Rich Gannon wasn't Kurt Warner...Warner was an unknown that they signed out of desperation...Rich Gannon was in the league 12 years before hitting the jackpot and landing on a team so good, any professional level QB would have looked good...that is my point
Good call. You said it before I could...Charlie Garner made that offense go. He was highly underrated RB. Great hands. Somebody mentioned Kurt Warner. So if he gets mentioned with Gannon, then Marshall Faulk can be mentioned with Charlie Garner, because that's what Charlie was. A poor man's Marshall Faulk.
An extremely poor man's... Like, he is so far into his bookie that hitting the Powerball wouldn't even cover the vig.
He certainly didn't have the longevity. I understand there's only one Marshall Faulk...But for that one or two magical seasons, Garner was the "do it all" RB that fit the Raiders like a glove. Gannon relied heavily on him, just as Warner did with Marshall....Garner was fantasy football gold for a short period, especially in PPR formats. 1999 was an amazing year for me in fantasy football. It started out like a nightmare when I lost my top RB (Jamaal Anderson) and QB (Testaverde) to season ending injuries on opening day....I picked up an unknown QB in Kurt Warner, and my backfield of Edgerrin James and Stephen Davis more than picked up the slack. My flex player (Charlie Garner) was my secret weapon, and a key contributor in a dominant run to the championship...
He played 11 seasons so there really was some longevity. He just only had two seasons worth mentioning. Faulk only played one more than Garner but we all know what he accomplished in those 12 years. Really can't compare the two but he was really good for a couple years. EDIT: Having said that nearly 11,000 all purpose yards is nothing to sneeze at. The guy had a good career.
My argument was if AB *IS* the best, he's the best whether or not Ben is "on". Who cares though, I will take this bet.
Antonio Brown has 7 touchdowns against the Cleveland Browns in his career (12 games). Even discounting your quarterback's sluggishness to start seasons and the likelihood they played a couple times in Week 17 with the Steelers resting starters, it's highly improbable.
^^^^^ @gidion72 Antonio Brown (career split per game): 9.75 targets, 7.17 catches, 109.33 yards, 0.58 touchdowns That's five Week 17 games and two Week 1 games - three of those Week 17 games he played the entirety. If he matches the success he's had against Cleveland, we're looking at: 20 targets, 14 catches, 219 yards, and 1-2 touchdowns. I'm so confident in Ward that I'll make the bet against those numbers (and you can throw out the targets/catches if you want): 219 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The whole reason I posted what I did is you guys keep saying Ward is going to shut Brown down, but fail to realize that nobody can shut Brown down. Ben force feeds him the ball whether he is open or not and Brown usually makes the catch whether he is open or not. The problem most of us Steelers fans have is when Ben is forcing the ball to him other WRs are wide open and he is acting like they don’t exist. When Ben misses a game Brown’ Totals drop because the backup QBs are afraid to force the ball to him.
I wouldn't blame Ben for looking Brown's way early and often. The guy finds a way more times than not, to make a play. I just think we have a guy in Denzel Ward that can slow him down a bit. You know, give Myles that extra second he needs to slam Ben to the turf a couple times during the game. Once Ward makes a couple plays on Ben, that hesitation will naturally come. We have a dawg that we can put on your best guy, and he will compete. Things aren't gonna be the 'same ol, same ol" for Antonio when he faces the Cleveland Browns. That's all I'm sayin...
I watched some film on Ward..he plays a lot of press bail technique unless that was the Ohio St philosophy
So to recap: AB IS THE BEST WR IN THE GAME RIGHT NOW AND NOBODY CAN SHUT HIM DOWN* *unless his QB is not healthy, his QB is not on, it is the first game of the season, it is the last game of the season, if he is force fed the ball Again, the best WR should be able to put up stats whether or not his QB is hitting on all cylinders. OBJ has Eli Manning throwing hot trash at him and he doesn't have a problem. I know the "but he's a Super Bowl winning QB" line is going to come out, but Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson won Super Bowls. Hell, Terry Bradshaw was multiple and he was garbage/overrated too.
ABs Game 1 last year was pretty nice: 193 yds on 11 catches including a back-breaker in triple coverage. Not bad, considering all that off-season rust. The Browns were spared a second round of embarrassment, as he sat out the second matchup. Bring on the rookie and put him on AB... should be a fun watch.
Ward will not shadow Brown...you don’t put a rookie in that position is his 1st NFL game vs the best WR in the game...Williams is asking for BIG trouble w that thinking...they move Brown all around the formations and Ward will be put in spots he’s not used to playing...book it
Fixed it. Also, if he is worthy of being the starter on day 1, especially over a pretty decent group of talent, then yes, you sure as hell consider having him shadow the 1.
It IS tOSU way. It has been the subject of discussion in many interviews. Same as they believe to play the man, not the ball. Press man bail was especially prevalent in the second half of games and almost exclusive when they got a lead. Watch every first quarter of every Buckeye game to see his skill set in actual press man though. He was in it quite a bit early on in games when they were setting the offense up. Maybe not game one against PBurgh, I agree... At least to start the game. That would be a tall order, but Gregg Williams has said as much that they believe he has the skill set to eventually bring that to their defense, which will open up options in scheming.
