Thursday, January 17, 2008

Pro Football Weekly is still a Cool Site

Lost in all the hoopla around Profootballtalk.com, and I like them, though I like them less of late, is the solid football reporting on Profootballweekly.com. They have a weekly section called "Audibles", with the disclaimer that: The following quotes are from NFL scouts, coaches and front-office personnel, speaking on condition of anonymity.
These quotes are always entertaining, if not wildly offbase.

Where I'm in the Amen Corner: (From Jan. 10)

“Every year there is an undrafted rookie defensive tackle who winds up starting. You can find those guys after the draft. … Tony (Dungy) gets the best out of those guys.”

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh takes a lean, rangy 4-3 DT/DE and molds him into a stout, 3-4 DE. This process takes years, and has succeeded....ummm....once? once and a half? Aaron Smith and Brett Kiesel. That's it. Or, they could just find a guy in the draft and plug him in. But that would be too hard, and of course, it's not the "Steeler Way".

Where I'm not sure I believe what I'm hearing: (Jan 17)
“(Offensive coordinator) Bruce Arians is not a good fit for the Steelers. He likes to go four- or five-wide and pitch it around. That’s not Steelers football. The offensive line has gone downhill since Russ Grimm left. It’s lost its identity. I see the ship continuing to sink until they make some corrections.”
Oh, yeah, that's why he had one of the slowest QBs in the NFL run a sweep on 3rd and 6. Because he likes to dink, and dunk.

And wisdom from on high: (Jan. 17)
“You win on defense with talent. You win on offense with coaching. If you have (good) players on defense and you can’t win — you’ve got a big problem.”

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