SB Nation User Blog: Nate Dogg

Mora announces Walt to IR

Nate Dogg — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:04:47 -0000

Mora announces Walt to IR

Not a surprise but still sad.

All Time Sports Experience

Nate Dogg — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:25:57 -0000

On the way to work this morning I heard Jason Smith on Colin Cowherd's show talking about this years ESPN V-Foundation auction. The prizes include different sports "experiences" such as hosting the Mike and Mike show from your home! Or get taken behind the scenes at a college basketball game by Dick Vitale.

The question of what sports experience would you empty the bank account to have? Maybe you want one of the ones actually being offered, maybe you want to shoot a little higher. After some deliberation these were the ideas that came to mind:

- A round of golf with Tiger at Augusta.

- An at bat against Randy Johnson.

- A 3 on 3 pick up game with NBA players of my choosing. I pick first and I pick LeBron, natch.

- Draw and quarter Brian Russel.

- Cross country trip in the Madden Cruiser, accompanied by John Maddon.

- World's largest outdoor cocktail party with Orson Swindle.

What would you spend your one sports wish on Fieldgulls?

More Unger. You really get a feel for his good-at-football-ness. Via SmartFootball.

Nate Dogg — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:31:14 -0000

More Unger. You really get a feel for his good-at-football-ness.

Via SmartFootball.

Seahawks announce training camp dates open to public.

Nate Dogg — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:55:52 -0000

Seahawks announce training camp dates open to public.

A Field Gulls get together could be fun, although it looks like you have to sign up a head of time. That sounds like work...

PFR's "Great Linebackers Playing Together"

Nate Dogg — Tue, 19 May 2009 02:45:51 -0000

Pro-football-reference's blog had a piece today ranking the best linebacking groups of all time. The rankings are based on their Approximate Value system which churns out something like a Madden rating.

I took the list and went and found the teams defensive rankings for the given year. With all the talk about the unimportance of the linebacker position and how linebackers don't make great defenses I thought it'd be interesting to see how these teams graded out.

TEAM YEAR PTS YARDS

BAL - 2006 - 1st - 1st
GNB - 1963 - 2nd - 2nd
CHI - 1987 - 4th - 2nd
KAN - 1972 - 13th - 15th
CHI - 1959 - 2nd - 5th
PIT - 1978 - 1st - 3rd
CHI - 2007 - 16th - 28th
CHI - 1955 - 7th - 12th
PIT - 1980 - 15th - 12th
RAM - 1976 - 3rd - 4th
GNB - 1968 - 4th - 3rd
PHI - 1954 - 4th - 2nd
PIT - 1979 - 5th - 2nd
BAL - 2001 - 4th - 2nd
RAM - 1975 - 1st - 2nd
RAM - 1967 - 1st - 3rd
BAL - 1972 - 11th - 20th
BAL - 1973 - 21st - 21st
CHI - 1970 - 10th - 18th
ARI - 1994 - 4th - 3rd
PIT - 1976 - 1st - 1st
TAM - 1999 - 3rd - 3rd
GNB - 1974 - 5th - 6th
DAL - 1967 - 6th - 7th
CLE - 1952 - 2nd - 1st

There are a lot of really good defenses up there and some pretty bad ones as well. Several arguments could be made for why these teams were good that have nothing to do with their linebackers, arguments like Joe Greene, Merlin Olson and Richard Dent. The only team on the list that had, as far as I'm aware, a great line but performed poorly was the 1980 Steelers. The only good defense on the list that did not have a pro bowler on the defensive line was the 94 Cardinals. Ultimately it looks like the post by PFR does little to counter the idea that great defenses are not built around great linebackers.

Projecting Hasselbeck, forgetting Seneca, evaluating QB value, and can I really trade for Cutler?

Nate Dogg — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:04:37 -0000

Projecting Hasselbeck, forgetting Seneca, evaluating QB value, and can I really trade for Cutler?

Hasselbeck's 2009 using that projection system?
2510 yards, 16 TDs, 11 INTs, 57.5 completion%.

Thats going back far enough to include his 2005 season, using a standard 3 year projection would make those numbers slightly worse.

And oh ya, Cutler is really good.

98.6% of the time Housh wins 100% of the time

Nate Dogg — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:15:26 -0000

98.6% of the time Housh wins 100% of the time

Am I the only one geeking out over the start of free agency?

Jairus Byrd and the Cornerback to Safety Transition.

Nate Dogg — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:04:57 -0000

One of the guys that has piqued my interest in this years draft is Jairus Byrd. Oregon's corners were special last year and it allowed them to run a lot of unique packages and plays on defense. Byrd was one of those corners and he was extremely productive. Not that it's something the Hawks need but he was also a pretty good punt returner.

At the pro level he's projected as a tweener between corner and safety. A bigger name thats projected as a CB/S is Malcom Jenkins and he's been discussed at some length around here. It seems like every year between the draft and training camp theres talk of different DBs moving to the safety spot but there are only a few players I can think of who've actually done it. Springs played some safety this year with mixed results, Rod Woodson turned a hall of fame career at corner into a productive twilight at safety, Dwight Smith moved from corner to play several up and down seasons at safety.

I'm pretty sure this list is far from comprehensive and I'm curious about the general success rates of players who make the move to safety, particularly out of college. Does a slow corner make a good safety?

"Talking Chalk"

Nate Dogg — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 01:35:54 -0000

"Talking Chalk"

Terry Shea does a mock combine interview with Matt Stafford. Not sure if many people saw this already but I found it pretty interesting.

Reggie Williams - Because the offseason is slow and looooong

Nate Dogg — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:31:34 -0000

The always credible and spot on TNT is reporting that Reggie Williams has interest in being a Hawk. He's got the ability to opt out of his contract this year and test the free agent waters. Judging by what he said about potentially looking to play in Seattle and his notorious abundance of confidence I think it's a good bet he'll look to cash in this offseason (although I would hope his agent would fight it tooth and nail).

Sure it's just the beginnings of the offseason rumors and what if's and I'm guessing that most people don't have a very good taste in their mouth concerning Williams. But if you look beyond "first round bust" this could be an interesting add for the Hawks. First the counting stats:

2005 - 35 catches, 445 yards, 12.7 YPC, 0 TD

2006 - 52 catches, 616 yards, 11.8 YPC, 4TD

2007 - 38 catches, 629 yards, 16.6 YPC, 10TD

2008 - 37 catches, 364 yards, 9.8 YPC, 3TD

To me that looks like a player trending upwards with a down year on a bad offense in 2008. Maybe someone can read his 2007 year better than me, I'm not entirely sure if the drop in catches while maintaining the same amount of yards speaks to fluke or jump in ability. Analytical stats:

2005 - 80th DYAR, 56% catch rate

2006 - 65th in DYAR, 57% catch rate

2007 - 25th in DYAR, 63% catch rate

2008 - 56th in DYAR, 61% catch rate

To expect him to rank in the top 32 of recievers is obviously a stretch, but if you look at his last 3 years as a period he looks to be an above average 3rd option. Not exactly what Jacksonville was looking to get with their 9th pick, but thats their problem. Seattle would be adding a physically talented, albeit not exactly fast, big reciever for what should be a cheap price.

There are several things to dislike about Reggie. He's never been known as a hard worker. He'd be blocking the younger recievers like Obo, Taylor and Kent. Bringing him in would eliminate the option of bringing back KRob. And he doesn't play special teams.

So what do you think? Is he potential waiting to pop or garbage on his way out of the NFL?