majors sound joke-like. Moreover, several "real" majors can be impressive if taken one way, and complete jokes if taken another way. Integrated Arts at Penn State, for instance, is one of them - it's basically a design-your-own major.
The fact that you're trying to judge how intelligent someone is based on their major is just... amazingly insulting. My own major typically makes people go "Oh my God, you must be smart" because it sounds all technical and super-impressive. Which is retarded. There are smart psychology majors. There are dumbass astrophysics majors (this, I know from experience).
I wouldn’t call a 25-30K job a “decent� job and I’ll bet most people wouldn’t either.
My first job out of college paid me $22,500 per year and it was perfectly decent job, fuck you very much.
So how 'bout that AFC East?
#50
This will be the first year that Mueller is actually running the draft for the Dolphins. 2 years ago he wasn't around and last year it has been widely reported that Saban called all the shots and pretty well ignored Mueller and the rest of the personnel people's input. I don't think Mueller can be blamed for last year's unproductive draft class (many were injured/out for the year) and probably won't be judged on it either.
McGahee is actually pretty good. I don't know why Bill gets on his case so much. Behind the Ravens' superior run-blocking, I wouldn't be surprised if he put up Thomas-Jones-in-Chicago-type numbers.
You don't know me? Hey, do you know any of these NFL players? Maybe we shouldn't comment about any of them because we don't personally know any of them. It would just be some unfair generalizations right? Do you think you know any of these guys because of the generic answers they give to reporters in interviews?
Okoye took the courses to get a Psych major. That is not very impressive. Is he smart... who knows. Q. Moses was an all SEC academic guy as a lesiure major... Does that mean that he is smart because got an A+ in golf class?
22,500! Is that an annual salary? That's below the poverty line bro. People who work at Mcdonalds can make 15K per year. No wonder you used the "irrational" profanity towards me, you must be pretty angry there making peanuts.
and Pat, your anger is "irrational". I never said you can "judge" intelligence based on major. It just adds to that players portfolio if he went to a good school, good major, and good grades.
US poverty guidelines linked on my name. How many kids do you think I had when I graduated college?
Oh yeah, and just to give everyone else an idea of how long Chris spent composing that post, I had to do one Google search for "poverty guidelines" which led immediately to the HHS poverty guidelines. Chris, you might want to consider, you know, thinking about what you say and researching it a little before you start shooting your mouth off.
I never said you can “judge� intelligence based on major
No, that's true. So replace "judge how intelligent someone is" with "judge how impressive their college academic accomplishments are". And your comment still looks just as ignorant and insulting as it did before.
Q. Moses was an all SEC academic guy as a lesiure major… Does that mean that he is smart because got an A+ in golf class?
Now, you're seriously starting to piss me off, so I have to go and actually look up what a Rec & LS major is. It includes a required internship, a large number of hours of practical experience in local leisure service places: no, the list of recommended places doesn't include a golf course. Rather YMCAs, state parks, senior centers, Special Olympics, and after school programs. Coursework can include studies on therapeutic recreation (i.e. for elderly, etc.), also ecological focus, resource management, etc.
Could he be a slacker? Sure. But he could also have been in that because he planned on working at state parks, or at a YMCA. Personally, I prefer to err on the side of caution rather than seriously insult someone.
and Pat, your anger is “irrational�.
Based on #57, #59, and probably plenty of others, I'd have to say not. You're insulting people based on almost no information, rather, your own opinion of a small fragment of information. I believe the technical term for that is "prejudiced."
Chris
I have on occasion defended you as you appear to possess some knowledge of football. You have denigrated various qualifications without any knowledge of their provenance and slagged people off because they might earn less money than you. Perhaps you should think about how your posts may be looked upon by others and seriously consider some kind of apology.
#62 - You should really read the article where I explain exactly why I'm on McGahee's case. It is, for your convenience, at the top of this page.
As for the ongoing college degree debate, it's entirely irrelevant to, you know, football. Let's try and wean ourselves out of it before posts start getting deleted and tempers get any more inflamed, folks. I was a Communications major; let's all agree that I'm dumber than an NFL player with any degree, and let's go from there.
RE:35
Gore did not graduatee high shcool? you say?
How did he get to play in college? Don't you have to gradutave high school in order to play in college? He went to Miami, right? That school must be crap.
sorr about spelling
horriblly drunk rite now
Bill,
I think I pretty much exhausted this argument on the original McGahee-got-traded thread, but my take on him is this: If his production was average (close to 0% DVOA) and the Bill's run-blocking was considerably below average (26th last time I checked), that means paired with average run-blocking McGahee should contribute above average production. The Bills overall rushing offense was -11.7% DVOA (A. Thomas at -24.5% DVOA), so McGahee's -1% DVOA should be something of an accomplishment given the overall suckitude of the Bill's offense.
67: Basically, my point is exactly the same as #70, so I won't belabor it. Behind a terrible line, he puts up league-average DVOA, which suggests he could improve to 5-10% DVOA, 20-25 DPAR next year. And many of the guys in that range are much more expensive than McGahee is.
Oh, and a clarification: I don't mean to say that Buffalo should have kept McGahee. I'm just saying that I think you underestimate his value to the Ravens.
That's a fair premise, but I don't really think it's accurate. The Bills offensive line, over McGahee's career, has been ranked 25th (2004), 16th, and 26th (2006) by adjusted line yards. The Ravens line, meanwhile, has ranked 11th, 28th, and 19th over that same timeframe. It's not as if McGahee's moving to the Chiefs.
The more salient point might be the one you made earlier -- that, maybe, McGahee could bump his level of play up to Thomas Jones-with-the-Bears levels over the next couple of years.
Jones just got a four-year, $20 million contract. McGahee got seven years and $40m+. I don't think he'll make all that, but his guaranteed money is a ways above Jones, I would imagine.
There are also plenty of guys at the level of DVOA/DPAR discussed that don't make anywhere near the money McGahee's getting. Just looking at 2006 alone, Ladell Betts, Ahman Green, Leon Washington, Corey Dillon, Brandon Jacobs, and Ron Dayne all put up numbers that would rank among what would be considered McGahee's upside. Several of those backs were available this offseason, and would have cost significantly less than what McGahee did.
I guess we'll have to watch and find out.
Pat- do you have PMS or something? Jeeez. What's the point of talking about any player since we don't know any of them. We wouldn't want to be unfair to them now would we?
Hey, if you meet somebody in prison, why guess that he's a criminal. I mean, he COULD have been innocent. We wouldn't want to rush to any conlusions and be unfair to that person. If somebody majored in underwater basket weaving, why should we make any assumptions, I mean, he could be albert einstein and the best damn basket weaver ever.
Karl- Earning 22K per year wouldn't do it in my area. 22K per year in a lot of the country is just scraping by. You could earn more money than that even without a college degree. Am I judging the person doing that job... NO. Don't jump to conclusions here. I'm just saying that that isn't a "decent" living in my area.
What I was juding was the guy cursing at me. I mean " you don't know me" after all.
Um, DiGiorgio may not even make the team, and will be the backup MLB at absolute best.
Angelo Crowell will move inside to MLB, and if not him Keith Ellison will. 30 seconds of research would have found this for you, but I'm not surprised you weren't willing to put in the effort.
Okay, seriously - when is someone going to recognize that Chris is the very definition of a troll? (Even if he doesn't mean to be - he is.) Can we all agree to just ignore him from here on out? Let's face some facts:
1) Pat is, for the most part, never wrong. Honestly, if he wasn't a PSU/Eagles fan like myself, he'd kind of scare me.
2) Chris has been called various forms of "jackass" on, by my approximate count, 4 million different threads here on FO alone.
So, for Chris to keep antagonizing Pat (and everyone else) with his line of alleged "reasoning", which everyone but him recognizes is at best flawed, and at worst blatantly racist - he can only be doing it for one reason: because he enjoys getting a rise out of you all. Honestly - he's like the Ann Coulter of FO.
You want to stop that? Stop responding to him. Ignore him - it'll drive him NUTS.
72: I think that Buffalo's ALY has been helped by McGahee, and Baltimore's has been hurt by Lewis. I realize this is a subjective judgement, and you can feel free to disagree, but I think it's important you see where my reasoning is coming from.
Second: Many of those cheap backs with high DPAR come from outlier performance in limited action. Backs who split time often get freakish DVOA/DPAR, and it doesn't mean they'll be able to carry the full load at an above-average DVOA. Moe Williams in 2002, Onterrio Smith in 2003, Derrick Blaylock in 2004, etc. Just because he put up above-average DVOA for a year as part of a platoon doesn't mean Dayne is a capable feature back.
Only a handful of those, like Ahman Green and Corey Dillon, have shown they can do well with 300 carries, and those two are much older than McGahee, and less valuable long-term.
I think McGahee is a pretty safe choice to fix the running game, and while he won't blow us out of the water with a monster season, he'll do better than most of the other options the Ravens had available.
As a Recreation and Leisure major I feel the urge to stand up for my program (which shouldn't be hard, I've been doing it for four years). Recreation and Leisure is basically a mixture of business/management courses, psychology/sociology type courses and phys ed courses. Yet those majors are usually deemed to contain much more intelligent people (I don't know about in the US, but here in Canada psych is considered one of the more difficult majors). Of course Chris will probably knock my intelligence, but the fact remains that where I go to school it is equally tough to get into the Rec program as it is the business program, and we have one of the better business schools in Canada.
#50
It's a bit harsh to call this a make-or-break draft for Mueller, as it's his first draft as a 'real' GM in Miami. What I find more interesting is how the 'Fins approach this year. The D doesn't have long left in its current form so does the front office try and patch the offense together and make a run, or do they accept that with a 1st year HC now is the time to start from scratch?
The Joey Porter signing and the possible trade for Trent Green suggest the latter, but if that's the case, where's the O-line and WRs to support it?
#74 - That's true. I got to 28 seconds of research and then I needed a breather.
Seriously, Crowell played OLB last year. The Bills need a OLB *and* a MLB. The Bills can make noise about him becoming a MLB, but it actually has to happen first.
#76 - I will say that you said "Many of the backs I pointed out..." were part-time backs and that "Only a handful of those..." were full-time ones when it was, in fact, an entirely equal 3 & 3 grouping. That being said, we can agree there. I think McGahee's a safe choice to make it better, too.
Re: 32
Well yes, technically in a league with over 150 receivers there are 46 that surpassed Welker's FO metrics. That's about 1.5/team, placing Welker in the solid #2 receiver area (at least in terms of productivity).
Let me amend my earlier statement by expressly stating what I thought was clearly implied -
Yes, many are willing (to go over the middle and catch eight yard in-patterns for the minimum salary). Considerably fewer actually do. There aren’t a bunch of guys (available and willing to play for the league minimum) surpassing Welker’s FO metrics.
A guy like Reche Caldwell (last seen doing his Roberto Duran impression during the playoff loss to Indy) may be willing, but it would be risky to assume he'll be successful.
In the end, the question is did the Pats overpay (either in salary or draft resources) for Welker? Obviously you think yes. I'm inclined to disagree given Welker's productivity and the Pats own unpleasant experience in trying to 'go cheap'.
Oh, and by the way, proud U of L grad (1980 Chem Eng.). But I did take a numer of psychology classes too. I agree with #43 completely.
Interesting how the identity of "joke" courses varies from place to place. At my university, the acknowledged skives are geography (aka rowing), economics and management, and classical archaeology and ancient history (aka drawing pictures of pots). Modern languages (which is half of my course) deserves to be perceived in the same way, but isn't, for some reason. Philosophy, on the other hand (which is the other half of my course), is a seriously rigourous course that has more in common with mathematics than anything else, but with the added discipline of having to write essays. Experimental psychology is much the same (though related to a very different branch of maths). Someone who did philosophy, psychology and physiology here would have done a properly hardcore degree. That said, at most other UK universities, psychology is indeed a bit of a joke.
Murr who?
81. A football player who majored in Chemical engineering would be impressive. A guy who "wanted" to go ivy league, but instead majored in psychology isn't very impressive. It's not bad, but it's just not impressive at all.
What's really a joke is to go to college for 4 years, major in psychology, get a job for 22K per year and THINK your making a decent living. There are bar tenders and servers who can make 80+ K per year with no formal education.
The Psych majors in my area either had to go back to grad school, or get a job in a different field. If that's what you want to do, that's what you want to do.
Not to pile on poor Bill, but McGahee's contract is extremely backloaded -- the first four years, he makes less than $20M, and it's really open to question if the Ravens go past year 5 (the last two years contain over $15 mil in and of themselves).
Unless it's with the Patriots, Ozzie does know how to deal.
I'm not a big McGahee fan, so I'm not sure the Ravens made a good deal. But here's ESPN's report on his contract:
McGahee will receive an initial signing bonus of $7.5 million and subsequent option bonuses of $6 million after the 2007 season and $1.5 million following the 2008 season, for a total of $15 million. The base salaries are $595,000 (2007), $605,000 ('08), $620,000 ('09), $3.6 million ('10), $6 million ('11), $6.5 million ('12) and $7.2 million ('13).
Even without the option years at the end of the contract, the deal is worth $26.42 million over five years.
So I think it's misleading to call this a $40M+ contract except for PR purposes.
As I understand it from some rudimentary research, McGahee's cap number for 2007 is about equal to what they saved by cutting Mulitalo (they still have to carry some dead money on his contract but will free some short-term space).
So it looks like the Ravens chose to fill a hole at rb, open one at guard, and give up two 3rd round and one 7th round picks - plus future cap space in the form of McGahee's bonuses- to do it.
You could earn more money than that even without a college degree.
College degrees aren't about immediate money after graduation. They're about entering positions with upward mobility, job security, a high ceiling, and frequently very good fringe benefits. If you want immediate money as soon as possible, technical positions are pretty much the way to go. "Money per year" is a poor metric of how good a job is.
Interesting how the identity of “joke� courses varies from place to place.
I had a friend in college who majored in astrophysics because he didn't know what he wanted to do, and it was easy. He's also right - lots of the "joke" majors (business, hotel & restaurant management, etc.) require you to take an internship, actually commit time to a class, etc, whereas some of the natural sciences just make you show up and take tests, and it's relatively easy to pass with mediocre grades.
And with that, I'm pretty much done with the whole major debate.
Jones just got a four-year, $20 million contract. McGahee got seven years and $40m+. I don’t think he’ll make all that, but his guaranteed money is a ways above Jones, I would imagine.
McGahee's, realistically, is a 5-year, $26M contract, which makes it pretty comparable to Jones's. Incidentally, the guaranteed money is pretty comparable: $12M for Jones, vs $16M for McGahee.
McGahee's making only a smidgen more - Jones is making $5M/year, with $3M/year guaranteed, whereas McGahee's making $5.2M/year, with $3.2M/year guaranteed, and that ~5% increase over Jones is probably just the premium for the fact that McGahee's two years younger.
#84, #85: Okay, that was just freaky.
yeah a guy who started college when he was 16 and majored in psychology is teh stupid. I would say he is smart, because he realized football is what he wanted to do for a living and knew that playing in an Ivy League school, while it would impress one person unless he majored in something he deems unworthy would also lead to a lower chance of making it into the NFL (or being drafted as high as Okoye is being placed..) Perhaps if football did not pan out for Okoye, he planned on taking grad classes at an Ivy League school to impress Chris. I mean he is only 19-he has a lot of years left.
22K is a decent living depending on where you live and what your life is like at the moment. If he lived in NYC and had 4 kids and a wife...then no, but if he lived in a suburban town in the South with no one to support but himself-its not bad.
And on subject, Paul Poz reminds me more and more of DeMeco Ryans. From the major and hard work to the falling behind guys who have better 40s. Poz is going to make whoever drafts him happy.
82 - I have no real comment on the major discussion, I just wish to mention that my University left yours a length and a half down the Thames on Saturday.
As far as I can see, Bill's complaint about McGahee is roughly what MRH said at the end of 47 - the RB they signed is probably better than the RB they let go, but they let a guard go in order to get hum who makes their run blocking somewhat worse, so the overall gain is probably not very great.
In the end, the question is did the Pats overpay (either in salary or draft resources) for Welker?
Yes and no. Here's why:
If they had offered Welker a poison-pill contract that the Dolphins couldn't match, they'd have been required to give a second-round pick to the Dolphins (Welker was an RFA). The Florida Sun-Sentinel claims the Patriots were prepared to offer such a contract:
(The) Patriots were set to give Welker, then a restricted free agent, an offer sheet worth $38.5 million over seven years on March 3.
An NFL.com report said the Patriots were going to include a "poison pill" that said if Welker played four games in Florida, his contract would become fully guaranteed.
If one accepts that rumor (which, for the record, Scott Pioli denies), then the Patriots gave up a seventh-round pick to make the trade, then negotiated a contract for five years, $18 million, $9 million guaranteed. So they gave up a draft pick, but saved money.
As to whether Welker was worth either deal, that will play out over the next three to five years.
Re: 84-86
McGahee’s, realistically, is a 5-year, $26M contract
... and that's still a whole lot of money for an average player at a position in which average players are relatively easy to find for cheap. I'm 100% with Bill on this one. I suggest that McGahee continues to benefit more from the publicity surrounding him during his sophomore year at Miami than from anything that he has demonstrated in the four years since he was drafted.
re:41
"1. Methinks that understanding the human psyche (sp?) is more difficult than number crunchers realize. It’s not like it’s a Philospohy degree (Would you like fries with your order?)"
You've obviously never taken a psychology class. I majored in Electrical engineering, and minored in psychology. I basically took the psychology for the easy A's. My sister was a Psych major. The major is as much, if not more, of a joke, as philosophy. Atleast in philosophy, they expect you to analyze things. Psych is just spitting back w