Hot Coles Here!

Well, it comes as no surprise to anyone that Laveranues Coles was cut by the Bengals earlier this week opening the door for a free agent signing as has been mentioned by both Cakes writers in earlier columns. Coles was a "fucking pro." He was a strong locker room guy that did all "the little things" he was asked to do. The things he did not do was make plays on the field. He had 43 catches for 514 yards and 5 TDs in an anemic passing offense. He had arguably one of his worst games as a pro at the outset against Denver and never felt comfortable. He had a crucial fumble in the Jets playoff game. He struggled mightily and he struggled with a 4 year 28 million dollar contract. It doesn't take a genius to realize that the sum of these parts is getting the axe job from Mr. Lippincott's inappropriate khaki shorts.

Coles strengths were supposed to be his speed, quickness, and his hands (Oh, and his consummate professionalism). At the age of 31, he has lost a step failing to get much separation on routes. With the attention paid to the Ocho, it would fair to assume more opportunities for Coles to excel.

Now, Coles is not the sole source of blame for the year's production or lack thereof. He himself comments, "I didn't fit into the offense at all. Carson wasn't comfortable with me. He likes tall receivers. He told the coaches he wasn't comfortable throwing to me." Of course, when anybody gets fired the knee jerk reaction is to bitch and moan about everybody about yourself but he does have a point. Carson was constantly high when throwing to Coles and he bears some blame of the playoff fumble by terrible ball placement. Carson does like tall receivers but so do the Bengals in general. Peter Warrick, Antonio Chapman, and now Coles have all had their difficulties with the system. Warrick did have a great year in 2003 having 79 catches for 819 yards but that was with the crazy guile and leadership of Jon Kitna. They get these little guys and decide they need to run short option routes that rarely get open and that do not offer many yards after catch in our system. The undeniable skill of guys like Warrick and Coles was that they are great with the ball in their hands but Bratkowski decides to nullify those advantages.

Imagine for an instant Wes Welker falling into this offense. What would the results be? I am certain production would be more akin to that of this season's Coles than what we are all used to seeing in New England.

The larger issue at hand is why does the team constantly fawn over these style of players when we fail to utilize them properly. The signing of Matt Jones and current courting of Terrell Owens makes sense in that regard. They are enormous and athletic. It is why there should be an air of caution around a first or second rount draft pick of Mardy Gilyard. Regardless, the Coles era came and went without much impact.

We all should have known he wasn't comfortable just by watching his reactions to Marvin's preseason rant. He looks very frightened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knXuiqdvZ4E