The Fifth Element

[Synovia]

because they stank last year, and they've added cunningham who missed a decent portion of camp.

tully banta cain is the best they have. that speaks volumes. and he's no spring chicken, either.

they're not good because they haven't done anything to warrant being called so.

And you don't believe its possible for rookies, 2nd year, and 3rd year players to improve?

 

[Synovia]

Because we actually had a chance to remedy the situation this offseason and didn't. Duh.:bricks:

How exactly could they have remedied it?


They drafted a guy pretty high.

 

[Synovia]

In a league that is favoring the pass more and more, with rule changes to incentivize it, a successful pass rush will be the lynch pin of the modern day NFL defense. Can you name the cornerbacks on the Giant Team that beat us in the SB?

On the whole, our personnel has essentially remained the same, quality wise: Chung has not proven to be an upgrade IMO. McCourty is legit, but he will be replacing Bodden. Spikes is legit, but he will be offsetting the loss of Warren. And no one is offsetting the weakness at OLB, unless Cunningham is the answer.

I'm sorry, but you're an idiot.

Chung is a second year player. McCourty is a rookie. Spikes is a rookie. Pretending you know what these players are going to amount to is absolutely absurd.

 

[JR4]

I'm sorry, but you're an idiot.

Chung is a second year player. McCourty is a rookie. Spikes is a rookie. Pretending you know what these players are going to amount to is absolutely absurd.

Calling any member here an idiot is not acceptable even if you have a point.
IMO.

 

[Iron Helmet]

I'm sorry, but you're an idiot.

Chung is a second year player. McCourty is a rookie. Spikes is a rookie. Pretending you know what these players are going to amount to is absolutely absurd.

No one is "pretending" to know anything. There is a body of knowledge available from which to make predictions. Is it safe to say, based on the performances of rookie CBs coming into the league over the last decade, that mcCourty will perform worse than someone like Bodden (a proven, quality CB)? Very likely. If he does as well or better, I would consider this an abberation.

We have a pretty good body of work on Spikes abilities based on the preseason, and based on the fact that he displaced Guyton. We should be safe predicting he will at least perform as well as Guyton, considering that he beat him out over the course of many practices, game film analysis, and preseason work.

True, elite abilities are there from day one. It is raw, but you can see it. I think it is a myth that players abilities make some kind of drastic ability improvement during the course of 1-3 years. Can they improve? YES. But it is more likely incremental and not radical. The time is more a learning curve to digest the system.

For example, Maroney, Merriweather, Mayo, et al have not had some great talent burst their 2nd year. They were just better mentally, because they understood the system better.

Steroids are the only thing that changes this, IMO.

 

[Oswlek]

No one is "pretending" to know anything. There is a body of knowledge available from which to make predictions. Is it safe to say, based on the performances of rookie CBs coming into the league over the last decade, that mcCourty will perform worse than someone like Bodden (a proven, quality CB)? Very likely. If he does as well or better, I would consider this an abberation.

We have a pretty good body of work on Spikes abilities based on the preseason, and based on the fact that he displaced Guyton. We should be safe predicting he will at least perform as well as Guyton, considering that he beat him out over the course of many practices, game film analysis, and preseason work.

True, elite abilities are there from day one. It is raw, but you can see it. I think it is a myth that players abilities make some kind of drastic ability improvement during the course of 1-3 years. Can they improve? YES. But it is more likely incremental and not radical. The time is more a learning curve to digest the system.

For example, Maroney, Merriweather, Mayo, et al have not had some great talent burst their 2nd year. They were just better mentally, because they understood the system better.

Steroids are the only thing that changes this, IMO.

Precisely. Vrabel, Tedy, Rodney, Brady, Samuel and Troy Brown were ll starters from day 1. I can't think of a single player who was a nonfactor as a rookie and went on to become a star.