ROOKIES LEAGUE-WIDE "POORLY CONDITIONED" & IS SCOTT PIOLI RUNNING A FOOTBALL TEAM OR THE C.I.A.?
As I whip around the NFL websites & local newspapers that cover them, one comment I keep seeing is "I'm disappointed in their conditioning" or "they have to get into much better shape, very soon." I bet I saw these comments or ones very similar by at least a dozen head coaches. Lions head man Jim Schwartz said he was shocked by his rookies' conditioning & stamina. He said, "they're going to have to step it up very quickly, they were sucking wind & I ran this practice at about one-third speed of the pace we normally run at." Everything in the NFL is faster, get used to it right now.
Pittsburgh recently traded wide receiver Santonio Holmes leaving their depth at the position dangerously low. Sunday morning Limas Sweed sustained an Achilles tendon injury that is thought to be a rupture, the exact extent of the injury won't be known until an MRI is completed. Sweed, a 2nd round choice in 2008 has been a major disappointment, only catching 7 passes in 2 seasons. He made a real commitment in the off-season to get into better condition, learn the offense better & refine his route running all in an effort to make an impact in 2010. He even changed his number from 14 to 80, claiming everything started anew in 2010. It looks like he'll have to start his "fresh start program" all over again in 2011.
I know you've probably heard the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That's the way I felt about the off-season move the New York Jets have made. The Jets had the best running game in the entire league, totaling 2,756 yards, 172.3 yards a game. Since the end of the season, Jet management has seen fit to release the team's leading rusher, Thomas Jones(1,402 yards), trade running back Leon Washington to Seattle for virtually nothing & then release 9-time Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca. The next move was to sign LaDainian Tomlinson & draft USC running back Joe McKnight. Let's examine these moves. Thomas Jones had double the yards of Tomlinson last year plus Tomlinson has averaged 3.3 & 3.7 yards the past two seasons. LT looks to be running on fumes, plus he is a "me first" kind of player. Another consideration is Jones has about 850 fewer touches in his career, about 2 seasons less. Washington broke his leg last season, so this might have been a decent move, but he scored 9 TD's as a kick returner & part time player, hard to ignore his contributions. Then there was the release of Faneca. I know many teams prefer to get rid of a guy one year early rather than 1 year too late, but I still can't see the reasoning behind this move. It doesn't get them off the hook for Faneca's salary, over $5 mil & his linemates made it very clear they didn't like the move. The Jets drafted Vladimir Ducasse in the 2nd round, but it's really questionable if he can go from playing at Massachusetts to starting for a playoff team. McKnight had a miserable rookie camp, missed assignments, dropped passes & puked twice during the practices. Not a real strong debut. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
You've heard me complain about the secretive attitude around One Arrowhead Drive. They don't tell anybody anything anytime. Often they don't allowing players to talk to the media without a buffer present, that buffer being a "communications person" from the Chiefs. After reading Jason Whitlock & Kent Babb in Sunday's Kansas City Star, I think they've taken this Top Secret Need-to-Know crap a little too far. Scott Pioli has a need to control the football media like no one I've ever seen, in that regard, he's a real chip off the old Belichick. Babb said in his story about Chiefs' defensive backs he had requested a short interview with DB coach, Emmitt Smith & was denied by team management. Thomas is one of the franchise's most decorated players, a Hall of Fame inductee, the teams all-time interceptor & an NFL coach with some 30-years experience. Thomas was playing in Pro Bowls before Pioli was in kindergarten. Jason Whitlock made mention of a Chiefs' communications person instructing the attending press they were not to repeat a loud admonishment from Charlie Weis. They were also not permitted to enter the locker room to speak with the assembled rookies. Chiefs management sent their draftees one by one to the press room, each accompanied by a communications person, apparently on hand to censor anything Pioli didn't want out in the open. Management also refused to announce the unsigned rookies invited to the practices on a tryout basis. The only reason I knew Bill Stull was in attendence was they had to acknowledge they had one QB in camp. The others will remain a mystery. Why? Why is a team that's won 10 games in 3 years looking to annoy the local media? Are they trying to show said media they're the boss? Are they trying to starve them out? Make the local guys grateful enough for even a little access? Grateful enough they would refrain from writing critical pieces about Pioli's team? It may get tough for a lot of the K.C. media just to gain enough access to write honestly about this team. Ssshhhhh, don't tell anybody I griped about the Chiefs, I don't want the SWAT team kicking in my front door.
Pittsburgh recently traded wide receiver Santonio Holmes leaving their depth at the position dangerously low. Sunday morning Limas Sweed sustained an Achilles tendon injury that is thought to be a rupture, the exact extent of the injury won't be known until an MRI is completed. Sweed, a 2nd round choice in 2008 has been a major disappointment, only catching 7 passes in 2 seasons. He made a real commitment in the off-season to get into better condition, learn the offense better & refine his route running all in an effort to make an impact in 2010. He even changed his number from 14 to 80, claiming everything started anew in 2010. It looks like he'll have to start his "fresh start program" all over again in 2011.
I know you've probably heard the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That's the way I felt about the off-season move the New York Jets have made. The Jets had the best running game in the entire league, totaling 2,756 yards, 172.3 yards a game. Since the end of the season, Jet management has seen fit to release the team's leading rusher, Thomas Jones(1,402 yards), trade running back Leon Washington to Seattle for virtually nothing & then release 9-time Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca. The next move was to sign LaDainian Tomlinson & draft USC running back Joe McKnight. Let's examine these moves. Thomas Jones had double the yards of Tomlinson last year plus Tomlinson has averaged 3.3 & 3.7 yards the past two seasons. LT looks to be running on fumes, plus he is a "me first" kind of player. Another consideration is Jones has about 850 fewer touches in his career, about 2 seasons less. Washington broke his leg last season, so this might have been a decent move, but he scored 9 TD's as a kick returner & part time player, hard to ignore his contributions. Then there was the release of Faneca. I know many teams prefer to get rid of a guy one year early rather than 1 year too late, but I still can't see the reasoning behind this move. It doesn't get them off the hook for Faneca's salary, over $5 mil & his linemates made it very clear they didn't like the move. The Jets drafted Vladimir Ducasse in the 2nd round, but it's really questionable if he can go from playing at Massachusetts to starting for a playoff team. McKnight had a miserable rookie camp, missed assignments, dropped passes & puked twice during the practices. Not a real strong debut. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
You've heard me complain about the secretive attitude around One Arrowhead Drive. They don't tell anybody anything anytime. Often they don't allowing players to talk to the media without a buffer present, that buffer being a "communications person" from the Chiefs. After reading Jason Whitlock & Kent Babb in Sunday's Kansas City Star, I think they've taken this Top Secret Need-to-Know crap a little too far. Scott Pioli has a need to control the football media like no one I've ever seen, in that regard, he's a real chip off the old Belichick. Babb said in his story about Chiefs' defensive backs he had requested a short interview with DB coach, Emmitt Smith & was denied by team management. Thomas is one of the franchise's most decorated players, a Hall of Fame inductee, the teams all-time interceptor & an NFL coach with some 30-years experience. Thomas was playing in Pro Bowls before Pioli was in kindergarten. Jason Whitlock made mention of a Chiefs' communications person instructing the attending press they were not to repeat a loud admonishment from Charlie Weis. They were also not permitted to enter the locker room to speak with the assembled rookies. Chiefs management sent their draftees one by one to the press room, each accompanied by a communications person, apparently on hand to censor anything Pioli didn't want out in the open. Management also refused to announce the unsigned rookies invited to the practices on a tryout basis. The only reason I knew Bill Stull was in attendence was they had to acknowledge they had one QB in camp. The others will remain a mystery. Why? Why is a team that's won 10 games in 3 years looking to annoy the local media? Are they trying to show said media they're the boss? Are they trying to starve them out? Make the local guys grateful enough for even a little access? Grateful enough they would refrain from writing critical pieces about Pioli's team? It may get tough for a lot of the K.C. media just to gain enough access to write honestly about this team. Ssshhhhh, don't tell anybody I griped about the Chiefs, I don't want the SWAT team kicking in my front door.
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