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Tyler Durden: Danario Alexander: Biletnikoff Award is a Joke
Fundamentally Flawed

Obviously, this rant has nothing to do with being a homer – unless I’m a Big-12 FB homer (ok, I am). However, I’m still objective about my criticism of the Biletnikoff system. It wouldn’t matter who was snubbed as long as I could make the case and as long as it would be of interest to KC-area readers. In this case, it’s ludicrous. It isn’t the fault of the voters, it’s the fault of the system.

In case you didn’t know, the way it “works” is the first ten semi-finalists are picked by October 22nd. Now, if that seems like a long time ago, it was. At the time, most teams had only played half their games – and, what’s worse, most of those games were against sub-par competition – certainly not the kind of quality opponents you would want to evaluate the best receivers against. What if the #11 receiver by votes went on to dominate the last half the season?

The three finalists were picked on November 19th. If Alexander had been one of the ten semi-finalists he might have been picked in the final three at that time. But even then, I doubt it as his last two games were very strong. The point is that any system that doesn’t let the best player participate is flawed.

Frankly, I’m not sure why they have the “countdown” anyway. Why not have the voting at the end of the season when every receiver could be eligible? I suppose that’s too revolutionary of an idea. I mean it only works for just about every other award in every other sport in history.

The three finalists are Freddie Barnes (Bowling Green), Jordan Shipley (Texas), Golden Tate (Notre Dame). They are all good receivers – obviously. And, whether or not Alexander would beat them in the voting (December 4) is an open question. But, he should be in the mix. To not be eligible as a finalist is absurd.

Here are some stats that will PO MU fans.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Receiver, Yds/G, Rcpt/G
Alexander, 1, 2
Barnes, 3, 1
Shipley, 6, 5
Tate, 4, 7

– KU NOTE: Briscoe was #5 in receiving yardage and #8 in receptions. Meier was #4 in receptions, #25 in receiving yardage. Briscoe was a semi-finalist.

THE LAST FIVE GAMES
Obviously, these games were not considered when the original semi-finalists were chosen. And, that underscores what is wrong with the system. Just because a player is off the radar screen at the beginning of the year should not prevent him from competing for an award that he justifiably deserves.

Receiver, Rcpt, Yds, TDs, Rec
Alexander, 57, 943, 8, 4-1
Barnes, 53, 669, 8, 4-1
Shipley, 41, 579*, 6, 5-0
Tate, 41, 649, 6, 1-4

* includes 273 yards verses Central Florida.

Anyone alive can look at the two tables above and see 1) Alexander deserves to be in the final handful and 2) the system is broken. The closest person to equaling Alexander’s production had four less receptions and 274 fewer yards!

Like most things that have a life of their own, I doubt it will change for future years. But, keep in mind that if it doesn’t, the Biletnikoff Trophy is not a valid indicator of who is the best receiver in the nation. To the degree they can’t fix an obvious flaw, they don’t deserve my respect – or yours either.

Randal “Pink” Floyd: Ludicrous is the right word. I hope the Rams can still get him in the 2nd round.

Banky Edwards : Agreed on all counts. Complete joke that this guy not considered to be top 3. Rams don’t know how to draft.

Tyler Durden: they have to draft Suh if he’s avaialble. they are getting ran all over. and badly.

The Moderator: No, the Rams will take the guy that projects to be a good NFL player once he leaves the Rams.

Tyler Durden: we could draft colt mccoy and move him to d-tackle since that’s our thing. drafting players and moving them out of position.

The Moderator: Maybe the could coax Eric Couch out of retirement…

Banky Edwards: Jimmy Kennedy, Damien Lewis, Adam Carriker, Ryan Pickett and Chris Long are evidence enough for me to know that the Rams have no clue and no luck in drafting D-Linemen. Wistrom was slightly overrated and Little is out of position – few remember he actually played OLB at Tennessee. And can somebody please again explain to me why they took Jason Smith over Michael Oher? I have zero faith in the Rams completing an efficient draft that results in viable players that can win.

Tyler Durden: a few observations after watching football last weekend:

1) danario, dezmon briscoe and golden tate are all 3 better than any receiver the rams have had in the past couple years.

2) though i am a notre dame fan jimmy claussen is hands down the best qb in college football. that dude’s deep ball accuracy is ridiculous. if they don’t get suh the rams should take him.

3) its a shame that toby gerhart plays on the west coast because anybody that watched the ND game will agree that he should win it hands down. also its a shame that ND didn’t have a better season cause claussen had a better year than mccoy and tebow, but one of them will win and we can change it to the lifetime achievement award.

Randal “Pink” Floyd: I agree on Jimmy. He’s the one QB I would be ok with them taking in the 1st round. Otherwise, I want defense or RB.

And if any of those WR’s are around in the 2nd and the Rams pass….I will be pissed.

The Moderator: Would it be worth drafting a WR first, then see if Bradford or a second tier QB in the second? I know that most of the better QBs (the non-Tebow and McCoys at least) will probably drop out of the first round.

Tyler Durden: i’ve been hearing a lot of good things about jason campbell from the redskins and he’ll be available. i wonder if we would be better going that route and not drafting a QB.

on a side note when the saints released chase daniel why do you not pick him up and throw him out there and put some butts in the seats for the rest of the year and who knows you may stumble upon a good backup or maybe more. i just don’t understand why you play boller. we already know he sucks. we’ve seen it.

Banky Edwards: I’d go WR over QB. I just think this is a weak draft yr for QB’s. No player out there stands out. But I’d actually go OL over WR. Still no point in getting a WR or QB if the protection isn’t there to give them time to deliver the ball. I’d go OL 1st round to replace Barron and as on Insurance on Smith. Then I’d go RB 2nd round – Jackson won’t last with this much wear and tear. Plus the OL in the 1st round only benefits the running game. I know DL can’t stop the run, but if you play clock mgmt and have a potent running attack, can keep the other teams offense off the field.

In regards to Chase, you’re talking about the Rams. Why would they do something that makes sense? We’ve all said it, all the kid does is win and has character. Why would you not want the guy on your team – fits the Doug Flutie mold.

Tyler Durden: i don’t think you can draft a right tackle in the top 5

Banky Edwards: Smith will end up RT – I don’t see him developing into a solid LT

Tyler Durden: he doesn’t have a choice. he was the 2nd pick in the draft. he is playing LT whether he likes it or not.

The Moderator: What the Rams need to do is to get Josh’s info from the Cardinals and have him teach the art of the mustache ride to the Rams. [Editor’s Note: Josh was the 30-something bat boy of the Cardinals until 2007]