Predators Mid Season Report Card
Dan Ryan
Thursday June 14, 2001
Everyone but the guy doing the standings has, so we might as well, also.
Quarterback
Braniff who? If the first two games and losing Connell Maynor to New Jersey were the price to pay to get Craig Whelihan, than it’s a danged good deal. The former San Diego Charger and XFL backup (that’s right, XFL backup) is the primary reason for the turnaround. Not only does he make good decisions, he makes them quickly. He even showed hints of scrambling last week against Tampa when he took off for a 36-yarder, even though it was brought back for holding. Darn good interview as well. Maybe a bit too early to compare to the likes of Bennett and O’Hara, but the Preds will want to keep this guy for a while. Grade: A
Running Game
The Preds have trouble punching it in from within the five-yard line, but that’s kinda deceiving because the Jungle’s end zone are truncated. Still, you should be able to get two nasty yards up the middle. Bill Hamilton has been OK, not great, but OK. He only has 2 TDs and nearly became the Sammie Smith of arena football when he fumbled at the end of the Nashville win, but the Preds held tough. This is the one aspect of the offense the Bart Starr of arena football could shore up. Grade: C+
Receivers
Siaha Burley. Enough said. Even finds a way to connect with Daunte Culpepper when the former UCF teammate and Vikings star shows up for a game. Jay Gruden, however, likes to spread things around, which explains why Burley isn’t leading every category. Brett Cooper and Cliff Dell are reliable and make the most of their opportunities. Thomas Bailey was a good acquisition. Grade: A-
Offensive/Defensive Line
Whelihan is making the offensive line look better because he gets the ball away quicker. Still, Whelihan praised his protection after the Tampa Bay game, so who I am to say? The arrival of Curtis Eason added some speed, and the play of Reggie Lee goes unheralded. On the defensive side, pass rush is solid. Grade: B
Devensive Backs
“The Glove” (Kenny McEntyre) and Damon Mason couldn’t stop anything in the 0-3 start, but come on, everybody sucked the first three weeks. Since then, it’s been vintage [can we use arena football and vintage in the same breath?] from the league’s best defensive backs. McEntyre has even found a way to improve the Lambeau leap and party in the first row after a pick. Grade: B+
Special Teams
Kicker David Cool started the season 2-7. Not fair. All five misses were 49 yards or longer. 56 percent FG kicking and 95 percent on PAT ain’t shabby. He picked up his effort on kickoffs, also. Returns are handled by Siaha Burley. Four touchdowns so far. Next. Grade: A- thanks to Burley.
Broadcast Team
Don’t laugh, the radio types love this stuff and it’s my best chance on getting arenafan.com mentioned on 740 “The Team” – the Preds’ flagship station. Marc Daniels, better known as the Curt Gowdy of arena football and Thom Morgan, who we’ll call the Don Meredith of the AFL, survived the dark opening days and actually made the first Nashville game a fun listen. The rhythm has been sidetracked a little when Daniels moves over to do road games on TV with the legendary Herkie Walls [Morgan slides into play-by-play solo] but not one beat is missed when the band gets back together. Grade: B+
Bottom Line
Running the table wouldn`t be a major shock. A third meeting with Tampa Bay wouldn`t that much of a surpise, either.
Dan Ryan has been involved with all forms of arena football since 1988, including writing for ArenaFan when Joe Kauffman and Tim Capper aren’t killing his columns because they don’t get his jokes or perspective. His day job is at Bethune-Cookman University, which has produced both an NFL Hall of Famer (Larry Little) and an Arena Football Hall of Famer (Stevie Thomas) and his hobby is tracking how many f-bombs Adam Markowitz drops in the chat room on game nights.
