5 Woverines make ESPN Legends All Star Team
Cousins over Robinson for QB?!
That's a silly choice for obvious reasons. But even trying to follow his own logic makes no sense. I assume the reason he left Robinson off is because of accuracy issues -- he wants a QB he feels wlil get the ball to his "stud" WRs without getting picked off or making an errant through.
While I'd argue Denard's ability on the ground more than makes up for this, even if you wanted to follow that logic Dan Persa is far superior to Cousins. Persa had the highest accuracy in the Big Ten last year and made 1st team honors in the coaches poll (Robinson of course 1st team in the AP vote). If you want a pure passer how can you not vote for Persa ahead of Cousins?
cousins is a year older doing basically the same thing he was good at last year, same with persa. denard, while electrifying, has many more questions at this point with a new system and, i think, having to prove himself against some of the more stout big ten teams. also, qbs get a lot more cred when they win, which, sadly...
totally different by seasons end.
Brian Bennett has a lot of time on his hands.
Exactly. You know wouldn't want Denard to take off and make everyone look bad in an all star game! What a tool!
I mean, why do you need an awesome QB, when the rest of your team is awesome? That logic makes no sense, unless you are constrained by a salary cap.
When I first saw that he had picked Cousins as the QB, I thought "Well, I disagree with him there, but I can respect that choice." I figured Bennett must have thought Cousins has some great intangibles or leadership qualities or something--or maybe just that he figured any QB who can go 12-1 with the Spartans must be a freak.
But then I read his explanation, and realized he is a complete idiot.
does not mean accuracy. For example, you can underthrow a WR but the WR still caught the ball anyway by reaching down near the ground with no one around him. Is it an accurate throw? No, but it brings up the completion percentage by a few %. Or if a QB throws a perfect strike to a streaking WR down the sideline only to see the WR drop an easy one. Is it an accurate throw? Yes but his drop counts against his completion percentage. Or if a QB throws a perfect placement on WR's backshoulder with CB all over the WR where only WR can catch the ball or the ball hits the ground. The WR got distracted with the CB's hand tangling that he didn't get his hands out quick enough. That is considered an accurate throw but doesn't count as a completion percentage.
Some of the examples tells you why completion percentage doesn't necessarily tells the whole story about QB's accuracy. Some QBs plays in a QB friendly system where they do a lot of quick passes/bubble screen where there always will be a high completion percentage because of low risk throws. Some QBs plays in a pro-style offense where there's more high risk throws that it's not usually conductive to high completion percentage.
As for Denard, even though he has a pretty good completion percentage last year, but he's not an accurate thrower. There are some throws that weren't accurate but were caught anyway by the WR. On the same token, he was a victim of WR drops but every QBs have WRs dropping the ball anyway. Denard's mechanics needs work and mechanics tends to go hand in hand with accuracy. Also, Denard plays in a system where it's conductive to have high completion percentage. He still has ways to go as a QB, but that doesn't take away a fantastic season he had last year.
Sounds to me like Cousins was on the receiving end of a back-handed compliment.
crack is a dangerous drug
I don't get why peeps like their subs either.
I did enjoy him ribbing Rittenberg for being a Cubs fan though.
Denard snub, not so much.
Did you mean Big Ten East?
Big Ten West.
Not too many national writers have given him the credit he deserves, at least not that I've seen. Lewan may be our most talented lineman, and he's not even included (though to be fair, he was only a RS frosh last year). Should be a very good OL this year
Still not used to the division names yet. When I saw "ESPN Legends All Star Team" I assumed we were talking historical all stars, not from the Legends division.
Regardless, I was still surprised to see Denard off the list. Maybe I'm a homer, but I would easily pick Denard and even Persa over Cousins.
That is exactly what I thought. I think part of me just keeps trying to forget that fact that these are the actual names. In all honesty I can't even bring myself to say the words in my head let alone out loud. Sadly, I don't think that is going to change the braintrust of the B1G.
I think that "braintrust" is suffering from too many concussions.
He's a moran. And a maroon. You didn't expect anything sensible.
Far too many dropped balls for me to put on any All-Star list.
I question your presence for that comment. 900+ yards and dropped some balls. it becomes a mental game when you drop balls, its not that you suck its just that you start thinking about it too much and trying too hard
Nowhere did I say that Roundtree "sucked." I simply said I wouldn't put him on an All-star squad. There is a vast difference between the two statements. He's a good receiver, but is that the qualification for "All-Star"?
Maybe it's the nomenclature. If Bennett had called the list the "Legends Division FIrst Team" rather than "All-Star" I might not have had the reaction I did to Roundtree's being on the list.
To me, a true "All-Star"—regardless of sport—is somebody who is extremely reliable, especially in pressure situations. Based only on his past performance, I don't think Roundtree is quite in that category. Maybe this season he'll find a way to catch the kinds of throws he dropped last year.
Yeah, he might have the dropsies sometimes, but who else in the Legends division are you going to put there? Only Ebert had more yards amongst returning WRs than Roundtree last year. I'm not sold on any of the MSU receivers being better than Roy. Damarlo Belcher is probably the only other one I would consider, and he had 100 fewer yards and 3 fewer TDs.
I'm glad to see Martin ahead of Worthy, I think Martin is going to have a killer year with a new system coming in. No doubt Sparty will be fuming over that, much like our beef with Cousins over Robinson.
I don't see the 1st round hype on Worthy. He's a good DT but not 1st round good. Martin is stronger at POA and is just as quick as Worthy. I don't see any explosion or quickness from him.
I suspect Denard will be the 6th Woverine by year's end, and at least the 6th Wolverine.