Quote:
Originally Posted by Rajmahal33
link on the boldin ESPN article?
I think you have to take the whole Boldin thing in with a grain of salt:
1) He is not much younger than Chad at 27 (2 years and change) so the complaint about Chad's year count is either totally overblown or should be applied partially towards boldin too. And I'll take Chad's consistency and durability over that 2 yr difference with boldin
2) Boldin has had some injury concerns and the last thing we need is an injury prone player on our roster. Just another chance at an offseason hypothetical, leaving us scratching our heads, asking what if so-and-so was healthy.
3) Boldin's numbers are padded by the fact that he played in the pass happy NFC West. When you play in high scoring games against SF, St Louis and Seattle, especially when your team is down by a large margin and has to pass, your WR's are gonna get the stats. Also, the DB's probably aren't as good as in Chad's AFC North (with Pittsburgh and Baltimore).
4) Boldin had the benefit of Fitzgerald taking away a lot of the attention and it probably suited for the #2 role on any team. 85 on the other hand was almost always doubled and was always treated as the #1 threat on the field.
5) Boldin has never really played in big (NFL) game situations. He has no playoff experience and typically his teams have finished well under .500. Arizona is a pretty tame NFL state where little pressure is put on that team to perform. Who knows how he will deal with big city pressure and expectations, especially in a media market like DC?
|
You make a few good points, namely that Boldin has Fitz on the other side to avoid double teams, and the fact that they play awful defenses like the Rams and 49ers twice a year.
But you say CJ was always double teamed? Housh would be a #1 on just about every other team in the league, and helps pull double teams off Chad all the time. How often do you see 85 beating his man one-on-one down the sideline? A lot. And while we're talking about double teams, don't you think a deep threat like a Moss and a middle of the field monster like Cooley would help free up Boldin? I do.
Boldin doesn't have playoff experience, but so what? In my mind that shouldn't factor into a WR at all. A QB? Maybe, but not a wideout. Boldin also starred at Florida State (boooo)- a huge football school - and knows about playing on a big stage. This shouldn't be a concern.
I haven't heard what we offered for Boldin, but I would think Arizona would be interested in Ladell Betts. Edge is way past his prime, and Betts has a lot of miles left and has proven his ability as a starter. I wouldn't be surprised if our offer was Betts and a mid-round pick, or maybe just a 2nd rounder.