http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/07/29/mmqb/index.html Really good MMQB as he tours around the league in training camps. Not a bunch of Dolphins stuff obviously but some interesting notes and some sort of Dolphins-related (indirectly) stuff. 1. Re-visiting Joe Philbin versus Mike McCoy... The Dolphins did not make the wrong choice, IMO. But it's interesting that Peyton seems to like and respect McCoy so much. Ironic actually that Steve Ross and Jeff Ireland wanted Peyton Manning so much after they'd just hired Joe Philbin instead of Mike McCoy. 2. Re-visiting other Draft possibilities... Nick Toon was a guy that got a ton of pre-2011 hype, rated a 1st rounder and whatnot. I felt a lot of it was underserved, not based on good reasons. But then his stock went in the gutter and I felt that was even more over-done. He was definitely a guy I thought would have fit exactly what Joe Philbin likes in a receiver. It's nice to see he's already turning some heads. 3. Re-visiting the pursuit of Peyton Manning... During the whole Peyton Manning saga, a few of us were pretty vocal in our disapproval of the idea of paying Peyton a huge amount of money. There was supposedly a lot of medical people on Peyton's side suggesting how healthy he is and would be, but some of us were skeptical about some of the hedging in their words, qualifying statements, etc...put together with some opinions from other doctors who have expressed doubt. Personally, I don't like bad bets, and Jim Irsay made a $20+ million bad bet on Peyton when he signed him to a deal in 2011. Peyton took that money and never performed. I'm not saying Peyton should have given the money back or refused to sign a deal or whatever. I'm just looking at it from mile high and saying...I don't like that. I'm not going to lose $20+ million on a horse that another owner just lost $20 million on. That's my choice. But this news from King is pretty significant. Peyton was supposed to be on this fast track to wellness. After a point when nerve regeneration had supposedly started to take place, he was supposed to be getting better every day, every week, quickly and only a matter of time. Fast forward to August and training camp and he's still limited. Still can't rip it. Still frustrated. Still not throwing deep. Perhaps I'll regret this when he's leading the Denver Broncos on a championship run, but I for one am glad that the storylines that we're all obsessed with are surrounding whether Ryan Tannehill is improving fast enough to start now, or if we should start David Garrard or Matt Moore...rather than "when are Peyton's nerves finally going to be regenerated?" I don't think he would have led the Dolphins to a division championship, maybe not even a playoff run, with the Dolphins' current cast of players, especially knowing that Brandon Marshall was never going to play with Peyton Manning in Miami as Joe Philbin had already made that decision. 4. Re-visiting Russell Wilson...and Ryan Tannehill... I know some people here really loved Russell Wilson, perhaps even more than Ryan Tannehill. The stat about getting passes batted down isn't going to help. King followed with a table that showed Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Brandon Weeden, Robert Griffin and Ryan Tannehill's batted passes. Luck and Wilson had 2 each. Weeden and Griffin had 8 and 9, respectively. Tannehill had 19. The percentages were 0.5%, 0.6%, 1.4%, 2.2% and 3.6%. Needs improvement. 5. Peter King in Miami.... This Wednesday. There for a day, then off to Tampa on Thursday. 6. The free agent pool.... And on that note... I agree. What he can still do in the red zone is valuable. You just have to do a good job evaluating what he's good at still and what he's not good at, and make sure you use him accordingly. Bonus: Unrelated...but dickish, nonetheless... He's a journalist doing his job. Get over it, guys.
I think what's happening with Burress is teams are thinking he should be a cheap 8 TDs while he's thinking his 8 TDs earned him a good paycheck.
I would not talk with King either, he is one of those chubby media types who matches self righteousness with a soap box about a sport he more then likely never played on any level.
Peter King isn't a journalist, he's a mouthpiece whose job is directly dependent on him being an inoffensive toady.
IMO, that isn't anything to make much ado over. Peyton liked and respected Tom Moore in Indy too. If Peyton did not like or respect his OC or position coach I also do not think he is someone who'd make any overtures that would allow outsiders to know it.
PFF will be at Miami this Wednesday too.... I am looking forward to their report. http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/07/20/camp-tour-2012/
How much King played or did not personally play any sports on any level has nothing to do with his ability as a sports journalist or how much his opinion should be respected...or not. Doug Blevins for example, never kicked a football in his life, but he has obviously been a well respected kicking coach. Consider the other side of the coin too. Jamie Dukes for example, played in the NFL, and he is obviously a joke as sports media personality.
I'm still pulling for Plaxico to Miami. We could use a reliable red zone target. Even though we had an inept coach last year, we also had no consistent go-to guy in the red zone. Plax can be that guy.
Jabberwocky, if one has played the game one understands it far better then some pudge ball dumb *** pontificating about the evils of exactly how violent it is and what goes on in the locker room. For example Reggie Bush posted a pic of a shredded shin from a cleat, blood everywhere, it was training camp, think pudge ball knows a thing about that via experience? Château Journalist at best.
Ok, that's cool. You can keep on listening to those former players like Jamie Dukes, and I'll listen to Peter King. Besides just because he is now a pudgy middle aged man, I'd say it is a save guess you have no actual idea how much he personally participated in any organized sports. You were just looking for something to go off on him about.
I don't get the hate for Peter King, and I know it's prevalent. The man is just a darn good reporter and writer, in my opinion. I don't always agree with him, but I find his opinions are well-thought-out about 90% of the time.
Not only that but it's one thing to question how much football knowledge he has...I get that...but to suggest that the man can't write? Seriously? The portion in the article where he tells you which players will produce and which not, I understand if people want to take that with a grain of salt. He's infamously wrong on a lot of those. But he does good reporting, writes well, and works pretty hard.
Peter King is probably as good as it gets when it comes to journalists covering football. If you just had people with football experience covering the game, it would get very boring. His role certainly has its place, and he does it extremely well.
Not to mention most NFL players don't analyze positions they didn't play any better than the average fan IMO.
Was actually star running back for Arlen High. Took 'em to State before I snapped my ankle in the game I tell you what.
If you ask me, the best guys to get straight football info from are usually coaches or executives that are fresh out of the league. Mike Lombardi used to have all sorts of great insight when he started writing. Since then I've noticed somewhat of a decline in his quality, presumably because he just has been away from the league for so long.
I still don't understand how anyone can take Jamie Dukes seriously. He makes Warren Sapp look intelligent.
BTW ... Peter King's Twitter feed (@SI_PeterKing) is pretty entertaining too. Not nearly as entertaining as @drastrozoom, but YMMV.
1) McCoy has some weird personality quirks that might get him into trouble as a HC (like announcing he was the favored choice 48 hrs before they chose someone else, for example). Whether that personality quirk is something that Peyton can deal with remains to be seen. He's the king in Denver, so if there's issues, it won't fall on his neck (pardon the pun)... We can't really say that McCoy is/would have been a better choice because a) he's not a HC and b) Philbin gets at least a bit more time than 6 months of his first offseason to start hanging him in effigy... What will be telling will be that if Peyton really does have issues with his arm for this season (or the rest of his career), how long will it take McCoy to start the blame game ?? Can they co-exist if things are not going so well for them ?? Foxy is a pretty strong coach who can control his team, not in a Rex Ryan way, but in a Bill Parcells way without the mouth... How well he controls his staff if things start to go south is key. McCoy likely expects he's in line for a shot next offseason somewhere, but if things don't go well this year in Denver, given his personality, how much clash will there be with King Peyton....??? Good point for King to bring up though... 3) Agree on Peyton, I was in that camp too. Just how much will he have lost (since everyone seems to agree there will be a percentage lost) and how will that affect his ability going forward. No one questions the drive, the knowledge or the intangibles that makes Peyton...Peyton...how much will the physical restraints affect his style of play...he can't live on the short passing game, I don't think his mind will let him...in fact, bringing up Philbin, his offense is more suited to guy with physical restraints than McCoy's or Foxy's for that matter. I enjoy watching Manning play, but it'll be very interesting to see how this pans out for him and how he takes it...he's not very patient, as guys with that kind of talent simply aren't patient anyway... In the words of the immortal Brat Scott...."Can't wait!"
So I guess he does have one redeeming quality in his job. Seems like a pleasant enough fellow. Maybe someone ya wouldn't mind having a few beers with or hanging out at a titty bar. But he is terrible in his role on NFLN.
