Anquan Boldin, Paxton Lynch and NFL notes
On Sunday night, wide receiver Anquan Boldin announced his retirement from the NFL. Boldin, who broke into the league as a first-round choice with the Arizona Cardinals in 2003, is one of the most underrated players of his time.
Boldin played for four teams in a 14-year career, including the Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions. He signed with the Buffalo Bills only weeks ago, but decided a 15th season wasn’t in the cards. All told, Boldin ranks ninth in career receptions with 1,076, directly below Terrell Owens and above Reggie Wayne. In terms of receiving yardage, the former Florida State Seminoles star checks in 14th with 13,799.
The argument will rage whether Boldin should be a Hall of Famer. He was never an All-Pro and reached the Pro Bowl only three times. However, he did win a Super Bowl in 2012 with the Ravens and went to another with the Cardinals in 2008. Boldin also had seven 1,000-yard seasons and caught 82 touchdowns.
The 36-year-old would get my vote for the Hall. He was dominant for over a decade, and was the toughest receiver of his era. He was a quiet superstar who was durable, consistent and able to fit into any system, often playing both inside and outside the numbers. There will be arguments that Boldin wasn’t on the same level of Larry Fitzgerald, Terrell Owens or Randy Moss, and he wasn’t. But he was on par with Isaac Bruce, Reggie Wayne and Steve Smith, all of whom should get a gold jacket one day.
Paxton Lynch sits again
While the Denver Broncos haven’t made it official yet, Paxton Lynch will be holding a clipboard for another season. On Saturday night, Lynch started against San Francisco and completed 9-pof-13 passes for a paltry 39 yards. Most of the game, Lynch looked confused and slow to get through progressions, often leading to him running while open receivers threw up their hands.
Trevor Siemian won’t make anybody in the Mile High City forget John Elway or Peyton Manning, but the Broncos will ride with him in 2017. Still, it’s hard to see Siemian getting Denver to the playoffs with the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders (and perhaps the Los Angeles Chargers) all poised for good seasons.
Backup QBs should scare their fans
Watching preseason football always reminds you how bad some backup quarterbacks are. If you root for the Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers or about a half-dozen other contenders, you should be downright terrified.
The league has made a consistent effort to make quarterbacks safer inside and outside the pocket, and for good reason. Some can scream about the game going soft, but nobody wants to see Kellen Clemens and Kellen Moore (two Kellens???) fighting it out on Thanksgiving. Let’s all hope that every quarterback stays upright this year, for everyone’s sake.
