You are correct, sir and I am a horse's patoot. Miami is ACC.

I was obviously drinking last night and by the time I wrote that post I was well on my way. Shields is not better than McCourty, but does Shields have more upside? He is at least in the conversation with the other first rounders and that alone says a lot.

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Well you did it now ...

Well I havnt watched that many browns games but haden has 1 more sack 12 more points defended 4 more INTs and 1 more FF then shields ... and is potentially up for rookie of the year (or is it defensive rookie of the year) ...

so errr ya Ill take haden.
just from the stats

Shields and Starks were both steals. Starks has performed admirably in the Playoffs (when it counts) and will be taking a lot of carries from Grant next year, which is a good thing because I'm very much against RBs getting too many carries. History has shown us time and time again that the way to keep a RB long-term is to limit their carries by splitting them with another RB. I'd love to have Grant play on the Pack for 10 years.

Shields - just finding the guy when 31 other teams overlooked him was a major win. Shields wasn't too good in the first 8 games but performed really well in the 2nd half of the season, as per Chrisbozz's stats. So McCourty beat him out. I'm ok with that. What matters is that Shields often took on the #2 WR (Woody moved around playing slot, blitzing, and even LB which put Shields on the #2 WR a lot) position and wasn't bad. That's a win.

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Starks will be a perfect combo with Grant because the linemen won't have to block any differently for him. He hits the hole in just about the same way as Grant.

I didn't notice Shields having many problems during the first eight games. Seems to me like he's been pretty good right from the start. Nickel CB is a position where if he wasn't playing well, it would be very easy to see. I can't think of any games where he really got worked over on a regular basis.

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Agreed, and I look for Bulaga to take over for Colledge next year, with Marshall at LT and Lang at RT. McDonald starts at C.
Quarless reminds me of Finley's second year. He didn't do much more than bitching as a rookie. With the loss of Finley, Quarless is in a key position.

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Why move Bulaga to OG? ... I think he has better value at OT. Also Colledge has been doing very well... not sure why everyone wants to get rid of him. Also I think Lang best position might be LG.

So if Colledge isn't resigned then Lang to LG and Bulaga stay at RT.

Also I don't see Marshall Newhouse staying at OT. He got burned like Barbre and Breno out there on the outside. I think he's an OG.

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MPF, I would disagree with some of the grades.

Quarless, as much as I like his talent, is too high receiving a B+. He's been, at best, okay as a player filling in for Finley in receiving routes. He's been decent at blocking, which is a plus. But when Finley went down, Quarless emerging as a threat - which was asking a lot from him considering he is a rookie - would've made our offense so much more potent for the variation of Cover-2 they faced this year. Quarless has also dropped some passes which you'd rather not see. He has talent, and has been helpful due to injury reasons, so I'd give him a B-. Maybe a B, being generous. He has not been too consistent as a rookie.

Newhouse - I don't think there is enough to warrant having a grade on Newhouse. He struggled some in the pre-season, which is nothing unreasonable. We know very little about him, so it's hard for me to judge.

Finally, Zombo. He, I think, is a tremendous pick-up considering how well he complements Clay. Last year, when you broke the snaps down of the OLBs, it showed that Dom clearly favoured rushing with one of the OLBs, while having the other do a mixture of pass rush, defend the run, and drop in coverage. What made Brad Jones acceptable last season was his ability to do those three things to an acceptable level.

Zombo has come in and done much of the same. He sets a very good edge making it tough to run, and he has had some minor production at pass rushing. He has also done alright when dropping into coverage.

All that from a guy not drafted, and brought in on a tryout?Give the man at least a B, even B+. Zombo has beaten the odds, which is very impressive.

As for Shields, totally agree with his grade. He has been better than could've been hoped for. Especially considering he has 1 year experience at CB. To answer the question of how a guy with his talent went undrafted: Bob McGinn mentioned that a few days before the draft, Shileds was arrested. Turned out to be nothing serious, but obviously raised enough red flags for teams not to take a risk on him.

If the Packers win tomorrow, I'm willing to give all the rookies A+ grades. Heck, I'm pretty sure I'd be willing to give Sherman an A+ grade for drafting Ahmad Carroll if the Packers win tomorrow. 😃

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You may be right, but I wanted to point out that in an article on the JS website where Ted was asked to give his opinion on the picks near the 3/4 mark of the season, Ted stated they liked Newhouse's feet movement and viewed him as a T.

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There a few honorable mentions that were picked up mid season. Walden and Green.

We should also consider them when looking the the successes of TT's additions to the team this year.

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When comparing Shields look no further than those ugly disgusting viklings.

The viklings could have had Best in the 1st round but traded down for CB Chris Cook early in the 2nd round. Shields is faster and already better than Cook.

Then after the viklings passed on a good RB, traded away their 2nd and 3rd picks for Toby Gerhart.

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I wish Neal and Burnett had obtained more experience.

I bet none of them regret being drafted by the Packers.

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