Does Sage Rosenfels = Fabian Washington?
Mar 18, 2008 2008 Draft, 2008 Season, Dancing With the 'Tards, DeAngelo Hall, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Non-Texan stuff, Predictions Guaranteed To Go Wrong, Rosie Rosenfels, The Schaub Experiment, You remind me of ____
Bear with me as this little ride might be a bit bumpy (translation: I’m a senile old coot, just happy to have my apple mush at the end of the day).
So, we know that our heroic Texans are willing to trade Rosie Rosenfels, and we know that we’re really, oh just super interested in re-signing Craig Nall to be Teh Schaub’s backup. We know that a certain team up north is willing to cough up a third round pick for Rosenfels. And we know (jeez, repetitive much?) there are reports the Texans are trying to trade back and flip 1st round picks with the Steelers and pick up a 3rd round pick for the effort (follow the link all the way down just above the comments).
What else do we know? Well, it looks like CB Fabian Washington is on the block. I think it’s fair to say that he has underperformed his expectations. While at Cornhusker U., I thought he would be a star at the next level. However, injuries and inconsistencies - and the occasional wife beating - have insured that his stay in Oakland Los Angeles Oakland Whatever will be short. Better yet, his contract is good for two more years, and it’s about as cheap as can be imagined for a player of his caliber.
With DeAngelo Hall on the cusp of entering Raider-land - a trade almost sure to not end well - the Raiders will have a complete log-jam at CB. But, because the Raiders will have to spend their 2nd and 6th round picks on that special head-case, they’ll be terribly short of picks come draft day. You don’t exactly have to be Travis Johnson to see where I am going with this.
Washington will be cheap to acquire due to the aforementioned injuries, inconsistencies, and his off-field transgressions. Plus, Washington isn’t the perfect player by any means: he’s weak in run support, for example. The Raiders aren’t exactly well-known for doing anything well these days, and with Washington only 25 this season, he has plenty of time to turn things around. Oh, and did I mention that he ran a 4.28 40?
This has “match made in heaven” written all over it. Trade the lowest 3rd round pick (probably the Steelers pick if that deal goes through) for Fabian Washington. Then, give me one part Fabian Washington and one part Ray Rhodes, and we might have a Chris McAllister caliber player at CB. Now, bugger off cuz Matlock is on, and I need to adjust the rabbit ears.
PS: Am I the only person who just really doesn’t like The Mountain Goats? I’m intrigued by “The Big Sleep,” so I got that one with my emusic subscription. Also got Levon Helm and the RCO All Stars, Flogging Molly, and Tinariwen tonight. IOW, my usual genre-cluster-fuck of monthly downloads. Weeeeee!!!!
Edit: Corey Smith re-upped with the Lions, so he’s out. I see this as: 1. another straw we go DE in the 1st round (though not a big, back-breaking straw), and 2. why we brought Chaun Thompson aboard to play the speed rusher role off the end. Yeah, he’s a LB, and he’ll compete for the SAM position with LVJ Bentley and Zach Diles, but Chaun does have the size (close enough) and speed to play that role if necessary. Total speculation, though.
On the horns of an enema - Scraps at CB
Feb 21, 2008 2008 Draft, 2008 Season, Casserly blows goats... I have proof, DeAngelo Hall, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, I hate everything, Nnamdi Asomugha, Secondary issues are primary
Now that Nnamdi Asomugha has broken Matt’s heart like so many Anna-Megans, let’s take a look at some of the least sucky options at cornerback still available.
Marcus Trufant - Franchise tag. Not a surprising move by the Seasquawks, but it means he’s out.
DeAngelo Hall - Yeah, we have consensus that he’s an asswipe. I’ve always been of the opinion, however, that as long as you play for the team, being an asswipe isn’t all bad (see Sanders, Deion). But I’m not sure if Hall qualifies for that level. And considering the baggage he carries, and that the Falcons allegedly want a first round pick for him, fuck him. Of course, there’s the chance that we can dick the Falcons on a deal again, which definitely gives me warm fuzzies.
Asante Samuel - We’ve previously brushed Samuel aside for contract size reasons, but considering what Trufant and Nnamdi are getting, is that the market for a CB? Perhaps it’s now something to consider?
Lito Sheppard - A dirty, unsubstantiated rumor has the Eagles interested in Samuel because they think Sheppard has a glass jaw. If the Eagles do sign Samuel, I think Sheppard is gone.
Jacques Reeves - Ugh, a cowpoke, and one who was picked on during the year. But, sheesh, this is the territory we are starting to hit. Reeves is an unrestricted free agent.
Randall Gay - When watching the Patriots this year, it seemed to me that the Pats had two weak links in their secondary: King Asshole Rodney Harrison, and Randall Gay. Yet, Gay might be the most likely option as of today. Still, Gay can be flammable at times, and I kinda see him as a more expensive Petey. There, I said it..
Brian Kelly - Dude, you lost your job to P-Buch? Seriously? What, did you fall asleep on the field?
Drayton Florence - You can add him to the flammable list.
Chris Carr - Has seen most of his action on special teams, including as a punt returner.
Have I missed anybody?
Look at this list. It’s pretty pathetic at this point. There’s a chance somebody like Ricky Manning becomes available after the first round of salary cuts, and I wouldn’t mind him in the least. But, still, the lack of feasible CBs, along with Dunta’s injury, means that we have to address CB a lot sooner than later. Even though I am against huge mega-contracts, I think Samuel may be the only decent option out there, even if we have to overpay.
The way I look at it: we either overpay for mediocrity, or we overpay for above average production.
Or, of course, we take a CB in the draft with our 1st or 3rd round pick.
PS: Look, Matt, I bolded names all by myself. I’m a big boy today!
PPS: If you can name the show from where I got the reference in the title, give yourself a cookie.
G.O.A.T.? Hardly.
Sep 30, 2007 2004 Draft, DeAngelo Hall, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Overrated, Posts that list too many players, Teams that aren't the Texans
I wanted to get this up before the game starts so it doesn’t seem like anything other than what it is.
With the Saints on a bye this weekend, the crown of “Most Overrated Player in the NFL” fits squarely on the head of Falcons CB DeAngelo Hall. Of course, ridiculous columns like this one don’t help.
Perhaps the only other cornerback consistently mentioned as one of the top players currently at the position is Champ Bailey. Both Hall and Bailey have tremendous speed which allows them to cover a lot of ground, but they also tackle very well. While Hall may be thrilled to be mentioned on the same level as Bailey, he’s still aiming to become the outright best corner ever.
I don’t even know where to begin. How about the idea that Nnamdi Asomugha is widely considered the best or second-best corner in the league by anyone with an ounce of sense? Seriously, the ONLY people who sincerely believe that Hall is one of the best corners in the game are Hall and a handful of myopic sports writers. Thankfully, and despite the constant crowing by Hall, the stats don’t bear out the claim that he is anything special.
Consider:
Hall (165 tackles, 13 INT, 22 PD, 2 FF, 3 TD, 0.5 sack) is not even the best of the first round corners taken alongside him. Dunta Robinson (267 tackles, 11 INT, 35 PD, 5 FF, 1 TD, 4 sacks) and Chris Gamble (215 tackles, 16 INT, 22 PD, 2 FF, 2 TD, 1 sack) are both arguably as good or better than Hall, yet no one is trying to say that either of them is best in the league.
“But wait,” cry the Falcons fans, “teams AVOID throwing at D-Hall because they are afraid of him because he’s so good.”
Um…
Dunta Robinson–targeted 80 times last season.
DeAngelo Hall–targeted 87 times season.
(Chris Gamble was not among the 20 most-targeted)
So, in a season when Dunta was playing across from a host of random fill-ins and a hobbled Petey effin’ Faggins, teams threw at him less than they threw at DeAngelo. Also, the Texans were thrown at a total of 505 times last year… and teams chucked at the Falcons 515 times, so you can’t use the “teams threw at the Falcons a LOT more, so that’s why DeAngelo had more targets” defense, either.
What about the idea that he shuts down great receivers? Well, he had a good game against Smith last week (until Hall opened his mouth), so there’s that. But, what’s that saying? Even a blind fat chick finds a pie every now and then. How did he fare against big name receivers in 2006?
Marques Colston–7 catches for 97 yards. Hall had one tackle. Advantage: Colston
Larry Fitzgerald–4 for 71. Hall had INT TD. Advantage: Hall
Hines Ward–8 for 171, 3 TD. Hall had 3 tackles. Advantage: Ward
Chad Johnson–6 for 78, TD. Hall had 2 solo and 3 assisted tackles. Advantage: Johnson
Roy Williams–6 for 138, TD. Hall had 3 tackles. Advantage: Williams
Santana Moss–7 for 123, TD. Hall had 2 tackles. Advantage: Moss
Terrell Owens–5 for 69, 2 TD. Hall had 8 tackles. Advantage: Owens
Wow. Amazing.
*cough*
He did manage to hold his own against Braylon Edwards (3 for 31, TD) last year, so he’s got that going for him. Then again, Braylon still found the endzone, so maybe that wasn’t a total win. And the immortal Hank Baskett lit him up for 7 catches, 177 yards, and a TD. Not surprisingly, 2005 wasn’t much better for Hall, either, as he got lit up by Terrell Owens, Steve Smith twice, Darrell Jackson, Donald Driver, and Laveranues Coles. Plus, let’s not forget the “I own 85″ shaved into DeAngelo’s head before the preseason game against the Bengals, wherein Chad made Hall into a SportsCenter punchline.
Someone help me out here. WHY is Hall ever talked about in the same sentence as “best corner” unless the words “unequivocally not” are also involved? Because, to my mind, about the ONLY way you can make an argument for Hall being one of the best is if you use a bunch of quotes from DeAngelo Hall.
Am I the best complete corner in the game? Yeah. I don’t get beat for touchdowns which always gives us a chance to win. I make tackles when I have to. So I definitely think I’m the most complete corner in the game.
Please–and I think I speak for everyone, here, including Falcons fans–shut up.
