Audible: Pennington in 2006
Posted on May 16th, 2006 by Bassett
Some things never change… Looking back to 5/16/2005, here was an Audible I posted. As I read it, I chuckled to think that here we are, a year later and some things are still the same.
I want to hear what your opinions are on Chad Pennington and his prospects for 2005 2006. Some ideas to get your mind going:
- Do you believe he will be ready for September?
- Do you think that he can stay healthy for the whole season?
- How will
Heimerdinger'sSchottenheimer's new scheme affect his play? - Is he capable of a career year (statistically)?
How do you feel about the fact that Brady is basically making the same money?- How will he fare if Curtis can't stay healthy?
Filed under: Audible, Main Page
Chad and his chicken wing are done.
1) There is so little information, that its hard to tell. Ready implies a lot of things — arm strength, physical conditioning, and knowledge of the game plan and playbook. I think its safe to say his physical conditioning and knowledge will be there. Only time will tell with arm strength. I firmly believe he will do everything within his power to be as strong as possible, but its anyone's guess if that will be enough.
2) We have no reason to believe he has this ability. Its a shame, too. Heard an analyst make an interesting comparison to Steve Young re: his injuries: Young had injury after injury his first few years. At some point, he finally “got it” and managed to find ways to stay healthy. Granted, Young did things that Penny never will in terms of downfield running but the point is Chad's exuberance to make a big play has gotten him into trouble in the past. Hopefully, FO has built a better supporting cast around him than he's had in a while and he won't feel the need to force things and risk injury.
Lets be honest, the offensive line play last year was horrendous and really did us in before we could get started. So much was put on Chad's weak arm, but KC and JAX were shredding our line in those two games. I still contend that not only was he not physically storng enough to be starting game 1 last year, both the OL, WRs, and the QB had no clue how to run the Hermerdinger system. This set up dangerous pass protection situations, miscues at the line (remember all those fumbles?), passes thrown where the receiver should have been when the receiver read the defense differently than the QB. It was too complex, too soon, and in a way to hostile environment. Did the KC defense “load-up” sure. Was it because Chad has a weak arm? No. Ever see the Replacements? If not, watch it and think about Shane Falco's line about quicksand. That was our entire 2005 campaign.
3) I expect a lot of back to basics stuff this year, regardless of who is at the helm. There will be some risks, and some trickery, but expect play-action passing, tough TE blocking, plenty of safe screens, and a lot of straight ahead running. I'm hoping for and expecting the coaching staff to use this as a year to build confidence and teach young staff to compete in the NFL. As a result, I expect the offensive and defensive schemes to be dumbed down. Therefore, yes, I expect anyone including Chad to be successful in the new offensive scheme. I just don't expect him to do much barn-burning.
4) Yards? No. TDs? No. But TD/INT ratio? Yes. Completion percentage? Yes. See #3. Expect high-percentage back to basics football with occasional trickery and risk-taking.
5) Curtis isn't the safety net he once was. That said, he certainly does take some pressure off any QB. I think most importantly is the need for the OL to stay healthy and implement the blocking scheme that Schott draws up. I expect simplified zone blocking, utilizing power at the point of match ups and often dropping into max protect with a blocking TE and FB, and putting a good amount of weight on the receivers to run good routes and get open. TE/FB release from a block is signal to QB to get rid of ball and safety valve to do so.
Frankly, I don't care if we're 3-13 or 6-10 or whatever if they compete and look like they belong in the NFL. Scenes from that KC game will forever be etched in my mind. I've seen teams get beat badly before, but we made a lousy defense look like a swarming pack of hungry dogs.
It's a shame the comments from that one could not have been preserved in the move to TJB v2.0 as I'm pretty sure I'll just be repeating everything I said then.
I love Chad and as long as he is on the team, I'll believe in him. He has had back luck but works his butt off, lays it all on the line and has a great attitude.
When healthy (yeah, I know…hardly ever) he has proven he can move a team up and down the field and deliver in the clutch and the only times he has ever been unable to do that he's been (a) less than 100%, (b) shackled by overly conservative and predictable playcalling or (c) having to force it because the team is coming from behind (usually because of (a) or (b)).
Chad won me over a long time ago with his infectious spirit. Should he be the starter? Not unless he outperforms the other candidates (all of whom are better than Brooks Bollinger – except Brooks Bollinger). Should he play if his arm is in the same state as last year? No. But until he's told he won't play, he won't give up and so neither will I.
Even if he doesn't play, Pennington is an asset to the team. Whatever happens, I'm glad he'll be around a bit longer.
Specifically…
1. Yes, (moreso than last year)
2. Yes, especially with a better OL (and the fact he's added weight is always a good sign – that may have been the key to Abe staying healthy last year).
3. I haven't a clue. Maybe AP is correct and it will be simpler. Anything's better than Hackett (if anyone tries to refute this I warn you, I will go off on an alarming tangent).
4. If he stays healthy then the numbers will follow. If he never matches the rating from 2002, he could still go on to have a great career – that was some run of games.
5. Although you crossed it out, at least we managed to recoup some of that money. It's a shame the guaranteed money is irrecoverable, but at the time it was still market value. Plenty of bigger deals have been made to guys that just don't happen to have gotten hurt, I guess. Luckily the cap situation has proved manageable.
6. We should have a decent enough running game even without Martin (although I still do believe he will be the feature back).
Of course this may prove to be a load of bull. Bassett can pull this thread out when he asks the same set of questions in 12 months time and you can all laugh at me then.
Man, is it slow! I thought it was interesting that the media was essentially locked out of Sunday's rookie camp and that there was no real wrap-up of the weekend.
Seems to have translated to the blog here — only the hardcore are coming by on any regular basis to check for anything. How long till training camp again? Two and a half months. Ugh. So anyway –
1. If he's not ready for September, after an extended rehab, I think the chances of him ever being the #1 QB on this team again are slim.
2. Yes . . . if he's holding a clipboard. All players get dinged up during the year — he just has to learn to minimize the damage, i.e. hookslide a yard short of the 1st down and get it another time rather than dive forward, get it now and risk a significant hit.
3. As Bent says, until we know what Schott's offense will look like, who knows? If it is like San Diego's, however, then he should do very well — he's great at play action and is very accurate in the short game. He is also very good at going through numerous progressions and finding the open receiver — especially if he has a better line and therefore, a better running game.
4. I'm going to go against convention and say yes, he is capable of having a career year simply because of their weak schedule. I also think at this point, it looks to me like the AFC East is not as good — Pats are down a notch because of their FA losses, and I think neither Miami or Buffalo had a particularly great off-season and big questions at QB — Losman? Nall? A recovering Culpepper (who looked lost without Moss before the injury)? Marcus Vick? I'm not sold on any of them.
5. I hate to say it because he was hurt (and I worship the guy), but once Martin went out last year, the running game seemed to improve a bit. I think Chad's productivity will have to do more with the improvement of the line than Martin's direct health — good line play generally leads to a productive running game (no matter who's back there — see Denver, KC, Pitt), and therefore opens up the passing game.
Everyone is quick to knock Hackett, but he played the game to hide the weaknesses the Jets had. He did a good job. They ran shorter routes on 3rd down because he knew Chad does not have the arm to challenge teams in passing situations. The had a lot of passes to the running backs because of that too. Chad might be able to win you some games in a west coast, play action based, or run oriented offense. But never in an offense that relies on the pass like Martz or Hiemerdinger or any other type of pass oriented offense.
I think we have many things to look forward to with the next season. It will be interesting to see how the o-line jels with the 2 rookies. More than likely, it will take at least have the season before the learning curve takes hold; however, at least we have a somewhat soft schedule based upon last year's performance.
The more I read about Clemens and Washington, the more excited I become about those two picks. Both players could be difference makers, and Clemens could be the steal of the draft.
I love Penny's spirit, but I don't have any expectations regarding his return. I would still prefer to have a qb at the helm with some strength in his throws instead of the “touch pass”. With Penny and Ramsey, Clemens will have some time to mature and learn the pro game.
Don't forget, we still have a fast, young defense. Hopefully, we can stop the run this year and get that defense off the field.
I forgot to mention something. I believe Hackett was and still in the QB coach in Tampa Bay. Well, he did no wrong there last year, maybe other people say he is not the one to credit, but he cannot be blamed for anything there.
Rich,
I have always wondered , and i do have my opinion, but who is responsible for not inserting Lamont Jordan in the game more?
I think it is Herman Edwards, he is a loyal coach who stands by his players that he favorties. We all know he loves curtis and chad. I believe he was responsible, although i am not 100 percent sure. But what i said before I still do not think chad was hit that hard or suffered any tantalizing blows that caused his injury
Tommy