Lowered Expectations: An Examination of First-Year Wide Receivers

Even though I live in Florida, I imagine that there was a ticker-tape parade through the streets of San Francisco when the team drafted Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree.
49er fans had languished through recent years with wide receivers like Brandon Lloyd, Tai Streets, Cedric Wilson, Curtis Conway, etc.
Crabtree represents a return to the glory years of the franchise, when we had the most elite receivers in the league.
And we knew how to use them, too.
But before fans start thinking that Crabtree will go out and set the world on fire this upcoming season, it’s important to note that the learning curve for rookie wideouts is incredibly steep.
With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the big name receivers in the NFL today, and how they performed as rookies.

Vince Young’s Agent Does Damage Control as Client Digs Himself Deeper

There are few things in sports that are funnier to me than watching an athlete backpedal from an idiotic statement.

In the case of Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, it’s his agent who’s doing all the damage control.

On Saturday, Young popped off at the mouth, telling a Baltimore TV station that he wanted out of Tennessee if the Titans wouldn’t make him the starter.

His rationale was that someone would give him a shot at a starting role if the Titans kicked him to the curb.

It didn’t take long for Young’s agent, Major Adams, to try and undo the damage Young did with his mouth.

“Vince’s desire has always been to compete for the starting quarterback job in Tennessee,” Adams told The Associated Press.

He went on to say that Young worked out at the Titans’ Baptist Sports Park Monday and planned to attend a function hosted by team owner Bud Adams.

According to Major Adams, those two facts were proof positive that Young was committed to Tennessee.

“If he didn’t have a desire to stay there, he wouldn’t be doing any of that,” Young’s agent said.

Really, Major? Because I could have sworn your client made his desires perfectly clear.

“… If them guys don’t want me in there, it’s time for me to make a career change for myself,” Young told the TV station.

I’m guessing that the Titans aren’t dying to throw Young back into the fire. Young basically had a nervous breakdown last year, while Kerry Collins took the team to a division title.

I wonder what the conversation between agent and client was like when Adams heard Young’s comments.

 

Major: My man, what the hell were you thinking?

Vince: I dunno, man. I’m frustrated. I want to play.

Major: I understand that, Vince, but you’re not really in a position to negotiate right now.

Vince: What’s “negotiate” mean?

Major: Don’t worry, Vince. I got this. Just don’t say anything else, PLEASE!

Vince: OK.

 

Regardless of Young’s playing situation, he’s pulling down a fat paycheck. It’s probably much more money than he deserves, considering that he came off like a headcase last year and has thrown 32 interceptions and just 22 touchdowns in his career.

As I wrote yesterday, if Young is smart, he’ll battle Collins for the starting role and keep quiet. Collins’ playing window is limited, and the running game will make an average QB like Young look downright serviceable.

“We’re just going to have to let this season play out and see what happens from there,” Adams said.

Keep spinning, Major. Keep spinning. And while you’re at it, keep your client’s mouth shut.

Jack Del Rio Justified in His Frustration with John Henderson

Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio must notice that the temperature of his hot seat is steadily rising.

After a disappointing 5-11 season, the Jaguars made numerous changes. All of them seemed to indicate that if Del Rio didn’t get this thing turned around, he’d be next to go.

The defense, considered a strength for so long, struggled mightily under first year defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, so the team wasted no time in getting rid of him.

It has also been reported that Jack will have his handprints all over the defense.

So if the defense struggles in 2009, you can bet that it won’t be new defensive coordinator Mel Tucker who shoulders the blame.

Jacksonville also got rid of general manager Shack Harris, who had been in charge of personnel decisions since 2003. He reportedly “resigned,” but everyone understands he was forced out the door.

If owner Wayne Weaver feels that new general manager Gene Smith has done a good job with the personnel (and I believe he has thus far), and the Jags are still scuffling, that’s another strike against Del Rio.

With all that in mind, the head coach entering his seventh year with the team knows that 2009 is a put up or shut up time. That means he needs everyone to give 100 percent in order for Del Rio to keep his job.

Apparently, John Henderson didn’t get the memo.

Henderson, one of the most popular and productive players on the roster, has missed two days of organized team activities with a shoulder injury.

Reportedly, he hurt his shoulder during a forward roll after the team was done stretching.

Doesn’t sound very serious, does it?

Del Rio didn’t think so either, and he didn’t waste any time letting the media know about it.

“I would think that (Vince) Lombardi’s rolling over (in his grave) right now,” Del Rio told Michael C. Wright of the Florida Times-Union.

“John’s got a shoulder that, back when I played, even prior to (then), I don’t think anyone would’ve ever missed a snap for it. I think it’s a minor bruise of sorts. It’s not something that should keep anybody out of work. But he feels like he can’t go, so we’ll let him wait until he can.”

Ouch.

Del Rio went on to question Henderson’s role on the team, saying that he “can’t lead acting that way” and that it was “embarrassing for me to even be talking about it.”

For his part, Henderson took the high road and declined comment.

To a certain extent, it would be fair to say that Del Rio is overreacting. It’s the second day of organized team activities. The players aren’t even in pads yet.

However, Henderson’s unwillingness to gut it out is indicative of a much larger problem with both Henderson and the team as a whole.

In the past two years, Henderson has gained a reputation for being kind of lazy. His production has slipped dramatically, and members of the media (especially the sports talk radio variety) have openly questioned his heart, drive, and fire.

From a team perspective, the Jaguars definitely could have been labeled as soft in 2008. They got pushed around up front on both sides of the ball.

Now the most dominant man in the trenches can’t go because of a shoulder boo-boo?

That’s a very bad sign.

Sure, Del Rio probably could’ve handled the situation with a little more tact, but I can’t fault the man for being ticked off.

Hopefully, his public berating of Henderson will give Big John the motivation needed to get back on the field and return to Pro Bowl form.

One thing is certain: Jacksonville will not come close to making the playoffs if Henderson doesn’t man up.

Vince Young’s Best Move? Shut Up and Stay with Tennessee Titans

Vince Young wants out.

After spending the last year languishing on Tennessee’s bench, the Texas alumnus lashed out at his organization on a television station in Baltimore.

The gist of the conversation? If I’m not the starter, you won’t have Vince Young to kick around any more.

“If they’re not ready for me to play ball, then somebody is,” Young said on WMAR-TV.

As the No. 3 overall pick in the 2006 draft, Young’s frustration is understandable.

His career began with a promising start. He earned Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and led Tennessee to the playoffs in his second season.

But things went downhill in a hurry during Young’s third season. He got hurt in the first game of the 2008 campaign and hasn’t started since.

Kerry Collins stepped into the starting role and hasn’t looked back. He led the team to a division title.

Meanwhile, Young had a bout with depression and became a forgotten man.

It’s good to know that Young still has some fire and wants to be a starting quarterback. However, the best thing for him to do right now is sit tight and wait his turn.

He made the comment that some team would take a chance on him, but which team? Take a look at the free agent quarterbacks out there.

Names like J.P. Losman, Rex Grossman, and Charlie Frye instantly stand out. But if these guys can’t get a starting job, what makes Young think he can?

Forget the quarterback landscape in the NFL for a minute. If Young sticks by his word and wriggles free from Tennessee’s grasp, he will be throwing away a golden opportunity.

First, Collins is 36. He can’t do this forever. If Young sticks around for another year or two, he’ll have a good chance to become a starter again.

Second, look at the running back duo in Tennessee. Chris Johnson and LenDale White would make any quarterback look good, especially a quarterback who struggles with his accuracy.

Good things come to those who wait. If Young is smart, he will be patient, bide his time, and be prepared when the Titans call his number.

Reggie Nelson Re-Dedicates Himself After Lackluster 2008

Michael C. Wright of the Florida Times-Union recently wrote a story about Reggie Nelson and the fact that he was hard at work during the Memorial Day holiday.

If there was anyone who needed to put in some extra work following the 2008 season, it’s definitely Reggie Nelson.

The player known as the “Eraser” might as well have been nicknamed “Toast” last season for all the times he got burnt in the secondary last year.

Wright points out the fact that there was a great deal of confusion on Nelson’s part with Gregg Williams’ new scheme. He also mentions the fact that Nelson battled a hip injury and a knee bruise.

While the injuries certainly played a role in Nelson’s 2008 struggles, there was one part of Nelson’s body that really held him back.

His mind.

When he was at Florida, Nelson could rely on his athletic ability. He didn’t have to be in the right position because he had the speed and ball-hawking skills to get to the ball when it was in the air.

While he is still a tremendous athlete, the quarterbacks in the NFL are infinitely better than they were in the SEC. If Nelson is out of position, NFL QBs will make him pay like they did time and time again last season.

Hopefully, the addition of Mel Tucker along with Jack Del Rio’s determination to be more involved with the defense will make things simpler for Nelson, who is entering his third year in the league.

Tucker’s background is as a defensive backs coach. That experience should help Tucker relate the defense to Nelson from a DB’s perspective.

It’s clear that Nelson has a world of talent.

You don’t pull down five interceptions as a rookie if you don’t have some game.

But he has yet to reach his full potential.

If his football IQ can catch up to his physical acumen, then Nelson will become the dominant player the Jaguars thought he could be when they drafted him.

If he can’t bring the mental game up to match his athletic ability, he will never realize his tremendous potential and will struggle through another season in 2009.

Jacksonville’s Top 10 Draft Picks Not From the State of Florida

In the past few days, I’ve written two stories dealing with the draft blunders of two franchises: the Jacksonville Jaguars and the San Francisco 49ers.
Both pieces got pretty positive responses, so I wanted to play draft analyst again.
This time, I thought we’d go in a different direction and pick the best players the Jaguars have drafted with one interesting caveat: No ties to the state of Florida before being drafted by the Jags.
For example, Fred Taylor would be out of the conversation because he went to the University of Florida. Reggie Nelson would be disqualified because he was born in Melbourne.
Got it? Good. Let’s get into it.

San Francisco’s Worst Draft Blunders of the Last 15 Years

A few days ago, I wrote a piece about Jacksonville’s top five draft-doers.
That assignment was relatively easy, although there was some controversy about my inclusion of Tony Boselli on that list. But controversy is what makes these lists inherently interesting.
That got me thinking about my favorite NFL team: the San Francisco 49ers. I chose to focus on the last 15 years for two reasons.
First, our last Super Bowl title came in 1994, which is the first year I looked at. Since that year, things have gone downhill pretty quickly. The 49ers have only made the playoffs six times in the following 14 years, and only two of those trips came after 2000.
The second reason is that I have been hypercritical of the current ownership and front office team, and thought that this would be a good way to vent some of my frustration.
While there were more than a few crappy draft picks in this decade, there were plenty of shockingly bad draft picks in the second half of the 1990s, some that I had forgotten.
Enough with the intro. On to the top five (or should I say bottom five) awful draft picks.

Looking Back at Frank Gore’s Running Mates

In the last five years, there has been an increasingly common trend in the NFL; the two-headed running attack.
It makes sense from a longevity standpoint, because running backs usually have the shortest NFL careers. And when RBs reach a certain point in their careers, their production decreases dramatically.
One team that has bucked the trend is the San Francisco 49ers. Since Frank Gore emerged as the full-time starting running back in 2006, his second year in the league, Gore’s backups have been used sparingly, if at all.
Here’s a look at what Gore’s running mates have contributed to the team’s rushing attack during his four-year NFL career, and a look ahead to who should spell Gore in 2009.

Would Rex Grossman Be a Good Fit in Jacksonville?

Earlier this month, I wrote an article dealing with Jacksonville’s pathetic backup quarterback situation.

Behind David Garrard, the Jaguars have Cleo Lemon (who the team inexplicably signed to a three-year, $8.1 million deal in the offseason), Todd Bouman, and rookies Michael Desormeaux and Tyler Lorzenen. Those names wouldn’t exactly make you feel confident if Garrard gets hurt.

As I listened to the Pete Prisco Show on my drive from work yesterday, it came to my attention that former Chicago Bear quarterback Rex Grossman was still on the free agent market. Prisco then asked his listeners if they would like to have Grossman in Jacksonville as a backup to Garrard.

My immediate reaction was, “Of course.”

Say what you want to say about Grossman (and believe me, there is plenty to say), but he has had some tremendous success on the NFL level.

In 2006, Chicago’s Super Bowl campaign, Grossman threw for 3,193 yards with 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.

In a column by Prisco on cbssports.com, he pointed out that half of the projected starters in the NFL have never thrown for that many touchdowns in a season. That group includes Garrard.

It was a tumultuous tenure for the UF alumnus when he was in the Windy City. When he was good, he looked like an all-pro (20-of-27, 289 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions in 34-7 win over Detroit).

When he was bad, it looked like he had no business being in the NFL (6-of-19, 34 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, QB rating of 1.3 in 23-13 win over Minnesota).

Despite the ups and downs, he was able to navigate through the postseason and helped Da Bears get to the Super Bowl. His playoff statistics were respectable (52-of-92, 591 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions in three playoff games).

Yet this guy is still on the scrap heap.

Personally, I think he would be a great fit in Jacksonville. He’d be close to his old college stomping grounds. Jacksonville is a small media market, so he wouldn’t face the constant media scrutiny that ran rampant in Chicago.

For Jacksonville’s perspective, the move makes sense. He’s definitely better than Bouman and Lemon, and you could make the argument that he’s more talented than Garrard.

The Jags probably couldn’t get rid of Lemon because of all the money they threw at the guy. But they could definitely cut Bouman. And that’s nothing to say that they couldn’t make Lemon the No. 3 QB.

Jaguar fans: Wouldn’t you feel better having a backup QB who played in a Super Bowl, as opposed to one whose last name pretty much sums up his NFL career?

I know I would.

Hopefully Wayne Weaver and Gene Smith do, too.

Hopefully Jimmy Smith Gets the Help He Needs

In what has been a long fall from grace since his playing days ended, Jimmy Smith will endure another painful chapter of his life today.

Smith, who was arrested on Apr. 23 on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving with a suspended license, is scheduled to be arraigned today.

As everyone knows by now, Smith was driving down I-95 when he was pulled over by a state trooper for an excessive window tint.

When the trooper looked inside Smith’s Mercedes, he found crack cocaine, marijuana, and a card with powder residue.

It’s no secret that Smith has struggled with substance abuse for quite some time. He likely would have had a longer NFL career, but elected to retire amidst rumors that he had failed a drug test. That test would have forced Smith to sit out for a year.

In 2008, Smith was charged with DUI after an officer pulled him over while he was driving in Jacksonville. He reportedly handed a beer bottle to the officer and admitted to smoking pot while driving.

He was also suspended in 2003 for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. That previous failed test is why he would have had to sit out for an entire year if he failed a drug test in 2006.

Anyone who has known somebody with a substance abuse problem knows that this is no laughing matter. Anyone who has struggled with addiction knows that it’s much harder to “clean up your act” than most people understand.

Addiction specialists and addicts say that when a person is mired in the depths of addiction, he or she must hit rock bottom before they can begin recovery.

I hope and pray that this is Smith’s bottom, and that things don’t get any worse. From what I’ve heard about the man, he is a caring, compassionate person who doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.

Hopefully he has a strong support system in place, and those people can help carry him through these dark days.

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