Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Fantasy owners can have their stats; Alex Smith cares only about W's
The only numbers Alex Smith is interested in reading are the ones in the standings. (US Presswire)
San Francisco's Alex Smith says he doesn't care about yards per game, which, I guess, means he doesn't care about stats, period. Well, good for him. That's easy to say when you don't have them. Except there's one thing we're forgetting here.
And it's that Alex Smith is right. He shouldn't care about stats, nor should other quarterbacks.
Of course, that's not easy when you live in a fantasy football world where numbers have become barometers of performances and performers. But it's the way it should be, and Alex Smith gets it. It might be the era of the 5,000-yard passer or the 400-yard game, but he doesn't give a rip, and let's hear it for Alex Smith.
"I could absolutely care less on yards per game," Smith told 49ers Rapid Reporter Kyle Bonagura. "I think that is a totally overblown stat because if you're losing games in the second half, guess what, you're like the Carolina Panthers and you're going no-huddle the entire second half. Yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games.
"That's great. You're not winning, though."
It might be the era of the 5,000-yard passer or the 400-yard game, but he doesn't give a rip, and let's hear it for Alex Smith.
So maybe he didn't have to cart out Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers to illustrate his point, but, hey, whatever drives home the message. Newton is an extraordinary talent who passed and threw for a gazillion yards, had 35 touchdowns rushing and passing and was named the league's Offensive Rookie of the Year. In short, he was every bit "the icon" he said he wanted to be.
But he was also 6-10.
I'm not saying that record is his fault. The Carolina defense stunk. I think we all can agree on that. But I am saying that I care more about that won-loss record than I do how many 300- or 400-yard games the guy produced.
Now, before we go further, let's make something clear: That's not a knock on Newton. It's a knock on fantasy-football numbers. Peyton Manning was 3-13 in his first season, yet became one of the NFL's top quarterbacks. And maybe that happens to Newton.
I hope so. Because, ultimately, the measure of a quarterback is success. If you can't win, nothing else matters.
Case in point: I was at a New England-Philadelphia game last year when Vince Young threw for 400 yards in a 38-20 defeat that caused some people to think about reassessing Young.
Except he stunk.
You heard me. He missed open receivers. He couldn't convert critical downs. And he was as culpable as an inept DeSean Jackson or a porous Eagles pass defense for blowing an early 10-0 lead. Yet people outside the 215 area code the next day were talking about how he wasn't all that bad ... except that he was.
Only the numbers didn't reflect it.
That takes me back to my favorite subject, which is Tim Tebow and the 2011 Denver Broncos. People shred the guy for his low completion percentage (46.5) and inability to hit open receivers, and I understand. What I don't understand is how you can ignore the facts, and the facts are these -- the Broncos were 8-5 with him at quarterback and beat the defending conference champion in the playoffs.
More specifically, they beat the Pittsburgh Frickin' Steelers, the league's No. 1-ranked defense and the league's No. 1-ranked pass defense, and they beat them with Tebow launching an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime.
I don't care that he didn't complete 50 percent of his passes that day. I don't care that he threw for a career-high 316 yards, either. I just care that he won.
Now let's move on to Alex Smith. In 2011, he produced the best season of his career, yet some persons complain because he's not Joe Montana or Steve Young. Well, sorry; he's not. But he was 13-3 last year, and, sure, a lot of that had to do with a terrific 49ers defense, but a lot had to do with Alex Smith, too. He threw a career-low five interceptions and played with a poise, a confidence and a strength that stats can't measure.
Now, rewind the tape 12 years to when the 49ers worked out Tom Brady before the 2000 draft. Like others, they weren't dazzled, and there's a reason: They had 45 minutes to put him through drills, which meant they couldn't measure what makes Brady so extraordinary -- and that's his intangibles.
Brady doesn't have the talent of some of his contemporaries. But he does have an insatiable drive to succeed that has taken him to five Super Bowls. Brady knows how to win, and it's that quality -- not his arm strength or his speed -- that makes him special.
I was reminded when Robert Griffin III ripped off a 4.35 40 at the NFL combine. Griffin's time created a buzz and was perceived as another signal of how astounding he is and will be at the next level. And maybe he will. But keep this in mind: When Brady ran a 40 at the 2000 combine, he checked in at a leisurely 5.28.
Then look what happened.
I guess that's why I welcome what Alex Smith had to say about numbers and winning. If nothing else, he gave us something to debate between now and training camps, and maybe that something is stats, maybe it's Smith and maybe it's Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. All I know is Newton gained a lot more attention last season than Andy Dalton, yet all Dalton did was lead lowly Cincinnati to the playoffs.
And he did it playing 10 top-10 defenses.
Alex Smith won a lot of games last year. That matters. He didn't throw for a lot of yards. That doesn't. What's so hard to understand?
Broncos acquire (FB) Gronk of their own from Colts for DB Vaughn
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos have traded defensive back Cassius Vaughn to the Indianapolis Colts for fullback Chris Gronkowski.
Broncos boss John Elway announced the deal Wednesday on Twitter, saying: "Our team has a lot of depth in the secondary and this is an opportunity for us to add a quality fullback to our roster."
The only other fullback in Denver is Austin Sylvester, who hasn't played in the NFL.
Gronkowski has played in 21 games with Dallas (2010) and Indianapolis (2011). He has two brothers in the NFL: Rob, an All-Pro tight end in New England, and Dan, a tight end in Cleveland who played for Denver in 2010.
Vaughn played in 22 games with the Broncos, making 22 tackles and returning an interception for a TD.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Giants need better running game, and Wilson could be their man
'They want me to do the whole nine. So I'm going to do the whole 10 ...,' Wilson says. (US Presswire)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Jets talk about returning to "Ground and Pound," but it's the New York Giants who are doing something about it -- and what they're doing is there for everyone to see at this weekend's rookie mini-camp.
I'm talking about schooling first-round draft choice David Wilson, the successor to Brandon Jacobs and a running back who could, if he's what the Giants believe he is, return an effective rushing attack to at least one New York-area team.
At 5-feet-10, 205 pounds, Wilson is no Brandon Jacobs. But he is fast and explosive. He runs through tackles. He's tough to bring down. And he can catch the football. In short, he might be just what the Giants need to resuscitate the league's 32nd-ranked running game that didn't wake up until it was nearly too late last season.
But look at the club's last six games -- all victories -- and you'll find the team that averaged 82.3 yards rushing per start before produced 114.5 per game then.
Connect the dots. The Giants did when they made Wilson their first-round draft choice, finding a combination of value and need at the 32nd overall position.
"What you see with David is what you get," said rookie cornerback Jayron Hosley. "He's a smart guy who is very enthusiastic and talented. He's athletic, with speed, and a good person and player overall. Plus, he has good hands coming out of the backfield and can be a receiver coming out of the slot."
Hosley should know. He played with Wilson at Virginia Tech and roomed with him their freshman season. Now they're teammates on the Super Bowl champions, and both should make the team. But it's Wilson who fills the more urgent need, replacing Jacobs after the veteran running back left for San Francisco.
Jacobs brought an attitude and toughness to the field, but he couldn't grind out the tough yards that made him and past Giants' teams so effective. So the Giants, in effect, swapped out Jacobs for Wilson and believe they got the better end of the deal.
"They want me to do everything," said Wilson after Friday morning's practice. "They want me to do the 'whole nine.' So I'm going to do the 'whole 10' and get the first down."
Now, we're talking.
Too often last season no back was getting the first down. The Giants produced 100 yards rushing in only four of their first 11 starts and failed to run for a score in five of those contests. Result: They won one more game (6) than they lost. But once they did what the Jets did in 2009-10 -- namely, grind up opponents with an effective rushing attack -- their fortunes changed, with the Giants dropping just one of their last eight starts.
Some of that had to do with the return of Ahmad Bradshaw, who missed four straight games in mid-season with a foot injury, but most of it had to do with a rushing attack that suddenly pushed back opponents and that, along with a relentless pass rush, helped deliver the Giants their second Lombardi Trophy in four years.
With Jacobs gone and Bradshaw returning from foot surgery, the Giants need help at a critical position -- which is why they spent their first-round draft pick on a running back who last season set a school record with 1,709 yards rushing, scored nine times and caught 21 passes.
If there's a knock on the guy, it's that he fumbles too often -- but that's an issue coaches can handle. They did it with Tiki Barber. They did it with Bradshaw. And I have no doubt they'll do it with David Wilson.
He'll also have to work on his pass protection, but that's part of the process for almost any rookie. As one scout told me, "I don't know one running back who blocks out of a two-point stance. They just push and shove," which is another way of saying it's an occupational hazard for first-year backs.
It's an acquired skill, and Wilson will have to acquire it.
"It's not like weird or scary," Wilson said of jumping to the NFL champions. "It's more like a good thing, and [a feeling of] let me be on this team because they're successful, and I want to be successful. They're guys just like me. They work hard at what they're doing, and they want to be the best at what they're doing. Guys can get drafted where ever, but it's about what you do when you get here -- not how you got here."
I know one thing Wilson can do, which is a lot of back flips without stopping. I watched one YouTube video where he did 13 in succession. Then I saw another where he did 21. Wilson said he's been doing them since the age of 3 when he started in his backyard, and I know what you're thinking: So what? So the last rookie around here who did 13 back flips was defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, and I'd say he worked out OK.
"The 13 he did was with his hands," said Wilson, laughing. "The 13 I did was with no hands. He plays D-end, so you get the credit. That's why I had to make sure I did 21 and not 13 or 14."
David Wilson will get a lot of credit if he can help restore the Giants' running game. One guy can't carry this attack, and I'm not talking about Bradshaw. I'm talking about Eli Manning, who tried last season and floundered until the running game perked up. Now the Giants have Wilson, Bradshaw, D. J. Ware and Da'Rel Scott, who demonstrated big-play ability in the preseason last year but seemed to get buried once the games counted.
"I'd like to pick up where I left off, but that rarely happens," said Wilson. "When you look at rookies they always have that transition period. I just want to be on the field, go out there and compete and contribute to the team in some way."
Trust me, he'll get that chance. The Giants need something, anything, to revive their running game, and David Wilson could be the solution.