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      RG3 and his speed

      March 6, 2012 /

      Jason Whitlock has an interesting take on Robert Griffin III and the impressive 40-time he displayed at the combine.

      In my opinion, Griffin’s speed doesn’t enhance his draft stock. It damages it.

      I am not a Robert Griffin hater. I love RG3. In all likelihood, he will be my favorite NFL player next season. He could quickly become my favorite active athlete, ahead of Tiger Woods, Ray Lewis and Jeff George (has yet to file his retirement paperwork).

      But I’m worried about Griffin. He’s blessed with too many tools. Oftentimes, the greatest athletes are physically limited, which strengthens their focus. Bill Russell could never match Wilt Chamberlain’s size and limitless athleticism. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson weren’t the greatest leapers or the quickest on their feet.

      Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are relatively immobile. They play from the pocket because they have no choice. They mastered the art of playing from the pocket because they had no other choice.

      NFL games are won most consistently by quarterbacks who play from the pocket. If a quarterback leaves the pocket, he’s going to get hit. If a quarterback gets hit regularly, he’s going to get hurt. If a franchise quarterback gets injured, his team has little chance of winning the Super Bowl.

      NFL teams are looking for the next Manning or Brady. Or the next Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger. A little mobility is good, especially if the quarterback moves in the pocket in an effort to throw downfield. Rodgers and Big Ben are terrific at moving to throw. Is that how Griffin will use his athleticism?

      Or does Griffin have so much speed that he’ll channel Michael Vick?

      Whitlock goes on to recount Vick’s early problems as he relied too much on his speed and athleticism. Athletes like Steve Young had to learn how to stay in the pocket.

      Whitlock basically sums up the primary reason why Andrew Luck is rated higher than RG3, even as some think RG3 has more upside. It’s a risk/reward analysis. Luck has shown that he can win strictly as a pocket passer, using his athleticism only when needed.

      Can RG3 learn to play that way? Of course he can. But just because he has the aptitude and temperament to learn doesn’t guarantee success. Luck isn’t guaranteed success either, but we’ve seen him operate consistently from the pocket, so there’s less risk.

      NFL

      Report: Drew Brees “livid” about franchise tag

      March 6, 2012 /

      WIST-AM New Orleans is reporting that Drew Brees is “livid” about being franchised tagged and will not sign his tender.

      Drew Brees is “livid” about being franchise tagged and not receiving a long-term contract, according to WIST-AM in New Orleans. The radio station cites sources in the Brees camp that he will not sign the franchise tag deal. Brees and the Saints have until July 15 to hammer out a long-term deal. If a deal isn’t struck, Brees must sign the franchise tag deal or hold out.

      Brees doesn’t seem like the type to be “livid” about anything, so there’s a chance that this report isn’t accurate. But if it is, how bad could things continue to get in New Orleans?

      I don’t think there’s a chance in Hades that the Saints don’t figure out a way to lock up Brees long term, but they’re facing some major issues right now. They’re currently awaiting punishment from the league for their “bounty program” fiasco, their best offensive lineman (Carl Nicks) and No. 1 receiver (Marques Colston) are about to hit the open market, and Brees’ contract situation is a mess. They’re even scheduled to work out Randy Moss on Tuesday for cribs’ sake.

      The Saints have been a NFL powerhouse for the last three years but their roster could look very different come next fall. Don’t forget that along with Nicks and Colston, Robert Meachem is also a free agent and there’s talk that middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma will be released. The team did well to hire Steve Spagnuolo to replace Gregg Williams as their next defensive coordinator but their linebacker corps remains weak and outside of Will Smith, the cupboard isn’t exactly stacked with quality pass rushers.

      Things will eventually start to stabilize again in New Orleans. But by that point, will they have forked over a couple of draft picks and watched some of their top players depart in free agency?

      External Sports, NFL

      Packers don’t use franchise tag on Matt Flynn

      March 5, 2012 /

      Ever since his record-shattering game against the Lions at the end of the 2011 season, Matt Flynn has been a hot topic. He isn’t getting quite as much press as RG3 (who is, other than Jeremy Lin?), but he’s still one of the key pieces in what will be one of the wildest offseasons in NFL history.

      Today we learned that the Green Bay Packers have let Flynn become an unrestricted free agent by not using the franchise tag on him as many had speculated. It was the right call. Flynn will get plenty of attention as a free agent, but as a signed player with a one-year contract in the neighborhood of $14 million, the path to obtaining Flynn would end up being much tougher for many teams.

      If you watch the video above, you’ll see that some of Flynn’s eye-pooping stats from that game were created by the great Packer playmakers. One of his six touchdowns resulted from a simple screen pass that went for around 80 yards. Yet you’ll also see some great passes from Flynn as well. Is he a risk with only two pro starts under his belt? Of course he is. Is he potentially a system quarterback? Sure. But he learned that offense from the best, and he seems to have all the intangibles, so a West Coast Offense team like Cleveland could plug him in right away.

      Who knows where he’ll end up, but he and Peyton Manning will have a huge impact on the future of a lot of teams, as their signings will also impact the market for Robert Griffin III, which will then impact where the rest of the college quarterbacks go in the draft. Betting NFL games will be very interesting at the beginning of next season, as we’ll have quite a few new quarterbacks, along with veterans like Manning offering up plenty of questions as you browse the lines and check on your sportsbook reviews.

      It all probably starts with the Miami Dolphins. This might be the perfect fit for Matt Flynn as they now have his former offensive coordinator, Joe Philbin, as the new head coach. Yet their owner seems intent on becoming the next Daniel Snyder, so rumors are circulating about Miami going after Peyton Manning. And then of course we have the real Mr. Snyder to account for as the Redskins are rumored to be hot for RG3.

      Who knows how all of this plays out, but with Flynn becoming a free agent and Manning sure to follow, it’s way too soon to guess what will happen in the draft.

      NFL

      Is the Saints’ “bounty program” issue being overblown?

      March 5, 2012 /

      ESPN’s John Clayton believes that the Saints’ “bounty program” is worse than Spygate. His colleague Ashley Fox writes that Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis deserve to be fired.

      Others have stated that the program is a moral or ethical issue. They want to see Gregg Williams and Gregg Williams-types abolished from the game.

      But the last time I checked, it’s not illegal to hit an opponent so hard that he gets carted off the field. It’s not illegal to put a shoulder pad into an opponents’ legs and force them from the game with an injury. Quarterbacks and ball-carriers know they’re going to be hit. It’s not like they signed up for beach volleyball and are now shocked that 6-foot-6, 280-pound defensive ends are coming to take their heads off.

      It’s apparent to me that what’s wrong about the “bounty program” is the under-the-table compensation. NFL bylaws state that there are to be no non-contract bonuses and that, my friends, is the root of the issue. Everything else just makes for one dragged-through-the-mud discussion.

      What’s funny is that defensive players are paid millions of dollars every year to hit, tackle, and otherwise inflict pain on opponents throughout the NFL season. Now some are up in arms because several Saints players were trying to knock Brett Favre out of the 2010 NFC championship game. If those people were being honest with themselves, they’d admit to not being upset about the act as much as they are with the monetary motivation. If the Saints didn’t have a bounty program in place and Darren Sharper came out after the game and said, ‘We were trying to take Brett Favre out. We knew we had to get to him in order to beat them,’ his comments wouldn’t be that jarring. Heck, what he said may have even been acceptable to some people who demand that the players they root for be tough and ferocious. But because there was bonus money in play, hey, now it’s an issue of ethics.

      Look, I’m not trying to make light of the situation. Let me state for the record that I believe Williams’ program was wrong and that the Saints should be punished. Football is a violent game but the NFL has rules and Williams and the Saints broke one. Thus, if Roger Goodell wants to hinder other teams from using similar programs by taking away draft picks and suspending the men involved, then so be it. As a lifelong Falcons fan, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing the Saints lose a couple of hundred draft picks over the next 10 years. (Maybe then Atlanta could finally shrink the gap between itself and New Orleans on the field.)

      But if anything, this situation should be more embarrassing and ridiculous than one that needs to be sensationalized as an issue of moral fiber (or lack thereof). Think about it: the NFL and NFLPA are constantly trying to come up with new ways to make the game safer but in the meantime, their own players are putting bounties on one another. How undeniably absurd.

      Furthermore, how stupid do these players have to be to participate in a program that could wind up costing them more in the long run? If I were a Saints player that saw Jonathan Vilma slap $10,000 on the table while stating “This goes to the man that takes out Brett Favre,” I would tell him thanks but no thanks. If he asked me why, I’d point out that fines for late hits range anywhere from $7,500 to $50,000. Thus, the math doesn’t add up.

      Why not play the game aggressively and violently, and then let the chips fall where they may? Why even have a “bounty program?” I would think that being able to play the game legally for millions of dollars would be all the motivation that these athletes needed not to want to hurt one another. After all, isn’t the NFL supposed to be a brotherhood? I’m shocked somebody hasn’t told Williams that playing the game aggressively yet legally while trying to win was all the motivation they needed.

      At the end of the day, a coach and his players decided to provide extra motivation for one another by coming up with an illegal program to reward themselves for hurting opponents in an already violent game. While other players and teams might have their own bounty programs in place, the Saints were the ones who were caught and now have to be punished. Even though the Saints wound up winning the Super Bowl, the entire thing was unnecessary and hopefully Williams sees the error in his ways.

      Other than that, why inflate this situation into something bigger than what it is?

      External Sports, NFL

      Browns unwilling to part with the No. 22 pick to move up in NFL draft?

      March 4, 2012 /

      When the Cleveland Browns traded the No. 6 overall pick in last year’s NFL draft, they received quite the haul from the Atlanta Falcons (who used that pick to select Alabama wideout Julio Jones). And now the Browns seem unwilling to part with one of the key pieces from that deal in order to move up in this year’s draft.

      According to a report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Redskins continue to be the “frontrunner” to acquire the Rams’ No. 2 overall pick. That’s apparently because the Browns are unwilling to part with the No. 22 overall pick, which they acquired from the Falcons last year in the Jones trade. (Cleveland also owns the No. 4 overall pick this year.)

      The Redskins are reportedly willing to part with both their 2012 and 2013 first-round picks in order to move up to the No. 2 spot, but don’t want to trade their second-rounder.

      A deal with the Dolphins, meanwhile, appears to be “dead in the water” according to the Post-Dispatch. After losing out to St. Louis in the Jeff Fisher sweepstakes, Miami isn’t too eager to make any deals with the Rams. The Seahawks aren’t a realistic trade partner either, as the Rams don’t want to deal with the prospect of facing Robert Griffin III twice a year from here on out.

      Thus, it appears as though the Rams’ best two options remain the Browns and the Redskins. And if Washington were willing to part with two first-round picks, it would behoove St. Louis to make a deal with the Skins. But per the above report, Washington’s unwillingness to part with its second-rounder is “unacceptable” to the Rams, so you get the feeling that this storyline will only get more intriguing the closer we get to April’s draft.

      NFL, NFL Draft

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