Football By Isaac

Look, I realize that it’s really early to determine if what happened this offseason will actually work out for a team. For instance, the Eagles looked like last 2011’s offseason winner, and they weren’t close to the playoffs. However, I do want to crown one just to keep a hype real going.

My 2012 Unofficial 2012 NFL Offseason Winner might surprise some people. It’s the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yes, that team.

They started off rocky having fired head coach Raheem Morris after going 4-12 and signed surprise candidate Greg Schiano, the then Rutgers University head coach. An interesting move for a couple reasons, mainly because Rutgers wasn’t exactly a college football powerhouse (they were ranked only once at the end of the regular season through 11 season with Schiano). But after that, it looked to be very solid.

They nabbed some great free agents in Vincent Jackson, Carl Nicks and Eric Wright. Each player addressed a major issue. Jackson will help out a receiving corps that only averaged 10.5 yards per catch, second worst in the NFL. Nicks can help out in opening running lanes as the Bucs were third worst in rushing yards. And Wright helps out a secondary that is getting older with Ronde Barber, might lose their best CB because he shot at someone, and gave up 3800+ yards, only had 14 INTs, gave up 12 passing plays of 20 yards or more, and allowed QB’s a combined quarterback rating of 97.2. Yup, these guys can help out.

Then they had a great draft nabbing up Mark Barron and Doug Martin in the first round. Barron will help out with the passing issues I mentioned along with helping in the run as well. And Martin will help out in the passing game, which incumbent LeGarrette Blount is attrocious, and not fumble the ball, another Blount issue.

So from an acquisition side, everything looks great. But what seals the deal for me goes beyond that. In 2010, Eric LeGrand suffered a spinal cord injury playing football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. In 2012, the Buccaneers signed him as an undrafted free agent as a way of fulfilling a dream for a kid who has remained optimistic despite a major hardship. LeGrand will never play a down, but dammit if it isn’t a good story in a sport where there’s not such great news. They made a great move to help out with image and reward a great kid who deserves it.

So for 2012, the unofficial winners are the Bucs. And even if their team sucks, they’re still the winners for being class acts.

When I found out that Junior Seau died yesterday, I was rocked. What rocked me harder was when it was all but confirmed that it was a suicide. It really hit my core hard.

Junior was always one of my favorite players, which says something considering how he was a divisional rival for me and my Denver Broncos for most of his career. He played like you wanted him to play and he was such a good guy all the way around, you couldn’t help but like him.

It’s tough to see a player eventually age and no longer compete. It’s tough to see the few that, if they had their way, they would be playing until a normal retirement age like the rest of normal America eventually step away. And it’s especially tough to watch these players slowly degrade in self toil until they eventually pass. It happened with my favorite athlete of all time, Kirby Puckett, and it’s clearly happened with Seau.

I can’t imagine what demons he was fighting. I wish that he was able to find a better form of peace than his final action. However, I refuse to think of him in this final stance. To me, Junior Seau will be the guy that played for over 20 season, a guy who became a very good surfer in his late 30’s, and a guy who could be admired by all. He was the guy who infuriated me when he’d make John Elway’s life tough, but you still loved because he was so engaging and passionate. He was football.

The only thing that I can say is that this is an example of how you cannot take the brain lightly in football. This will widen the discussion for brain related issues and rightfully so. But while we lament the tragic loss of such a good person, let’s also remember to celebrate the life that was and continue to keep brain injuries in the forefront.

SIDEBAR: I should note that Kirby Puckett did not commit suicide. However, after he could no longer play in the MLB, his weight sky rocketed and he had many personal issues with indiscretions and lifestyle.

Well, I sort of had 6 picks right if you give me the Cleveland Browns/Trent Richardson pick and New England Patriots/Chandler Jones even though they weren’t taken at the spots where I thought they’d be. If you don’t want to give me those, you’re a jerk, but I digress. Let’s give out grades to each and every single pick!

Here’s how I grade. A team can get an A, B, C, D or F just like when you’re in school. This includes plusses and minuses as well so I can get nit-picky. What determines the grade are a variety of variables which includes need, value, and player pot still available among other things. Yes, I realize they haven’t played a single game yet. Yes, I also understand this is 100% subjective, but let me have my fun. Let’s begin.

1. Indianapolis Colts - Andrew Luck, QB: A. He’s the best prospect to enter the draft since Peyton Manning. They can’t go wrong with this.

2. Washington Redskins - Robert Griffin III, QB: A. Another top prospect that helps put them into better contention in a tough NFC East. He’s a mobile QB with a great arm and good accuracy that’s going to be playing with a QB coach (Mike Shanahan) that specializes in those things. The guy made Jake Plummer a star.

3. Cleveland Browns (trade with Vikings) - Trent Richardson, RB: A-. They get the best skill position that isn’t a QB out there. The Browns add another back to a fairly decent stable that can just pound the ball. Nothing to frown at here. They get the minus because they traded up without really needing to.

4. Minnesota Vikings (trade with Browns) - Matt Kalil, T: A. The Vikings get a stud tackle that will protect their franchise QB Christian Ponder. It isn’t exactly a sexy pick, but it’s a functional pick. It also helps solidify a slowly becoming anemic offensive line. Also, Adrian Peterson will like this pick.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars (trade with Buccaneers) - Justin Blackmon, WR: A. The Jaguars went into the draft with very few receiving options. They left the first round with the #1 rated receiver and a guy who can kill with speed, route running and separation. Plus, they only gave up a 4th rounder. Hopefully Blaine Gabbert can get him the ball better than he did the awful receivers on the Jags’ roster.

6. Dallas Cowboys (trade with Rams) - Morris Claiborne, CB: A-. This is the 3rd trade in a row at this juncture and is a great pickup for the Cowboys. Claiborne is the best overall corner and defensive back in the draft. It gives them a few really good corners at this point with Brandon Carr signing this off season and Mike Jenkins still on the roster. It gets a minus because it doesn’t fit the largest need for them and more of a secondary need. Jerr-uh likes sexy picks though.

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (trade with Jaguars) - Mark Barron, S: A. Yes, I am getting a bit redundant with these A’s, but so far, they have all been A’s. The Bucs get a fast rising safety at a decent spot. They address a need they opened up since they released Tanard Jackson. Barron can hit and cover, which is what you want in a S. Good value pick.

8. Miami Dolphins - Ryan Tannehill, QB: D. This was a bad pick for a few reasons. The first being the fact that the Dolphins are over- valuing the QB position. This means that Tannehill was a tremendous reach at #8. Everyone was predicting him to go here, but that doesn’t equal good value. He does in fact have some nice tools, but he only has a couple years as a QB. They have other glaring needs such as receiver, edge rusher, right tackle, and DB. You don’t have to take a QB just because you need one. You can bide time. That’s why they’re getting a D because the value’s bad and there were plenty of players out there that can make them a better team immediately.

9. Carolina Panthers - Luke Kuechly, LB: B+. Kuechly is an incredibly smart backer and this is a very good pick for the Panthers. The only problem is that it isn’t a major point of need such as DT. They do have decent depth, especially since Jon Beason should be returning to excellent form this year. It’s a very good pick, it gets downgraded because they could have gotten an excellent playmaker like Fletcher Cox to make their DTs better. Even a CB was a more needy position.

10. Buffalo Bills - Stephen Gilmore, CB: B-. I have nothing against Gilmore. He shot up the draft in the past couple weeks. The pick gets a B because Buffalo gave everyone a middle finger who said they need to fix their offensive line and took a CB. CB is a need, but not nearly as much as they need a left tackle, considering how they let their’s just walk to the Eagles. Even a receiver would have made more sense because they have Stevie Johnson and that’s it. This was a very bad good pick.

11. Kansas City Chiefs - Dontari Poe, DT: B. It’s their third first round pick used on a 3-4 lineman. Poe fits a huge need at NT for the Chefs, but the problem remains with the fact that he could be Albert Haynesworth, but 10 years younger. That’s why he’s not an A plus the fact that the Chiefs could have taken one of the more valuable interior guards with this pick.

12. Philadelphia Eagles (trade with Seattle) - Fletcher Cox, DT: A. Cox fits what Andy Reid likes to do with lineman all the way from how he plays to his height and weight. The Eagles were awful against the run, and while part of that was because they had awful backers, part of it was because they didn’t have a good rotation of DTs. Cox fixes this.

13. Arizona Cardinals - Michael Floyd, WR: B. The Cardinals didn’t address their two biggest needs which were offensive line and edge rusher. However, they did get a tremendous receiver that Larry Fitzgerald wanted on the other side of him. Floyd looks to be good, which is why this isn’t a C, but ignoring the two biggest pieces of the football puzzle aside from QB is not good at all.

14. St. Louis Rams (trade from Cowboys) - Michael Brockers, DT: C. The Rams take care of a need, however, they aren’t getting good value. Rather, it would have made more sense to trade back even farther into the 20’s and collect more 2nd round picks if they really wanted Brockers. I understand that they couldn’t have gotten a real good WR here, but they could have gotten some more O-line help, which they needed. Brockers does come with some issues, so this seems really high to take him.

15. Seattle Seahawks (trade from Eagles) - Bruce Irvin, DE: C. Irvin’s name wasn’t mentioned until this week as being a first rounder. His size was the main question, but apparently he killed the interview part. I give this a C because of the better, more complete DE’s still left in the draft. Had Melvin Ingram and Quinton Coples been off the board, this pick might be a bit better.

16. New York Jets - Quinton Coples, DE: B. The Jets need edge rushers and that’s what they get with Coples. Again, still not sure why Melvin Ingram is falling at this juncture, but Coples is still an excellent pick.

17. Cincinnati Bengals - Dre Kirkpatrick, CB: A-. I think this is a littler too early to draft Kirkpatrick, but it fits a need. The Bengals get an excellent corner to replace Jonathan Joseph, now 2 years removed from the team, and get insurance should Leon Hall not be able to return to form. The Bengals are deep at this position, but it’s mainly aged players.

18. San Diego Chargers - Melvin Ingram, DE/OLB: A. This is tremendous value for a player many thought would go top 10. They get an edge rusher to compliment aging Shaun Phillips and fortify a defense that has gotten old and bad over the past few years.

19. Chicago Bears - Shea McClellin, DE: C. McClellin is just not good value here. I know that the Bears were looking to beef up the D-line, but McClellin seemed a better fit for a 3-4 OLB position and would make more sense later in the draft. Whitney Mercilus would have made more sense, or the Bears could have drafted an O-lineman as the O-lineman value at this point would have been really high with DeCastro, Cordy Glenn, Riley Reiff, and Peter Konz still on the board.

20. Tennessee Titans - Kendall Wright, WR: C+. I will not deny Wright’s play making ability. But I will deny the fact that the Titans needed him. Rather, they could have used this spot to pick up some more offensive line help, which they need, or edge rusher, another need. Wright seems like too much of a luxury pick for a team with some holes.

21. New England Patriots (trade with Bengals) - Chandler Jones, DE/OLB: A. The Pats get an edge rusher made for a 3-4 defense considering how their best from last year, Andre Carter, is still very injured and their second best signed with the Bills. This works out.

22. Cleveland Browns - Brandon Weeden, QB: F. This is the surprise of the draft, the Browns using a first round pick on Weeden. It gets an F for the shear fact that it’s horrible value. The Browns could have gotten a better cog at this point and nabbed Weeden in the second (still would have been a bad pick) or traded back into the 2nd to get him. Bad, horrible, shitty value is what makes this an F.

23. Detroit Lions - Riley Reiff, T: A. The Lions had the miraculous happen: the 2nd best offensive tackle falls to them. They get their heir to Jeff Backus and address their biggest need. This is a winner for everyone. I’m impressed this happened considering how bad I think the Lions have drafted even after Millen was fired.

24. Pittsburgh Steelers - David DeCastro, G: A. The Steelers get some amazing value here. While they would have like to have gotten defensive player here, they get something even better especially considering the value. Castro can start immediately next to Maurkice Pouncey and create a running juggernaut, should the Steelers find a capable RB.

25. New England Patriots (trade with Broncos) - Dont’a Hightower, LB: B-. Hightower is a great player, but I’m not sure of how he fits with the Pats. They have their interior LBs with Brandon Spikes and Jarod Mayo, which is what Hightower players, and he isn’t a OLB. Hightower can ball, but where can he with the Pats? Pats should have gone for better needs like Harrison Smith at safety or Whitney Mercilus at DE/OLB.

26. Houston Texans - Whitney Mercilus, DE/OLB: B. I think that the Texans should have gone with a WR, but getting some more rotational help at the edge rushing spot since letting Mario Williams walk isn’t a bad thing. The Giants proved you can never have enough…

27. Cincinnati Bengals (trade with Patriots) - Kevin Zeitler, G: A. The Bengals addressed their offensive line, which is good. Maybe they get knocked because Zeitler wasn’t ranked as well as Cordy Glenn or Peter Konz who are still available, but whatevs. Good pick.

28. Green Bay Packers - Nick Perry, OLB: A. The Packers couldn’t get to the QB last year very well and Perry gives them another weapon. He can work with former teammate Clay Matthews. Good pick.

29. Minnesota Vikings (trade with Ravens) - Harrison Smith, S: A. The Vikings trade back in and nab up a great player in Smith. He can be a defensive leader and help out their anemic secondary. It would have been better if he was a corner, but the Vikes get a good player here.

30. San Francisco 49ers - AJ Jenkins, WR: C+. The 9ers need more weapons and Jenkins is a good deep threat, but I don’t see him as being better than what else is on the table. Sanu, Hill, Randle and Jeffres are all ranked better and do the task a bit better too.

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (trade with Broncos) - Doug Martin, RB: A. The Bucs made it clear that they want a pounding running game, and now they got the 2nd best pounder in the draft. Martin will be able to team up with LeGarrette Blount to make a very formidable stable. Martin can also catch the ball a bit too, making him an instant best friend to QB Josh Freeman.

32. New York Giants - David Wilson, RB: C+. Wilson is a good back and he fits a hole for the Giants, but I think that there were more valuable players out there that also hit needs. They need some line help for certain but looked away from Konz, Glenn and Jonathan Martin. Also, a TE would have been perfect, but they turned from Coby Fleener.

No need to go into too many details. I will be predicting everything I think will happen in the first round of the NFL draft tomorrow. Let’s do it:

1. Indianapolis Colts - Andrew Luck, QB. They already said they’re going to do it. No need to waste type.

2. Washington Redskins - Robert Griffin III, QB. They wouldn’t have traded away 4 draft picks for any other player. Again, no need to waste type.

3. Minnesota Vikings - Justin Blackmon, WR. I keep hearing the Vikes aren’t valuing the LT position as much as most people. They need to get Ponder some more weapons and hope a player like Mike Adams drops out of the first. Blackmon will be very nice to pass to.

4. Cleveland Browns - Trent Richardson, RB. With Blackmon off the board, the Browns will go for the next best offensive weapon in Richardson. He fills a need and can help their noodle armed QB out tremendously by making safeties have to play up.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Morris Claiborne, CB. Matt Kalil would be very interesting for the Bucs to pick. However, I see them going Claiborne for 2 reasons: 1) they’re thin at the position and will be extra thin should Aqib Talib go to jail and 2) they want my mock draft to look better should the Vikes choose Kalil.

6. St. Louis Rams - Matt Kalil, T. Well, this does two things: 1) Makes it easier to get rid of bust Jason Smith or try him in a different spot and 2) makes them dangerous in the next round when they have two picks to used on receivers. They need to get Sam Bradford some offensive help, but finding him someone to protect his backside will be OK too.

7. TRADE: Philadelphia Eagles (From Jaguars) - Fletcher Cox, DT. The Dolphins won’t trade back because they want Tannehill so bad that they’re scared the Bills might take him, even though they won’t. So the Eagles will jump up one more spot because they want Cox that bad. Cox won’t make it past the Panthers who pick way before the Eagles. Eagles also are no strangers to trading up.

8. Miami Dolphins - Ryan Tannehill, QB. This is a dumb pick because Tannehill should be available later. However, the Dolphins are still looking for that franchise QB despite their failures with non-top talent. They need other positions such as receiver, corner, and edge rushers and they won’t be competing in 2012, drafting a project and questionable player like Tannehill is too shaky for me.

9. TRADE: Dallas Cowboys (From Carolina Panthers) - Mark Barron, S. I think that Jerry Jones has been listening to the Bills really wanting Mark Barron and determined that he, Jerr-uh,  wants him more. Hence, they trade up so that they can get this interesting cog. He fills a great need, but I still think that Dallas would be better served hanging out at the 14 pick and looking mightily to get DeCastro, but Jerry took an offensive lineman last year, so clearly they’re set. Panthers get to watch some more picks play out before choosing workout warrior Dontari Poe.

10. Buffalo Bills - Riley Reiff, T. The Bills’ sweetheart is off the board so they go for something that they tremendously need. I write this knowing full well that the Bills don’t value linemen very high (illustrated by the fact that they let Demtrius Bell walk in free agency when he could have been affordable) and they will probably choose Michael Floyd just to make me angry.

11. Kansas City Chiefs - Luke Kuechly, LB. The Chiefs could go Dontari Poe making it 3 defensive linemen in a 3-4 scheme that garnered a first round pick (unheard of, btw). However, Kuechly is too intriguing to turn down. I almost put down one of the few edge rushers that are around here because you can never have enough, but the Chiefs will go with a dominating force in Kuechly.

12. Seattle Seahawks - Melvin Ingram, DE. The Seahawks are in an excellent position here as there is plenty of value around here. But with Ingram, the top rated rusher of this draft, on the board, they’ll spend most of their time high fiving each other, then making this selection.

13. Arizona Cardinals - Michael Floyd, WR. Let me put it this way, the Arizona Cardinals might not be owned or operated by Larry Fitzgerald, but he influences decisions like nobody’s business. He said he wants Floyd. They are going to bring in Floyd.

14. TRADE: Carolina Panthers (From Cowboys) - Dontari Poe, DT. The Panthers could do a lot of different things at this spot, but I think they’ll take Poe in hopes he won’t Haynesworth. Largest need, supposedly the best available at this juncture. Poe’s their man.

15. TRADE: Jacksonville Jaguars (From Eagles) - Quinton Coples, DE. Stephen Gilmore is the popular pick these days. However, the Jags need a pass rusher even more. With Coples still on the board, they’ll take him and call it a day.

16. New York Jets - Doug Martin, RB. Yes, this early. The Jets want to run the ball more and currently don’t have a person on the roster who can do so. Martin can come in and pound the ball like McGahee did with the Broncos and get spelled by Tomlinson and Greene. The Jets could try to go pass rusher here, but their offense is missing the biggest piece of their new formula: a running back with legs.

17. Cincinnati Bengals - David DeCastro, G. Here’s what I wrote last mock, it’s still applicable: “The Bengals are in prime position to take any player that they want. They don’t have any real immediate needs and any pickup will be considered a luxury. They could add another corner even though they now have very competent depth there, receiver to add to their young corps, running back to give a better 1-2 punch, defensive tackle to get stouter or offensive line just because.”

18. San Diego Chargers - Stephen Gilmore, CB. Chandler Jones is the popular pick here now. However, I think that San Diego could greatly benefit from getting a CB who isn’t mediocre. I think they could do well to get a pass rusher in the second and take care of another need in the secondary with Gilmore.

19. Chicago Bears - Michael Brockers, DT. The Bears should go offensive line and with Cordy Glenn being available, it gives them two young excellent players in two consecutive drafts to protect Jay Cutler. However, the vogue thing is to have the Bears go defensive line. Brockers makes the interior more formidable.

20. Tennessee Titans - Dre Kirkpatrick, CB. They need to find a replacement for Courtland Finnegan and Dre Kirkpatrick is still on the board. Done deal if this happens. The Titans could go pass rusher, but I think Dre will be too good to pass up at the #20 spot. Yes, I did, for the most part, just do a copy and paste of last mock draft.

21. Cincinnati Bengals - Courtney Upshaw, DE/OLB. Bengals get to go luxury still. They might be tempted to go Janoris Jenkins especially with their track record of taking in players who’ve had issues with the law. But they’ve signed a bunch of CBs that’ll give them a serviceable secondary. Plus, getting some more pass rush help will help those guys out. Their leading sack artist was a DT and had just 7.5.

22. Cleveland Browns - Kendall Wright, WR. He’s a smaller receiver, but he should still find a good spot with the Browns next to Greg Little. The Browns’ D is pretty stiff and giving McCoy some weapons, or the player who takes over for McCoy should he fail, is a great idea.

23. Detroit Lions - Jonathan Martin, T. I have this pick because he’s available and the Lions HAVE to draft an offensive lineman at some point. They’ll probably go Janoris Jenkins just to make me mad. But if Martin is here, they HAVE to pick up.

24. Pittsburgh Steelers - Dont’a Hightower, LB. Their defense could use any form of help at this juncture to get younger. Hightower is their bread and butter.

25. Denver Broncos - Janoris Jenkins, CB. There aren’t that many meaningful DT’s until the second round here. Still’s stock has fallen. There are some players who are rising, but no one that doesn’t come without major question marks. Thusly, the Broncos take the best player available based off of another need in Jenkins and find the heir apparent for Champ!

26. Houston Texans - Stephen Hill, WR. The Texans are needy at a #2 receiver. They get a deep threat who’s roughly the same size as Andre Johnson who can learn how to be Andre Johnson once Johnson retires. This would be a tremendous pickup to make this team super scary.

27. New England Patriots - Chandler Jones, DE/OLB. Jones has been a hot riser, for good reason. But I don’t buy him going top 20. Here’s a good spot for him. He’ll be with a team that needs some serious help on the pass rush.

28. Green Bay Packers - Whitney Mercilus, DE/OLB. They could use some secondary help, but I really think that the Pack will wait a bit before trying to address that. Having a pincher attack will make it easier for their struggling secondary to make plays.

29. Baltimore Ravens - Cordy Glenn, G. They watched Ben Grubbs walk out the door and need to find someone to replace him. Peter Konz would be a nice pick here too since he could fill the role in the interim before taking over for Matt Birk, but Glenn is more versatile and is a monster.

30. San Francisco 49ers - Amini Silatolu, G. Another hot trend right now. I have no reason to argue with it. The 9ers don’t have any great options at WR with Sanu starting to fall off a bit. Why not make a team grounded in the ground and pound better at that.

31. New England Patriots - Harrison Smith, S. The Pats would like to trade this pick away, but with Smith still on the board, I think they stand pat last minute. They had receivers starting at safety last year. They need to do this pick.

32. New York Giants - Coby Freener, TE. Eli needs some more tools to work with especially with a thin line of TE’s on the team. The Giants draft best available, so maybe they go somewhere else. Who knows? But Freener would be a tremendous pickup.

Right now, the Minnesota Vikings are in an excellent position to get some form of game changer right at the #3 spot. They can get either top wideout Justin Blackmon who (like about every other player top receiver in the draft) has gotten Calvin Johnson praise, Morris Claibourne, AKA the top corner in the draft, or Matt Kalil who is not only the top offensive lineman in the draft, but fills their arguable biggest need. Or they could trade the pick. But the fact remains, Minnesota holds the key.

Now, this whole situation could be incredibly boring right now. The Vikes could choose the third best player in the draft and their biggest need in Kalil and just be done with it. Nobody would fault them for trying to protect their young QB, fill a glaring hole, and run off into the sunset happy campers and address other needs such as defensive backfield, receiver and more offensive line help later. But there in lies the problem: more and more reports have the Vikings looking elsewhere despite what 95% of mock drafters and “draft experts” would have you believe.

Adam Schefter thinks that the Vikes will go WR. I think the same thing. My reasoning is this, their number one receiver is Percy Harvin who is a great slot and shifty receiver, not necessarily in the two outside spots. They currently have a crew of scrubs to man the rest of the receiving options.

On top of that, Harvin has been dealing with major migraine issues for the past couple years which makes you wonder how long he can actually play. You might not be able to walk with a blown out knee, but at least you can think. Brain issues are much, much worse.

Add to that the fact that the Vikes saw the success they had with Sidney Rice and what happened when he left this past year and you get the idea.

How this affects the draft though is that the Vikes no longer creates a nice line where Blackmon goes to Cleveland or St. Louis. Do the Browns take him at #4 even though he’s not an immediate need? Does he fall to #6 where the Rams could certainly use him? It creates a giant flux and the sort of chaos that you all know I love.

There is a reason why I haven’t done a round 3 mock draft and that’s because of this. I’m not sure what I want to do with this yet. Compile that with the fact that some guys that were late second round selections no less than two weeks ago and I’m not sure what to do yet. But one thing is clear, the Vikings could possibly destroy several mock drafts and completely change the entire draft.

This summer actually showed a bit of restraint in regards to QB’s which is an interesting turn of events, sort of I guess. Peyton Manning went for 5 years and almost $20 million a year at an advanced age and after a major injury. But I’m more speaking towards Matt Flynn and the supposed “hot market” he would see and Alex Smith and his final contract.

Smith’s contract is 3 years, $24 million with only around $10 million of that guaranteed. Flynn’s is similar at 3 years, $26 million with $10 million guaranteed. While $8 million is still good money for a QB, the low amount of money guaranteed makes these buys worthwhile should they not work out.

This becomes especially true when you look at Matt Cassell, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kevin Kolb and their respective contracts. Here are their numbers:
Cassell - $63 million total, $28 million guaranteed over 6 years. This will be year 3 for him.
Fitz - $59 million total, $24 million guaranteed over 6 years. This will be year 2 for him. 
Kolb - $63 million total, $21 million guaranteed over 5 years. This will be year 2 for him.

All three of those guys are not bad QBs, but they aren’t exactly great QB’s either. All three of them earned contracts without really proving themselves. They had either a few games of nice to impressive numbers, but no shown consistency. But this league has become a QB league and even mediocre QBs can get their contract in hopes they might be something special.

In 2000, the league leaders in passing were the Rams, Colts and Broncos respectively with 5232, 4282, 4243 total passing yards for the season respectively with a total average of 206.7 yards per game for the entire league. In 2012, the top teams were the Saints, Patriots and 5347, 5084 and 4924 were their total passing yards with an average of 229.7 yards per game. If you go farther back, you’ll see even more how passing yards are ever increasing.

We can even look at passing touchdowns. In 2011, there were 745 passing touchdowns and in 2000, there were 634. Interceptions were even less with 506 in ‘11 and 531 in 2000. This league is a passing league now, hence the desperation.

But the problem with this desperation is that there are literally only a handful of great QB’s in the league. While you can find a diamond in the rough on occasion, it doesn’t mean that anyone who has some decent level of stats or some level of promise will actually turn out to be something talent. For every Drew Brees out there, there are three Daunte Culpeppers at least.

Let’s keep in mind that there are some really, really good QB’s out there who have seen only marginal levels of success. Philip Rivers hasn’t seen the post season in 2 years and only has a single AFC West appearance. Michael Vick has won just 3 playoff games. Tony Romo has 1 playoff victory.

But teams are still looking for that lightning bolt QB. A QB who can become the face of a franchise, put butts in seats in the stands and keep them relevant when facing powerhouses. Unfortunately, if you give money out to willingly without seeing a level of consistency, your team will have a large amount of dollars owed to a backup player.

The silver lining, I guess, is that this isn’t baseball or basketball where contracts are fully guaranteed. So should Kevin Kolb next year happen to be awful (like I think he is/will be), they won’t be on the hook for the whole $63 million, “only” about $11 million more.

But it looks like 2012 looks to be a much smarter year and hopefully that will be the trend. As stated earlier, unproven commodities in Matt Flynn and Alex Smith got nice contracts for them that won’t kill their respective teams should they become awful. Kyle Orton and Jason Campbell, two very capable QBs who could have been very hot commodities in this market, are now rightful backups.

And lastly, I encourage teams to properly evaluate draft talent. While Andrew Luck and RGIII look like sure things, they couldn’t be. But I don’t specifically want to talk about them because they have at least proven themselves in the ways they can before becoming pros and anyone who would say otherwise is pretty dense. This is more of a statement for the other QB’s out there such as Ryan Tannehill, Brock Osweiler, Kirk Cousins, etc.

What I will say is that these players could in fact become amazing. However, if they don’t, it hurts a team to take them higher than what their actual worth is. It doesn’t hurt to put other pieces of the puzzle together before getting the franchise, game changing QB. After all, it is a team game still.

TL;DR: Don’t buy high on unproven talent. There are only so many good QBs at one time.

(All stats taken from pro-football-reference.com)

Let’s face it, over the past 2 years, we’ve seen more college football scandals come out than we’ve ever before. It’s been insane. Here’s a list of some of the most recent scandals:

• Bobby Petrino having an inappropriate relationship with a staff member and giving her money.
• The Ohio State athletes selling their memorabilia for tattoos and gifts and Coach Jim Tressell covering it up.
• Cam Newton’s father shopping him to college programs.
• Reggie Bush receiving improper benefits while in college and USC covering it up.
• North Carolina’s players receiving improper benefits from an agent.
• Recruiting violations by Oregon.
• The Nittany Lions and Penn State overlooking Jerry Sandusky
• Several players like AJ Green and Marcel Dareus accepting money or selling things.

There are a few things to take away from this. First, that the recruiting and scoring top athletes to your program and subsequently trying to keep them happy and/or playing is a dirty business. This is nothing new in regards to presumptions, but it’s starting to shed a light into the actual dirty and weird nature that goes into it.

Second, it appears that the NCAA isn’t so concerned with consistency. With the Cam Newton story and his father shopping him to programs, Cam and Auburn received no real penalty. On the other hand, Reggie Bush had to return his Heisman trophy and USC was manhandled by the NCAA. USC’s and OSU’s crime was covering something up whereas Newton’s father was trying to get a LOOOOOOOOOOOT of money from colleges, and may have gotten it too. The NCAA investigation into Auburn and Newton was short and died quickly.

Look, to be fair, since Cam’s involvement in the search has been said to be 0 (hard to believe) and Auburn has said they gave Cecil Newton no money and investigations to this point happen to not show any wrong doing. On the other hand, the information came out shortly before the National Championship Game in 2011 and would have made that game a lot less interesting.

And in all reality, selling a player is more egregious than a player getting some extra side money after already being at a school and a school then covering it up. I want to go a whole lot more into detail into this, and maybe I will in a subsequent article, I have to move on otherwise this article will become 2000 words and no one will read it.

Third, it appears that investigators and journalists are getting more zealous for the truth. This is a good thing. As part of it, it also appears that more people are willing to come forward about wrongful deeds. Again, a good thing. Information rose quickly and suddenly in regards to the heinous Penn State/Jerry Sandusky case. Bobby Petrino and his mistress were quickly in the news. It appears that people are either hungry to make college football a cleaner product or people are starting to realize that they can make names and get great deals should they turn up such juicy info.

Either way, this new trend is good for college football. It means that unethical means like Sandusky and Petrino will be found out quickly and that issues like Cecil Newton, North Carolina and Ohio State can have a larger fear out there.

It is very interesting to take a look at these scandals and how they’ve turned up. It will be interesting to see if college football cleans itself up or just finds newer and better ways to hide the grime that is involved. I’m interested to see if this trend continues or if this is just an anomaly. Either way, I will be paying extra attention for stories like these.

Well, Gregg Williams has made news again. A recording has surfaced to the media from their 2011 divisional playoffs game in which you can hear Gregg Williams giving a rah-rah speech and naming players on the 49ers team on offense with certain injury histories. The recording comes from a film that was to be a documentary by film maker Sean Pamphilon.

To be honest, this would not be news had Williams not gotten suspended for running a bounty program. In fact, this recording doesn’t even showcase bounties. I doubt that it even would have surfaced had Williams and the New Orleans Saints not already been in the news. But it did and it has and now I have another thing to talk about.

Is it shocking for us to  hear, as regular people, that a coach is pointing out prior injuries or “points of interest to hit” on opponents? Yes. Is it bad? Not necessarily. I wouldn’t consider it right or maybe not ethical. But as far as bad goes, I don’t think so.

All this is another hit to a person’s reputation when they’re already dealing with a public relations disaster. That’s it.

I don’t think this is news. I don’t like how this has surfaced now or the fact that it’s surfaced. I don’t like Williams’ tactics. That’s how I feel about this. But I don’t think we can definitively say that what Williams did was implicitly wrong.

Going after injuries is poor form. However, this is a violent game and you need to try to gain an advantage. The only difference between what Williams said and a coach saying, “Go out there and hit ‘em hard!” which would have been acceptable, was the fact that he named names and areas to hit.

It’s news only because of previously bigger news that is somewhat related. It shows a side of football that is inhuman. However, since this wouldn’t have been released had the bounty issue been brought up, since it wouldn’t have been major news even if it was released, since the recorder just released it instead of releasing it right away, it shouldn’t be big, top of the order news. Sorry.

I’m bored with what’s going on out there. Free agency is running down, writing about the rule changes is not interesting (although it would allow me to showcase my football knowledge), the new jerseys are what they are, and I just did a mock draft. Henceforth, you get who I think will be the Fantasy Football Sleepers of 2012. It is early, but whatevs.

Sleepers are the best part of fantasy football. If you can draft smart, you can get deep at a few positions late in the draft. It requires you to play the waiver wire judiciously and be devious against your friends/opponents. They can swing a championship. That’s what’s up. For instance, if you got on the Cam Newton or Victor Cruz wagon early, you might have won. If you didn’t, you probably cursed their names. In order to be a sleeper, you have to have been never heard of before or had at least 1 off season in the past few years.

So here’s my list with reasonings:
Randy Moss, WR 49ers - He’s only a sleeper because he’s been out of football for a year and he had an awful season the year before bouncing around teams. That said, he’s with a guy who won’t be afraid to use him to the max and push him to be Straight Cash Homey. Moss is a guy I’d take towards the end in hopes that he’ll turn into a monster.

Martellus Bennett, TE Giants - Eli Manning has a decent rushing attack (when healthy) and the receiving corps. They’ve been missing a solid TE since they traded Jeremy Shockey to the Saints. Bennett got buried and forgotten in Dallas, but he is a former second round pick and does have some explosiveness. If he can find his hands and figure out separation, he’ll surprise some people.

Jacquizz Rodgers, RB Falcons - He’s their speed back to compliment and change pace for bruiser Michael Turner. He’s super fast and can catch passes and could end up being a solid #3 back in a league that allows 3 backs to start. I think he’ll use his speed to really open up a passing game a smidge and be a poor man’s Darren Sproles this next year.

Taiwan Jones, RB Raiders - Michael Bush has left making the backup role to Darren McFadden Jones’ and Jones’ alone. McFadden has a bad glass jaw so Jones might get a significant amount of playing time. Like Rodgers, he’s fast and can catch. He could be a hot waiver wire pick-up should he bust out a 100 yard game after McFadden goes down.

Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreesen, TE Broncos - Double TE sets are becoming the new vogue in the NFL and with Denver now having a TE loving hall of famer in Peyton Manning, these two will see a lot of action. They’re not necessarily the most sleepy of the sleepers, but I figured I’d at least mention them as they are still not as well known as Tony Gonzalez, Gronk or Owen Daniels.

Stevan Ridley, RB Patriots - Yes, the Pats aren’t the biggest of runners. However, the Patriots look to continue to evolve their offense year in and year out. They spent a high pick on Ridley last year sort of showing their hand. They then let BenJarvus Green-Ellis walk. I would buy high on this guy. Belichick knows what he wants to do.

Josh Morgan, WR Redskins - Morgan was a consistent possession receiver for the 49ers last year until he went down with an injury. This guy can run routes. Look for this guy to start putting out Laurent Robinson from last year numbers as he will have a QB who can get him the ball (presumably RGIII) and enough other receivers to distract. He’s a threat no one talks about, but that’s what you ant in a solid sleeper.

Those are my early ones. I’ll do a few more of these down the line as the NFL season approaches.

Here’s my second go around with a mock draft. Just so you know the rules, I predict trades and whatever moves I think can happen in the first round. Let’s get started.

1. Indianapolis Colts - Andrew Luck, QB. It’s become vogue for predictors to choose Robert Griffin III, however, I’m not falling for it. The Colts were in this position when they chose Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf several years ago, Leaf being the fast riser. They’ll go with Luck and enjoy themselves.

2. Washington Redskins - Robert Griffin III, QB. If the Redskins traded 4 picks to take someone other than a franchise QB, I would be surprised. The Heisman winner will not fall past pick #2.

3. Minnesota Vikings - Matt Kalil, OT. I originally had Blackmon here, and they could still go for him. However, I was being adventurous. They’ll get their QB of the future Christian Ponder the best protector in the draft. Their O-line is pretty awful.

4. Cleveland Browns - Justin Blackmon, WR. Everyone had the Browns taking Julio Jones in 2011 and they traded their pick to the Falcons last year. Since they aren’t getting RGIII or Luck they have a huge need at WR considering how the best WR they have is a #2 on most teams and a #3 on good teams.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Morris Claiborne, CB. The Bucs had a good coup with getting under appreciated Eric Wright. However, Aqib Talib might be going to jail and Ronde Barber is old and getting close to retirement. They could go Trent Richardson to supplement the things that LeGarrette Blount isn’t, however, I don’t think they’ll turn down an amazing CB like Claiborne.

6. St. Louis Rams - Michael Floyd, WR. Yes, I have him going this early. He will rise like crazy and the Rams will/should be on a mission from God to get Sam Bradford some weapons. His stock is going to rise, so I have him here this early so I can say I had it first.

7. Jacksonville Jaguars - Quinton Coples, DE. The Jaguars are a team of needs and look poised to further squander the goodness that is Maurice Jones-Drew. However, they have a huge, glaring need at edge rush. Coples is top notch and will be taken here if available.

8. Miami Dolphins - Melvin Ingram, DE. A lot of people think that the Dolphins will pull a 2011 Vikings and select Ryan Tannehill too early at this spot. I think that they’ll either trade back in to the first to take him later or hope he’s available in the second and work on their defense here. Ingram is an excellent hybrid 4-3/3-4 DE/OLB and he’ll give Cameron Wake some excellent help. Oh, to go back to Tannehill, there could be a team that’s very high on Ingram or looking to get Trent Richardson, who’s still on my board, and may look to move up to take one or the other, allowing the Dolphins to take Tannehill at a more natural position.

9. New York Jets (trade from Carolina Panthers) - Trent Richardson, RB. The Panthers’ most glaring need of defensive help is incredibly deep in this draft, so they can afford to move back and take a nice bounty from the Jets. The Jets want to ground and pound it and right now only have a QB (Tebow) who can run with the ball. They may try to trade up even further to get Richardson, but Richardson is the only back in this draft that could possibly handle the heavy load the Jets look to give an RB.

10. Buffalo Bills - Riley Reiff, OT. The Bills haven’t re-signed Demetrius Bell and there’s speculation that they still might, given the price drop he might be experiencing. But at the same time, the Bills’ O-line is pretty amateur still. With getting Mario Williams, getting a pass rusher isn’t as necessary, so they might as well protect ~$9 million a year QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.

11. Philadelphia Eagles (trade from Kansas City Chiefs) - Luke Kuechly, LB. The Eagles are no stranger to draft day trades and will be looking for some additional linebacking help, even with DeMeco Ryans. I think they’ll smell a team like the Seahawks or Cowboys looking to snap him up so they’ll make a nice offer to the Chiefs. For the Chiefs, Scott Pioli is a New England Patriot disciple, accumulating picks is only natural.

12. Seattle Seahawks - David DeCastro, G. They cut Robert Gallery after one season and could be looking to ensure that still have a formidable offensive line for Beast Mode and newly signed QB Matt Flynn. DeCastro will fit in nicely.

13. Arizona Cardinals - Mike Adams, OT. The Cardinals will be looking to take either the best offensive lineman at this point or the best edge rusher as those are their most glaring of holes. Thus, Mike Adams is selected. He’ll make an excellent RT and make things much easier for Levi Brown and hopefully, for the Cards sake, this will make Kevin Kolb worth his contract.

14. Dallas Cowboys - Mark Barron, S. With DeCastro gone and it being too early to take Cordy Glenn, the Cowboys will go with a sexy pick. Barron hits a need and helps solidify a secondary that massively improved with the signing of Brandon Carr. And Jerruh doesn’t have to make another boring offensive line pick. But if DeCastro is here, he will take him as Jones is only stupid sometimes.

15. Kansas City Chiefs (trade from Philadelphia Eagles) - Dontari Poe, DT/NT. The Chiefs will have 3 first round picks in the past 5 years on their defensive line with Poe, something unheard of with a 3-4 team. However, Poe is a monster and could work his way into a top 10 selection. The Chiefs will gobble him up considering how they don’t have any other options. And with the signing of Eric Winston, they don’t have to go offensive line so severely anymore.

16. Carolina Panthers (trade from New York Jets) - Fletcher Cox, DT. The Panthers need some more interior defensive linemen more than any other team, save maybe the Broncos. Cox is another fast riser like Poe and could be gone at this point. Cox is dynamic and can move around which will make the Panthers take no time in making this selection.

17. Cincinnati Bengals - Cordy Glenn, G. The Bengals are in prime position to take any player that they want. They don’t have any real immediate needs and any pickup will be considered a luxury. They could add another corner even though they now have very competent depth there, receiver to add to their young corps, running back to give a better 1-2 punch, defensive tackle to get stouter or offensive line just because. That’s why I have Glenn here. Why not fortify your line to make your offense that much more of a threat? (READ: I didn’t know what to put here, so I just picked a random guy to say “I had that!” later should it happen.)

18. San Diego Chargers - Jonathan Martin, OT. The Chargers are a team that has a surprising amount of needs. They need some receiving help, they need some pass rushing help, they need some new corners, and their offensive line is awful. I think that the Chargers bank on Martin to be Marcus McNeil’s replacement long term and have some bookend tackle action with Jared Gaither and address the rest later. (READ: Another toss up…)

19. Chicago Bears - Stephen Hill, WR. Even though the Bears traded for Brandon Marshall, Marshall might not be playing in the NFL for awhile. And with most of the top offensive line talent off the board, they’ll go receiver. Let’s not forget that Johnny Knox is still very injured as well. A Georgia Tech receiver in the first round again, triple option offense what?

20. Tennessee Titans - Dre Kirkpatrick, CB. The Titans are another secretly needy team that got needier over the off-season. They need to find a replacement for Courtland Finnegan and Dre Kirkpatrick is still on the board. Done deal if this happens. The Titans could go pass rusher, but I think Dre will be too good to pass up at the #20 spot. Look for the Titans to be sleeper movers too.

21. Detroit Lions (trade from Cincinnati Bengals) - Janoris Jenkins, CB. I think that the Lions will try to move up to lock up Jenkins as there will be some teams sniffing around this prospect, including the Browns. The Bengals are able to make luxury decisions at this point, so letting the Lions move up isn’t a huge issue. It fills a huge void for the Lions, but still doesn’t address their offensive line needs…

22. Cleveland Browns - Stephon Gilmore, CB. Yes, we do have three CBs going in a row. The Browns could use a bit of everything at this spot and I was very tempted to give them an RB. However, when you could be starting Sheldon Brown, it might be upgrade time.

23. Cincinnati Bengals (trade from Detroit Lions) - Kendall Wright, WR. Once again, the Bengals will be sopping up great gravy pieces at this point in the draft. Wright gives them a speedy threat to work in tandem with AJ Green possibly making this offensive team quietly scary. This would be one hell of a pickup for this young team.

24. Pittsburgh Steelers - Dont’a Hightower, LB. The Steelers could look for some RB help considering how Rashard Mendenhall has been 1) a disappointment and 2) could miss most of 2012 still. However, they need to get younger on defense more and Hightower is the only player available to meet the needs of a 3-4 defense. They could use some defensive line help, but unless Dontari Poe falls here, they are out of luck.

25. Denver Broncos - Devon Still, DT. The Broncos’ largest need is the DT spot since letting Broderick Bunkley sign with the Saints. Still is money at this position. They could go Brockers here too, but I still see Brockers as a falling commodity and Still staying pat.

26. Houston Texans - Mohamed Sanu, WR. You heard it here first. Sanu’s been rising fast since his pro day and the Texans need to find someone to take a load off of Andre Johnson, especially now that he’s over 30. Sanu is better than Rueben Randle and doesn’t have the baggage of Alshon Jeffery. The Texans will love this pick up.

27. New England Patriots - Michael Brockers, DT. Brockers will be a perfect fit with the Patriots and Vince Wilfork. Having two DTs, and a DT that can move to a 3-4 end if needed, will help out this anemic defense.

28. Green Bay Packers - Whitney Mercilus, OLB/DE. I had originally written in Peter Konz’s name, who the Packers might still take, then remembered Mercilus was still on the board and how awful the Packers’ D was last year. They need a compliment for Clay Matthews and Mercilus knows how to get to a QB. With this a bit better, their secondary play should improve.

29. Baltimore Ravens - Peter Konz, C. The Ravens will look to find a) a replacement for Ben Grubbs in the short term and b) a replacement for Matt Birk in the long term. Konz will be able to do this. Konz’s buddy Kevin Zeitler could be another viable option as well.

30. Miami Dolphins (trade with San Francisco 49ers) - Ryan Tannehill, QB. This is a spot more fitting for Tannehill. I don’t think that the 49ers will make this trade, but I want them to anyway and I think Miami might offer a nice bounty for it similar to the trade the Broncos made to Baltimore in 2010. Anything that the 9ers will want will be available in the 2nd round. They would just need to pull this trigger…

31. New England Patriots - Courtney Upshaw, DE/OLB. The Patriots may ship this pick off to gather up more assets as it is their M.O. However, I think with Upshaw still being there, along with Rick Perry and Andre Branch, they don’t send this pick off to someone and get more pass rush help, considering how their pass rush is either injured or long gone.

32. New York Giants - Colby Freener, TE. I am not putting a pass rusher here like Rick Perry or Andre Branch mainly out of spite. The Giants will select the best player available, as is their style, and those two might be better than Freener. However, the Giants could use another offensive threat and that’s what Freener is.