Three and Out: Uninformed Speculation about Stafford's Future

If we are honest with ourselves, we can all remember some not-so-distant past time when we were dog-cussing Matthew Stafford. Perhaps you nodded while Coach Know-it-All a few rows down in your section at Sanford screamed for his tallowed head (Colorado, anyone?). My God, you silently shook your head, Joe Cox cannot be this bad. Yet all the while, we Georgia fans embraced Staff's learning curve with a sort of eager endurance, trusting that things would get better. And then when things did click, we all reckoned, they would not get any better than the Highland Park gunslinger.

He improved rather drastically last year, and his statistics simply do not perform justice to how dynamic and explosive his right appendage can make an offense. Those adjectives have rarely been associated w/ Mark Richt offenses since his arrival in Athens. The combination of a relentless ground game with the Texan's lightning quick airstrikes led to the release of long-pent-up giddiness in Georgia fans last year. He is finally living up to the hype, and we have tremendous expectations for the coming two years.

But please don't hate him when he turns pro next year. Of course, this leap is premised on Georgia having a very good year this season - say ten wins - and Stafford's further progress. Seven has it all- size, height, experience, pocket presence, moxy, leadership, you name it. And of course, you also may have seen his generational-type fastball which could shred the Georgia Dome's fabric roof. Yes, he has every trait the pros want except for one thing: accuracy. His personal goal for completion percentage next season is 62%. Given his development from rookie to soph, that mark is more than realistic - and do not be surprised if he surpasses it.

I love the NFL, but only a fool would admit that there are not many sub par QBs in the league. Mel Kiper may know a thing or two after all. Elway, Jr. will be in high demand next year. But Pettifogger, you say, aren't all honky children of privilege (white quarterbacks) adamant about basking in their four years of college stardom to the fullest? Look at Peyton, Couch, Leinart, Eli, Rivers, Quinn, Brohm, etc., etc., etc. You can never get that college experience back. Yes, you are right. Except that loyally sticking around for that senior year has proven costly -very costly - for a few QBs recently. You counter: but Leinart and Brohm had limited physical tools and had already reached their ceiling by their junior campaigns, and Staff will be different on both counts. Again, you are right.

But I have a trump card:
Owners are expected to opt out of the collective bargaining extension in November, which starts the clock ticking on future labor problems. Owners believe the current system doesn't work. Two years ago, at the threat of losing the salary cap, owners endorsed a CBA extension that favored the players, but it's eating into the owners' profit margins.

Not good. That means 2009 will be the last year under this labor deal. With no deal, there will be no salary cap in 2010. We know that ain't happening anytime soon. The NFL's Shield has grown strong behind the egalitarian principles that MLB baseball lacked all these years. What does this mean?

Welcome to Economics class kids! The owners are giving away less money, and the current players aren't giving up a dime of what they already have. Where does the money come from then, class? That's right, Johnny, those two parties will eagerly screw anyone without a seat at the table. We already know how they collude against league veterans. Guess who else is largely unrepresented? College players. Everyone seems to love this idea of limiting future rookie pay (man it pains me to link to Micheal David Smith and his PFT trash. Killing dogs is really bad, we get it already.). Shafting future stars may or may not be a good thing depending on your philosophical bent, but I feel very strongly that a move to NBA-style rookie compensation will happen in the next NFL labor deal.

And so our boy Matty is caught up in circumstances beyond his control. He needs to go pro. Consider: this year, the 1st pick in the NFL draft will make safely north of $36 million in guarantees alone. By contrast, top young baller in the NBA nets a deal in the neighborhood of five years and $25 mill total in the '08 draft. Can you really hold it against Staff for jumping in during the final year before the NFL's slotted rookie pay scale? I hope no one counsels him that the money will always be there. It won't.

Moral of the story: Enjoy the 24-7 show this fall, and try not to be bitter in the winter when they are both gone.

Buzzin' Around on the Ground

Or, in other words, GiT's new Paul Johnson offense. Look, their most consistent receiver quit the team. Looks like its down to 3 receivers on scholly. That's really normal for a D-1 program. Given the departure of Taylor Bennett and receivers ad infinitum, there can be little doubt what PJ's new offense will look like. I distinctly remember SSDawg assuring posters on the DawgRun that PJ passed everywhere he went - including Hawaii - a lot! At this point, I would have to disagree with that prediction.

UGA won't have to "worry" about anything like this for awhile.

My question is: what does this do to to their defense? Sen. Blutarsky has a theory that the spread option makes a lot of teams softer because the defense doesn't have to battle it out in the trenches during practice. I'm not sure I buy that completely - you are still going to have to offensive linemen (albeit likely smaller) and good running backs (albeit not downhill bruisers), such that your scout team can still provide a reasonable facsimile of a traditional offense. In my totally uneducated opinion. But to me it seems like it would be nearly impossible to replicate passing teams if you are a pure run option team, ala GiT now. For one, you probably don't have quality passers. But secondly, and most importantly, can your starting secondary really expect to get good work in if your scout team has zero scholarship players? Tech's corners simply are not going to be challenged on a daily basis.

Does this theory have any basis? Let's look at Navy, PJ's team last year. They gave up 262 yards per game through the air last year, good for 106th place. I know, they have smaller linemen, and nothing but scrappy white people, or something like that. I would list another team, but I doubt any other offenses are reverting back to the triple option. Would Arkansas be comparable? Have they thrown a pass in the past 3 years? If so, why? Arky was pretty solid with pass D (23rd).

Interesting to see how it plays out.

His Hoooomme's In Alabama...

I missed this Ivan Maisel I-Formation from a few weeks back. Maisel likes to act all high-minded because he went to that fancy hippie-tree school in Calleyfornia, but in his heart he is but a true Bammer. He kindly shared his faux social awareness with us to riff on Georgia's tag dispute, entitled "Bonfire of the Vanities."

. . . That's more than $100,000 from the wallets of fans who don't like Georgia or Georgia Tech. Rep. Fleming introduced legislation that would require a reciprocal tag in any other state with a university that has a vanity license plate in the state of Georgia.

I've heard of legislators who spend the people's money like drunken sailors. I don't recall hearing of legislators who work to shut off money from the people. What's worse, the Georgia House passed the legislation, 142-10.

As the song says, "Glory, glory to old Georgia."

Wow, hard to argue with any of that. This year's State budget was approximately $20 billion. For those of you keeping score at home, that's approximately 1/2 millionth (?) of the budget. He must not know that the Georgia Legislature is trying to end taxes altogether. Georgia will make that $100K back in one day from gambling Alabama rednecks on the border who would rather send governors to the federal pokey than vote for their lottery proposals.

Ivan Maisel: Learned College Football Writer/Political Commentator/Zip-Cardigan Model

Listen, I have no real opinion on this one way or the other, and its one of those issues that make me glad my preferred party is nowhere near power. But Mandel's self-righteousness is petulant. If his argument is that no legislature should refuse tax monies of any kind, why doesn't he call for all of Georgia's neighboring states (ahem, Alabama) to sell other state's university tags? Imagine his guffawing if he heard that Georgia allowed Gator tags: "Georgians must be desperate for money- they sell their civic pride $25 at a time!"

Ivan, I understand, if my native state was the epicenter of Redneck America, I would be looking to make illogical cracks on other states as well.

AJC Tired of Covering Crappy Teams

And who can blame them? I guess the Vick disaster was fun for a while and it was nice everyone got to mug it up on ESPN, but I'm sure its got to be easier for everyone to cover a winner. Their latest effort involves a blitzkrieg against Matty Ice, whom an astounding number of pundits think is the slam-dunk savior franchise QB for the Birds. Today on the ajc.com Falcons page, they had a huge pic of Brian Brohm - remember him?- he was supposed to be the Falcons' #1 pick for like ten months. "Brohm Intrigues Falcons" they say, and then link to an article from an outside website. In all my years of sports internet obsession, I cannot remember the AJC doing this, particularly as the lead story on a section. Wow - who the hell is "Big C" anyway? Good god, that's about as shocking as the South's biggest paper linking to this craptastic site. Anyway, the outside link is very complimentary of Brohm - he's not Matt Ryan - woohoo! He ran a 4.6 forty - woohoo! That's almost as fast as Vick! Aaannd...he's not Matt Ryan- Who has onions!

Feel the Chill... Of "Matty Ice" (Boston Hrld.)

And right beside it is the headline "Dorsey Pro Day Impressive." Guess what- links to another outside site. Knock, knock, Mr. Wyche? Are you home? This kind of cracked me up because not everyone thought that highly of Dorsey's workout. Don't think its an open campaign against the IceMan? The poll underneath all these stories (since removed) asked: If the Falcons pass on Matt Ryan, who should the Falcons draft as their next quarterback? So while this open advocacy might risk the AJC's sterling reputation for objective journalism, um, never mind. I, for one, am loving it. There are a hundred reasons why this makes no sense to me. Thanks AJC!

Never Heard of Key West?

Ah, for the days of Spring Break. This time of year reminds me that my life is indeed over. Well, I do love wearing a suit every day, commuting, and petty office squabbles. Maybe its not all lost. On that note, the AJC had an interesting piece the other day highlighting, among other things, various players Spring Break plans. Full article in the link, but here are the relevant snippets:

Curran: "Heading to Savannah with my girl."
Translation: "I'll be drinking outside for like 12 hours straight standing up. I'm getting so wasted I will be pissing in green fountains in plain view. I will literally be drunk out of my mind. There is a 50% chance I will be arrested or comatose. "

If the water's already green...

Ellerbe: "Going home to sit in front of the TV and get fat."
Translation: "TV. Munchies. You figure it out."

Jones: "Going home and hanging out."
Translation" "See Ellerbe, Danell."

DT Jeff Owens: "Taking a little road trip. Going with Josh Davis to Mississippi. Then we're thinking about going to Houston for Big 12 [basketball] championship, and we might drop by LSU to see some buddies of mine. Heading west."
Translation: "We've seen some crazy LSU bitches on Youtube. Gonna hit that shit up. Houston? I just love me some driving. Why wouldn't I? I'm a giant and riding in cars is comfortable to me."



These are what I would call nontraditional Spring Breakers. Me, I'd prefer to just some old school wet t contests at PCB, fratting it up at Key West, or helping to give Sin City its name. Let's hope Saint Richt is able to get some sleep this week.

Least Surprising Story from the Braves Spring Training

Its like Mad Libs. Mike Hampton [Insert Body Part] was injured in the [Insert inning] when he [Insert fluke incident].

Mike, we're begging you, stretch before you try to pitch.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/03/07/hampton_0308.html

Obviously Furman Reads the 4WFS

Furman Bisher gets the same idea I had last year. I'd wager he had to dust off the 4 years of dust on it since he wrote it though. The article basically talks about how Brett "Fov" drank, then pissed away his opportunity with the Falcons. It's amazing how circumstances can define a person. The NFL should send the Falcons a gift basket for getting rid of him before the ATL broke Brett's ass-slapping spirit. I wonder where the Vickster would be if he latched on with a competent franchise?

Sure, he could booze, but could he make it to the federal pen?

The real reasons to read Furman's column are the enlightening comments afterward. Furman really draws the vitriol out for some reason. I don't understand it; frankly I'm impressed at how lucid he is. Good for him. But, I just wanted to point out one comment in particular. I should make this a running documentary on 4WFS just to preserve the utter stupidity of AJC.com readers for posterity. [As I'm writing this, I discovered that the ajc.com took down what was the be the featured quote. Thank God they do this now. I was going to cut and paste a comment by "Bob" who basically said "yepper, Buckhead used to be great but blacks ruined and the Mexicans are doing it to Sandy Springs now." Um, ok. I bet Bob loves the Hawks commentary on this blog. The thread also devolved into anti-Bob and pro-Bob camps. Pro-Bobbers expanded on his logic for even broader social commentary and argued against the northern expansion of MARTA. Way to keep it on topic, Bobby. How embarrassing. For your family.]

Here's a backup quote:

"By las

March 4, 2008 9:16 PM | Link to this

Typical Bisher! The greatest QB of all time retires and all he can do is liken him to some former QBs that couldn’t hold Favre’s jock and then spotlight the low points of the most wonderful career ever. Can Bisher ever say anything good about anyone without dwelling on the negative. I hope that when Furman retires all anyone writes about is his reprehensible behavior when he maligned, libeled and slandered Bear Bryant and Wally Butts back in the 1960s. Is it not time we washed our hands of this sorry charlatan!"

Again, I don't get the Bisher hate. And LAS must have the longest memory ever.