Quick Hits
By Rick Richardson
It has been slow news since the frenzy of the Raider’s early foray into free agency, so let’s speed it up with a few quick hits.
- Jerry Porter is happy now that he has joined the Jaguars, and per a few reports all smiles. Quick note to all Jags fans, Jerry smiled a lot while coasting along with the Raiders. He also presented the symptoms of the “me, me” syndrome. He once parked in the owners parking spot just to reward the team for all of the millions that they invested in him, and taunted a few fans along the way. On a side note if you are waiting for the speed that has been described by many would be scouts, you are going to be mildly disappointed when your new hot rod is missing a gear. Porter is an athletic possession receiver whose skills will erode fast do to the lack of commitment to the game.
- Are college pro days very accurate? Brian Brohm was the latest to post an impressive jump in his forty time. It could be a more familiar running surface helps, but my bet is on a more familiar timer. While forty times, vertical leaps and bench presses are nice evaluation tools of athletic ability, the good scouts will rely on the player’s game day skills. Note to Raiders scouts, turn off the combine footage and turn on the game tapes. This draft needs to reveal some football players, not decathlon athletes.
- Speaking of Wonderlic scores, it was reported that Ryan Clady scored a 13. Wonderlic scores test logic. Slamming your head into another well armored 300 pound man is hardly logical in the first place, so you can keep your Wonderlic scores as they are meaningless. I had a teammate that had the academic skills of Forrest Gump, but put him on the field and he was Albert Einstein. Again, Raiders scouts, watch the game day tape.
- Here is a quick note to fans. Don’t worry so much about the salary cap. There are so many ways to manipulate the cap, and trying to follow the numbers can be dodgy at best. It is especially hard to keep on top of cap situations when relying on sour news reporters to disseminate the information. An example is DeAngelo Hall’s contract. Headlines that are meant to sell papers read “Raiders Over Pay”. While the money being generated and thrown around by the NFL would make most third world economies envious, old Publilius Syrus was right when he said "Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it." If the Raiders had not, someone else would. And as far as the draft is concerned, giving up a 2nd this year and a 5th next April sounds cheap. Do a little digging and see how many 2nd or 5th rounders make two pro bowls in their first four years. And yes Al is right on this one; in the modern day pass happy NFL you can never have too many great corners. It allows you to do so much more up front. I’ll take a team full of great players and little cap space over the alternative any day. But I digress.
- The pundits describe the Eagles as having bolstered their defense with Asante Samuel and Chris Clemons. They describe the Raiders as over paying for Hall who has arguably equal talent, and a smaller contract. And last year no one claimed the Raiders had bolstered their defense when they gave Clemons a chance at a 2nd NFL life and then developed him for his big payday. Yes, that was a blatant homer statement, and yes this is a Raider blog.
It has been slow news since the frenzy of the Raider’s early foray into free agency, so let’s speed it up with a few quick hits.
- Jerry Porter is happy now that he has joined the Jaguars, and per a few reports all smiles. Quick note to all Jags fans, Jerry smiled a lot while coasting along with the Raiders. He also presented the symptoms of the “me, me” syndrome. He once parked in the owners parking spot just to reward the team for all of the millions that they invested in him, and taunted a few fans along the way. On a side note if you are waiting for the speed that has been described by many would be scouts, you are going to be mildly disappointed when your new hot rod is missing a gear. Porter is an athletic possession receiver whose skills will erode fast do to the lack of commitment to the game.
- Are college pro days very accurate? Brian Brohm was the latest to post an impressive jump in his forty time. It could be a more familiar running surface helps, but my bet is on a more familiar timer. While forty times, vertical leaps and bench presses are nice evaluation tools of athletic ability, the good scouts will rely on the player’s game day skills. Note to Raiders scouts, turn off the combine footage and turn on the game tapes. This draft needs to reveal some football players, not decathlon athletes.
- Speaking of Wonderlic scores, it was reported that Ryan Clady scored a 13. Wonderlic scores test logic. Slamming your head into another well armored 300 pound man is hardly logical in the first place, so you can keep your Wonderlic scores as they are meaningless. I had a teammate that had the academic skills of Forrest Gump, but put him on the field and he was Albert Einstein. Again, Raiders scouts, watch the game day tape.
- Here is a quick note to fans. Don’t worry so much about the salary cap. There are so many ways to manipulate the cap, and trying to follow the numbers can be dodgy at best. It is especially hard to keep on top of cap situations when relying on sour news reporters to disseminate the information. An example is DeAngelo Hall’s contract. Headlines that are meant to sell papers read “Raiders Over Pay”. While the money being generated and thrown around by the NFL would make most third world economies envious, old Publilius Syrus was right when he said "Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it." If the Raiders had not, someone else would. And as far as the draft is concerned, giving up a 2nd this year and a 5th next April sounds cheap. Do a little digging and see how many 2nd or 5th rounders make two pro bowls in their first four years. And yes Al is right on this one; in the modern day pass happy NFL you can never have too many great corners. It allows you to do so much more up front. I’ll take a team full of great players and little cap space over the alternative any day. But I digress.
- The pundits describe the Eagles as having bolstered their defense with Asante Samuel and Chris Clemons. They describe the Raiders as over paying for Hall who has arguably equal talent, and a smaller contract. And last year no one claimed the Raiders had bolstered their defense when they gave Clemons a chance at a 2nd NFL life and then developed him for his big payday. Yes, that was a blatant homer statement, and yes this is a Raider blog.
posted by Rick Richardson at
10:55 PM
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