Grinding Your Gears: Hughey's Letter of the Week

How ya doing.  Lord Hughey Windsor-Sanchez here, from sunny Jersey, answering your Monday morning messages:

“Lord Hughey Windsor-Sanchez,

Love the column. Please forgive me for the feebleness of my message. I am but a poor orphan, and Mr. Bumble only allows us 10 minutes internet time a year. And he makes us type it all with some sort of quill.

My question, sir, is which players in your NFL football league really need to step up, and have a breakout season in the year of our lord 2009.

“Little” Timmy O’ Mulligan

Some 18th century orphanage. Probably in England”

Great question Timmy. And keep with the quill. My pap always told me “chicks dig good penmanship.”

Here’s my three breakout guys, you dig?

Darren McFadden

The biggest misconception about this stud is that he had an average rookie season.  The kid had a great rookie season—he was just protected by Al.  I’m sick of these people breaking Al’s balls.

Look at the facts.

He only had 113 carries, and still managed nearly 500 yards, at 4.4 yards a pop.  If you add in his 29 receptions, you’re talking 734 yards from 142 touches.  5.1 yards every time he got the ball.

The kid’s just a baller, aint no mistake.  The only game he got more than 15 carries, he torched the chiefs for 164 at 7.8 yards per rush!

He will have a huge season.

Reminds me of the time me, Al, Sammy, and Frank hit the Copa in ’62. What a night. That’s another story though.

Vernon Gholston

This kid’s unfairly been cast off as a “bust”. He’s no bust. He was just a scary bad pick by The Jets. The kid’s a hybrid pass rusher in a 3-4. Why’s a 4-3 team taking him?

Madness I tells ya.

Rex is a personal friend, and I can assure you that he loves Gholston.  Sat on the loungers, in Acapulco in ’82, he tells me “Sanchez, baby, I love these hybrid rushers”. 

The kid’s a specialist pass rusher. The problem last season was that he wasn’t allowed to rush the passer enough.

Rex will bring him into games on the outside to go after the quarterback, and he will flourish from there.

Rex sees the kid as a project. Just as he did with Terrell Suggs.

I ain't no Jet fan. I hate New York more than I hate the guy who gunned down my pappy in ’38—why papa, why? You should have just paid the vig—but I see big things for VG in 2009.

Vernon Davis

This kid is unbelievable.  Unbelievable, everywhere but the football pitch.

He had everything in college—4.38 speed, great blocker, unbelievable hands.

He’s had a solid, but unspectacular start. I put a lot of that down to the bad coaching situation, and lack of a top end quarterback.

The quarterback problem remains, but he’s found a guy in Mike Singletary who will back him, work him hard, and push him on.

Mike’s a winner, no doubts, and won’t let him fail, you hear? Reminds me of the time Mike and I took the Mustang down to Malibu in ’84. What a weekend.

Anyway, things are starting fall into place for Vern’. They finally have a solid coaching set up, geared to win. And they have a legit stud in Michael Crabtree to gobble up the double coverage.

I have a sneaky feeling the kid Smith may beat out the competition for the starting job, just because of his elite arm strength.

Why have guys like Crabtree and Davis on the field when you have a weak arm behind center? Mike will want someone to stretch the field, and the kid Smith has a cannon arm.

Like the cannon that gunned down my pappy in ’38 – I would have taken the bullet for ya pa. Ain't no mistake.

I expect Mike to use Vernon heavily in the slot, and in receiver routes, which could mean a big season.

That’s all for this week folks.  Talk about busy weeks. I’ve got some business with The Gambinos to finish, the car won’t wax itself, and Bianca is breaking my balls to take her shopping.

Stay tuned y’hear?