Did One Catch Signal the End of Jeremy Shockey?
NFL July 22nd. 2008, 10:30am
In the Super Bowl, Giants rookie tight end Kevin Boss turned a short reception into a 45-yard gain. It was his only catch of the game. Boss had nine receptions in five games filling in for former party animal and first-round pick Jeremy Shockey.
Due to the “emergence” of Boss, and Shockey’s pouty history, the Giants dealt one of the NFL’s best tight ends (here’s the best story about him we’ve ever read) yesterday to the Saints for two draft picks (2nd and a 6th).
This seems like a steal for the Saints, who have been missing a rabble-rousing blond presence on offense since helmet-thrower Kyle Turley left. The Giants have now lost - arguably - their two biggest Alpha presences in the locker room: Occasional media hater Michael Strahan (retirement) and the mouthy Shockey.
Just a guess, but expect a strong season from Shockey: When Drew Brees was in San Diego in 2004 and 2005, Chargers tight end Antonio Gates enjoyed his two best statistical seasons, catching a total of 23 touchdown passes.
89 Responses to “Did One Catch Signal the End of Jeremy Shockey?”
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July 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 am
Giants dealt one of the NFL’s best tight…
asses? Michael Strahan would know.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 am
going on talent alone, shockey is 1,000x the player kevin boss is. but when that talent is coupled with being a petulant little bitch and, when coupled with equally petulant plaxico burress, bitching for the ball in the huddle, making life hell for eli, sometimes being a good team player is more valuable.
boss may not be as fast, strong, as good after the catch or as good a blocker as shockey is, but at least eli won’t have to worry about him pouting and whining on the sidelines because he isn’t getting the ball enough.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
“When Drew Brees was in San Diego in 2004 and 2005, Chargers tight end Antonio Gates enjoyed his two best statistical seasons, catching a total of 23 touchdown passes.”
That is an interesting point, but I think you are leaving out that he is an oft-injured Suck.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
I like the deal for both teams. Shockey wasn’t utilized with the Giants enough, and you can be sure Drew Brees will look to get him the ball in New Orleans. The Saints are making the playoffs.
Still. Tight ends that are better than Shockey:
Gates, Witten, Gonzalez, H. Miller, Cooley, Watson, D. Clark, Winslow, and possibly D. Lee, Scheffler, and Crumpler.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
for more reaction to shockey
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
oh…and just because brees threw to gates, doesnt mean that shockey is going to automatically thrive. i expect shockey to produce (when healthy) but gates was in norv turner’s/cam cameron’s EXTREMELY TE friendly system. and even tho gates’ numbers have gone down, they’re still tops for TE’s, even over whitten and lt. winslow.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:37 am
Plus the Giants are hoping Steve Smith is a legit third receiver and will be able to split the Shockey catches between Smith, Plax and Boss, I wanted them to keep Shockey but am ok with the move. Hell the Giants won the Super Bowl, I am fine with whatever happens this year.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:37 am
From a fantasy standpoint, I think this puts Shockey right behind Gates on the TE list in the draft.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:37 am
So missing the playoffs will be ok.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:38 am
outside of Miller and Witten, none of those guys are half the run blocker Shockey is. that’s part of the equation too, don’t forget.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
Sean Payton and Shockey are familiar with each other. I hope things work out for Shockey
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:41 am
How can anyone say with a straight face that Shockey has 1000x more talent than Boss??
Moronic. Just because someone is known throughout the league and was a high 1st rounder and has long blonde hair doesn’t mean he has oodles of talent. if you watched any Giants games you would realize he drops as many as he catches and the team kinda played a little bit better with him out of the lineup.
Coincidence?
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:42 am
I am pretty confident that Alge Crumpler sucks. But I see your point Mike, if guys like Donald Lee were as arrogant or bombastic as Shockey, they would probably get equal media attention and praise. And I will always hate Shockey for his game against my Hokies his senior year.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:42 am
Why are people so concerned with Eli’s state of mind? He’s a Super Bowl winning QB. Who cares if his skill players argue over the ball? He’s got to be mentally tougher than that, henceforth.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:43 am
easily…shockey is obviously faster, stronger, a better run blocker, a better route runner, etc. it’s the shit that you mentioned that makes boss a better bet. don’t confuse talent with production or being a better fit for a team.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:45 am
id rather have vernon dav… whoops talking about him made his leg break
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 am
Whether Boss can play or not, the fact is that without Shockey the Giants were able to win the Super Bowl, they got a lot in return in my opinion for him. A 2nd and a 5th in the same draft is great, considering they gave up something they obviously didn’t even need.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 am
@thor- it was his junior year. He left after that 2001 National Title
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 am
The stats bear it out: Eli Manning is a better QB when he doesn’t have to be concerend with getting Shockey the ball. Him being out of the lineup allowed Eli to look down the field more and not feel the need to rely on a safety valve at TE. And they went through the end of the reg. season and playoffs without him. Plus Shockey is not a Tom Coughlin guy.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:47 am
that 2nd round pick might become a first too. how you ask? see here
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:49 am
@Irish- being wrong only makes it more painful. That game sucked. I can still picture Ernest Wilford dropping the two point conversion to tie it.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:50 am
@cbh49er
Really, how can you bitch about it if the Giants miss the playoffs this year? The NFC East and AFC South are the two best divisions in terms of evenly matched teams. The Giants play at Pitt, at Cleveland and at Minn, no easy games among those three, and they get Seattle and Carolina at home, tough games. If this Giant team goes 9-7 and misses the playoffs I can live with it.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:50 am
Who really cares how good Shockey can be if he is always injured? Also, Eli seemed to have more control of the team with Shockey doing his Liam Gallagher impression in the press box. For a guy who didn’t want to be there (shouting matches with the Giants GM), the G-men got a good deal IMO. Fuck ‘em…the proof is in the pudding.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 am
@ted: hey hey hey, none of that talk. 11-5. they are going to the playoffs.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 am
@thor- i didnt mean to bring back a painful memory.V Tech has had the U number the past couple years
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 am
obviously the Saints off-season strategy was to acquire as many U graduates from New York teams as possible (vilma and shockey)
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:52 am
hell, if the browns won a SB, id be able to live with it if the next year they went 0-16.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:52 am
Batman beat up his mom and his sister? Must not be one of his rules.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 am
@kid cleveland. always hurt? but always playing. he has never missed more than 2 games except in his second season, when the team shut him down.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 am
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7519689.stm
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:55 am
Shockey’s run blocking won’t matter when Reggie Bush is in the backfield, he could be behind a brick wall and still get tackled for a five yard loss after dancing around in the backfield for twenty minutes.
I think this is a good deal for both teams, though better for the Giants. Shockey gets hurt too much, and was clearly unhappy, they needed to unload him. He’ll help the Saints offense, I guess, but the Saints problem is on defense, not on offense. They didn’t really need another receiving threat to be a good team.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:55 am
You say that now Ted, but trust me, when they go 7-9 this year, and Eli sucks, you won’t be happy, losing sticks with you way more than winning.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:57 am
Jeremy Shockey- most overrated player in the NFL (now that Reggie Bush has been brought back down to Earth.)
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:57 am
sparty-
He’s NEVER played a full 16 games in any season of his career. He’s an immature malcontent and he’s, let’s face it, an overrated football player who peaked statistically in his rookie season.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
@Sparty
I am all for the optimism but this team seems to have the potential to slide, it sounds crazy but that opening night game against the Redskins seems very important to the success of this team. If they can go out to a 3-0 start against the Skins, Rams and Bengals they get the bye and can build a cushion. But they have a killer last five games, @ Wash, Philly, @ Dallas, Carolina, @Minn, brutal.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
Bsanders, where you been all day? I linked to that story in the roundup over an hour ago. TBL posted it again in Yardwork.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
mikenyc - add todd heap into that list as well.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
Since when did Shockey start blocking? I was with you for a few posts there spence, but claiming shockey is an elite blocker is ridiculous, when he openly complains about having to block. Can he block well, yes, does he, NO.
I actually felt sorry for Eli the past few seasons, they would come off the field and this dumb bastard would openly berate him on the sideline, if that were me I would have clocked him.
Elite talent + moronic self absorbed ass clown = slightly above average TE
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
XV, I respectfully disagree, without Shockey they had Marques Colston. Devery Henderson isn’t that good, Shockey’s presence will help Colston and help the offense a ton.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:01 am
@cbh49er
That was true for the 86 Mets because the losses in 87 and 88 felt like they missed a chance at being a dynasty, the same with the 87 Giants but the strike season was an excuse, but I do not look at this Giant team as a dynasty, I think they have an equal chance to win the division or miss the playoffs and I will live with a lost season.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:03 am
coop…everytime ive payed attention to him, he looked like a great run blocker, capable of handling DE’s. maybe i missed something, but that’s just my observation.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:04 am
Am I an idiot for thinking that Reggie Bush “breaks out” this year (1,600 total yards, ~4.3 ypc, 15 total TDs)? Probably.
But I’m still holding out hope!
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:06 am
I could see that Mike…plowing Kim’s gigantic ass is probably good training for running up the middle.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:06 am
Shockey would be a good player if he’d agree in his contract to have duct tape wrapped around his mouth at all times. I agree with NY - ship his ass out of town, what a douche bag.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
am i an idiot for thinking bush would be a better slot WR than a RB?
probably.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
From a fantasy standpoint, I think this puts Shockey right behind Gates on my TE.
/Fixed by sportsgal
Choo! Choo!
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
Shockey is overatted and always hurt? This just sounds like new york (maybe the U) hating (or maybe large forearm tatoo hating). Look at his numbers, he is very good. He has played 14+ games in all seasons except one, its football but injuries do happen.
Did Doug Jolley once get traded for a 1st rounder?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:10 am
JB, if we’re making that kind of list, Todd Heap is first before everyone. I love that kid.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:11 am
sportsgal…he’s mormon, so you better be willing to share.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:12 am
Rainn Wilson on First Take right now.
He’s promoting something called The Rocker, which looks awful.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:14 am
Whoa. Shockey’s NOT one of the best TEs in the league?
Shockey, Gonzalez, Gates, Whitten, Dallas Clark, Winslow, Cooley, Heap, Heath Miller …
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:15 am
oh…and just because brees threw to gates, doesnt mean that shockey is going to automatically thrive. i expect shockey to produce (when healthy) but gates was in norv turner’s/cam cameron’s EXTREMELY TE friendly system.
a.) this is the most sensible thing posted in here.
b.) the move is PRETTY good for both teams, but new orleans is getting dangerously close to becoming the cincinnati bengals version 2.0. they added SOME pieces on defense, but they think offense means everything. let’s hope their line doesn’t regress to their weeks 1-4 performance.
c.) tampa is still the slight favorite in the NFC south. belee dat.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:15 am
TBL, you rip me for watching the ESPY’s pre-show with EA’s tats hanging out. then you watch first take? interesting.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:18 am
benji- he wrote a column about the red carpet for the ESPY’s too. the booze were getting to him yesterday i think.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:18 am
Witten and Gates are the elite tight ends.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:19 am
I can’t cath up on all the comments, but I saw someone said that shockey is a good run blocker. I am pretty sure he is one of the worst. He fucking hates blocking, all he wants to do is catch the ball and point back at eli when he doesn’t get the ball. He’s a fucking whiny, bitchass, douchebag that might be good if he can get over himself. His first season I am pretty sure was his best statistically. Other than that he hasn’t done shit except piss off his team.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:20 am
Boss actually had a breakout game against the Patriots in the regular season, when he caught four balls for 50 yards and a touchdown (at least two of the other catches picked up tough first downs). Shouldn’t forget that — it wasn’t just the playoffs.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:21 am
lt. winslow is better than em both.
/homerism
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:22 am
Boss caught a TD as soon as Shockey left the game against the skins too. all the offense the World Champs were able to muster that night.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:24 am
Does anyone think Shockey’s going to make in that town’s atmosphere? I smell many a DUI coming his way.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:25 am
You can’t have just two elite TE. Seriously, your elite are the top 7, they are virtually interechangeable. Shockey sucks.
Player Team Pos Rec Yds Avg Yds/G Lng TD 20+ 40+ 1st 1st% FUM
Tony Gonzalez KC TE 99 1,172 11.8 73.2 31 5 14 0 59 59.6 0
Jason Witten DAL TE 96 1,145 11.9 71.6 53 7 12 2 56 58.3 1
Kellen Winslow CLE TE 82 1,106 13.5 69.1 49 5 17 1 56 68.3 2
Antonio Gates SD TE 75 984 13.1 61.5 49T 9 15 1 54 72.0 0
Chris Cooley WAS TE 66 786 11.9 49.1 39T 8 10 0 46 69.7 1
Owen Daniels HOU TE 63 768 12.2 48.0 29 3 8 0 44 69.8 4
Dallas Clark IND TE 58 616 10.6 41.1 39 11 5 0 37 63.8 0
Jeremy Shockey NYG TE 57 619 10.9 44.2 29 3 8 0 33 57.9 0
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:27 am
That’s the Browns, right down to overachieving in year 1 with a journeyman Derek Anderson (Jon Kitna) while a first round pick Quinn (Carson) waits in the wings.
Both with porous defenses, both with dogshit head coaches.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:28 am
Eh. Gates, Witten, Winslow, Gonzalez. That’s the first tier.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
Shockey is a beast not stat happy but I saw this guy run over a Texan like a Mac truck in his first NFL game. They gave up 2 picks for the guy seems like a fair trade to me. Drew Brees is gonna make this guy look like Gates in a Shitty NFC south.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:30 am
Are we talking for football in general? Or do you mean from a fantasy perspective? I think Shockey’s going to have a ridiculously good year. He’ll have the best hands on the team next to Colston, I can see him getting lots of TDs and yardage this season. He’ll get more touches than Whitten, Clark and Winslow.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:31 am
Benji, don’t take that from TBL, Erin Andrews looked the best I have ever seen her on the ESPY’s.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:31 am
Nick…at least the browns have a few prospects on defense. leon williams is a beast, brodney pool could turn out to be a good safety, sean jones is pro-bowl caliber. the bengals have garbage outside of keith rivers, odom and jonathan joseph.
oh, and the browns ownership doesn’t suck major, huge, disgusting, old, herpes infected balls. the same cannot be said about the bengals (who still don’t have a scouting dept) or the saints.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:32 am
Shockey has to actually get on the field to do anything good. I’ll believe it when I see it. The guy manages to find ways to get hurt.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:32 am
Benji - There was no rip. A joke. Hopefully, you didnt take it that way. I usually start the morning with Mike & Mike on mute, and then just leave it on First Take (still on mute). Sometimes, they’ll have breaking news before the website does.
Plus, there’s jack shit on TV at this hour. I can’t watch Melrose again.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:34 am
morning television is the worst. I almost hate not gonig to work in the mornings cuz there’s nothing to put on. The radio is even worse, at least here in central florida. All the radio stations have either closed, or canned all their talent.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:36 am
Chris Cooley is an elite tight end, don’t sleep on him.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:36 am
Scouting departments are for ghey dudes, Spence. Just wait outside the drunk tank on a Saturday night and sign anyone who looks like they’re in shape.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:38 am
dear lord was that funny.
what do you think of your QB calling out the Bucks? boo him, Nick, BOO HIM.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:40 am
I know you didn’t ask me Spencer, but I mentioned this in another post. I found it hilarious and refreshingly honest.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
/nug, fixed for accuracy
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
damn, wrong post!
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:42 am
-1000 JS for me
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:43 am
@spence: He’ll probably be revered in Cincinnati for it. That city has a weird animosity towards tOSU.
Fuck the Bearcats.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:45 am
cbh…i found it retarded. he’s in OHIO, who does he expect OHIOANS to root for? he’s been here long enough to realize that OSU means more to the state than pretty much everything else.
plus, a pac-10 asswhooping? please, the Pac-10 is a FUCKING JOKE. the b10 gets a lot of shit that the Pac-10 has deserved for years.
and he plays for the bengals…nuff said.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:46 am
cincy is equally kentucky and ohio…that could have something to do with it. arent a lot of cincinnatians ND fans?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:59 am
I think from a fantasy perspective Witten and Gates will be the best two. Gates is a given and Witten has improved productivity under Romo. I also think that since Dallas didn’t get a solid #2 wide out that Witten will have a better year then he did last year. Winslow I like but I still don’t trust DA to get him the ball all year.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
What’s your fantasy TE list, YYSA? Mine is like this:
1. Gates
2. Shockey
3. Witten
4. Clark
5. Winslow
6. Gonzalez
I don’t really even like having Gonzalez on the list. His QB tandem totally sucks. I had him on my team last year and he put up some ok numbers, but since we don’t do PPR in my league, it wasn’t anything significant.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:11 pm
1.Gates
2.Witten
3.Winslow
4.Clark
5.Gonzalez
6.Cooley
7.Shockey
8.Heap
If I was playing it safe that would be how I would rank them. However, Shockey could wind up being a great value pick because changing teams like that is a real wildcard. So towards the end of the year your rankings very well could be like that. Now if in my draft the top 3 TE’s are all off the board then I am probably waiting a couple of rounds to scoop up Shockey and hope he just busts out in Sean Payton’s offense.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Spencer, you still having a league?
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
good lord is there a ton of people overreacting to this trade. shockey is a nice player who may or may not help the saints win the division. no one KNOWS for sure. the giants won a super bowl without him, which tells you more than drew brees’ stats with antonio gates. come on people.
if you think shockey is going to be the 2nd best TE in fantasy, i have some enron stock i’d like to sell you.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Boss couldn’t even make it thought his final two seasons at a DII without missing games due to injury. He’s a good player but I’ll be curious to see if his body can hold up through 16 regular season games now that he’s the assumed starter.
/just sayin’
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
am i an idiot for thinking bush would be a better slot WR than a RB?
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I am not going to go crazy here…I can as we all know but…who ever doesn’t think Shockey is an Elite blocker has not been paying attention…because he complains doesn’t mean he doesn’t go all out…he is a huge element to their running game. Secondly, he is always hurt is one of the biggest misconceptions in football. He Missed half of his second season with a major foot injury. The rest of the seasons he has played 15 games and last year 14 games after he broke his leg. If anything he plays hurt. He does drop some balls but he catches way more. He Causes major match up issues in the middle of the field. He is very hard to tackle and bring down. He is passionate. His teammates love him. The Mara family loves him. The Tisch family loves him. Tom Coughlin loves him. They have constantly said it. Jerry Reese didn’t because of the way he sulked at the end of last year. He wanted to leave. Which is a shame. I have no animosity. I love the guy. He is absolutely a player you love if he is yours. The Saints are lucky to have him. He will play hard.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:47 pm
My friend who went to Univ. of MD (College Park) told me a story one time about Shockey and some of the Miami players going to a party there and basically taking their pick of the girls there. He said Shockey picked up some random hot girl and they found a room and then 2 linemen I think picked up some guys girlfriend and they left too. Random story, but I always think of it when Shockey makes headlines. I’m pretty sure it is true, comes from a reliable friend.