IT'S BASEBALL FOR BUBBA, SANCHEZ IN GQ, RAIDERS VERY CONFUSED & HALEY'S TAKE ON GAITHER & HOUSTON
The question was, accept a scholarship to play quarterback at Nebraska or take $8 -$10 million from the Kansas City Royals for being the 4th overall player drafted last June. Not really a tough decision or a believable one for that matter. But when you have agent like Scott Boras, probably the toughest negotiating agent in all of baseball, nothing comes easy. The 11PM MLB deadline to sign went down to less than a minute to go before the family of Bubba Starling called the Royals' GM Dayton Moore to accept their offer. Moore said his heart was pounding as the time nearly ran out. All the stalling & posturing was just Boras exerting leverage. Problem with his strategy was Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said all along the chance of getting the Gardner-Edgerton High School quarterback was "less than 15%." Even tho Starling was on the Nebraska campus, he didn't practice with the Huskers & never appeared on their roster. So now the star outfielder is property of the Royals, football will quickly be in the rear view mirror.
The Buffalo Bills have decided cut their losses, admit they were wrong & move on to other things. They released their 2009 first round draft pick, linebacker Aaron Maybin, after he never did anything that resembled his play at Penn State. The 11th overall pick in that draft, Maybin was selected 2 picks ahead of Brian Orakpo of the Washington Redskins. Orakpo made the Pro Bowl as a rookie & has 21.5 sacks in his first two seasons on a fairly mediocre team. Tyson Jackson was selected #3 overall in the same draft, by Kansas City. He has 1 career sack, I'm just sayin'.
Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is this month's GQ coverboy. I read a lot of the article, you know I'm a GQ kind of guy right? Honestly I believe Sanchez will take heat for this article for years. It was mentioned in the piece Sanchez had his DVR filled with episodes of Glee & the Justin Bieber documentary. And then there was this picture. Let the ball-busting begin.
Sanchez & his Jets traveled to Houston to play the Texans in the Monday Night Game. For as pitiful as the Texans' offense was, New York lost 20-16 because they couldn't protect their quarterback. Whether it was Sanchez or rookie Greg McElroy, the Jets offensive line was helpless. The Texans recorded 7 sacks & 16 other hits on their quarterbacks. Vladimir Ducasse, a 2010 2nd round pick & Peter Clifford were victimized repeatedly by Houston defenders. A guy that absolutely jumped off the screen for the Texans was rookie linebacker Bryan Braman with 6 tackles, 1.5 sacks & 3 other QB hits. Also making his NFL debut was Brooks Reed, a prospect I was very high on before last April's draft. He had a tackle for loss, a sack, knocked down two passes & hit the QB 2 more times. Getting back to the Jets for a second, center Nick Mangold was nursing a minor injury & didn't play, his backup, Rob Turner, was injured & left the contest early in the 2nd quarter. Linebacker Bart Scott suffered an ankle injury of unknown severity. The Jets dropped passes, missed assignments & generally looked lame. But it's only week one & they get the Bungals next Sunday night to bounce back.
I told you about the Bears offensive line woes. I believe because of these issues, they will not make the playoffs. GM Jerry Angelo told the Chicago Sun Times Monday "if we see the problem continue, we would revisit it if we don't like what we see." He was speaking of revisiting free agency for O-line help. Of course all of the premium free agents are long gone. There are a few mid-30's types with injury issues, but the good prospects have signed elsewhere. "If we don't like what we see?" Really? Were 9 sacks & 8 other QB hits something you might not like? This team's offensive line has been a serious problem for several years now & I don't see it improving when you release the only Pro Bowl(6-time) blocker you have over $400K. I'll be very surprised to see Da' Bears in the postseason come January.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was telling anyone who would listen, free agent cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha wanted to play for Dallas. Jones told the Dallas Morning News Asomugha was "oh so close to being a Cowboy, like he wanted to be all along." But when Sports Illustrated & NBC Sports Peter King asked Asomugha over the weekend, he said "it was down to the Jets & Eagles early on", never mentioning the Cowboys. Sorry Jer.
I think Eagles running back LeSean McCoy & wide receiver DeSean Jackson are a pair of knuckleheads. The "team" concept apparently escapes them. LeSean had a Twitter fight(how pitiful is a Twitter fight?) with Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora & after it went on for a few days, receiver Stave Smith Tweeted "the Eagles trophy case was like Mother Hubbard's cupboard, empty." Smith recently signed a free agent deal with the Eagles & will become a teammate to McCoy. Smith said he plans to give McCoy a big hug & bury the hatchet now that they're on the same side. McCoy doesn't think so, "that's going to take some time, he meant what he said." Alrighty then, what is this 7th grade? DeSean Jackson had already dissed fellow starting wide receiver Jeremy Maclin when he said he wanted to sign Plaxico Burress because "we would make the best starting pair in the league."Tho Burress was fresh out of jail & Maclin, the team's leading receiver, doesn't figure into Jackson's vision of what the Eagles should look like. When asked what he thought about Philly signing Steve Smith, Jackson said "they only did it because they're worried about Maclin's health. Oh yeah, we got a gag order on talking about his health." How'd you like this pair to have your back? Still no word on Maclin's condition or what it is that has made him so ill.
You've watched enough football to understand the coin toss right? The ref lets the visiting team call it. Whichever side wins the toss gets to decide to kick, receive or defer. Leave it to the Raiders to screw up this simplest of tasks. After winning the toss against Arizona, one of their captains blurted out "we'll kickoff." This gave the 2nd half option to Arizona & guess what they chose? Of course they elected to receive the 2nd half kickoff. So the Raiders kicked off to begin both halves. Nice start to the Hue Jackson era in Oakland. By the way the team that received the extra kickoff to start the 3rd quarter took advantage & scored on the first drive of the 2nd half. And they won the game thank you very much.
"What was it coach told us to do?"
Todd Haley spoke about Jared Gaither on Monday. He made it clear Brandon Albert would retain his starting job for now. But Gaither will continue to play left tackle as Albert's backup. Gaither claimed he was in good shape & like I said yesterday, he doesn't look too big. How about that back? Haley said his ability to learn the playbook & increase his stamina could get him into the starting lineup eventually. My idea of "eventually" would be soon, that is if his back is sound. If not, it's time for the PUP list. Haley's comments on OLB Justin Houston were glowing when he was asked about Houston's conditioning. Haley said "for a guy who's been pretty much on his own for about 3-4 months, he's in very good condition." Asked about Houston's performance in Friday's game with Tampa, Haley said, "he did some good things & he did some not-so-good things." The thing I saw was the very quick first step in his pass rush get-off. That's not something Houston can be taught, he's either a quick-twitch athlete or he's not. That first step quickness was a major reason Derrick Thomas was so great rushing the passer. Houston isn't that quick, but he'll be a handful when he gets his moves down better. The other stuff can come week-by-week. But it's that quick get-off & variable rush moves that will get him on the field on passing downs in September.
In other camp news, Tyler Palko continues to throw interceptions, two more on Monday. WR Jonathan Baldwin is struggling, he can't get off the jam, DB's knock him off of his route. In a goal line drill, Jamal Charles took a pitchout & headed for the pylon. ILB Derrick Johnson kicked in the after burners & beat Charles to the goal line, knocking him out of bounds at the one. Folks, that's real hustle. Wallace Gilberry is having a great camp. The designated pass rusher of the defensive linemen, is playing every snap while Glenn Dorsey rests his sore knee. Gilberry wants to excel & I think he's good for 10-11 sacks. Throw in 7-8 from Houston & Tamba Hali's 12-15, the Chiefs defense just got a lot more formidable.
The Buffalo Bills have decided cut their losses, admit they were wrong & move on to other things. They released their 2009 first round draft pick, linebacker Aaron Maybin, after he never did anything that resembled his play at Penn State. The 11th overall pick in that draft, Maybin was selected 2 picks ahead of Brian Orakpo of the Washington Redskins. Orakpo made the Pro Bowl as a rookie & has 21.5 sacks in his first two seasons on a fairly mediocre team. Tyson Jackson was selected #3 overall in the same draft, by Kansas City. He has 1 career sack, I'm just sayin'.
Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is this month's GQ coverboy. I read a lot of the article, you know I'm a GQ kind of guy right? Honestly I believe Sanchez will take heat for this article for years. It was mentioned in the piece Sanchez had his DVR filled with episodes of Glee & the Justin Bieber documentary. And then there was this picture. Let the ball-busting begin.
Sanchez & his Jets traveled to Houston to play the Texans in the Monday Night Game. For as pitiful as the Texans' offense was, New York lost 20-16 because they couldn't protect their quarterback. Whether it was Sanchez or rookie Greg McElroy, the Jets offensive line was helpless. The Texans recorded 7 sacks & 16 other hits on their quarterbacks. Vladimir Ducasse, a 2010 2nd round pick & Peter Clifford were victimized repeatedly by Houston defenders. A guy that absolutely jumped off the screen for the Texans was rookie linebacker Bryan Braman with 6 tackles, 1.5 sacks & 3 other QB hits. Also making his NFL debut was Brooks Reed, a prospect I was very high on before last April's draft. He had a tackle for loss, a sack, knocked down two passes & hit the QB 2 more times. Getting back to the Jets for a second, center Nick Mangold was nursing a minor injury & didn't play, his backup, Rob Turner, was injured & left the contest early in the 2nd quarter. Linebacker Bart Scott suffered an ankle injury of unknown severity. The Jets dropped passes, missed assignments & generally looked lame. But it's only week one & they get the Bungals next Sunday night to bounce back.
I told you about the Bears offensive line woes. I believe because of these issues, they will not make the playoffs. GM Jerry Angelo told the Chicago Sun Times Monday "if we see the problem continue, we would revisit it if we don't like what we see." He was speaking of revisiting free agency for O-line help. Of course all of the premium free agents are long gone. There are a few mid-30's types with injury issues, but the good prospects have signed elsewhere. "If we don't like what we see?" Really? Were 9 sacks & 8 other QB hits something you might not like? This team's offensive line has been a serious problem for several years now & I don't see it improving when you release the only Pro Bowl(6-time) blocker you have over $400K. I'll be very surprised to see Da' Bears in the postseason come January.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was telling anyone who would listen, free agent cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha wanted to play for Dallas. Jones told the Dallas Morning News Asomugha was "oh so close to being a Cowboy, like he wanted to be all along." But when Sports Illustrated & NBC Sports Peter King asked Asomugha over the weekend, he said "it was down to the Jets & Eagles early on", never mentioning the Cowboys. Sorry Jer.
I think Eagles running back LeSean McCoy & wide receiver DeSean Jackson are a pair of knuckleheads. The "team" concept apparently escapes them. LeSean had a Twitter fight(how pitiful is a Twitter fight?) with Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora & after it went on for a few days, receiver Stave Smith Tweeted "the Eagles trophy case was like Mother Hubbard's cupboard, empty." Smith recently signed a free agent deal with the Eagles & will become a teammate to McCoy. Smith said he plans to give McCoy a big hug & bury the hatchet now that they're on the same side. McCoy doesn't think so, "that's going to take some time, he meant what he said." Alrighty then, what is this 7th grade? DeSean Jackson had already dissed fellow starting wide receiver Jeremy Maclin when he said he wanted to sign Plaxico Burress because "we would make the best starting pair in the league."Tho Burress was fresh out of jail & Maclin, the team's leading receiver, doesn't figure into Jackson's vision of what the Eagles should look like. When asked what he thought about Philly signing Steve Smith, Jackson said "they only did it because they're worried about Maclin's health. Oh yeah, we got a gag order on talking about his health." How'd you like this pair to have your back? Still no word on Maclin's condition or what it is that has made him so ill.
You've watched enough football to understand the coin toss right? The ref lets the visiting team call it. Whichever side wins the toss gets to decide to kick, receive or defer. Leave it to the Raiders to screw up this simplest of tasks. After winning the toss against Arizona, one of their captains blurted out "we'll kickoff." This gave the 2nd half option to Arizona & guess what they chose? Of course they elected to receive the 2nd half kickoff. So the Raiders kicked off to begin both halves. Nice start to the Hue Jackson era in Oakland. By the way the team that received the extra kickoff to start the 3rd quarter took advantage & scored on the first drive of the 2nd half. And they won the game thank you very much.
"What was it coach told us to do?"
Todd Haley spoke about Jared Gaither on Monday. He made it clear Brandon Albert would retain his starting job for now. But Gaither will continue to play left tackle as Albert's backup. Gaither claimed he was in good shape & like I said yesterday, he doesn't look too big. How about that back? Haley said his ability to learn the playbook & increase his stamina could get him into the starting lineup eventually. My idea of "eventually" would be soon, that is if his back is sound. If not, it's time for the PUP list. Haley's comments on OLB Justin Houston were glowing when he was asked about Houston's conditioning. Haley said "for a guy who's been pretty much on his own for about 3-4 months, he's in very good condition." Asked about Houston's performance in Friday's game with Tampa, Haley said, "he did some good things & he did some not-so-good things." The thing I saw was the very quick first step in his pass rush get-off. That's not something Houston can be taught, he's either a quick-twitch athlete or he's not. That first step quickness was a major reason Derrick Thomas was so great rushing the passer. Houston isn't that quick, but he'll be a handful when he gets his moves down better. The other stuff can come week-by-week. But it's that quick get-off & variable rush moves that will get him on the field on passing downs in September.
In other camp news, Tyler Palko continues to throw interceptions, two more on Monday. WR Jonathan Baldwin is struggling, he can't get off the jam, DB's knock him off of his route. In a goal line drill, Jamal Charles took a pitchout & headed for the pylon. ILB Derrick Johnson kicked in the after burners & beat Charles to the goal line, knocking him out of bounds at the one. Folks, that's real hustle. Wallace Gilberry is having a great camp. The designated pass rusher of the defensive linemen, is playing every snap while Glenn Dorsey rests his sore knee. Gilberry wants to excel & I think he's good for 10-11 sacks. Throw in 7-8 from Houston & Tamba Hali's 12-15, the Chiefs defense just got a lot more formidable.
Awwwwww, Mark Sanchez is VERY young. He dates college-age girls, thus the Justin Bieber fondness. Frankly, isn't it better than what most football players who've just come into money and fame find interesting? Think about it....and the NFL players will never catch up to the NBA players as clothes horses. Other than that, the wealth of information you have is insane.
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