KC Joyner: Hello again! Let's talk some football!
Greg (Chicago, Illinois: Well KC, I think that Greg was under utilized last year personally. I am a Bear fan and think the O-Line was a reason for most of the offense flubs from Q.B. to R.B.
KC Joyner: Greg, yours is but one of the comments that I've been getting from Bears fans regarding the Greg Olsen had terrible numbers as a flex tight end last year. So many people blame that on the offense but as I pointed out in the article, if that was the case, why did Desmond Clark get nearly as many yards as Olsen when flexed out despite doing so about half as often as Olsen?
Shawwa, San Francisco, California.: much has been made about the Cowboys inability to get a WR to team up with Owens during the offseason. I was wondering if you had the metrics of Crayton, Sam Hurd, and Austins. Can they be decent #2's?
KC Joyner: Hurd and Austin didn't have enough attempts to qualify but Crayton did quite well with a 9.5 YPA. I don't think he'll play at that level with consistency but even if he stays at around 8 YPA, that will be more than enough for Dallas given their other receiving targets.
Shawn(MN): I'm intrigued by Tony Scheffler as fantasy TE. What do the metrics say about him?
KC Joyner: Scheffler's productivity is quite good (8.5 YPA) but his problem will be volume. I'd put him as a top tight end if Denver would throw the ball to him 100 times but I have trouble seeing that happening, especially given his durability issues. He's an OK #1 TE but you'd really rather have him as an alternate.
Lane (Kukuihaele, HI): With more reps in practice and experience in games will Olsen become a better threat than Clark?
KC Joyner: He's a young player so last year may have been due to growing pains. Having said that, I'm still not sure why everyone is getting so excited about this guy's receiving ability. I saw an OK tight end but nothing in the numbers or in my scouting eye made me think he's the next Gates or Gonzalez.
Jason(New Orleans): What do you think of Dwayne Bowe? I always liked him at LSU and he had pretty good stats for a rookie.
KC Joyner: When I saw his very first NFL game, I wasn't impressed and was about to write him off as a 2007 bust. I held back until I saw his second game and it was like seeing a completely different player. That was the player we saw the rest of the year, as his 8.5 YPA in a pass challenged offense proves. He's got a lot of upside, especially if KC can effectively implement some other offensive changes.
Shawwa, San Francisco, California.: please include Witten. He's olsen's no Gates, Gonzalez or Witten. Thanks
KC Joyner: Good point. Witten is included!
Matt (Columbus): Two Bengals questions. How are the metrics for: the Bengals' corners (Joseph, Hall, and O'Neal)? How are the metrics for Ben Utecht?
KC Joyner: Joseph and O'Neal were nearly equal (7.2 and 7.0) but Hall trouble keeping up (8.6). I don't have Utecht's metrics because he didn't have enough passes thrown to him to qualify.
dan, maine: Kevin Curtis, Shaun McDonald, Bobby Engram, and Luke McCown all statistically did fairly well last year, yet no one seems to care. How good did these players actually play last year?
KC Joyner: Engram and Curtis did as well as expected and I've written material on them for Insider, so at least one person does care! As far as McCown goes, I wrote in my Insider vertical QB comparison piece that he did very well in that area but so did the entire TB offense.
Kevin (San Diego): Overall (flex and tight formations), does Heath Miller have the highest YPA for Tight Ends?
KC Joyner: He sure did. Miller had a 9.5 overall YPA, which is very good.
Corey (Philadelphia, PA): Where would you rank Mario Williams amongst the leagues premire DE's?
KC Joyner: There are many things to like about Williams play but too many of his sacks last year were either coverage or garbage sacks. I'd still like to see him beat a few more offensive linemen in a one on one situation. He has the physical skills but I want to see it happen before I say he's finally playing up to his talent level.
Kit (Tallahassee, FL): I am honestly sick of the this whole Spygate nonsense. It's been dragging on for way too long. What the heck is Specter thinking? Is he not a senator? Does he not ANYTHING more important to address? Last time I checked, it's a generally agreed upon fact that videotaping is commonplace in the NFL. Get over it people. People are stupid, they just want someone to hate. In baseball, for a while it was the Yankees because of their success.
KC Joyner: The one thing I guess I don't get about Spygate and Specter is what is he trying to accomplish? The league is cracking down on that kind of thing today so it has had a deterrent effect. What else does he want out of it, unless to simply embarrass the Patriots organization and the NFL.
Brian (de): What do the metrics think of Anthony Fasano going to Miami? It looks like Miami could have gotten a steal for him and that LB for only a 4th.
KC Joyner: Fasano was successful on 15 out of the 22 passes thrown his way and he gained 149 yards. He's not a Jason Witten or anything like that but those numbers are very solid. He'll be an improvement for the Fins.
Derek (NY): Two part Question.... Pennington or Clemens? Pennington had the better stats last year, but the Jets won more games and scored more points per game with Kellen behind Center.....and at least he has the hope to improve, right? Also, Much is made of the Jets percieved lack of "Playmakers" on Offense, but they have some solid weapons in Coles, Cotchery, Keller, Baker (Assuming his contract issue gets resolved), Thomas Jones, Leon Washington, and Brad Smith. Is this a sufficent supporting cast for whoever the Jets QB may be?
KC Joyner: Derek, I've been a Pennington backer in this argument for a while and I'm still in that corner. For all of Clemens physical skills, Pennington topped him in YPA at the medium, deep and bomb depth levels. Pennington makes more of the players around him so I'd stick with him.
Bill (Pomona California): Could it be that Specter wants to know why the tapes were destroyed by league orders if there really wasn't anything incriminating on them? Or perhaps why didn't Belicheck get a four game suspension like so many players for other league offenses? The man and team did "cheat" for seven years after all.
KC Joyner: Bill, my question would be where does it stop? If the NFL investigates old occurrences of the Pats, do they also investigate when Belichick was as assistant with the Giants? Or do they also look into allegations that other teams did this very same type of thing? Do they just go after NE and leave all of those on the table? Or do they do like Goodell is suggesting and simply try to stop this thing in the future. I'm not a fan of dragging the NFL's name through the mud for a destructive reason and that's what this smacks of.
Jay (Middletown, CT): Given Brandon Marshall's significant arm injury, does he bounce back from that and produce similar to last season?
KC Joyner: I think the bigger long-term issue for Marshall is how do the Broncos utilize him? With Walker out Marshall would seem like the likely vertical threat, but his metrics get better the shorter the pass is thrown downfield. He's more of a Rod Smith type of player in that he can produce at all levels and that's his real value to the Denver offense.
Ed (Saginaw, MI): KC.....what can you tell me about Calvin Johnson's metrics? Is he going to be a big time player in year two?
KC Joyner: Johnson put up an 8.7 YPA despite suffering a back injury in week 3. If he stays healthy for a full season, I see no reason he couldn't hit the 10 YPA mark (which is a fantastic total for a WR).
Denny (Atlanta): Browns rookie Eric Wright had an outstanding rookie year, but how about the other rookie, Brandon McDonald....he really seemed to play very well in the 2nd half....do the numbers support that assertion?
KC Joyner: You've got a great football eye there, Denny! I'm always for plugging lesser known players that perform well and McDonald fits that mold. He put up a 5.4 YPA, which is very good. He did put it up in only 36 attempts, so it was in a part time role, but even if he drops down to a 7.0 YPA in a full-time role, that's a starter level YPA.
Brandt (DC): As per Spygate. It is fishy that evidence was destroyed, and now everyone is declaring it "over." Sure, but let's not sugarcoat it either. Plus "everyone does" it isn't an excuse anyway, and that is IF everyone is doing it. Belichek clearly knew it was wrong.
KC Joyner: Brandt, this type of thing has been happening for years and the league didn't do anything about it (at least not publicly). Goodell finally does something about it and everyone wants him to do more, but you can't go back and punish everyone for a law you weren't enforcing at the time. It would be like having a rule for jaywalking and not enforcing it for a long time and then suddenly do you not only enforce it, you go back and look at tapes and start punishing people who jaywalked 10 years ago. The issue is they had a rule on the books they weren't enforcing.
PT (Franklin, NC): Better season, Jay Cutler or Jamarcus Russell?
KC Joyner: Cutler. He has already gone through a year and a half of starter growing pains, something Russell still has to go through. Plus Cutler is bound to play better now that he knows about the diabetic condition and can properly medicate it.
Lane (Kukuihaele, HI): The NFL didn't really destroy the tapes. They're in the secret vault with the original Zapruder film and the films of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster.
KC Joyner: Lane, you sound like you might be another Penn and Teller B.S. series fan!
Dusty (La Palma, CA): IM BACK KC, SCHOOL IS OUT!!!! So do you think in a Mike Martz run offense Alex Smith and Bryant Johnson can return to there much more productive 2006 performances?
KC Joyner: Welcome back and congrats on school being out! Regarding Smith and Johnson, I'm of these mindsets. Smith will have to prove he can take the hits a Martz system requires the QB to take. Johnson's vertical numbers were subpar and that's what SF needs out of him, so he'll have to show significant improvement in that area.
Josh (Lincoln, NE): To follow up to PT's question: Better season, Tarvaris Jackson or Peyton Manning?
KC Joyner: Very funny! A lot of people have bashed PT's question but I didn't think it was that out of bounds.
Travis, Canada: K.C, 2008 is the year of the baby or separation, I had my baby this year, so what can we expect from the Red Wings as far as Cup Finals goes?
KC Joyner: Congrats on the baby, Travis! Wings win in game 5 to advance to the Cup Finals where they will beat Pittsburgh in 7.
Josh (Lincoln, NE): I sincerely hope you realize that was tongue in cheek...
KC Joyner: Absolutely! I just had a few people posting about the other comparison so I had to weigh in on why I took it.
Anthony (NYC): KC do you have any metrics on Roddy White, as bad a season the Falcons had he seemed to be one of few positives in they're offense.
KC Joyner: Anthony, I'm on the White bandwagon. I pointed out in an Insider article a couple of weeks ago that he was one of the best vertical WRs in the league last year. He also posted a 9.6 overall YPA, which is simply superb in any situation but is especially great given the Atlanta offensive woes last year.
Hector (Key West): KC, are you going to continue to dodge the suspension issue? It's not a matter of going back digging up all infractions. It's a matter of seven years of known, frequently repeated violations for a period of seven years came to light and Goodell did not suspend Belichick. that is inconsistent with his quick trigger on player suspensions for repeated violations. That does not scan very well.
KC Joyner: Hector, let's look at this from another angle. What if players were technically prohibited from doing something for years but the rules weren't enforced and many players started doing the prohibited thing. The league then comes along and says we are going to stop this and some player still breaks the rules. The league then punishes the player but not as badly as they might in a second or third offense. That's what I see this as being. NE had their first punished offense and paid a price. To try to keep raising the price because of issues that happened before the punishment doesn't make sense to me.
Dusty (La Palma, CA): Thanks for responding but i do have a response, Alex Smith played every single snap in 2006 and will have better offensive line this year than he did last year. Also Bryant Johnson i think was 2nd in the league in 2006 in YPA and last year wasnt used as much in a more run orriented offense. So im looking for big things from these guys.
KC Joyner: Good point on Johnson, Dusty, but that's why he is a huge concern. He'll have some big games at times and then other times he'll drop off. I can think of few WRs who moved from a 10 YPA to a 6 level YPA in one season, yet that's exactly what Johnson did from 2006 to 2007.
Matt (Tulsa, OK): KC, other than Bowe and Calvin J., what second year receivers do you think will explode this year?
KC Joyner: I'll hit on this subject in greater detail in some articles close to the season, but I can give you one other name right off the bat: Laurent Robinson.
Bill(The internet): Please settle a bet for me, who is a better WR, Boldin or Holt? I'm on the Holt side.
KC Joyner: From a strict YPA standpoint last year, it was Boldin 9.2 to 8.7.
Anthony (NYC): KC will this be the year that Andre Johnson can release the Beast? He's such a talented WR yet it's hard to notice because of the amount of coverage flowing his way.
KC Joyner: Anthony, he was a beast in the games he played in last year. He put up a 10.5 YPA and 74.1% success rate. I'm on board for his having a monster 2008.
Mr. Christopher (Buffalo): Holt WAS better than Boldin. No longer, sorry. You lose. You get nothing. GOOD DAY, SIR!!!!!!!!!
KC Joyner: Quite a reaction from Mr. Christopher to the earlier question! He must have been on the other side of the bet.
Pete(Blitzburgh): I'd imagine that 2nd year WR list will be headlined by Anthony Gonzalez if Marv doesn't make it back.
KC Joyner: Gonzalez didn't quite make the qualifier list for WRs but he did have a 10 YPA level showing, so I'm with you on that one.
Mr. Christopher (Buffalo): Just a Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory reference.
KC Joyner: OK, that explains it more! Well, hate to cut it short but I've got to hit the road. Hope to see you all next week!
