After a week to more or less catch our breath we are back to a loaded schedule of great college match-ups this weekend. FLORIDA STATE by 4 @ LOUISVILLE; NOON/ET ABC Much to my surprise this game is a bit under the radar. It had better not be for the Seminoles. I will say it out loud…. if… Read More »
JONATHAN ALLEN/DE #93 6’3/294 ALABAMA The Crimson Tide looks like a serious contender for a national title once again after 2 convincing victories to open the year. And their Defense will be expected to carry the bulk of the load as usual as a new QB is broken in … again. Now here is the real surprise, despite… Read More »
Given the overall caliber of product out on the field I have watched way too many pre-season games this Summer. As teams prepare to publish their final roster cuts this weekend I wanted to get you my quick list of 20 Rookies who got my attention in August, all of them being undrafted. I am not projecting all… Read More »
JOE CALLAHAN/QB/PACKERS #6 The odds on CALLAHAN making the PACKERS 53-man roster appear pretty slim unless BRETT HUNDLEY is not recovered from his ankle injury by the season opener. But it is very hard to ignore his basic talent, arm strength and aptitude for playing QB at the NFL level. Against the 49’ers he completed 16 of 24… Read More »
WILL FULLER/WR/TEXANS #15 The Texans drafted FULLER to give them the deep threat they needed to compliment a solid corps of possession guys like DEANDRE HOPKINS. After his play last weekend there can be no doubt they got what they were looking for. FULLER had 4 catches for 73 yards and 1 TD. He also got past the… Read More »
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 »
