Piper's Precamp Top 53

Muhsin always was the better receiver. Not until injury did his production drop off, and not until a far inferior receivers coach and a different quarterback come along did drops ever become a problem. But at the very least, we're not talking about Fasani being hit shit anymore.

 

Fair enough - but keep in mind, I would have not gotten overly excited about the prospect of Fasani, if I believed we had a franchise QB already. OK, I'll admit Fasani is a greater longshot than Weinke... but hey what do I have to lose by pulling for the guy, after all, I picked Lewis and Craig to do well as Panthers...

 

>>You did not happen to have those yards after catch stats did you?

Not an official stat. Yards PER Catch is a good indication though, particuarly in the WCO. In 99, and 98, his YPC was over 13, a solid rate. In 2000 it dipped, though the few over 30 yard plays we had were his. I've always contended that after Smith hit Buerline's shoulder in the first Washington game, that did in his downfield arm and thus our downfield game for that season. Moose breaks tackles, but when your doubled up and defenses know they are coming to you on a 8 yard slant, your going to get hit. Moose was basically our running game that year. Still, it was 11.6 per catch, and he had over 1100 yards.

In 2001, yeah, he had a bad year. Lots of drops on catches he should have made, and he knows it. Which is why the "casual fan" thinks Moose=drops. Short memories. He needs to get over whatever plauged him last year. One bad year is given, two years is a trend.

Anyway, Moose can, and has broken tackles to make big plays. I remember his 72 yard touchdown, against maybe Atlana?, where he caught the ball, rolled over his man, and scored. He's more of a physical threat YAC than a speed threat, I'll grant you that. We need him to revert to his 1998-2000 form. And if we can ever get that Jeffers like downfield "yang", then we will have a good offense. I'm thinking we may have to wait a year on that, though.

 

Fasani has a much bigger upside than Weinke ever had. Weinke is in his 30's already and is pretty much polished, where as Fasani has development potential through the roof.

Moose is our best WR, but he needs a supporting cast. Jeffers may not be able to fill that role, but Byrd and Smith could easily combine to do so. Byrd is a good posession WR, with him and Moose you have a nice 1-2 for a short passing game. With Smith you have a Tim Dwight type of guy who can just fly down the field.
The big difference between a guy like Dwight and Smith is disipline in routes and hands, but Smith can develop in those areas.
I don't see as much dink and dunk (THANK GOD) w/ this offense. Hennings will take shots down field and that should include Smith in the offensive scheme more often.

 

The annoying thing really isn't your opinion on Fasini, I like his skill set. It's that you got it from a TSN draft brief and started pimping him because he's not Weinke.

It might be better to say you "hope" Fasini can develop, cause you have doubts about Weinke. I liked the Fasini pick myself, because he has the physical tools. Whether he can get consistancy is a big question.

The ironic thing is that the QB Fasini reminds me most of is Rob Johnson.

 

Well, yeah. Weinke came out much more polished, and Fasini is raw. But Weinke has his upside.

Weinke's age doesn't help him, it's irrelevant except for the standpoint that his career won't be as long. Rookie QBs struggle adjusting to the NFL speed, that why I wanted Lewis to start if he could, at least for half a season. The more you watch, the more full speed pratice time you have, the quicker you can adjsut. And when you get thrown to the wolves, you can lose confidence quickly, and can actually set back your development. If Weinke were not so poised, he would not have survived.

Now, going through that and seemingly keeping his confidence up and his teamates respect, Weinke should be now used to the NFL speed and the offensive terminology. We might even let him audible. We really handcuffed him last year, to some bad playcalling on top of it.

Anyway, a lot will depend on Weinke's shoulder. He looked a lot better before he hurt it. His accuracy problems seemed to increase after that.

 

yeah, in that respect, the injury, i wish this was a bit more like hockey and we could, and would be expected to, knock that guys teeth out who put the bad whammy on wink.

 

>>The annoying thing really isn't your opinion on Fasini, I like his skill set. It's that you ... ...started pimping him because he's not Weinke.

This is, IMO, where most of my feelings lie on the subject.

I don't want to devalue Fasani, because I think he's a good player. But I have no choice if he's being hailed as something of a solution to a problem that IMO is unjust criticism of Weinke.

In other words, I never could get on board with ragging Lewis because Craig is deemed better by one, or vice versa, or between any two quarterbacks. One shouldn't need to bash one QB just because he likes another. But here I am in fantasy land.

>>The ironic thing is that the QB Fasini reminds me most of is Rob Johnson.

I can agree with that assessment. I don't find a problem with his talent level, just the way he's used it. I have no doubts he can do well in a system, but I haven't seen anything dynamic out of him.
I do liken him to Lewis in some regards - both were athletes that were QBs. Both have arms, though Lewis' was bigger. Both have the ability to excel in all phases, and IMO seem intelligent enough. I'm not saying this because I think Fasani will follow Lewis' path, but similar to Johnson, I think that Fasani will flirt with starting in a few situations and that'll be it for the first six years. If he gets in the right situation, he could be a 3-4 year starter.


MC: Fasani has a much bigger upside than Weinke ever had.

Yes. But so did Jeff Lewis compared to Beuerlein. In the end it's what happens on the field - getting your inconsistencies under control and manageable. Getting your game face on and getting it done. Lewis was undoubtedly talented, but that didn't make him better than Beuerlein at any point, and in the end upside being greater could have amounted to a greater player - but didn't.

In this case the upside is so great because Fasani's all but unproven at the college level and hasn't stepped foot onto an NFL field. He's still far, far behind Weinke, who has a lot of growing left in him if you're using 2001 as a standard.

 

Well, I think Fasini would be lucky to make the teams active roster. If Peete gets hurt or shows signs that he wouldn't be able to go if needed, then I think Fox goes out and picks up a vet for league minimum and Fasini sits on the practice squad this season and then next season sees some time on NFLE.

SM, I want you to forget about Moose wearing that DECOY jersey. I know you still have a problem with Moose because of it. That was Seifert's idea, not Moose's, and it was a joke, or gag to motivate the team (astupid one at that). Too much was made out of it in the media. I think the whole thing is not a reflection of Moose's character, and much like Walls, this season Moose has come to practice with drive and energy, and proving to the new coaching staff why they're still here.

It's just too bad that your favorite positions on your favorite team are held by players you like the least.

Weinke also has a really good character and is a team leader. He's not the best QB in the league, but he's pretty damn good. He's not a Marino, Elway, or Young, but certainly can be a Aikman, Sims, Testeverde, or a Feidler. He's not going to put up 300-400 yards a game, but he's going to lead this team into battle, move the chains, give it his all.

It's a new season. Start over this year, and stop living in the past. Maybe I'll just have to send you a couple of jersey's to get your mindset right.

 

If we have to get a veteran backup (and with Batch in Pittsburg, that’s one sorry ass pool of players – can you say Tony Banks), then it means Peete’s head.

So Fasini’s job is safe, maybe the safest on the squad. His name is pretty much written in ink as our 3rd stringer. With Lytle gone, we don’t even have some make-believe competition for him.


Agreed on Moose, Y2. I think he'll be a real playmaker again this year.