Posted on: May 2, 2008 2:25 pm
Baseball: Week 6 start/sit.
By John Arias. For week 6, again, we'll have 15 Must-start, 15 players to sit, a list of all teams playing 7 games next week, the ones playing 6 games and a little recap on each MLB team and its suggested fantasy players. Who sits and who starts out of each team and why. Are you ready? Read
Category: MLB
Posted on: April 30, 2008 9:42 pm
5 Post-draft questions...
Top-5 questions that emerged from the 2008 NFL draft:
1) Did Kansas City do the right thing in trading Jared Allen for a first round, two third round, and a sixth round pick?
2) Did the Falcons make the right move in drafting potential franchise quarterback Matt Ryan?
3) Did the Dolphins select the right Long?
4) Did the Ravens finally draft their franchise quarterback in Joe Flacco?
5) What should be made of the Green Bay Packers selecting Brian Brohm in the 2nd round?
1) Did Kansas City do the right thing in trading Jared Allen for a first round, two third round, and a sixth round pick?
2) Did the Falcons make the right move in drafting potential franchise quarterback Matt Ryan?
3) Did the Dolphins select the right Long?
4) Did the Ravens finally draft their franchise quarterback in Joe Flacco?
5) What should be made of the Green Bay Packers selecting Brian Brohm in the 2nd round?
READ the ANSWERS
Category: NFL
Posted on: April 29, 2008 12:05 pm
NFL Draft: 5 Winners & Losers...
By Derek Lofland. It’s always fun to pick the winners and losers of the NFL draft just a day after the draft. This is an excerpt from an April 15, 1998 Sports Illustrated Article Where will Leaf fall? “At 6-foot-5, Leaf has the size NFL teams are looking for. His arm strength is considered better than Manning's and he threw a Pac-10 record 33 touchdowns last season while playing in the same sophisticated Washington State offense that primed Drew Bledsoe for NFL success.”
‘He gets rid of the ball quickly and he just kind of flicks it’ said Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Mora. ‘I mean it's not like its effortless motion. When he throws the ball it's just BOOM it goes through the air at a pretty good pace -- that impresses me.”
On the other hand that one NFL scout said this about Tom Brady prior to the 2000 draft, “Poor build, very skinny and narrow, lacks mobility and the ability to avoid the rush, lacks a really strong arm."
We really won’t know who hit home runs and who struck out until 3-5 years down the road. Every team looks to be better with their first round and second round picks. Most will not live up to expectations. Most late round picks are going to be an afterthought when grading these teams. Some will bail out teams for early round mistakes.
We can speculate that this team reached or that team didn’t get the player they needed. None of that will come to fruition until we see how these players perform in NFL action. It doesn’t matter if the player a GM reached for makes the Hall of Fame or the player that was an excellent value becomes a bust. Even if they do have good seasons like Michael Vick, Chris Henry, or Pacman Jones, off the field incidents can derail certain players. It is an inexact science and only a few players from this weekend’s draft will have careers longer than 3-5 seasons in the NFL.
Nevertheless, what fun is it to ignore grading the draft until 5 years from now? Here would be my top-5 winners and the top-5 teams who, in my opinion, had a questionable draft. Not necessarily a bad one, but could have gotten better value and fill some area of need with their picks.
5 Winners – Here are the teams that I thought were the class of the 2008 NFL draft.
1) Kansas City Chiefs – One reason they shot to the front of the draft is because they traded their best defender in Jared Allen. If the Patriots had traded Tom Brady or the Colts traded Peyton Manning they could have shot to the front of this list too. That wouldn’t necessarily make them a better team. While the Chiefs added a lot of talent in the draft, they gave up their best defender to do it.
Still, I think that was a trade that really helped both teams. The Vikings got the pass rusher they have coveted all off-season. It was better to make that move than sign Justin Smith. At 26-year old Allen should have a lot of good years in the NFL and gives the Vikings a very scary defensive line. You have to give something to get something and while the Vikings gave up a lot of picks it has the potential to pay huge dividends.
The trade also really helped the Chiefs because it gave them an extra first round pick, two third round picks, and a sixth round pick. It gave them the flexibility to rebuild this team by getting rid of a disgruntled player.
The Chiefs used their 5th pick to get Glen Dorsey, a player that was rated as the best defensive tackle in the draft. While they could have used defensive end or offensive tackle help, he was the best player on the board. He should substantially upgrade their defensive line. Then they drafted Branden Albert and upgraded their offensive line that is in dramatic need of improvement. Finally, they drafted Brandon Flowers who a lot of people thought might sneak into the first round. He should help improve the secondary.
Furthermore, they had 9 picks on day 2. Jamal Charles...
5 Losers – Here are the 5 teams that I have to be scratching their heads after this draft.
1) Tennessee Titans – Evidently, the Titans are not interested in giving Vince Young anything that resembles an NFL wide receiver. I think this is a team that got caught up in the 4.24 40-yard time and reached for a player at a position they didn’t need to upgrade. Chris Johnson is a fine prospect, but they have used second round picks on Henry and White in the last couple drafts to bolster the running game. White had 1,110 yards and 7 touchdowns, so it wasn’t like they were strapped at that position.
Justin Gage was their leading receiver with 750 yards. They have to find a way to upgrade that position. Then they drafted a defensive end in Jason Jones out of Eastern Michigan. While he may be a good player, he doesn’t play wide receiver. The only offensive players they selected in the draft were Chris Johnson, Craig Stevens who plays tight end, and Lavelle Hawkins who was the number 2 receiver for California. I’m not sure if that is what Vince Young had in mind. William Hayes in the 4th round seemed like...
‘He gets rid of the ball quickly and he just kind of flicks it’ said Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Mora. ‘I mean it's not like its effortless motion. When he throws the ball it's just BOOM it goes through the air at a pretty good pace -- that impresses me.”
On the other hand that one NFL scout said this about Tom Brady prior to the 2000 draft, “Poor build, very skinny and narrow, lacks mobility and the ability to avoid the rush, lacks a really strong arm."
We really won’t know who hit home runs and who struck out until 3-5 years down the road. Every team looks to be better with their first round and second round picks. Most will not live up to expectations. Most late round picks are going to be an afterthought when grading these teams. Some will bail out teams for early round mistakes.
We can speculate that this team reached or that team didn’t get the player they needed. None of that will come to fruition until we see how these players perform in NFL action. It doesn’t matter if the player a GM reached for makes the Hall of Fame or the player that was an excellent value becomes a bust. Even if they do have good seasons like Michael Vick, Chris Henry, or Pacman Jones, off the field incidents can derail certain players. It is an inexact science and only a few players from this weekend’s draft will have careers longer than 3-5 seasons in the NFL.
Nevertheless, what fun is it to ignore grading the draft until 5 years from now? Here would be my top-5 winners and the top-5 teams who, in my opinion, had a questionable draft. Not necessarily a bad one, but could have gotten better value and fill some area of need with their picks.
5 Winners – Here are the teams that I thought were the class of the 2008 NFL draft.
1) Kansas City Chiefs – One reason they shot to the front of the draft is because they traded their best defender in Jared Allen. If the Patriots had traded Tom Brady or the Colts traded Peyton Manning they could have shot to the front of this list too. That wouldn’t necessarily make them a better team. While the Chiefs added a lot of talent in the draft, they gave up their best defender to do it.
Still, I think that was a trade that really helped both teams. The Vikings got the pass rusher they have coveted all off-season. It was better to make that move than sign Justin Smith. At 26-year old Allen should have a lot of good years in the NFL and gives the Vikings a very scary defensive line. You have to give something to get something and while the Vikings gave up a lot of picks it has the potential to pay huge dividends.
The trade also really helped the Chiefs because it gave them an extra first round pick, two third round picks, and a sixth round pick. It gave them the flexibility to rebuild this team by getting rid of a disgruntled player.
The Chiefs used their 5th pick to get Glen Dorsey, a player that was rated as the best defensive tackle in the draft. While they could have used defensive end or offensive tackle help, he was the best player on the board. He should substantially upgrade their defensive line. Then they drafted Branden Albert and upgraded their offensive line that is in dramatic need of improvement. Finally, they drafted Brandon Flowers who a lot of people thought might sneak into the first round. He should help improve the secondary.
Furthermore, they had 9 picks on day 2. Jamal Charles...
5 Losers – Here are the 5 teams that I have to be scratching their heads after this draft.
1) Tennessee Titans – Evidently, the Titans are not interested in giving Vince Young anything that resembles an NFL wide receiver. I think this is a team that got caught up in the 4.24 40-yard time and reached for a player at a position they didn’t need to upgrade. Chris Johnson is a fine prospect, but they have used second round picks on Henry and White in the last couple drafts to bolster the running game. White had 1,110 yards and 7 touchdowns, so it wasn’t like they were strapped at that position.
Justin Gage was their leading receiver with 750 yards. They have to find a way to upgrade that position. Then they drafted a defensive end in Jason Jones out of Eastern Michigan. While he may be a good player, he doesn’t play wide receiver. The only offensive players they selected in the draft were Chris Johnson, Craig Stevens who plays tight end, and Lavelle Hawkins who was the number 2 receiver for California. I’m not sure if that is what Vince Young had in mind. William Hayes in the 4th round seemed like...
Continue reading all winners & losers
Posted on: April 29, 2008 1:12 am