JDL
11-24-2009, 07:05 AM
Championship Game is Friday (Las Vegas v. Florida)
Just some players to consider if the team is looking to make a change.
P Danny Baugher Las Vegas (UofA) - Ex-Pat and actually an Ex-Bronco (I don't remember him at all!) I watched about a dozen of his punts and every single one has great height and travels 44-48yds with a few 50s mixed in there. Very effective and led the UFL by quite a margin. 43.5yd avg (by far the best) and 8 punts out of 22 inside the 20 only 3 TBs. Analysis: Would certainly be an upgrade, imo, over Berger.
QB Brooks Bollinger Florida (Wisconsin) - League MVP (or will be). I had a negative view of him from what I thought I remembered in the NFL, but he's had a few very good NFL games, actually. Positives: Throws the slant route VERY well. I don't mean just the one coming over the middle either (which he does as well), but the far outside slant in, throws it on a rope, impressed. Solid mobility. Excellent play action and looks off defenses. Also gets rid of ball quickly and seems to recognize quickly when screen passes are busted and adjusts. Negatives: Short at 6'1 and has issues with batted down balls and his arm strength on deep throws is similar to Orton, yes he can get it out there, but loses much of his accuracy. But, can make them if the WR is wide open. Analysis: Not advocating him as a starter, but if the team is looking to upgrade over Simms without bringing in a guy like Garcia who might be a threat to Orton and cause turmoil, Bollinger might be the guy. From what I saw, he can be an effective backup in a short passing system that emphasizes slant routes.
WR Tay Biddle Florida (Mississippi) - Guy definitely has a place in the NFL. Has size, speed and good hands (never seems to double clutch or fight passes.) Went undrafted and got injured in 2008 before training camp, ended up eventually making his way onto the Giants active roster mid-season and then back to practice squad. Was signed to future contract but was not able to crack an obviously deep Giants WR corp. Positives: Seems to run solid routes, nice hands, good size/speed ratio. Just made a ton of plays. Negatives: I really don't know that I saw any real weaknesses with his game, he maybe didn't seem as fast as what they talked about (former track athlete though) but he didn't seem slow at all either. Analysis: I like Brandon Lloyd but this would be a nice positive move for the good of future teams. Let him come in and learn the system and maybe next year he can become a surprise player on the team. Never have enough good players even though we are pretty well stocked at WR (for now.)
Willie Andrews PR/KR/DB Florida (Baylor) - Ex-Patriot. Guy is quick as lightning and slams it through blockers go north and south, no dancing. Positives: Equally dangerous on punts and kickoffs. Negatives: Well, he was kicked off the Pats (2008) essentially after being arrested for holding a gun to his girlfriends head, also caught with a half-pound of marijuana prior to that. Analysis: There is absolutely no questioning his return ability, he would be an instant spark to field position. Denver ranks 25th in Kick Return Avg. despite Royal's long return TD. He's definitely a better PR and he could probably use a break more often and we really have nobody else doing anything. Downside - pretty obvious he seems to be a thug, not sure that is a guy you want in the locker room but just putting it out there - question is do you believe in 2nd chances?
Michael Pittman RB Florida - Just a quick blurb about him. He still is an effective runner and seems to have the same burst he had last year. I mention him because I think the Jordan experiment needs to end, he can't stay healthy (he got injured again.) Pittman knows Turner, he knows the team, he is experienced, a good pass blocker, receiver and effective in short yardage and he is clearly healthy after last years injury. Also, a good locker room presence.
Rob Petitti OT Florida - Has protected Bollinger's blind side all year and is considered the best OT in UFL. 6'6 327LBs and might be an option to look at over Polumbus who has been atrocious in place of Ryan Harris. Started all 16 games as a rookie for Dallas, but bounced around after that.
Some more bad boys
Claude Wroten DT 6'4 300lbs - rights are still held by St. Louis but he is on continued suspension apparently (if you believe Wiki) for repeated drug abuse issues. May have his life together but was considered the best DL in UFL. Don't know what happens if NFL reinstates him as St. Louis would have to make a move with him.
Chris Cooper DL 6'5 280lbs - former Raider as I am sure you recall. Was certainly a consistent presence in the games I saw. Not always for good reasons though... thrown out of 1 game and got into a fight the next game. I have a real problem with onfield tempers and control, personally. But, some of the coaching holdovers probably recall him and know a thing or two about him. Former doper too.
Again, not advocating mass overhauls with UFL stars... lol. Just throwing out some names that will be available, I presume, after Friday. There are a few others, but defensive players are hard to evaluate. I can tell you Losman in any league is total garbage. He has zero accuracy and Las Vegas is going to get stomped imo on Friday.
For me, I would definitely look at Baugher, but then again I am a UofA alum, but he really looks good. (Btw, Kern has not really looked that great in Tenn recently, at least from the punts I've seen.)
I would also really go after Biddle, as it is clear that Stokely is not in McDaniel's longterm plans, Marshall is always 1 step away and Gaffney will only continue to get older. He might add some youth and vertical speed to the offense (but I doubt he'd sign with Denver... I could very very well see Indianapolis picking him up with Gonzalez continued injury struggles and them not really having a strong reliable 2nd WR Garcon is still way too inconsistent and drops a lot of passes and Collie is just sort of what he is. More of WR3 and WR4's) But that is beside the point lol.
BTW - the videos of the games are up on the website and it is pretty quick to skip ahead to see the players you want to see and focus on them.
Just some players to consider if the team is looking to make a change.
P Danny Baugher Las Vegas (UofA) - Ex-Pat and actually an Ex-Bronco (I don't remember him at all!) I watched about a dozen of his punts and every single one has great height and travels 44-48yds with a few 50s mixed in there. Very effective and led the UFL by quite a margin. 43.5yd avg (by far the best) and 8 punts out of 22 inside the 20 only 3 TBs. Analysis: Would certainly be an upgrade, imo, over Berger.
QB Brooks Bollinger Florida (Wisconsin) - League MVP (or will be). I had a negative view of him from what I thought I remembered in the NFL, but he's had a few very good NFL games, actually. Positives: Throws the slant route VERY well. I don't mean just the one coming over the middle either (which he does as well), but the far outside slant in, throws it on a rope, impressed. Solid mobility. Excellent play action and looks off defenses. Also gets rid of ball quickly and seems to recognize quickly when screen passes are busted and adjusts. Negatives: Short at 6'1 and has issues with batted down balls and his arm strength on deep throws is similar to Orton, yes he can get it out there, but loses much of his accuracy. But, can make them if the WR is wide open. Analysis: Not advocating him as a starter, but if the team is looking to upgrade over Simms without bringing in a guy like Garcia who might be a threat to Orton and cause turmoil, Bollinger might be the guy. From what I saw, he can be an effective backup in a short passing system that emphasizes slant routes.
WR Tay Biddle Florida (Mississippi) - Guy definitely has a place in the NFL. Has size, speed and good hands (never seems to double clutch or fight passes.) Went undrafted and got injured in 2008 before training camp, ended up eventually making his way onto the Giants active roster mid-season and then back to practice squad. Was signed to future contract but was not able to crack an obviously deep Giants WR corp. Positives: Seems to run solid routes, nice hands, good size/speed ratio. Just made a ton of plays. Negatives: I really don't know that I saw any real weaknesses with his game, he maybe didn't seem as fast as what they talked about (former track athlete though) but he didn't seem slow at all either. Analysis: I like Brandon Lloyd but this would be a nice positive move for the good of future teams. Let him come in and learn the system and maybe next year he can become a surprise player on the team. Never have enough good players even though we are pretty well stocked at WR (for now.)
Willie Andrews PR/KR/DB Florida (Baylor) - Ex-Patriot. Guy is quick as lightning and slams it through blockers go north and south, no dancing. Positives: Equally dangerous on punts and kickoffs. Negatives: Well, he was kicked off the Pats (2008) essentially after being arrested for holding a gun to his girlfriends head, also caught with a half-pound of marijuana prior to that. Analysis: There is absolutely no questioning his return ability, he would be an instant spark to field position. Denver ranks 25th in Kick Return Avg. despite Royal's long return TD. He's definitely a better PR and he could probably use a break more often and we really have nobody else doing anything. Downside - pretty obvious he seems to be a thug, not sure that is a guy you want in the locker room but just putting it out there - question is do you believe in 2nd chances?
Michael Pittman RB Florida - Just a quick blurb about him. He still is an effective runner and seems to have the same burst he had last year. I mention him because I think the Jordan experiment needs to end, he can't stay healthy (he got injured again.) Pittman knows Turner, he knows the team, he is experienced, a good pass blocker, receiver and effective in short yardage and he is clearly healthy after last years injury. Also, a good locker room presence.
Rob Petitti OT Florida - Has protected Bollinger's blind side all year and is considered the best OT in UFL. 6'6 327LBs and might be an option to look at over Polumbus who has been atrocious in place of Ryan Harris. Started all 16 games as a rookie for Dallas, but bounced around after that.
Some more bad boys
Claude Wroten DT 6'4 300lbs - rights are still held by St. Louis but he is on continued suspension apparently (if you believe Wiki) for repeated drug abuse issues. May have his life together but was considered the best DL in UFL. Don't know what happens if NFL reinstates him as St. Louis would have to make a move with him.
Chris Cooper DL 6'5 280lbs - former Raider as I am sure you recall. Was certainly a consistent presence in the games I saw. Not always for good reasons though... thrown out of 1 game and got into a fight the next game. I have a real problem with onfield tempers and control, personally. But, some of the coaching holdovers probably recall him and know a thing or two about him. Former doper too.
Again, not advocating mass overhauls with UFL stars... lol. Just throwing out some names that will be available, I presume, after Friday. There are a few others, but defensive players are hard to evaluate. I can tell you Losman in any league is total garbage. He has zero accuracy and Las Vegas is going to get stomped imo on Friday.
For me, I would definitely look at Baugher, but then again I am a UofA alum, but he really looks good. (Btw, Kern has not really looked that great in Tenn recently, at least from the punts I've seen.)
I would also really go after Biddle, as it is clear that Stokely is not in McDaniel's longterm plans, Marshall is always 1 step away and Gaffney will only continue to get older. He might add some youth and vertical speed to the offense (but I doubt he'd sign with Denver... I could very very well see Indianapolis picking him up with Gonzalez continued injury struggles and them not really having a strong reliable 2nd WR Garcon is still way too inconsistent and drops a lot of passes and Collie is just sort of what he is. More of WR3 and WR4's) But that is beside the point lol.
BTW - the videos of the games are up on the website and it is pretty quick to skip ahead to see the players you want to see and focus on them.