Category: External Sports (Page 556 of 821)
Now that head coach Chan Gailey has confirmed that C.J. Spiller will start Week 1 against the Dolphins this Sunday, everyone from beat writers to fantasy football owners are beside themselves thinking about the rookie’s potential.
And why wouldn’t they? Spiller is a true playmaker as both a runner and a pass-catcher and will also have the opportunity to make an impact on special teams as a returner. He has breakaway speed, soft hands and tremendous athleticism.
That said, I caution not too expect too much out of him too soon. For starters, he’s still only a rookie and he’s playing behind a highly inexperienced offensive line. He also has a history of injury problems and despite all of his athletic ability, some scouts don’t believe he has what it takes to be a featured back at the NFL level (which is why Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch will still eat into his touches when they’re healthy).
Buffalo fans are going to love watching this kid play and all young players with Spiller’s talent are good for the NFL. But even if he goes off for 200 total yards of offense on Sunday, it’s probably important to keep the expectations tempered. He’s a great young prospect and just turned in an impressive preseason but exercise caution.
Fantasy-wise, Spiller has a chance to finish in the Top 15, but a few things have to happen: 1) He needs to get decent QB play so that teams can’t load up the box against him, 2) the coaching staff needs to ratchet back Fred Jackson’s workload, and 3) the offensive line has to improve. I’m optimistic about Spiller’s chances, but Jackson is a real threat to his touches and since the rookie is a smallish back, they’ll likely want to keep him fresh by limiting his workload. I see him as a flex/bye week RB3 type with considerable upside and downside.
Chris Sheridan, ESPN: Lamar Odom will continue to start at center, but Tyson Chandler expects to see a bigger role in having to defend against the 6-foot-11 Kaun and the 7-foot-1 Mozgov, who will play for the New York Knicks next season after signing a three-year contract earlier this summer. The Americans will also be at a size disadvantage at the power forward position, where Andrei Vorontsevich, who plays professionally for CSKA Moscow, is four inches taller than his U.S. counterpart, Andre Iguodala. So it is to be expected that the U.S. team will press in the backcourt and near midcourt as much as possible, not only to try to force turnovers but to slow the Russians from getting into their offensive sets. The Russians run high pick-and-rolls and side pick-and-rolls on a majority of their offensive possessions.
Chris Tomasson, Fanhouse: The 1972 game, won by the Soviets on a length-of-the-court inbound pass with three seconds left that resulted in a game-winning layup after officials had overruled two failed Soviet inbound passes, was discussed earlier this week by Russian coach David Blatt. Blatt, a U.S.native who now holds dual American-Israel citizenship, talked about crying while watching the game as a 13-year-old in Massachusetts. But he now says he believes Russia was justified in winning the game and the Americans weren’t cheated. “He’s Russian,” said Krzyzewski, who was in the Army stationed in South Korea when that game was played. “He coaches the Russian team. So he probably has that viewpoint. His eyes are clearer now because there are no tears in them. It’s great. Whatever he thinks, he thinks. It really has absolutely no bearing on what we’re trying to do (Thursday). Absolutely none.”
John Schuhmann, NBA.com: Russia lacks offensive talent, but is a big, strong and physical team. The Russians go 6-foot-5, 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-9 at the two, three and four spots. And their two centers both play big, averaging 24 points and 10 rebounds. Russia will look to use their size and get under the Americans’ skin with more contact than they’ve seen all tournament. Russia wears teams down and punishes them late. Over the course of six games, the Russians have lost the first half by four points, but have won the second by 45. The U.S. hasn’t seen that kind of physical play in its last three games against Iran, Tunisia and Angola. But the U.S. will be able to draw on the experience of facing Lithuania in its first exhibition game after arriving in Europe. The Lithuanians hammered the Americans early and often whenever they tried to get to the basket or out on the break.
The USA/Russia quarterfinal will be aired live on ESPN at 11 AM ET on Thursday.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that there are “questions and doubts around the league” regarding the health of Maurice Jones-Drew’s knee.
Schefter confirms that Jones-Drew will start Sunday, but it sounds like there is serious concern about whether he’ll be 100 percent. It’s never a good sign when a running back has a knee injury, period. We can’t imagine sitting MJD in such a favorable matchup (the Broncos’ front seven is incredibly weak), but it’s a situation to track closely early in the year. Jones-Drew owners must grab Rashad Jennings. Deep leaguers can pick up Deji Karim.
MJD said Monday that the knee is a “non-issue” and that there have been a lot of false reports surrounding his health. He claims the reason he didn’t play in preseason was because he was resting and that coincides with what the Jaguars have said all along as well.
As of now, we don’t know whom to believe. MJD says he’s fine, but Schefter is usually on the money with his reports and he never releases anything prematurely. Maybe MJD did injure the knee in practice and as an extra percussion, the Jags decided to hold him out in preseason. I doubt that they would risk serious injury if he couldn’t play, but Schefter’s report is worrisome to say the least.
I guess we’ll find out in four days what the true story is.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban said his Heisman Trophy running back Mark Ingram probably won’t play this Saturday against Penn State.
From MSNBC:
“We’ll continue to progress him day-to-day,” Saban said. “He hasn’t had any swelling or problems. If he can continue to progress — I would say he’s probably not going to be ready to play this week. He might be ready by the game, but he won’t be able to practice enough.
“After that, maybe we have a chance to get him back if he continues to progress.”
When the news surfaced last week that Ingram was having surgery, I questioned whether or not he could recovery in less then 14 days and play against Penn State (which it doesn’t look like he will).
And there’s no reason to rush him back. Penn State might be a top 25-team, but they have plenty of issues offensively and had to replace all three starting linebackers on defense. Why risk further injury with Ingram when Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy can carry the load until he’s healthy enough to play again?
I’m thinking we’ll see Ingram return next week against Duke, although again, if he’s not 100% then there’s no reason Saban should rush him back onto the field. The Tide needs Ingram down the stretch – not now.
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