Parker Has “Quiet Brashness To Him”
July 13th, 2012
Joe hates to get all wordy, but it’s kind of hard to be quiet and brash at the same time, but apparently Preston Parker pulls that off, so says Ronde Barber.
Bucs beat scribe Woody Cummings has penned a story about Parker’s maturation process, which includes high praise for the wide receiver from the Bucs’ iconic cornerback safety.
Still, it’s a little unusual to see a player so new to the league play with Parker’s fearlessness. He has earned some fans in the locker room as a result.
“He carries a little quiet brashness to him, which we as football players always appreciate, especially when that guy is on your team,” Bucs veteran cornerback Ronde Barber said. “That’s one of the reasons he’s done such a good job as the slot receiver. But we’ve all known what Preston could do for a while now.”
Parker was one of the lone bright spots last season with 40 catches for 554 yards, and plenty of those yards were earned with pure grit. While Parker is not a good returner, the Bucs would be served well if they had everybody playing as hard as Parker does at the receiver position.
Perhaps being denied barbecue sauce at KFC toughened Parker up, though more likely it was hitting rock bottom at Florida State and appreciating the chance the Bucs gave him as an undrafted free agent in 2010.
July 13th, 2012 at 10:28 am
It never ceases to amaze me that Parker, with 8 fumbles last year? Is considered a bright spot, while Blount with only 5 fumbles is not.
It’s certainly not yards. Blount had more total yard with 929 (2011) yes…he nearly had a 1,000 yard season EVEN with the fumbles), as compared to Parker, who had only 551 total yards.
July 13th, 2012 at 10:43 am
Pete never thought of it that way but those are some impressive points… I have not been a LGB attacker but I was tired of the fumbles from him as well.
July 13th, 2012 at 11:11 am
Pete that take is absurd.
You are comparing yardage between a starting RB (averaging approximately 20 touches) per game with a 3rd or 4th receiver averaging 2 touches per game. Huh?
Of course Parker fumbled too frequently, like Blount, but comparing productivity based on yardage between a number 1 RB and a #4 receiver is idiotic.
July 13th, 2012 at 11:25 am
I like Parker as a WR,he did great on 3rd downs. I just hope they don’t use him as a returner again!
July 13th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Pete
Touches would have been a better comparison.
Parker had 41 touches (40 recs and 1 rush) with 8 fumbles or 1 fumble every 5 touches. That is a horrible percentage.
While Blount had 199 touches (184 rush and 15 recs) with 5 fumbles or 1 fumble for every 39 touches.
Fumbles are correctable, which is a good thing. And, Shiano seems to be coaching techinques that will correct those fumbling issues. Hopefully the players can mentally transpose it to game day.
July 13th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Man. I’m new here so I read the old article about the barbeque sauce and didn’t know that not having any BBQ sauce change your whole life prospective. Well I guess sitting in the middle of nowhere at a 24 hour KFC gives you time to think.
July 13th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Well the fumbling issue is what they have been working on all offseason so I really don’t see this as a problem anymore. Plus the people with fumbling issues will ride pin anyways.
July 13th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
Joe here,
Welcome to the madness, Sneedy16
July 13th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
In the interest of fairness, Parker actually had 84 touches last season when you count returns. And if you are counting fumbles, you should, as six of Parker’s fumbles came in his 23 punt return attempts. Strangely, the other two are unaccounted for on nfl.com.
July 13th, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Parker is one of the few Bucs who can build off of last season’s performance. He was Freeman’s go to guy down the stretch and has to be coming in a lot more confident this season. With Jackson taking two guys downfield with him, Parker is in position to have a very good year.