Tyrone Calico is not Neo

I wrote a Preds piece on my new hockey blog this morning, regarding radio interviews I heard with Tootoo and Upshall as well as a few other interesting notes. Go here to read it.

Here's a story about Calico undergoing surgery. A quote from the article: "'That being the case, we'll lose him for the year,' Fisher said."

Maybe this will finally stop the bubbling overzealous praise for the kid, because I'm a little tired of it. I keep reading and hearing quotes from Titans players, Titans officials, and media types about how much better we'd be if Calico weren't injured. "Calico being out really hurts us," they say. "If we can get Calico back, our passing game improves immediately," they say.

I even heard Frank Wycheck on an afternoon radio show, calling in as a guest, say, "Yeah, they really need him. I mean, he's the kind of guy who can go out there and turn a three-yard slant reception into an 80-yard touchdown run."

Really?! He is? Seriously? Because I don't think I've ever seen him do that. And I would think he'd need to do that at least once before we can say with any assurance that he can do that in the NFL.

Now, I know he's got potential. But everyone's stopped using the potential angle in talking about him. They're speaking as though it's a given that he's Randy Moss when he gets back. I know the guy's fast, super tall, and has a chance to make big plays...but can't we leave the praise about him at that until he proves otherwise?

Typcially I'm not buying anyone's college hype coming into the NFL, not after Ryan Leaf and the countless other "guaranteed sure things" that flopped after doing nothing. But I'm especially not buying the college hype of a guy who played for MTSU, no matter what his skills. It's the freaking NFL, harder, faster, bigger than any other style of football. There's a lengthy time of adjustment to the NFL-style game for all but the tiniest fraction of incoming college players, usually a year or two. Many, many, many players are duds, despite their amazing plays in college.

So let's be fair and look at some stats...a la Chris: Last year, he caught all of 18 passes, for a total of 297 yards. He played 14 games to achieve those numbers, making his average catches per game a tiny bit above 1. His average length of reception was 16.5 yards, with a long one of 45. That means 45 yards was his longest play, meaning he has not proven he can turn a three-yard slant into an 80-yard touchdown run. He had 4 TDs, two early and the other two late in the year, because during the middle of the year he lost McNair's confidence by dropping a ton of balls. His average number of yards after the catch was 8.8. That, again, is not near 80.

Now I'm not saying he wouldn't be helping our passing game by being in there. What I'm saying is that we don't know he would be. We have no assurance. He caught some tough balls in the preseason...great. Good for him. He had flashes of greatness last year bookending flashes of apparent palsy. Good for him. But let's not annoint this kid our savior just yet, okay? I know it's easy and natural to look for reasons why we might not be playing well this year, but just because a guy is fast and super tall doesn't mean your woes are over. As Chris points out, McNair has overthrown a lot of passes this season. The team as a whole has not converted well on third downs. The defense is depleted with injuries and staffed with rookies. There are a host of reasons we're not winning consistently. Can we call for a moratorium on effusive praise for an injured, second-year player who honestly has yet to prove his long-term value? I wanna see or hear a giant "maybe" in any and all comments written or spoken about Calico's potential. MAYBE. I'm much more willing to blame the guys who are actually on the field for the team's woes than I am to be excessively generous with compliments for a sophomore receiver with as many career drops as touchdowns.

And now my rant is done.