All of us love Baghdad Hob, I hope. He's like the crazy uncle who swears we never went to the moon or says, "I don't care what they say, LeBron James will just never make it big." It's just that this crazy uncle's job is to produce all of the content for the website of an NFL team.
Baghdad Hob's latest claim? I'll let him tell you. Take it away, Geoff! "Go with Carson on this one and take running back Cedric Benson as a breakout player. Also on offense, Andre Caldwell and Chris Henry are on the verge of becoming this decade's Ocho and Housh." (emphasis mine)
That's right, fair readers of WDR. Someone who is paid to write about football for a living called fifth year pro Chris Henry and second year pro Andre Caldwell, and I quote, "...on the verge of becoming this decade's Ocho and Housh." (note - for the purposes of brevity, and because Carson said it, I'm going to ignore the "Cedric Benson as a breakout player" part)
First of all, what does that even mean? I'm assuming, from both observation of their playing styles and previous B.H. articles, that Bubba Caldwell will be playing the role of Housh and Christopher will be in the Chad Johnson role. While comparing stats from their respective rookie seasons might not mean much, Housh finished with 21 catches for 228 yards while Bubba finished with 11 catches for 78 yards. That's really all the hard data we have to go on for now. Could Caldwell eventually turn into the player Housh is/was? I'm not going to say it's impossible. I think it'd be fair to say that it's not likely, however. Saying that he's "on the verge of becoming" anything close to the player Housh is/was is almost criminally incorrect. Housh is a Pro Bowl caliber receiver and is one of the most productive wideouts in the league on third down. Bubba Caldwell could be a very, very good receiver this year and in the future and he still might not become what Housh was.
As far as the Chris Henry/Chad Johnson comparison, wow. I don't even know where to begin. Keep in mind, I'm one of the biggest Chris Henry fans out there. I think the guy is an unbelievable talent. I make excuses for him when he does something dumb. I think he's just a genuinely good guy who just didn't know what to do when he finally got a hold of some money.
Comparing him to Chad Johnson? That's just insanity. I would compare stats but they aren't even close. It's laughable to suggest they are anywhere in the same ballpark statistically after four pro seasons. Also, they are completely different players. Both are very good vertical threats after four years in the league. That's pretty much where the comparisons end, however. Chad was a phenomenal route runner who commanded constant attention from the defense. Chris has done most of his damage running vertical routes in a three receiver set. Chris is an asset as a player, but he's nowhere near what Chad was after four seasons as a pro.
Keep in mind, at this point in Chad's career, he was about to play the 2005 season in which he was named an All-Pro. This was not a great surprise at the time. Let me ask you, would it surprise you if Chris Henry was an All-Pro caliber receiver in 2009? Keep in mind, this would mean he'd be one of the best three or four receivers in the league. If you can honestly claim with a straight face that this wouldn't surprise you, then I can only say one thing - Go write another Andre Smith fluff piece, Geoff.
Your statement of refusal regarding commenting on Carson's Ced Benson take leads me to believe that you disagree with it. You don't think the guy's poised to quite possibly put up Rudi (circa 2004-2005)numbers? He put up amazing numbers last year considering what he had to work with (Piss Poor O-Line, and a mid season cram session of the playbook).
On a side note, Paul Alexander thinks he's gonna "put a towel on the camera" when he needs to address a lineman personally during training camp. HA! Yea, HBO won't have more than one camera their Paul, no worries.
Posted by: CurseofBoJackson | June 15, 2009 at 02:20 PM
How about a recap of Blogs with Balls?
Posted by: KTRB | June 15, 2009 at 05:42 PM
Comrade Bieniemy is posting a recap tomorrow, I do believe.
Posted by: Showtime | June 15, 2009 at 06:14 PM
I'm pretty sure the O-line is still piss poor. Benson had two games over 100 yards: the last two games of the season against two of the worst rush defenses in the league. The five games before that he averaged under 45 yards a game.
He sucks.
Posted by: Kato | June 15, 2009 at 06:30 PM
We all love Carson. Carson and the fact Chad might put all his energy back into trying to win and not whining are the only things giving me any hope about this season right now. However, Benson sucks. Carson is just trying to polish this turd up as best he can and hope it doesn't start smelling like shit under the hot lights.
Posted by: Thom Tadsen | June 16, 2009 at 09:09 AM
I'll consider it a breakout year for Ced is he averages over 3 yards a carry. The dude is a slug.
Posted by: HappyNat | June 16, 2009 at 11:06 AM