Category: NFL

Time for the Beast to Talk

The ongoing business of Marshawn Lynch and his continued middle finger at the NFL regarding talking to the media has been a source of amusement, bemusement, social media fodder, and scorn as the season has gone along.

Now that the Seahawks are back in the Superbowl, in spectacular fashion no less, it will be interesting to see how Lynch responds to the ongoing and increasing media demands.

There shouldn’t really be any suspense though. Odds are, he’ll do what he’s been doing; either giving terse and irrelevant answers or shirking his responsibilities altogether, fines be damned.

Surprisingly, Lynch has been getting quite a bit of admiration, sympathy, and other positive sentiment for his actions (inactions?) with the media.

One close friend of mine went so far as to tell me that the league needs to recognize his severe social anxiety and grant him an exception to his media responsibilities.

That kind of sent me over the edge. There are people in my life who are close to me that have what would qualify as acute social anxiety, and that’s not Lynch. If anything, what he has is a mild form, but more likely, he just hates the media.

Well, you know what dude, suck it up. Those of us who work everyday jobs couldn’t dream of behaving the way he does. Lynch is one of the best players in the NFL, irrespective of position, but an employee of a company nonetheless. One of his responsibilities is to talk to the media. If any of us in the real world would stick up our bird fingers to our bosses the way he has done, we’d be summarily fired.

If the NFL has any backbone at all, it’s time for them to stand up and say to Lynch, if you don’t honor your responsibilities to the media like all other players have to, you are not eligible to play in the Superbowl. Done and done.

And if Lynch really does have social anxiety to the point where speaking with the media causes him to experience severe mental anguish, he certainly has the means to get an independent and accredited therapist to testify as such to the NFL. And then, and only then, should he be given any kind of reprieve.

We’re talking about a guy who is building a Hall of Fame resume. It certainly would be a shame if this bull, uh, excrement, was a factor in that voting a decade from now.

Why is My Seat Warm? NFL Coaches Who Might Soon be Jobless

As another NFL regular season draws to a close, a hot topic of discussion is always the coaching hot seat. It can be an awkward and unpleasant topic. In many cases it’s not 100% fair to blame the coach for a team’s underperformance. The NFL season is a short one; 16 measly games. A solid baseball team can go through a brutally bad 16 game stretch and have plenty to time to right the ship over its 162 game season. In basketball and hockey, it’s not quite as easy, but over an 82 game schedule, it’s still well within the realm of possibility to recover from a rough 16 game patch.

But football? No, entire seasons can go south in a mere 4 or 5 weeks. The quarterback can get hurt. The schedule makers can be merciless. The referees can be horrifyingly inept, or just plain cheat. Or the oblong ball made of pigskin might take an inopportune bounce. It really takes very little. The final playoff participants are frequently separated from the Just Missed Its by one lousy game…or even a tie-breaker.

And someone has to take the fall. The NFL is a gazillion dollar enterprise, and failure is not tolerated for extended periods of time; not by a fan base that spends ungodly amounts of money on season tickets and memorabilia. Not with television networks throwing around billions. Not in the social media era, where anonymity is an ancient relic from a bygone era, and everything gone wrong can instantly go viral. Every move, every mistake is under a microscope.

You can get rid of an underperforming player or two, and try to sell your fan base that an upgrade here or there was really all you needed. But put too much on the players, the guy who makes the decisions is indirectly pointing the finger at himself, since he’s the guy that went out and got those players. No no, we can’t look too hard at the GM. Well, that leaves the coach.

Again, it’s not always fair. Football can’t be painted in black and white, and there isn’t always a direct cause and effect correlation. Then again, the lowest paid nfl head coach makes 100 times what the average blogger with a day job makes, so my sympathy goes only so far. Well, for right or for wrong, here are The Stain’s top 5 coaches who may be filing for unemployment insurance sooner rather than later.

5. Andy Reid, KC: Didn’t take us long to get to the surprises, did it? But wait a minute, you might be saying. The Chiefs have been halfway decent the last couple of seasons. And, you’d be right. In fact, they went 11-5 as recently as 2013. But there were rumblings that the record was fluky. They got off to a good start, just kind of held on at the end, and then predictably went nowhere in the playoffs. Apologists will point out that as far as the regular season goes, it doesn’t matter in what order you win the games, just that you do. And they’d be right, to a point. But this year, the team will either finish 8-8 or 9-7, barring a tie, and miss the playoffs regardless. That’s a startling regression from a team that won 11 games just one season ago, and doesn’t appear to have any age-related player regression concerns. The defense is solid, they have an all-galaxy running back in Jamal Charles. Alex Smith almost never turns the ball over. The right blueprint seems to be in place. But it didn’t happen. You look at some of the games they lost, like the one against the Raiders. A team that had just beaten Seattle should be able to win that game, right? And there was the winnable game at home against the Broncos. Charles carried the ball 10 times in that game. For perspective, the Broncos’ CJ Anderson carried it 32 times in the same game. Even if you count his four receptions, 14 times is not enough for your best player to get the ball in a game against a division opponent with Super Bowl aspirations. Some tough questions could be asked of Reid after this season. It remains to be seen whether he can come up with answers. I think he’ll get one more year, but if the brass in KC thinks that this could have been the year for them, it may be a story with an unhappy ending for Reid.

4. Marc Trestman, Chi: The Bears have to go down as one of the season’s biggest disappointments. It started week 1 at home against Buffalo, and just never really got any better. What may hurt Trestman is that he brought with him the reputation of being a sort of quarterback whisperer, someone who could coax extraordinary results from his signal caller. Well, that may or may not be true, but Jay Cutler leading the league in turnovers would jade just about anyone’s 10,000 foot judgment on that. If you look at little deeper, yeah, Cutler hasn’t been very good. But he also hasn’t been as terrible as the numbers would indicate. Quite a few of his interceptions have been of the second half variety while his team has abandoned the run and desperately tried to claw back into a game it was losing by multiple scores. This would be because the defense, by in large, showed an alarming lack of ability to stop anyone. Sure, age, injury and some personnel decisions that were questionable have had a negative impact on this unit. But Defensive Coordinator Mel Tucker has to shoulder his fair share too. For years, Lovie Smith had success with a reasonably uncomplicated Tampa 2 scheme. Whatever Tucker is running currently for Chicago is neither Tampa 2 nor uncomplicated. That said, Tucker came from Jacksonville with a sterling reputation. And Trestman came from the CFL. In a logical vacuum, Tucker would seem the guy who may be responsible for more of this season’s calamity. But Trestman, at least on the surface, can be called the bigger risk when he was brought in to coach. So, logically, he’d be the guy that would make more sense to fire.

3. Jeff Fisher, Stl: Fisher has always been overrated, largely because he had a Super Bowl appearance with an absurdly talented Tennessee Titans team which he lost by half a yard. Apart from that, mediocrity abounds across his resume. When he joined the moribund Rams franchise three years ago, he was anointed some kind of savior, which was completely unfair to both him and the gullible fan base. But that said, he still represented an improvement over previous coaching regimes, so optimism spread like wildfire. After the third, and arguably worst of his three seasons in charge, the luster has worn off. However, upon closer inspection, he’s been perfectly serviceable as a head coach this year. The real issue is that as long as Brian Schottenheimer is in charge off offensive play-calling, the Rams will never be good enough. Schottenheimer is so brutally incompetent at running an offense, the Rams could eliminate his position entirely, have whomever is playing quarterback call every play at the line of scrimmage, and immediately see a drastic improvement. At the very least, there would no longer be a concerted effort made to keep the ball out of the hands of the team’s most explosive weapons. But the poop rolls down hill as they say (And by they I mean me), so Fisher is more likely to face the scrutiny. Couple the teams offensive troubles with questionable coaching selections (Gregg Williams the first time, then Tim Walton), there’s a real chance that GM Les Snead looks elsewhere. If Fisher has a saving grace, he can honestly and accurately say “look, I haven’t had a healthy starting quarterback for two consecutive seasons.”

2. Jim Harbaugh, SF: Media outlets pretty much have already punched his ticket to Michigan, or Oakland, or…well, anywhere but San Francisco. It would have been hard to predict at the beginning of the season that the Niners would miss the playoffs. After all, the team made it to three consecutive NFC Championship Games, including one Super Bowl, and the core elements of what got them there were intact; rock solid defense, uber-athletic quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and of course, bulldozing running back Frank Gore. Looking back at the 2014 season, it’s not hard to see why it went south. The team essentially anchored Kaepernick to the pocket, taking the most explosive element of his game out of the nightmares of defensive coordinators. They also showed a Schottenheimerian reluctance to give Gore, arguably the team’s best player, the ball. Suspensions and injuries hampered the defense a little, but largely, the unit performed well. The struggles were on offense. Now, was it offensive coordinator Greg Roman who messed with a winning formula? Or was it head coach Harbaugh? I don’t know that the question will be answered. But one thing is for sure. Where there’s smoke, there’s often fire. And if Harbaugh wants out, as has been rumored all year, nobody would benefit by him staying.

1. Mike Smith, Atl: If the Falcons happen to lose on Sunday, they will have gone a combined 10-22 the last two seasons. TEN and TWENTY-TWO!!! And mind you, this is a team that boasts Matt Ryan, Roddy White, and Julio Jones on offense, and shows no aversion whatsoever to getting the ball to its best players. The players, especially Ryan, love Smith. But the players are also not the ones making the decision on whether Smith stays or goes. And football is very much a what have you done for me lately game. If the Falcons happen to win on Sunday, they’ll actually win the NFC South division with a record of 7-9, and possibly save his job. But even that might be prolonging the inevitable. All you have to do is Google him and you’ll see multiple media outlets urging, albeit somewhat apologetically, for Smith’s dismissal. When it’s gotten to that point, it’s a long road back.

Honorable Mention. Sean Payton, NO: After nine years of coaching the Saints, you’d be hard to find many detractors of Payton. He’s universally regarded as a great coached, and he’s beloved in New Orleans. It would be hard to imagine him getting fired. But this could end up being a case of the team throwing Payton a bone and letting find a contender to coach next season. (San Francisco?) It’s time for a bit of a rebuild in New Orleans. They have some nice offensive pieces in place, with Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham, Kenny Stills, and a suddenly good Mark Ingram. But they’re lacking in youth and depth. Even with a good framework in place of stars to build around, it can take a couple of years to restructure a roster to perennially compete. It takes patience, and most often multiple successful drafts. Odds are Payton will stay, but would you really be overly surprised if a coach accustomed to success didn’t want to suffer through a rebuild?

Did we miss anyone on our list? Let us know in the comments. Happy holidays, all.

Wouldn’t it be Funny…

Silly me for thinking I was the mad genius. The elephant in the the Washington Redskins’ room has been the appearance that Robert Griffin III will simply never develop into a quarterback that can justify the king’s ransom in draft picks they sent to the St. Louis Rams a couple of years ago to get him. It just seems that nobody wanted to say the obvious. “It probably ain’t working…”

Then along comes ESPN’s John Keim, who would know better than most, with this article.

Immediately, I cackle to myself. Wouldn’t it be great if the Rams traded for him? As a Rams fan, I don’t actually want this to happen. But as someone who adores satire and unintentional comedy, it would be classic, wouldn’t it? I’m a genius! Let me brag to everyone…

Of course, nobody informed me that Grantland’s Bill Barnwell had already published this beauty. It’s a fun read, but probably should have been confined to the top five, rather than top ten, as a few of the teams listed are wholly unreastic.

So spoiler alert, the Rams are Barnwell’s most likely destination for RGIII to end up. It makes sense because Sam Bradford and his obscene price tag won’t be back after nearly two full seasons lost to injury. Shaun Hill is an adequate back up, but nobody’s idea of a starting quarterback for a team with playoff aspirations in 2015. And Austin Davis, the early season darling of Rams fans, proved he has the competitive spirit to be a leader but the physical tools best suited to be the guy with the clipboard.

In addition, it’s unlikely the Rams will be able to draft their next starting quarterback. Despite a general dearth of competence at nearly every level of leadership, there’s enough talent on the roster to keep them from having a record bad enough that nets a top draft pick. Immediately, that removes them from the running for guys like Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston.

There won’t be a lot in the free agent pool as far as quarterbacks go, so a trade is the most likely scenario, leaving Griffin and probably Jay Cutler as the only feasible targets. Cutler is a turnover machine and is owed a Brinks truck in gold boullion in salary so he’s out. That leaves Griffin. Essentially, that would mean the Rams got something like Greg Robinson, Alec Ogletree, Michael Brockers, and Janoris Jenkins for whatever conditional mid-round pick it would cost them to bring Griffin to St. Louis. (or Los Angeles, for that matter)

As entertaining as the notion is, here’s why it would end badly. First, all indicators so far in Griffin’s admittedly brief career are that he would need to be in an offense tailored to his skillset. He’s a gifted athlete with a cannon for an arm, but it’s pretty clear at this point he will never be the Michael Vick/Peyton Manning hybrid some envisioned him to be. Still, in the right system, he can thrive. Well, Brian Schottenheimer is one of the most brutally awful offensive coordinators in this history of offensive coordinator being an actual gig. Without any shadow of a doubt, you could reassign Schottenheimer to a position he’s qualified for, say…cotton candy vendor, and have whomever is in at quarterback make every play call at the line, and the offense would improve exponentially.

For perspective, there was a three game span in 2013 where the Rams actually started to get the ball to their most dynamic playmaker by far, Tavon Austin, and resembled a good NFL offense, even with Kellen Clemens at quarterback. Then, it appeared, Schottenheimer panicked because something his offense was doing worked, and immediately abandoned all future plans to get Austin the ball. It is now 13 weeks into the 2014 season, and Austin remains on the distant periphery of the Rams’ offensive game plan.

Secondly, for all of their flaws, the Rams are stocked with clubhouse leadership. Veterans like James Laurinaitas, Robert Quinn, Chris Long and others don’t tolerate any “me first” nonsense, and Griffin with his perpetual soap opera would in all likelihood be ostracized in short order.

But still…it would be hilarious, wouldn’t it?

Why The NFL Can No Longer Be Taken Seriously

“I am very disappointed that the NFL and its hearing office didn’t exercise better judgment in my case.”

Those words were taken directly from Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon’s statement after arbitrator Harold Henderson upheld Gordon’s season-long suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Let’s just get this out of the way. Gordon is not completely a victim here. He is the idiot that knew exactly the precarious situation he was in when it comes to what goes into his body, and who he surrounds himself with. But in this case, he has every right to feel hard done by.

This also only partly has to do with the two game suspension that Ray Rice got for brutally beating his now wife on camera. It also only partly has to do with the ludicrous four game suspension Matt Prater got for allegedly consuming beer in the privacy and safety of his own living room. And it only partly has to do with the fact that Ndmukong Suh has somehow not been banned for life yet despite repeatedly and deliberately trying to cause life-altering harm to opposing quarterbacks with hits egregiously outside of what is allowed by NFL rules.

You really only have to look at the fact that after Gordon’s suspension for the 2014 season has been completed, he can “apply for reinstatement.” Really?

How hard would it have been to say, “The NFL disciplinary morons, er, powers that be have decided to suspend Josh Gordon for all regular season and playoff games in the coming NFL season. After this suspension has been completed, provided that Mr. Gordon has not found himself in any more trouble with the law, and has strictly observed the NFL’s code of conduct to the same standard that is expected of all its players and employees, he will be able to resume playing professionally in the NFL. If Mr. Gordon fails to avoid legal trouble or otherwise transgresses the code of conduct, additional discipline may be applied.” Or something like that, anyway.

You may agree with my statement, you may wholly disagree with it. You may be able to nitipick some grammar, or perhaps find some other kind of flaw. But I intentionally battered through it in less than a minute, without a law degree for that matter, to prove a point. It took the league four months to decide what to do with Gordon. That’s a really long time to have something hanging over a young man’s head, not to mention his entire team that was depending heavily on his contributions. Four months. And the best they could do was say, “hey, after this year is up, feel free to reapply and if our confederacy of dunces decides you are worthy, maybe we’ll let you back into our club.”

I have to commend Gordon on one thing. Restraint. And while I’m sure he was coached through his statement, mine would only have contained two words, the second of which being “you.”

This is a multi-billion dollar brand, people. You’d think they could get their act together, especially in the embarrassing wake of them screwing up the concussion issue so badly. But no, they truly remain the circular firing squad they’ve been for all recent memory. Two games. Four games. 16 games. It doesn’t matter. They don’t have a clue.

2014 NFL Mock Draft: Shaun’s Picks

I did six different mock drafts, all looking at different ways to fill certain needs or by taking a look at draft prospect rankings that differed significantly from the norm just to see different options for the first round. I then took all six mocks, added a bunch of my own bias, and came up with my final and official mock draft. This is somewhere between what I think will happen and what I think should happen. If you are interested in seeing the six other mock drafts, they can be found here.

1) Houston Texans: Jadeveon Clowney – DE/OLB – South Carolina – Clowney is the best talent in the draft in years, making him an easy number one pick. There has been some buzz about Khalil Mack possibly being the guy based on scheme versatility, but lining up Clowney on the opposite side of the line as J.J. Watt could make for one of the greatest defensive lines ever.

2) St. Louis Rams::Jake Matthews – OT – Texas A&M – Most boards have Greg Robinson going here, and I originally did too, but the Rams need help now and Matthews is probably the most NFL ready tackle in the draft. Robinson has the higher upside and will likely be the one selected, but he also has bust potential, and at this point in the Rams development, they can’t afford a but at offensive tackle.

3) Jacksonville Jaguars: Sammy Watkins – WR – Clemson – With many reports that Justin Blackmon will not be playing at all in 2014, the Jaguars need a playmaking receiver they can count on. Watkins is as impressive a wide receiver I have seen in college football since Larry Fitzgerald at Pitt.

4) Cleveland Browns: C.J. Mosley – ILB – Alabama – In my other mock drafts, I found the Browns could probably get Mosley all the way down at pick 26, but he fits the need best here. Sure they need a quarterback, but the thought that each of the top three will be gone by then just doesn’t seem likely to me. They need someone that can be a leader in the middle of that defense, and Mosley can be just that.

5) Oakland Raiders: Khalil Mack – OLB/DE – Buffalo – People have said Mack is the surest pass rusher to come into the draft since Aaron Curry, and we have seen how well that went. I don’t see him being the bust Curry was, but I also don’t see him being a league leader in sacks. The Raiders need talent at every position, and lots of it, so look for them to take the best player on the board

6) Atlanta Falcons: Eric Ebron – TE – North Carolina – Julio Jones has proved to be an injury risk and the team has lost a future Hall of Famer in Tony Gonzalez, so a playmaking tight end is an easy selection. Ebron is one of the most talented receiving tight ends in the draft in some time, and could be a real star on a team like the Falcons.

7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Greg Robinson – OT – Auburn – The Bucs might not know who their long term quarterback is going to be, but regardless of who it is, they will need to protect him. Robinson has the most natural tools of any offensive lineman in the draft, he just doesn’t have the polish. He has brute strength and is very athletic. He can protect the quarterback and blow up the defense on running plays, making him a perfect fit in Tampa.

8) Minnesota Vikings: Darqueze Dennard – CB – Michigan State – Defensive back might not be the most pressing need for the Vikings, and with them declining Christian Ponder’s fifth year option, they could very well go quarterback here, but Dennard might be too tempting to pass up. Unlike most of the corners in this draft, he has number one corner upside rather than the nickel corner profile of most guys. In an incredibly pass happy division, adding another play making corner could benefit the Vikings moving forward.

9) Buffalo Bills: Mike Evans – WR – Texas A&M – The Bills had some young receivers show flashes of brilliance last season, to go with flashes of rookie mistakes. I was tempted to put Marqise Lee as a surprise pick here to give them the duo the USC fans became used to of Lee and Robert Woods, but Mike Evans is the big bodied receiver that can wreak havoc in the AFC East.

10) Detroit Lions: Justin Gilbert – CB – Oklahoma State – Detroit ranked 23^rd in the NFL in passing yards allowed in 2013 and 28^th in sacks. They have spent plenty of money and draft picks on the defensive line, but really need help on the back end. Gilbert might be the most athletic of the first round corners, but he also needs the most refining. He will get beat by the top receivers in the division, but he should make plenty of big plays too.

11) Tennessee Titans: Teddy Bridgewater – QB – Louisville – I am not one of those people who think this draft is bad at quarterback, but I also don’t think there is a real star available either. There are a lot of quality game managers who have the upside of someone the likes of Joe Flacco. If there is one player that can become a star, it is Bridgewater, but he needs to be in the right environment to do so. He will struggle in cold weather locations like the East and North divisions, and while Nashville has it’s cold stretches, games in Jacksonville, and two stadiums with a roof on it (Indianapolis and Houston) should allow Bridgewater to really shine.

12) New York Giants: Aaron Donald – DT – Pittsburgh – The Giants have had the mot success when they have disruptive pass rushers off the edge, but Donald could give them an all around disruptor right up the middle. Donald might be the second most talented player in this draft, and can be an absolute steal at 12, but defensive tackle is actually pretty deep in this draft and is not a major need for the teams at the top, so Giants fans should be very happy if Donald gets to them.

13) St. Louis Rams: Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix – S – Alabama – Clinton-Dix to the Rams at 13 has been the longest consistent pick in mock drafts ever since the draft order was determined. The Rams have decent corners, but their safeties are a major weakness. Clinton-Dix could step in and make a major impact right away.

14) Chicago Bears: Jason Verrett – CB – TCU – While the Bears have an excellent duo of starting corners, both are over the age of 30, so it is time to start grooming the heir apparent. Verrett is under 5’10”, so he will probably be a lined up on the traditional slot receiver, and he ran a sub-4.40 40, so he can run with the best of them.

15) Pittsburgh Steelers: Brandin Cooks – WR – Oregon State – Over the past two seasons the Steelers have lost Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders, and Jericho Cotchery, leaving them with a massive need at wide receiver. Cooks would join former Oregon State teammate Markus Wheaton up in Pittsburgh to give them a pair of burners opposite number one receiver Antonio Brown.

16) Dallas Cowboys: Calvin Pryor – S – Louisville – The Cowboys just might be set to pick in in the top ten of the draft next year. They need help at almost every position on the defensive side as their depth was exposed as a massive weakness last season. They will likely spend the majority of their picks on the defensive side of the ball, and Pryor would be a fantastic start.

17) Baltimore Ravens: Taylor Lewan – OT – Michigan – Michael Oher has a fantastic story which turned into a quality movie, but it turned out he wasn’t a very good NFL player. Eugene Monroe is set in at left tackle, and Lewan has never played right tackle, but if he slips this far, he is a must pick.

18) New York Jets: Odell Beckham Jr. – WR – LSU – If the Falcons don’t pick Ebron at six, he is the pick here, but since he is off the board, the best receiver is the obvious pick, and for me it is Beckham Jr. The Jets clearly are not sold on Geno Smith at quarterback given the fact they brought in Michael Vick, but it is too early to add another QB to their roster. Look for the Jets to add other offensive weapons to the recently signed Erik Decker and Chris Johnson to help on offense.

19) Miami Dolphins: Zack Martin – OT/G – Notre Dame –The Dolphins lost two starters on the offensive line due to scandal in 2013, so they need help on the offensive line. Martin can play either tackle or guard, both positions of need, and he can play right from the start.

20) Arizona Cardinals: Blake Bortles – QB – UCF – The Cardinals were the best team in the league that did not make the playoffs in 2013, and were arguably better than some that did taste the postseason, so drafting a quarterback rather than an immediate need may be tough, but Bortles makes it easier. Bortles would get the chance to sit behind Carson Palmer for part of the season but will work his way into playing time. Bortles would be a fantastic pick for the Cardinals.

21) Green Bay Packers: Marqise Lee – WR – USC – At first glance, with Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb already on the team, receiver doesn’t look like a need, but the depth at the receiver position was exposed in 2013 after their receivers suffered injuries. If Lee was in the draft last year, he would have been a top-10 guy, but he will side this year, and become a steal for the Packers.

22) Philadelphia Eagles: Ryan Shazier – OLB – Ohio State – Trent Cole and Connor Barwin are the current outside backers for the Eagles, and neither of them are exactly spring chickens. Shazier is the top outside linebacker on a lot of boards after Anthony Barr has slipped for a lot of teams. One of the two will likely go here, and my money is on it being Shazier, although I believe Barr is the better player.

23) Kansas City Chiefs: Xavier Su’a-Filo – G – UCLA – Su’a Filo being the first round pick for the Chiefs the season after they went tackle with the top overall pick last season, but he will help create to core of a team that will compete to win championships for many years to come.

24) Cincinnati Bengals: Kyle Fuller – CB – Virginia Tech – The Bengals lost their defensive coordinator and two of their top corners are already into their thirties. Fuller is a quality corner that can serve as the dime back in his first season but be a legit starter in a year.

25) San Diego Chargers: Louis Nix III – DT – Notre Dame – The Chargers need a true nose tackle, and that is just what Nix is. He is the type of guy that could drop to the third of fourth round, or go as early as 25. Maybe this is my Notre Dame fandom shining through, but I think he is a difference maker so long as the team determines his knees won’t be an issue moving forward.

26) Cleveland Browns: Johnny Manziel – QB – Texas A&M – I don’t like Manziel. I don’t get how he has been so successful, but he has been. Eventually I fully believe his antics will cause him to go down in flames, and is there any more fitting city for him to do that in than Cleveland? I think not.

27) New Orleans Saints: Bradley Roby – CB – Ohio State – The Saints got significantly better on defense in 2013, but they currently have Champ Bailey listed as a starting corner on their depth chart, making corner a desperate need, and Roby is the best available.

28) Carolina Panthers: Cyrus Kouandjio – OT – Alabama – The Panthers offensive line is an embarrassment for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations, as are their receivers. Kouandjio is an incredibly underrated offensive lineman and I think is going to be really good, maybe even make a Pro Bowl or two.

29) New England Patriots: Stephon Tuitt – DE/DT – Notre Dame – Tuitt is a top-10 talent, but an his makeup are off the board. If a team can take an outspoken, me-first player and turn him into a team-first mute who does his talking on the field, it is the Patriots. The Patriots are a great fit for this guy.

30) San Francisco 49ers: Kony Ealy – DE – Missouri – The 49ers need an edge rusher, and this could be another spot for Anthoy Barr, but a guy that can rush with his hand on the ground is a bigger need. Ealy fits that need and would be my pick for them.

31) Denver Broncos: Jordan Matthews – WR – Vanderbilt – I absolutely love this kids game. In the first game of the season he got hit so hard he was puking on the field. He came off the field for one play, then went back in and made one of the biggest catches of the college football season. He went on to break several SEC receiver records. With Decker gone, Matthews could fill that role, and might even be better.

32) Seattle Seahawks: Ra’Shede Hageman – DT – Minnesota – I saw a lot of Hageman this season, and he looked fantastic. He could very well be the second best defensive tackle in this draft, and would fit the Seahawks perfectly.

Round 2

#	Team	Player	Pos	School
1 (33).	Houston Texans	Tom Savage	QB	Pittsburgh
2 (34).	Washington Redskins	Anthony Barr	OLB	UCLA
3 (35).	Cleveland Browns	Kelvin Benjamin	WR	Florida State
4 (36).	Oakland Raiders	Derek Carr	QB	Fresno State
5 (37).	Atlanta Falcons	Morgan Moses	OT	Virginia
6 (38).	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Davante Adams	WR	Fresno State
7 (39).	Jacksonville Jaguars	Jimmy Garoppolo	QB	Eastern Illinois
8 (40).	Minnesota Vikings	Chris Borland	ILB	Wisconsin
9 (41).	Buffalo Bills	Dee Ford	DE	Auburn
10 (42).	Tennessee Titans	Carlos Hyde	RB	Ohio State
11 (43).	New York Giants	Cody Latimer	WR	Indiana
12 (44).	St. Louis Rams	Gabe Jackson	G	Mississippi State
13 (45).	Detroit Lions	Jimmie Ward	S	Northern Illinois
14 (46).	Pittsburgh Steelers	Lamarcus Joyner	CB	Florida State
15 (47).	Dallas Cowboys	Demarcus Lawrence	DE/OLB	Boise State
16 (48).	Baltimore Ravens	Marcus Martin	C	USC
17 (49).	New York Jets	Austin Seferian-Jenkins	TE	Washington
18 (50).	Miami Dolphins	Bishop Sankey	RB	Washington
19 (51).	Chicago Bears	Deone Bucannon	S	Washington State
20 (52).	Arizona Cardinals	Jeremiah Attaochu	OLB	Georgia Tech
21 (53).	Green Bay Packers	Jace Amaro	TE	Texas Tech
22 (54).	Philadelphia Eagles	Stanley Jean-Baptiste	CB	Nebraska
23 (55).	Cincinnati Bengals	David Yankey	G	Stanford
24 (56).	San Francisco 49ers	Jarvis Landry	WR	LSU
25 (57).	San Diego Chargers	Martavis Bryant	WR	Clemson
26 (58).	New Orleans Saints	Kyle Van Noy	OLB	BYU
27 (59).	Indianapolis Colts	Allen Robinson	WR	Penn State
28 (60).	Carolina Panthers	Keith McGill	CB	Utah
29 (61).	San Francisco 49ers	Weston Richburg	C	Colorado State
30 (62).	New England Patriots	Troy Niklas	TE	Notre Dame
31 (63).	Denver Broncos	Phillip Gaines	CB	Rice
32 (64).	Seattle Seahawks	Ja’Wuan James	OT	Tennessee

Round 3

#	Team	Player	Pos	School
1 (65).	Houston Texans	Antonio Richardson	OT	Tennessee
2 (66).	Washington Redskins	Joel Bitonio	OT/G	Nevada
3 (67).	Oakland Raiders	Donte Moncrief	WR	Ole Miss
4 (68).	Atlanta Falcons	Telvin Smith	OLB	Florida State
5 (69).	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Pierre Desir	CB	Lindenwood
6 (70).	Jacksonville Jaguars	Tre Mason	RB	Auburn
7 (71).	Cleveland Browns	Ka’Deem Carey	RB	Arizona
8 (72).	Minnesota Vikings	A.J. McCarron	QB	Alabama
9 (73).	Buffalo Bills	Billy Turner	OT	North Dakota St.
10 (74).	New York Giants	Jeremy Hill	RB	LSU
11 (75).	St. Louis Rams	Brandon Coleman	WR	Rutgers
12 (76).	Detroit Lions	Scott Crichton	DE	Colorado State
13 (77).	San Francisco 49ers	Marcus Roberson	CB	Florida
14 (78).	Dallas Cowboys	Caraun Reid	DT	Princeton
15 (79).	Baltimore Ravens	Kareem Martin	DE	North Carolina
16 (80).	New York Jets	Trai Turner	G	LSU
17 (81).	Miami Dolphins	Dakota Dozier	G	Furman
18 (82).	Chicago Bears	DaQuan Jones	DT	Penn State
19 (83).	Cleveland Browns	Cyril Richardson	G	Baylor
20 (84).	Arizona Cardinals	Terrence Brooks	S	Florida State
21 (85).	Green Bay Packers	Marcus Smith	DE	Louisville
22 (86).	Philadelphia Eagles	Dominique Easley	DT	Florida
23 (87).	Kansas City Chiefs	Bruce Ellington	WR	South Carolina
24 (88).	Cincinnati Bengals	Zach Mettenberger	QB	LSU
25 (89).	San Diego Chargers	Bashaud Breeland	CB	Clemson
26 (90).	Indianapolis Colts	Trent Murphy	OLB/DE	Stanford
27 (91).	New Orleans Saints	Dri Archer	RB/WR	Kent State
28 (92).	Carolina Panthers	Paul Richardson	WR	Colorado
29 (93).	New England Patriots	Travis Swanson	C	Arkansas
30 (94).	San Francisco 49ers	Jackson Jeffcoat	DE/OLB	Texas
31 (95).	Denver Broncos	Shayne Skov	ILB	Stanford
32 (96).	Minnesota Vikings	Brandon Thomas	G/OT	Clemson
33 (97).	Pittsburgh Steelers	Will Sutton	DT	Arizona State
34 (98).	Green Bay Packers	Dion Bailey	S	USC
35 (99).	Baltimore Ravens	Ego Ferguson	DT	LSU
36 (100).	San Francisco 49ers	Jordan Tripp	OLB	Montana

2014 NFL Mock Draft – Torsten’s Picks

Who doesn’t like making a mockery of things, especially the NFL draft. Before we get started, a few points.

· The player listed will be who I think the team WILL select, not SHOULD select, though that player will often be mentioned in the comments too.

· I won’t be mocking trade scenarios. While it’s an absolute certainty that there will be some trading up and down going on, it doesn’t work. The possibilities may also be mentioned in the pick comments, but the projected pick is who I think the team will pick, postulating that they keep it.

· I understand I’m in the minority, but I’m not a scheme guy. I believe a guy can play football, or he can’t. So whether a team plays a 3-4 or a 4-3, are you telling me Khalil Mack doesn’t make their defense better? Exactly. Ok, moving on.

1. Houston Texans – Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina: He’s the most talented player in the draft, and I don’t think the Texans will be able to resist the temptation of a pass rush featuring Clowney and JJ Watt. Personally, I take Khalil Mack here, who has a slightly lower ceiling but is more of a “sure thing,” and fills a position that currently is more of a need. But it’s hard to argue against Clowney. I think the persisting questions about his work ethic are a little overblown. Defenses won’t be able to triple team him with Watt on the other end.

2. St. Louis Rams – Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn: They’re featuring a power run attack. Robinson is the best run blocking tackle to come out of the draft in ages. Match made in heaven, right? Well, you don’t know what you are going to get from the current brain trust of Fisher and Snead. They’ve shown shrewdness and acumen with some of their drafting and signing. They’ve also shown shocking incompetence and lack of forethought. I think they trade the pick if a good enough offer comes along, but they absolutely must upgrade the tackle position in round one, be it with Robinson, or another capable guy like Matthews or Lewan.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars – Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida: After the Blaine Gabbert fiasco, they’ll probably be reticent to use another high pick on a quarterback. But they did resign Chad Henne, and while he isn’t a long term solution, the classy veteran can mentor Bortles for a year or so. Unlike Gabbert, he wouldn’t have to jump right out of the frying pan and into the fire. Bortles has the reputation of being a little raw, but having the most upside, even though I hate that word,

4. Cleveland Browns – Khalil Mack, OLB, Buffalo: I don’t know if this is awesome value here, or if this draft is just really deep. Probably the latter. Sometimes it’s hard to ascertain exactly what you’re going to get when you draft a star player from a smaller school that plays against iffy competition. With Mack, this is not the case. He is all that, several bags of chips, and as close as you can get to a guaranteed star.

5. Oakland Raiders – Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville: It’s pretty much a certainty that the Raiders won’t be as horrid as they were last year. The Matt Schaub acquisition would appear to give them some time and possibly wait until the middle rounds for a quarterback, but the opportunity to get Bridgewater might be too tempting. If I’m the Raiders, I would go after Sammy Watkins. Perhaps being successful with the drafting of a receiver in the first round can erase some of the stink from the Darius Heyward-Bey disaster.

6. Atlanta Falcons – Eric Ebron, TE, North Carolina: How many years have they been talking about Atlanta bringing in the successor to Tony Gonzalez? Well, Gonzalez actually IS retired now. They didn’t draft Zach Ertz or Tyler Eifert this year. Do they have choice this year? I think their preference is probably trading up to a position where they can get Clowney to address their woeful pass rush, but I don’t think they’ll be too disappointed with Ebron.

7. Tampa Bay Bucs – Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson: The Bucs would be delighted if Watkins dropped to them at the 7^th spot. Of course, that’s no guarantee. The Raiders and Jacksonville also have a big need at the receiver position. Don’t believe the Manziel stories here. Not happening.

8. Minnesota Vikings – Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M: I don’t buy the Manziel stories here either. The team’s best player, running back Adrian Peterson, is beginning to entire the twilight portion of his career, and Manziel is not a plug and play starter. He’ll need a year or two to develop, and if they don’t want to end up in a situation where Peterson leverages a trade, they’ll make do with Cassel, who isn’t as terrible as you think if you give him protection. Another good tackle to pair with Kalil would do that.

9. Buffalo Bills – Ha Ha Clinton Dix, S, Alabama: It just so happens that the team lost Jairus Byrd to the Saints in free agency, and the best available safety is on the board for them. And while he’s maybe a little bit of a reach at 9, it shouldn’t be enough to deter a team from filling a need. Taylor Lewan is also a possibility here because he’s the best remaining offensive lineman, and they’re invested in keeping EJ Manuel healthy.

10. Detroit Lions – Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M: There’s been a lot of chatter about Sammy Watkins here but I doubt he’d last, and I’m not convinced Detroit will want to trade the assets it would take to move up. No worries, though. Evans, is not much of a step down, if at all. And gone will be the days that defenses can octuple team Megatron.

11. Tennessee Titans – Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State: The Titans too end up in the position where they can fill the void created by their biggest free agent departure (Alterraun Verner). That is, of course, if you don’t count Chris Johnson, who was released and subsequently signed by the Jets.

12. New York Giants – Taylor Lewan, OT, Michigan: The Giants will be counting their lucky stars if Lewan drops to them. Their offensive line play last season was nothing short of cataclysmic. There’s no possible way that Eli Manning is as bad as he was last year. He’s won two Superbowls when he’s been kept upright.

13. St. Louis Rams – Stanley Jean-Baptiste, CB, Nebraska: The Rams get to see twice a year what giant cornerbacks can do defensively when they play Seattle. At 6 foot 3, Jean-Baptiste is a monster. Most have Gilbert and Roby rated higher, but the position is changing. (editor’s note: I’m hoping for Anthony Barr, if only because the thought Robert Quinn, Chris Long and Barr simultaneously rushing the passer gives me gleeful heart palpitations)

14. Chicago Bears – CJ Mosley, LB, Alabama: The Bears were nothing short of calamitous at stopping the run in 2013. Had they been merely pathetic, they probably make the playoffs. I’m not saying Mosley is Brian Urlacher, but fans and teammates alike will be able to get behind his style.

15. Pittsburgh Steelers – Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State: Few quarterbacks buy time quite like Big Ben. Guys with blinding speed and good hands like Cooks would seem to be a perfect fit. This team has lost quite a bit at the receiver position the last couple of years, and replacing some of it with Cooks makes sense to me.

16. Dallas Cowboys – Odell Beckham, WR, LSU: I’m putting Beckham here because I’m assuming it’s Jerry Jones who has the final call, and while Beckham is a good player worthy of getting picked in this neighborhood, Dallas has different needs. Like the offensive line.

17. Baltimore Ravens – Morgan Moses, OT, Virginia: The Ravens are an astute organization, and one of the first things astute organizations do after giving their quarterback a Brinks truck of Benjamins is to surround him with some good blocking. This could also easily be Zack Martin, Cyrus Kouandijo, Joe Bitonio, or another talented tackle. I just think Morgan Moses is a really cool name.

18. New York Jets – Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma St.: It’s hard to pass on a first round talent at cornerback if it falls to you. I’m wracking my brain and I can’t come up with a need pressing enough to pass up Gilbert. Wide receiver maybe, but they just signed Eric Decker. I’m stumped here, I’ll admit it.

19. Miami Dolphins – Jordan Matthews, WR, Vanderbilt: I’ve got a bit of a man crush here. Mike Wallace stretches the field, Matthews would offer a nice complement. Other receivers are rated higher in other people’s mocks, but I think whoever ends up with Matthews gets a great value.

20. Arizona Cardinals – Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M: Nope, not kidding. Carson Palmer showed that this is an entirely different team with decent quarterback play, but he’s not a spring chicken anymore. What he is is smart, competitive, and classy. If you could pick a current veteran starter to tutor his eventual successor, wouldn’t Palmer be on your short list? There is, of course, the chance that Manziel doesn’t even fall close to this far…

21. Green Bay Packers – Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA: There are a lot of issues on the defensive side of the ball in Green Bay. In Barr, they get a disruptive pass rusher who at one point was being mentioned alongside Clowney and Mack as defensive players worthy of a top five pick. I wouldn’t be shocked with an offensive lineman here like Joel Bitonio, especially since Aaron Rodgers is at his most effective when he has a pulse.

22. Philadelphia Eagles – Marquise Lee, WR, USC: Wide receiver is the trendy idea here for Philly in the wake of DeSean Jackson’s departure. Probably because it makes the most sense. They have defensive needs too, and the very good Aaron Donald is somehow still on the board, but I see Chip Kelly wanting more on offense.

23. Kansas City Chiefs – Kyle Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech: Their defense, vaunted at the early part of 2013, was exposed late in the year. When you’re playing Peyton Manning twice a year, you need to be solid on the back end. You can also make cases for Brad Roby and Jason Verrett.

24. Cincinnati Bengals – Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh: If by some chance Donald actually falls this far, you’d have to think the Bengals would set a land speed record on the way to the podium. Difference makers on defense aren’t often found this late.

25. San Diego Chargers – Jace Amaro, TE, Texas Tech: A little high for Amaro? Probably a little, but Antonio Gates hasn’t put a full healthy season together in a while, and another receiving option to go with the excellent Keenan Allen is probably high on Phil Rivers’ wish list too.

26. Cleveland Browns – Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville: This may end up being another one of those situations where even though a player doesn’t fill a giant need, he’s too good to not pick. Having already added Mack, this suddenly looks like a really good defense.

27. New Orleans Saints – Kyle Van Noy, LB, BYU: Van Noy doesn’t fill a glaring need, but he’s the type of player who can make any defense better. I am not buying that the departure of Lance Moore means that the Saints MUST add a receiver here… but it wouldn’t shock me to hear Davante Adams’ or Cody Latimer’s name called either.

28. Carolina Panthers – Joel Bitonio, OL, Nevada: Look, I’m perfectly willing to admit that a significant chunk of my “research” on players involves YouTube and Google. That said, when the “negatives” that are pointed out about a player include that you’d like to see him a little taller or have arms that were a little longer, it’s often a case of, “well, we gotta find SOMETHING wrong with the guy, let’s criticize something like limb proportion…” But if you want something more concrete, Cam Newton is this organization’s future, and only makes sense to protect him with good linemen. Like Bitonio.

29. New England Patriots – Louis Nix, DT, Notre Dame: This boils down to needing a Vince Wilfork clone. Nix is enormous, and well-schooled at the home of the Fighting Irish. I was close to adding another weapon for Tom Brady like the aforementioned Adams, Latimer, or maybe even Kelvin Benjamin, but I couldn’t pull the trigger.

30. San Francisco 49rs – Ryan Shazier, LB, Ohio State: Is it cheating that I’m putting this here in the wake of the Aldon Smith fiasco? I don’t know which rumor is correct: the team not exercising the option or the team not giving up on him. But I’ll tell you one thing, 9 million is a lot of dollars to risk on someone facing multiple criminal charges, not to mention a very recent bout with alcohol abuse. So…enter Shazier, who is very very good.

31. Denver Broncos – Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State: I concede, this is kind of a cop out pick for me. The best reason I can come up with is that the Broncos figure to have multiple touchdown leads by halftime of many of their games, so defending the pass has to be a priority, right? Right??? Hey, like I said, cop out. But Roby is a lightning bolt.

32. Seattle Seahawks – Cyrus Kouandijo, OT, Alabama: The ‘Hawks could use some upgrading along the offensive line…eventually. Hear me out. Or…see me out? Anyway, there’s concerns out there that he’s not ready, or maybe not healed completely from some college injuries. Whatever. He doesn’t even have to play much in year one. He can learn, or recover, or whatever, but I don’t see Seattle letting a guy who was once considered a possible top 15 pick fall past them at 32.

Wow. There it is. And I’m sitting here looking at 8 more players who could easily go in the first round. Wait, there’s 3 more. Oh well. Enjoy!

Homer Corner: Make Michael Sam a Ram

I think it says something positive about society that one day after SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Sam comes out as gay, the media has already moved on to way more important things…such as still debating and theorizing on why Shaun White opted not to compete in slopestyle. Now they can talk about not winning the Gold he was expected to, though regardless of what anyone says, a fourth place finish in the Olympics is hardly terrible.

That’s right, a nearly week old story about an Olympic athlete making a thought-out decision to not compete in a particular event is still commanding more headlines over the NFL soon having its first active openly gay player.

Barring a terrible combine or suddenly going all Aaron Hernandez on an acquaintance, Sam will be drafted. He’s an excellent player as evidenced by his accomplishments this year. Some draft analysts have him going as high as the second round. Most have him in the third. All of them have him going somewhere.

So where is that somewhere going to be? Let me be the first to say, let’s bring him to the Rams. Why? It’s the perfect environment for him. Look, one peek at Sam’s childhood/upbringing will lead you to the quick conclusion that coming out was hardly the toughest thing he’s dealt with. The kid has had three siblings die, and two more are incarcerated. He has a thick skin and will be able to deal with adversity.

Still, you know there are going to be times when some player or fan in a spectacular moment of ignorance and bigotry will drop a slur or worse yet, wax poetic on some obtuse philosophy about football being no place for a man like Sam. Thick skin or not, when adversity rears its head, it’s nice to be where you are comfortable, feel supported and can bank on the right people having your back.

So why the Rams? After all, if this were an episode of Family Feud, and Steve Harvey said, “Top five answers on the board, name a state associated with social tolerance,” think Missouri would crack the list? However, that’s where Sam went to college. And he came out to his team before the season started, and they all had his back. Nobody sold him out on Twitter. Nobody leaked a story anonymously to the press. They knew for months. We found out yesterday. Pretty freaking cool, huh?

Second, there’s coach Jeff Fisher. I’ve long thought that his reputation as a coach is inflated. I still think he lacks the ability to make the in game adjustments to steal the extra win or three over the course of a season that the top coaches always seem to somehow manage. And I’m still convinced his eye for talent has cataracts. After all, this is the guy who thought Jim Walton, who presided over a breath-takingly bad secondary in Detroit, had the chops to handle a defensive coordinator position. But as a human being, Fisher seems the type to have his priorities firmly in line, and any intolerance will, for lack of a better way to put it, simply not be tolerated.

Third, that defense is already populated with classy leaders; Chris Long, William Hayes, James Laurinaitas. Michael Brockers and Robert Quinn are growing into those roles too. (It’s worth mentioning Cortland Finnegan too. His atrocious play might spell release, rendering him a non-point, but nobody has ever questioned him as a leader to young teammates.) If these guys can provide an environment where young players deemed prone to getting in trouble, such as Alec Ogletree and Janoris Jenkins, can stay for the most part in line, providing a positive work environment for a teammate whose “difference” from everyone else is something as insignificant as sexual orientation should be a breeze.

Ultimately, Sam’s success or failure as a professional football player will probably have nothing to do with his orientation, and everything to do with whether he can physically and mentally compete at the next level, just like it does for everyone else trying to make the jump from college to the pros. Personally, I’d like to see him succeed and I think St. Louis is great place for him to start that journey.