Yesterday, we had Steve Smith saying he wanted the Panthers to double their offensive output, which would put them over 50 points per game.
Today, Jason Pierre-Paul of the Giants raised the hyperbole bar, saying that he’s about 50 percent of where he could be as a pass-rusher.
That would be after a 16.5-sack season which saw him earn Pro Bowl honors.
“I am still improving,” Pierre-Paul said Saturday, via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com. “Trust me, I don’t know it all, I still got a lot to learn in this game of football. I am like right here.”
That’s when he put his hand at his chest level, then raised it over his head to show how much higher he could go in his third season.
“I am about 50 [percent],” Pierre-Paul said. “I am still learning. That is the good thing about it. I want to come out here and learn and keep on improving.”
Along with Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora, he gives the Giants plenty of pass-rush, but Pierre-Paul is trying to maintain his humility, even as he’s poised to break out as one of the top defensive players in the game.
“I am just trying to be that 20-year-old kid trying to make a football team and be a sponge to the game and teach these rookies something too,” Pierre-Paul said. “That is basically it. Stay a 20-year-old kid trying to make the football team like I don’t even have a spot on the team.”
If he gets even 5 percent better than he was last year, he’ll be making plenty of teams, like the kind that play in Hawaii.