Some of you have noticed Newsday's lineup of Live Chats with various beat reporters and columnists over the last month - Knicks writer Alan Hahn is doing, by my count, his 19th chat right now as I write this - and have wondered when I would be participating.
That time is Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. So get your questions ready and we'll have some real-time dialogue. A Newsday moderator will feed the questions to me and I'll do my best to answer them from my futon. Some of you, I'm sure, will be skipping work for this. As will I.
But seriously folks...
I looked at Wednesday's "chat" schedule and see our media reporter Neil Best is my lead-in as he's doing a chat at 1. Neil has the most widely read blog at Newsday. Tune in at 1 and you'll see why.
As for other stuff I've been asked about recently: nothing new on the Personal Screw License issue from the Jets [the Giants announced their policy a few weeks ago]. It's all but a done deal and I'm not sure what the organization is waiting for in terms of its announcement. Maybe Mr. Johnson is re-reading (and considering?) the letter I humbly suggested he write to fans regarding PSLs. Also, expect some action on the Jets four remaining unsigned draft picks this week. At the Jets charity golf even in June, Mike Tannenbaum told me the week after July 4 is when contract negotiations really begin in earnest so there should be some news along that front coming soon enough.
Comments (20)
Erik,
Mr. T will have all these guys signed for the start of camp. You know the drafted players around the league will start signing any day now and expect a slew of them to start signing by early next week. Its always a domino effect. Can't wait for camp to start. Hope to chat with you Wednesday. When do you think Farve will get traded?
IRA, the better question to me regarding Favre is to whom will he get traded and for what, as the answers to those questions are likely to determine when he is traded. It figures that any team interested in Favre is likely to try and wait out the Packers in the hope that the price will fall precipitously in correlation with the amount of bitching Favre does and the amount of bad press the Packers receive.
If I'm the Packers I want a pick that could rise as high as a #3 based on Favre's performance. And though I've heard of Tampa Bay as his most likely landing spot, it would not shock me at all to see him land in Miami, given Parcells' infatuation with veteran QB's (e.g. Testaverde, Bledsoe). Not that it makes sense necessarily, but Parcells loves to make a splash, and the fat man is not getting any younger.
Erik, if you are conducting your live chat from your futon, you should really pull a Pete Kendall and hold out for a raise. Really, how much credibility can I ascribe to a columnist who kicks back on his futon? I can almost guarantee you that Hahn sits on a barcolounger, if not one of those high tech massage chairs, when conducting his chats.
Didn't someone once say you should always dress for the job you want, not the job you have? Well, the same should apply to your choice of furniture, should it not? I'll certainly back you up, for what it's worth...
Erik,
I'm a network administrator so participating in your chat is called "monitoring internet connectivity". (trade secret)
Try and stay away from golf, would ya
Back to the David Barrett argument. Here is a stat showing him as a bottom 10 NFL CB:
http://www.sportsgamer.com/forums/nfl-chat/193521-top-shutdown-cornerbacks-2007-putting-k-c-joyners-stats-better-use.html
Here are the top "shutdown" cornerbacks of 2007, based on net yards allowed per estimated pass faced --
1. Ronde Barber 0.535
2. Marlin Jackson 0.618
3. Nnamdi Asomugha 0.638
4. Terence Newman 0.818
5. Charles Tillman 0.902
6. Fred Bennett 0.908
7. Will Allen 0.909
8. Carlos Rogers 0.913
9. Deshea Townsend 0.921
10. Travis Fisher 0.930
I suspect that Barber and Jackson benefitted somewhat from their teams' zone defensive schemes, which lower the number of times Joyner determines that they're in "direct coverage," as well as the length of the passes they're defending. I'll see what Football Outsiders says they allowed when their book arrives in the next week or so. (I'm still trying to get STATS' numbers from 2007.)
Here were the bottom 10 "shutdown" cornerbacks for 2007 --
72. David Barrett 1.689
73. Ike Taylor 1.737
74. Corey Ivy 1.759
75. William James 1.832
76. Chris Houston 1.901
77. Demarcus Faggins 1.925
78. Travis Daniels 2.022
79. Lewis Sanders 2.030
80. Stanley Wilson 2.144
81. Jason David 2.562
Ira, your guess is as good as mine. There's so many factors in play with the Favre situation and I'm not convinced, when the season starts, he still won't be the Packers' starter. Remember Favre's $12.8 million cap hit -for this season - with his current contract is a big issue for prospective teams as well. As I said in a previous post, Packers GM Ted Thompson officially has the toughest job in the sport right now.
Joe M., in terms of ambience, hopefully I'll be able to do a live chat from Miami Beach the day before the season-opener. Then again, live-chatting might not be on my mind at that point...
John Z., I look forward to your "monitoring" of our "internet connectivity," but please, only in private.
dmb88886, thanks for posting that link. I read through the entire post. Interesting stuff - Lito Sheppard ranking 67th (1.601) - among other things.
Can't see Farve excepting a trade to the Dolphins or the Dolphins wanting him. They are in a major rebuilding mold and don't need a QB for a 1 year fix. And can't see him playing for a team that could win maybe 4-5 games at best.Tampa is perfect with Carolina in the waiting if Delhome's elbow does not respond from the surgery he had.
Any team that wants Favre to be their starting QB this year really can't afford to "wait out" the Packers - more so than any other position, the QB needs to get integrated into the offense well before the season starts. Unlike Vinny who played in various offensive schemes, Favre has basically played for only one team.
From what i understand Tampa has plenty of cap room to work out a deal for Farve.
Well, enjoy your perpetual Favre discussions everyone, I'm off to Italy (thought I'd give you a little warning since I'm SURE you'd all worry about me).
Anyways, the reason it'll be from his futon is that Boland will have his aid next to him (Rhodes). Hey, at least maybe Boland can get some inside information on the Jets injuries that way. Unless there's something called Blogger-Player Confidence.
Cliff, is this a vacation and how long will you be gone? We'll try to schedule the next live chat around your schedule...
haha, no need to do that Erik. I'll be gone for 2 weeks, but hey, I'm sure Darrell, Scott and Jay can hold down the fort for me...keep you on your toes.
Let's just hope the Jets can sign our boys before I get back...I'd hate to come back and see that we dealt Gholston for Favre :-/
Anyways, be safe and that whole live chat thing sounds awesome. Can't wait to skip a day of work to send in some borderline offensive questions and see if you read them without screening.
I'm sure those guys, and others, will hold down the fort. Have a good trip.
Erik,
Do you agree that the drastic swing in numbers from #1 to #5 (almost double) in cornerbacks is due to the scheme they play in?
Why are three guys at about half a yard net, while the rest of the top ten are at about a yard net?
To be honest, I think the calculations on it are a little whacky anyways...Cromartie and Champ are easily top 5 shutdown corners...hell, QBs throw their way maybe once or twice a game...yet they're not listed.
It's gotta be the scheme and it really should be more focused towards CBs that start since some of those guys are 3rd and 4th on the depth charts.
Cliff is right. Stats are misleading. Lewis Sanders will probably end up being the Pats nickel back this year. Do you think Belichick really cared about were he was rated on that stat listed above? i don't think so.
you certainly can argue about the stats. Asante Samuel's whole season will be remembered for one slip and allowed completion. Though you could anticipate that based on his ranking at 31st.
And I certainly think that Sanders wouldn't be playing nickel back if he were in the top ten. While stats aren't necessarily indicative of performance on a given play, they do give you an overall view.
Nobody said stats are perfect. They certainly aren't. But when most people watch Barrett play and say "wow, this guy stinks, it seems like he gets beaten on every play", and then you have a stat that helps back that up by showing he was one of the 10 worst CB's in the NFL based on yards per pass attempted on him, its a pretty good indicator that he's one of the worst CB's on an NFL roster. Which is the case i've been making all along.
The fact that on top of that, Barrett is being paid even close to what he's being paid, is a joke. I happen to like our coach and GM a lot, but their lack of understanding that he shouldn't be on this roster is very curious. You wouldn't see a well run team like NE hold on to a guy like Barrett. He should have been cut last year, this year there's no reason whatsoever to keep him.
dmb, I hope you don't start stalking Barrett. You are a little overboard with this obsession. LOL ! He is not as bad as you make him out. Put even a good cb to play with our pathetic pass rush and he will look much less than what he is.
Barrett will be fine with a fiery pass rush. I remember when he played hurt and was STILL decent.
Stats are very misleading for the cb position. There are so many variables.
I wouldnt be surprised if he and JM are neck and neck.
While JM has the raw talent ,his instincts are horrific. I hope this changes ,but wouldnt be upset if DB gets the call.
The pass rush will make the difference. Hello Giants!
Barrett played hurt all of the 06 season. He had that calf and an eye injury. He still played respectable enough. So he is not a #1 CB but he is a good veteran for that #2 spot. I do think Miller will jump ahead of him and Poteat this camp.The secondary competiton should be very intense at camp this summer.
"So he is not a #1 CB but he is a good veteran for that #2 spot"
He's an atrocious #2. He's a bad #5 CB since he's bottom 3-10 in the entire NFL.
Poteat who was a nobody in the league, couldn't get signed, played infinitely better last year than Barrett has ever played in his career.