Tag Archives | Gresham

Everyone Who Told Gresham and Bradford To Return To OU Owes Them a Lot of Money

By on September 8, 2009 in General CFB

So now Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham is officially lost for the season. 

Back when Gresham and Sam Bradford opted to spurn the NFL to return to OU, there were all kinds of glowing columns on the virtues of staying in school.

Now, both Gresham and Bradford will spend significant portions of this season going through surgeries and rehab.

Obviously, both have potentially lost out on millions of dollars by coming back to play for the Sooners.  And they won’t even get that last season to remember, either.

Will anyone fess up and admit that it probably was against their best interest to come back?  Where are the columns now about the dangers of uneccesarily putting your God-given, money-making abilities at risk?  Shouldn’t this be a teachable moment for those who think the right decision is always to return to school?    

It probably won’t be.  In fact, I’m sure this will all be forgotten the next time an elite athlete has to make this kind of decision. 

Coaches will say that their players should come back to improve their draft stock, fans will selfishly demand iron-clad fealty and the media will play up the value of obtaining a higher education and hanging out on campus.  No one will cite Bradford and Gresham’s experience as an example of why it’s sometimes good to get out while the getting out is good.

I just hope things work out for Gresham, who was clearly the top tight end in the draft, and Bradford, who was a sure-fire first rounder before his shoulder injury.  It could still happen, but now it will be a bit more difficult.  Good luck to them.

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The 2009 Preseason HP All-American Team, Offense

By on August 4, 2009 in HP All-Americans

Quarterback

Colt McCoy, Texas–With so many great quarterbacks returning in 2009, this wasn’t an easy choice.  But McCoy is coming off a record-setting season where he completed 77 percent of his passes and was just a last-second Texas Tech upset away from clinching the Heisman and a berth in the national title game.  I think it’s time to give him his due.

colt

Running Back

Jahvid Best, California–Best is the closest anyone has come to being the next Reggie Bush.  He rushed for 1,580 yards and 15 touchdowns as a true sophomore and averaged an amazing 8.14 yards per carry.  He’s a classic breakaway back with angle-crushing speed.  If he can stay healthy, he’ll flirt with the 2,000-yard mark.

jahvid best

Fullback

William Rose, Florida Atlantic–At HP, we recognize that there is still such a thing as a fullback in football and so therefore there must be an All-American at this spot.  Rose, a senior, rushed for 307 yards and caught 23 passes for 168 yards in 2008. 

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Tight End

Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma–The best college tight end since Kellen Winslow, Jr.  He should’ve won the Mackey Award last season, when he caught 66 passes for 950 yards and 14 touchdowns.  A superior talent.

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Wide Receivers

Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State–The most dominating wide out in college football.  He can take over a game.  Also a brilliant return specialist.  A dark horse Heisman candidate who caught 87 passes for 1,480 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore.

Kansas St Oklahoma St Football

Arrelious Benn, Illinois–A long-time HP favorite (he was an HP preseason AA last year), he has the best combination of size, speed and strength of any receiver in college football.  Should have huge year with continued improvement by his quarterback, Juice Williams.

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Offensive Line Unit

Per HP tradition, we will not choose individual All-Americans on the offensive line.

We refuse to do so because, unlike other people who pick All-Americans, we admit that we have no idea who really are the best offensive linemen.

There are no individual stats to go by. Highlights rarely show what they do. We could go off of hearsay, but wouldn’t that be dishonest? What’s more, there are 585 starting offensive linemen in Division One. It’s almost impossible to have seen enough of them to know who is really the best.  Did anyone pick Baylor’s Jason Smith–the second pick in the draft–on their preseason team last year?  I don’t think so.  So, while other All-American teams choose linemen almost solely based on reputation, we will not.

However, we will choose the best line unit in the country, since this is a bit easier to quantify. That honor goes to USC, which returns five starters plus two part-time starters–including three seniors–from a group that went 12-1 and paved the way to 195 rushing yards per game while allowing only 18 sacks.  Congrats Trojans.

O-LINE

We’ll have our preseason HP All-American defensive team tomorrow…

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