Four Downs with Stock & Doc
by Ben Stockwell and Paul Hopkins
31/7/2008
 
This week, with the beginning of training camp, the guys look at some of the big issues emerging from the camps across the country, what 2008 will hold for Tim Tebow and move onto the NFC East with their season previews.
 
Holding out of training camp is the best way to go about getting a new contract.
 
DOC – FACT ! – Such a difficult question to answer with absolute definitiveness, but I'm going for fact simply because I'm not sure what other leverage players have to be honest. It is largely symbolic as they get fined and it costs them money and time, but I'm not sure what other options they have. I still maintain that teams have the ultimate control, like with rookie salary caps (check out our previous debate here) Looking at the two higher profile ones right now – Steven Jackson and Ryan Grant, there's a case for both to be justified in holding out. Jackson is seen as one of the elite rushers in the league but is coming to the end of his contract. He is looking for a commitment to look at a new deal for him. That shows he wants to stay in St Louis, not manoeuvre away, but without that commitment, what else can he do to show he is serious about his wish, which arguably he deserves? On Grant, the Packers are basically low-balling him. Their opening offer for a six-year deal is derisory. He may have been a nobody a year ago, but he delivered big time for them last year, including in the playoffs. He's got a legitimate gripe to sit out if that's how they value him, especially when a linebacker gets double that as a signing bonus from Ted Thompson. Like I say, the teams hold all the aces and players are often faced with no other option to register their unhappiness but withhold their labour as much as they see fit and can manage to.
 
STOCK – FACT ! – I don't like it and in often cases it is completely unnecessary, but it does gain you leverage. It shows your team that you're serious in your desire for a new contract and that you won't let them bully you into a new contract. With the proliferation of the franchise tag now being used to keep teams' key free agent rather than the truly elite players of the position it is getting increasingly difficult for players to hit the open market, almost to the extent of the first free agent system. The likes of Lance Briggs and Asante Samuel proved this year that if you sit out camp and re-negotiate the franchise tag to prevent it being re-used in consecutive seasons then you'll get your big pay day. It's not a popular method as it is seen by many fans as players putting themselves above the team, but the teams in some quarters are seen as having too much power in contract negotiations so the players have to get the leverage they want. It's not the only way to go about getting your contract, but it is the clearest statement that you can make that you want to get paid.
 
Brandon Marshall's reported likely suspension is further proof that Roger Goodell's conduct policy is inconsistent and arbitrary.
 
DOC – FACT ! – It never makes any sense. He's been arrested three times so he's likely to sit out anywhere between four to eight games? What about steroid users like Merriman and Rodney Harrison? Is his supposed 'crimes', none of which he has been convicted for, worse than taking drugs to gain an advantage over your opponents on the field? The artist formerly known as PacMan may, in all likelihood be an unsavoury character in the evenings, but did he deserve to miss a full season when again, he was never found guilty of any crime? Compare that to another – Tank Johnson, who was found guilty of his offence but didn't get as long. Marshall's antics don't merit a suspension, but Roger looks at it from the perception of damaging his league. If you're not a star man in a skill position, you'll get away lighter than those who are. Add into that, the time Goodell is taking to make his mind up over Marshall's suspension, and the impact this has on Denver who are in training camp right now and it's clear to me that Roger thinks more about the money and the league's reputation than sticking to any form of fairness.
 
STOCK – FACT ! – What exactly has he been found guilty of again, remind me? I seem to remember he's been found guilty of absolutely nothing; well that all makes perfect sense then doesn't it? Driving under the influence is utterly deplorable, but exactly how many other players around the NFL have been convicted of numerous DUI offences and had no sanctions placed against them by the NFL? Marshall's an idiot, most Broncos fans readily accept that and feel that he is at least turning a corner after his latest misdemeanour but in what way has he earned a lengthy suspension? If he is suspended for 8 games then that means that supposedly what he has done is equivalent to Chris Henry's constant misdemeanours is it? Goodell's random and arbitrary enforcement of his conduct policy is just completely and utterly off base and borderline retarded. Yes he's come down like a ton of bricks on some players like Henry and Adam Jones correctly, but then he's let some guys off of the hook and come down hard on other offences inconsistently and excessively. If he gave some impression other than just the need to flex his muscles from time to time then maybe I'd respect what he's doing, but currently he just comes off as a prized fool trying to forge the identity of his tenure after the very popular tenure of Paul Tagliabue.
 
Tim Tebow will win the Heisman trophy for the second year running in 2008.
 
DOC – FACT ! – He is now simply the best player in college football. Undisputedly so, after the draft class of 2008 turned pro. Tebow is a college football phenom. Size, strength, he can pass, he can run. There's not a lot left. The Gators need to take good care of the guy and not expose him to the pounding he was taking on occasion lat season, otherwise injuries may hamper him. His left shoulder cannot get the beating it was taking at times last year. So, for me, its beyond doubt (injuries permitting!) that Tebow will be the leading Heisman contender this season. The big question is will 'convention' stop him? Will the NCAA look at it, and not want a repeat Heisman winner?
 
STOCK – FACT ! – Tebow is now and will be recognised as one of the greatest college football players of all-time. There is very little doubt in my mind that this season he will become the second player in NCAA history after Archie Griffin of Ohio State to win two Heisman trophies. The only other serious pre-season contenders that I can see are Knowshon Moreno of Georgia who may well have his charge hampered by Caleb King pinching carries and then the other possibility that I see is Sam Bradford of Oklahoma. The problem with those two candidates is that Tebow will match Bradford's passing stats and make a mighty decent fist of matching Moreno's rushing TD total. So Tebow has his finger in both pies and should just run away with it. Yes there's the likes of Chase Daniel and a couple of others, but those teams have got to replicate fairy tale seasons from last season and I just don't see that happening. Tebow is the firm favourite and he's proven that he can drag Florida beyond their talent level, with an improved team this year he should put up big stats on a true national title contender, that sounds like a Heisman recipe to me.
 
After winning the Superbowl last year, the New York Giants will fail to return to the post-season this year.
 
DOC – FICTION ! – They'll get to the post-season, but there's some big questions to overcome for the Giants, and I don't seeing them getting past the wildcard weekend, if indeed they do actually get that far. And here's why. Last season they came on terrifically, and bonded as a team to prove everyone wrong. This year, that isn't there anymore. No more chip on the shoulder. There's other questions too. Can Eli perform consistently like he has of late? Will their home form improve? Will Shockey's departure be a big miss or will it be addition by subtraction? What impact will Strahan's retirement have? Can Spagnuolo and Coughlin work their magic again? And so on. Too many questions, a very tough division to get out of and I think the Giants are likely to fail to match anywhere near last year in 2008.
 
STOCK – FACT ! – They're in a massively tough division and they're the defending Superbowl champs. Much as they'll say they're going to strive to win it again that they're hungrier than ever before and all the old lines you hear from teams, that's just complete and utter tosh. You've won it all, the propensity will be there to just rest on their laurels just a little and think that you've got it made. In a different division that would be fine, but in the NFC East that won't cut it, you've got to be full on every game and I don't think they will be. I think the other teams in the division will be hungry to knock off the Superbowl champions and they all have the quality to do it. The Giants were a team that timed their run last year and really aren't one of the elite teams in the league. If the hunger and intensity isn't there that was there last year, and there's every reason to believe it won't be, then the I foresee a difficult season for the Giants with the hunger, intensity and comparable quality of the NFC East passing them by.