Perhaps the most overlooked acquisition of the offseason was Houston's addition of assistant head coach/offense Alex Gibbs. I was reminded of this by the annually underrated weekly team reports on The Sporting News.
Gibbs, the Godfather of the Denver (and Atlanta) zone running scheme, will convert Houston from a part-time zone team to an every-down affair. Their running back battle (Ahman Green, Chris Brown, Chris Taylor) will probably add a rookie. That rookie, and whoever emerges as the Week 1 starter, is going to be a fine fantasy sleeper if only because of Gibbs.
Scott K. has the honors with our tenth pick. He's writing from my favorite town in the country- New Orleans. Sorry about slowing the pace of the draft down the last two days. We'll go three picks today. So James, you are up and TC get ready
With no real holes on offense to fill worthy of a high pick, this pick has to be on the defensive side of the ball. With the premier defenders gone, the Saints have to decide between a quality linebacker, a pass rush specialist, or a cornerback work in progress. A trade down is a possibility, but impossible to predict. With the Saints signing of Bobby McCrary, Randall Gay, Aaron Glenn, and eventual trade for Lito Sheppard (fingers crossed), it makes this pick fairly easy.
Continue reading "Pancake Blocks Mock Draft: Pick No. 10" »
April 08, 2008
For the second straight year, the Bucs are the first team to officially conduct a 2008 football practice. And for the second straight year, I'm oddly excited.
Joey Galloway was a surprise participant, as the ageless wonder has recovered quickly from offseason surgery. There were the usual assortment of missing players, with Earnest Graham easily being the most notable among them. Could it be contract related? We should find that shortly.
Continue reading "Someone is practicing football today, Vol. 2" »
Jacob C. has the honors for the next pick.
With the 9th pick in the 2008 NFL draft, the Cincinnati Bengals should select: OT Ryan Clady from Boise St.
Many agree that the biggest need for the Cincinnati Bengals is on the defensive side of the ball.
Specifically,a run stopping DT. With Glenn Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis off the board, the remaining top defensive player that the Bengals would likely consider is OLB Keith Rivers from USC. However, the Bengals have a bevy of linebackers and may find some answers on defense with the possible return of David Pollack and Odell Thurman.
What Bengals owner Mike Brown really cares most about is putting butts in seats and lining his own pockets (no GM and having the leagues smallest scouting dept are examples of his lack of commitment). As we all know, having a high powered offense will do that. As a result, protecting Carson Palmer is of utmost importance. Willie Anderson is in the twilight his career and Levi Jones has battled injuries of late.
The addition of Ryan Clady will help offset concerns about the fading strength at the tackle position, and help solidify the offensive line.
Continue reading "Pancake Blocks Mock Draft: Pick No. 9" »
April 07, 2008
Derek Anderson is not going to lose his starting job in training camp, but the presence of Brady Quinn makes him a difficult 2008 projection. Without Quinn, and with Donte Stallworth added to an impressive receiver mix, Anderson would likely project as a top-7 quarterback.
With Quinn and such a short track record, Anderson becomes a riskier QB1 than most think. The schedule, for one, gets a lot more difficult.
So where would you rank Anderson? He's certainly after the top-five, but does he go below guys like Matt Hasselbeck, Donovan McNabb, Jay Cutler, and Marc Bulger outside the top ten?
NFL Network's Mike Mayock unveiled his new Mock Draft Friday, with a few surprises. I may discuss those later, but I wanted to mention something Mayock and two NFL Network analysts said Friday: That the Jets were hoping Matt Ryan fell to them at six.
It's surprising how little this has been said because the Jets do need a quarterback. There were high hopes about Kellen Clemens coming out of college, but his ugly first stretch as a starter raises serious questions. NFLN analyst Mike Lombardi doesn't believe Clemens can throw to the outside, especially in the Meadowlands. If the Jets brass truly believes they are safe through 2009 regardless, as their owner said, then Ryan makes a lot of sense if both rush linebackers are off the board.
A lot of people have Baltimore pining for a quarterback, which they should be. There are some indications, though, that they view Troy Smith as a legitimate contender to start. If not this year, then soon, even if he's a fallback plan. Here is Ryan F with the Ravens pick.
If at #4, Matt Ryan is still on the board, I think there is a very good possibility the Ravens try to trade up and grab that pick. But, seeing he's already off the board, I think the Ravens have to go CB here. I like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, but I don't think he really fits his system. To me it's between Aqib Talib and Leodis McKelvin. And, seeing as how I'm just not so sure about Talib yet.... With the 8th pick in the 2008 Draft, the Baltimore Ravens select Leodis McKelvin.
Continue reading "Pancake Blocks Mock Draft: Pick No. 8" »
April 04, 2008
I've enjoyed letting you guys do the heavy lifting for the Mock Draft thus far, but the Patriots pick is all mine. With the seventh pick, I'm going to select Sedrick Ellis, defensive tackle out of USC. Let's explain this thing in bullets.
As a Patriots fan, I honestly don't get worked up over who they pick. And I can no longer be surprised by them. It's not that I'm disinterested, it's that I trust Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli know a lot more than me. Not every pick is going to work out, of course, but I trust their judgement.
Continue reading "Pancake Blocks Mock Draft: Pick No. 7" »
Yesterday, I wrote an article for NBCSports.com forecasting five trades that would make sense on draft day. Some were admittedly far-fetched, I could really see others happening. Here's the column and here's the quickie list.
1. Bears trade up with Patriots to draft Matt Ryan
2. Saints send second-round pick for Lito Sheppard
3. Eagles pony up for Roy Williams
4. Cowboys acquire Matt Jones for a mid-round pick
5. Jaguars make a splash by acquiring Jason Taylor
Give me some other trades you could see happening in the comments. We'll wrap up the weekly blog content with the Patriots Mock Draft pick in a bit.
After listening to Sam Farmer talk on NFL Network, I'm convinced that Profootballtalk's speculation about Favre's agent explains the story. Bus Cook was probably poking around just to see what sort of interest there would be, just in case Favre changes his mind as we get closer to September.
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