9/7/07
- TIKI BARBER - PLEASE SHUT UP! WE'VE HEARD ENOUGH!
- The Kevin Jones mystery in Detroit befuddled FF owners all
pre-season and the outcome should be considered a clear indication
of the team's views on Tatum Bell's ability to carry the load
as the team's starting running back. With Jones on the physically
unable to perform list and not allowed to practice, Bell had
a golden opportunity to nail down the starting spot for at least
the first six weeks of the season. However, as was the case
often enough in Denver, Bell failed to perform consistently
and the Lions were forced to remove Jones from the PUP list
even though it will take him a number of weeks to get in shape.
Here it is in a nutshell: Bell's play was so uneven that the
Lions took a roster spot away from another player even though
Jones probably won't be ready for at least another three weeks,
which means he will play two games out of the six additional
weeks the team could have kept him on the PUP (the team has
a bye in week six). If you drafted Jones for cheap, good call.
If you picked up Bell, trade high after his first good game,
if he has one.
- If you thought the Raiders, Cardinals and Steelers might
have made the wrong choices in choosing Lane Kiffin, Ken Whisenhunt
and Mike Tomlin as their team's new head coaches, here is something
that may change your mind. Each coach chose to cut a high draft
pick even though doing so basically admits each new coach helped
waste a draft pick in this year's rookie draft. The Raiders
dumped defensive end Quentin Moses (first pick in the 3rd round),
the Cardinals dumped linebacker Buster Davis (the fourth pick
in the 3rd round) and the Steelers dumped defensive tackle Ryan
McBean (a 4th round selection). More kudos should go out to
Saints coach Sean Payton who dumped running back Antonio Pittman
in favor of veteran Aaron Stecker and rookie free agent Pierre
Thomas, even though the Saints traded into the top portion of
the 4th round in order to select Pittman.
- On the other side of that though, we have the Panthers. They
took running back Eric
Shelton in the 2nd round of the 2005 draft and promptly
put him on injured reserve for his rookie season because he
was hopelessly lost. When he looked equally useless last pre-season,
the team chose to keep him on the roster and he appeared in
four games, rushing eight times for 23 yards. Net impact: one
unproductive 2nd round pick and a roster spot wasted on a hopeless
player when it could have been used on somebody else, despite
the team having four productive backs in Deshaun Foster, DeAngelo
Williams, Nick Goings and Brad Hoover. All to save face for
head coach John Fox and general manager Marty Hurney. Of course,
Fox and Hurney were desperate to get something out of Shelton
given that the team's 2005 draft class, which consisted of ten
players, is basically a complete bust other than linebacker
Thomas Davis and even Davis hasn't lived up to expectations.
Other than Davis, the only players remaining from the 2005 draft
are backup linebacker Adam Seward and backup offensive lineman
Evan Mathis and Geoff Hangartner.
-
 Keeping
with the management effectiveness analysis, Chiefs fans better
get ready for a long season as it appears the team's management
has basically thrown in the towel on 2007. Despite having the
uninspiring Damon
Huard as the team's starting quarterback entering the season
and the unproven, pre-season flop in 2nd year player Brodie
Croyle as the team's top backup, the Chiefs apparently have
no interest in Byron
Leftwich, the former Jaguars starter who was apparently
cut because he didn't get along with head coach Jack Del Rio.
Although Huard played surprisingly well in 2006 in leading the
Chiefs to the playoffs, the team chose to put Croyle, the team's
2006 2nd round pick, atop the depth chart at quarterback entering
the off-season. Croyle was so bad that in mid-August the Chiefs
announced Huard would open the season as the team's starting
quarterback. Now Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson won't
admit his mistake in drafting Croyle even though a player of
Leftwich's ability is available. This won't shock any longtime
Chiefs fans who are well aware of Peterson's incompetence as
well as his longstanding reputation for making personnel moves
that ensure his long-term employment.
- Speaking of Lefwich, it appears the Ravens interest in the
former 7th overall pick in the draft may have simply been a
ploy to help move along contract talks with current backup Kyle
Boller. Considered one of the better backups in the league and
in the final year of his rookie contract, Boller and the Ravens
have been talking about a contract extension for a number of
months but have not come to terms. With Steve McNair entrenched
as the team's starter after the Ravens 13-3 record last season,
Boller may want to wait until the end of the season to see if
he can secure a starting job elsewhere. He performed well in
relief of McNair last season and knows head coach Brian Billick's
offense well so the team would likely prefer to bring him back
in 2008 rather than signing Leftwich now and having to go through
all the turmoil of having three former starting quarterbacks
on the roster.
- The Patriots and the Seahawks' ability to stop the run became
much more of a question mark over the last week as each team
lost key contributors in that area of their defense. The Patriots
surprisingly put defensive end Richard Seymour on the PUP list
and lost strong safety Rodney Harrison for four games when he
admitted to using human growth hormone while the Seahawks lost
defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs when he was placed on injured
reserve with a torn ACL. The Patriots have key match-ups against
the Jets, Chargers, Bengals and Cowboys during the first six
weeks of the season and will clearly miss their best defensive
player in Seymour. Although Tubbs would have entered the season
as a backup to starters Chartric Darby and Rocky Bernard, he
was the team's best interior run defender and now that role
will fall to rookie 3rd round pick Brandon Mebane, a player
20 pounds lighter than Tubbs. If one of your FF running backs
is lining up against the Seahawks, here's a stat to consider.
Last year, the Seahawks gave up 82 yards rushing a game with
Tubbs in the line-up and 147 yards when he was out.
- With Tarvaris
Jackson and Joey
Harrington at the controls, Atlanta at Minnesota this week
should be a real barn burner. If you're doing the over-under
thing, go under. I had a weak stomach as a kid and I remember
when my brother puked all over the place, my mother told me
to close my eyes and not look. That's my advice on this game.
- It looks like the Bears won't be getting much production
this season from their 2007 draft class. 1st round selection
Greg Olsen
is likely to miss multiple games with a sprained knee while
2nd round pick Dan
Bazuin, a defensive end, and 3rd round pick Michael
Okwo, linebacker, won't contribute anything this season
because they are on injured reserve with knee (Bazuin) and shoulder
(Okwo) injuries. Throw in the fact that their only significant
off-season acquisition was strong safety Adam Archuleta (and
that was more than offset by the loss of running back Thomas
Jones) and it appears the Bears are hoping for improvement from
within to get back to the Super Bowl in 2007.
- The already porous Lions defense suffered a major blow with
the loss of free safety Daniel
Bullocks for the season to a torn ACL in his right knee.
Bullocks range helped offset the limited coverage abilities
of strong safety Kenoy Kennedy and his loss will likely force
the team to go with rookie 2nd round pick Gerald
Alexander at the free safety position in 2007 with veteran
journeyman Idrees
Bashir in reserve if the rookie struggles. With an expected
safety combination lacking speed at one spot and experience
at the other, it will be imperative for the team's cornerbacks
to step up but there is concern there as well with expected
starters Fernando Bryant and Travis Fisher coming off injury-marred
seasons and backups Stanley Wilson and Keith Smith combining
to start only eight games. Looks for Lions opponents to throw
early and often, particularly early in the season.
- Look for the Chargers to open the season with Malcolm Floyd
in the starting line-up opposite Vincent Jackson at wide receiver.
Craig Davis, the team's 1st round selection in this year's draft,
has flashed plenty of potential in practice and games this pre-season
but simply missed too much time to unseat Floyd. Davis has missed
time with a number of nagging injuries as well as having wisdom
teeth removed and a lack of repetitions always hurts rookie
receivers no matter their talent level. Nonetheless, based on
his contributions thus far, it won't be a surprise if Davis
unseats Floyd midway through the season. With Jackson ready
to breakout and Davis flashing the potential to be a solid number
two, it looks like the rich are getting richer in San Diego.
- It appears the worst fears of Clinton Portis owners are about
to be realized. With the talented Portis unable to convince
the coaching staff that he deserves to get the majority of the
team's rushing opportunities due to tendonitis in his knee that
caused him to miss all four pre-season games, the Redskins will
head into the season with a plan of Portis splitting carries
with talented backup Ladell Betts. This makes Portis only a
marginal starter early in the season, particularly against solid
defenses or in games where the Redskins may be overmatched.
Nonetheless, it's abundantly clear that a healthy Portis has
far more upside than Betts so a breakout game could be all that
he needs to convince head coach Joe Gibbs that he needs 20 plus
carries a game.
- During the 2006 off-season, the Redskins made perhaps the
worst free agent signing in 10 years when they inked Rams strong
safety Adam Archuleta to the largest contract ever awarded to
safety in league history. The move backfired mainly because
the Redskins teamed up Archuleta with Sean
Taylor and both players share similar skills and need to
be let loose to make plays. The Cowboys made a similar move
by signing former Seahawks strong safety Ken
Hamlin to play free safety opposite Roy Williams. Williams
is perhaps the most overrated player in the NFL despite his
excellent ability playing close to the line of scrimmage. Simply
put, he's more or less terrible in coverage and Hamlin isn't
much better. Former Rams coach Mike Martz regularly attacked
the Seahawks safeties when Hamlin was there and it looks like
the Cowboys safeties will be tested early this season with starting
cornerback Terrence Newman expected to play but be less than
100% with a nagging heel injury. Jacques
Reeves may see significant time at cornerback with Nate
Jones stepping into the cornerback role. With the Giants on
tap in the opener, Williams venting to the press over the release
of expected nickelback Aaron
Glenn and Newman likely playing hurt, things could be interesting
in Dallas early this season.
-
 New
Dolphins coach Cam Cameron spent the pre-season toying with
FF minds by declaring the team's running back situation an open
competition amongst Ronnie
Brown, former Charger Jessee
Chatman and rookie 3rd round pick Lorenzo
Booker. Not surprisingly, Cameron this week named Brown
the starter with the proviso that Chatman could also be in the
starting line-up. Given that Chatman's not a fullback and has
lost a significant amount of weight since lining up for Cameron
in San Diego, who knows what that means. Nonetheless, there
is mounting evidence that this isn't just a motivational ploy
to get more out of the underachieving Brown and perhaps Chatman
does have an opportunity to play a significant role this season
in Miami. As for Booker, he's clearly shaping up as the team's
pass receiving threat at the position and nothing more, at least
for this season.
- With Todd
Collins having beaten out Mark
Brunell to be the Redskins backup quarterback, expect Brunell
to be dealt or released before the season opens. There's little
point in retaining the veteran given his salary and third string
status other than in a coaching capacity to 2nd year player
Jason
Campbell. Look for the Seahawks to be interested, although
they will almost certainly wait for Brunell to be released,
rather than having to give up a draft pick in a trade and having
to take on Brunell's considerable 2007 salary.
- Here's a preview of NFL Films review of week one of the 2007
season: Raiders starting quarterback Josh
McCown drops back to pass and lofts a 50-yard strike down
the sideline to receiver Mike
Williams who brushes off undersized cornerback Travis Fisher
and strides into the end zone for an 80-yard touchdown. Matt
Millen's worst nightmare or just one of many for the beleaguered
Lions general manager? You decide. By the way, Millen used the
4th round pick he received from the Raiders for McCown and Williams
on cornerback A.J.
Davis who was subsequently released and signed to the team's
practice squad.
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