It’s never too early…
With new HC Herm Edwards already annointing Larry Johnson as the starting tailback in Kansas City, there may be a new sheriff in town. In the world of fantasy football, the #1 pick went one of two ways last season – LaDainian Tomlinson or Shaun Alexander. Looking forward to next season, you can now add Larry Johnson to that list. If Shaun re-ups with Seattle, it’ll be a tough decision whom to choose with that #1 pick.
Caught the last 10 minutes of Mike & Mike this morning, and heard just enough to want to do a jig. Well, okay, two of the decisions have me dancing, and the others, if nothing else, didn’t make me want to throw a brick at my TV. With ESPN taking over Monday Night Football, the booth and sidelines have been stacked with Bristol’s finest.
First, the booth:
Play by play: Mike Tirico. I would have been happier with Mike Patrick – no one sells a game better than Patrick does – but Tirico is no slouch, either. More importantly, football nation breathes a collective sigh of relief that they didn’t go with founding father Chris Berman.
Commentary: Joe Theissman. If there’s a weakness here, it’s Joe. He doesn’t bother me as much as he bothers friends of mine, but he does have a tendency to state the obvious. But he’s also brutally honest about coaching decisions, officiating, and every other aspect of the game that offends his senses, and I like that in a color guy.
Now for the masterstroke:
Commentary: Tony Kornheiser. Hell, yes. As an avid “PTI” fan, this just makes me giddy. I think of this move akin to the hiring of Dennis Miller, only this time Dennis has an actual knowledge of football. Kornheiser is whip smart and easily the funniest guy on ESPN’s payroll. Brilliant move, though how are they going to get him to leave Washington DC?
Sidelines: Suzy Kolber and Michelle Tafoya. Can’t say I’m terribly enamored of Tafoya for whatever reason, but I loves my Suzy.
The poll that ESPN posted with the story showed that 53.1% of the readers actually do not like the new crew. Let’s hear it, sports fans. What do and don’t you like about the new crew?
Who?
ESPN Chris Mortensen thinks Jay Cutler (of Vanderbilt) is the best quarterback in the draft.
I am not alone. A bunch of NFL scouts are whispering the same thing during Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Ala. Some of those even will put out some “negatives” on Cutler deliberately in hopes that he’ll drop a little in the draft. It’s not going to work.
“It’s not even worth trying to downgrade the kid … hoping he slides,” one top personnel director said. “The secret is out.”
I have felt for almost a year now that Cutler is the best quarterback prospect, and nothing has changed my mind. If anything, he has even solidified his standing now that I’ve had the pleasure and benefit of personally seeing him play in the Southeastern Conference.
Cutler was the All-SEC first-team quarterback selected by coaches and the media. He was the preseason pick, too. Heck, he was a first-team All-SEC choice as a redshirt freshman.
You know how difficult that is when you play at Vanderbilt in a conference with many of the nation’s heavyweights?
He goes on to compare Cutler to future Hall of Famer Brett Favre.
Cutler’s similarities to Brett Favre are uncanny, except Cutler is far ahead of Favre in the mental aspects of the game at the same career stage. Cutler probably has the strongest arm in this draft. He has moxie. He has a swagger. As Favre did at Southern Mississippi, Cutler had Vandy winning games it had no business winning and competing in games in which the Commodores should have been blown out. As with Favre, his gunslinger mentality will get him in the doghouse with some NFL coach but the upside is way too high to let it bring him down.
So will he go ahead of the smooth arm of Matt Leinart or the tremendous upside of Vince Young?
Assuming the Texans will follow through with their promise to take Reggie Bush first overall, that leaves the New Orleans Saints as the first team to likely take a QB. The Tennessee Titans pick third and the New York Jets pick fourth. In fact, the first team that does not figure to at least consider taking a QB with their first pick is the San Francisco 49ers, who selected Alex Smith first overall last season, so all three quarterbacks could be gone by the seventh pick.
The futures of veterans Steve McNair, Chad Pennington, Brett Favre and Kerry Collins will need to be decided or at least considered before their respective franchises can decide whom to draft. The status of these players (and their backups – namely Billy Volek and Aaron Rogers), along with how these perform at the scouting combine, will decide which quarterback is taken first.
I can’t really blame him. Frankly it would be better for Holmgren and Seattle players to keep their mouths shut and let the press rip the refs, but it has to be hard to keep quiet in light of the pathetic performance of the officials in the Super Bowl. This is not a knock on the Steelers – they took advantage of the great hand that was dealt to them. But the NFL has to be embarrassed by the product on the field.
The problem for the NFL is that this game was not an aberration. The product on the field has been deteriorating for years. The biggest culprit is free agancy. Many players leave just as they become comfortable with a system. In today’s complicated game, the result is that even the good teams can look mediocre at times.
The problem with the officiating is now critical with the Super Bowl being decided by a host of questionable calls favoring one team. Part of the problem lies with the league trying to hard too manage the game through penalties. Protecting players is important, but clean hits that were celebrated ten years ago now get called as 15-yard personal fouls (one of the few officiating problems that did not get exposed in the Super Bowl). It’s impossible to watch a game without seeing a kick return getting called back for a lame penalty. Holding calls seem to be random. Seattle gets called on one of the biggest plays of the game, while I don’t remember one holding call on the Steelers.
The NFL needs to get their act together. For years the NFL has been lauded as the best of the professional sports, and they’re still making tons of money. But the product is deteriorating, and television ratings have been slipping over the years. They need to re-examine the officiating process, including replay. Why is the official on the field making the call while peering into a small screen on the sidelines? Why can’t penalties in the end zone be reviewed? Why can’t 50-yard pass interference calls be reviewed? Why are the blocking rules on kick returns so stringent? Wouldn’t the game be better if fewer spectacular returns were brought back by penalties?
Lost in the Super Bowl shuffle (sorry, I couldn’t resist) was the news that Edgerrin James expects that he won’t be back with the Indianapolis Colts next season. It appears that the club is more interested in signing WR Reggie Wayne and DE Dwight Freeney to long-term contracts.
The market value of good running backs has decreased in recent years, but a James departure would leave a gaping hole in the Colts’ backfield. Over the past three years, Edge has gained 5425 total yards from scrimmage, averaging 4.7 yards per touch. He has also scored 33 times over the same span. He turns 28 in August and will be looking for a long-term (5 or 6 year deal). James is still on the right side of 30 and will be a valuable commodity for clubs looking for a stud back.
I think he’d look great in a Packer uniform.
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