Commentary: Aqua's off-season rankings

[DaBruinz]

WOW.

I think you have the Broncos WAY over-rated. I truly believe you underestimate the loss of Al Wilson. He was their LEADER on defense. I also believe that you put way too much faith in their taking Tim Crowder and Jarvis Moss and both having an immediate impact.

Like all the media pundits, you way overplay the issues with Meriweather.

As per usual, you under-rate Welker, way over-rate, Ginn and drastically over-rate the Dolphins defense. You also make it a point ot to mention that the Dolphins offense is full of holes.

Ginn isn't a great receiver. He's got average hands and is a lousy route runner. I honestly don't care how fast Ginn is, Miami's STs blocking is atrocious and Ginn will look like Welker did last year, both on kick-offs and punts.

Miami's offensive line is offensive. They are going to try the Vernon Carey at LT experiement again. I seem to remember everyone touting how Linehan and Houck would make Carey a great LT. Now, Linehan is gone, yet, Houck is going to miraculousy change Carey into a LT? Sorry, I just don't see it happening.

Miami running game behind Brown is very suspect with the loss of Sammy Morris. Who I think will be a big loss to them on Special Teams as well. They will have the untried Lorenzo Booker and Patrick Cobbs backing him up. Brown hasn't shown that he's got the fortitude to withstand a full season, having missed time in both seasons.

The Oakland Raiders have a great defense. Its their offense that blows. Hopefully, Jamarcus Russell won't get killed back there. But, the Raiders have 3 good RBs in Rhodes, Fargas, and Jordan. Their issue is at WR and TE.

Not sure that Drew Bennett fits into the "Greatest show on Turf" mold. Bennett is a possession receiver and should knock Bruce to the #3 or #4 WR role with Shaun McDonald stepping up.

Oh, your analysis on the Seahawks getting rid of Darrell Jackson was incomplete. The Seahawks are not just expecting Burleson and Hackett to step up. They are also expecting Deion Branch to prove that he was worth the money they invested in him. Branch and Burleson have very hefty contracts.

 

[DaBruinz]

Well Welker was our 3rd best receiver and was a small slow slot guy in an offense that lacks speed. Picking up a guy who is one of the fastest in the NFL is certainly in upgrade in our offense. Welker may be an upgrade in yours, but was not of great use in ours.

Welker was your best receiver in terms of number of total number of receptions. Catching more than Chambers, McMichael, or Booker. Just because Linehan and Saban didn't know how to call an offense that would help open up the routes for Welker doesn't mean that its Welker's fault that the routes he were given were short routes.

Also, please don't start about the number of TDs. Welker wasn't used in the Phins Red Zone offense (what were they ranked again?). Most teams don't put small receivers out there. They usually go to bigger receivers (if they have them).

I've mentioned this the last time you ragged on Welker and you ignored it then. But that is reality, chump.

 

[DaBruinz]

im in between aqua and the patriot fans on the welker thing

Patriot fans: stop acting like Welker is amazing...hes an ordinary slot guy who can catch. Hes not a playmaker..he lacks size/speed..and can be shut down easily imo. as a returnman, people act like hes a top 5 return guy..our own guys averaged better than him . Dont say blocking..if anyone has blocking they can get some good yards.

Welker IS a playmaker and I proved that to you. Just because YOU ignored it doesn't mean its not true.

If Welker can be shut down so easily, why was it that BB and Harrison BOTH said that the Pats had to double up on Welker (and a similar player in Mike Furrey) ? Because they ARE playmakers. TDs aren't the true measure of a playmaker. Catches at critical moments are. And Welker is like Troy Brown and Wayne Chrebet in that manor.

Now, about this idea that BLOCKING on special teams doesn't matter. YES IT DOES. Without Good to excellent blocking, your returners don't get good yardage. The Phins were LOUSY at blocking, especially on punts. Its why they LED THE LEAGUE in the number of fair catches made. I think they had 6 more fair catches than any other team.

As was pointed out ot you previously, Kevin Faulk didn't get faster from 2005 to 2006. The BLOCKING got better. Its why the punt return average went UP for the team from 2005 to 2006.

When Welker was on the Chargers (granted its a SMALL sample) he averaged 25.5 yards per kick return. That is because of blocking.

Just like the Pats had improved special teams blocking last year. It helps players who have natural ability. Welker has natural punt return ability. With a good team blocking in front of him, he'll be able to break some pretty long returns the way Troy Brown used to.

 

[BoltsFan]

Welker IS a playmaker and I proved that to you. Just because YOU ignored it doesn't mean its not true.

If Welker can be shut down so easily, why was it that BB and Harrison BOTH said that the Pats had to double up on Welker (and a similar player in Mike Furrey) ? Because they ARE playmakers. TDs aren't the true measure of a playmaker. Catches at critical moments are. And Welker is like Troy Brown and Wayne Chrebet in that manor.

Now, about this idea that BLOCKING on special teams doesn't matter. YES IT DOES. Without Good to excellent blocking, your returners don't get good yardage. The Phins were LOUSY at blocking, especially on punts. Its why they LED THE LEAGUE in the number of fair catches made. I think they had 6 more fair catches than any other team.

As was pointed out ot you previously, Kevin Faulk didn't get faster from 2005 to 2006. The BLOCKING got better. Its why the punt return average went UP for the team from 2005 to 2006.

When Welker was on the Chargers (granted its a SMALL sample) he averaged 25.5 yards per kick return. That is because of blocking.

Just like the Pats had improved special teams blocking last year. It helps players who have natural ability. Welker has natural punt return ability. With a good team blocking in front of him, he'll be able to break some pretty long returns the way Troy Brown used to.

im in between aqua and the patriot fans on the welker thing

Patriot fans: stop acting like Welker is amazing...hes an ordinary slot guy who can catch. Hes not a playmaker..he lacks size/speed..and can be shut down easily imo. as a returnman, people act like hes a top 5 return guy..our own guys averaged better than him . Dont say blocking..if anyone has blocking they can get some good yards.

Ya know what? It's really not my intent to team up here. Sigh. Multi posting didn't turn out the way I thought it would? Anyway. Not to create the appearance that I'm on Aqua's side. I'm not. My user name should be enough. It just so happens that we share the same common player in this circumstance. Bottom line? The pats can use Welker however they want and then evaluate the efficacy of said endeavor. I know NE believes all players behave differently (read better) when they play for the Patriots.

Best of luck to you with all your decisions. Time will tell...

 

[GoPats]

Why can't people just read that damn thing? For the one millionth time, it's a ranking on how they did in the off-season, not how good their team is. Read, then ask questions!

Aqua, if you continue to write a column, you better get an editor. All your season record predictions just don't add up. Literally. You have 4 more losses than wins.

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

Ginn is made of glass, and recovers slow.....good luck with that one, especially after Meriweather nails him going across the middle

Do you think he'll stomp on his head after that?

 

[sebman2112]

Do you think he'll stomp on his head after that?

Har!..Har! For your sake I would hope not, since Ginn would probably be out the entire season just from one stomp.......you know, He's made of Glass

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

Aqua, if you continue to write a column, you better get an editor. All your season record predictions just don't add up. Literally. You have 4 more losses than wins.

And again for the (god knows how many) time, it's not a league wide prediction, just a talent evaluation.

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

Har!..Har! For your sake I would hope not, since Ginn would probably be out the entire season just from one stomp.......you know, He's made of Glass

As would Meriweather because Goodell would suspend him faster than you can say ASSAULT!

 

[sebman2112]

And again for the (god knows how many) time, it's not a league wide prediction, just a talent evaluation.

That would make sense if you were just ranking teams based on additions/subtractions, but you are also guessing how well teams will do this season. Saying the Patriots will go 11-5 is not simply a talent evaluation, genius.

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

By the way, your commentary sucks too......

You're a hobbit that only comes out when I post. I bet you didn't ever read it so how can you judge it? And besides, it's commentary which means opinion so of course all Patsfans are going to disagree. They think they are god and everyone else should bow to them. You can't say someone's commentary is wrong or sucks because it's only opinion, that's like telling me that my taste buds suck because I like cheese on my burger and you don't.

And for the millionth time, I do believe I said no bet would happen because I didn't want to pay via internet and simply couldn't afford to donate. Call me poor all you want, who gives a damn, I'm 19 and in college.

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

That would make sense if you were just ranking teams based on additions/subtractions, but you are also guessing how well teams will do this season. Saying the Patriots will go 11-5 is not simply a talent evaluation, genius.

Well I think Moss, Stallworth and Welker are all over rated. Again, just my opinion. If I didn't know much about football and only read about here, I would assume Welker was Jerry Rice the way you guys talk about him.

 

[sebman2112]

As would Meriweather because Goodell would suspend him faster than you can say ASSAULT!

Not for the entire season, just a few games. It would be a fist offense, not a 15th offense like Pacman Jones, or along the lines of Marcus vick's antics

Also, it wouldn't even have to come down to this, since Meriweather will shatter Ted Glass Jr. into a thousand pieces just by nailing him across the middle....the Headlines in the monday sports section will read "Hitstick shatters Glass"

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

Not for the entire season, just a few games. It would be a fist offense, not a 15th offense like Pacman Jones, or along the lines of Marcus vick's antics

Also, it wouldn't even have to come down to this, since Meriweather will shatter Ted Glass Jr. into a thousand pieces just by nailing him across the middle....the Headlines in the monday sports section will read "Hitstick shatters Glass"

We'll he'd have to catch him first and I just don't see that happening. Ginn is way faster and more quick than anyone on your team. Get the ball in his hands and SEE YA!

 

[sebman2112]

Well I think Moss, Stallworth and Welker are all over rated. Again, just my opinion. If I didn't know much about football and only read about here, I would assume Welker was Jerry Rice the way you guys talk about him.

That wasn't my point, genius! The point was that you are not simply doing an addition/subtraction evaluation so stop telling people that is simply what the so-called article is. Understand?

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

That wasn't my point, genius! The point was that you are not simply doing an addition/subtraction evaluation so stop telling people that is simply what the so-called article is. Understand?

K well this will be my last response towards you because you clearly have to lower yourself when you disagree, so with that said....

I'm just saying everyone keeps telling me my win totals don't add up and I'm saying they wern't intended too. It's not something I went through the schedules with, just did each team on their own.

 

[sebman2112]

We'll he'd have to catch him first and I just don't see that happening. Ginn is way faster and more quick than anyone on your team. Get the ball in his hands and SEE YA!

Ginn is way faster than anyone on the Patriots? Hmm, Hobbs could run with him, Stallworth blows him away, Jackson's 40 time owns Ginn's, and have you ever heard of angles? Who said Meriweather's going to have to catch Ted Glass Jr.? Meriweather can play deep coverage, and deliver the hit just as Ginn is trying to catch the ball, or he can nail him going on a slant route.

 

[sebman2112]

K well this will be my last response towards you because you clearly have to lower yourself when you disagree, so with that said....

I'm just saying everyone keeps telling me my win totals don't add up and I'm saying they wern't intended too. It's not something I went through the schedules with, just did each team on their own.

I'm only being rude to you because you have been rude to other people in the past, and some of the times you've acted disgusted in this thread because people (paraphrasing) "don't realize it's simply about additions/talent" when it's obviously not.

 

[FarScapeR]

K well this will be my last response towards you because you clearly have to lower yourself when you disagree, so with that said....

I'm just saying everyone keeps telling me my win totals don't add up and I'm saying they wern't intended too. It's not something I went through the schedules with, just did each team on their own.

Well, geez... the least you could do is at least look up each team's records from this past season and use that as a basis for judging how it might perform this season. I don't know too much about football, but I can tell you that the pats were a 12-4 team last year with new mediocre receivers. Factoring in the tougher schedule, they might have been an 11-5 team this year... without the off-season improvements. Conservatively, I would project them to be a 13-3 team this season. If Samuel plays and all the starters stay healthy (though doubtful), I shudder to think...

Now, do what I just did, but 32 times. And then assess coaching consistency (Hint - The jets should improve as a team... although maybe not record-wise, while Dallas, Oakland and Miami are wild cards at this point)

And, oh, hey guys... I'm new.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

I looked at two things, your rankings for Miami and NE.

Miami's offseason is one of the worst in football if only because they finally had a chance to get a QB and passed him up in favor of a receiver/returner. We're talking about passing up a solution to the most important position in football in order to fill one of the least important (WR). QB has been the franchise's biggest issue since Marino left and they passed up their best chance to fix it. Oh, and they would only have had to pay him 9th pick money. Colossal mistake = horrible offseason = ranking in the bottom 5.

NE is going 11-5, huh? a 12-4 team which suffered a lot of injuries (not making an excuse, making the arguement that they aren't going to suffer a drop-off due to injuries like some teams do) while adding a pro bowl LB and going from a crappy group of WRs to a great one is going to regress? Can I have what you're smoking?

I didn't bother to read anything else you wrote. You invalidated it all with that.

*edit* oh, and you bother with the "will the new additions sink NE" crap. i expect that from idiots at espn but not human being with souls.