Danny Amendola, Wes Welker, and the Draft

by Red Blooded on Apr 24, 2008 10:26 PM CDT

First, a career comparison:

Wes Welker receiving (only his last 3 years, since I can't find the rest)

50 receptions, 582 yards, 11.6 YPR, 5 touchdowns
86 receptions, 1054 yards, 12.3 YPR, 7 touchdowns
97 receptions, 1099 yards, 11.3 YPR, 9 touchdowns

Totals: 233 receptions, 2735 yards, 11.7 YPR, 21 touchdowns

Danny Amendola receiving

13 receptions, 119 yards, 9.2 YPR, 1 touchdown
34 receptions, 395 yards, 11.6 YPR, 3 touchdowns
48 receptions, 487 yards, 10.1 YPR, 5 touchdowns
109 receptions, 1245 yards, 11.4 YPR, 6 touchdowns

Totals: 204 receptions, 2246 yards, 11 YPR, 15 touchdowns

Comments: Not that it should surprise anyone, but Wes Welker was the better receiver in three years. Leads Danny in all relevant statistical categories. The argument can be made, and I'd buy it, that Danny had a better senior season than Wes. Amendola's 109 receptions and 1245 yards was damn impressive.

I don't have the return stats, but I'm pretty sure Wes Welker was a better collegiate return guy than Danny.

The point of this diary was to illustrate that perhaps, and I say perhaps because I always tend to overstate this kind of thing, there is a noticeable change in attitude by NFL teams about Texas Tech wide receivers. If Amendola gets drafted -- and that's by no means a certainty at this point -- it would speak volumes for the impact Welker's NFL success has had on our program. The statistics are very comparable and, if anything, lean towards favoring Welker (who I think was the better collegiate player overall, as well). I'm not so young to forget how good of a player Welker was, I was at Tech when he finished up afterall, and knew when he went undrafted that it was just a matter of time before he made a team. I don't have that same feeling about Amendola, but I wish him the best and hope he gets drafted.

If Amendola does get drafted it will prove to fans and future recruits alike that what was once true of this program just a few years ago is no longer the case. Wes Welker proved that a Red Raider system product WR can have enormous success -- AND PAYDAY BABY -- at the next level. If Danny Amendola, a fine receiver, can get drafted out of Tech, a lot of 4 and 5 star recruits can do the same? Don't forget the season Crabtree just had, either. Any reasons future wide receiving prospects had for choosing any other school will look increasingly trivial, especially if Danny hears his name on Sunday.

Programs don't change overnight. What Coach Leech has done is win consistently and loudly with our nationally famous offense. I believe, I hope, that we're just tipping the iceberg on the recruiting benefits our prolonged success, especially offensively, will reap. I'll be watching this weekend.

Cheers, Wreck Em.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Double-T Nations's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Double-T Nation's writers or editors.

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Comments

crabtree

crabs will be the first receiver drafted when he does come out. I don't want to be a downer and say, "after this year," but unless he has a poor year compared to last, it's highly possible.

by kayakyakr on Apr 25, 2008 8:26 AM CDT 0 recs

Wow, drinking is bad

I called him coach leech. That's bad.

by Red Blooded on Apr 25, 2008 3:51 PM CDT 0 recs

When I checked DTN at

lunch, I was incredibly close to changing this, but decided against, foolin' around with someone's work.

To the diary itself, I couldn't agree more that part of tipping the program is about promoting the previous stalwarts at your school. Which means that if Amendola is drafted and does well, then it would be a mighty fine idea to try and capitalize on that. Not to mention Mr. Welker, who should be getting major bucks from TT to help promote this program, whether it be through advertising, or having him involved in some capacity to sell the school to two sets of folks: recruits and the ticket buying public.

This is actually the 3rd part to the Tipping a Program series, that was delayed this week, but will start back next week.

It takes a village . . . right?

Go Raiders . . .

by Seth C on Apr 25, 2008 5:03 PM CDT up 0 recs

You have my permission

now and forever to edit any diary that misspells Coach's name. Or anything else, for that matter; I trust you.

by Red Blooded on Apr 25, 2008 10:03 PM CDT up 0 recs

My opinion

"I don't have the return stats, but I'm pretty sure Wes Welker was a better collegiate return guy than Danny."

First of all, Wes was MUCH better of a returner that Danny ever was. Wes set the NCAA record for punt returns in a career with 7 I believe. It was tied the next year by a guy from OU. Danny was a good returner, but didn't have the break away speed to take it to the house like Wes did. I think Danny would have had at least 5 returns for TD's if he had that element to his already talented abilities.

I am not sure if Danny will get drafted either, but I firmly believe that he will make a team and prove to have a role on a team. He isn't much different than Wes. Both have been discounted their entire careers for being too short, too small, too slow, etc. But you can never discount the fact that both of these guys are tough as nails and they have more heart than most players dream about. I really hope that a team goes out on a limb and drafts Danny, because I know they wont be sorry.

liquidsmoke

by liquidsmoke on Apr 25, 2008 8:33 PM CDT 0 recs