Mailbag: Collins not throwing picks

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

DJ in St. Paul, Minn. writes: Seriously? AP and Chris Johnson are not in the same league and the Titan did not dismantle the Vikings. Despite 4 turnovers, numerous bone-head calls and all the penalties the Vikings still could have won the game at the end. You are an idiot.

Paul Kuharsky: I pretty much said they aren't the same and that the Titans didn't need Johnson to be Peterson.

Newsflash, if you claim to be a team with dominant lines and get pushed around on both side of the ball and you lose by 13 and never have any control over the game, it's a dismantling. Any game you can say if this, that and this didn't happen, my team would have won.

The Vikings got handled this time. Not really my opinion. A fact.

Nicholas Giannino from parts unknown writes: HOw is Marshawn Lynch so Tragically overlooked? No disrespect to Chris Johnson but if you had to choose would you honestly take him over Lynch?

Paul Kuharsky: People are so eager to claim their team or player is overlooked, I just don't understand it. I sure don't think tragic is the correct word.

The Bills are legit. Lynch is great.

I was covering Vikings at Titans. Don't know that people were looking for me to write about a Bill playing in St. Louis.

Josh in Dallas writes: Paul- It sure is amusing to me that no one mentions Kerry Collins' numbers, or lack thereof. Those numbers, 18-35 for 199, NO TOUCHDOWNS, and a 68.6 rating fall pretty well along with what Vince was doing when everyone said he wasn't progressing. I think your point on Vince being disinterested is valid, though I do believe you, like the rest of the media, like to make a mountain out of a mole-hill. What I don't get is why there was so much attention placed on the lack of progression and there is so little attention placed on the lack of numbers. You can say with this defense the QB only has to "manage" a game, I can say a 68.6 rating is less than managing, especially when you are barely completing 50% of your passes. Again, I do agree that VY is going to have to make a change in his attitude and stance on his own expectations, but I am baffled why no one harps on Collins when this was clearly a defensive win and not a result of his "Management Skills"...one last thing, Chris Johnson might be a good running back in the NFL, but he will NEVER be what Adrian Peterson is.

Paul Kuharsky: I think everyone has made it clear Collins is only being asked to manage the game most of the time. And his team is 4-0. He and Vince can't be compared the same way -- Vince is at the beginning and is expected to show improvement, dramatic improvement in year three; Kerry is an old guy who is what he is.

You talk about lack of numbers and you're right to focus on that. Here's the most significant number Collins is lacking in the context of this team: interceptions. He's thrown one.

I never said Johnson would be Peterson. In fact I said he doesn't need to be.

Grant from Dickson writes: When you compare records, defenses, and wins against the same opponent and some would say a very good Jaguars team, why would you still vote the Giants HIGHER than the Titans? It doesn't make sense.

Paul Kuharsky: Because I believe they have better talent and far better experience ... If they played on a neutral field Sunday, I'd pick the Giants. One man's opinion.

JL from Hoboken, NJ writes: I haven't had the chance to look at other 7th rounds but would you say the 2006 draft has been the best 7th round thus far, producing 2 stars (Finnegan and Colston)? What is it that scouts miss about these players? Although they played at small schools, you still see guys out of unheralded programs get drafted high (i.e. Rodgers-Cromartie, Flacco, McKelvin) so I wouldn't think that would be it.

Paul Kuharsky: So much of it is a crap shoot. Even teams that hit home runs kind of missed -- If you thought Colston or Finnegan were going to be this good, you'd probably have drafted them higher, some GMs will say. I say if you value him high but know the rest of the league doesn't and can get him in the seventh, that's great work.

Congrats to the Titans on Finnegan. But imagine if they'd also hit on the first-round picks they used for Andre Woolfolk, Pacman Jones and maybe VY.

Small schools stopped being a surprise a long time ago. The Colts shop off the beaten path a lot, and they are hardly alone.

Mike in NOLA writes: Hey Paul. Enjoyed the dialogue on your chat. I think the bottom line is that reports about sports figures that don't involve sports are not sports news. It may be a human interest story but its not sports news. When i tune into ESPN, i want to read/hear about sports, not some BS happening outside of sports. Whether it involves a sports figure or not is irrelevant to me. Its like saying Donald Trump getting busted with a hooker is financial news.

Paul Kuharsky: If a guy is getting a divorce or dealing with some personal issue, absolutely it's private. Until it has a direct impact on his performance. At that point it becomes relevant to the team and to those who follow it. If you're paying a lot of money to watch a franchise that's paying him a lot of money to play and he's playing poorly because of something, that something is newsworthy.

The Trump example isn't a good one. Because if it's an NFL player who gets suspended under the personal conduct policy the whole team feels it. His decision-making is then up for debate, no?

The beauty of it, however, is you can skip the clicks on the subject matter that you don't care for or flip to a different channel for a bit.

Arthur artjuarez from part unknown writes: I dont know if you remember, but this is exactly what I wrote you about, what a great move, letting Slaton have a chance, and him capitalizing on his opportunity. We will release Green this offseason, HOPEFULLY sooner. Have a good day Paul.

Paul Kuharsky: Slaton is doing very well and I am looking forward to watching him in person tomorrow.

JP from LR, ARK writes: My question is, "How is giving up a late first rounder for a Pro Bowl WR extreme?" Really? Extreme? Come on you mean to tell me you'd rather roll the dice than pick up a known commodity who will produce. Anq Boldin and Roy Williams are higher risks than gambling on a pick in the first round. I'm OK if they don't trade for a WR, but I come up with a better excuse. I like Michael Griffin, but I'd trade him straight up for one of two WR's mentioned above..much less for a 1st round pick that you aren't sure will pan out!

Paul Kuharsky writes: Good stuff.

If I am the Titans, I'd trade my 2009 first if I could negotiate something new with Roy Williams. (It sounds like he's off the market by the way, I don't want to add any life to the idea this could actually pan out.)

I'm not painting it as extreme. I'm merely showing you that they consider such a thing extreme. Mike Reinfeldt called such a midseason deal an "ordeal." Does that sound like a guy who's eager to make the move?

And they Titans are hardly alone. Most teams consider first-round picks more valuable than players, sometimes to an unreasonable extent.


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