In another month most of my attention will be applied to NFL Prospects as they wind up their final collegiate season. But while we wait for the season to start, I thought I’d drop some observations based on Rookies in NFL pre-season games. JAMES BRADBERRY/CB/PANTHERS #24 6’1/211 This is the young man that the Panthers are counting on… Read More »
We have reached the Top echelon of NFL teams with the Elite Eight. But before we start the detail let me say that in many cases I don’t see a huge difference between these eight and those below them at 9-16. A couple of injuries to the wrong players could really shake up this list. 8) PACKERS So… Read More »
Let’s get rolling with the upper half team rankings. We are now in the territory where the rest of these teams have reason to consider themselves as serious Play-Off contenders. 16 SAINTS For a couple of seasons I have felt this team is on the edge of a cliff ready to fall to the depths of NFL frustration.… Read More »
Time to finish off the bottom half of the league. Most of these teams see themselves on the rise, but may indeed just be spinning their wheels. Remember Training Camp is the time of year where NFL optimism reigns supreme. Sorry if I rain on your favorite team’s dreams. 24) EAGLES The post-Chip Kelly era gets underway with… Read More »
Training Camps are open and it is time to put the DRAFT into the rear view mirror (for now) and let you know how I rank the NFL teams as I peruse their current rosters. Rosters will change even before the first round of player cuts in mid-August, but those changes will be relatively minor in most cases.… Read More »
The City of Angels, and other creatures great and small, has their football team back. And in two seasons they will have a money making stadium development to play in. In the interim the organization has two seasons in the Colosseum to warm up and improve the product. Step one was the 2016 Draft and that was all… Read More »
RAVENS GM OZIE NEWSOME established himself as a guru of the Draft process back at the turn of the century when he parlayed some extra top picks into players like JONATHAN OGDEN/OT, RAY LEWIS/LB, ED REED/S, TODD HEAP/TE and more. But this decade the team has been picking late due to success and the aforementioned players have all… Read More »
The TEXANS surprised a lot folks last season with a winning record and an AFC South Division title. But they still felt compelled to make some major roster changes during the Veteran Free Agency period. Getting some receiving help for their big acquisition BROCK OSWEILER/QB, was a solid goal here. With only 6 Picks to work with they… Read More »
Poor Drafts can really hurt a team over the long run. In the past 5 Drafts the FALCONS have only added added 6 starters from their 36 selections. They entered the 2016 Draft with only 6 Picks (8 is average), and made a few strange selections in the process of using those picks. GM THOMAS DIMITROFF could be… Read More »
This team was built around the shrewd drafting of GM JOHN SCHNEIDER who worked under TED THOMPSON in Green Bay. The shrewdest move of all was rolling the dice on QB/RUSSELL WILSON when most of the League felt he was too short to play QB in the NFL. But the team has lost more than its share of… Read More »
This is a huge season for the Chargers as they effort to have a Play-Off team again, and to use that success to convince the San Diego area to pony-up for a new stadium before the NFL allows/forces the team to provide L.A. with its second NFL franchise to share a stadium with the RAMS. Here’s a look… Read More »
I realize that the team continues to lose 10-games per season, and that HC GUS BRADLEY and his staff have coached in the Senior Bowl for 3 straight years. But it may just be time to start taking this team seriously. They added some nice VFA pieces to their roster this off-season, and have multiple young players starting… Read More »
The Boys in the Bayou are trying to hold their team together with baling wire and duct tape these days. Too many years of credit card drafting and trading away picks have put the team in a hole. And clearly they are not at all prepared for DREW BREES to retire in the foreseeable future. So lets look… Read More »
Despite declarations of denial, the BEARS are clearly rebuilding their roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball. That could be plainly seen when they used 6 of their 9 Draft picks on that side of the ball. Now the question becomes how much closer will those picks bring them to respectability in the tough NFC North.… Read More »
No one in the organization is saying it out loud, but it is quite clear that the rebuilding process is on in the Motor City. It was pre-MILLEN days when the team last had as many as 10 Picks in a Draft. In fact, part of their roster decline can clearly be traced to the MAYHEW regime when… Read More »
The banners at the Tampa Bay Training Camp facilities will blare out “It’s a BUCS life” in another month, and now that they have a franchise QB in place they might be on track to make that slogan mean something on Sundays in the Fall. Here’s what they did in the recent Draft. Round 1 VERNON HARGREAVES/CB/FLORIDA 5’11/204… Read More »
It has been a strange 6 months for the EAGLES, starting with the firing of CHIP KELLY, and followed by a contract extension for SAM BRADFORD, the signing of VFA QB/CHASE DANIEL and then capped by a blockbuster trade of Draft Picks to get themselves in position to acquire CARSON WENTZ. During the course of all those fun… Read More »
Welcome to the NFL Draft as it is done “the old fashioned way”. This is as vanilla as it gets, just like PAUL BROWN would have done it. No flavor of the day, not even Neapolitan. A BENGALS draft is pure, with the team picking exactly where the League slots them. No trading up, no trading down. And… Read More »
It was only at the end of the last decade that this franchise was down in the dumps with no prospect of significantly improving itself. AL DAVIS was in his final days, with his son taking the controls of the franchise in 2011. The younger DAVIS made one bold move reminiscent of his father’s legacy. He hired REGGIE… Read More »
The JETS are hoping they are poised to make a push for the AFC title, and as of today their roster has more Rookies on it than any other team in the NFL. 7 of those Rookies came from the Draft, so let’s look at those guys. Round 1 DARRON LEE/LB/OHIO STATE 6’1/232 4.47/40 33 1/4″A/9 3/4″H LEE… Read More »
Clearly the biggest issue for the COLTS is getting a healthy ANDREW LUCK back out on the field to lead the Offense. But to be a serious Super Bowl contender this team clearly needs more talent overall on both sides of the ball. Shuffling a few VFA in and out is always on the agenda, but GM RYAN… Read More »
It’s not easy to get to the top of the mountain in the NFL. It’s even harder to stay there. And GM JOHN ELWAY finds himself in major retool mode with no desire to concede their title to other teams. So let’s look at what ELWAY did to restock his roster which took some heavy hits in the… Read More »
The CARDS have made huge progress in recent years under the tag-team tandem of BRUCE ARIANS/HC & STEVE KEIM/GM. But like every team the annual infusion of Draft talent is key to continued success. How about we leave it for now that this group contains more surprise Picks than perhaps any other team in the league. IMO. Round… Read More »
Let’s travel way over the left side of New York state and talk about the BILLS Draft as sculpted by DOUG WHALEY & REX RYAN. As you look at the player rankings below you would have to conclude this is on e of the best drafts around this year. Almost every player taken by Buffalo is ranked higher… Read More »
I would be remiss if I didn’t go after COLIN’s favorite team in NYC. After a very active and costly VFA season, it was time to do some Draft damage. Round 1 ELI APPLE/CB/OHIO STATE 6’1/200 4.40/40 9 3/8″H/31 3/8″A The Giants really went after fixing their secondary hard this off-season including of course this Pick. It’s a… Read More »
