That was a strange, snarky comment by the writer. He is claiming that 21 voters chose Pouncey because of some bias?
21 people who voted thought he was the best center last year. Whether you agree or not is immaterial. That read to me like sour grapes by the writer, but I have no idea why that vote would upset him.
I am not in the “Pouncy is the best center in the NFL” camp, but he is a valuable anchor for the Steelers O-line. He will be missed. One of the reasons why he gets rolled up on seemingly every year is because he is athletic and gets out in front of the runner and up field a lot further than other centers. He is (when healthy) a VERY good player.
Tuitt is the injury that really bothers me. That defense is not very good, and the first GB drive is what I envision many Steeler defensive efforts will look like. Rodgers carved them up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Tuitt was a player I thought would have a break-out season, and he needed to for that defense to have a chance. Without him, I think they struggle. They have no depth on defense, and losing a starter for who knows how long is not good.
Gradkowski, while not a good injury, is not going to make a huge difference (IMO) in the scheme of things. Ben is the only real QB on the roster. If he goes down, the season is over anyway. And this will highlight again why I like the “draft a QB each year” philosophy. Landry Jones looks so bad… I know he had 2 TD’s yesterday, but that was against GB’s 3rd team and inferior talent. He is not a good QB, and unless he is awesome in camp and practice, I just don’t see anything there. I hope I am wrong, but more importantly, I hope we never have to face Ben going down to injury.
In my experience, anyone who dares to comment that a player may be overrated, is automatically accused of some kind of bias or “Sour grapes” (or even of “being a prick”) by the more … rabid … fans of that players team. Even if said fan has no idea why.
Pouncey has made the Pro Bowl every year of his NFL career, with the exception of his injury year. He made it in 2010, despite being the 21st rated center by PFF. He made it in 2011, when he was the 21st rated center by PFF. He made it in 2012, when he was the 13th rated center by PFF. The author could have looked at that track record, and easily concluded that perhaps the accolades thrown his way aren’t always commiserate with his on-field performance.
But God forbid he actually say it. Because apparently that makes you a prick.
The pro bowl for offensive linemen is a joke. Johnathan Ogden made it in his last year where he played like 4 games at a very low level because he was clearly just broken down and his career was over. Name recognition is everything, and strangely enough in this case, it’s not even Maurkice’s (wow that’s an annoying name) that gets the recognition but his brother’s.
Pro bowl voting is fundamentally broken. At least the AP all-pro team has some credibility. Fans don’t know how to evaluate line play, and even other players and coaches won’t do detailed breakdowns on most of the league, so even they go by reputation more than personal experience in most cases.
I agree that Pro Bowl voting is a joke, which is why I linked to the All-Pro team. But hey, let’s discount that, too. Opinions are subjective, even if the voting is overwhelming.
So you say Nick Mangold (or whoever your favorite guy is) is the best center in the league. Cool, he is. It doesn’t matter. That’s not a hill I’m prepared to die on. I’ll simply let the voting speak for itself.
I’ll just note that in the same years Pouncey was 21st, 21st, and 13th best center according to PFF, and he made the Pro Bowl, he was also voted to the All Pro team too. Although in 2010 and 2012, it was only the 2nd team, so maybe that’s progress.
I’ll also point out that that doesn’t change the fact that your dismissal of his point out of hand and calling him a prick for daring suggest a Steeler might be over-rated is silly and pure homerism.
Not at all. And if you read my post, you’d see I don’t think Pouncey is the greatest center in the NFL.
But this wasn’t the Pro Bowl. I thought it was an All-Pro team vote, and 21 people chose Pouncey over every other choice.
If you want to quote PFF stats, that is fine by me… But then, why have a voting system at all? Just pick the players that finish first on some statistics website, and you have your team. I’m sure it will be a pretty good team, but the question then becomes what stats (and website) do you use?
Honestly, I don’t get the attachment/anger/defensive reactions people have to stuff like this. The “my favorite team’s player is better than your favorite team’s player” nonsense is a waste of energy.
I don’t see why the author chose to interject an opinion on Pouncey. I don’t recall seeing any other All-Pro being criticized for being over-rated, or winning the vote at his position. That just seemed strange to me.
I didn’t call anyone a “prick”. If you consider my reaction odd, or I’m being a rabid, homer fan… OK. Go with God.
Just realized this was your post. I don’t know who your favorite team is, but I am sure some searching will turn it up. But I don’t care enough to look. Do you have a love for the Jets? Or Ohio State perhaps? (I think that is where Mangold went, but again, I am not looking it up because I don’t care).
OK, let’s go with Nick Mangold. Where did he finish in the voting?
3rd, behind Travis Frederick, a guy I have personally never heard of. He received twice as many votes as your guy, Mangold.
I don’t know what your expertise is on the subject of evaluating interior lineman play, but assuming you are a fan and nothing more, you have no idea what you are judging. If you played high school football as a lineman, maybe you have some insight. College lineman? A little more.
But I doubt very seriously that when you watch an NFL game, you are focusing your eyes on anything other than the ball. I couldn’t tell you who the best center in the game is simply because I don’t know.
Hell, do you have any idea how tedious it is to go through every NFL play and analyze it? I have some idea. I have a friend who was the Offensive Quality Control guy for an NFL team. He took me into the team facility, and his job was to break down each offensive play for the upcoming week’s opponent. Not exactly exciting work, but each team does it. He sat with a remote control and ran each play back and forth numerous times to record whatever he was tracking on every player. Every play. Over and over.
Fans are watching with their hearts as much as their eyes. That’s what we do.
I’m not dismissing him so much because it’s a Steeler he’s talking about as much as it is the way he said it. Someone must think Pouncey is a good center, otherwise he wouldn’t get any All-Pro votes, but the writer was portraying it as unearned. As an example, look at his comment about the fullback position:
Talk about dismissive. Kuhn does the job he’s asked to do and he does it well. Rather than acknowledging it unreservedly he intimates that it’s not deserved.
He’s right about that part. Kuhn gets probowl votes because people have heard of him. He gets a few carries a game, on the high end for a fullback, and the crowd chants his name which is memorable. He could be the worst fullback in the league and no one would know, and he’d still get voted to the probowl. Hell, he probably would go there just because he had 250 rushing yards that year and the actual best fullback in the league might have 0-50.
This is precisely what I dislike so much of every iteration of this thread. Rather than a discussion of the performance of players, it inexorably devolves into a “you hate him because he’s a Steeler!” or “your team sucks worse”. It’s football idiocy at its worst.
I don’t like Nick Mangold. I don’t like Ohio State. I don’t give a fuck what team he plays for or where he went to college. What I do care about is how he plays on the field. That’s what is important. It’s annoying as hell that anytime someone points out something even slightly negative about someone, it’s immediately and unthinkingly dismissed. It enstupidifies every discussion about football.
Not at all. He was saying that THIS YEAR, it was deserved. He played very well, the best he’s ever played. Which is impressive for a guy who is only 4 year into his career. He played very well.
But that is not good enough for you. The fact he points out that earlier in his career, Pouncey was getting accolades that were not reflective of his actual play on the field is all you focused on. Nevermind that he thinks Pouncey now deserves it, it’s the fact he pointed out that earlier in his career Pouncey got award that weren’t reflective of his actual play, that chaps your hide. He said something that is slightly negative about a Steeler player, no matter that it was true or not, so he must be a prick. Again, the braindead thinking of homerism.
Repeat it all you like. Clap your hands and wish hard enough, and maybe it will become true.
And, as far as John Kuhn goes, he’s a fine player at a disappearing position, and his awards are due more to a lack of fullbacks and name recognition than his actual play on the field. So now that I’ve demeaned a Packer, I must be a prick and hate the Packers too, right?
Well hey, at least he’s not on drugs. :rolleyes:
Seriously, guys are accused of rape, domestic abuse, go to prison for animal abuse, but hey, drugs? You’re out of here!!! (And yes, I know Ben wasn’t charged. It’s the principle of it. Besides, he’s still a colossal asshole.) :dubious:
Yet you have no problem calling someone a prick. I don’t understand the thinking that goes into dismissing an opinion, calling the person who holds that opinion a prick, and then saying you don’t much care about the actual substance of the opinion. It’s just beyond me.
I recognize the futility of arguing an opinion. As soon as I realized that this was something you wanted to win I conceded. Now you’re mad because I won’t continue to fight?