Excuse city! They have a top 5 recruiting haul every year. When you have talent like they do, it is plug and play.
I didn't post that as an excuse, Steve just asked how many players they lost. I inclduded their NFL credibility to show how great of college players they were and how hard they are to replace. Take Pouncey for example, best Center in college last year and now starts for the Steelers, a physical smashmouth football team. Spikes is the starting linebacker and quarterback of the defense for the best team in the NFL and Hernandez is that same team's best playmaker. And of course you have Tebow. Love him or hate him, believe in his NFL future or not, he was one of the top 3 college football players of all time, likely the greatest leader in college football history too. You know better than that Scott. You can't just plug in other 5 star recruits into those positions and replace those players. I agree they have way too much talent to be as bad as they are, but those were great, great college players.
For one, Brady is the QB and I don't consider quarterbacks a playmaker. Is he better than Brady absoultely not. That would be assinine statement. Is he a better playmaker than Welker. I would imagine. Hernandez leads the team in receiving yards and is in one more offensive snaps than Welker per game. Welker is a great receiver but he doesn't exactly make plays. He'll put up great numbers this year and is invaluable to the Pats, but he can't create the same mismatches as Hernandez and isn't nearly as skilled with the ball after the catch. As good as Welker is, he is a slot receiver and that's it. Hernandez can play the slot, tight end, H-back, heck they have even ran reverses for him this year. Don't get me wrong Welker is great. He's more valuable to the Pats than Hernandez but he's not a better playmaker.
Thanks for answering that Cody. I don't follow college football like allot of you do but I did follow/watch Tebow here and there while In college. Is It possible Tebow made Meyer look better then he Is?
I understand you cannot just plug players in to get back to the BCS championship game. But, when you have their talent, you can plug and play to be competitive in the worst SEC in years. That they have not done.
As much as the guy annoys me, even I can admit he's a really good college football coach. He's won everywhere he's been. Was coach of the year in the last two conferences he coached in. Teams have bad years. Perhaps the players or the team isn't as good as everyone thought they would be, or they flat out underperformed. Sometimes its the players, sometimes its the coaches, and sometimes its both.
Who cares if he's just a slot receiver, if he does the job well. For the record Welker leads the Pats in receptions, targets, receiving yards, receiving TDs, receiving yards per game and receiving first downs. Not saying Hernandez isnt good but to say he is a better playmaker then Welker at this point is just a bit premature. And I personally do consider the QB a playmaker position. The ball doesn't magically appear in the WR hands. You downgrade the Pats at QB and Hernandez, Welker or any of the WR take a step back in their stats. Just debating the point, please don't take my post wrong.
You know Meyer is from one county North of me and his first coaching job was at tOSU? Do you hate him more now?
Absolutely. More so last year when their offense changed hands their playcalling was horrendous, Tebow still made them look great. I still think Meyer is an incredible, ingenious coach, top 3 in college in fact, but Tebow will make any coach look better than what he actually is. I think it's really showing this year how much Meyer relied on Tebow's talent, leadership skills and moxy to carry his team. But like Vito said, Meyer has won everywhere he has been and I have no doubt he will get things back on track before long. Tebow just spoiled him. Definitely agree, that's why I think the majority of this seaon should be blamed on the coaches. They've had Top 5 classes every year since Meyer has been there, and they have been dominated in two of their four losses and have mustered only 1 offensive touchdown in two of their 3 home losses. Something has to change.
On a side note, I have a good idea for a post season game involving Florida. They could play Michigan State in the first ever Criminal Bowl. Both teams have had enough players arrested under their current coach to field an entire team. So, both teams would be made up of past players that have been arrested. It could be a charity game to raise money for future bails. I think it would be a great thing for both programs. I'm sure the boosters would love it. This way, they won't have to pay the bails anymore. Instead of home and away jerseys, it could be stripes vs. solid orange. No need for players to fight over which number they get, they can just use their inmate number. I think its a great idea.
I haven't looked at their stats for a while, but at one point Hernandez was leading in receiving yards, that's why I threw that out there. I think our difference in opinon lies in our difference of definition of the term playmaker. I think Welker is more valuable to the Pats than Hernandez, obviously. The stats you listed prove that. I view a playmaker as someone who makes plays, creates mismatches and exploit weaknesses easily. Someone who isn't one dimensional. I think Hernandez does a better job at that than Welker. Don't worry, I love debating football, especially when it involves my Gators. No harm!
No matter what sport you debate, it does not matter what you did at the previous level. Some of your alltime greats at the pro. level were average joes in college. And how many high school all americans never lived up to expections at college. What I am saying is, it is great to have top recruiting years, but you cant rely on what was preformed at the previous level.
While I agree with a little, your odds of having a good/great college football player are substantially higher with a 5 star recruit than a 1 star recruit. And yes "some" of the all time greats in the NFL were not the greatest college players..."some" being the key word. "Many" were good/great college football players.
C'mon, Gary! You're just trying to mess with me, aren't you? Fine, I'll bite. I don't know who Hanson was, but Brady started every game in 98 and 99. He set school a record for completions in 98, was All Big 10, and Michigan won 20 of the 25 games he started. That included Citrus and Orange Bowl wins. That is not an "average joe". Saying he was benched for Drew Henson doesn't really explain what was happening. Brady didn't play bad, but Carr had to play Henson. There was a lot of pressure to play him, and he was too good of a talent to not to get some snaps. Brady started every game over Henson, and finished most of them. Sure he wasn't the highest NFL prospect, but like I said, "some" of the greats aren't. And stop messing with me.
