Carolina fans shouldn’t worry about the production of defensive end Julius Peppers this season because, despite the monster tender he signed that will pay him more than $16 million this season, he’s still playing for a long-term deal — and that should lead to an increase in his production.
We all know that some players tend to “shut it down” after scoring a big payday, but Peppers refused to sign his tender at first in hopes he would get that big deal this offseason. I think he puts up big numbers in ’09 and gets an extension during the season.
APThe immediate returns from Boley are lacking in New York.
If I’m the New York Giants, I’m starting to worry about the return I’m getting from linebacker Michael Boley, who signed a five-year, $25-million deal in free agency this offseason. First, there was the surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip that will probably force him to miss time in training camp, and just today, the league handed a one-game suspension to the former Falcon for violating the NFL personal conduct policy.
There is no doubt that this team is scratching its head right now. What was supposed to be a deal that brought in a starting weakside linebacker has been met with road bumps and now a suspension that will keep Boley out of action against the Redskins — and divisional games carry monumental weight in the NFC East. More opportunities for players on the Giants’ depth chart to make a name for themselves in camp and the season opener.
The Packers have a ton of weapons on offense, and our own Michael Lombardi is hopping on that bandwagon, but where does receiver James Jones fit in? Reports say that he’s bounced back from 2008 when he battled a knee injury that derailed his development last year, but he might have to battle just to get on the field, and that speaks volumes of the depth at WR for the Pack.
The sign of a great passing offense is the number of weapons it has on the outside. We all know that Greg Jennings is, without question, the No. 1 option in Green Bay, and that Donald Driver still has enough gas left in the tank to make plays. But after that, there’s no guarantee that Jones will beat out Jordy Nelson when the Packers use their three-wide-receiver sets on offense. Camp battles are great, and if you’re a Packers’ fan, they’re even better when you have good competition for the No. 3 role. Maybe Lombardi is on to something, folks.
I’m anxious to see how Fred Smoot responds to the competition in Washington under defensive coordinator Greg Blache. I am not a huge fan of starting cornerback DeAngelo Hall, but Smoot might not even get a chance to compete with him due to the massive contract Hall received this offseason. I still think there’s a place for him to make an impact on this defense — just not sure where yet.
APExpect Williams to put up big numbers under Bill Kolar in Houston.
The Texans’ defensive line will be far better than the national media is giving them credit for this season, thanks to the addition of defensive line coach Bill Kolar, who came over from Buffalo. I was on two different teams with Kolar during my career (St. Louis and Buffalo), and despite the fact he can strike absolute fear into grown men when it comes to performing on Sundays, the guy gets his players to work — extremely hard. You haven’t seen defensive linemen practice hard until you watch a practice with Kolar chasing them down the field.
Amobi Okoye will be better, and Mario Williams could have his best season yet as a pro. Take that, Lombardi.
If I’m the Rams, I start preparing to bring in wide receivers who get cut early in August for workouts — because outside of Donnie Avery, I don’t see many reasons to think that Marc Bulger will have a productive season with the lack of weapons they have on the outside. The Rams need to bring in as much competition as they can during training camp.
I would like to point out that nearly every team with question marks in this column has players that the Falcons deemed unworthy of them: Boley, Hall, and (implicitly) L. Robinson. Plus the team Matt's money is riding on has Schaub (who was worth keeping, but worth more as trade bait).
Keep up the great work, Mr. Bowen.
I still can't believe someone thought Boley and Hall were worth >$5M/year...did they even watch the tape???
Great quality writing & insight as usual Matt.
I have a question for you about DL Coaching. You said you played for Kolar & you greatly respect him. With Singletary being our new HC he's starting to bring in his own guys...a few so far (OC, QB Coach, pass rushing Coach). The guy on our staff I highly question is OUR DL Coach Tomsula.
My concern is his whole career experience is from NFL Europe where we all know their all made up of PS squad & fringe NFL players AND STAFF.
If you were a DL player coming from a team such as in your case with Kolar would you be questioning the qualifications of our DL Coach & would you be less motivated?? Do you think despite him not having any prior NFL experience that he could be a successful DL Coach in the real pro league of the NFL?
I sure would feel a whole lot better if we had a proven reputable DL Coach at that position. (My list of important assistants goes....OC, QB's Coach, DC, OL & DL, CB's, WR's, ST's, RB/FB's & on down the line.) Thanks.
Matt - Jones needs to improve his blocking before he takes over the #3 WR role full time. He also needs to improve on his ball skills as he has a tendency to be lazy once the ball arrives, both in catching and carrying.
That said, the 'battle' many anticipate in camp is a bit of a non-issue. McCarthy's multiple receiver sets and the myriad ways he employs his personnel ensures that both Jones and Nelson will be seeing the field plenty in 2009.
I agree that Boley has been a waste so far. Tom Coughlin can't be too happy...
This is Bulger's last season in the Dome...
Smoot isn't physical enough to be a full time starter at this point in his career, but I think he locks down the Nickel role for the Skins this year...
Jones isn't consistent enough to play more than on third down situations.
We will see how "great" this Packer offense is during week one on Sunday night when the Bear roll into Lambeau...
Until then, I'm not sold.
Da Coach - it will look a lot like the last time the Bears "rolled into Lambeau"
Packers: 37 Bears: 3.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Da Coach - it will look a lot like the last time the Bears "rolled into Lambeau"
Packers: 37 Bears: 3.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One more question to the Peppers story. Does this mean we can finally stop listening to players say they play for the love of the game? And now just say they play for the love of the big contract year? Football is no different I guess because it is a common theme in baseball as well. I can't count how many times I have heard an analyst state that a guy is working really hard because its a contract year. Why should that be any different than any other year? I guess I am an idealist and still have the hope of a kid that these guys want nothing more than a championship for their team and city. I think its true with some guys but they are few in number.
That was before we had the next Dan Marino under center Aaron...
Oh yeah....
Mike,
I believe that every player at this level responds to coaches who don't hand them everything and someone who challenges them everyday--no matter what their experience is.
Players want to be pushed and they want to work.
The talk in NY is that the Giants were aware that Boley was facing a likely suspension when they signed him???
What is more puzzling to me is what happens with this 1-game suspension if Boley is still hurt come week 1? The guy is coming off surgery and may not be healthy for week 1. If he can't go physically, does that game still apply as his suspension? If so, thats pretty weak in terms of discipline.
Good call on the James Jones vs Jordy Nelson battle. One of those guys could emerge in a big way if the Packers offense is as good as projected.
Thanks Matt.
We might have a chance then that Tomsula might turn out to be a good NFL caliber assistant. I have heard that he's demanding of his players.
I just would feel better with a guy like a Marinelli hire for the Bears or your man Kolar. The Bears have been raving over Marinelli. With these 2 hires there's some definite BUZZ in the air. With our DL Coach it was just another routine "run of the mill" hire. No excitement whatsover (say vs when we hired Tom Rathman from the Raiders as our RB's Coach....LOVED that hire BTW.)
We'll see. I have faith in Coach Sing that IF we need a replacement there he'll get the right guy. Thanks again for the response. Keep up the awesome work....this slow time waiting for TC is brutal. NINERS! Let's make some noise this season!!
Still giving the Texans the lick job huh guy? We'll see.....
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Jul 07, 2009
05:01 PM
Agree with you on Peppers situation Matt.
Let's say he has a horrible year like 2 years ago. Then what? No way the Panthers pay him 20 mil next year under the franchise tag. Right? So for security shouldn't he be trying to lock in a long term deal before the season starts? Seems like he is taking alot of risk here.