dogfish
02-21-2008, 09:25 PM
put it in the books, this is going to happen-- my magic eight ball tells me it's a sure thing. . .
let's consider the evidence. . . . for starters, we have a glaring need there-- everyone knows that our run defense was ass last year, and shenanigans is bright enough to know that we need to improve there if we're going to improve in the win-loss column. . . rogers is a wide-body who can hold the point vs. double teams and crush inside running lanes-- even though he's notorious for his failure to consistently give full effort, he is undoubtedly head and shoulders above any DT we have on the roster as a run plugger, and he could make an immediate impact in that area. . . shanahan already spent more 1st day draft picks on the DL last year than he had in the past decade, and it's unlikely that he's willing to turn around and spend more right away-- and even if he was, the top two DT prospects are most likely out of our reach. . . balmer, the next DT on most charts, is currently considered a serious reach at #12, and all three of this year's top DTs look to be ideally suited as three-techniques rather than one-techniques (although i think dorsey can play either). . . besides which, shenanigans is well known for his impatience-- is he going to be willing to wait for a DT to develop when he can bring one in who's ready to play at a high level right now?
but it goes deeper than that-- the truth is, this type of deal just suits shanahan's style. . . . fits it to perfection, in fact-- i'd go so far as to call this a prototypical shanahan move. . . for one thing, building the DL through free agency and trades has been his MO since the super bowl days. . . and what's even more convincing is that this has always been shanahan's dream scenario-- a bargain! in his eyes, anyways. . .
over the years, he has become infamous for his attempts to find these types of "bargains"-- he has proven incredibly willing to overlook such factors as poor character, age and injury concern if he thinks he has a chance at landing a player with top athletic ability for less than the usual cost. . . sam adams, simeon rice, chester mcglokton and darryll gardener are all great examples on the D-line alone. . . not to mention marcus thomas. . . he ignored dale carter's character flaws. . . and then we have the grandfather of all examples, maurice clarett himself. . . travis henry was another proven loser with serious durability issues-- welcome to denver!
and glance back at the players he has drafted coming off injuries. . . . paul "no knees" toviessi, domenik hixon, darius "one hand" watts, george foster-- and jarvis moss and ryan harris had significant injury concerns as well. . . wasn't willie middlebroken also considered an injury risk? i can't remember for sure. . .
i'm not saying that other teams don't do the same thing, because they certainly do, but shanahan has carved out a well-deserved reputation as the league's foremost walmart shopper when it comes to this type of thing. . . . have a disgruntled WR coming off an ACL tear? we'll send you a high second rounder, no problem! and that was actually one of the few moves i thought was justified at the time. . . . :tsk:
rogers fits the profile of a shenanigans trade target to a T. . . . he's devalued himself a bit due to character concerns and laziness-- not only does he struggle with motivation, but he's also served a four-game suspension for performance-enhancing substances. . . . he was also accused of pulling a gun at a strip club last year. . . he hasn't had serious injury problems, but he does struggle to keep his weight in check. . . he is, however, unquestionably an elite physical talent-- he's capable of dominating when he's motivated, as we unfortunately got to see first-hand this year. . . think mike's forgotten? i don't. . . .
also, the memory of the super bowl is fresh in everyone's mind, and this has always been a copycat league. . . a lot of broncos fans have known for years now that we needed to build a stronger defensive line, although mike was never willing to invest the necessary resources-- but if our pitiful line play from last year wasn't enough to finally convince him, i think the G-men's stunning upset probably was. . . . sadly, my biggest fear is that it will go too far, and persuade him to give up more than we should. . .
in my mind, that's the only question left to answer-- what are we going to pay for him? otherwise, i consider this a done deal-- it just makes sense on too many levels. . . the lions are clearly willing to move rogers, and no team in the NFL has been more active in the trade market than denver has recently-- we talked to them about a pre-draft trade last year, so the lines of communication are obviously open. . . i can already hear shanahan saying at the press conference "we just felt that there was no way we were going to get a player of his caliber in X round of the draft". . . . and he's right, but don't forget, mike, that the guys in the draft aren't 28 years old and one slip-up away from a year's suspension! we dodged a bullet last time, do you really want to roll those dice again?
no doubt you'll ask why i'm so confident that denver will be the team that lands rogers. . . after all, DT is a tough position to fill, and there will be plenty of interest in a talent of this magnitude, question marks or not. . . . my answer is that nobody pursues that supposed bargain the way shenanigans does, and in the end i think he's capable of convincing himself that a higher price than anyone else is willing to pay is justified. . . in his mind, we are perpetually "one or two players away from the super bowl," and with run defense and overall defensive line play being our achilles heel from last year, i suspect that rogers will now become that mythical one player in the mind of the so-called mastermind. . . . like i said in the first line of the post, put it in the books. . . .
let's consider the evidence. . . . for starters, we have a glaring need there-- everyone knows that our run defense was ass last year, and shenanigans is bright enough to know that we need to improve there if we're going to improve in the win-loss column. . . rogers is a wide-body who can hold the point vs. double teams and crush inside running lanes-- even though he's notorious for his failure to consistently give full effort, he is undoubtedly head and shoulders above any DT we have on the roster as a run plugger, and he could make an immediate impact in that area. . . shanahan already spent more 1st day draft picks on the DL last year than he had in the past decade, and it's unlikely that he's willing to turn around and spend more right away-- and even if he was, the top two DT prospects are most likely out of our reach. . . balmer, the next DT on most charts, is currently considered a serious reach at #12, and all three of this year's top DTs look to be ideally suited as three-techniques rather than one-techniques (although i think dorsey can play either). . . besides which, shenanigans is well known for his impatience-- is he going to be willing to wait for a DT to develop when he can bring one in who's ready to play at a high level right now?
but it goes deeper than that-- the truth is, this type of deal just suits shanahan's style. . . . fits it to perfection, in fact-- i'd go so far as to call this a prototypical shanahan move. . . for one thing, building the DL through free agency and trades has been his MO since the super bowl days. . . and what's even more convincing is that this has always been shanahan's dream scenario-- a bargain! in his eyes, anyways. . .
over the years, he has become infamous for his attempts to find these types of "bargains"-- he has proven incredibly willing to overlook such factors as poor character, age and injury concern if he thinks he has a chance at landing a player with top athletic ability for less than the usual cost. . . sam adams, simeon rice, chester mcglokton and darryll gardener are all great examples on the D-line alone. . . not to mention marcus thomas. . . he ignored dale carter's character flaws. . . and then we have the grandfather of all examples, maurice clarett himself. . . travis henry was another proven loser with serious durability issues-- welcome to denver!
and glance back at the players he has drafted coming off injuries. . . . paul "no knees" toviessi, domenik hixon, darius "one hand" watts, george foster-- and jarvis moss and ryan harris had significant injury concerns as well. . . wasn't willie middlebroken also considered an injury risk? i can't remember for sure. . .
i'm not saying that other teams don't do the same thing, because they certainly do, but shanahan has carved out a well-deserved reputation as the league's foremost walmart shopper when it comes to this type of thing. . . . have a disgruntled WR coming off an ACL tear? we'll send you a high second rounder, no problem! and that was actually one of the few moves i thought was justified at the time. . . . :tsk:
rogers fits the profile of a shenanigans trade target to a T. . . . he's devalued himself a bit due to character concerns and laziness-- not only does he struggle with motivation, but he's also served a four-game suspension for performance-enhancing substances. . . . he was also accused of pulling a gun at a strip club last year. . . he hasn't had serious injury problems, but he does struggle to keep his weight in check. . . he is, however, unquestionably an elite physical talent-- he's capable of dominating when he's motivated, as we unfortunately got to see first-hand this year. . . think mike's forgotten? i don't. . . .
also, the memory of the super bowl is fresh in everyone's mind, and this has always been a copycat league. . . a lot of broncos fans have known for years now that we needed to build a stronger defensive line, although mike was never willing to invest the necessary resources-- but if our pitiful line play from last year wasn't enough to finally convince him, i think the G-men's stunning upset probably was. . . . sadly, my biggest fear is that it will go too far, and persuade him to give up more than we should. . .
in my mind, that's the only question left to answer-- what are we going to pay for him? otherwise, i consider this a done deal-- it just makes sense on too many levels. . . the lions are clearly willing to move rogers, and no team in the NFL has been more active in the trade market than denver has recently-- we talked to them about a pre-draft trade last year, so the lines of communication are obviously open. . . i can already hear shanahan saying at the press conference "we just felt that there was no way we were going to get a player of his caliber in X round of the draft". . . . and he's right, but don't forget, mike, that the guys in the draft aren't 28 years old and one slip-up away from a year's suspension! we dodged a bullet last time, do you really want to roll those dice again?
no doubt you'll ask why i'm so confident that denver will be the team that lands rogers. . . after all, DT is a tough position to fill, and there will be plenty of interest in a talent of this magnitude, question marks or not. . . . my answer is that nobody pursues that supposed bargain the way shenanigans does, and in the end i think he's capable of convincing himself that a higher price than anyone else is willing to pay is justified. . . in his mind, we are perpetually "one or two players away from the super bowl," and with run defense and overall defensive line play being our achilles heel from last year, i suspect that rogers will now become that mythical one player in the mind of the so-called mastermind. . . . like i said in the first line of the post, put it in the books. . . .