Bobby Sippio and Dwayne Bowe: The Catching Cousins
Woe is me — Michael Allan is gone. Woe is me — Michael Allan is gone!
I’m just about sick of that sentiment from Chiefs fans, and I’m the guy who championed the Whitworth product as a late-round sleeper over at Real football 365 back when you would have probably guessed that Michael Allan was just some guy you worked with.
The Chiefs still have three solid tight ends on the roster — Jason Dunn, Kris Wilson and, of course, Tony Gonzalez. And, yes, Wilson is a tight end. Right now he is a fullback/H-back, but I still see him as Tony G’s eventual successor. Why do you think we’re using a valuable roster spot on Boomer Grigsby? Ticket sales? To prevent a riot? OK, maybe, but we’re also grooming him to be our eventual fullback. So cutting Allan isn’t that big of an ordeal.
And who else were we going to cut?
A young cornerback? Yeah, right. With our aging starting corners and lack of depth at the position that would have been suicide.
An offensive lineman? Oh, that makes sense, given how well this unit has performed so far.
A defensive lineman? Then we’d only have six. That would work out really well against the Chicago Bears this upcoming Sunday sans Jared Allen.
I could go on and on, but Allan was the sensible choice. We desperately need Bobby Sippio on the roster, playing and making catches for us, so someone had to go. Unfortunately, Allan was just about the only possibility. We should all hope that he clears waivers and joins the practice squad (doubtful), but if not, hey, we did what we had to do after Eddie Kennison’s injury.
The good news is that our one of our biggest weaknesses, the wide receiver position, might actually evolve into a strength over time.
Look at all of our receivers besides Dwayne Bowe and Sippio. The ancient Kennison might be one hammy pull closer to retirement. Who knows when he’ll be back. Samie Parker – who, I have to admit, did play pretty well against the Texans last Sunday — typically couldn’t catch an STD in the Red Light District with two fists full of hundreds and all the time in the world. As for Jeff Webb, don’t let his name fool you — the guy doesn’t exactly have Spider-Man-sticky hands. What was up with those alligator arms against the Texans? That right there was Pinkstonesque.
Enter Bowe and Sippio, two catching “cousins” with similar frames and similar games. What I like about each guy is that they are what I call third-and-long receivers, which is basically the antithesis of Kennison, Parker and Webb are. Both Bowe and Sippio possess the size, strength and, most importantly, moxie to fight for and ultimately haul in tough balls. They can go up and get balls, go across the middle and overpower defensive backs. My apologies to Kennison, who’s been a great Chief, butI’m not sure if our other three receivers can do any of those three things.
For the longest time we’ve needed a third-and-long receiver. This was made painfully clear last Sunday when we converted only three of 11 third down opportunities. I’m hoping that we now have two in “The Catching Cousins” — D-Bo and Bobby Sipp. Our anemic offense could definitely use that kind of boost.
I also want to talk a little more about Sippio, briefly. I feel like the Arrowhead Addict staff — along with Chris from Arrowhead Pride, Chris from K.C. Chiefs Fanatic, other Chiefs sites and the readers of said sites — really started this Sippio craze. He’s the Boomer Grigsby of the Chiefs blogosphere, or the Tech-Boomer for all our Net-savvy readers, so lets embrace him and cross our fingers that he’s the next quality NFL player to come from relative anonymity. Then we all could say that we helped create the next Chiefs’ folk hero.
TE Allan is on the practice squad! I hope Sippio gets a chance to prove himself. I do not see what the Coach sees in Webb. I have a feeling we will be doing a lot of throwing on Sunday. Lets Go Chiefs!!!!!!
September 12th, 2007 at 5:20 pmI am looking forward to seeing Sippio during real game action. You are right when you compare his game with Bowe's game. The are very similar and therein lies the problem. I am as frustrated with Parker's drops, but you need him or someone like him to present a deep threat. If you put TG, Bowe, Sippio, Wilson and Bennett in a 3rd down situation, the opposition will sit on the short routes.
September 12th, 2007 at 6:01 pmThat's why you go single back and stick Parker or Webb in the slot.
September 12th, 2007 at 6:47 pmAnd neither Anquan Boldin nor Larry Fitzgerald are burners, yet that works out just fine. Not a comparison, just an example.
September 12th, 2007 at 6:48 pmNot really short routes on third and long. You need comeback routes and guys that will make tough catches and both of these guys I feel can do that. Plus they can outsize/outman the smaller DBs.
September 12th, 2007 at 7:34 pmim really pumped about sippio joining the team. i think allan is going to be a pretty good TE in another two years or so, but he is merely a decent #3 as of now so i would rather him stay on the practice squad. sippio is exactly the kind of WR we need, just as you guys said, because he freaking catches EVERYTHING! our offense is build on NOT making mistakes, making dropped passes (something we did a hundred bajillion times on sunday) is NOT acceptable. i hope sippio gets the ball thrown to him often on sunday, him and bowe could form a formidable combo for years to come. oh, and something we all seem to forget is how ray farmer found him. i know, i know, looking at the AFL footage it doesnt take a genious, but NO ONE had even taken a look two weeks into training camp. hopefully we have found a diamond in the rough…
September 12th, 2007 at 8:28 pmand if people would realise, if we had an O-LINE now…hahaha we wouldnt have that many third and longs… hahahahaha ! and If they still hand LJ the rock… that alone opens the passing game up… all we need is to start throwing the damned ball 40 times a game…hahahahaha we need to run the rock 40 times a game. minimum!
September 12th, 2007 at 10:53 pmHerm was worried to rush LJ back the first game and now says he has a game underneath him and should touch the ball at least 30 times. We will run the ball, but if aren't successful at the passing game then it doesnt matter because people will put 8-9 guys in the box. I hear you on the OL red, but they just need time working with each other. I think this unit will get better and better working together.
Also I hate to tell you but it looks like I am going to win our bet
September 13th, 2007 at 12:21 amHas everyone considered the effects of having these two large monsters blocking downfield? We know Bowe can block, and one site stated Sippio is a devasting downfield blocker. These two are going to enhance our running game.
September 13th, 2007 at 9:09 amGary, Great point.
September 13th, 2007 at 10:27 amno you wont win the bet!!!!!! ZACH!!!!! hahahahaha And having them stack the box opens the passing game as herm loves the play action game… the problem I see is with huard in as our QB he cant get the ball down field… he has to float it just as montana had to way back when…hahaha and that doesnt work in the pros… like last week having him loft it 30 yards to a open reciever that now has three guys on him (by the time the ball gets there.)… Bowe and Sippio are not that good… And people forgett parker is still the second reciever. the starters are Bowe & parker…yuck
September 13th, 2007 at 3:50 pmIt was Bowe's mother who called him and said Sippio was his cousin.
October 4th, 2007 at 9:51 pm