National Football League

[Alpe d'Huez]

Of course they gave up nothing to get Flynn, only cash (and Paul Allen has plenty of that). With Whitehurst they gave up a 2nd and 3rd round pick.

Browns still looking to make some sort of deal, maybe with the Rams. Should be an interesting week.

Dolphins are trying to spin their missing out as being by choice. Manning would be too expensive. Philbin thought Flynn was too much of a risk at $6-8m a year. Same with Alex Smith who they didn't bid on. So they are left with...Matt Moore, a journeyman who isn't bad, but does anyone think he's going to lead them to some playoff wins?

Believe it or not, I'm starting to think that Cleveland could take Ryan Tannehill at 4, and if they do, Miami could take Brandon Weeden with the 8th pick. Weeden showed very well at the Combine and his Pro Day. But at this point I don't see Tannehill falling past #8, even though I think it's way too early. Tannehill wasn't at the Combine, and his Pro Day is this week, so we'll see. The Browns actually have the 22nd pick also, and could take Blackmon or Richardson at 4, and Weeden at 22, which might be smart. Kirk Cousins didn't have as good of Pro Day as Weeden (or RG3 and Luck), and will probably drop to the 2nd or 3rd round.

Bill Parcells now says he feels an obligation to help Sean Payton, so I think there's a very good chance he'll end up the HC, especially as Carmichel and Spags don't want the job, and he won't meddle in their jobs.

Some of the restricted free agents, and those expected to re-sign but haven't, are now moving. The Giants lost Brandon Jacobs to the 49ers, where he'll fit good in a supporting role as he gets older. There's also a good chance Asante Samuel will be out in Philly, and may head to the Titans. He's resctricted though, which means the Titans will have to give up a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick for him.

Yes, I'm a football vacuum. But once we get past the draft, and cyclist season really gets going, I tend to go into hibernation until about August.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Tannehill at #4? I guess as desparate as two teams are anything could happen. But Tannehill not at the combine? I could be wrong, but I'd almost swear I saw him with Luck talking to a Seattle scout on NFL.com coverage of the combine. My understanding is also that Tannehill did not work out at the combine, so he would not have any combine results posted.

Brandon Jacobs to the Niners might be a good fit, but I am not as sure about that as you. I think he would have been a better fit in a team with a RB like Seattle, where he would present a much different look than a starting RB like Lynch. Gore and Jacobs are a bit more alike. But I don't blame Jacobs for wanting to go to the Niners, who are putting together a very respectable organization and team.

Sigh. Don't remind me of the post-draft void (or vacuum - not the same kind of vacuum you ID'd yourself with) that will occur. After the draft there won't be any consistent NFL news to talk about until about August as you said.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Here's a good report on Tannehill, and why I still insist he's a 2nd round pick who needs to sit next year. If he's taken and expected to start, he'll struggle. If he's taken and expected to compete in training camp, and start mid-way through the season when his team sucks, he'll struggle. We see this so many times with so many QB's. Blaine Gabbert, Tim Couch, Brady Quinn, Colt Brennan, many more.

Tannehill had a broken foot and if he was at the combine, he was there to watch. He will throw on Thursday, and run the 40, but no other drills. Many teams will be there to watch.

If a team out of the RG3/Luck sweeps needs a QB from the draft to compete or step-up mid-season, I'd take Brandon Weeden. Yes, he turns 29 this year. But he had a great college career, and shined at the combine and pro day. He may only have 5 years in the tank, but if you're looking for someone to start soon I'd take that risk over Tannehill.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

The foot! That's right. I forgot about Tannehill's foot. Good analysis of him in that link. I'd agree with that analysis of Weeden too, who also threw at the combine and looked sharp doing it. But at that age he may only have 5 years of NFL in him. To select him in the first round and as a top 10 pick is a tough call to make knowing you may only have him 5 years. There's a bit of uncertainty about whether or not a team will keep a first rounder for 6-plus years due to a number of factors (e.g. is he a bust, a good fit for the team/scheme, injury). That age just throws another key factor into that future outcome. However, Weeden does have some intangible qualities, like maturity, that should help. It will be interesting to see what teams do with Tannehill and Weeden in the draft.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Tannehill's Pro Day was today, and he did okay. Accuracy was decent, same with arm strength. From ESPN reports and reading online, lots of people seem to agree with me that he is not ready to start in the NFL, not even close. But some teams are so desperate, and with RG3 and Luck gone, he's the top prospect, so they're likely to take him anyway, and I'll refer to my previous post on that.

Trent Richardson at Alabama had a great pro day though, and some people think he may be the next Emmit Smith, if not having Emmit's longevity. I won't be surprised if Cleveland takes him, and hopes to get Weeden or Cousins (or Tannehill) with their 2nd or 3rd pick. I still think Miami may take Tannehill at 8.

Donovan McNabb must be bitter. He lashed out saying that Shanahan did nothing for many QB's, and doesn't have a system that will use RG3, etc. etc. He needs to get over the fact that his career is over.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

man I did not know you guys were draft geeks. WOW...roto geeks maybe?

anyhow the Saints have a chance to offer the Tuna the job. Not sure how that will work out but I am still mad a the carpetbagger.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Draft geek, combine geek, pro day geek. One of the best things about this time of year is that you get a glimpse into the future, to potential. You're not looking back at battered and broken players, marginal referee calls, lucky bounces of the ball, etc. but to the shape of things to come.

But as I said, once we get past the draft and things settle, nothing really happens for a few months until we get to training camp. But that's okay, because it coincides with the heart of the cycling season.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Roto geeks now too! Man, we are rackin' up the medals of honor here!

Speaking of the Man. John Gruden. I luuuuv listening to that guy. Here he's dicussing with Andrew Luck the "SPIDER 3 Y BANANA", including the game versus the Trojans where Luck tossed a pick-6. A very entertaining clip, but that had to be a bit humiliating for Luck. Watch here and see:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:7753527

Same clip here if the one above is not available:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/62133/grudens-qb-camp-spider-3-y-banana

 

[Amsterhammer]

man I did not know you guys were draft geeks. WOW...roto geeks maybe?

Pff, as geeky as these guys are, they ain't nothing compared to THE geek, the font of NFL statistical wisdom, the encyclopedic statto, the man who knows all the odds, hell the man who knows every f**king thing there is to know about this game (which isn't to say that all his predictions come true,) the veritable Francois the Postman of this topic, that man has abandoned us in the off season and left us to the ongoing dialog you see here between the two aforementioned lesser spotted geeks.



I wish foxxy would post again.

 

[Pazuzu]

new overtime rules for regular season

The NFL owners voted in favor of expanding last year's playoff overtime rules to cover the regular season. Thus the a team can't win with a field goal on the initial overtime possession. Finally!

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Pff, as geeky as these guys are, they ain't nothing compared to THE geek, the font of NFL statistical wisdom, the encyclopedic statto, the man who knows all the odds, hell the man who knows every f**king thing there is to know about this game (which isn't to say that all his predictions come true,) the veritable Francois the Postman of this topic, that man has abandoned us in the off season and left us to the ongoing dialog you see here between the two aforementioned lesser spotted geeks.



I wish foxxy would post again.

As I was reading this, I didn't have to get past "THE geek" to know you were talking about FoxxyBrown1111. You might call our little band of geeks the Geek Squad, but I think that's reserved for some specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the North Americas and China.

The NFL owners voted in favor of expanding last year's playoff overtime rules to cover the regular season. Thus the a team can't win with a field goal on the initial overtime possession. Finally!

Yay! Good news indeed.

BTW - that little video clip of Gruden and Luck I posted earlier today was shown in its entirety on ESPN this evening.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Agree that the OT is a good ruling by the owners. And my understanding is that there were virtually no dissenting votes. Still too late for the 2008 Colts.

Peyton and the Saints have said they will appeal. The commissioner's office has said they can continue to have contact with the team in the interim, and will soon determine time allowed for them to gather the info to file the appeal. I don't think an appeal will get far, mostly because they lied about knowing when confronted. But we'll see.

I like Jon Gruden on ESPN, but in analysis like this he tends to blab too long. This is why I like Tony Dungee's analysis on NBC. Tony's the best.

Last I heard from Foxxy he was busy with life and family outside of here. Can't say I blame the guy one bit.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

I'll say Dungee's analysis is very good and, well, efficient and didactic. He does not make much small talk. Which, while Tony may have better analysis, is why I like to listen to Gruden more. Just the way Gruden talks, his tone, his inflections, and so on is more entertaining. Not as efficient, but more fun to listen to. But when Tony also talks, I listen for sure.

I agree that the Payton appeal is not likely to get far, but it may accomplish one thing, and that is to buy time for the Saints to sort things out.

 

[Pazuzu]

I agree that the Payton appeal is not likely to get far, but it may accomplish one thing, and that is to buy time for the Saints to sort things out.

If Payton said he'd take "full responsibility" for the bounty scandel why is he appealing the suspension? http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-03-23/new-orleans-saints-sean-payton-apology-bounty-scandal

Just more empty words.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I agree that the Payton appeal is not likely to get far, but it may accomplish one thing, and that is to buy time for the Saints to sort things out.

I think you hit it there. Experts out there say it's not likely that they'll get much if any of the appeal reduced. And Goddell is yet to hand down player rulings, which are likely to happen before the draft.

Bad news for the Eagles, all-pro OT Jason Peters ruptured his achilles and is out possibly for the upcoming season, at least through November. If there's any "good" news, is that it happened now, and not in September, giving the Eagles time to replace him.

As to Gruden vs Dungee, I suppose I come from the Bill Walsh/Tom Landry school of coaching and find their style more efficient, and can do without the quips. Though I do like Gruden on MNF. (As you can guess, I hated Dennis Miller on MNF, worst commentator ever).

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Dungee, Walsh, Landry I agree are all great coaches. If I said otherwise, I should be in the loony bin. And I also agree on ex-MNF's Dennis Miller was the worst choice for a football color guy / commentator probably of all time. Funny with substance is good (like Gruden), but attempts to be funny with no substance is not very good (Miller).

Once again, ex-NFL football (guy) "L" Ryan Leaf is in trouble with the law (felony burglary and drug possession) in hometown Great Falls, Montana. Sad. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-nfl-leaf-arrestbre830011-20120331,0,5241579.story.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Saints appeals will apparently be heard this coming week.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Looking around on the Washington Post site....it seems that sphincters are beginning to twitch just a tiny bit, as rumors seep out that the Colts might just go for RG3 instead. It seems that the Skins want him so bad, that the thought of maybe 'having to' take Luck instead is not at all comforting.

Some dilemma...

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Some dilemma...

Understood. But instead of putting it like that (confused), I'd have put it like this:

Some dilemma... (sarcastic)

You and me on same page here. As you say, 'having to' take Luck (if the Colts go for RG3) is not like the c-hawks having to take Rick Mirer (instead of Bledsoe) or the Chargers having to take Leaf (instead of P. Manning) in their coming-out years. For the Colts and Skins, either way it turns out is a win-win.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Bledsoe-Mirer / Manning-Leaf...yikes! While not 1-2, you could add Vince Young / Matt Leinhart (remember the hype about those two?!) Or David Carr (1 by Hou) and Joey Harrington (3 by Det), who all basically flopped. No, this is more like Eli-Rivers I would think.

I really do think the Colts are going to take Luck though. I do. But I will go with what I said several days ago, I'm sure they honestly are thinking about it as this isn't nearly as clear of choice as it seemed back in October when people knew Luck would go #1, and thought Griffin would probably go in the top 10.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

New NFL uniforms announced by Nike. Biggest splash probably Seattle. But I think the look is positively ugly. The look like the Chargers now. And they are all too flashy, like it's a fashion show, not meant for getting dirty.

There's a reason I tend to like the Oakland Raiders. For they their problems they still seem to be real football.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

From what I saw of the Bolts and Hawks new unis, I'd guess you think they both are ugly.

I'm not too keen on the Bolts unis, but they weren't that bad. I actually liked the Hawks unis. Lots of different combinations they can show up with having 3 different color sets of jerseys and pants (blue, white, and gray). No bright emerald green jersey though, which was probably a good choice. I like the green, but too much of THAT bright green was enough to make your eyes pucker. (They only wore those jerseys once).

But I agree there is no substitute for the old silver and black!!! My all time favorite unis.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Here's what I meant when I said the Hawks now look like the Chargers:

I find it interesting, though not surprising, that the Nike swoosh is in such a prominent place. Not to worry though Seattle fans, even though your team now looks like the (old) Chargers, the new Chargers uniforms are even more hideous:

I mean, these look like they belong in a video game. All this neon and flash is just junk to me. I want smash mouth football. You wouldn't catch Ted Hendricks or Fred Biletnikoff wearing anything like this. And in case you weren't sure, the new Raiders jerseys look identical to the old ones. Not something to muck up off the field.

 

[SirLes]

Aaarrrggghh

Just wrote a very long post summing up my thoughts on the developments of the last month or so and didn't notice I wasn't logged on so lost it!

It was brilliant though, and full of insightful analysis. I made several predictions and will let you know when they inevitably turn out to be correct.

The only bit I can be bothered to repost is the hope that players all vote for Tebow in the top 100 poll and not Sanchez just to cause a total meltdown in the NYC media and the Jets

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Now I understand! There is quite a similarity, but the new Hawk unis rule over the old Charger unis

On the Hawk unis, I thought the same about the placement of the Nike swoosh. If I was doing it, I would have kept the old bird on the arm patch and put the swoosh in the Hawks eye. Imagine a limey green swoosh in this hawk's iris:

Nike could have played up that war bird, playoff hawk thing as being part of Nike.

And, the new Charger unis do suck.