Welcome back to “NFL’s Believe It or Not.” This week, I will focus on controversial comments from Hue Jackson, Russell Wilson, and Adrian Peterson.
Hue Jackson
I will start with Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, who claimed that quarterback Andy Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Green are the best quarterback/receiver duo in the NFL, saying, “I think they’re the best in the game in my opinion. I wouldn’t change the two guys I have for anybody at this point because these guys know how to do it together.” I understand that you have to defend your players, but this is taking it way too far. A.J. Green is definitely a talented receiver and one of the best in the NFL, but Andy Dalton isn’t even close to being one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. There are at least five different duos that are much better because Andy Dalton is simply not a very good quarterback. To name one, Calvin Johnson is an even better wide receiver than A.J. Green and Matthew Stafford is much better than Andy Dalton, so that duo isn’t even close. The sad thing is that A.J. Green makes Andy Dalton look like a competent quarterback.
Russell Wilson
Next up, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson doesn’t seem satisfied with the tremendous talent on his team, saying, “There’s a lot more ways we can be better.” How much better can the defending champions get? They absolutely obliterated the AFC Champions in the Super Bowl not too long ago. Every team has some flaws and Russell Wilson should never become complacent, but it is definitely a stretch to say that the Seahawks have “a lot” of ways that they can improve. Their defense is, at worst, one of the top five defenses in the league and they have tremendous depth at every defensive position. One offense, the Seahawks have one of the best running backs in the league, taking a great amount of pressure off of the young quarterback. Russell Wilson himself will naturally improve as he enters his third year and he already did everything Pete Carroll asked him to do last season. Even the special teams unit is very good. The Seahawks will enter this season as one of the championship favorites and they will likely go deep into the postseason again.
Adrian Peterson
Finally, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson discussed the decline of the running back position, saying that he wants to “beat down the things they are saying about the running back position.” Regardless of how dominant Adrian Peterson is, he can’t change the shift in the NFL away from the running back position. One player can certainly affect his own team, but Peterson is a rare exception in the NFL. Everybody knows how good he is, but the average salary for running backs continues to decline today. Perhaps the trend could be reversed if a dozen freakishly athletic running backs emerged, but that is very unlikely. The 2014 NFL draft featured many talented running backs, but none of them were selected until the second and third rounds of the draft. One talented player like Adrian Peterson will not reverse the heavy trend.
Make sure to leave your own comments below and come back next Thursday for another edition of “NFL’s Believe It or Not.”
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