Colbert’s Folly -- Farrior Signed to 4-year Deal

Colbert�s Folly -- Farrior Signed to 4-year Deal

Kevin Colbert, forgetting the burn of his bizarre Contract-3 deal with LB Jason GilDong 6 years ago, plunged full steam ahead today by signing 33-year old ILB James Farrior to a 4-year, $18.25M extension deal. 

Farrior will receive a $5M signing bonus and just under $10M over the first two years and $12.6M over the first three years.  

There�s long been astute documentation here at Stillers.com -- much of it written by my esteemed colleague, Steel Phantom -- on the gross stupidity of pissing away big money on Contract-3 players.  For every rare player like a Jerry Rice or a Willie McGinnest that can continue to produce well into his 30�s, there are another 90 players who not only cannot, but also are clearly on the downward arc of their careers.  Such is James Farrior, the supposed �Winged God of Pass Coverage�, who very clearly and demonstrably showed in 2007 that he�d slowed beyond a step and had lost an enormous amount of quickness, footspeed, and agility. 

I spotlighted numerous, specific poor plays by Potsie in both �07 losses to Jax.   Those postgame reports can be viewed at:

http://www.stillers.com/articles/2186.aspx

http://www.stillers.com/articles/2210.aspx

Farrior was a complete disaster in both of these games, and these were not an aberration.  His tackling was, at best, average; his hitting was meek, and his pass coverage has slipped to the point that he�d be a gruesome liability in coverage on a back such as Jon Wittman, much less a Jones-Drew or a Tomlinson.   In Jax-1, the Jags rushed the ball 42 times, and Farrior -- a starting ILB that never left the field that day -- made a whopping 2 solo stops.  Few fans should forget the long TD in the playoff loss to Jax, in which �The Winged God of LB Coverage� was pitifully slow and clumsy in trying to cover Drew on a simple lil� float route, and then flailed and whiffed after the catch was made. Utterly and absolutely pathetic.    

Starting all 16 games in 2007 and rarely ever leaving the field for a dime or nickel package, Farrior had all of 94 total tackles (64 solo, 30 assists), which is a laughably paltry number for a starting ILB in a 3-4 defense that is DESIGNED to allow LBs to make most of the plays and tackles.  In comparison, Farrior had recorded 126 and 119 total tackles in each of the prior 2 seasons.  He had only 94 tackles in 2004, but he also snared a career high 4 INTs.   64 solos in 16 games translates to -- hold your hats -- 4 solos a game.  Yippee !!    4 solos a game; and 1 INT in the entire season, and Colbert rushes out like a rabid dog to sign the 33-year old PotBoy and lavish him with millions of dollars.  

Soon enough, you�ll hear plenty of, �Well, it didn�t cost all that much to extend The PotBoy.�   That�s absurd.  If Farrior were merely one of a select few soon-to-be FAs, I might understand the foaming at the mouth that Colbert apparently had when he rabidly rushed to extend Farrior.  Unfortunately, that�s not the case.  The Stillers are staring at a massive turnover next spring, and Potsie, the 33-year old LB on the downward arc of his career, was hardly at the top of the priority list.   Pissing $5M in signing bonus is good money thrown at mediocrity and limits what the Stillers can spend on an enormous crop of players eligible for FA this spring.  The potential FAs next spring include:  

Granted, backups like McBean, Madison, Mason, Arnie Harrison, and Frazier are hardly a steep concern. 

But 5 veteran O-lineman -- including 3 starters in LT M. Smith, LG Chris Kemo, and RT W. Colon -- could depart. Even if only 3 or 4 depart, the depth chart will be totally decimated because there is no quality stockpile of youth and proven ability in the wings.  Davis is a solid FB who is still developing and improving, and Nate has shown many flashes of being a decent #3 or 4 WR.  Tony Smith has an awful lot of ability and if it gets harnessed, he could be a force.  If nothing else, he is the #2 FS on the depth chart behind a very average veteran player that just had his spleen removed last year.  

On the other hand, the LB corps is much younger and more stockpiled.  Last years� TOP TWO draft picks, Timmons and Woodley, are set to start if the coaching staff makes the correct decision.  Jamie Harrison has many good years remaining.  Larry SlowaFoote is standing by as an adequate backup.  There was no need to rush to extend a 33-year old, slowing LB now when he could have easily been reeled in, or cast off, in the springtime.  If Colbert was worried about veteran LB depth or having a veteran starter to replace Farrior at ILB, any number of solid veterans will be available in free agency come March.  Ironically enough, that�s precisely how Farrior was obtained in the first place.  Does Colbert really think Farrior, at the age of 33, is some sort of �once in a lifetime� player such as Dick Butkus or Jack Ham??

Some yinzers will fawn over Farrior�s �knowledge of the defense� and his supposed �great leadership�.   Yeah, and we heard the exact same bullshit when Levon Kirkland had spiraled downward from a top-flight player to abject mediocrity.  We heard the same balderdash about GilDong, as well as Joey Porter.   Many Steeler fans have an amazing ability to rationalize for poor play and downward physical ability by glossing over it with over-inflated babble about �knowledge of the defense� and �team leader�.  

It all adds up to a big zero for Colbert, who used good Contract-3 judgment when he bypassed Crybaby Alan Faneca, but then showed zero brains on this imbecilic 4-year deal of Farrior.  Chalk another one up to Colbert�s Folly.

Still Mill and Stillers.com -- �When it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers, no one else comes close�.�