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      Who is the better rookie?

      January 4, 2008 /

      Adrian Peterson ran away (pun intended) with Rookie of the Year honors, garnering 46.5 of the panel’s 50 votes. Joe Thomas was the only other rookie to get a vote. (He actually got 3.5.)

      Where is Ryan Grant?

      All right, hear me out.

      Much is made of the numbers Peterson put up even though he didn’t crack the starting lineup until the sixth game. In the first five games, he averaged 19.2 carries, which are hardly backup numbers. Grant got all of six carries in the five games he appeared in before taking over as the Packers’ starter in week 8. Here are a few per game stats for each player, which compare Peterson’s 14-game performance to Grant’s 10-game stint as Green Bay’s starter:

      Peterson: 115 total yards, 5.6 ypc, 0.9 TD
      Grant: 105 total yards, 5.1 ypc, 0.8 TD

      Here are their numbers over the last four games:

      Peterson: 46 total yards, 2.7 ypc, 0.5 TD
      Grant: 97 total yards, 5.5 ypc, 1.0 TD

      By most accounts, Peterson played behind a much better offensive line and the 8-8 Vikings didn’t even make the playoffs. So much is made of the team’s record when the balloting is done for the MVP award, but it doesn’t seem to play a role in the voting for ROY. The Packers finished the season 13-3 and Grant was a major reason why defenses weren’t able to key on Brett Favre and Co. in the passing game.

      I’m not saying that the wrong guy won the award – Peterson had a wonderful year and deserved the honor – but I think there’s enough of an argument for Grant that at least one panel member would have voted for him or at least split a vote between the two players.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Mrs. Rodriguez: Back off my son!

      January 4, 2008 /

      SPORTSbyBROOKS.com (via the Detroit Free Press) spotted an interesting article in the Fairmont Times-West Virginian, in which the mother of former West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez wrote a former letter urging Mountaineer fans to stop slamming her son for accepting the Michigan job.

      In a letter written to the FAIRMONT TIMES-WEST VIRGINIAN, Rich’s mother explains that his decision to leave was a difficult one, but he had to do “what he felt necessary for his career.”

      Arleen also sadly noted, “We as a family will especially miss the fun times of all being together every football game Saturday.”

      But Mrs. R isn’t so solemn when it comes to attacks on her kin: “We have found it especially difficult to understand or explain the actions of a few of our West Virginians. It was deplorable that our family, especially the children, have been threatened and property damaged.”

      (What does she expect from folks that like to torch a couch now and then?)

      Now, I love my mother with all my heart. But I don’t know how keen I’d be on the idea of her writing a letter to a newspaper asking people not to pick on me. This has to be a little embarrassing for Rich Rod.

      College Football

      The best corner in college football?

      January 4, 2008 /

      With all due respect to Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins, Troy’s Elbert Mack and South Florida’s Mike Jenkins, junior Aqib Talib of Kansas provided another example in Thursday night’s Orange Bowl that he might be the best cornerback in college football.

      In the first quarter of the Jayhawks’ 24-21 upset of Virginia Tech, Talib read Hokie quarterback Sean Glennon like a book, jumped an out route and took an interception 60 yards to the house. Fifty-three other defensive backs hauled in more interceptions this season, but Talib might have the most polished skills of any corner in college football. It’ll be interesting to see if he enters the draft this year.

      As far as the game went, KU was awfully impressive. VA Tech has one of the best defenses in the nation, but the Jayhawks moved the ball down the field methodically on several occasions. The Hokies just couldn’t get anything going offensively, but in typical Frank Beamer-fashion, they did run a punt back for a touchdown. Beamer’s special teams units are top notch every season.

      College Football

      It’s the Tuna’s house and don’t you forget it

      January 3, 2008 /

      In case anyone hasn’t figured it out yet, here’s how the new chain of command is working in Miami: Bill Parcells is hired by owner Wayne Huizinga and immediately is given control of everything from the football operations, to the guys sweeping trash in the parking lot. Then Parcells immediately fires GM Randy Mueller and replaces him with Jeff Ireland – a man whom Parcells can control. Ireland then cuts the Dolphins’ coaching staff down to, oh, two.

      It’s one and done for first-year Dolphins coach Cam Cameron after newly hired General Manager Jeff Ireland fired him and most of his staff Thursday morning.

      When asked about his decision to fire Cameron during today’s news conference, Ireland said, “It was a pretty simple process. Bill [Parcells] and I talked at length [Wednesday] about where we were going, what direction we were going. We just felt like in order to move forward and not look back that we needed someone in place that shared the same philosophical compatibilities that we shared.”

      It was a pretty simple process? Is Ireland not a “Parcells guy” or what? Translation of Ireland’s comments about firing Cameron: “Look, this wasn’t really a complicated deal. The guy went 1-15 this year, so we fired him along with every S.O.B. in the building who had any sort of connection to him. Next question.”

      NFL

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