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Why did Alshon Jeffery fall so far?
At Garnet And Black Attack, the take is that most of the blame falls on Stephen Garcia, Eugene Parker and Alfonzo Dennard. And there's a lot of good reasoning in one of the better posts about Jeffery's final year at South Carolina and the draft fallout that's been done anywhere.
However, and despite the caveats in the post, I still think that Alshon Jeffery has to shoulder a good deal of the blame. First of all, there was nothing compelling Jeffery to go to the draft in 2012. It might have been risky to return to South Carolina, but there are insurance policies for that, and Jeffery would likely have benefited from coming back in 2012 and playing for a more consistently sober quarterback.
And whatever Parker's advice might have been to Jeffery, he was still free to do whatever he wanted to at the Combine. And he could have worked on all the things that caused his stock to plummet so precipitously.
If Jeffery works on those things harder than he did before the draft, the Bears will have a quality receiver and Jeffery will earn his money soon enough. But he still has to look in the mirror if he wants to see at least one of the reasons why he's not making it now.
That said, it didn't bother the Bears
Of course, they're going to say that -- you can't criticize your second-round draft pick without looking like idiots -- but Chicago seems comfortable with Jeffery's weight and ability. And they seemed to notice the whole losing-the-starting-quarterback thing.
"We feel that Alshon has the best hands in the draft. We feel he is the best at adjusting to the ball. We feel he is the best sideline and end-zone catcher in the draft. He is dynamic with the ball in his hands. He is a big man, he's strong, he's tough, he doesn't go down without a fight. He is a good route runner for the routes that (USC) put him in."
The routes that USC put him in? Steve Spurrier joke about the Bears incoming in 5 ... 4 ...
This might be the most bizarre story I've ever read
And it's just because the premise strikes me as counter to everything that was said during the last year's battle over realignment. By the way, this is the Missouri Tigers we're talking about here.
The Tigers’ red-hot start has eliminated any concerns about whether the SEC move would affect local recruiting.
Say wha? There were those who thought that going to the SEC was going to hurt Missouri recruiting? Because, what, recruits were just looking for a reason to sign with Kansas and get demolished by the rest of the Big 12ish? At least the kids there are a little more intelligent than that would suggest.
'"I don't think I would have played in the Big 12," said Ramirez, who chose Missouri over Nebraska and Iowa. "I wanted to play in the Big Ten or SEC, because I feel I'm that type of linebacker. When Missouri moved to the SEC, it just set them apart."
Which is what I recall everyone saying back when Texas A&M and Missouri were thinking about joining the SEC. But maybe I'm crazy.
Happy New Year! to Phillip Sims?
The Alabama quarterback might transfer to Virginia, where they play Auld Lang Syne every time they score a touchdown and wear Auburn colors. What might he find there?
The new head of the Fiesta Bowl is a real buzzkill
Robert Shelton was hired to clean up the Fiesta Bowl and has apparently done a top-notch job, though you have to wonder whether he was supposed to do this good a job.
With help from the Fiesta Bowl board, Shelton also has made changes to what was once called the Fiesta Frolic, a golf retreat for college football coaches and athletic directors held at a Phoenix resort.
The bowl previously has been criticized for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on the Frolic. Shelton said the Fiesta Bowl has turned the event this year into a summit that will focus on concussions in college football.
And, he said, the bowl no longer will cover most of the cost for the event, which will occur May 2-4 at the Arizona Biltmore.
Um, where do I sign up? In fairness, this is the kind of deep cleansing that the Fiesta Bowl needs, considering that it was almost to the point where even the BCS didn't want to be associated with it. And the formerly-Insight Bowl has to have something to support it, I guess.
The WAC might be about to finally, definitively die
Utah State and San Jose State are about to head for the Mountain West, which might or might not be merging with Conference USA, depending on the day. The WAC is already set to lose Texas-San Antonio, which is somewhat stunning considering that UTSA has never actually been a member of the WAC and is still transitioning to the FBS. (The Fightin' Cokers are headed to C-USA.)
This will almost certainly be followed by the WAC proclaiming that it is still a viable conference before adding some FCS school from Alaska. Who said realignment is over?