Archive for the ‘The Tape Never Lies’ Category

Going into the 2013 offseason, the Buccaneers had to upgrade one of the league’s worst secondaries. It was thrown on the second most last season, an incessant 627 times, and it gave up the second most net yards per attempt at 7.3, per Pro Football Reference. To prevent that from happening again, general manager Mark Dominik made a splash by acquiring Darrelle Revis from the New York Jets, a game-changer at cornerback and one of the league’s best players. He also made another move, luring free agent free safety Dashon Goldson away from the San Francisco 49ers.

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Type Armond Armstead’s name into YouTube, and you’ll stumble upon a six-minute clip that highlights the talent of the 22-year-old defensive lineman. As expected, there are plays of hell-raising, and backfield penetration throughout the video. It’s supposed to be that way — it’s a highlight film after all — and then once you watch a full-length game of his, you’re supposed to come away somewhat disappointed.

Except you don’t.

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Wes Welker was never supposed to leave New England. He was supposed to stay there for the remainder of his career, catching passes from best-friend-forever Tom Brady and terrorizing defenses with first down after first down.

Now he’s in Denver, where quarterback maestro Peyton Manning fools defenders with hand signals and slings the football around a mile high into the air. Like in New England, Welker is expected to quickly gel with his quarterback en route to whipping linebackers and nickelbacks from the slot, a position that he’s helped transcend over the course of six years.

As you might guess, not much will change in Denver. He’s once again going to catch dozens of passes — though the number could slightly drop because of the surrounding weapons — by separating with lateral agility and short-area quickness, two unique traits he possesses.

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I knew Martellus Bennett before he was a black unicorn. He was first a professional Cowboy, struggling to live up to expectations in his first four years for a variety of reasons, some of which included poor training and misuse. He then swapped outfits to become a Giant, where he finally produced and parlayed a big year — 626 yards, five touchdowns, and wonderful run blocking — into a $20 million contract with the Chicago Bears.

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A rundown of the Oakland Raiders recent history of first-round draft selections shows a list of high-risk and controversial picks. It includes JaMarcus Russell, Darren McFadden, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and Rolando McClain in successive years from 2007 to 2010. Each had significant question marks ranging from Russell’s work ethic to McFadden’s fragility to Heyward-Bey’s rawness and to McClain’s schematic fit. Only one (McFadden) has survived the roster purging done by general manager Reggie McKenzie, who is entering his second year of rebuilding.

McKenzie was hired in 2012 to replace the once great Al Davis and erase his first-round mistakes, among a plethora of others, as soon as possible. But in the process of reshaping the roster, McKenzie took a big risk of his own, one bigger than Davis ever took: he drafted Houston cornerback D. J. Hayden No. 12 overall.

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It took only two plays to see what kind of talent Brandon Williams has.

He was lined up over the right guard with his feet wide and his weight leaning on his toes. When the play began, he fired off the line of scrimmage with a wicked right step and locked up with the blocker. He bent his knees and then watched the quarterback hand the ball off to the running back, who took the handoff and looked to run downhill. Williams wasn’t going to be having any of it; he separated from the blocker, nimbly moved parallel to the line of scrimmage, and dived forward to bring down the runner.

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It’s fascinating how opinions differ on former Syracuse offensive tackle Justin Pugh and his arm length. His arms are only 32 inches long, which is shorter than ideal (33-34 inches) for his position. That lack of length has led to many debating whether or not Pugh can play on the edge, where he’ll face endlessly long and speedy pass-rushers on a weekly basis. Jerry Reese, the New York Giants general manager who drafted him, isn’t concerned.

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Archive for the ‘The Tape Never Lies’ Category

The Tape Never Lies: Dashon Goldson’s play will determine how much Tampa’s secondary improves

Posted by Alen Dumonjic under Dashon Goldson, Tampa Bay BuccaneerS, The Tape Never Lies on May 23, 2013

The Tape Never Lies: Armond Armstead’s upside is through the roof

Posted by Alen Dumonjic under New England Patriots, The Tape Never Lies on May 21, 2013

The Tape Never Lies: Wes Welker in Denver will look a lot like Wes Welker in New England

Posted by Alen Dumonjic under Denver Broncos, Peyton Manning, The Tape Never Lies, Wes Welker on May 16, 2013

The Tape Never Lies: If he’s used correctly, Martellus Bennett will be a great asset for Marc Trestman

Posted by Alen Dumonjic under Martellus Bennett, The Tape Never Lies on May 14, 2013

The Tape Never Lies: D.J. Hayden could become a shutdown corner quickly

Posted by Alen Dumonjic under Oakland Raiders, The Tape Never Lies on May 09, 2013

The Tape Never Lies: The king-sized Brandon Williams will clog up running lanes for the Ravens

Posted by Alen Dumonjic under Baltimore Ravens, The Tape Never Lies on May 07, 2013

The Tape Never Lies: Justin Pugh is uncharacteristically patient

Posted by Alen Dumonjic under 2013 NFL draft, The Tape Never Lies on May 03, 2013

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