That's like saying should the Packers should have drafted DeMeco Ryans over AJ Hawk. Players draft position is equal to their perceived value (with the exception of Alex Smith) based on scouting and anlaysis of their play in college football, the combine and at individual workouts. Ferguson was rated much higher than McNeil by everyone in the league.
D'Brick was the safe pick at #4 and a project. But I still wanted Marcus McNeill in GangGreen and he's outplayed D'Bick thus far this season. But at the end of the day, it's all about CHAD PENNINGTON.
Remember, McNeil went to a team with a good line already and a STUD RB. That helps more than you'll ever know.
Exactly, one game can make a difference but one guy also can't make up an entire line. Look at the Vikings, Hutchinson hasn't made them great, now has he? Yet the Seahawks aren't as good either, but they didn't become awful by losing him. They needed both Walter and Steve to be as effective as they were. The Chargers have solid guys at each position, Brandon Moore and Anthony Clement are average at best, while Kendall is getting old and banged up often.
I find it so hard to compare McNeill and Brick. I haven't heard any "analysts" say either Brick or McNeill is wholly better than the other. D'Brickashaw Ferguson also does not have LT to make him look great in run blocking, or to get the ball to when protection breaks down as a dump off option for Chad. When SD played Buffalo, Schobel and Denney each had a sack, so you can't say that McNeill dominated them. Against the Chiefs, Jared Allen had 2 sacks and rookie Tambi Hali had 1, so again McNeill didn't flat out stone anyone. Even thought Brick has trouble with the bull rush, that will change as he gets older and it becomes easier for him to put on wight and muscle. I would prefer to have him right now, because he can do things in space that McNeill certainly cannot.
All I will say is that I'm glad we got D'Brick, and I think he will anchor the left side of our oline for the next 10 years. He hasn't been playing bad, and he will only get better.
He is actually much better off against a speed guy like Jason Taylor. D'brick' best attribute is his athetic ability and the speed of his feet. He will be fine against him.
I think you guys are a bit negative on D'Brick. He'll be fine against Taylor this week. Not every play is perfect, but like Mangini says, "It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." For the most part, Ferguson has been holding his own.
Argh, who wrote this? This is an example of a shit reporter making an angle out of something that is completely different. If you forced the reporter to reveal the source for this, he would point to a Mangini quote to the effect that D'Brick can improve his attention to detail. What the dumb reporter leaves out is the fact that Mangini prefaced that by saying D'Brick's attention to detail is ALREADY great, and he is impressed by it, but that it can get a little better. Mangini was hardly as negative as this "whisper" makes it out to be. Also, on not taking plays off, this is something D'Brick mentioned himself. He said the difference between college and the NFL is that every single week for 60 minutes there is absolutely no let-off in the level of competition. Brick still works hard, but he and Mangini both showed they were impressed by Schobel, that guy is really no slouch. Either is Brick. Neither of those sacks was really completely his fault, but neither Mangini nor Brick like making excuses. If you watched them, you would know that Pennington really should have handled it better both times. The media is a complete total joke. I would bet my house on this being what happened.
As bad as Ferguson played against the Bills, he was tremendous against the Vikings. He was blowing people off the line run blocking (take a look at his block on the Houston TD) and his pass blocking was great. I'll take his talent and look forward to watching him improve and add weight and strength.
Narrowing of the spinal column, I think... I am trying to remember back to pre-draft crap that I read. So I could be wrong.
We're talking about a rookie who has started every game at LT, whose main purpose is to protect the blindside of an injury hampered immobile QB. Not an easy task. Has the offense been hampered by a lack of pass protection at numerous times this season? No. Has any DE had a field day against us in terms of disrupting the offense and harassing chad? W/ the exception of Schobel. No I'm not sure what some of you were hoping for. The fact that the guy has started every game and been a part of a pretty good OL for a borderline playoff team says it all. Sure the guy has a few things to work on in terms of technique, and he certainly needs to add some bulk. But that is the case for 95% of rookies who enter this league. We happen to have one who is already a damn good LT, despite needed physical and mental improvement. The only emotion we should be feeling about this guy is excitement for his future!
Brick is going to be fine. Keep in mind this is a guy who has trouble keeping on weight. Can you imagine how tough it must be for him now in his 15th game coming up to add or maintain weight? Once the season is over he can spend the entire offseason focusing on putting on 15-20 pounds and just getting bulkier.
No complaints about the Vikings game though, I see. It's amazing how when he has a bad game it's time to sound the alarms, but when he shuts down his guy for a whole game (which has happened more than a few times this year) you hear no "whispers" about how well he's playing. And of course people will just jump on board with the idea that he's playing poorly, completely ignoring the fact that he's actually having a very impressive rookie season.
Yeah I remember hearing something along the likes of that, also remember seeing it may shorten his career. Also, Im sure I am the 10000000th guy to point this out by now, but Schobel is a Pro Bowler, not some slouch.
Al toon, who would you have taken instead? Ferguson has had some ups and downs, but I think once he puts some weight on in the offseason he won't be so easy to push around...not that he was before. All in all he's been a nice pick for us. I think he's going to have a nice game versus Taylor.
