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      NFL won’t suspend Saints’ Smith, Grant

      September 16, 2009 /

      According to Rotoworld.com (via Brian McCarthy’s Twitter page), the NFL won’t suspend Saints’ defensive ends Will Smith or Charles Grant for violating the league’s substance abuse policy last year.

      Saints DEs Will Smith and Charles Grant will not be suspended “at this time,” said commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday.

      Goodell cited “considerations of fairness, uniform applications of our policies, and competitive integrity” as reasons to defer the suspensions. With the Vikings’ Williams Wall allowed to play through the season, it wouldn’t be fair to the Saints to lose two of their top defenders for the same StarCaps transgression.

      All four players (along with free agent Deuce McAllister) were all subjected to suspension at the same time last year. As Rotoworld points out, it wouldn’t be fair if the Saints lost Smith and Grant for four games and Minnesota’s Williams Wall got to play.

      NFL

      49ers reach out to Michael Crabtree

      September 16, 2009 /

      According to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 49ers co-owner Jed York has offered to meet with first round pick Michael Crabtree (who skipped all of training game and has yet to practice with the team due to a contract holdout) in hopes to come to a resolution.

      Take this as a good sign that York is putting pressure on Crabtree’s camp to talk. After all, negotiations and dialogue have been non-existent for most of the 50 days of this contract impasse.

      The 49ers want Crabtree on the team. Whether they had him rated as the top player on their board or not, there is no denying that Crabtree was not chosen within the first nine picks of the draft.

      When the NFL puts together its rookie salary pool – the cap within the cap that places some broad limits what teams can spend on its rookie class – the dollar amount is derived from where each team selects.

      Each draft pick is assigned a figure based on where the selection was made. Each pick is assigned a dollar amount less than the previous slot. That, in itself, does not guarantee a slotting system that teams and players much follow, but it is certainly a guideline that has been the standard for as long as anyone can remember.

      The 49ers have been more than fair to Crabtree. They’ve offered to pay him market value and he’s refused. They shouldn’t have to pay Crabtree like he’s a top 5 pick when he was selected 10th overall because if they do, then their next draft pick will think he can get away with the same thing.

      Every game that Crabtree misses is just another week where he becomes less valuable to the 49ers. He and his clueless agent are playing a very dangerous game with his career.

      NFL

      Ledois McKelvin’s lawn vandalized following Bills’ loss to Patriots

      September 16, 2009 /

      Leodis McKelvin has had a rough couple of days.

      First he played a key role in the Bills’ 25-24 loss to the Patriots after fumbling a kickoff that led to the eventual game-winning touchdown, and then he came home to see that his lawn had been vandalized.

      Leodis McKelvinFrom WKBW:

      Eyewitness News cameras caught up with McKelvin’s neighbor, who was mowing the lawn to remove the painted words. The neighbor noted that a phrase including the words “take a knee” was painted on the grass.

      In a Twitter message sent to fans who follow him, teammate Kawika Mitchell tweeted, “A teammate of ours had his house vandalized last nite or this morn. Its def not a game to b playin. W/ all the safety issues n the NFL…”

      How stupid and ridiculous can people get? McKelvin definitely has had more good games than bad since being selected in the first round of last year’s draft and he shouldn’t have to worry about fans vandalizing his property when he makes a mistake. I’m sure nobody feels as bad as he did after the game.

      Here’s hoping that Leodis finds those responsible and burns a big middle finger into their lawns.

      NFL

      Examining the RBBCs: NFC

      September 15, 2009 /

      Week 1 can tell us a lot about how a team plans to split carries amongst its running backs. In Part 1, I will take a look at some of the top Running Back By Committees (RBBCs) in the NFC and examine how they divvied up the touches:

      New York Giants
      Last year it was Derrick Ward that ate into the workload of Brandon Jacobs, and this year it’s Ahmad Bradshaw (12 carries, 60 yards). Jacobs mustered only 46 yards on 16 carries, so Bradshaw was far more productive on Sunday. Jacobs caught two passes to Bradshaw’s three. Jacobs got three consecutive carries inside the Redskins’ 5-yard line and failed to pick up a first down. He is a fairly overrated goal line back. It appears that Bradshaw is picking up where Ward left off.

      Seattle Seahawks
      Julius Jones (19 carries, 117 yards, TD) was far more effective than Edgerrin James (11 carries, 30 yards). It should be noted that James only saw four of those carries in the first three quarters, so at this point in the season, Jones is the feature back. (Though it’s possible that the coaching staff intends to get James more involved as he becomes more acclimated to Seattle’s system.)

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Football

      ESPN.com’s NFL Power Rankings: Week 2

      September 15, 2009 /

      Here are ESPN.com’s NFL Power Rankings for Week 2:

      1 Steelers
      They need to get their running game going, but Big Ben seems better than ever. (Chadiha)

      2 Patriots
      Tom Brady is magic in the final minutes, but the Pats’ defense appears shaky. (Clayton)

      3 Giants
      The Giants might not have a No. 1 receiver, but they seem like a No. 1 team. (Clayton)

      4 Eagles
      By going for a meaningless fifth TD against the Panthers, Donovan McNabb fractured his ribs and the Eagles’ season. (Clayton)

      5 Colts
      Jim Caldwell showed some killer instinct at the end, but his running game didn’t prove to be worth the faith. (Kuharsky)

      6 Chargers
      They escaped with a win in Oakland, but the injury to center Nick Hardwick could be a big issue. (Kuharsky)

      7 Falcons
      They beat the Dolphins comfortably without getting much production from Michael Turner or the ground game in general. Matt Ryan already seems to have a rapport with Tony Gonzalez. (Sando)

      8 Vikings
      Adrian Peterson already seems like this season’s MVP. (Chadiha)

      9 Titans
      Mistakes in Pittsburgh kept the Titans from a potential upset, but Jeff Fisher won’t let them dwell on the opener. (Kuharsky)

      10 Ravens
      Even though it was against the Chiefs’ defense, the Ravens’ offense appears far more diversified and explosive this season. (Chadiha)

      My problem with power rankings that are compiled early in the season is that they put too much emphasis on preseason predictions and not enough on performance.

      For example, did the Patriots play like the second best team in the league against the Bills on Monday night? Absolutely not, but because they’re the Patriots they find themselves ranked high in everyone’s rankings. The fact is that the Bills were a Leodis McKelvin touchback away from beating the Pats in Foxboro. That doesn’t sound like a team that should be ranked No. 2.

      How about the Chargers? They played uninspired in Oakland and still find themselves in the top 10. For the record, I think San Diego is a Super Bowl contender this year. But there was something very unsatisfying about the Bolts’ (and the Patriots’ for that matter) win last night.

      I understand this isn’t how power rankings work, but if we were to rank each team based off of last week’s games, then the Eagles would be No. 1 in my book. No team (outside of the Saints, who played the lowly Lions) dominated their opponent like the Eagles did to the Panthers.

      NFL

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