The NFL’s best wide receivers are in Texas, Not Ohio

Yesterday we looked at running backs to draft on a fantasy team.  Today, we will explore wide receivers.  Remember, this is not about the team’s record, but the performance of the player.  Look at the player’s ability and the potential he has to get a lot of time and passes thrown his way.

Silent assassin – Calvin Johnson (Detroit Lions) is a phenomenal athlete.  His height and speed make it difficult for cornerbacks and safeties to cover him.  You may not have heard of him, but you should get familiar with him.  You will not see him talk smack on headline news or on the sideline, but he gets the job done.  If he were on a better team, he certainly would be a pro bowler and household name.  The Lions do not have a strong running game, so you can expect that they will pass a lot.  Johnson can score major points for your team.

Old faithfuls – Randy Moss (New England Patriots) and Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis Colts) are veteran wide receivers on good teams.  Randy is definitely more talented than Reggie, but they both put up over 1,200 receiving yards last season.  They have good chemistry with their quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning respectively.  Enough said.

Good, but questionable – Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals) is a great receiver.  After two consecutive years of over 1,400 receiving yards, he only had 1,092 yards last season.  He sprained his knee a couple of weeks ago and it has not been confirmed whether he will be able to play at the start of the regular season. 

Nasty Nati Boys – Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens are both in Cincinnati now giving Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer two strong options.  Ochocinco is still the #1 receiver in Cincinnati.  With Antonio Bryant out of the way (he was released over the weekend), there is no question that T.O. is going to get a lot of time.  T.O. did not get a job until training camp, so I think that he will want to show the other 31 teams that he is still good and can make any team better.

Lone Star Superstars – Miles Austin (Dallas Cowboys) and Andre Johnson (Houston Texans) are the top receivers on their teams.  Miles had a very impressive season last year and looks to build on that this year.  Andre is the highest paid receiver in the NFL.   In the past two seasons he has accumulated close to 1,600 receiving yards.  This is the reason that the Texans ensured that he was going to stay in Houston.  You should consider applying the same reasoning to your team.

OK, it’s going down on Monday.  Heels & Helmets Fantasy Football League Draft on September 6 online at noon!  Who will you pick?

Ciao! 

Heels & Helmets

“The Answer” for T.O.

Terrell Owens (T.O.) is a free agent still looking for a job in the NFL.  The 6-Time Pro Bowler known for his “excessive celebrations” is watching everyone else start training camp while he tries to get a NFL contract.  One of his most memorable celebrations happened during a Monday Night Football game when he was with the San Francisco 49ers.  After a 61-yard touchdown pass, he pointed to his wristband with the words, “The Answer” inscribed on it.  He did it because, in his own words, “I am the answer.”  Seven years later and after stops with the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, T.O. is trying to get “an answer” to join someone’s locker room.

I have “the answer” for T.O.

T.O. is without a job because of his unrealistic view of his value, not his skill set.  Despite what people say about his last season with the Bills, he still had over 800 receiving yards, which could help several teams.  However, this does not put him in the category of the top 10 receivers who acquired over 1150 yards last season.  Hines Ward and Randy Moss both have just two years less experience than Owens and they earned 1167 and 1264 yards respectively.  They are “the answers.”

Owens and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, are trying to negotiate a deal as if T.O. is “the answer” that a team can count on to put up 1300 yards plus in one season.  To get T.O. on a team, they will have to lower their salary demands and expectations that he be the #1 receiver.  Teams are not going to pay $5 million for a 36 year-old veteran to come off the bench and jeopardize the game with a 15-yard penalty for “excessive celebration.”  This is not “the answer.”

Secondly, T.O. has to understand his role as a veteran.  Teams pay veterans not just for what they do on the field, but the leadership that they provide in the locker room.  T.O. has a reputation for being disruptive in the locker room and blasting teammates to the media.  He called Jeff Garcia a homosexual, implied that Donovan McNabb was lazy, and said that Tony Romo was distracted by his girlfriend.  This would be tolerated if he was going to bring in 1400 receiving yards, but owners do not want to deal with a cancerous player in the locker room for half of that production.  That’s not “the answer” to building camaraderie on the team. 

T.O. will get a job because he is still a decent receiver.  He works hard and keeps himself in great shape.  Mike Brown, the owner of the Cincinnati Bengals has left the door open for him to join his good friend, Chad Ochocino, in “The Nasty Nati.”  If he does not reach an agreement with the Bengals, we will see T.O. sign with a contract after training camp with a team who is desperate to fill in the gap for an injured player or rookie who needs more time to develop.   Either way, it will not be on his terms.

T.O. is no longer “the answer.”  He is an option.

Ciao!

Heels &  Helmets

I’m not sure Michael Jordan would not have done what LeBron did

I had a nice drive through Western Pennsylvania yesterday.  This is Pittsburgh Steelers’ territory and the pride of “Steeler Nation” was evident along the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  All of the Steelers flags, banners and signs against vivid, green foliage made me excited about the upcoming NFL season.  The Steelers report to training camp next week, so as I sped through the hills on 76, I thought about the Steelers’ quarterbacks and if Terrell Owens (T.O.) could finally land a home in “Steel City.”  I was prepared to provide a little insight to help you make an argument.

Now, I can’t. 

The media attention encircling Michael Jordan’s comments regarding LeBron James’ decision to take his “talents to South Beach” have distracted me.  Reports are that arguably the game’s best player said that he would not have done what LeBron did.  Period.

Before I break down why you can’t even compare the situation and in fairness to “His Airness,” I have to include what he actually said about the new trio in Miami.

"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,'" Jordan said after playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. The interview aired on the NBC telecast of the event. "But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

Notice MJ said “hindsight.”  His answer reflects how he would respond today at 47 years old with all of his experience, wisdom and championship rings; not what he would have actually done 22 years ago at 25 years old.

With that said here are a few facts (hindsight for MJ) to consider that make the circumstances incomparable.

1. At 25, Jordan had played 3 ½ seasons in the NBA.  At the same age, LeBron had played 6 ½ seasons.  That is almost twice as many as Jordan.  By the time Jordan was in his fifth year, he had his “Robin” in Scottie Pippen.  Going seven years without that type of support would have given Jordan a different level of frustration.

2. The Bulls brought in strong players to compliment Jordan.  After Jordan retired in the fall of 1993, the Bulls made the playoffs that season and went to the second round.  They were a solid team.  With LeBron in Miami, we are not going to see the current Cavaliers roster in the playoffs next spring.  The Cavs are not relevant without LeBron.  This demonstrates that they did not get LeBron sufficient support.

3. Jordan had two rings before he played in the Olympics on the 1992 “Dream Team” with his Chicago Bulls’ teammate, Pippen.  He was accustomed to playing with talented people on his side.  He did not return from Barcelona excited about the experience of having skilled players support his efforts.  LeBron left for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing to play on the "Redeem Team" without any rings or a teammate the caliber of Pippen.  After his days playing in high school, where no one was even close to his level, and on a lackluster Cavs team, it was energizing for him to play with people who are just as skilled and competitive as he is.

4. Jordan was never a free agent.  Jordan signed a seven-year contract with the Bulls after he was drafted in 1984.  In 1988, he signed an eight-year extension.  This took him to the mid- 1990s and his mid-thirties.  LeBron was a young free agent and every team (along with the rest of the basketball world) had been counting down to July 1, 2010 since the summer of 2006 when he signed an extension with the Cavs. 

5. Jordan was a basketball player.  LeBron is a businessman.  For Jordan, he was playing a game that he loves and felt lucky to get paid for it.  When his contract extension was being negotiated in the late 80s, he was quoted as saying:

"I haven't really been monitoring it.  I think (the Bulls) have been talking to my attorneys. I've just been playing. If they decide to give me a raise, give me a raise. I'll live with that.” 

LeBron understands that this is a business and recognizes his value.  At a younger age than Jordan, he is much more active in the negotiations and decisions that affect his career and business.  While Jordan admits that he deserved more in salary, he accepted what he was given.  LeBron is not just going to live with what an owner gives him.

Jordan’s hindsight is the Bulls building a talented team around him, 6 rings in 8 years and a bronze statue in his likeness in front of United Center.  Knowing that, why would he have left?  If he were actually in LeBron’s shoes: 25 years old, entering his eighth season and not seeing the potential to accomplish his goal of a championship, would he go to another team?  We’ll never know, but I think so.  Jordan is extremely competitive.  I could see him leaving, going back to Chicago Stadium with his new team and scoring 100 points on the Bulls.  The “House that Jordan Built” would not have been erected.

Then again, maybe not.  This is a new time.  Back then professional players just played basketball.  Even Jordan understands that. 

A player planning his own future is so foreign that Charles Barkley (former NBA All-Star player without a championship) is “disturbed” because he believes that LeBron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh planned this all along.  He is probably right.  Champions and great organizations don’t just happen; they are planned.  I’m disturbed that he can’t conceptualize players being savvy enough to plan and build a great team and environment for themselves.  As I said last week, we are now in the era of A.T.D and players are no longer just playing on the court.  They are treating it as the business that it is. 

Sorry for the distraction.  I’ll get to T.O. and the start of NFL training camp next week.

Ciao!

Heels &  Helmets