“You need to play better so I am calling you out…” but as it turned out, ONE of the guys I challenged was released in April but regardless I will follow up anyway.
1. Dhani Jones
“…I think the one thing he lacks is a killer instinct: of course, consistent play, a nose for the ball, and sheer power would be easy to pick too but KI (killer instinct) is certainly lacking.”
SURPRISE! Jones was actually cut back in April of 07, and while Gocong is no perfect player or Stewart Bradley for that matter, Gocong played the angles better then Jones and showed ruthless power that “Banjo” didn’t have. Hell, in the two games Bradley was featured as a starter at MIKE, he showed ME more in them two games then Jones did in three years here.
THE VERDICT: don’t know because Jones’s @$$ got cut…finally.
2. Sheldon Brown
“…But let’s face it, Brown needed to become more of a leader like he did in 2005 when Lito was injured and didn’t do it this year, instead turning out 59 tackles and only five knock downs and one interception…for someone who was supposed to make leaps and bounds between 2004 and 2005 didn’t cut it in 2006.”
Well, Brown made me eat my words…kind of. You see, while Sheppard again experienced down time, Brown was the man, and he played like it too, but as soon as Sheppard came back, his speed and agility in coverage forced teams to throw more at Brown, and he kind of slumped then. Still, he led the team in interceptions this year and he had more tackles and more hits that rung the bells of receivers then he had in years past and he STILL hasn’t missed a start in three years as a starter.
THE VERDICT: from 2006 yes he improved, but I STILL think he can be better.
3. Sean Considine
“…Considine lacks the size to tackle effectively and has noted himself he needs to bulk up a bit. True, Considine may be better in coverage then (Michael) Lewis, but in the instance that the running back makes it into the secondary YOU are the last line of defense, and I do not believe that Considine holding on for dear life as the back drags him into the end zone is the sight that I want to see.”
Well, Sean added that weight and muscle he said he was going to after he completed the rehab from his off-season shoulder surgery and started 2007 off at strong safety, but yet ANOTHER injury put him on the shelf for the season after only six games into the season: Quintin Mikell and JR Reed took turns at strong safety in his place.
THE VERDICT: The jury is STILL out on Mr. Considine (and that shouldn’t change if I am still doing this after 2008), and he is a good reason as to why this team NEEDS to re-sign Reed, and perhaps even draft high for a safety.
4. Mike Patterson
“…But it appeared to me that after the first three games of the season in which he had one and a half sacks in week two and an amazing 98-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in week three, that Patterson died out. Call it long season fatigue, call it still being broken into a 16-game schedule, but whatever it is he must overcome it and be more consistent then he has been.”
Well, I think it is safe to say that, despite dropping a few tackles, Patterson proved his worth above and beyond this season. I think that the insertion of a competent tackle next to him (no, Darwin Walker didn’t count either) with Bunkley in there helped him out: no longer could the right guard and center double team him because you couldn’t find Walker anywhere: now they had to account for BOTH our #1 picks in 2005 and 2006 at once.
THE VERDICT: Patterson played MUCH better, and with another year together with Bunkley in 2008, this could be one of the best tackle duos in the NFL.
5. Thomas Tapeh
“Tapeh should be lucky that Jason Davis went down for the year because he was his main competition for the job after Josh Parry was traded to Seattle.”
I don’t know what to say here: Tapeh didn’t even PLAY enough to warrant any time of judgment, and in 2008, he might not be here even: he is a free agent and Davis COULD be our starter in 2008.
FINAL VERDICT: he rarely played and when he did, he was hardly noticeable, so I am not sure what grade to give him.
And finally, I made eight predictions for the 2007 season that I thought would come true or would come close to happening, so here they are.
Player who will see the most increased playing time
“Hank Baskett gets my vote, especially if Stallworth does not re-sign…”
Well, even though Stallworth DIDN’T re-sign, I was still off on this one: Hank’s production was well down this year, and his longest catch was 70 yards short of his longest reception of 2006 (89-yards down to 19-yards).
SCORE: 0-for-1
Player who will soar to new heights not yet seen in his career
“I could offer you three players here, but I am going to place my wager on L.J. Smith who has had some decent years…”
Yeah, this one was right…if you replace “soar” with “fall” and “heights” with “lows.” What did Smith in was the fact that, being in a contract year, he rushed back WAY too early from his hernia surgery and he ended up paying for it, only playing in ten games this season and making Brent Celek look better and better.
SCORE: 0-for-2
Player who will get better to save his manhood and his job
“Easily Jeremiah Trotter: I mean, even he admitted he needs to get back in shape…”
In July, this cut up rendition of a prediction died hard.
SCORE: 0-for-3
Player who will need to take a lead to improve the whole unit around him
“It’s not going to be easy, but Brian Dawkins might not be able to play better then he is but he needs to motivate Brown and Considine to play better…”
Well, he never got the chance to because both him and Considine missed a lot of time together, although Brown played much better.
SCORE: 0-for-4
Player who needs to be more competitive then ever before to keep his fire
“None other then Donovan McNabb, who not only had to deal with an injury but the Jeff Garcia rumors and the ones his mother started…”
Early on it looked like he would prove me wrong, and he did miss two starts, but compared to 2005 and 2006, that didn’t look as bad, and vintage McNabb showed up against the Lions and the Vikings before making a full throttle, in your FREAKING face return for the final three games of the year: I give him the benefit of the doubt due to the recovery from that ACL injury.
SCORE: 1-for-5
Player who no one knows about who will make the quantum leap
“I am hoping it is Chris Gocong even if the fact that his emergence will force Jones to the bench or even out of town.”
Well, it wasn’t his emergence that forced Jones out of town, and since Gocong didn’t play PERIOD in 2006, you have to consider this to be on the money.
SCORE: 2-for-6
Player everyone knows about who should get SOME work after having none
“Winston Justice would be a great candidate or even Max Jean-Gilles…”
Well, I was right on both of these young guns, but in the case of the former, the play he brought was god awful and the latter played much better in his time.
SCORE: 3-for-7
Player who will be the overall force in 2007 that we knew he could be
“I got to go with Mike Patterson here: at times he looked like the choice who was 31st overall in the 2005 draft, and other times he looked like an average tackle: look for him to make it click in 2007.”
As I touched on with the step up category, I think Patterson did MUCH better but again I think it was due more so in part to the emergence and sudden maturity of Bunkley, but still, Patterson was more impressive in 2007.
SCORE: 4-for-8
Wow, glad those last four saved my hind!
1. Dhani Jones
“…I think the one thing he lacks is a killer instinct: of course, consistent play, a nose for the ball, and sheer power would be easy to pick too but KI (killer instinct) is certainly lacking.”
SURPRISE! Jones was actually cut back in April of 07, and while Gocong is no perfect player or Stewart Bradley for that matter, Gocong played the angles better then Jones and showed ruthless power that “Banjo” didn’t have. Hell, in the two games Bradley was featured as a starter at MIKE, he showed ME more in them two games then Jones did in three years here.
THE VERDICT: don’t know because Jones’s @$$ got cut…finally.
2. Sheldon Brown
“…But let’s face it, Brown needed to become more of a leader like he did in 2005 when Lito was injured and didn’t do it this year, instead turning out 59 tackles and only five knock downs and one interception…for someone who was supposed to make leaps and bounds between 2004 and 2005 didn’t cut it in 2006.”
Well, Brown made me eat my words…kind of. You see, while Sheppard again experienced down time, Brown was the man, and he played like it too, but as soon as Sheppard came back, his speed and agility in coverage forced teams to throw more at Brown, and he kind of slumped then. Still, he led the team in interceptions this year and he had more tackles and more hits that rung the bells of receivers then he had in years past and he STILL hasn’t missed a start in three years as a starter.
THE VERDICT: from 2006 yes he improved, but I STILL think he can be better.
3. Sean Considine
“…Considine lacks the size to tackle effectively and has noted himself he needs to bulk up a bit. True, Considine may be better in coverage then (Michael) Lewis, but in the instance that the running back makes it into the secondary YOU are the last line of defense, and I do not believe that Considine holding on for dear life as the back drags him into the end zone is the sight that I want to see.”
Well, Sean added that weight and muscle he said he was going to after he completed the rehab from his off-season shoulder surgery and started 2007 off at strong safety, but yet ANOTHER injury put him on the shelf for the season after only six games into the season: Quintin Mikell and JR Reed took turns at strong safety in his place.
THE VERDICT: The jury is STILL out on Mr. Considine (and that shouldn’t change if I am still doing this after 2008), and he is a good reason as to why this team NEEDS to re-sign Reed, and perhaps even draft high for a safety.
4. Mike Patterson
“…But it appeared to me that after the first three games of the season in which he had one and a half sacks in week two and an amazing 98-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown in week three, that Patterson died out. Call it long season fatigue, call it still being broken into a 16-game schedule, but whatever it is he must overcome it and be more consistent then he has been.”
Well, I think it is safe to say that, despite dropping a few tackles, Patterson proved his worth above and beyond this season. I think that the insertion of a competent tackle next to him (no, Darwin Walker didn’t count either) with Bunkley in there helped him out: no longer could the right guard and center double team him because you couldn’t find Walker anywhere: now they had to account for BOTH our #1 picks in 2005 and 2006 at once.
THE VERDICT: Patterson played MUCH better, and with another year together with Bunkley in 2008, this could be one of the best tackle duos in the NFL.
5. Thomas Tapeh
“Tapeh should be lucky that Jason Davis went down for the year because he was his main competition for the job after Josh Parry was traded to Seattle.”
I don’t know what to say here: Tapeh didn’t even PLAY enough to warrant any time of judgment, and in 2008, he might not be here even: he is a free agent and Davis COULD be our starter in 2008.
FINAL VERDICT: he rarely played and when he did, he was hardly noticeable, so I am not sure what grade to give him.
And finally, I made eight predictions for the 2007 season that I thought would come true or would come close to happening, so here they are.
Player who will see the most increased playing time
“Hank Baskett gets my vote, especially if Stallworth does not re-sign…”
Well, even though Stallworth DIDN’T re-sign, I was still off on this one: Hank’s production was well down this year, and his longest catch was 70 yards short of his longest reception of 2006 (89-yards down to 19-yards).
SCORE: 0-for-1
Player who will soar to new heights not yet seen in his career
“I could offer you three players here, but I am going to place my wager on L.J. Smith who has had some decent years…”
Yeah, this one was right…if you replace “soar” with “fall” and “heights” with “lows.” What did Smith in was the fact that, being in a contract year, he rushed back WAY too early from his hernia surgery and he ended up paying for it, only playing in ten games this season and making Brent Celek look better and better.
SCORE: 0-for-2
Player who will get better to save his manhood and his job
“Easily Jeremiah Trotter: I mean, even he admitted he needs to get back in shape…”
In July, this cut up rendition of a prediction died hard.
SCORE: 0-for-3
Player who will need to take a lead to improve the whole unit around him
“It’s not going to be easy, but Brian Dawkins might not be able to play better then he is but he needs to motivate Brown and Considine to play better…”
Well, he never got the chance to because both him and Considine missed a lot of time together, although Brown played much better.
SCORE: 0-for-4
Player who needs to be more competitive then ever before to keep his fire
“None other then Donovan McNabb, who not only had to deal with an injury but the Jeff Garcia rumors and the ones his mother started…”
Early on it looked like he would prove me wrong, and he did miss two starts, but compared to 2005 and 2006, that didn’t look as bad, and vintage McNabb showed up against the Lions and the Vikings before making a full throttle, in your FREAKING face return for the final three games of the year: I give him the benefit of the doubt due to the recovery from that ACL injury.
SCORE: 1-for-5
Player who no one knows about who will make the quantum leap
“I am hoping it is Chris Gocong even if the fact that his emergence will force Jones to the bench or even out of town.”
Well, it wasn’t his emergence that forced Jones out of town, and since Gocong didn’t play PERIOD in 2006, you have to consider this to be on the money.
SCORE: 2-for-6
Player everyone knows about who should get SOME work after having none
“Winston Justice would be a great candidate or even Max Jean-Gilles…”
Well, I was right on both of these young guns, but in the case of the former, the play he brought was god awful and the latter played much better in his time.
SCORE: 3-for-7
Player who will be the overall force in 2007 that we knew he could be
“I got to go with Mike Patterson here: at times he looked like the choice who was 31st overall in the 2005 draft, and other times he looked like an average tackle: look for him to make it click in 2007.”
As I touched on with the step up category, I think Patterson did MUCH better but again I think it was due more so in part to the emergence and sudden maturity of Bunkley, but still, Patterson was more impressive in 2007.
SCORE: 4-for-8
Wow, glad those last four saved my hind!
