Did my eyes deceive me, or did Tampa Bay ...

[R. Rich]

Starks was pretty quiet playing for the Titans against Pitt last week but it looks like he had a good game yesterday against the Ravens with 3 tackles, 4 assists and a half a sack.

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Starks and Haynesworth are a great pair for the Titans inside. I was high on Starks' ability last year around draft time. I thought he'd be one of those linemen who would do well in either a 3-4 or a 4-3 front. He did not disappoint last year as a rookie, either. Like another rookie of theirs, Ben Troupe, once he got in there to play, he showed that he was pretty darn good.

[dave mcbride]

Starks and Haynesworth are a great pair for the Titans inside.  I was high on Starks' ability last year around draft time.  I thought he'd be one of those linemen who would do well in either a 3-4 or a 4-3 front.  He did not disappoint last year as a rookie, either.  Like another rookie of theirs, Ben Troupe, once he got in there to play, he showed that he was pretty darn good.

446578[/snapback]

 

if only the bills and titans' draft order were reversed! who knows, though - perhaps the bills liked anderson more than starks. i think it's pretty fair to say that starks -- who actually plays -- is a helluva lot better than anderson so far.

[34-78-83]

My eyes have seen a good deal of progress by Edwards coming into the season, but yesterday he sure looked like the guy who started in 2002 who couldn't do anything to stop the run. In fact, he and Sam both played rather poorly I thought. I'm sure the heat didn't help much either.

[R. Rich]

if only the bills and titans' draft order were reversed! who knows, though - perhaps the bills liked anderson more than starks.  i think it's pretty fair to say that starks -- who actually plays -- is a helluva lot better than anderson so far.

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It was 'safe' to say that last year @ draft time too, dave. The Terps have had a recent run of quality defenders going into the NFL: Shawne Merriman this year, Starks and Madieu Williams last year, EJ Henderson the year prior, and Kris Jenkins a few years earlier. They have been better @ recruiting, especially since Freidgen became their coach, but in most cases, players leave MD better than when they arrived. Recently, they haven't missed the mark much talent-wise.

[AKC]

Exactly, AKC.  Edwards was playing way too high yesterday.  I saw one play where he got blocked and because of how he couldn't keep his pad level down, he turned sideways as Cadillac zoomed right past him.  He needs to get low if he's going to stop anyone from running inside on the Bills.

446573[/snapback]

 

I can tell you I've watched him very closely this pre-season and the first two games and I've been ragging him the whole time- his high center of gravity appears to be a physical problem, I don't beleive he'll ever become an even average run stopper because of that handicap. The shame though is that the one thing he does at maybe a better-then-average is pass rush and we're pulling him off the field on passing downs! Yesterday the strategy, which obviously requires that Sam Adams play in almost every defensive set, bit us in the butt real hard with Sam simply getting wasted in the heat. The reality is that as a stop-gap measure Sam should be sitting in our nickel and dime sets and Edwards playing them, and allowing Anderson- who does have some strength and lateral ability plus he plays low- to get time next to Sam in our base running package. I have zero faith that Edwards will ever become a competent run stopper and if the season rides on him getting better we should expect a lot more games like yesterday's. Time to pull the trigger IMO if we harbor any intention of trying to finish at .500 or better.

[dave mcbride]

It was 'safe' to say that last year @ draft time too, dave.  The Terps have had a recent run of quality defenders going into the NFL:  Shawne Merriman this year, Starks and Madieu Williams last year, EJ Henderson the year prior, and Kris Jenkins a few years earlier.  They have been better @ recruiting, especially since Freidgen became their coach, but in most cases, players leave MD better than when they arrived.  Recently, they haven't missed the mark much talent-wise.

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yeah, good point -- they have a good run of late. that said, ohio state has been known to produce a good player or two. i did hear starks dropped because of "character" issues, although i don't know what that was about. donohoe/modrak put a lot of stock in that stuff (not that they shouldn't). i don't even mean to denigrate the pick: 75th or so overall is basically a crapshoot, and the bills did pretty well with their first two picks. i had hoped to see anderson make at least one play 18 games into his professional career, however ...

[R. Rich]

yeah, good point -- they have a good run of late. that said, ohio state has been known to produce a good player or two. i did hear starks dropped because of "character" issues, although i don't know what that was about. donohoe/modrak put a lot of stock in that stuff (not that they shouldn't).  i don't even mean to denigrate the pick: 75th or so overall is basically a crapshoot, and the bills did pretty well with their first two picks.  i had hoped to see anderson make at least one play 18 games into his professional career, however ...

446603[/snapback]

 

 

Therein lies the difference in Maryland and Ohio State. OSU has a much bigger college football presence than Maryland, so they get the blue chip talents. Guys like Ted Ginn, who was considered the best athlete to come out of Ohio since Jesse Owens, aren't so tough for them to land. Maryland doesn't have that kind of clout. They get good players, to be sure, but they seem to develop their players a bit better than OSU.