BRONCOS SUFFER HUGE LOSS, HALEY PRAISES MOEAKI & WHO WROTE "SOON TO BE CHAMPS" ON ESPN'S BUS?
The Denver Broncos have been bit by the injury bug more than most with Ryan Clady, Knowshon Moreno & Correll Buckhalter will miss significant practice time. Thursday morning the only real pass rusher on the Denver roster, Elvis Dumervil. tore a pectoral muscle & will be lost at least 4 months. Dumervil lead the league with 17.5 sacks last year, Denver's #2 sacker was Vonnie Holiday with 5.5 & he's no longer with the team. Now 2nd year man Robert Ayers & Jarvis Moss will have to fill the breach. Neither has played up to their high draft selections. The Broncos have few game changers on their team & as they continue to lose the ones they have, their chances to repeat the 8-8 record from 2009 look prohibitive.
The defending national champs have a tall order before starting the season. Alabama must replace the heart of their special teams. Place kicker Leigh Tiffin, punter P.J.Fitzgerald & return specialist Javier Arenas have all moved on & they will be tough to replace. Arenas, now with the Chiefs, tied the NCAA record with 8 return touchdowns, Tiffin kicked 83 field goals for the Tide during his career & Fitzgerald is Bama's 2nd leading punter all-time. Special teams are huge in the college game & losing these three will make defending their BCS Championship that much tougher. Mark these two dates on your football watching calender as Bama hosts Penn State on September 11th & Florida on October 2nd.
The Texas-Notre Dame series I told you about yesterday is on, they finalized it on Thursday. The first game will be the season opener in 2015 at South Bend with a game in Austin to open the season the following year. After a 2-year break, they'll resume in 2019 with the last game in 2020. These two are ranked 2nd(Texas) & 3rd in wins all-time, think there will be some hype?
The Big-10 announced Thursday their first conference championship game will be played at the Lucas oil Dome in Indianapolis in December of 2011. I personally hate this decision, since the Minnesota Gophers moved into their new stadium last season, every Big-10 team plays outdoors. Why the decision to play it in a dome? Big-10 football has always been geared to play outside, even in bad weather, this decision stinks.
Todd Haley did something somewhat out of character on Thursday, he praised a number of his players. Rookie tight end Tony Moeaki received the biggest kudo's from the boss. This guy has tremendous potential which we could see early on, if he can stay healthy. Often, players with an extensive injury history never shake the injury bug for too long. Let's hope Moeaki is able to do so. Kendrick Lewis, Dexter McCluster, Jamaal Charles, Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Chris Chambers, Derrick Johnson & even PIA Dwayne Bowe(called "the biggest single dumb-ass in the NFL") drew praise from Haley. We'll be there at Chiefs' camp in just 10-days to give you extended coverage.
ESPN's John Clayton published an article on Thursday from Chiefs' training camp & while I agreed with just about everything he had to say, I was somewhat surprised at his assertion that Thomas Jones would start at running back ahead of Jamaal Charles. Yes Jones has gained over 2,600 yards the past two seasons & he is a tremendous locker room influence, but unless Charles really stumbles in training camp, I think he's the starter opening day. Jones turns 32 on August 19th, most NFL running backs are retired by their 32nd birthday. Jones has shown no signs of slowing down, so far anyway. I love him as a 10-12 carry backup & mentor for Charles. With Jamaal's home run speed, I want him to get the bulk of the carries. As long as Charles stays healthy & protects the ball, he's my starter.
I got a note from Shannon, who asked why I listed all these injuries for players from other teams, "who in the hell cares about a tackle on Jacksonville getting hurt?" The people who play fantasy football care, they want to know any injuries that might affect their team or the way they draft a new one. This is especially true of players who will be out for the season. The same goes for gamblers, they want to know who's hurt. Why do you think the NFL requires each team to submit an injury report to the league which is published in newspapers coast to coast? The NFL, regardless of their bogus anti-gambling stance, knows gamblers want to know who's hurt & to what extent, hence the tags of "out, doubtful & probable" along with the body part that's injured.
So now that we've cleared that up, I'll tell you that Scott McKillop, an inside linebacker for the 49ers, blew both his ACL & patellar tendon Thursday. He was the Niners leading special teams tackler & is the number one backup at inside linebacker.
We'll get a quick look at two of the most hyped teams in the league this Sunday evening in the Hall of Fame Game when Dallas squares off with Cincinnati. Don't look for more than a couple of series for the starters, but I expect a spirited contest between two teams with a swagger that believe they have the goods to play in the Super Bowl.
When ESPN's Adam Schefter or Chris Mortenson visit an NFL training camp in their ultra-plush RV buses, the last guy they interview is given a Sharpie pen so he can autograph their bus. Any idea who wrote "Soon to be Champs" after their signature? None other than Jets coach Rex Ryan, who continues to annoy & incite other teams around the league. Like I said, if you can back it up, it's not bragging, but if you can't you've drawn a bulls eye on everyone's back. With one of the league's toughest schedules, pounding your chest in August doesn't really mean a whole lot.
The defending national champs have a tall order before starting the season. Alabama must replace the heart of their special teams. Place kicker Leigh Tiffin, punter P.J.Fitzgerald & return specialist Javier Arenas have all moved on & they will be tough to replace. Arenas, now with the Chiefs, tied the NCAA record with 8 return touchdowns, Tiffin kicked 83 field goals for the Tide during his career & Fitzgerald is Bama's 2nd leading punter all-time. Special teams are huge in the college game & losing these three will make defending their BCS Championship that much tougher. Mark these two dates on your football watching calender as Bama hosts Penn State on September 11th & Florida on October 2nd.
The Texas-Notre Dame series I told you about yesterday is on, they finalized it on Thursday. The first game will be the season opener in 2015 at South Bend with a game in Austin to open the season the following year. After a 2-year break, they'll resume in 2019 with the last game in 2020. These two are ranked 2nd(Texas) & 3rd in wins all-time, think there will be some hype?
The Big-10 announced Thursday their first conference championship game will be played at the Lucas oil Dome in Indianapolis in December of 2011. I personally hate this decision, since the Minnesota Gophers moved into their new stadium last season, every Big-10 team plays outdoors. Why the decision to play it in a dome? Big-10 football has always been geared to play outside, even in bad weather, this decision stinks.
Todd Haley did something somewhat out of character on Thursday, he praised a number of his players. Rookie tight end Tony Moeaki received the biggest kudo's from the boss. This guy has tremendous potential which we could see early on, if he can stay healthy. Often, players with an extensive injury history never shake the injury bug for too long. Let's hope Moeaki is able to do so. Kendrick Lewis, Dexter McCluster, Jamaal Charles, Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Chris Chambers, Derrick Johnson & even PIA Dwayne Bowe(called "the biggest single dumb-ass in the NFL") drew praise from Haley. We'll be there at Chiefs' camp in just 10-days to give you extended coverage.
ESPN's John Clayton published an article on Thursday from Chiefs' training camp & while I agreed with just about everything he had to say, I was somewhat surprised at his assertion that Thomas Jones would start at running back ahead of Jamaal Charles. Yes Jones has gained over 2,600 yards the past two seasons & he is a tremendous locker room influence, but unless Charles really stumbles in training camp, I think he's the starter opening day. Jones turns 32 on August 19th, most NFL running backs are retired by their 32nd birthday. Jones has shown no signs of slowing down, so far anyway. I love him as a 10-12 carry backup & mentor for Charles. With Jamaal's home run speed, I want him to get the bulk of the carries. As long as Charles stays healthy & protects the ball, he's my starter.
I got a note from Shannon, who asked why I listed all these injuries for players from other teams, "who in the hell cares about a tackle on Jacksonville getting hurt?" The people who play fantasy football care, they want to know any injuries that might affect their team or the way they draft a new one. This is especially true of players who will be out for the season. The same goes for gamblers, they want to know who's hurt. Why do you think the NFL requires each team to submit an injury report to the league which is published in newspapers coast to coast? The NFL, regardless of their bogus anti-gambling stance, knows gamblers want to know who's hurt & to what extent, hence the tags of "out, doubtful & probable" along with the body part that's injured.
So now that we've cleared that up, I'll tell you that Scott McKillop, an inside linebacker for the 49ers, blew both his ACL & patellar tendon Thursday. He was the Niners leading special teams tackler & is the number one backup at inside linebacker.
We'll get a quick look at two of the most hyped teams in the league this Sunday evening in the Hall of Fame Game when Dallas squares off with Cincinnati. Don't look for more than a couple of series for the starters, but I expect a spirited contest between two teams with a swagger that believe they have the goods to play in the Super Bowl.
When ESPN's Adam Schefter or Chris Mortenson visit an NFL training camp in their ultra-plush RV buses, the last guy they interview is given a Sharpie pen so he can autograph their bus. Any idea who wrote "Soon to be Champs" after their signature? None other than Jets coach Rex Ryan, who continues to annoy & incite other teams around the league. Like I said, if you can back it up, it's not bragging, but if you can't you've drawn a bulls eye on everyone's back. With one of the league's toughest schedules, pounding your chest in August doesn't really mean a whole lot.
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