RAIDER QB DEPTH ISN'T GOOD, K-STATE GETS NO RESPECT, MY HEISMAN LIST & WHY OH WHY DOES ANYONE KICK TO DEVIN HESTER?
With starter Jason Campbell going down with a broken collarbone Sunday, the remaining quarterbacks on the Oakland depth chart don't really inspire much confidence. Kyle Boller, scheduled to be Sunday's starter versus Kansas City, has a 56.7% completion rate, more interceptions(51) than TD's(48) & has lost 25 fumbles. His backup, Terrelle Pryor, last played in the Sugar Bowl the first week of January. He walked after being suspended at Ohio State & was in limbo for a couple of months while waiting for the NFL's decision on allowing him to enter the supplemental draft. He was finally approved to be drafted but he was suspended for the first five regular season games. So Pryor's total practice time with the Raiders amounts to a little over three weeks & he's never taken a live snap in a game. I think the Chiefs' chance to beat this run-first Raider team will be to slow down the running game, forcing one of these two to win the game.
New Raider QB Kyle Boller
For a while Monday morning it was speculated the Raiders might contact out-of-work, former Jacksonville QB David Garrard. They did, but by early afternoon Garrard's agent revealed the former Jacksonville starter was going to undergo back surgery for a herniated disc, thereby eliminating Garrard as a possibility.
Will Jonathan Baldwin be active for Kansas City this Sunday? He's completely healed from the broken thumb he suffered back in August. Has he mastered his playbook? Will he play special teams? because if the answer to either question is no, I don't see him playing Sunday.
Speaking of playbooks, the word out of the New England area is ole #85, Chad Ochocinco, doesn't know his well enough to suit Tom Brady or Bill Belichick. He broke the wrong way Sunday & a pass fell to the ground. As they walked toward the Patriot's bench, Brady began yelling at Ochocinco & Belichick did as well when he got to the bench. Chad might be close to the end of his rope with the Patriots, he could be gone very soon.
Redskins tight end Chris Cooley will have to undergo surgery on his left index finger. That will put him out approximately 4-6 weeks. Since he knows he's facing significant time off, Cooley might also have an ailing knee cut on as well. If he goes that route, he'll be placed on I.R. & lost for the season. The two-time Pro Bowl performer hasn't been running well this season after undergoing knee surgery last off-season.
Buffalo's C.J. Spiller has been a disappointment since being the 9th overall pick in the 2010 draft. He can't dislodge starter Fred Jackson, end of story. Jackson has been sensational in Buffalo's 4-2 start, averaging 147-yards per game rushing & receiving. But Spiller's speed intrigues coach Chan Gailey & Sunday he found a way to get Spiller's speed into the Bills' offensive mix without benching Jackson. He lined up at WR in the Bills 3 & 4 receiver sets. Spiller caught 5 passes for 39-yards. This might make a major impact in the Bills' offensive success. Spiller has rare speed & he also catches the ball very well.
Buffalo's RB/WR C.J. Spiller
Sean Payton underwent surgery to repair his fractured tibia & torn MCL Monday morning. He can be back at Saints' practice by Wednesday but it's not going to be easy. Doctors say Payton won't be able to put any weight on his left leg for at least 8-weeks, so no standing around on crutches. He won't be able to call plays from the sideline either, he'll do the JoePa version of coaching, from the coaches box. This might impair New Orleans' chances of winning the NFC South.
I am not a Kansas State fan, but I am a big believer in coach Bill Snyder, I think he's one of the best coaches in the land. If he could convince 4 & 5-star recruits to come play for him in Manhattan Kansas, he's have a top-10 program every year. This is why it really bothers me when you look at the USA Today poll & find the undefeated Wildcats sitting behind seven 1-loss teams. Snyder's team is currently on a 4-game streak of beating bowl-bound teams. Some of those in front of K-State don't bother me, Oregon, Arkansas & possibly Michigan State come to mind, but it's West Virginia, Nebraska, Va Tech & South Carolina that really gripe my ass. Kansas State belongs in front of them, putting them no lower than 11th, not 16th where they currently reside. The Cats will beat the hapless Jayhawks this week, then their meat-grinder begins, OU, at Okie State, A&M & at Texas. Counting KU & Iowa State in their season finale, I see Kansas State winning 10-games this season & folks that's simply amazing.
One of my preseason Heisman hopefuls, South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore is done for the season after sustaining a torn ACL. With last week's dismissal of starting QB Stephen Garcia & now the loss of Lattimore, the Gamecocks suddenly become a pretty ordinary team except for WR Alshon Jeffrey who's still a top-5 talent at his position.
My current Heisman prospective list is as follows:
1. Andrew Luck--QB Stanford
2. Robert Griffin III--QB Baylor
3. Landry Jones--QB Oklahoma
4. Russell Wilson--QB Wisconsin
5. Trent Richardson--RB Alabama
6. Kellen Moore--QB Boise State
7. LaMichael James--RB Oregon
8. Keith Price--QB Washington
9. Brandon Weeden--QB Oklahoma State
10. Case Keenum--QB Houston
Nine quarterbacks & only one runner? Yep, with today's spread offenses, the trigger-man in a successful spread is worth way more than a running back. Keenum is just 422-yards short of breaking the all-time NCAA total yardage mark. He might not get it this week against Marshall, but break it he will very soon.
Houston QB Case Keenum
Want to know why Texas A&M blows double-digit leads in the second half? A pitiful secondary gives way to just about any decent passer. Three of the last four passers that played against the Aggie secondary broke their own school record for passing yardage in a single game. Not good. Oklahoma State's Weeden, Arkansas' Tyler Wilson & Baylor's RG3. They could make it four with OU's Landry Jones on November 5th in Norman.
The Big East & Mountain West conferences have a tentative agreement for a football only conference. It bring the current 6-team Big East(in 2012) into a joint deal with the 10-team(in 2012) Mountain West. Nothing has been carved in stone, but this ew conference is looking at record travel costs, how about Rutgers traveling to play Hawaii? I doubt this will be a long term solution, but the Big East was in danger of losing their automatic BCS bid, something they never should have had in the first place.
Did you see the Bears' Devin Hester run back a kickoff for a touchdown on Sunday night? It marked his 17th return touchdown, 11 on punt returns, 5 on kickoffs & 1 on a missed field goal. My question is, "why does anyone kick to this guy?" A number of his teammates have been asking the same question for some time now, but honestly, what are teams thinking when they kick to him? "Maybe we can get by" or "we have just the right coverage & athletes to prevent this." Yeah right, Hester, at 28-years of age, probable has 4-5 more in him to put the NFL record out of sight. Provided knuckleheads around the league keep kicking to him.
Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears
Today at 4PM ET is the NFL trading deadline, but don't expect too much unless the bad teams really & truly want to enter to "Suck for Luck" sweepstakes. Denver could trade WR Eddie Royal or linebacker D.J. Williams. Indy could see of there's any interest in DE Robert Mathis who's in his contract year. Who might the Dolphins offer? I don't see anything major happening, but you never know. If something breaks this afternoon I've have all the details right here as soon as they're made available.
New Raider QB Kyle Boller
For a while Monday morning it was speculated the Raiders might contact out-of-work, former Jacksonville QB David Garrard. They did, but by early afternoon Garrard's agent revealed the former Jacksonville starter was going to undergo back surgery for a herniated disc, thereby eliminating Garrard as a possibility.
Will Jonathan Baldwin be active for Kansas City this Sunday? He's completely healed from the broken thumb he suffered back in August. Has he mastered his playbook? Will he play special teams? because if the answer to either question is no, I don't see him playing Sunday.
Speaking of playbooks, the word out of the New England area is ole #85, Chad Ochocinco, doesn't know his well enough to suit Tom Brady or Bill Belichick. He broke the wrong way Sunday & a pass fell to the ground. As they walked toward the Patriot's bench, Brady began yelling at Ochocinco & Belichick did as well when he got to the bench. Chad might be close to the end of his rope with the Patriots, he could be gone very soon.
Redskins tight end Chris Cooley will have to undergo surgery on his left index finger. That will put him out approximately 4-6 weeks. Since he knows he's facing significant time off, Cooley might also have an ailing knee cut on as well. If he goes that route, he'll be placed on I.R. & lost for the season. The two-time Pro Bowl performer hasn't been running well this season after undergoing knee surgery last off-season.
Buffalo's C.J. Spiller has been a disappointment since being the 9th overall pick in the 2010 draft. He can't dislodge starter Fred Jackson, end of story. Jackson has been sensational in Buffalo's 4-2 start, averaging 147-yards per game rushing & receiving. But Spiller's speed intrigues coach Chan Gailey & Sunday he found a way to get Spiller's speed into the Bills' offensive mix without benching Jackson. He lined up at WR in the Bills 3 & 4 receiver sets. Spiller caught 5 passes for 39-yards. This might make a major impact in the Bills' offensive success. Spiller has rare speed & he also catches the ball very well.
Buffalo's RB/WR C.J. Spiller
Sean Payton underwent surgery to repair his fractured tibia & torn MCL Monday morning. He can be back at Saints' practice by Wednesday but it's not going to be easy. Doctors say Payton won't be able to put any weight on his left leg for at least 8-weeks, so no standing around on crutches. He won't be able to call plays from the sideline either, he'll do the JoePa version of coaching, from the coaches box. This might impair New Orleans' chances of winning the NFC South.
I am not a Kansas State fan, but I am a big believer in coach Bill Snyder, I think he's one of the best coaches in the land. If he could convince 4 & 5-star recruits to come play for him in Manhattan Kansas, he's have a top-10 program every year. This is why it really bothers me when you look at the USA Today poll & find the undefeated Wildcats sitting behind seven 1-loss teams. Snyder's team is currently on a 4-game streak of beating bowl-bound teams. Some of those in front of K-State don't bother me, Oregon, Arkansas & possibly Michigan State come to mind, but it's West Virginia, Nebraska, Va Tech & South Carolina that really gripe my ass. Kansas State belongs in front of them, putting them no lower than 11th, not 16th where they currently reside. The Cats will beat the hapless Jayhawks this week, then their meat-grinder begins, OU, at Okie State, A&M & at Texas. Counting KU & Iowa State in their season finale, I see Kansas State winning 10-games this season & folks that's simply amazing.
One of my preseason Heisman hopefuls, South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore is done for the season after sustaining a torn ACL. With last week's dismissal of starting QB Stephen Garcia & now the loss of Lattimore, the Gamecocks suddenly become a pretty ordinary team except for WR Alshon Jeffrey who's still a top-5 talent at his position.
My current Heisman prospective list is as follows:
1. Andrew Luck--QB Stanford
2. Robert Griffin III--QB Baylor
3. Landry Jones--QB Oklahoma
4. Russell Wilson--QB Wisconsin
5. Trent Richardson--RB Alabama
6. Kellen Moore--QB Boise State
7. LaMichael James--RB Oregon
8. Keith Price--QB Washington
9. Brandon Weeden--QB Oklahoma State
10. Case Keenum--QB Houston
Nine quarterbacks & only one runner? Yep, with today's spread offenses, the trigger-man in a successful spread is worth way more than a running back. Keenum is just 422-yards short of breaking the all-time NCAA total yardage mark. He might not get it this week against Marshall, but break it he will very soon.
Houston QB Case Keenum
Want to know why Texas A&M blows double-digit leads in the second half? A pitiful secondary gives way to just about any decent passer. Three of the last four passers that played against the Aggie secondary broke their own school record for passing yardage in a single game. Not good. Oklahoma State's Weeden, Arkansas' Tyler Wilson & Baylor's RG3. They could make it four with OU's Landry Jones on November 5th in Norman.
The Big East & Mountain West conferences have a tentative agreement for a football only conference. It bring the current 6-team Big East(in 2012) into a joint deal with the 10-team(in 2012) Mountain West. Nothing has been carved in stone, but this ew conference is looking at record travel costs, how about Rutgers traveling to play Hawaii? I doubt this will be a long term solution, but the Big East was in danger of losing their automatic BCS bid, something they never should have had in the first place.
Did you see the Bears' Devin Hester run back a kickoff for a touchdown on Sunday night? It marked his 17th return touchdown, 11 on punt returns, 5 on kickoffs & 1 on a missed field goal. My question is, "why does anyone kick to this guy?" A number of his teammates have been asking the same question for some time now, but honestly, what are teams thinking when they kick to him? "Maybe we can get by" or "we have just the right coverage & athletes to prevent this." Yeah right, Hester, at 28-years of age, probable has 4-5 more in him to put the NFL record out of sight. Provided knuckleheads around the league keep kicking to him.
Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears
Today at 4PM ET is the NFL trading deadline, but don't expect too much unless the bad teams really & truly want to enter to "Suck for Luck" sweepstakes. Denver could trade WR Eddie Royal or linebacker D.J. Williams. Indy could see of there's any interest in DE Robert Mathis who's in his contract year. Who might the Dolphins offer? I don't see anything major happening, but you never know. If something breaks this afternoon I've have all the details right here as soon as they're made available.
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