Ken Dye of Cat Crave takes Ginn with a big grain of salt.

[top dawg]

Well, we've all heard the minimal amount of fluff and optimism regarding Ted Ginn. And of course some of us have put on our annual tin foil hats (that actually boost our receptivity for optimism, as opposed to keeping us unaffected).  Well, Mr. Dye gives us what may amount to truth serum if we really look at Ginn's NFL career up to this point.  I definitely think that it is food for thought,

 

The title of the piece Franchise Spark Or Merely A Hired Ginn, though maybe just a wee bit corny gets right down to what all if us are wondering. Here are a few points:

 

 

More to the point with Ginn, the knock on him at the time was that while he had great top-end speed, he lacked the acceleration to get there as a wideout on the NFL level.

 

 

 

I never thought about this in regards to Ginn or any receiver for that matter, but perhaps I may start.  The acceleration problem may be Ginn-specific though, as the speed is really what makes him special, because it's not his hands.  If he has speed, but not practical speed---and can't catch on top of that---then he is taking up space, or, at the very least, living on borrowed time. Dye continued:

 

 

While you can get away with that enough in college, the ability to mask marginal acceleration makes running shorter routes pretty useless. That’s why he “peaked” in his second season. Opponent corners knew he was a one-trick pony once they had seen enough of him to know what he’s all about.

He will have a great practice once in a while, then he’ll back to his “old self” once again…dropping easy passes.

Apparently, his hands aren’t consistent enough to rely upon and QBs and OCs – and DCs for that matter – have adjusted accordingly.

 

 

G-man said that Ginn's hands are "good enough".  But, are they really?  We can only hope that Ginn can magically figure out his problem of the dropsies and turn his career around, though he hasn't done it in six years...

 

In retrospect, I don't want a wide receiver whose hands are "good enough", I want a receiver whose hands are good (period).  Now, of course I realize that G-man was working under terrible financial constraints this year, so perhaps what he is really saying is that Ginn's hands are "good enough" this year. At least this is how I may begin to look at it after reading between the lines of the fluff.

 

 

Kickoff returns are inherently steam-building territory. He has 6 career TDs, divided evenly between punts and kickoffs. Just ask the New York Jets about his tantalizing taste of talent. 2 of his kickoff return TDs came in a game vs. Ginn’s Dolphins that the Jets dominated on both sides of the football and lost by virtue of those two plays...

I’m pretty sure it would be hard to find any particular special-teams tackler that would want to be one on one with Ginn in space after he’s been running for 20 yards. You won’t run him down and the kicker doesn’t count as help.

However, his career high 5 fumbles (with 0 lost, luckily for him) came the same year he had career highs as a WR, and with 15 career fumbles, I cannot put a whole lot of faith in his ability to hang onto the rock, and it won’t take but one for the Eye of Horus to be upon him for the time he fumbles again and he’ll be joining Joe Adams on the “Group-W Bench” there, 2 fumbles lost or not.

 

 

I was also unaware of the potential for "fumbleitis".  It is particularly disconcerting that 5 of his fumbles came while he started at WR, but the fact that he has had 10 more while mainly being a special teams specialist makes me even more sober-minded when I think about Ginn's potential future with the Panthers. Moreover, being that two of his six kick return TDs came in one game against a "circus", we may be overblowing his talent as a return specialist just a bit. But, don't get me wrong, he has shown consistent ability to make an above average impact at returns. 

 

Once he can get that head of steam built up, there aren’t many guys that can run him down if he gets behind the defense. Guys like this are easy to misjudge. You see them start to run and figure he’s fast, but really don’t factor in the fact that the longer he GETS TO run, the faster he gets. It can cause that last-line guy to figure the wrong intercept point and Ted will be past him. That’s how he’s made his NFL living so far.

 

If nothing else, there is always that speed.  With Ginn's speed and Cam's cannon arm, there is still the potential for some explosive plays. 

[SmashNDash]

I'm hoping Ginn learns from Steve, not only how to transition from a gamebreaking Punt returner to WR, but also to use people's doubts to fuel your drive to the next level.

[PhillyB]

cat crave?

[top dawg]

cat crave?

 

Seriously, you never heard of Cat Crave?

[KillerKat]

Mighty convenient of him not to bring up his return averages. I don't give a poo if he doesn't pan out at WR. We signed him as a return specialist. If he can contribute at WR any, it's just icing on the cake. This article is garbage.

[TheRumGone]

i think Ginn will make a few Wow! plays at WR. But he was brought here for his special teams play. Something like 500 yards and 3 or 4 tds I would consider amazing for him. Hopefully he can surprise us if/when given the opportunity.

[PhillyB]

Seriously, you never heard of Cat Crave?

 

i have not.

 

anyway as KK said he was signed as a return specialist to give us a boost in that area. if that's all he does then it was a solid pickup; if he finds ways to contribute on offense (hopefully taking the top off of secondaries on certain packages) then it's a bonus.

 

and sometimes guys just need to find a system that fits best for them. maybe proehl is what he needs.

[Woodcookedbbq]

Hopefully Proehl will coach him up good.

[Gabeking]

i have not.

anyway as KK said he was signed as a return specialist to give us a boost in that area. if that's all he does then it was a solid pickup; if he finds ways to contribute on offense (hopefully taking the top off of secondaries on certain packages) then it's a bonus.

and sometimes guys just need to find a system that fits best for them. maybe proehl is what he needs.

This.

I don't really think Ginn was signed to be a primary pass catcher.

[weymouthst]

I didn't expect Ginn to come in and be a top tier WR...I expected him to come in and push other players, add depth, contribute on ST, and have a chance to show what he can do.

 

All the knocks on him are warranted I think, and the coaches know it. They will act accordingly.

 

 

[teeray]

Not necessarily disagreeing but has Ginn played with a QB that is worth a poo or has the arm strength to really take advantage of his speed?

[Darth Biscuit]

I never had much expectation of Ginn as a receiver, I'm hoping he helps us more at returner.

[bleys]

this article......

 

 

 

BRILLIANT!!!!!!

[TheRumGone]

Not necessarily disagreeing but has Ginn played with a QB that is worth a poo or has the arm strength to really take advantage of his speed?

 

pennington was worth a poo. but obviously awful arm strength. but he did have his best season under pennington; close to 800 yards and 4 or 5 tds