Steve Spurrier & Shane Mathews

[Preds]

Anyone else besides me think Spurrier is nuts? He's already panicking IMO after their recent mini camp when he realized that all 4 of his QB's stink or aren't ready to play NFL ball.

Funny thing is, he seems to think Mathews can, puh-lease!

[smsmith40]

Matthews is a decent pickup. He has experience as a starter and is better than the guy he replaces (Craig) at the same cap number. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Basically whoever starts this season will be keeping the seat warm for Ramsey or Rosenfels. Whoever that is can't be worse than Tony Banks last year.

The Skins went 8-8 last year while being 30th in total offense. They have significantly improved an already good defence, add ed the best def coord in the league, upgraded the QB (slightly) and added a bunch of receivers that suit the Spurrier system. This year I think it will be 9-7 to 10-6, borderline playoffs.

If they can sign their key FAs next year (Bailey, Jansen) they will be serious contenders in 2003

[Preds]

Don't get me wrong Steve, I like their defense, quite a bit actuallly, however I personally think the offense has gone downhill so far this year with the addition of all the failed Gators.

I'm not at all impressed with Spurrier so far. In fact, I'd love to see him fall flat on his face at this point. I hate arrogance, and he's about as arrogant as it gets (save maybe the egomaniacs in Baltimore and Denver).

Matthews is nothing more than a 2nd or 3d stringer. Same goes for the other 4 QB's on the roster at this point. Ramsey may develop, but that's 2-3 years, by then Spurrier will probably have quit or been canned after his misfits on offense continually let the defense down.

I say this as Gardner owner in a keeper league (I can keep him for an 8th round pick), and at this point I don't see that anywhere near happening.

Blake would have been a much better fit IMO and he went to Baltimore CHEAP. You actually need talent to compete in the NFL, and at this point, Spurrier doesn't have it on offense. I say 6-10 for them this year, with a lot of pissed off season ticket holders!

Matthews may not be great, but he is better than anyone else on the team.

Matthews will start this year and then turn it over to one of the young pups.

Weurffell (and some of the other gators on the team) are just on the team to help the 'O' learn Spurrier's system.

[Nittany Dodgers]

You got it skippy. Thats all Weurffel and Mathews are there for is to teach the other guys how to run the offense. My prediction is that Weurffel will start/backup for a couple of years, and then he will become the QB coach, and then after that he will be the first proginy to become a head coach elsewhere of the new "East Coast Offense," and will go on to win numerous superbowls as a head coach.

OK, seriously folks, the 'skins are going to suck this year. Yes you can win with defense as Baltimore did, but you need some offense. Baltimore ran the ball and threw when they had to and threw not to make mistakes. Spurrier will soon learn that his offense works great when you have superior talent, but when your receivers can no longer regularly play against corners who will never play in the NFL and can't get 5 yards of seperation on every play, the offense starts to break down.

[smsmith40]

Guys - I know there are a lot of Skins Bashers out there but they are NOT going to suck this year.

They didn't suck last year (8-8) despite having the 27th (correction to earlier figure) ranked offense overall. This is because they do two things well. Defense (10th ranked last year) and running the ball (8th ranked last year), this is not a bad place to start from. The defense will be better (top 5 ?) and they have the same rushing attack as last year. If anything it looks like the O-line will be settled much earlier this year.

Even if the passing is terrible, it won't be any worse than last year(30th). I don't see how this could translate into worse than 8-8 this year. Personally, I think it will be slightly better. It is beyond me how people can be optimistic about the Cowboys (no viable QB, RB and WRs on the downside of their career) and down on the Skins.

Of course, the NFL, being what it is will, prove me completely wrong and the Bengals will edge out the Panthers in the Superbowl

[Nittany Dodgers]

Originally posted by smsmith40
It is beyond me how people can be optimistic about the Cowboys (no viable QB, RB and WRs on the downside of their career) and down on the Skins.

Just for the record, I'm down on both of them.

Fantasy wise, Davis should be ok. Football wise, I doubt Spurrier will use him correctly. You don't think the 'Skins passing attack will be any worse? Have you seen Weurffel play? How about Mathews? People will wax nostalgic about Banks. At least Shotten-f'n-heimer knew how to power run the ball with Davis, and pass second. Spurrier is a passing guru who uses the pass to set up the run. I don't see that working in DC with the Florida senior league they have running.

People forget that players like Fred Taylor and Emmitt Smith (I think?) both came through Spurrier's system in Floida.

Spurrier know he has a stud RB. Just because he likes to pass doesn't mean he wont use the talent he has.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Emmitt Smith's College Bio
An All-America and three-time All-SEC selection at Florida, Smith established 58 school records in three seasons, including career rushing mark (3,928 yards)...He surpassed the 1,000 yard mark in his seventh game, faster than anyone else in college football history...Earned Freshman of the Year honors and finished in the top 10 in Heisman Trophy balloting...In three seasons he became the fifth all-time rusher in SEC history and led the Gators in receiving in two of three seasons.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred Taylors's College Bio
Ranks fourth on school's all-time rushing list with 3, 075 yards....Carried 537 times for a 5.7-yard average and 31 touchdowns...Played in three bowl games in four years in college... Gators were 14-0 in games in which he rushed for 100 yards.

[smsmith40]

Fred Taylor played for Spurrier but Emmitt was before his time. Spurrier is not dumb, he is inheriting a team with the 2nd leading rusher over the last 3 seasons. We will be seeing a team that will run plenty this year while Ramsay is getting up to speed and the WRs are learning the system.

I envisage the Defense keeping the team competitive until then