Memo to Billy Devaney: OYE! Let’s get up the board!

Intro

Did you happen to see Charley Casserley’s ranking of the major wide receivers from the past several drafts? The ultimate objective was to rank candidate A.J. Green versus some of the best we have seen in recent years. How did Green do on this list? Check it out:

1. Andre Johnson (2003) Houston Texans
2. Calvin Johnson (2007) Detroit Lions
3. A.J. Green (2011) ???
4. Dez Bryant (2010) Dallas Cowboys
5. Larry Fitzgerald (2004) Arizona Cardinals
6. Michael Crabtree (2009) San Francisco 49ers

Most experts will object to placing Dez Bryant ahead of Larry Fitzgerald. Charlie would defend himself by saying that this is a ranking of prospects as prospects when they came out of college. Even so, most will complain about that ranking. I would.

Some would complain about ranking A.J. Green ahead of Larry Fitzgerald. Would I? Maybe, maybe not. I can see his point here. I am inclined to go along with it.

A few great receivers were shorted here. Julio Jones and Brandon Marshall are the two guys I have in mind here. Naturally, Brandon is one of the most devastating receivers in the league, but he was famously drafted in the 4^th round (119), so folks didn’t think much of him. The more fool they. I don’t like the fact that Julio was left off the list.

Warnings about Julio Jones

I’m not saying I buy into his line of reasoning, but guest member Tom Waddle expressed concerns about whether Julio Jones would be able to separate cleanly from veteran corners in the NFL. Quickness, not speed, is king says Waddle. He believes Julio’s big body is a big target for veteran corners to hit and jam.

My Points

I want to go through a quick list of briefing points for you:

• A.J. Green ranks only behind the two most beastly receivers in the entire league.
• The Cardinals have one of the guys on this list
• The 49ers have one of the guys on the list
• We don’t have anybody on this list.
• We don’t have much of anybody at all
• A.J. ranks higher on the chart than two guys our top competitors have in the NFC West.
• We got the quarterback and they don’t.
• They got the receivers and we don’t.
• If we want a decisive competitive advantage on our opponents we need to put both halves of the equation together.

The Conclusion

I think the conclusion is brutally simple: We gotta get up that board and get A.J.. Would you scupper the rest of the draft to do so? Yep! You damn betcha I would. You would put all your eggs in one basket here? This one time, I would. You would mortgage the franchise to get this kid? Absolutely.

I would let every team in the top 5 know that if they are selling, I am buying. If any of the top 5 teams get cold feet, can’t pull the trigger and want to trade down, I would do the deal in a heart beat.

Understand that this kid’s worth is far greater than giving Sam a great target to throw to. His contribution will be larger than the passes he catches, the yards he racks up, and the touchdowns he scores. When you put a serious threat receiver in front of a deadly accurate passer, you create sleepless nights for enemy DCs.

When you make a DC go without sleep, he usually responds by double-teaming your receiver threat. They will scheme to take A.J. away. That is exactly the way we want it. By getting a receiver who commands a double team on every play, you will free Mark Clayton and Danny Amendola to run around free and move the chains.

We have to get serious about doing this deal.

All I want for Easter is a deadly receiver

It is becoming clearer and clearer that Sam Bradford can be a special quarterback in the NFL, with two provisos. We need to keep him healthy, and we need to arm him with a deadly receiver.

Sam thrown for over 3,000 yards in just 14 games. He has two more shots at improving his standing. Only two other rookie QBs have ever done that, and they are not named Marino and Roethlisberger. Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan were those two QBs. Peyton threw for 3,700+ and Ryan threw for 3,440 yards. If Sam has two average games (218 yards) he surpass Ryan and fall short of Manning. This puts him between two very interesting figures. The augurs say this omen bodes well for the future.

Sam is frequently compared to Troy Aikman based on his size, accuracy, and Scorpio demeanor. If this be true, then I say it is time we find Sam his Michael Irvin. The most import thing we must do this off season is find a deadly receiver.

When I say deadly receiver, I am not speaking of consummate professionals who make the Pro Bowl and may have a shot at the Hall of Fame. Guys like Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Heinz Ward are fantastic, and I would like to have a few of them, but this is not what I mean when I speak of a deadly receiver. I am not speaking of Pro Bowl mega-talents. Guys like Vincent Jackson and Steve Smith are great, but these are not deadly receivers. I am not talking about divas with issues either. I don't want a Randy Moss or a Santonio Holmes.

I am talking about the best of the best of the best in the league. I am talking about impossible match ups. I am speaking of game-breaker, game changers. I am talking about a defensive scheme shredder who make DCs lose lots and lots of sleep before the big game. I am talking about a sure-fire, first-ballot Hall of Fame receiver who will give Jerry Rice a run for his money.

At the moment, I feel there are three receivers who qualify as deadly in the league this year. They are Roddy White, Andre Johnson and Calvin Johnson. Larry Fitzgerald and Brandon Marshall are having off-seasons this year, but they are also deadly. Young Dez Bryant is the fellow most likely to be joining this list in the near future.

Above all else, the Rams must acquire a receiver of this sort. If we arm Sam with this kind of receiver, it could be lights-out for everybody in the NFC West next season. In 2012, they sky will be the limit.

How I wish we could steal Larry Fitzgerald away from the Cardinals. Imagine this: Sam Bradford throwing the football to Larry Fitzgerald. Does that sound interesting to you? Even the casual observer of NFL football during the past three years would be impressed by the possibilities.

Yes, there are many rumblings that Larry Fitzgerald would like to part company with the Cardinals. Yes the Cardinals are a stupid organization, and likely to deal him for picks that might bring them a QB. Even the freakin' Cardinals would never be stupid enough to deal Fitzgerald inside the division, where he would destroy them twice per season, much as Kurt Warner did to the Rams.

Setting aside the fact that can't happen, you have to wonder what it would be like. Would Sam Bradford and Larry Fitzgerald work together well as a pass-catch combo?

Well, I hate to break out Sirus 1.1 and use the Synastry engine again, but the results look too good to simply pass them over. Sam is a Scorpio born on 11/8/1987 in Oklahoma City Oklahoma, but he is not heavily Scorpio. Larry is technically a Virgo born on 8/31/1983 in Minneapolis Minnesota, however, the Sun is the only Virgo in his chart. What do the scores look like?

Category Totals
1. Similarity of Interests and Temperament: 229
2. Mutual Success and High Achievement: 87
3. Problem Solving, Communication, and Mutual Understanding: 369
4. Mutual Kindness, Friendliness, Pleasantness, and Peace: 180
5. Aggressiveness, Competition, Power, Success, or Violence: 172
6. Adventurousness, Surprises, Disturbances: 186
7. Shared Creativity, Imagination, and Inspiration: 135

As you can see the scores look pretty damn good. The two have great similarity of interest, absolutely phenomenal communication, great friendliness, good shared creativity. The two scores that give me pause are the Success/Achievement score, and disturbances score. One is pretty average. The other is too high. With all that said, the scores are more than good enough for me to roll the dice here. I suspect the two would work incredibly well together.

According to Astrological rumor, Scorpio and Virgo are highly compatible. You can't look to me for any evidence or testimony. After 44 years, this Virgo has little positive case information to submit. I have no evidence to provide the defense team in this case. I am an odd Virgo though. On the other hand, my birthday buddy, Terry Bradshaw, had a full-on Bro-mance going with Sam Bradford during their recent interview. I guess it can work.