Ravens Make Potential Solid Pickups at Wide Receiver Position

The Ravens made some free agency movement by picking up two wide receivers that have showed the capability to be productive. Although both players, Jerry Porter and Kelley Washington, have either been a disappointment or simply have not had much playing time as of late, their potential and skill are no doubt present.

Porter is the one that has been a disappointment. In fact, he has been a disappointment since his years with Rich Gannon in 2004 and 2005. Since then, his numbers are a total of 56 catches for 905 yards. Hardly great for a guy who was considered a great slot man and potential number two wide receiver, if not number one. However, in those two solid years with Gannon in 04 and 05 he produced 64 catches for 998 yards and 76 for 942 respectively. So, that’s just three years ago, and in the three years after he has had to deal with Kerry Collins before he found the fountain of youth in Tennessee, a young JaMarcus Russell, and a fluke-a-luke David Garrard in Jacksonville last season. Perhaps good things are to come on a team with a promising QB in Joe Flacco and a winning attitude.

Kelley Washington has not done much since his years in Cincinnati. In fact, his totals since 2005 are not very good; 20 catches for 119 yards. But in his first two years he looked like he was on a steady growth plan with 22 catches for 299 yards in 2003 and 31 catches for 378 yards in 2004. Plus, he has had to play behind four exceptional Pro Bowlers in T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Ochocinco from 05 to 06 with the Bengals, and two more in Randy Moss and Wes Welker in New England from 07 to 08 which could definitely leave a guy to be overlooked.

Although both these men are not stars, they definitely have shown the tools to be admirably productive at best. What this tells me is that the Baltimore Ravens are really looking to be better than their already great 11-5 record from last year.

What will the Giants do? All of the WR’s are vertically challenged!

The New York Giants do not have a lack of speed and big play potential when you look at their Wide Receiving core, regardless of what some morons think and write. With the speed and explosiveness of Mario Manningham and Sinorice Moss, and Ron Hixon you would have to be crazy to think that. The Giants may have some of the fastest receivers in the NFL, in truth. The only big problem for this team is the glaring shortness of these Wideouts! Without Plaxico the tallest of Eli’s targets is Hixon at a generous 6′1. And that is the one thing they had been missing all last season and still now. They need a tall athletic target to go get jump balls in crowded spaces, which was Plaxico’s specialty. Before Burress they always had the WR skilled TE, named Shockey! What the Giants need is a WR who is over 6′1 who can make some big catches in some big spots. If he can get up and catch the ball in certain situations the Giants will only need to secure a role playing wideout, in the draft. Now, there are 3 options for this team, as far as I see it.

1. They could just attempt to draft a WR with their number 1 pick and pick up a free agent who has the ability to start and garnish some respect on the field. (My choice)

2. They could trade up picks in the draft to secure Crabtree or Maclin, which is what all of New York is hoping for. Personally I am not convinced, that would be the right move, but hey I’ve been wrong before.

3. They could also decide to just go for broke and trade a good helping of players and picks over several years for Boldin or Braylon Edwards. The Giants need receivers and without a doubt Jerry Reese has his eye on these two. So much so that someone had released the story specualting Reeses’s interest to the media about Edwards, who plays a very similar game to Plaxico and seems to have less of the character flaws.

As far as I see it the GMen are in great shape if they can keep their young talent, therefore I am believe they should keep Steve Smith, Sinorce Moss, and Mario Manningham and just sign a Veteran WR who can make plays in traffic during jump ball situations. There are several great fits for this role playing type (TALL) WR out in free agency right now:

Torry Holt:

Torry Holt, is a getting a litter bit older and has had some extensive knee surgeries and problems, yet if the Giants can sign him for a short deal they can bring up their draft pick wideout the proper way  letting him mature under the tutelage of a true leader, which is what Tory Holt is. The Young Giants recievers could use the Veteran leadership this signing would bring, considering they have lost Amani Toomer.

Matt Jones:

Matt Jones is 6′6 and is a super jumper and a great athlete, yet his off field issues make him a cheap buy in free agency. The Giants are notorious for taking a chance, and over the past couple of years Matt Jones has had very sub par seasons. Make no doubt about it this guy is a risk, but it could pay off if you sign low and he plays high, and I don’t mean on cocaine!

Reggie Williams:

This 6′4 physical monster can put any DB out of a position when he gets rolling. He also has had some issues over the past couple of years, and had seemed to play his way out of the 1 spot in Jacksonville. The Jaguars have however counted on Reggie for big plays and countless jump balls and his stats show it. In 2007, Reggie put up 10 TDs in only 6 starts, while only catching 35 passes for the season. He has brake away speed and he is very young and looking for a fresh start. He has low value because he just didn’t mesh well with the Jacksonville coaches and management!

Drew Carter:

Is a wide out known for his jumping ability, he was supposed to be the replacement for Johnson in Carolina, but it just didn’t work out. He has made some great plays over his career and still is relatively young. Yet the game may have passed this guy over. He is my least favorite possible free agent as I see it now.

Miles Austin:

Miles Austin has had some pretty strong showings over his short career. He had played along side TO and Roy Williams in Dallas. Miles Austin, last year would sometimes seem to out play both Owens and Williams. At 6′3 this player has the potential to be a big catch WR, who could really help replace the loss of Toomer and Burress. He has done great things in Dallas and it’s funny to think they just cut him. His knee issues must be pretty severe for Dallas to have dropped him, but if he checks out good with the doctors, I am all for this guy!

Joe Jurevicius:

I want to cry when I think about how many times this big guy has saved me from losing money. No matter what I will always bet on this guy. Joey is coming into his final seasons as a pro and I can’t think of any other wide receiver who has made as many HUGE catches as this guy without producing any real gawky stats. My friends and I have a saying, “Joey Jurevicius, the man-child from Penn State will always give you 1 big play every game for the rest of his life. Even though he might only record one catch, in the end it is going to matter”. I think the Giants would be nuts not to want him, Joey brings an positive and inspirational aura and an attitude wherever he goes. Jurevicius is a motivational figure that the Gmen may need in that Offensive huddle this season. I know he isn’t fast anymore, but he has height and great hands, and a history with the New York Giants, which could make him an easier sign!

No matter what, I cant wait to see big blue fix the issues with this WR core. I think Jerry Reese has some an up his sleeve, so lets see what cards he decides to play on draft day!

T.O. sent to Buffalo!

Honestly, when I heard the Bills broke down and made a pact with the devil, I will admit, I was a bit jealous. Really, Terrell look where you landed buddy! ha-ha now he has to play second fiddle to the Beast Mode in the backfield. I personally think it’s sad watching Terrell pawning himself off to the highest bidder over the last couple of seasons, like some NFL whore or something. I really miss the T.O. who played with Rice and Young. The young hardworking guy who thought more about Superbowls than he did paychecks. I guess I really shouldn’t say anything about T.O. since I don’t have a close relationship with him, but what the hey everyone else is doing it. I love Terrell but I hate T.O.! Right now I can already hear the BS fantasy wanna be guru’s calling Trent Edwards to be a top performer next year, please people just stop it. THEY NEED A LINE NOT T.O. Really I hope that this move does not kill his career, playing for the BIlls of all teams. Come on Drew keep it together man. I always saw him going to the place where all NFL greats go to die, Washington!

T.O. Out. Why not trade him?

 

Hold the Popcorn the Movie hasn’t started yet!!!

 

Well T.O. has been cut from the Cowboys and many people are asking why not trade him instead of cutting him.  The Cowboys gave up a lot to get Roy Williams and the possible could have gotten some of that back by trading T.O..  In this situation you have to weigh the pros and cons of this move, whenever you have a player like T.O. you can get a second round pick or proven vet in a trade but the trading block process is long and tedious (almost like litigation).   It could take all the way into the next season for them to get what they want from a trade and they might not even get what they want from trading T.O..  This would then bring the media circus back to Dallas again and put a lot of stress on the team.   The Cowboys decided to get rid of T.O. now,  just for the later reason.  By cutting T.O. he is no longer a part of the time and the organization can move on in new direction.   The main reason he was cut was because of the growing sentiment in the locker room and organization, with numerous people who are a part of the team both players and staff, that T.O. needed to go.  Also by doing this it is easy for the coaches to begin work on the plays and routes that they will focus on in the off-season if T.O. was on the trade block, they would still have to factor him in, just in case he was coming back next year.  Despite the value T.O. has as a trade the Cowboys made the right decision in cutting him.

Whoseyomamma! The move happens tonight!

The biggest WR in this years free agent market will be moving teams at this weeks end! T.J. Houshmanzadeh will make his decision on where he wishes to play in 2009 tonight! The top two teams in this debate have been the Seattle Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings. We will keep you all updated on this topic. Feel free to chime in a comment if you hear anything new develope or you just want to talk about Housh! TJ has stated that he would come to a final choice on the evening of March 1st!