DrugBust wrote:Outstanding move to lock up Lee now while his game is still on the upswing. Like King mentioned in his article this morning, he could be looking at a spot on the Pro Bowl come February. Had Thompson waited until after the season he might have ended up costing a lot more.
Shame about Collins, though I'm intrigued as to what Rouse can provide.
Its pretty incredible really. I talked up Lee quite a bit after his first year with us then he didn't do much last year (neither did Bubba, but we were forced to keep them in to block so much its understandable). How much better has the pass pro been, BTW. We are almost always only keeping 5 in with a RB in to chip then go out on a route. Anyway, I thought Lee could be a very good receiver after his first year, but I didn't expect him to be as good as he's been. He's a serious weapon with his athleticism and has been responsible for numerous big gains and first downs.
Another phenomenal under the radar pickup by TT (remember, we got Lee off waivers from Miami the on final cuts two years ago). Bigby, Bush, and Lee have all been huge waiver claims and there are several other waiver contributors on the roster.
As for Collins, his play has been solid but frustrating. Everyone knows about all the picks he's dropped, but as far as we can tell with the **** camera angles the NFL uses, he's been very good in coverage. I'm having a hard time coming up with many plays where a big play was made and Collins was to blame. He had support on Desmond Clark on his huge play, but that was Pops primary cover. I think overall Collins has been very good in coverage considering we haven't given up many long passes. He's also been very solid in run support, IMO.
Finally, here's Rouse chance to step in and show what he can do. If he can show some big play ability he may have a shot at taking Collins job in the future despite Collins being a solid player. We'll need him to be assignment sure this week in the running game because the Minny O-line does a great job of blocking the front 7. Many missteps and Peterson could be gone. He's had an incredible number of long runs. He has 5 40+ running plays; the next closest in the NFL only has 2. He also has 9 20+ yard runs, which ties him with Willie Parker, but Parker has none over 40; the next has 5).
