NFL's Future

Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

The 2013 NFL Draft saw three offensive tackles off the board in the top four picks and the run continued with eight off the board in the top 100 selections. As the NFL continues to turn the offensive page to high tempo, passing attacks – pass protectors continue to increase draft value.

The 2014 NFL Draft should be filled with quality pass protectors as the senior class feature two tackles that were widely thought to be headed out of school to join the ranks of the NFL. Jake Matthews and Taylor Lewan opted to stay in school and could provide a tandem of top ten tackles.

The underclassmen tackles will feature a high ceiling prospect in Cyrus Kouandijo but it’s far from a complete class and lacks depth beyond a couple of junior tackles.

After the break check out our 2014 NFL Draft offensive tackle rankings. Read the rest of this entry » «2014 NFL Draft: Offensive Tackle Rankings»

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There has been loads of speculation for the past several years about the date of the NFL Draft moving back into the month of May. Today, the NFL announced that the 2014 NFL Draft will be moved back to May 15-17.

In a Rich Eisen podcast, league commissioner Roger Goodell foreshadowed the move by saying the “NFL is getting bumped by the Easter Bunny”. Goodell’s foreshadowing was reference to a scheduling conflict with the Rockette’s “Spring Spectacular” show that is slated for the week the 2014 NFL Draft was slated for.

The proposed shift is of many moves that are proposed to take place. The NFL league year will creep its way into February with the NFL Scouting Combine getting moved back to March starting in 2015.

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The 2013 NFL Draft was chock full of quality tight ends. Six tight ends were taken in the top 85 picks and sixteen tight ends taken overall. With the tight end position evolving into a position that NFL coordinators have exposed as a matchup problem for defenses, the position will continue to become more attractive well into the future.

The depth of the 2013 class probably won’t be matched in 2014 but there is no lack of top end talent that could be available in the 2014 NFL Draft. The top end talent will be dependent on decisions of two underclassmen. Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Colt Lyerla are the names to watch as they both have first round skills and Jenkins could challenge in the top 10 of the draft.

Of the senior class, the name to watch this season is Iowa’s C.J. Fiedorowicz. He has all the tools to be a great one and should be more heavily leaned on this season.

After the break check out our 2014 NFL Draft tight end rankings. Read the rest of this entry » «2014 NFL Draft: Tight End Rankings»

Preceding the 2012 season, most of the chatter on the defensive front involved the two most productive units of the past decade. Both the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers were said to be approaching the finality of NFL defensive dominance. Age and attrition were to set in, which would force both squads into a low-key rebuild. Defenses like the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans, and the rival Cincinnati Bengals, were all set to bide for the once elusive title of the “#1 defense”. While all of those prospective teams most certainly did their part, in the end, it wasn’t enough to unseat one of the incumbents.

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As a huge fan of the defensive side of the ball, I’ve grown accustomed to names like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs terrorizing offenses for the Baltimore Ravens. Not to be outdone, Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel, have coerced many opponents into offensive obscurity. It’s uncanny to see two teams so similar in production, yet complete polar opposites in how they operate. Read the rest of this entry » «Schemed to Death: “Blitzburgh” – ‘Steel’ Number One»

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The 2013 NFL Draft proved to be a deep class of receivers with 28 pass catchers hearing their name called throughout the three days in April. The 2014 class may not be as deep but it doesn’t lack for top end talent.

The 2014 NFL Draft could feature a pair of headliners if, as many expect, Marqise Lee and Sammy Watkins jump ship early to enter the professional ranks. The underclassmen could provide the wow factor of the class but the senior class features a handful of talented options.

After the break check out our 2014 NFL Draft wide receiver rankings. Read the rest of this entry » «2014 NFL Draft: Wide Receiver Rankings»

Johnny Manziel: Already the most polarizing prospect since Kellen Moore. My quarterback rankings and top 100 for the 2014 NFL Draft shed some light into my feelings about the A&M quarterback. Aggie Nation jumped all over me and back again for my “uncanny knack for f—ing stupidity” (as one emailer put it) as it relates to my ranking of Johnny Football.

This post is two-fold. One, to explain that ranking a redshirt freshman that played one year of college football is pure speculation–nothing more, nothing less. The second is to show Aggie Nation that J.F. has a future in another sport if this football thing doesn’t work out.

After the break, check out Johnny’s ability on the diamond. Read the rest of this entry » «Johnny Football goes yard»

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The 2013 NFL Draft wasn’t exactly a strong one at the running back position. After Trent Richardson headlined the 2012 draft, we were without a signature back for April’s draft.

The first running back didn’t hear his name called until the 37^th pick and only five backs were taken in the top hundred picks. Is this a clear sign of the NFL offenses evolution or just a down year?

With most of college football adapting spread/zone schemes, we are beginning to see a more hybrid receiver/running back evolve with speed being the name of the game. The 2014 senior class lacks the top end talent but there’s several candidates to push the envelope of this notion of evolution of the position.

The underclassmen backs is headlined by a hybrid straight from the Chip Kelly up-tempo zone scheme but doesn’t lack for traditional workhorse backs.

After the break, check out our 2014 NFL Draft running back rankings. Read the rest of this entry » «2014 NFL Draft: Running Back Rankings»

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The only guarantee when looking ahead a year to the next year’s draft is that things are sure to change. The 2013 NFL Draft was expected to be a strong quarterback draft in May of 2012. Names like Matt Barkley, Logan Thomas, and Tyler Wilson littered the top of draft boards early in the process. Things didn’t work out so well for the 2013 class and we saw Barkley and Wilson fall into the fourth round and Logan Thomas didn’t enter the draft after a subpar (at best) season.

The 2014 NFL Draft is expected to give fans everything 2013 didn’t – headlining top end talent consisting of a once in a generation defensive talent (Jadeveon Clowney) and the potential for an elite quarterback (Teddy Bridgewater).

This group is sure to change as the 2013 college football season progresses but with a fairly strong group of senior quarterbacks, I’m certain teams will have their pick of quality quarterbacks in the 2014 NFL Draft.

After the break check out our early 2014 quarterback rankings. Read the rest of this entry » «2014 NFL Draft: Quarterback Rankings»

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Rookie minicamps are an equivalent form of evaluation as roughly the NFL Combine or pro day workouts. Let’s face it – it’s a bunch of guys running around aimlessly against other guys doing much of the same. Yet every year we fall prey to the victimless NFL crime of overstating the value of the rookie minicamps.

From DeAndre Hopkins in Houston to a slew of undrafted free agents from every NFL city there is rampant praise being thrown around and hopes have never been higher for some.

Hopes in Oakland rest with Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson, who’s had praise heaped on him at an alarming rate after a couple of minicamp days.

Wilson was taken in the fourth-round of April’s draft, which was two rounds later than most draft evaluators had him pegged. Wilson was widely regarded as a top ten pick entering the 2012 season but a series of unfortunate circumstances led him to be picked apart and subsequently see his draft stock plummet. All that in mind, it shouldn’t come to the surprise of anyone that Wilson is ahead of the ‘curve’. Read the rest of this entry » «Could history repeat itself for Matt Flynn?»

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I’m guilty of it. You’re guilty of it. We’re all guilty of it in one way or another. Society has an infatuation with whatever’s new.  Last seasons prematurely tagged, “Greatest QB draft of all time” is a premium example of this. Fans were in a frenzy with this new “Pistol” offense, and the “read-option” play. Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson and first-year starter, Colin Kaepernick – redefined what the QB position would look like henceforth. The shortsightedness of NFL fans have seemingly left out the guy who I think will be the best of them all. That man is Cam Newton.

The one thing that irks me about our culture as a whole, is that we often times let personal feelings get in the way of giving a true judgment of an individual. Out of all the noted new-age, duel-threat QB’s, Cam Newton is by far perceived to be the least likable. I believe this to be due to a multitude of instances and preconceived notions, some I will detail later. The most poignant of which being his rocky college career.

Once thought to be the successor to Tim Tebow and the high-powered Florida Gators, Newton found himself in trouble for a myriad of situations including: The theft of a laptop, alleged payments in the form of cash, and moreover an alleged academic fraud centered around a term paper. The culmination of these incidents prompted Newton to transfer to a junior college, where subsequently he dominated the lower level of competition. Read the rest of this entry » «Schemed to Death: Cam Newton “Leader of the New School”»