An Interview with K.C. Joyner, Part One
by Rafael Vela on Jul 1, 2005 10:11 PM CDT
in Dallas Cowboys Interviews
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PrintK.C. Joyner has a mission. He wants to change the way people understand football, in the way that Bill James and his disciples have changed baseball analysis over the last 30 years. K.C. has been analyzing games to better his own understanding for close to 20 years and this summer has published Scientific Football 2005, the most thorough breakdown of the NFL passing game available. Sports Illustrated's NFL writer Paul Zimmerman profiled K.C. last week, and has brought him some welcome attention. K.C. was kind enough to find time for Cowboys Blog.
I solicited questions from the community and received many worthy ones. Given K.C.'s busy schedule, I submitted thirteen, to give readers a feel for his methods. I am hopeful that we'll get more opportunities to pick his brain later this summer.
1. When did you get involved in the the analysis business?
Joyner: I've been analyzing games since 1986 using a lot of different systems, most of which are based on actual scouting systems used by NFL teams. My football friends thought it was a great thing to get scouting information from the tapes, so I knew there was an audience out there for game tape based player analysis. I had always wanted to write a book on the subject, so I finally got the nerve to do so in 2003.
2. This is your first book. Have you been publishing articles, working on radio, doing TV in the meantime?
Joyner: I had some work published by the Pro Football Researcher's Association and had also submitted my work to a lot of places. Football research isn't seen as being as popular as baseball research, and it's one of my goals to change that perception.
3. The SI story mentioned you use tape. What, in brief, is your "method?"
Joyner: I chart every passing play using a number of play-tracking and player-performance metrics. The play-tracking metrics include depth of drop, type of route run, area of field route run to, receiver, defender, type of defensive coverage, and result. The player performance metrics include how open the receiver was, whether the defender had good or tight coverage, how accurate the pass was, whether the pass was dropped, whether the defense was playing prevent, and how far off the defender was at snap, among others.
4. What types of analysis are covered in the book? What positions are reviewed?
Joyner: The book contains an in-depth review of the passing game, so it includes analysis of WRs, TEs, QBs, FSs, SSs, and CBs.
5. How long does it take you to break down a game? You claim to have broken down almost the entire '04 season. How many hours per week are you watching tape?
Joyner: It takes me approximately 2-3 hours just to break down the tape, but that doesn't include the other parts of the analysis like data mining and writing up the analysis. I did break down every game that I had from the 2004 (about 95% of the games), but most of the actual breakdowns were done during the 2004 season. I spend about 40-50 hours watching tape and then some additional time actually analyzing the breakdowns.
6. Do you have "formal" training? Are you a former player? A scout? A coach?
Joyner: I don't have any "formal" training per se. I have a very large football book collection, including a large number of scouting and player-analysis-based books, so I do have a large amount of self-study training. The analogy I use for this is one I found in the telecom world. The best reference book for technical terms in telecom is Newton's Telecom Dictionary. Any technical telecom person worth his salt will have a copy of this book, as it simply defines the terms used in telecom better than any other book. Harry Newton writes the book and he has absolutely no formal training in telecom. He has a Ph.D in another field, so he's very smart, but he isn't an engineer by trade. He just loves telecom and studies the hell out of it, and from this was able to create the quintessential telecom guide. I like to think of my entree' into the football world as being similar to Dr. Newton's in telecom.
7. What can your book offer that the preseason annuals can't provide?
Joyner: The best way to put is that my book goes into much greater depth than the preseason annuals. It is 140,000 words and 467 pages, and believe me when I say that the content isn't fluff. I have a NO-HYPE editorial policy, and you'll find the analysis in the book more direct and without hype-based bias. From the feedback I've received on the book, it is this lack of hype that is very popular.
8. Do you have a QB ratings system and now does it differ from the NFL's?
Joyner: I want to create some rating systems, but the gist of my analysis this year was to create and track different metrics for every position. For QBs, I offer ratings in a large number of categories, including the percentage of time a QB makes a bad decision, how accurate a QBs passes were (not just his completion percentage, but how many times he threw a pass that a receiver could catch), and also have a detailed analysis of how successful each QB was at throwing at each depth level as defined by NFL passing trees. Two good examples of this are Jake Delhomme and Daunte Culpepper. Delhomme actually threw more deep passes than any other QB in the league, and Culpepper was probably the best QB in the league on short passes. I think that Culpepper's success at short passes led the Vikings to rethink their offensive philosophy (Culpepper was almost phenomenal in his short pass success) and that's what led to their allowing Randy Moss to go.
9. In your system, assess Drew Bledsoe's strengths and weaknesses.
Joyner: I'll do you one better than that, if you don't mind sparing the space. I'll actually give you part of my offensive analysis for the Cowboys. It includes a comparison of Vinny vs. Drew.
Offense/QB
One of the most intriguing questions this offseason is what will Drew Bledsoe be able to bring to the Cowboys that Vinny Testaverde didn't. Take a look at their stat comparisons.
I'll start by comparing the totals. Their attempts and completion percentages were very close. Vinny had a higher yards per attempt, which is kind of surprising considering Bledsoe was much better on deep passes and had Lee Evans as a vertical threat. Vinny had almost no one as a vertical threat but Vinny's yards per attempt were higher on short passes and much higher on medium passes. Their percentages of receivers open by X steps were very similar, as was their throwing into tight/good coverage, but Vinny was more accurate on his passes.
I think the biggest difference is their decision making. While Drew wasn't great at avoiding bad decisions (tied for 17th in bad decision percentage), he did make fewer of them than Vinny (26th in bad decision percentage) and the bad decisions he made weren't as bad. Vinny handled the blitz very poorly and forced passes into coverage. Bledsoe won't do that in large part because he'll hold onto the ball for so damn long.
The Bills only allowed 2 more sacks than Dallas did, and only had 4.5 more coverage sacks (8.5 to 4). Those numbers don't look like much of a discrepancy until you realize that Vinny threw many more deep passes than Drew (93 to 54). It very well might be that Buffalo didn't throw the ball deep because of Bledsoe's issues with the pass rush (see Buffalo comment). This could still be an issue for Drew and Dallas will have to pass block better than they did last year or their vertical game could be crippled because of this.
A synopsis of their pros and cons:
Drew Bledsoe
Pros Cons
Vinny Testaverde
Pros Cons
Although Testaverde has more pros and less cons, Bledsoe's pros are very big. Vinny really started struggling more as the season progressed, and it did look like he was running out of gas. At this point in his career, Vinny is probably much better suited to being a backup. The fewer bad decisions are a huge plus for Bledsoe. Since both QBs have trouble with defensive pressure, the Cowboys offensive line would be a big factor for either of them anyway. All in all this is a good tradeoff for Dallas.
10. Do you think Bledsoe will improve in the Dallas offense, decline or stay about the same?
Joyner: Parcells knows what Drew can do and won't ask him to do things he's not capable of. I think the Bills staff was asking Drew to do things he either didn't like to do or wasn't very good at (which I cover in greater detail in the book).
11. Anthony Henry got a big contract from Dallas, but he was the least known of the major CB free agents. How did he play in '04? Where does he fall in the CB hierarchy?
Joyner: It was really hard to grade Henry in Cleveland because the Browns always had their CBs playing 7 yards off. They didn't want their CBs giving up big plays and let them give up other types of plays because of it. Henry's stats were only OK because of this, but I don't know that it's an accurate representation of his talent level. It looks like he has more talent than the other Cowboy options, so I think in all it's a good pickup, but I don't know how well his skill set meshes with a tighter press coverage scheme the Cowboys will likely ask him to play.
12. Terrence Newman regressed last year. Can you give a brief rundown of his game?
Joyner: Again, I'll give your readers a freebie.
Terence Newman
His stats for 2004 were excellent. His completion percentage was 8th best, his yards per attempt were tied for 8th best, and he had the 14th best tight/good coverage percentage.
He had terrific short passing stats, with the 7th lowest completion percentage and 17th highest tight/good coverage percentage. His medium stats weren't as good as the short, but they were good. He ranked tied for 15th lowest completion percentage and tied for 26th in tight/good coverage percentage at the medium level. His deep stats were very solid as well.
If you didn't know any better, you'd think Newman had a pretty good season. What he actually had were some really good games paired up with some terrible, awful games. Take a look:
Terence Newman's worst games
Wk. Opp. Att. C. Yds. TD
1 Minn. 6, 5, 74, 2
3 Wash. 14, 9, 75, 1
6 Pitt. 12, 9, 104, 1
7 G.B. 5, 3, 92, 1
13 Sea. 14, 12, 147, 1
Totals 51, 38, 492, 6
Terence Newman's best games:
Wk. Opp. Att. C. Yds. TD
2 Cle. 10, 1, 12, 0
9 Cinn. 5, 1, 2, 0
12 Chi. 4, 0, 0, 0
15 Phi. 5, 2, 13, 0
17 NYG 6, 2, 23, 0
Totals 30, 6, 50, 0
Newman was perfectly capable of losing a game all by himself, and perfectly capable of shutting an opponent down. His shutdown games came against teams with weaker receivers, but he could still shut those receivers down.
Newman had many games where he was targeted and beaten. Parcells at one point said that Newman was losing his confidence, and the Seattle game was the nadir of that time. After the Seattle game Newman started playing the receivers much tighter than he had been up to that point. It's almost like Parcells told him, "Look, you play best when you play tight. When you play soft you get beat. Go back to playing tight and stop worrying about if you're going to have help over the top. If you get beat deep because of that, you'll never hear me say a word." Newman's confidence returned and he started playing like a top-level cover corner and had two of his best games in weeks 15 & 17.
They always say that the best CBs are the ones who have bad memories and don't remember being beaten. Newman had his first struggles last year but he seemed to forget them after a time. I was worried about his future, but I'm not anymore. This guy is good as long as he plays tight and doesn't worry.
13. How will Henry's addition, in your opinion, affect Newman in '05?
Joyner: It all depends. Over the past two seasons it seems that the Cowboys' opponents have decided they wanted to pick on a particular CB. Sometimes it was Mario Edwards, sometimes Newman, or sometimes it was the alternating CBs opposite Newman. If Henry plays solid and Newman continues his end of 2004 performance, I think that the Cowboys opponents will stop trying to target one of them and just go their best receiver.
Thanks, K.C.
Again, my apologies for keeping you waiting. I'll do better on the next set of questions!
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His stats on T-Newman were very encouraging, especially the fact that he got his act together at the end of last season. Lets hope that continues for the rest of his career here in Dallas. I don’t know what to make of his comments on Bledsoe and his experience in Buffalo (forced to do things he isn’t good at or didn’t like to do), but I think BP will know how to use him. I just hope that means he plays even better than he did with the Bills. I did like the “makes fewer bad decisions” part though, that is a very good thing. I think I need to make myself 50 bucks and buy that book of his.
by David-CT on Jul 1, 2005 11:06 PM CDT reply actions
Thanks very much, Mr. Vela and Mr. Joyner! Those were excellent questions, and I very much like Mr. Joyner’s scientific approach and analysis. At this point, I am seriously thinking about purchasing Scientific Football 2005.
by Ron Hicks on Jul 2, 2005 4:31 AM CDT reply actions
Great Analysis. I like the fact that he uses a scientific approach, instead of the bias we see from most mediots.
I also liked the analysis on T-New. I think the guy is going to rebound, having Henry and Glenn will also help. Uh………and watch out for Roy Williams when he is surrounded by 3 guys that can cover. Roy is much more than just a hard hitter. He will show it this year.
I liked his analysis and comparision of Bledsoe and Vinny. You know he has a great point about Vinny’s mistakes. I think we all remember those, Bledsoe is not going to be asked to win a lot of football games. Even though he is capable, that is squarely on the offensive line and the legs of Julius Jones and the rest of our greatly improved backfield. Add in the play action pass and a good trio in Witten, Glenn, and Johnson and this offense has some pretty good potential.
It will be interesting to see what his take is on our other offfseason acquisitions and the rookie class that we are all excited about.
by Jon on Jul 2, 2005 9:32 AM CDT reply actions
OUTstanding!
Superb set of questions and better than expected analysis … and I expected a lot.
Perhaps one of the reasons that Testaverde was able to come up with some better stats was that Glenn and Johnson are better receivers than many people are saying. Glenn is perhaps more of a vertical threat than he gets credit for. Johnson, although slow, can often get behind defenders who bite on his moves. Also, Mr. Joyner doesn’t mention ‘hands’. [I expect he will do so, if he reviews our receivers.] Glenn has a pair of the best hands in the business and Johnson will sacrifice his body to get to the ball and usually hangs on to it. Having reliable receivers like that will always result in higher yards-per-attempt.
I was never a Bledsoe proponent, but it won’t take much to improve over Vinnie in the ‘stupid decisions’ department. As Mr. Joyner points out, a primary key to our offensive success this year will be the offensive line. I have great hope for improvement there. Rivera, alone, should provide a major improvement. I am also looking for performance upgrades from the likes of Peterman and Vollers, and am excited about how people are reporting about Larry Allen’s conditioning and enthusiasm.
Looking good!
by Mr. Bill on Jul 2, 2005 10:22 AM CDT reply actions
this guy is a freak for stats and i think thats awesome, i agree the newmann stats are very encouraging.i woould have never guessed they were as good as they are. henryi hope and pray he works out and have 3 top cb on nickle and offenses scared to throw the damn ball. question for anyone, what stores carry his book i want to buy it right this second. barnes and noble borders or do you have to order it online???
by mike on Jul 2, 2005 11:57 AM CDT reply actions
ohh and thank you for the interview rafeal, good work
by mike on Jul 2, 2005 11:58 AM CDT reply actions
The answer of Mr. Joyner that caught my eye the most, wasn’t that of Newman or Henry, was that of Bledsoe being asked to do things that he isn’t comfortable doing, becuase I mean, statisticly, there must have been a discrepancy high enough for someone, and I mean, even a numbers wise, to note this, and see his previous years performances. And he talked of things, that’s plural! And his season was a so-so. I believe that if Bledsoe plays in a comfort zone, will be an elite passer again.
by Chandus on Jul 2, 2005 12:10 PM CDT reply actions
First, I wanted to thank everyone for the kudos and kind words. I have always been impressed with Bill Parcells and his approach to coaching, and nothing I’ve seen the past two years has changed my mind.
Good point by Jon about Roy Williams. Coverage isn’t Williams strong suit, and moving him to SS will limit his liability in that area. If the rest of the secondary can hold up, Williams will be a dominant SS in the mold of Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu and a definite All Pro candidate. I also like the mediots term!
I’m sure Rafael will ask some WR questions in the next round, but in a nutshell I think they will do better if the Boys are able to slot them into more appropriate roles (injuries kept them from doing that last year).
I do think there is a chance Bledsoe could be an elite QB again, but I think Parcells simply wants Bledsoe to do certain things well. I don’t think it will be a Drew-based offense, and Bill will simply want him to feed the other players the ball properly. There’s enough talent on offense to win, but Drew has to also not lose games.
Since this is a self-published effort, it isn’t available in bookstores now (I am hoping to get a book contract for next year’s book). The best way to order the book is by going to www.thefootballscientist.com. The front page has some additional information about the work I do, and also has links to the order pages.
Thanks for the feedback!
KC
by KC Joyner on Jul 2, 2005 1:34 PM CDT reply actions
KC……..Thanks and the term mediots did not apply to present company. But there are plenty of em out there.
Thanks for the analysis and I look forward to more. I can tell you did your homework.
GREAT Job KC and Rafael!
by Jon on Jul 2, 2005 2:06 PM CDT reply actions
Rafael,
Great interview! The next round of questions should be even more interesting and I look forward to it. Thank you for doing us the service of bringing Mr. Joynerâ€â"¢s work to the foreground and virtually to our doorsteps.
Thanks to Mr. Joyner for throwing a bone or two our way with his insights on our beloved Cowboys! Also, I could not access his site by the link provided. I was successful with this: http://www.thefootballscientist.com/
by StarStruck on Jul 2, 2005 3:22 PM CDT reply actions
Off topic (sort of): Anyone previously interested in The Ranch Report but frustrated by the limitations of not having a premium subscription (excerpted from their e-mail notice):
"Beginning today thru July 5th, premium content is free at
TheRanchReport.com.
This means you can check out all our past and current player feature
stories, hot news,and the entire Scout Player Database, and there’s
absolutely no cost to you. You will have access to the entire site (with
the exception of premium message boards and video) as well as the entire
Scout.com Network!
No credit card is required. Some areas may require you to register, but
it’s fast, easy, and costs you nothing!"
Go here: http://cowboys.scout.com/
by StarStruck on Jul 2, 2005 3:53 PM CDT reply actions
i got his book in the mail on friday. pretty impressive
by Alds on Jul 2, 2005 9:28 PM CDT reply actions
Star,
Thanks for the tip about scout.com. They’ve got some articles I’ve been wanting to read. I’ve been away for a bit (on the road again) but every now and then I take a look to see what you guys have been up to. I always miss the blog when I’m away. Keep up the good work guys.
by Rob2 on Jul 2, 2005 10:34 PM CDT reply actions
Thanks again K.C. And If you ever need any help, I’d be more than happy to be that guy.
Keep up the good work!
by David-CT on Jul 2, 2005 11:20 PM CDT reply actions
ill be ordering the book today (want it badly). starstruck you beat me to it, telling people about the ranchreport. make sure you read the article on ATTENTION PHILADELPHIA:. excellent article…
and i agree if the fs, and the 2-3 cb do there job roy is gonna have a huge year, like 2003. i feel sorry for some qb, rb, and wr that doesnt see him coming… thats gotta hurt…
by mike on Jul 3, 2005 11:42 AM CDT reply actions
I need some help in the understanding KC’s definitions of “short”, “medium”, and “deep” pass.
It appears that a lot of passes that I normally think as being “medium” depth. KC has marked down as "deep.
Does KC give much attention to YACs, and how does he consider “Red Zone” metrics?
by BobCarl on Jul 4, 2005 4:26 PM CDT reply actions
prolly like 1-10 yds short, 11-20 yds for medium, 21-100 yds long. something along them lines there, im sure its in more detail iin the book which i dont have, yet…
by mike on Jul 4, 2005 5:36 PM CDT reply actions
Good question about the depth of passes measurements I use. The best way I could explain it is to post the explanation I gave in the book. Here it is:
Climbing the Passing Tree
Most of you are probably familiar with the concept of a passing tree. This is a schematic that NFL teams use to describe all of the routes available to a receiver. Each offensive receiving position (WR, TE, and RB) has a distinct passing tree, but there are many similarities between them.
Each passing tree is divided into depth levels: short, medium, and deep. From a passing tree standpoint, short routes are those that are run anywhere from 0-10 yards or so downfield. The most common short passes are the quick hitch, hitch, quick out, hook, slant, WR screen, cross, and RB screens (slow, middle, and speed).
There are 3 main medium routes. They are the deep in, deep out, and comeback. All of these routes are usually run at 15 yards or so.
There are 4 types of basic deep routes. They are the go (or fly), post, corner (or post/corner) or seam. Each of these routes is usually run at least 20-30 yards downfield. Go patterns also include any type of double move go pattern (i.e. hitch & go, slant and go, hook & go, etc).
When it comes to distinguishing depth routes, most other tracking systems track the depth of passes by an arbitrary measurement (i.e. 5 yds, 10 yds, 15 yds, etc). I pay much more attention the type of route run than I do the depth of the routes, and the type of route run will override the depth of the route.
For example, the St. Louis Rams frequently run their deep in routes at 18 yards. If you used the arbitrary depth measurement, these routes would be considered deep routes even though the Rams consider it a medium route. I will measure the route as a medium route. In addition, there are times when a receiver runs a short route at a medium level, and this usually happens with the hook route. If the hook was run at or near 15 yards, I’ll put it into the medium column; if it’s run at a depth less than 15 yards, it will go into the short column. This report is the only one available to general public that measures routes by that same method that NFL teams use to measure their receivers.
I will try to do more with red zone metrics and yac yards in next year’s book, especially in measuring short passes that turn in very long ones.
Hope that helps. Thanks again for the question.
KC
by KC Joyner on Jul 5, 2005 1:30 AM CDT reply actions
great job both of you.
there is a great story on witten on ESPN.com and i wouldnt mind seeing KC’s take on witten
by Ryan-CT on Jul 5, 2005 1:28 PM CDT reply actions
great job both of you.
there is a great story on witten on ESPN.com and i wouldnt mind seeing KC’s take on witten
by Ryan-CT on Jul 5, 2005 1:28 PM CDT reply actions
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2100665
heres the link for the witten story
by mike on Jul 5, 2005 2:39 PM CDT reply actions
That is a good story on Witten. When he puts it into perspective that the best season ever by a Cowboy TE was Witten as a Sophomore………and we don’t even have to mention how weak our overall offense was half the year or the other injuries we sustained………but having a better season than guys like Billy Joe Dupree, Mike Ditka, Doug Cosbie, and Jay Novacek. Perhaps it was the lower draft that made him work harder to outperform his peers…….and higher profile players like Winslow and Shockey. Compared to the attention those two draw in the press………WITTEN is a Godsend.
That is truly impressive. Again I would like to have a young threat with some size and speed at WR, but having Witten and Julius does make things interesting. Again the play action on 2nd and short or 1st and 10 is going to be a favorite of Drew and Bill Parcells. With guys like Witten, Campbell, Keyshawn and Terry Glenn………plus Julius in the flat……..teams are going to struggle to stop that. I for one am looking forward to it. Witten will have another great year, and the more teams game around him the more his teammates will benefit.
by Jon on Jul 5, 2005 3:12 PM CDT reply actions
and what also makes me happy is knowing we have a real bruiser back there as well for those tough 4th and 1’s and stuff like that because i remember last year we couldnt make those plays, barnes sucked in one game because he couldnt make it even one yard. and having barber now too adds to this mix of a GREAT backfield. and lousaka polite i hope will take over for FB because he is a strong dude. we’ll go 11-5 easily
by Ryan-CT on Jul 6, 2005 9:55 AM CDT reply actions
Nice piece!
Newman is definately finding himself, and I had pointed out a while ago that the improvements to the front 7 will make him a Pro Bowler annually. He is excellent in coverage, but was being asked to cover receivers for far too long.
Only one thing sticks out in K.C.‘s evaluation of Drew Bledsoe, how does the play action pass help his game? I expect Parcells to use play action with Drew a lot, citing it as one of his strengths. The Cowboys under Parcells have had the tendancy of throwing deep more on play action and double moves as compared with using strictly speed guys to stretch the field. When he coached the Giants, Parcells relied on stretching defenses with a seem pass to Bavaro. But he had Phil Simms who was extremely accurate at threading the needle. The plan was to run a receiver right at the safety and sneak Bavaro in between the safety and linebackers. The play action brought the linebackers in and the reciever drew the attention of the safety, creating the space for Bavaro find room to roam. Parcells brought a similar philosophey to New England, and Bledsoe and Ben Coates had some really nice years under Bill’s tutelage. I expect the same this year with Witten benifitting from a good running game and some well called play action passes. Bledsoe hasn’t had a good TE for a while now, but when he did, he did really well. Also, I know a bunch of people think that Keyshawn is slow and is on his down side, but he averaged 14 yards per catch last season. That is above his carreer average of 13 yards per catch (entering into last season). In comparison Hines Ward has averaged 12 yards per catch during his entire career. Marvin Harrison 13.2 yards per catch. Don’t understand why Key is always getting a bad wrap? You don’t need blazing speed to be a good WR, just need to know how to get opened. Keyshawn should help Drew too. ….. Parcells during his first training camp with the Cowboys said, “You are going to praying for them (other teams) to blitz!” The only question is does he finally have the pieces in place to hurt teams that rely on blitzing?
by Eric on Jul 6, 2005 11:46 AM CDT reply actions
Keyshawn gets a bad rap from people who don’t know what
they are talking about.He has never had blazing speed so the loss
of it is really a moot point.I couldn’t stand K.J. at first mainly because
I had never seen him play much.I just thought he was a loud brash
a—hole….then my opinion began to change when I saw a few of
his games.Then I saw the game against Miami(jjohnsons) when he
took the game over and won it!He was getting crushed by the miami corners ….i mean pounded but he always held onto the ball.One
of the greatest efforts by an athlete i’ve ever seen… what made
it more impressive was the fact that the jets were not going anywhere
that year.Vinny was hurt and KJ was catching passes from Ray lucas.
KJ is fearless and gives up his body to make the catch i will take that
over blazing speed any day of the week!
Another reason why KJ gets a bad rap is skin color…..think of all
the attributes KJ has great hands,good routes,blocks,slow etc. these
are attributes associated with “white players” mel renfro,s. Largent
F. Blitenkoff,Joe Jurvicius,Ed Macaffery.W Cherebet etc.No
one complains about these players lack of speed but to most
fans and mediots Black= Speed and to them a slow black player
is no good because they don’t understand the game.
by becker on Jul 6, 2005 3:39 PM CDT reply actions
Eric:
That’s totally dependent of the line, if Parcells gets the sollution for the RT problem ad Campbell is able to play the whole season, the pieces are in place. Let’s see how well Bledsoe recognizes the Fauria in Campbell and the Coates in Witten, if he recognizes them well, Philadelphia wont be able to sustain their normal D against us.
BTW, last year Witten performed the seam routes, with Key blocking. With more 2 TE’s sets we might see more of those with Witten and Campbell, and in red zone sits: Robinson.
by Chandus on Jul 6, 2005 3:42 PM CDT reply actions
theres a good story on the ranchreport grading the rookies thus far…
by mike on Jul 6, 2005 4:34 PM CDT reply actions
becker
You mean Mike Renfro? Mel is Afro-American and a HOF defensive player at corner & safety.
by StarStruck on Jul 6, 2005 5:14 PM CDT reply actions
SS,
Yes that is who i meant …….those Renfros they all look alike……
by becker on Jul 7, 2005 12:00 PM CDT reply actions
Thanks for the great analysis, KC! I think you are right on about Newman. He does play a lot better when he plays the receivers tight, and I think he will play a whole lot better this season, especially with the additions on the defensive line, as well as Henry and A. Glenn.
by onepaniolo on Jul 7, 2005 6:07 PM CDT reply actions
One thing I didn’t see in the analysis on the secondary (maybe I missed it), is that they should all look much better with the improved D Line. Sometimes people forget how difficult it is for defensive backs when the team has a really weak pass rush. On many teams with a strong pass rush, very average d-backs can rack up some nice stats thanks to the fact the opposing quarterback is running for his life on half the pass plays. Lets hope we have upgraded the D-Line as much as it looks on paper. I am very optimistic about the Boys D this season.
by LIGHT on Jul 13, 2005 10:44 PM CDT reply actions
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