Mike Tyson suggests eating Peyton Manning’s kids
May 31, 2007 Demarcus Faggins sucks, Gary Kubiak, Preview, Sam Adams, Secondary issues are primary, The Fred
When last we left OTAs1, the rookies were learning the ropes, the veterans were adapting to some new facets of the playbook, Kevin Walter was blackmailing Kubiak with nudie pictures in order to get the WR2 job2, and there was a battle going on for starting SLB. Typical stuff, which is why I didn’t spend a lot of time on it.
Today, however, Kubes mixed things up a little bit. Former heavyweight champ [Author's note: He was actually much better at cruiserweight.] Evander Holyfield visited the team and did some motivational speechifying. The ever-modest Holyfield mused
They showed appreciation for what I’ve accomplished and it’s good for coaches to try to find someone to exemplify what winning is all about.
Kubiak echoed this assessment and was apparently so awe-struck by Holyfield that Gary struggled to develop coherent thoughts.
It’s amazing looking in the faces of those young players and the intrigue and what he’s accomplished.
Obviously, I’m being flippant and somewhat facetious about this whole thing. Reading the article, it does sound like the players enjoyed meeting the former champ and that they understood his message of staying committed to winning. Which is good, I suppose. Moving on…
From the same article, it seems there are some positive developments in the secondary. First, rookie Fred Bennett is making strides and looking like he will eventually be able to play both corner at safety at this level. I still think his size (6′1″/195) and ability to deliver the big hit make him an intriguing prospect. I’m not completely sold that he will develop into a starting CB2, but he might develop into a difference maker at nickel. We’ll see.
The other development is that Kubes is making the guys in the defensive backfield earn their playing time and starting slots. Sayeth Sir Suck
There are a lot of people in different positions competing for the job. It gets the competition up high and it’s intense out there. Guys trying to make the team and trying to be the guy. It’s good for me because I like being in that kind of situation because it makes me work harder.
So that’s what it takes! Yay… I am so glad we have figured out what it will take to make Faggins work harder at not sucking. It sounds to me like Kubiak’s master plan is working, well, masterfully.
Finally, I’ve read in various places that Sam Adams has already met with the Texans. I have not, however, read any reports as to how that meeting went or if he is close to making a decision. If anyone knows anything about the meeting, why not fill the rest of us in? And, Sam, if you are reading this… call me, we’ll talk.
1 Carmine Pirone is still at it with the misused apostrophes. Not to be all Grammar Nazi and shit, but when your job is “Staff Writer,” I feel like you should have a grasp on simple things like punctuation. Carmine, on the other hand, throws apostrophes around all willy-nilly, using them to pluralize both “OTA” and “Sunday.” And, yes, this footnote was mainly an excuse to use “willy-nilly” in a sentence.
2 I am guessing.
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May 31st, 2007 at 4:15 pm
I think you should direct some of your non-happiness of Faggins towards the coaching staff. His torching during the Buffalo game was the coaching staff’s fault for leaving him on an island with Lee Evans after he was already torched once by Evans under the same defensive scheme.
Faggins was just back from a foot injury, and to give him no help at all was not cool. I’m not saying he is the answer at #2 CB, but I think you are being a little strong on the subject of Petey.
By the way, if Carmine’s driving you nuts with his punctuation, email him. Folks with the Texans are pretty nice peeps.
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June 1st, 2007 at 10:07 am
It’s possible that you are right, and I fully admit that I am tough on the guy. Still, every time I saw him last year, he looked lost, like he really wasn’t sure how to play corner. I know he had a foot injury, but, unlike Mario who looked like he knew what was going on and simply couldn’t do what he wanted, Petey looked like he was struggling to figure things out at a very base level.
Now, I hope I am wrong and that it was just two straight seasons of injury that had him rusty. I would love for him to turn out to be a solid CB2. I’m just not going to hold my breath.