NFL Combine Breakdown 03/07/2024
So the annual underwear Olympics has come and gone from Indianapolis this year. The top 300 prospects for this years NFL Draft have done all of there drills, interviews and medical exams.
The biggest surprise this year was Texas Longhorn WR Xavier Worthy breaking the all-time 40 yard dash record with an amazing 4.21. He's a solid receiver who's played in big games, run good routed and has good hands. This won't leap him past the likes of Marvin Harrison Jr or Rome Oduze but he could be a late first, early second round pick, either way he made himself some money!
Everyone really cares about the Quarterbacks though. This year there are three at the very top in Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels and Drake May. They are projected to go 1, 2, 3 in the draft. The next round of QB's are JJ McCarthy, Bo Nix and Michael Penix. This may be an un popular opinion but it's how I see it. I don't like Caleb Williams at all. He seems to come with a ton of baggage like his dad, very similar to LaVar Ball, he can't get out of his own way. He put out there that Caleb wants ownership of whatever franchise picks him... are you kidding? Williams has the tools however; being drafted high doesn't equate to success at the next level... not always. You are picked high because the team stinks. The Chicago Bears have the first pick because of a trade, they aren't awful, they also have a good QB in Justin Fields. If I were them I would keep Fields, trade the pick and get a ton for it and build more around Fields. It doesn't look like they are going to do that. As of now it looks like they are going to take Caleb Williams who won nothing in college at two historic programs in Oklahoma and USC, kind of hard to do in my opinion.
As for Jaden Daniels, he's a phenomenal athlete and can make unbelievable plays. He's also a transfer from Arizona State to LSU. He had one great year at LSU and won the Heisman. I think the jury is still out on him, he's one that should probably sit a year or at lest half a year and learn the NFL system to whatever team he's playing for. That's not the way the league works anymore, he'll be thrown to the wolves and we've seen this time and time again, look at Bryce Young last year. Horrible team around him and he struggled and now people think he can't play at all. Jaden Daniels may be in a similar boat.
Drake Maye is interesting, he's the prototype of what people call an athletic white quarterback-- sneaky athletic. He has a good arm and can make a ton of throws. If he goes to New England it's a brand new coach but there is little to no talent for him to throw the ball to. Only Patrick Mahomes in todays game has proven to do that and Drake Maye isn't Patrick Mahomes.
The top three Quarterbacks all have holes in either their game or the teams they would be going to. I think all three will struggle in the beginning and time will tell who will make adjustments and succeed. The QB I like the most in this draft in former Auburn and Oregon QB Bo Nix. He's a great athlete, has a good arm and is a great leader. He's also played what feels like a decade of College Football. He is a guy where winning is the only thing that matters and that can't be taught, that's engrained in you from the first time you put pads on. Depending where he is drafted he may play right away or may sit, either way I think long term this is the QB that has the best long term prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Super Bowl Breakdown 02/08/2024
Las Vegas is the host of this years Super Bowl... can we have honestly believed this to be a true statement just 5-10 years ago? The world has changed and so has the NFL. The biggest issue seems to be coming out of this is there isn't enough room at the airport for all the private planes... talk about first world problems!
However; there will be a football game played on Sunday night between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. Since this game is in the gambling capital of the world the "experts" have the 49ers at a 1.5 point favorite, as of now 70 percent of the money is coming in for Kansas City... this makes me think Vegas knows something. Let's brake this down!
Patrick Mahomes is the QB for the Chiefs... we could end it right there. He's the best QB in the game and it really isn't close, if the Chiefs win this will be his third ring, that's an amazing career and he's only 28. He has the best weapon in this matchup in Travis Kelce (and all of the Swifties) they have by far the better defense and one of the best coaches to ever coach in Andy Reid.
So why are the 49ers the favorite?
They do have great weapons in Christian McCaffery, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiuyk and George Kittle with "Mr. Irrelevant" Brock Purdy at the helm. You can easily make the argument that San Francisco has the more well rounded offense. You never really know where the ball is going to go and every player on the offense has explosive tendencies.
This game will come down to the defenses and Kansas City has been dominant. They have shut down three explosive offenses in consecutive weeks in Miami, Buffalo and Baltimore. Meanwhile, San Francisco was torched by Green Bay and Detroit.
Any logical brain says this should be Kansas City by double-digits however; Vegas is smarter than all of us. There has to be a reason they made the line with the 49ers ahead. I'm throwing all logic out the door and going with Vegas with a 24-20 victory for the 49ers.
Changing of the guard? 02/01/2024
The NFL coaching carousel has officially ended for the season with Dan Quinn taking the head coaching duties with the Washington Commanders after Mike McDonald took the job with the Seattle Seahawks yesterday. The biggest news of this carousel was who was left without an offer... Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel and Pete Carroll.
There were six first time head coaches hired this go around; Mike McDonald in Seattle, Brian Callahan in Tennessee, Antonio Pierce in Vegas (was the interim) Jerrod Mayo in New England, Dave Canales in Carolina and Raheem Morris in Atlanta. The other coaching hire was Jim Harbaugh to the LA Chargers.
So six of the eight are first time coaches and half (4 of 8) are former players. I find this interesting because it's not hard to see the game isn't the same as it used to be even 10-15 years ago. For good reason the game is a lot safer but just like society you can't tell young people what to do anymore. For instance, in college football, if a kid isn't going to start or if he or she gets yelled at by a coach they can just up and transfer. The youth of today like it more if what they are being told to do is from someone who has done it before. For example, in the NBA 27 out of 30 NBA Head Coaches either played in the league or played in college, that's a lot! Think of it this way, say you where ever you work brings in someone you need to work for that is brand new to that industry, would you feel like that is someone who should be your boss? Probably not, bit at times outside the box thinking is what you need. On the other side, if someone is promoted who has done your job it's different, they understand the grind and can actually help because they've been there, the same goes for sports.
Getting back on track... Big names like Belichick, Vrabel and Carroll means they bring more cache, more power and more demands. It sounded like the teams they were interviewing for didn't want to give up that power. Maybe the owners who sign everyone's paycheck want more say in what's going on in the day to day operations... they've all seen how well that has worked out in Dallas with Jerry Jones for the last 25 years!
On paper these all look like decent hires however; we all know based off statistics of how quickly these jobs change hands there are at least half of these where the coach will be fired in under two years. My prediction is Dan Quinn, Dave Canales (just because David Tepper owner of Carolina likes to fire a coach every six months and throw drinks at fans) Jerrod Mayo in New England (they have little talent and free agents don't go there) and Antonio Pierce ( I may be wrong on this but nothing has worked in Vegas, Oakland, LA or back to Oakland)
It will take a few years to figure out what all of these moves mean, it seems like there is a much bigger push to have former players become coaches in the NFL, if that's the case it may be hard to see the best coach of all-time (Belichick) on the sidelines again.
Championship Sunday! 01/28/2024
Sunday January 28th 2024 is finally here. We've waited all season to see who will be going to the Super Bowl and at the end of the day we will have the two teams rolling the dice in Vegas for the Super Bowl!
The early game has the Baltimore Ravens hosting the Kansas City Chiefs. If you are like me and have enough of the Chiefs it might be the fact that they have been in SIX AFC Title games in a row. It's an amazing accomplishment however; most of us have had enough. Add to the storyline this year the "Swifty" story and this team is a reality show ready to vote everyone off the island.
The Chiefs have an incredible team, Mahomes is Mahomes, Kelce looks healthy again and the hard running rookie from Rutgers Isiah Pacheco has been a proven downhill power runner that is needed in the playoffs.
The Baltimore Ravens in the past were always the team that underachieved and decimated with injuries. They've stayed mostly healthy with Mark Andrews coming back for today's game. We all have short attention spans and might not remember how dominant Andrews was not all that long ago. Isiah Likely has done a solid job in his stint on the IR.
We all know the Ravens run... and pass on the legs and right arm of Lamar Jackson. He has had an amazing season and looks in line to claim his second MVP however; he needs to lead his team to a Super Bowl to be considered one of the elite QB's of this generation. If Jackson and the Ravens win this week he'd be looking to be the first Heisman Trophy winning QB to win the Super Bowl since Jim Plunkett 43 years ago... you'll need to google him kids!
These teams are so evenly matched it could go either way. The weather calls for rain starting around 4pm in Baltimore and the Ravens love to run the ball with running backs, receivers and Lamer Jackson. I see this one coming down to the last drive of the game and the best kicker in the game Justin Tucker kicking the game winning field goal and Baltimore wins 24-23.
Out to the west coast for the NFC Title game in San Francisco facing off with the ankle biting surprise of the century Detroit Lions. That's not a typo, the Detroit Lions are in the NFC Title game.
San Francisco is the most talented team in the NFL and I don't think that's even arguable. The offensive weapons with Christian McCaffery, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiuyk and Brock Purdy. This doesn't mean they can't be beaten. There is something to be said for a great story and the Detroit Lions are that. If the Niners win it's the most talented team won... Yay, that's fun! If Detroit wins an entire city explodes... literally... Detroit is full of crash test dummies, they know how to destroy things!
In all seriousness, the Detroit Lions are legit. The have a QB that's been to a Super Bowl in Jared Goff, they have a two headed monster backfield in David Montgomery and rookie Jamir Gibbs a great rookie TE in Sam Laporta and maybe the most underrated WR in the game in Amon Ra St. Brown.
As much as I would love to see Detroit go to the Super Bowl I think they are a year away, I like San Francisco 30-24.
If you've made it this far, thanks and hopefully you enjoyed it and were a little entertained!