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We've slowly but surely come to the realization that Matt Cassel isn't the right quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. While his heart is in the right place, God's plan for him is not. He's killing us all softly, one dump off to SafeDex at a time.
So I begin to look towards who could be the next quarterback for the Chiefs. There is no more important position in sports (although the goalie in hockey sparks an interesting debate), and there's no better time than right now for Kansas City, with a bevy of rising talent on the team (even if 1/3 of them are nursing torn ACL's). Find the right quarterback and the franchise could be set up for the next 10 years.
My biggest fear right now is that the Chiefs are bad, but not quite bad enough to earn themselves the #1 pick in the NFL Draft, and declare victory in the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes (although these next two weeks will show just how serious of contenders we really are).
But before I swan dive into the NFL Draft pool, and convince myself that Landry Jones and his mustache could make even a decent NFL quarterback, I wanted to look around the rest of the NFL for an available, young quarterback. Which brought me to Jimmy Clausen. The former Golden Domer was drafted in the 2nd round in 2010, but will never sniff the field in Carolina now because of The People's Champion, Cam Newton.
So Jimmy Clausen is definitely available, but would he be worth giving a shot? Lets take a closer look...
Clausen's 2010 stats: 13 games, 10 starts, 1-9 record. 157-299 (52.5%), 1,558 yards (5.2 YPA), 3 TD, 9 INT, 9 fumbles. Click here for his game to game stats.
Obviously, those are some rather putrid numbers. However, it was the kid's rookie season and he was throwing the ball to David Gettis, Brandon LaFell, and Steve Smith (at 50% effort). John Fox was a lame duck coach, and there offensive coordinator was somebody named Jeff Davidson (who's past history was as an offensive line coach - sound familiar Chiefs fans?).
Clausen might not be the slam dunk that Luck is, but you can't expect to find a quarterback like that already in the league. You'd have to take a chance on a guy and coach him up. I'd feel stronger about either side of this argument if I had actually watched Clausen play at the professional level, but I have not (I spent my time last year actually focusing on my team - novel concept, eh?).
Jimmer will definitely get his shot in the league at some point. Quarterbacks with talent inevitably do. It would be real interesting to see what he could do with some playing time this year if Cam were to get nicked up at any point and time. Clausen could earn himself an immediate chance with a good game or two.
Conclusion: I'd definitely consider the option of acquiring Jimmy Clausen, and would be interested to see what the Panthers asking price was, however I don't think I would pull the trigger on a quarterback that hasn't shown much at the pro level, at a time when rookie quarterbacks are performing better than ever.
Although, this post was written more for the point of creating discussion on the topic, so I'd love to hear if any of you think Jimmy Clausen is worth giving a shot?
His Dirkness
Showing posts with label stats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stats. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thoughts on Steve Breaston
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The Chiefs may have just pulled off the unthinkable. They may have signed a stud receiver in his prime, off the free agent market, and didn't break the bank in the process.
Or he may be a complete bust. You never really know with wide receivers, the weirdest position in football. Take Randy Moss for example. Two years removed from being arguably the best player in the NFL, he was traded from team to team last year, and ended up serving no impact whatsoever. Why? Because he was that out of shape? Did his play fall off that much due to aging? I'm chalking it up the immeasurable peculiarity of receivers.
The unpredictable nature of receivers stems from the chemistry between he and the quarterback. If they ain't got it, fuhgeddaboutit. And there's almost no way to determine if they'll have it or not. It's simply a comfort thing, and that's true with every new quarterback-wide receiver relationship.
However, with that disclaimer out of the way, lets move on to the more tangible parts of his game.
Breaston's numbers are a lot better than I first assumed them to be. Admittedly, I didn't study his numbers before I declared myself off the bandwagon. All I had heard was how he had a monster season in 2008 with Kurt Warner as QB, followed by 2 down seasons (sounds like red flags to me). However, upon examining his stats, I wouldn't agree with that assessment one bit.
Lets break it down year by year:
*2008 - After a nothing season as a rookie in 2007 (outside of returning), Breaston capitalized on an Anquan Boldin injury (4 games missed), going off for 1,006 receiving yards on 77 receptions. Awesome numbers for a 2nd year wideout, put up in a good system from a Hall of Fame quarterback.
*2009 - With both Fitzgerald and Boldin healthy all season, Breaston's production dropped down to 55 receptions and 712 yards. Not a bad year at all from a 3rd receiver, but still in a good system and catching passes from a Hall of Fame quarterback.
*2010 - With Boldin moving on to the Ravens, Breaston was pushed into the starting lineup full time. He caught 47 balls for 718 yards (an impressive 15.3 yard average). However, the key is that he was catching the majority of his passes from Derek Anderson and the ambiguously gay trio of John Skelton, Max Hall, and Richard Bartel. It should be noted that Breaston missed 3 games due to injury (3 of only 4 games missed in his career). It should also be noted that Breaston averaged 70.2 yards per game with Anderson (the only true NFL QB) at quarterback (with a significant drop in his numbers with the youngsters). That 70.2 yards per game amounts to 1,123 yards over a full 16 game season.
My question is - What's a bigger accomplishment, 1,000 receiving yards with Kurt Warner or 700 yards with the pu-pu platter from 2010? I'd say 2010, especially when his averages from his 3 games missed takes him to 876 yards on the season (let alone the 1,123 number equated above). It's very possible that, despite what his numbers indicate, Breaston has been improving greatly from year to year.
So how will he fit in with the Chiefs? Well, first of all, if he adds 700-900 receiving yards to our offense, then he will be a very successful acquisition. That's exactly what we need out of him. He will asked to play the slot reciever (a point he has already admitted) with Baldwin and Bowe putting the wide in wide receiver (and please no more Killer B's nickname suggestions, I'm already tired of it - and yes, already working on something better). I envision Breaston working a lot of underneath routes, asked to pick up those 3rd and 4's, 3rd and 5's, and then to do some damage after the catch with the ball in his hands. Think of him as a Wes Welker lite (or dark, for that matter).
The happiest people over the signing of Breaston should be the other Chiefs' skill position players (a grouping that is suddenly very formidable). This is great news for Bowe (who is no longer options 1, 2, and 3 in the passing game), Baldwin (pressure taken off of him to perform this season), Moeaki (not alone over the middle anymore), and perhaps most of all, Jamaal Charles (who could see Priest-like openings on draw plays now).
Here's a fun exercise for you. Try and guess the order that those 5 players will finish up in receiving yards for the 2011 season. Here's mine...
1. Dwayne Bowe - 1,100 yard range
2. JamaAL Charles - 700 yard range
3. Steve Breaston - 600 yard range
4. Tony Moeaki - 500 yard range
5. Jonathan Baldwin - 500 yard range
That's all for now folks - Happy Free Agencying,
His dirkness
The Chiefs may have just pulled off the unthinkable. They may have signed a stud receiver in his prime, off the free agent market, and didn't break the bank in the process.
Or he may be a complete bust. You never really know with wide receivers, the weirdest position in football. Take Randy Moss for example. Two years removed from being arguably the best player in the NFL, he was traded from team to team last year, and ended up serving no impact whatsoever. Why? Because he was that out of shape? Did his play fall off that much due to aging? I'm chalking it up the immeasurable peculiarity of receivers.
The unpredictable nature of receivers stems from the chemistry between he and the quarterback. If they ain't got it, fuhgeddaboutit. And there's almost no way to determine if they'll have it or not. It's simply a comfort thing, and that's true with every new quarterback-wide receiver relationship.
However, with that disclaimer out of the way, lets move on to the more tangible parts of his game.
Breaston's numbers are a lot better than I first assumed them to be. Admittedly, I didn't study his numbers before I declared myself off the bandwagon. All I had heard was how he had a monster season in 2008 with Kurt Warner as QB, followed by 2 down seasons (sounds like red flags to me). However, upon examining his stats, I wouldn't agree with that assessment one bit.
Lets break it down year by year:
*2008 - After a nothing season as a rookie in 2007 (outside of returning), Breaston capitalized on an Anquan Boldin injury (4 games missed), going off for 1,006 receiving yards on 77 receptions. Awesome numbers for a 2nd year wideout, put up in a good system from a Hall of Fame quarterback.
*2009 - With both Fitzgerald and Boldin healthy all season, Breaston's production dropped down to 55 receptions and 712 yards. Not a bad year at all from a 3rd receiver, but still in a good system and catching passes from a Hall of Fame quarterback.
*2010 - With Boldin moving on to the Ravens, Breaston was pushed into the starting lineup full time. He caught 47 balls for 718 yards (an impressive 15.3 yard average). However, the key is that he was catching the majority of his passes from Derek Anderson and the ambiguously gay trio of John Skelton, Max Hall, and Richard Bartel. It should be noted that Breaston missed 3 games due to injury (3 of only 4 games missed in his career). It should also be noted that Breaston averaged 70.2 yards per game with Anderson (the only true NFL QB) at quarterback (with a significant drop in his numbers with the youngsters). That 70.2 yards per game amounts to 1,123 yards over a full 16 game season.
My question is - What's a bigger accomplishment, 1,000 receiving yards with Kurt Warner or 700 yards with the pu-pu platter from 2010? I'd say 2010, especially when his averages from his 3 games missed takes him to 876 yards on the season (let alone the 1,123 number equated above). It's very possible that, despite what his numbers indicate, Breaston has been improving greatly from year to year.
So how will he fit in with the Chiefs? Well, first of all, if he adds 700-900 receiving yards to our offense, then he will be a very successful acquisition. That's exactly what we need out of him. He will asked to play the slot reciever (a point he has already admitted) with Baldwin and Bowe putting the wide in wide receiver (and please no more Killer B's nickname suggestions, I'm already tired of it - and yes, already working on something better). I envision Breaston working a lot of underneath routes, asked to pick up those 3rd and 4's, 3rd and 5's, and then to do some damage after the catch with the ball in his hands. Think of him as a Wes Welker lite (or dark, for that matter).
The happiest people over the signing of Breaston should be the other Chiefs' skill position players (a grouping that is suddenly very formidable). This is great news for Bowe (who is no longer options 1, 2, and 3 in the passing game), Baldwin (pressure taken off of him to perform this season), Moeaki (not alone over the middle anymore), and perhaps most of all, Jamaal Charles (who could see Priest-like openings on draw plays now).
Here's a fun exercise for you. Try and guess the order that those 5 players will finish up in receiving yards for the 2011 season. Here's mine...
1. Dwayne Bowe - 1,100 yard range
2. JamaAL Charles - 700 yard range
3. Steve Breaston - 600 yard range
4. Tony Moeaki - 500 yard range
5. Jonathan Baldwin - 500 yard range
That's all for now folks - Happy Free Agencying,
His dirkness
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