Is Cooley completely finished?

by **The Hogster** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:34 pm

Father Time is undefeated. Sucks that it comes for Cool

ey right around the time we get good. But, short answer to this question is--YES. He's finished.

Here are some guys that were on our roster when Cool

ey came on board. Just to give frame of reference for how long it's been.

Lemar Marshall
Robert Royal
Joe Salevea
Mark Brunnell
Rod Gardner
Lavar Arrington
Rufus Brown
Ola Kimrin
Walter Rasby
Chad Morton

I mean, he had a good run. But, it's over.

by **riggofan** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 2:46 pm

I don't disagree with you guys necessarily, but Cool

ey is only 30 years old. Its not like he is over the hill. What exactly makes everyone so sure that he is finished?

I would have to think he is fairly healthy after not playing much last year. I'd be willing to bet he's at least as good as Niles Paul.

On the flip side, doesn't seem like any other teams were after him last year, so yeah anything is possible.

by **The Hogster** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 3:33 pm

riggofan wrote:I don't disagree with you guys necessarily, but ey is only 30 years old. Its not like he is over the hill. What exactly makes everyone so sure that he is finished?

I would have to think he is fairly healthy after not playing much last year. I'd be willing to bet he's at least as good as Niles Paul.

On the flip side, doesn't seem like any other teams were after him last year, so yeah anything is possible.

He's only 30, but he's been in the NFL going on 10 years. And, his last few seasons were plagued with injuries and a dropoff in production. That's what makes him over the hill. You simply can't expect him to regain health and ability once he's hit 30. Older players generally slowly deterioate.

Can he still play? Sure, he could. But, when you have guys like Fred Davis & Logan Paulsen you have to ask yourself--what does he add? How often would you need him to play? Keep in mind, he doesn't play special teams (except for on Punt & FG protect). But, he doesn't even get to dress if he's behind Davis, Paulsen & Paul.

BTW - Niles Paul is not only a TE, but he returns kickoffs and plays on coverage teams. Cool

ey has past the point in his career where he no longer justifies a spot with his production like he did 4-5 years ago.

by **riggofan** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:58 am

I agree with what you're saying Hogster. I guess my point is that I can't say for sure that he's physically "finished". It seems more definitive to me that Shanahan made a decision to go with the younger guys than use up the cap space on the 10 year old player. Probably for the reasons you mentioned.

And that is a fair point about Paul and special teams. I would still find it hard to believe that Cool

ey isn't still a better TE than Paul from what I saw last year.

by **Deadskins** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 10:19 am

If Paul can learn to catch, he could be dangerous.

by **mastdark81** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 2:17 pm

ey consistently broke tackles after catching the ball when he was at peak. He was never fast so he ended up shedding weight to maintain speed, however that also made him lose his power, which was his strength.

I think he's done. He could fill a small role similar to last year but why pay a guy veteran minimum ($800k?) when you can just draft an undrafted free agent to fill a role if Fred doesn't fully come back?

by **The Hogster** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 2:26 pm

We should view this as a good thing. It's a good thing when you have enough depth that you can't justify keeping someone like Cool

ey. Washington loves him, he can probably do whatever he wants in the area. It's not like he's riding off into the sunset.

by **skinsfan#33** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 3:01 pm

The Hogster wrote:
BTW - Niles Paul is not only a TE, but he returns kickoffs and plays on coverage teams. ey has past the point in his career where he no longer justifies a spot with his production like he did 4-5 years ago.

I hope Niles isn't the KR this year. I know his yards per return was fairly good, but he looked like he was going on slow motion! His longest return would have been s house call from any returner with respectable speed.

There is a reason you don't see too many TEs returning kicks. I know he is a WR converted to TE, but he was a slow WR converted to TE.

by **SkinsJock** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 4:37 pm

I'd rather have a really slow kick returner that has a fairly good average amount of yards returning kicks than a super fast kick returner with just an average amount of yards per return :twisted:

by **The Hogster** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:11 pm

skinsfan#33 wrote:
The Hogster wrote:
BTW - Niles Paul is not only a TE, but he returns kickoffs and plays on coverage teams. ey has past the point in his career where he no longer justifies a spot with his production like he did 4-5 years ago.

I hope Niles isn't the KR this year. I know his yards per return was fairly good, but he looked like he was going on slow motion! His longest return would have been s house call from any returner with respectable speed.

There is a reason you don't see too many TEs returning kicks. I know he is a WR converted to TE, but he was a slow WR converted to TE.

He ran 4.4

But, he does leave some shiftiness to be desired.

by **Countertrey** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 5:59 am

BMitch was NEVER shifty... and was never particularly fast, yet...

by **Chris Luva Luva** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 10:13 am

Countertrey wrote:BMitch was NEVER shifty... and was never particularly fast, yet...

I'm sure he had quality blocking, that's an area in which we lack.

by **Countertrey** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 11:21 am

^ not always.

Paul did not have anywhere near the opportunities that are required for a fair comparison. Frankly, I don't believe blocking is ever an issue with a committed returner who can see the field... it's dancing around that causes the issues. My point was, that shiftiness and speed are NOT requirements for effective KR's. (but, I'll bet you knew that.)

by **DaSkinz Baby** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 11:40 am

Chris

ey is done. Period. He is so slow he can't even get out of his own way. His best option is to become a coaching intern. He will not be resigned, get over it people and move on.

by **burgngold4life** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:13 pm

I just can't.