Last Guy on the Bench

I'd feel a lot worse about this if the days of getting useful sports info out of local papers hadn't long since passed. Ever since press conference videos and transcripts became available, I've been shocked to realize how few reporters do anything but go to those conferences and cobble together a few quotes to make a story. Since I've already seen all the quotes at source, I almost never get anything out of the local guys any more. There are exceptions - I think Tim Graham will actually go talk to someone different sometimes, and our own AP meister John W. often does some legwork. But the exceptions are too few to tempt me to subscribe to a paper, plus John's stuff is readily available anyway, being AP. And as for commentary, I get more insight from The Stadium Wall - from the actually knowledgeable football guys here who watch something more than just the ball - than I do from any columnist. I'll take Simon or Bill from NYC or Kelly the Dog or a number of others over any columnist going. They might not always be right. But they are always interesting and original.

Right. I don't get the arrogance or the disdain for the Jets. They've been kicking the crap out of us regularly and they've had recent post-season success. Maybe they will fall off the cliff this year, but they have a tough D and they know how to win, so I doubt it. (I'd be happy to see it, don't get me wrong.) Either way, I wouldn't talk trash until it actually happened.

Good question. I was wondering that myself. I can compare it to my high school calculus course. The teacher was a great guy, but gave us brutal exams. We went way deep into the underlying theories - really had to think creatively. It was easy not to do well, no matter how smart you thought you were. When it came time to take the AP exam at the end of the year, though, I can't say we walked into it all that confidently, but five minutes after that test had started, we were flying. Compared to what we had been doing all year, it was a cakewalk. Pretty much everyone in the class crushed it. So I'm optimistic.

This thread took an awesome turn thanks to Sage and San Jose.

I know what you mean, but for me it's more about the player's expectations. And in this case, I HOPE they believe the hype. I want them to think they are good with the potential to be great. I want them to be dumbfounded when they lose. With many teams, inflated ego is bad fuel. But there is no way these guys get fat, delusional heads before the season. They have been too crappy for too long and the memory of that 7 game losing streak last year has to be pretty fresh. So for them, I think all this pumping up is good. Personally, I think we are a year (and the continued development of Fitz and the o-line) away from being a really good team. I'm expecting nice improvement to 9 or 10 wins this year, and I will be delighted with that, if it happens (even though I will still freak out and be depressed for two days every time they lose, as always).

Preach, Brother. I'm with you. Although I do appreciate the cynical bastages on the board too. Even though it's not my temperament, it keeps the place lively. I won't even mention the actual, thoughtful, reasonable, knowledgeable, realistic, civil posters, as there are only about eight of those, God bless them.

Yeah, for some reason (probably my typical April/May delusional fog), I find myself more excited about Brooks than any other draft pick. Doesn't make sense and I can't explain it. I just think he might turn into something special. Either way, I'm loving the DB competition and depth this year. Surely SOMEONE has to turn out to be good out of this very presentable collection of potential (Gilmore, Williams, Brooks, Rogers, maybe McKelvin sees the light or is moved to the slot where he can keep things in front of him, etc.). Then again, I fall for this shite every year (and happily - how else would I entertain myself?). Whenever I see '19-0' at the bottom of The Senator's posts, I always think, "I guess it's possible . . ."

I think people are writing off McGee too quickly for this year. IF he's healthy (a big if, granted), I don't think there is any way they start a rookie and a 2nd year guy over him. I think McGee will start and Gilmore, Williams, and Leodis will be battling for the other outside spot and the nickel spot. If I had to make a prediction, I see McGee and Gilmore starting and Leodis covering the slot with Williams getting time in dime and getting himself ready for the inevitable shift that will happen when McGee and Leodis leave/fade/retire, etc. I see this as a transition year in the d backfield. I do think you're right that next year the starting DBs will be Gilmore and Williams (unless Brooks or someone else shows some mad skills).

Agree on Burn After Reading. The first time I watched it I was disappointed. I think I was expecting a Coen-style thriller (e.g., Miller's Crossing, Blood Simple). But I watched it again a little while later (this time knowing it was more of a comic musing) and I loved it. I thought it was hilarious. Wouldn't put it in the brothers' top five, but it really grew on me.

The OP was asking about three players with multiple double digit sack seasons. 1995 was the only season Hansen had double digit sacks (he had 10).

Cape Town, South Africa

Exactly right. They did say "good news, bad news" - but they were just being cute. They meant that the bad news was that there was nothing much to say about this other than "Good job" - no room for debate, nothing to get the phones boiling, etc.

Agree 100%. This has to do with much more than current/future player value. It has to do with team psyche and character. I want to root for the kind of team that pays a guy like Fred Jackson based on what he has (cheaply) already contributed and on what he means to the team overall. And I want to attract the kind of player that wants to play for a team like that.

Crayonz, you are a first ballot TBD hall of famer.

Great point. How come you aren't in love with this draft? (Real question.)

Not me, man. It was "Night Train" over at BillsZone.

Not my eagle eye. Wouldn't have noticed that myself in a million years. Just read it on another site and thought it was worth passing along.

I like Mayock a lot. No one gets everything right. Didn't post this to beat him up. Just to elevate the Glenn euphoria even further.

Sorry if this was posted already. I didn't see it anywhere here. Read it elsewhere. When Mayock broke down Glenn right after the selection, he showed two clips from Senior Bowl practices. The first was supposedly Glenn getting smoked to the inside. Except it wasn't Glenn (#71), it was Jeff Allen from Illinois (#72). The next clip of textbook balance and anchoring was actually Glenn. http://www.nfl.com/draft/2012/profiles/cordy-glenn?id=2532849 (Click on the first video link of Phil Hansen reading the selection - Mayock is right after that.)

I wonder if they'll go after LSU CB Ron Brooks in the 4th. They were rumored to like him a lot. Personally, I'd prefer to get an LB or another OT or WR.

From baalworship over at Bills Zone - excerpt from GBN Senior Bowl report: by Paul Guillemette, editor of Paul's Pigskin Place and GBN Special Scout with contributions from Colin Lindsay, GBN Editor and Publisher On the other side of the line, is UGA’s Glenn, a sometime OG, sometime OT, who has shown an incredible blend of size and footwork. His massive size allows him to absorb the charge of defenders without losing his balance, while he is always leaning and bending forward, which allows him to use his massive girth and strength to great advantage. And once he absorbs the defenders first hit he is able to slide from side to side with ease. Indeed, few defenders got any penetration into the backfield when matched up against Glenn, although he did let Howard loose on a spin move early in the one-on-one drills. And given his footwork, it will be a surprise if any team at the next level would even consider moving him back inside to OG. It's not a wise thing to jump to hasty conclusions in anything, let alone football player evaluations. But I feel pretty safe after this afternoon's practice in saying that the South has the two most imposing players in Mobile this week in Georgia OG Cordy Glenn and North Carolina DE Quinton Coples and it didn‘t appear that any of their teammates really wanted to go up against them in drills. So we suggested to South head coach Mike Shanahan that just maybe the should have the two go against each other in Wednesday‘s drills. He said to consider it a done deal. Mike Shanahan wasn’t kidding last night when he promised that we would see more one-on-one match-ups between DE Quentin Coples and G/T Cordy Glenn, the two best players on the South team. True to his word, the two ended up facing each other on the first four snaps of the 11-on-11 session, while they also went head-to-head on a number of occasions in the one-on-one pass blocking drills. And while each had their moments, the overall decision goes to Glenn who was probably the best player on the field today. Glenn, who lined up primarily at OG the first couple of days at practice, played almost exclusively at LT today and stoned just about every DE he faced including Mel Ingram and Courtney Upshaw on more than one snap. And Glenn put the coup de grace on his performance late in the 11-on-11 session when the offense ran a sweep around his side. Glenn pulled around the TE, raced down field - guys that big are only supposed to lumber in space - and delivered a crunching block on a poor overmatched safety. . . http://www.gbnreport.com/seniorbowlreport.htm

Remember reading that he was the only tackle at the Senior Bowl who generally handled Coples pretty well in practice. Coples was supposedly eating everyone else up.