Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Mike Preston is a moron

In this episode of Mike Preston is a moron

Well first let me say that I've been disappointed in material from Preston's columns for the past several months. Either he's getting smarter or I'm getting dumber. I thought his columns from this past season pretty much all made sense. It's gotten so bad, that I'm thinking of retiring this feature. This little tidbit is a slim reed to hang on; but football season is coming up, and I think Preston deserves some more chances.

In this episode of Mike Preston is a moron,
Mike argues that Mark Clayton can still produce for the Ravens:

Clayton's best position is in the slot
Clayton, though, can still be productive if the Ravens use him wisely. ... The Ravens have to use him just like they use running back Ray Rice. They need to get Clayton the ball in space, and let him run. He can be an elusive runner in the open field, and can be productive if Cameron uses him properly in the slot.
Wait, what? Slot receivers operate in space? Don't slot receivers operate in the most crowded part of the field: where all the D-linemen and linebackers are? The way Wes Welker of the Patriots works? Wasn't Mark Clayton more likely to operate "in space" when he was lined up on the outside as one of the wideouts?

I guess you can see where Preston is going with this. Clayton can make plays if you can get him the ball on short dump-offs etc and let him run; as opposed to running deep patterns against cornerbacks. But geez, if you're going to be a professional writer, can't you spend an extra couple of sentences to make clear to the reader what you're thinking? I can't be around all the time to bail you out, Mike.

1 comment:

  1. LOL...

    Interestingly, most of Clayton's most successful plays have been deep routes where he beat his man (and actually caught the ball). I can remember one short pass he took on the Eagles for 77 yards or something like that where crossing defenders both overplayed the ball and there was no deep help. But the rest have all been long balls.

    This is almost a redux of a huge argument I was in last year with the Ravens discussion board (profootball24x7.com) around Clayton and his productivity. Ironically I probably expect bigger things from him now, while most of the board thinks we'll get nothing from him; vs. last year where some on the board had high expectations vs. me thinking he'd do pretty much exactly what he did in '09.

    Clayton is one of those guys who's a great option as a #4 receiver, a solid #3, but he can't be anything more than that. He should be lined up outside when he's on the field, but generally he should be able to thrive when up against a #3 or #4 CB/DB.

    "Thrive" is a relative term here. In the Ravens offense, where they'll have two good 1/2 options at receiver, a deep threat third option, terrific running game, are three-deep at TE for receiving options in an offense that doesn't throw much to start with, Clayton's chances are going to be very limited. But I do expect that when he sees the field, he should be able to produce pretty well. 300-400 yards and a couple TDs seems like it'd be a solid year from a #4 receiver...

    ReplyDelete

About This Blog

Twitter: oblong_spheroid

  © Blogger templates The Professional Template by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP