Quote:
Originally Posted by BossChief
Conklin had his second and third highest pass pro grades of his career after he tore his patella.
Lecharles Bentley got a staph infection and almost died. The patella rupture happened during TC of his 5th season. The first under his second contract.
https://www.nfl.com/news/lecharles-b...p1000000229583
“ "The initial injury was just a basic patellar tendon rupture," recalled Bentley. "Routine. And as a football player, that's what you sign up for. You sign up to be hurt. That's the nature of the game."
Bentley figured he'd undergo surgery and be back on the field the next season. After all, he was just 26. His last game had been the Pro Bowl. His best years clearly lay ahead.
"Young, healthy, felt good about myself," Bentley said. "You move on. But it was the subsequent staph infection that was the true culprit, and why I wasn't able to continue."
Buckhalter had 3 career best years after the patella surgery and rehab in 2004 under Rick Burkholter. |
I'm aware of all of these cases. I messed up Bentley (being on his second deal with Cleveland, crossed it in my head to second season in New Orleans). The staph infection prevented us from knowing what that recovery would have looked like, yeah.
I don't look at PFF grades because I generally consider them BS (I was actually annoyed at the study that's been cited because it relied on PFF grades to measure return to performance level, which was iffy at best). I do know that since Conklin blew out the patellar tendon, he came back and blew out every tendon in his OTHER knee shortly thereafter.
Jack Conklin is NOT the same. He was a two-time first team All-Pro before the injury, which occurred when he was 27 or 28, if memory serves. Sources in Cleveland have cited him as a trade candidate because of his declining play, and his most recent PFF grades had him ranked around 60 of NFL T - a far cry from being a first-team All-Pro.
Buckhalter came back and was productive. Jimmy Graham came back and was productive for a single season before falling off. Neither one of those guys was as explosive athletically as they were before. Both lost speed and quickness and cutting ability (things that are generated by the power of the quadriceps). Those are the best feathers in the cap I've seen cited, and they're not great ones.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KC_Connection
Which of those players is solving the protection issues on the offensive line that the Chiefs have faced for years now and that cost them a SB last season?
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The LT they signed as a FA.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry
At Kauffman Stadium to deep center field....
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It seems more like the Comerica Park center field, to me...