DeadsetAce
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division rival hate or legit don't think he's worthy of the praise?
he's a tackling machine and all over the field. would love to have him in NE
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NFL Discussion Thread: Pats win SB XLIX. Offseason begins
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division rival hate or legit don't think he's worthy of the praise?
he's a tackling machine and all over the field. would love to have him in NE
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Dudes in this thread claim they hate ESPN so much but I swear its where they get 99% of their football opinions from.
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Surely you don't mean Hardy. Short and Star just as valuable as Greg.
Lavonte David better or nah.
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Greg Hardy was just as good as Kuechly last year.
Retto
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Definitely. Defense took off once he started manning the Mike. 26 spot increase in an under two year span, in terms of ranking.
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Watt 
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Everyone feel free to rank their top-10 defensive players. I want to see how you guys value and place secondary play individually.
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Bowman
Willis
Reid
A. Smith
J. Smith
Brooks
Brock
Dorsey
McDonald
Gulliver
No order
Willis
Reid
A. Smith
J. Smith
Brooks
Brock
Dorsey
McDonald
Gulliver
No order
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No Ward or Dontae. List is null and void.
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Healthy?
Watt
Quinn
Revis
Thomas
Sherman
McCoy
Miller
Suh
Atkins
Aldon Smith
Watt
Quinn
Revis
Thomas
Sherman
McCoy
Miller
Suh
Atkins
Aldon Smith
air spider 777
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Watt
Sherm
Luke
ET3
R. Quinn
Revis
J. Haden
P. Willis
P. Peterson
R. Mathis
And at that, time to go to sleep. Gotta be at work soon. Damn sleeping problems.
Sherm
Luke
ET3
R. Quinn
Revis
J. Haden
P. Willis
P. Peterson
R. Mathis
And at that, time to go to sleep. Gotta be at work soon. Damn sleeping problems.
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Surprised. McCoy over Willis or PP.
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Watt is everything Mario Williams was supposed to be.
Mario still pulling highway robbery with his checks
Watts contract is well deserved and I'm far from a Texans fan. Dude doesn't just rely in talent. He puts in that MJ/Kobe/Peyton type work on a daily basis. The ultimate team role model on the defensive side. Wish he was in SD.
Mario still pulling highway robbery with his checks
Watts contract is well deserved and I'm far from a Texans fan. Dude doesn't just rely in talent. He puts in that MJ/Kobe/Peyton type work on a daily basis. The ultimate team role model on the defensive side. Wish he was in SD.
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I understand why you have Mathis on there. Prefer Aldon or Von Miller.
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Overpaid, definitely. But Mario is a top-25 to 30 defensive player in Buffalo.Watt is everything Mario Williams was supposed to be.
Mario still pulling highway robbery with his checks
Watts contract is well deserved and I'm far from a Texans fan. Wish he was in SD.
Retto
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Watt
Kuechly
Thomas
Sherman
Bowman
Quinn
Von
Willis
David
Berry
IMO, of course.
Kuechly
Thomas
Sherman
Bowman
Quinn
Von
Willis
David
Berry
IMO, of course.
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There is JJ Watt and Earl Thomas then a large chasm then everybody else.
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Thank you for mentioning EB and Lavonte David.
ET clear over Kuechly?
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Overpaid is someone making 15 dollars an Hour when they really deserve 10.
Mario Williams making 95+ million dollars with his 2nd contract ain't overpaid. It's straight Oceans 11 MGM grand George Clooney, vault type robbery.
Mario Williams making 95+ million dollars with his 2nd contract ain't overpaid. It's straight Oceans 11 MGM grand George Clooney, vault type robbery.
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I need to know why Luke is even hands down the best 4-3 Linebacker. What does he do better than Lavonte David or Burfict outside of be white and marketable?
Retto
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White && marketable 
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320 tackles. Most in a player's first 2 seasons. How many dudes post back-to-back years with 150 tackles?
Kuechly covers way better than Burfict.
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It's actually pretty cool to see a few pages debate and discuss defensive players. Usually the offensive guys get all the love on NT
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Column: The real reason Luke Kuechly gets so overrated that nobody can admit
By Reid Foster
May 28, 2014 11:03 am EDT
1373 views
25 comments
Pro Football Focus caused quite a stir earlier this week when they ranked Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly just the 80th best player in the NFL. Writer Steve Palazzolo did a nice job defending his website’s placement of the 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, citing Kuechly’s average coverage skills as a key reason for him being rated lower than anticipated. He talks about the Panthers’ overall defensive success as a factor for the Boston College product receiving so many accolades. That’s definitely a big factor, but Palazzolo didn’t have the guts to reveal the real reason why Kuechly is so overrated. That’s okay because I do.
Luke Kuechly gets overrated because he is white.
Even though the NFL is two-thirds African-American, the majority of the fans that watch it and the majority of the media that cover it are white. People are naturally going to be more drawn to athletes, musicians, etc. that are the same race as them. Muhammad Ali was more popular amongst black people. Larry Bird was more popular amongst white people. Ichiro Suzuki was more popular amongst Asians. That doesn’t necessarily mean everybody is inherently racist, but that’s how it is.
If white players aren’t more popular, then why was Brian Urlacher so much more beloved than his teammate and fellow All-Pro linebacker on the Chicago Bears, Lance Briggs? Clay Matthews wouldn’t have half the endorsement deals he has right now if he were black. If that weren’t the case, then why don’t I ever see DeMarcus Ware and Terrell Suggs, who are both better by the way, on television? And it’s not a coincidence that the biggest stars in the NFL are quarterbacks, who are typically white.
These white quarterbacks are marketed with such voracity that it makes the league seem much whiter than it actually is. The NBA only has about 10% more black players than the NFL (percentage-wise, not total) and yet, it feels like it has 10 times as many. That’s a big reason why so many more people watch football, even though basketball is a sport that’s easier to pick up and a sport that many more Americans have played in their lifetime.
I’m not accusing the media of letting Luke Kuechly’s race interfere with their perception of him as much as I’m accusing them of allowing his popularity to do so. Media members, like everybody, have a tendency to be lazy and football is more difficult than any other sport to know how individual players are doing without looking more in-depth. This is because it’s the only sport that doesn’t always show all of the action going on the field on the television screen.
Kuechly, because he’s white, was the most well-known and popular player on the league’s second best defense. Combine that with the fact that he ranked high on an easy stat to look up (tackles) and it’s easy to understand why so many media members voted for him for defensive player of the year. In a parallel to Briggs and Urlacher, linebacker Thomas Davis was actually better than his fairer skinned teammate Kuechly this season but received less than a tenth of the publicity. You could say the same thing about defensive end Greg Hardy as well.
I’m not writing this piece to slander Kuechly. I was born and raised most of my childhood in the Carolinas and as such, grew up a Panthers fan. I do my best to not let that bias permeate my opinions but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a soft spot for guys like Cam Newton, the recently cut Steve Smith, and Kuechly. I’ve watched every game of his career and Pro Football Focus’ player rankings just confirmed what I already knew: Luke Kuechly wasn’t the best defensive player on the Panthers in 2013, let alone the entire league.
By Reid Foster
May 28, 2014 11:03 am EDT
1373 views
25 comments
Pro Football Focus caused quite a stir earlier this week when they ranked Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly just the 80th best player in the NFL. Writer Steve Palazzolo did a nice job defending his website’s placement of the 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, citing Kuechly’s average coverage skills as a key reason for him being rated lower than anticipated. He talks about the Panthers’ overall defensive success as a factor for the Boston College product receiving so many accolades. That’s definitely a big factor, but Palazzolo didn’t have the guts to reveal the real reason why Kuechly is so overrated. That’s okay because I do.
Luke Kuechly gets overrated because he is white.
Even though the NFL is two-thirds African-American, the majority of the fans that watch it and the majority of the media that cover it are white. People are naturally going to be more drawn to athletes, musicians, etc. that are the same race as them. Muhammad Ali was more popular amongst black people. Larry Bird was more popular amongst white people. Ichiro Suzuki was more popular amongst Asians. That doesn’t necessarily mean everybody is inherently racist, but that’s how it is.
If white players aren’t more popular, then why was Brian Urlacher so much more beloved than his teammate and fellow All-Pro linebacker on the Chicago Bears, Lance Briggs? Clay Matthews wouldn’t have half the endorsement deals he has right now if he were black. If that weren’t the case, then why don’t I ever see DeMarcus Ware and Terrell Suggs, who are both better by the way, on television? And it’s not a coincidence that the biggest stars in the NFL are quarterbacks, who are typically white.
These white quarterbacks are marketed with such voracity that it makes the league seem much whiter than it actually is. The NBA only has about 10% more black players than the NFL (percentage-wise, not total) and yet, it feels like it has 10 times as many. That’s a big reason why so many more people watch football, even though basketball is a sport that’s easier to pick up and a sport that many more Americans have played in their lifetime.
I’m not accusing the media of letting Luke Kuechly’s race interfere with their perception of him as much as I’m accusing them of allowing his popularity to do so. Media members, like everybody, have a tendency to be lazy and football is more difficult than any other sport to know how individual players are doing without looking more in-depth. This is because it’s the only sport that doesn’t always show all of the action going on the field on the television screen.
Kuechly, because he’s white, was the most well-known and popular player on the league’s second best defense. Combine that with the fact that he ranked high on an easy stat to look up (tackles) and it’s easy to understand why so many media members voted for him for defensive player of the year. In a parallel to Briggs and Urlacher, linebacker Thomas Davis was actually better than his fairer skinned teammate Kuechly this season but received less than a tenth of the publicity. You could say the same thing about defensive end Greg Hardy as well.
I’m not writing this piece to slander Kuechly. I was born and raised most of my childhood in the Carolinas and as such, grew up a Panthers fan. I do my best to not let that bias permeate my opinions but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a soft spot for guys like Cam Newton, the recently cut Steve Smith, and Kuechly. I’ve watched every game of his career and Pro Football Focus’ player rankings just confirmed what I already knew: Luke Kuechly wasn’t the best defensive player on the Panthers in 2013, let alone the entire league.
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