Hey ASF, where's your Touchdown McCants dance???

[Atlanta Skins Fan]

Originally posted by DrunkenBoxer

Some of those nine catches were on wide reciever screens, and I didn't count those.

I think I've backed off my origional sentiments that McCants is a goner. So I'll concede you a victory on this point.

But look at it this way, At this point McCants is a project. The correction that McCants was a fifth rounder makes that all the more clear.

I haven't really beeen on McCants watch, but Maybe I should be. The seattle game recpetion in the end zone was nice. Are there any notable receptions that he has made? I remember the drops not the catches, and that's a bad thing. Do you remember any paricularly good runs after catch? This is definatley an area where he was supposed to be very good, so maybe I just missed some stuff.

I'm not being sarcastic I really am curious

I gues I've just seen some negative plays and few reasons to give him more chances, but I could definately be wrong.

Our opinions are converging, which is good. I'm glad you're conceding McCants might be better than you've given him credit for. In return, I'll concede that McCants is more of a project than I assumed in preseason.

Let me review some particulars. McCants was a TE in college, played at Delaware State, a Division I-AA school. He had 36 catches his senior year, 18 of which were TDs. That by itself is astounding on any level of football. He also had a TD on KR, on his only KR.

In preseason, he saw the most action in Osaka, where he scored two TDs on four catches. On one TD, he broke about three tackles to get to the end zone. On the other TD, he held on in the end zone after being hammered by the defender (a safety, IIRC). He also fumbled the ball in that game, on a strip by the defender. (Yes, this could be a concern.)

McCants also scored a TD against Pittsburgh, on three catches. Against the Patriots, he scored another TD on four catches.

So his preseason line was 11 catches, four TDs. Obviously the TD ratio is exceptionally high.

In the regular season, his best catches have been against the Colts (long pass over the middle, and a leaping TD catch at the back of the end zone) and the Seahawks (the TD with the helmet-on-helmet hit). He had some nice plays against the Giants (including several broken tackles), but these were overshadowed by the fumble and penalty.

Drops that I've seen included two against the Colts, one against the Jags, and one against the Cowboys. He also fell down on a pattern against the Giants, as well as on one pattern against the Cowboys (the underthrown Wuerffel INT). The Colts drops were a pass at the knees and a contested short pass over the middle. The Cowboys drop was a long pass over the middle, also contested.

If I had to sum up what I see in McCants, it's "drive for the end zone". Whereas most WRs seem content to make the catch, McCants seems to be hell-bent on trying to make every catch a TD or at least a first down. (This can lead to fumbles as well.) He's got good speed, good hands, good size, good strength, but none of these elements is at the very top of the NFL. Put them together, though, and then add this intense drive for the end zone/first down, and you have the kind of player that makes for a successful team.

Though very different physically, McCants has a mental makeup that reminds me of Gary Clark. I'm not saying he *is* Gary Clark -- he's got a long way to go. But he's got the potential to turn into that kind of receiver.

No one said Gary Clark was the most talented man in the NFL. But he was on the all-Madden team repeatedly, and for good reason. He had tremendous desire to win, and it showed.

[Ignatius J.]

Thanks for the McCants synopsis. I guess I'll go watch the colts game again to look for those plays.

-DB

[Sage]

That fumble by McCants was also disappointing because he made a really nice catch on that play. Can't be easy to reach up like that to snag a Ramsey dart out of the air (might have been a tick behind him, too. couldn't tell by the angle on TV).