Date Archives February 2012

Random Post-Super Bowl Thoughts and Rants

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views
The Super Bowl game is kind of like Michelangelo's famous work. The spectacle, not so much. Photo by Nathan Rupert.

I turn 42 today. I don’t feel 42 except when my knees feel like they’re 60 after playing Jene Bramel in a pick up game of basketball and it serves as confirmation that I still have to shed another 20 pounds. Since it is my birthday, I feel like sharing my thoughts on the spectacle in Indy that was the Super Bowl. So if you will indulge me I’ll take it as a birthday gift.

“Super Bowl Sunday”

I want you to to look at Michelangelo’s sculpture of David.  The craftsmanship and the detail raise the aesthetic beauty of the human body to a spiritual level. It’s a great work of art.

Now I want you to imagine David dressed in an Armani tux, surrounded by singers and dancers in Goliath costumes performing to a light show that begins with dry ice clouds and ends with fireworks, and the display hall draped in Budweiser and Geico banners. That’s what the Super Bowl has done to the NFL Championship Game. Overkill.

I understand why the NFL dresses its big game in emperor’s clothes. Just don’t tell me that I have to like it. The game is beautiful and compelling without its commercialization.

I admit I enjoy the television commercials, the Kia ad with Motley Crue, Chuck Liddell, and the surreal sequences of a rodeo rider on a rhino and two lumberjacks sawing a gigantic sub was terrific. So was the Chevy truck ad set post-Mayan Apocalypse. However you know what I thought of the halftime performance that delays the third quarter?

I can’t tell you because I didn’t see it. It seemed like a good time to do the dishes and clean the litter box.

Ahmad Bradshaw

The Giants runner had an uneven game and his “accidental touchdown” could have cost his team a championship. However, I feel sympathy for Bradshaw.  Continue reading →

When “Flat” is Good: Route Running and Baylor WRs Kendall Wright and Terrance Williams

0 Comments read Players, Wide Receiver
Baylor WR Kendall Wright is a top prospect, but he still has things to learn as a route runner. Photo by GoIowaState

[Editor’s Note: The second route is actually one from Terrance Williams. Thanks for pointing this out, Bryan. However, the concept of making a correct break and not drifting away from the ball is still the same. ] See Also: Kendall Wright And The Money Catch.

For the next two months, I’ll be providing excerpts of film study I’m doing for my 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio publication, which will be available here on April 1. The David Wilson Vision Series is one example of what you’ll be seeing: analysis of one particular skill set of a player and his position. Although the Wilson Series was a little more comprehensive, you’re going to find highly critical or praiseworthy analysis on an aspect of a player that might not match my overall take that you’ll find in the 2012 RSP.

Kendall Wright is likely an example. There is a lot like like about the Baylor wide receiver and I won’t be surprised if he’s among my top prospects at his position. He’s explosive, dynamic after the catch, and he demonstrates some strong skills as a perimeter deep threat. In many respects he reminds me of what Mario Manningham brings to the table for the Giants, but has potential to become much more (of course, so does Manningham).

However, today’s post is about route running and like Manningham, when it comes to this aspect of the position Wright has things to learn. So does his talented counterpart, underclassman Terrance Williams. Continue reading →

Super Bowl Linkstravaganza

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views
Ahmad Bradshaw and Aaron Hernandez have been two of my current favortes at their positions. I understand why Bill Parcells mentioned them as pivotal players to watch this weekend. Photo by Ted Kerwin.

Here’s some notable posts past and present from here and elsewhere to get you prepped for the game:

Super Bowl Preview: Bill Belichick’s Blitz Package – I may be an offensive guy, but I love Blitzology. I feel like I should be paying this blog for the lessons.

Jokers – Why Aaron Hernandez is the ultimate chess piece for the Patriots.

Pats Two-TE Sets: A Long Time Coming? Later this year, I read a good Yahoo! piece on Belichick experimenting with this two-TE set in Detroit with Charlie Sanders and David Hill.

Ode to the War Daddies – Chris Brown’s fantastic piece on the way Belichick approaches defensive schemes.

Play Defense, Not Defenses – Jene Bramel paving the way in Week 1 with this thought Brown elaborated on at Grantland.

 

Reads Listens Views and Caption Contest Winners 2/2-2/3/2012

0 Comments read Reads Listens Views

[youtube=http://youtu.be/FkleiqrWji0]

Love, peace, and soul, Don Cornelius…Love, peace, and soul.

It was a fun week of football analysis at the RSP Blog. If you missed any of the David Wilson series, there are four parts to check out at your leisure. I’ll be doing more film analysis of 2012 draft prospects in the coming weeks. Most of them will likely be shorter spotlights on technique or something I see that’s revealing abut a player or the position he plays. I already have a play of Kendall Wright’s that will be a post next week. Continue reading →

David Wilson’s Vision: Part IV – Exploring the Gray Area

0 Comments read Players, Running Back
Wrapping up David Wilson Week at the RSP Blog with some good plays that might have been better in more experienced hands. Photo by Tech Sports.

If you’ve missed David Wilson Week at the RSP blog you can catch up by reading parts I, II, and III. If you want to start here that’s fine, too. No one is going to write you a ticket for improper blog reading.

Ever watch a ball carrier in a football game finish a good run and still wonder if his choices were the best ones? If you watch the game with any regularity it has probably crossed your mind numerous times. The “what-if” game is a natural part of being an avid football fan.

I had these questions arise while studying Virginia Tech RB David Wilson’s Sugar Bowl performance against Michigan. I frequently saw good runs where Wilson deserved praise for the work he did, but his decisions still left me wondering if he left better choices on the field. Would a runner with Wilson’s physical skills and greater vision been able to do more with these attempts? I don’t know if I have a good answer.

These runs are “gray area,” plays. I watched these runs enough to believe there’s a chance Wilson could have made a different decision and generated a better outcome on the play, but I think its highly debatable. Still, the alternative for each run profiled below is obvious enough to generate a post and potentially some worthwhile discussion. Continue reading →