When watching these preseason games... (1 Viewer)

[Ministry of Pain]

I have some suggestions for the folks that seem to be very caught up in these preseason games. I understand most are just excited to see live balls in the air but the analysis and overreaction to many of the events here in the preseason is going to hurt a lot of you.

-It's preseason. Most of the defenses and offenses are running a lot of vanilla plays and are not trying that hard. No reason to get too over the top about guys that catch a lot of balls with the 2nd and 3rd teams. It's nice and we all want to spot the up and coming star but at a point you have to be realistic.

-I find that guys that do get a lot of carries at RB tend to be guys that HC are going to cut. You will see some 3rd or 4th or 5th string tailback rip off 15/85/TD in the 2nd half and all of a sudden everyone starts talking about a decrease in touches for Adrian Peterson. Seriously folks, most of the guys with shining preseason stats are likely to be cut.

-I would watch preseason games next week and the 1st half of week 3 which is the real indicator for what might take place when the season opens. Week 4 is a complete waste of time as players and coaches just want to get to the regular season with no injuries.

This was mostly for the noobs, for many I am preaching to the choir, but a refresher is always good too.

Anything else you find ridiculous in the preseason?

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Anything else you find ridiculous in the preseason?

Kyle Orton's performance?

 

[switz]

Anything else you find ridiculous in the preseason?

Kyle Orton's performance?

I think that was the point of the OP. I didn't see the game. I doubt most ppl saw the game. Basing anything on stats in the preseason is silly. Week 3 if the QB is still way off, then worry.

 

[DawnBTVS]

Anything else you find ridiculous in the preseason?

The importance weighted upon who's starting with the first team, second team, etc. Often times, coaches just want to see what a player has (or wants to see how they look with a "better"/"worse" set of players around them). Also, I think many forget that injuries/players sitting allow guys to get 1st or 2nd team reps when they ordinarily wouldn't. An example would be Julian Edelman's time on the field, due to Wes Welker not playing.

 

[smackthefirst]

-I find that guys that do get a lot of carries at RB tend to be guys that HC are going to cut. You will see some 3rd or 4th or 5th string tailback rip off 15/85/TD in the 2nd half and all of a sudden everyone starts talking about a decrease in touches for Adrian Peterson. Seriously folks, most of the guys with shining preseason stats are likely to be cut. -I would watch preseason games next week and the 1st half of week 3 which is the real indicator for what might take place when the season opens. Week 4 is a complete waste of time as players and coaches just want to get to the regular season with no injuries.

I agree with the majority of your post, but I don't think you necessarily need to jump all the way to the conclusion that "most guys with shining stats in the preseason are likely to be cut". While I see what you were getting at, I think that everyone needs to look at where the stats came from as the most important indicator. While a 4th string RB going against 3rd string defenders who puts up nice numbers is a possible roster cut casualty, I still think that some preseason performances can be a good indicator for what could happen during the regular season. I think some of the poorer teams with a lot of unknowns and a lot of the rookies are what you need to review during the preseason. A guy like Schilens impressed me in his one preseason game thus far and he's far from someone I would consider a potential roster cut casualty. However, I do agree that people shouldn't be running out to anoint someone like Lattimore as the Cowboy RB to have simply because he was the most productive RB during their first game.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Another one that I can classify in this thread is camp notes.

Look folks, these reporters and writers get paid to report the news. They are not going to just write that the Miami Dolphins came out, practiced for 90 minutes, then went inside took a warm shower, got int heir fancy cars and went home. It has to be about Duriel harris catching a ball in traffic behind Don McNeal while he was streaking down the sidelines. Or Delvin Williams running over AJ Duhe in the middle of the running drills. This stuff means NOTHING.

Let me explain...I play tennis and I go to what are called clinics where I can hit the ball up the line, crosscourt, overhead smash...you put me into a real match though and I play a little differently. Doing it in practice is one thing and doing it on the field is another. I prefer to look and go with guys that have shown they can do it or at least flashed something when their number has been called.

Just remmeber that a lot of camp notes and stories are just to sell a newspaper or fulfill job contracts these writers have. They get paid tocover these teams, most of the time the beat writers are not going to start off with soemthing like...I anticipate a 4-12 season with little to cheer about. Instead they drum up stories on the RB2, the WR6, the TE4 that is likely to be cut...just be aware of what you are reading...like right now.