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2018 NFL coach rankings: Bill Belichick and then ... Elliot Harrison
Front men. That's what NFL head coaches have become. Gone are the days of assistants doing TV interviews. GMs rarely take the mic, unless it's at league meetings. Head coaches are THE face of the product, attached to successes and pitfalls in a way that perhaps only real front men can understand.
Guys like Axl Rose, Mick Jagger and whoever those brothers were from Oasis. Lions fan Kid Rock doesn't count. But while we're here ... Detroit features a new front man: Matt Patricia, one of seven new coaches -- the group that makes these annual NFL Head Coach Power Rankings a slippery undertaking. (Patricia also looks like he could play bass for Metal Church.)
How do you rate coaches who've never done the job? How do those who have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy stack up? And what about Doug Pederson, who pulled it off as a sophomore? Answers below.
13) Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams
McVay deserves this high of a ranking after only one season due to the Rams' instant turnaround and the savvy development of Jared Goff. The No. 1 overall pick in 2016 performed miserably in miserable circumstances during his rookie campaign, but under McVay's tutelage (and leadership), Goff tossed 28 touchdown passes against a minuscule seven interceptions.
As impressive: McVay's poise in the postgame, assuming accountability for losses while deflecting credit after the team's 11 wins. He's already put his stamp on the franchise.
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To read the entire list click the link above. If you're in a hurry I've posted the list below.
1) Bill Belichick, New England Patriots 2) Asshole Face, New Orleans Saints
3) Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks 4) Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers 5) John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens 6) Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers 7) Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs 8) Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles 9) Jon Gruden, Oakland Raiders
10) Mike Zimmer, Minnesota Vikings 11) Dan Quinn, Atlanta Falcons 12) Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers 13) Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams 14) Doug Marrone, Jacksonville Jaguars 15) Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys 16) Bill O'Brien, Houston Texans 17) Anthony Lynn, Los Angeles Chargers 18) Jay Gruden, Washington Redskins 19) Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills 20) Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals 21) Adam Gase, Miami Dolphins 22) Todd Bowles, New York Jets 23) Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers 24) Matt Patricia, Detroit Lions 25) Matt Nagy, Chicago Bears 26) Frank Reich, Indianapolis Colts 27) Pat Shurmur, New York Giants 28) Dirk Koetter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29) Mike Vrabel, Tennessee Titans
30) Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos
31) Steve Wilks, Arizona Cardinals 32) Hue Jackson, Cleveland Browns
With temperatures rising outside, it feels like the right time to assess who's facing serious heat in the NFL world.
In the ultimate "What have you done for me lately?" league, certain players and coaches inevitably fall under a searing spotlight. Every year, particular individuals find themselves at a career crossroads where the coming campaign isn't just another season -- it's a turning point, for better or for worse.
As we head into the summer, it's time to roll out our annual "make or break" list for next fall, Schein Nine style.
1) Jameis Winston/Dirk Koetter, quarterback/head coach, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Winston is facing a multi-game suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy. This stems from an incident in 2016 where the quarterback allegedly groped a female Uber driver. Of course, this isn't the first disconcerting off-field episode for the former No. 1 overall pick.
A few months before the 2015 NFL Draft,I wrote a column on NFL.com that urged the Bucs to pass on Winston. Given the QB's pattern of behavior at Florida State -- which ranged from sophomoric mischief to shoplifting to serious allegations of sexual assault -- I just didn't trust Winston as a potential face of the franchise.
A franchise-quarterback talent? Sure. But the antics outside the lines were alarming. And now we have another incident that raises serious concerns. Sadly and regrettably, this development didn't really catch anyone by surprise. Not with everything we already knew. And that's the problem.
This isn't just a blot on the Buccaneers' off-field record, either -- it could seriously hinder Tampa's record on it. The Bucs open the season with a three-game nightmare: at New Orleans, vs. Philadelphia, vs. Pittsburgh.
Those three clubs combined to go 37-11 last season. That combined mark officially makes this the toughest opening stretch in the Super Bowlera. If Winston is indeed a no-go for all three of those games ... Do you believe in Fitzmagic?? I didn't think so.
Tampa had a chance to be a surprise contender in 2018, with general manager Jason Licht adding a whole bunch of talent on the defensive front and snagging a talented running back in the draft. But Winston's looming suspension throws everything into question. It appears the face of the franchise can't be trusted. Can Winston -- and the Bucs -- still salvage something in 2018 and beyond?
One man is sure to pay the price if the Buccaneers miss the playoffs for an 11th consecutive season: Dirk Koetter. The head coach needs a breakthrough campaign to keep his job. Meanwhile, Winston is in the final year of his rookie contract, and while Tampa Bay exercised the fifth-year option that would keep him with the team through 2019, that $21 million pact is guaranteed only against injury.
Could the Bucs cut ties with the QB after this season? Well, if he keeps going down this path, at some point, Tampa needs to ask when enough is enough.
2) Ryan Tannehill, quarterback, Miami Dolphins
I thought Miami should've been in the quarterback business this offseason. Tannehill is a career 62.7 percent passer. In 2016, his touchdown-to-interception ratio slumped to 19:12. Then Tannehill tore his ACL the following August, and Jay Cutler had to be lured out of retirement for one more pointless season.
Let's be honest: At this point, Tannehill is just a guy. Ask Jarvis Landry. And when you're talking about the most important position in team sports, just a guy ain't good enough.
It's go time, for both Tannehill and the Dolphins. Color me skeptical on Tannehill ever taking that major step forward. History and precedent tell you that's a long shot. But if it's going to happen, it has to happen NOW. Beyond the Patriots, the AFC East remains highly underwhelming. It's time for Tannehill, Adam Gase and the Fins to make a move.
3) Hue Jackson, head coach, Cleveland Browns
I could sit here and give you many colorful words. Or I could simply tell you that Hue Jackson is 1-31 as the Browns' head coach.
New general manager John Dorsey isn't going to be patient. Cleveland has enough talent to win eight games this year and finish in second in the AFC North. So do it, Hue.
4) Ereck Flowers, offensive tackle, New York Giants
Truth be told, in the world of make or break, I firmly believe Flowers is broken. Sure, he is a former top-10 pick, but that's from the prior regime. I can't imagine a new coach and general manager allowing Flowers to continually wilt on the field of play.
Yet, despite resembling a turnstile on the offensive line, Flowers remains on the Giants' roster and in line to play. And hey, he's still just 24 years old. With marquee free-agent addition Nate Solder manning left tackle, can Flowers protect Eli Manning's front side?
5) Ndamukong Suh, defensive tackle, Los Angeles Rams
Now, I loved this move by the Rams. A lot. Especially considering it puts Suh alongside Aaron Donaldand under the tutelage of Wade Phillips. That's a recipe for large-scale game-wreckage. But this is Suh's last chance to show he's still a bona fide star, the kind of centerpiece teams fight over in free agency.
Suh became the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history three offseasons ago, signing a six-year, $114 million contract with the Dolphins, but Miami cut bait halfway through the megadeal. The DT signed a one-year, $14 million deal with the Rams in March. Will he still be able to command big bucks next offseason at age 32? Well, this spot in L.A. is dreamy. But if it doesn't work ...
It's borderline amazing that one of the most talented teams in the NFL is quarterbacked by Blake Bortles. In 2016, Bortles' biggest problem was the forward pass -- as in, he was terrible at it. Kind of tough when that's your quarterback. Sure, he showed improvement last season, and played quite well at Pittsburgh in the Divisional Round. But when it mattered on Championship Sunday, the Jaguars staff didn't trust him. Understandably. Do you trust Blake Bortles?
This should be a Super Bowl season for the Jags. Will Bortles allow Jacksonville to maximize the immense talent up and down the roster?
7) Richard Sherman, cornerback, San Francisco 49ers
I love John Lynch bringing this Stanford product back to the Bay. I still think Sherman can play and lead. I think he can show the young Niners the ropes and how to establish a winning culture.
But what if I'm wrong? What if Sherman is a shell of his former self? What if the Achilles isn't the same? What if he lost many steps? The downside -- and Sherman's age (30) -- puts this situation squarely in make-or-break territory.
8) Robert Quinn, defensive end, Miami Dolphins
The long-tenured Ram was dealt to Miami in March. And considering the Rams rightly think they ooze talent and are ready for the Super Bowl, this was an eye-opener.
Quinn was first-team All-Pro in his third NFL season, but hasn't reached double-digit sacks since 2014. The Miami staff seems energized about Quinn's addition. But why? Can Quinn still take over games? This is a huge season for the 28-year-old.
Ingram and Alvin Kamara formed a remarkable 1-2 punch in 2017. But could Kamara take the reins in the season's opening month and run away with them? Not hard to imagine. So Ingram could be auditioning for his next team. And given that he'll turn 29 in December -- one year closer to the dreaded age 30 for running backs -- he better put some great film on tape upon return.
Breaking down PFF's run concepts BY STEVE PALAZZOLO
November 26, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) runs the ball against the New Orleans Saints defense during the first half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
At PFF, we capture the base run concept on every play, helping to add context to how a team’s running game truly attacks opposing defenses. While NFL teams have various names and techniques for each of their running plays, we capture the general concept on each play and that information has become a crucial piece of weekly game planning from our 32 NFL team customers. In addition to the basic concept, we have a variety of extra “tags” that add a layer of detail to capture what each core blocker is doing on the play.
Here’s a look at the various run concepts we track on a play-by-play basis.
[Editor’s note: the play diagrams below are visual representations of actual plays that occurred during the 2017 season using PFF’s proprietary data collection and play-drawing technology.]
Also known as a “stretch” play, the outside zone play is designed to get the defense moving laterally, challenge the edge of the run defense and hit the hole where the defense is at its weakest. The running back takes a wide track, looking to stretch the edge of the defense and he is generally reading the playside edge defender to determine whether or not he should continue his path or “cut back” against the grain as the interior of the defense is being moved laterally.
Outside zone can and will hit anywhere, playside and backside, and it’s crucial that the running back read his keys decisively while relying on only one quick cut to his desired hole. Because the play can hit anywhere along the offensive line, back-side blocks are critical to ensure that there are holes for the running back to hit if he has to take the ball inside or even all the way to the back side of the play.
The inside zone is more of a downhill play compared to outside zone, and it will generally look for the running back to hit a hole in between the tackles, though many plays still hit outside the tackles due to the flow of the defense. Like the outside zone, there are multiple gaps in which the play can hit, though the running backs read the defensive tackles, rather than starting with the defensive end, to determine where to take the ball.
Due to the angle in which the offensive line fires off the ball, the inside zone play will often “cut back” as offensive linemen look to create both vertical and horizontal displacement along the defensive front. Linemen must communicate effectively as their blocking assignment is heavily dependent on the defensive alignment, and they’ll look to double team, if possible, before finding their predetermined second-level assignment. Backside blocks are crucial on inside zone plays as the ball cuts back often.
In PFF terms, any play that features a single pulling offensive lineman from the backside of the play to the front side of the play is considered “power,” though there are certain versions of the play that will feature different terminology in every playbook. Power features a series of blocks on the front side of the play, looking to clear out the first level of the defense while a backside puller comes through to clean up the rest.
Unlike zone plays, power plays have a predetermined point of attack and it’s more dependent on multiple clean blocks in order to give the running back room to operate. While the running back on a zone play is often reading the defense and making a quick, decisive cut, he must exhibit good patience when running power in order to allow his blocking to set up before running away from the leverage of the defense.
Due to the blocks up front that take the defense in one specific direction, cutting back on power is generally not advised as the running back is often running right into the flow of the defense, despite holes that appear enticing when watching plays in slow motion.
However, the cutback on power is a weapon when used against fast-flowing linebackers who are too quick to jump to their play-side gap. Back-side blocks are less important on power plays as the ball should stay on the front side and most backside defenders will be holding their ground in order to keep gap integrity.
Counter plays are very similar to power plays though in PFF’s definition, there is a second blocker coming from the backside to the playside. There is still a backside puller, however on counter, the puller will generally get to the hole first, while the fullback will get to the hole first on power. Much like power, the point of attack is predetermined and the front side blockers are looking to clear out the defensive line to give room for the puller and the running back to run through the hole.
Think double teams and vertical displacement as the offensive line is looking to create movement through multiple double teams while the running back takes the ball away from the middle linebacker. The edges of the defense will often collapse in this run concept, making room for a quick cut to the outside if the middle linebacker gets sucked inside or even slowed up by strong double teams up front. If the middle linebacker stays outside, the running back can jam the ball up the middle behind the double-team blocks.
It’s a trap! Just as it sounds in the name, trap plays are looking to catch a defender off guard, most often a down lineman who is looking to penetrate upfield. But allowing him to come free, often to his surprise, while using a pulling guard to wash him out of the play, offenses are able to get two offensive linemen to the second level cleanly.
A well-executed trap is one of the prettiest plays in football, though it loses effectiveness if defenders have an idea that it could be coming. When used at the right time, it’s an easy way to create and open gap while giving the running back a clear path into the secondary.
Outright odds on the World Cup will be updated after the completion of the Group games on Thu, Jun 28 2018. Odds will be available until the 1st knockout game on Sat, Jun 30. I plan on posting basic 1, X, 2 odds on all knockout games and a full Correct Score and HT-FT service from the semi-final stage.
Age has nothing on Jerry Rice. Last August, 13 years after retiring from the NFL, the GOAT receiver -- who's still the league's all-time leader in receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895) and touchdown catches (197) -- showed up to 49ers practice and proved he still had wheels. Now, at 55, he's using the Body Issue to prove he's still got the muscles to match. Hallie Grossman caught up with Rice to talk about the hard work required to outrun time.
I think I'm more muscular now than when I played football. I'm working hard on it. So many athletes just let themselves go after they stop competing. That was something I didn't want to do.
When it comes to training, I change it up a lot because I don't want the body to get used to a certain thing. That's really what CrossFit brings to the game. There are so many exercises you can do. And as long as you can mix everything up, and you don't do the same thing over and over, your body is not going to adjust and your body is going to continue to burn the rest of the day.
It was kettlebells today. I did three sets of 20, then three sets of 20 squats. And after every set, I go for a 400-meter run. I do one lap around the track, and then I come back and I do the second set. Then I go do another lap around the track. So I'm incorporating getting my heart rate up but also some running in between.
So tomorrow for me may be, like, 30 box jumps and then 20 burpees. So you got 30 box jumps, 20 burpees, then you go for another 400 run. You do three sets of that. The next day, it might just be a jump rope day, where I do 100 jump ropes. Then I work my way down to 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, then 10. Just changing everything up.
A lot of people don't focus on getting their heart rate up. About 30 minutes into a run or something like that, their heart rate is just getting up. Now they're like, "OK, I'm done." So they're not going to burn as much. But I can get my heart rate up real fast and do a lot of kettlebells, do a lot of box jumps, do a lot of wall balls, just stuff like that. Burpees. You would be amazed what that can do to you because you work an area of muscle in your body to jump down, get back up, something very similar to what we did in football.
The only thing I look back on is how I performed in the fourth quarter. A lot of players are tired in the fourth quarter, and they can't fight through that pain. But I had sacrificed so much during the offseason in the way I trained, I could endure that and still focus on what I had to accomplish. I think it was because of my conditioning.
During the offseason, I didn't take any time off. And I played this game for over 20 years. So right after the season, I would go right back into my regimen. We had this hill that was about 21/2 miles up and 21/2 down, and it was very challenging. ...
The last 800 meters is straight uphill. So you've got to think about this -- you're exhausted, but you have another 800 meters to go, and it's straight uphill. It's going to push you to all limits. But that pain got me ready for the fourth quarter. I think that's the reason why I did my best work during the fourth quarter. It's because of the hill, that last 800 meters.
For me, staying athletic and taking care of my body started a long time ago, when I was a sophomore in high school. I just started running. In Mississippi, it was like 100 degrees out. I would go out and run 5 miles. And my mom asked, "Son, why are you running out here in this hot weather?" And I told my mom, "I don't know, but I'm doing this for some reason."
Playing football was my destiny. This is how I started playing: I was playing hooky one day, and the coach and the principal walked up behind me. They scared me and I ran, and they noticed I could run really fast. They wanted me to come out for the football team. So I went out for the team, and I was not the most gifted athlete.
But I just felt, if it was something that I worked at, maybe I could become a starter. And I started to work, and I became a starter. And then I went off to Mississippi Valley State. Then I got drafted to the NFL. At that time when I was running my sophomore year in high school, I didn't know the reason why I was running, but that was my destiny.
I don't diet. I'll eat fish, I'll eat baked chicken, pasta, beans. When the body is telling you, "You need to indulge in something," you need to give the body what it wants. If that's some ice cream or a candy bar or some type of dessert, I'll just go ahead and indulge. After that I get right back on my regimen.
When I look in the mirror, I can say that I know there's room for improvement. As long as there's room for improvement, you're going to keep pushing yourself. But I'm always looking. I want to trim down a little bit more in my waist. I want to get a little bit bigger on top. But overall I want everything to balance out.
I don't want to have a big body, small waist and skinny legs. That just doesn't send a good picture for me. I try to balance everything out. Today was all about upper body. Tomorrow will be about lower body. Stuff like that.
I think if you go through the history of my playing, I always excelled. Now, was I the best athlete? I would never say that. Or the best-conditioned athlete? I would never say that. But I use that as an incentive to push myself, and I think that's why I played for such a long time.
I used to joke around about this: I'd say, "I play the game a little scared." And when you play the game a little scared, people are going to have a hard time catching you. Because you have the tendency to run just a little bit faster [laughs].
I went out and I practiced with the [49ers] football team last year. The young guys could not believe that after playing a game for 20 years, and being out of the game for 15 years or something, my body knew what to do -- that I could run routes, that I could catch the ball, that I can beat them off the line of scrimmage and do all those things. I think that really impressed them. But because I never got out of shape, my body just knew what to do the second I put on those football shoes.
I still feel like today, if I wanted to come back to football and play football, I could do it, at the age of 55. I'm one of those guys that I still believe that if I wanted to, I could come back, catch over 80 balls and really be productive on the field. ... I think I'm still explosive, and I think I still can beat up on some defenses.
Which team has the best fans in the NFL? Why, yours, of course, because they’ve got you. But if we go on more than gut feelings, there are some statistical and economic models that can tell us exactly which fanbases claim the title of Best in the NFL. Emory University has released its latest ranking of NFL fans, and the results are certain to enrage you … unless you’re a Dallas fan. Let’s dig in.
The best & worst NFL fans
So with that in mind — more details to follow — we’ll cut right to the chase:
The top five are unchanged from last year, and you could have probably guessed them even without fancy statistical models. The bottom five, too, aren’t much of a shock, with the exception of the Chiefs, who apparently have a deep but not broad fanbase. (Yes, Chiefs fans, we know that you and everyone you know is a Chiefs fan; you told us this last year when you ranked dead last.)
The complete list is below, but for now, let’s take a moment to see how Emory arrived at these rankings.
How do you measure a fanbase?
Figuring out the “best” fanbases is a dicey endeavor. “First, we have to decide what we mean by ‘best,'” Lewis writes. “What makes for a great fan or brand? Fans that show up even when the team is losing? Fans that are willing to pay the highest prices? Fans that are willing to follow a team on the road or social media?
Even after we agree on the question, answering it is also a challenge. How do we adjust for the fact that one team might have gone on a miraculous run that filled the stadium? Or perhaps another team suffered a slew of injuries? How do we compare fan behavior in a market like New York with fans in a place like Green Bay?”
Lewis’s model averages three measurements of fan loyalty: Fan Equity, Social Equity, and Road Equity. If your team isn’t as high as you’d like, chances are it fell short in one of these three areas:
Fan Equity: How much fans spend on their team, at the ticket office and on memorabilia/regalia. (Best: Cowboys, 49ers, Patriots; worst: Rams, Raiders, Jaguars)"
Social Equity: How passionate fans are in following their teams on social media across all channels. (Best: Patriots, Cowboys, Steelers; worst: Rams, Jaguars, Titans)
Road Equity: How well teams draw on the road, adjusting for their win-loss record. (Best: the NFC East, Pittsburgh; worst: Texans, Titans, Browns)
“The good news for [teams at the low edge of the spectrum] is that on-field success is the best way to create brand equity and fan loyalty,” Lewis writes. “The bad news is that it takes a good amount of success to move the needle long-term.”
In what many felt was a tight contest this season, Simmons took home the honor at the NBA Awards show Monday night as he was chosen top rookie over Mitchell and Boston's Jayson Tatum.
To show how much things have changed for the average Rams fan since the arrival of Sean McVay, the headline for this thread made me think "well duh." I'm thinking more "5 reasons why the Rams will win the Super Bowl in 2018."
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Five reasons why the Rams will make the 2018 NFL playoffs ByAdam Rank
The Los Angeles Rams were one of the surprise hits of the 2017 NFL season. A true Hollywood story about a rags-to-riches underdog overcoming the odds to make the playoffs. Some might say there wasn't a Hollywood ending, as the team lost its first playoff game -- the first playoff game in Los Angeles since 1994.
But actually, that would fall in line more with some famous sports movies like "Major League," in which the protagonists won the AL East, but the story pretty much ended there. (The sequel alluded to the Indians losing to the White Sox in the ALCS.)
So, what is in store for the Rams' 2018 sequel? I'm saying another trip to the playoffs. Here are five reasons why:
1) Sean McVay, Year 2
The Rams' offense was awful in 2016. Although "awful" doesn't seem like a strong enough adjective to describe it. I'd hate for the merely awful offenses in NFL history to be lumped in with what was going on in Los Angeles that year. That offense looked like a dilapidated home you'd see on "Flip or Flop" -- or any other house-flipping show that will take up an entire weekend if you get sucked in.
But you know how those shows end: Some hipster, with his haircut, will show up and turn that fixer-upper into the glowing centerpiece of the neighborhood. Which is pretty much what wunderkind coach Sean McVay did with this Rams' offense last fall.
The Rams scored a paltry 224 points Jeff Fisher's last year at the helm -- and I have to be honest, it never seemed possible they scored that many points, even though it was indeed the lowest sum in football. In McVay's first year on the job? A league-leading 478 points last year. It's hard to believe that it was even the same house, because it looked nothing like the previous version.
Here's the chilling thing for the rest of the NFC: There is room for improvement.
McVay was learning the head-coaching ropes and installing a brand-new offense last year. Now he gets a full offseason for tinkering, making posters and T-shirts with inspirational messages and all of the stuff that pushed the Rams to the top of the division last year. This offense is going to be a lot of fun, and it's just getting started.
2) Jared Goff, Year "2"
I know that Goff is technically his third season, but that first year shouldn't count. It should be viewed in the same way we view "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" today: It never happened. (Although, re-watching with my child, AOTC is much, much worse.) The point is, Goff didn't have a head coach he could lean on. His quarterbacks coach in 2016 was Chris Weinke, who, I suppose, could be the coaching iteration of Jar Jar Binks. That all changed last year.
Goff looked like a first overall selection last year. He passed for 3,804 yards, 28 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. That's an Aaron Rodgers-like TD-to-INT ratio. Of course I'm not comparing him to Rodgers -- although it would be easy, with the Cal background -- just pointing out that having close to 30 TDs and single-digit picks is pretty damn hard to do.
And he's starting to get buzz this offseason for the MVP race, which is amazing to think about if you ever watched the Rams two seasons ago. Or "Hard Knocks." Never bring up his role in "Hard Knocks."
3) Todd Gurley's a nightmare in this offense
Maybe Gurley is the best comparison to the "Star Wars" franchise because his second chapter was completely regrettable and forgettable. Though Gurley was a better actor in those burger commercials than Hayden Christensen was as Darth Vader. Don't get mad at me, you know it's true. I mean, Gurley was given better dialogue to work with.
In any event. Gurley also emerged in the post-Fisher world with the best season of his young NFL career. He amassed more than 2,000 scrimmage yards, nabbing Offense Player of the Year honors. His biggest improvement came as a receiver out of the backfield. Now, Gurley did have 43 receptions in 2016, but most of those were dump-off passes or acts of desperation from Goff and Case Keenum.
With McVay using Gurley as a designated receiving weapon last year, the running back piled up 64 receptions for 788 yards and six touchdowns. The Rams coaching staff believes he can improve on those numbers this season, and I'm into it.
4) The New World Order
As noted above, the magic of last season came to a screeching halt in the playoffs. Atlanta hit Wild Card Weekend with postseason poise, a team fresh off a Super Bowl run. The Rams were more like the guy whose friends told him he was funny, so he decided to try out an open mic and froze in front of the microphone, then melted under the searing heat of the lights. It's cool. It happens to a lot of people. Credit the Rams for addressing that issue with an aggressive offseason.
L.A. brought in Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. Savvy roster management on two levels. Both are good football players, duh. In fact, the Rams now have one of the best cornerback duos in the league. Not to mention, Talib has worked (swimmingly) with defensive coordinator Wade Phillips before, so he brings some respect into the locker room.
But most importantly -- at least to me -- this duo brings true swagger into the building. If you have a high-flying offense, you don't want to be soft. The Kobe/Shaq Lakers at least had Robert Horry and Ron Harper ready to throw down. Make sure nobody is going to get pushed around.
Maybe a better way to look at it would be WCW in the mid-1990s. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were much better than the previous WWF refugees who had jumped down south. They were in their prime and oozing with attitude. That was huge.
But it needed one more thing to bring it home. For WCW, it was the Hollywood Hogan heel turn. Los Angeles brought in Ndamukong Suh. This is a New World Order for the Rams right here, brother.
5) This team is built to win now
There are a lot of good things going on with the Rams right now. For starters, you have to love the young core. Goff, Gurley, Brandin Cooks and ... Wait a minute: How good was the Rams' offseason when Cooks is only being mentioned here, in the final section of this piece?!
You also have your young standouts on defense, too. Aaron Donald. I mean, we haven't even talked Aaron Donald yet! I know there is the looming specter of a contract holdout, but he's not going to miss the whole year. He's going to join the mix. And he's going to be thrown in with the nWo of Talib, Peters and Suh.
You put this mix together, and it's reminiscent of the Broncos from a few years ago. Actually, a better comparison might be the 1990s Cowboys. They slowly, methodically built over a few years. Dismissed an old-school coach and brought in some veteran leadership to a young nucleus. The Ramsare going to be a nice team this year. They will be in the playoffs. Book it.
NFL Supplemental Draft to take place on July 11 By Logan Reardon
The 2018 NFL Supplemental Draft will take place on Wednesday, July 11 at 1 p.m. ET, per NFL spokesman Michael Signora.
Former Mississippi State DB Brandon Bryant, former Western Michigan CB Sam Beal and ex-Virginia Tech CB Adonis Alexander are three of the top prospects available. Bryant and Beal are said to have "draftable talent," per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.
Alexander held a pro day for 26 teams on June 20, Bryant held his pro day for teams on Monday morning and Beal is expected to host teams this Thursday.
If a team selects a player in the supplemental draft, it is forced to surrender a draft pick of the same round it selects the player in the following year's NFL draft. Any player who goes undrafted immediately becomes a free agent.
No player has been picked in the NFL Supplemental Draft since Isaiah Battle in 2015 by the Rams. Outside of Battle, who is now with the Seattle Seahawks, Terrelle Pryor (2011) and Josh Gordon (2012) are the only other active players who were taken in the Supplemental Draft.
Everybody Wants to Talk to Lincoln Riley The Oklahoma coach’s schemes and coaching style have impressed the NFL—which is why plenty of folks around the league have been visiting Norman this offseason. Plus, inside the Cowboys’ youth movement, the Rams rookies get an immersion, first look at the scouting grades for the 2019 draft seniors, and more By Albert Breer
THE ROOKIE IMMERSION
The NFL abolished the old rookie symposium after 2015, and this is third year of its replacement—the rookie transition program, which is run by each individual team. The idea was to be more inclusive—the old symposium only included draft picks—and allow teams to tailor the process to introduce players to their new homes.
So that’s really most of what was happening in the NFL last week, with the majority of coaches, scouts and football executives taking off for their pre-training camp vacations. You might have seen some of the rookie programs on social media. The Redskins and Ravens rookies went to Top Golf together. The Niners rookies did work at a Habitat for Humanity site. The Cowboys rookies went to Six Flags. The Titanstoured Nashville.
And the Rams went through a comprehensive few days after the vets broke for summer, part of a month-long process the team runs for its rookies. A lot of it goes back to when the team was in St. Louis and Jeff Fisher was coach. The foundation is a financial literacy program every rookie has to complete before signing his first contract and getting his first check, a piece that tends to make an immediate impact on guys.
“I already opened up another line of credit,” said fifth-round pick Micah Kiser the other day. “I’m already active on creditkarma.com, checking my money, what I’m spending my money on, actively paying my bills—that was the biggest takeaway for me. How can I take the little chunk of change I have now, and ultimately help that grow and make it something greater, not only in the long run, but also in the short term?”
There are also 15 league-mandated topics teams have to cover—league policy, social responsibility, mental health, etc. From there, Rams director of player engagement Jacques McClendon wanted to focus on making sure all these guys in their early 20s got a grasp on the advantages they’d have living and working in the nation’s entertainment capital and second-largest city. Here are some examples:
Dodgers game. The players got an all-access tour of Dodger Stadium and personalized Dodgers jerseys before a Saturday night game against the Giants on the 15th, then took in the action from the Dodgers’ suite as a guest of owner Peter Guber, who also owns a piece of the Warriors. The idea? The power of networking.
“I told the guys, you know how much people would pay to be right next to this guy?” McClendon said. “And five or six of them went and had conversations, trying to pick his brain, how he got to where he’s gotten, how he’s been so successful, Peter Guber. So it was just awesome for those guys to see. You have access that other people don’t have, so why would you not leverage it?”
NFL Network meetings. Officials from the league office and the league’s network met with the Rams and Chargers rookies on the 17th on the Culver City campus— McClendon wanted to emphasize there was a platform there for them—before the two teams went to Lucky Strike for a bowling competition.
“The league office came in to explain that, for one, when the media is with you, it’s great for you to talk to them,” McClendon said. “But on the other hand, the league is here to amplify their voice. So whatever they want to do, whatever their passions may be, the league office is there to support those ventures, and they can use them as a tool and a resource to do well.”
Dinner. On Wednesday the rookies wrapped up the program with a dinner at Rams legend Eric Dickerson’s house. The night before they ate at Wood Ranch Restaurants CEO Eric Anders’s house. Again, the idea was to show the players everything they have right down the street in Southern California.
“Here’s a guy who’s an entrepreneur, has 17 restaurants in the area with a couple more set to open up, so that was an opportunity to see how he’s been successful,” McClendon said. “So you saw five or six guys exchange info with him, and pick his brain on how he’s been so successful. And at Eric Dickerson’s house, talk to him about how he was so successful as a player, and made sure he was on top of his game at all times.”
Branding. On Tuesday, Jeremy Darlow, ex-head of football marketing for Adidas spoke at the team’s facility to the rookies about the importance and power of what they say and how they come off publicly.
“He came and said to the guys, ‘OK, how do you approach social media?’ ” McClendon said. “Social media can be a tool for you to get what’s next. If you’re telling a story over social media, if you’re tweeting the right way, Instagram story-ing the right way, you might get a sponsorship, you might get a job. Guys just tweet outlandish stuff and put themselves in harm’s way by not watching what they tweet.”
Beach workout. Another aspect that was uniquely LA, and aimed towards players taking ownership of their careers: Rams director of performance Ted Rath put them through a rigorous competition-driven workout, but also spoke to them about recovery, and the team drove that point home with a yoga session.
“I had no clue of how to take care of my body when I played,” McClendon said. “Our performance team, Ted Rath, Reggie Scott, all the people that work with them, have been able to teach these guys—your body is Lamborghini, it needs premium gas. So it’s teaching these guys the tricks of trade so their bodies will last.”
And there was a sobering session too, when Rams senior personnel executive Brian Xanders, the former Broncos GM, spoke to the rookies about the reality that a good chunk of them would be gone at the end of August, while giving them a road map for how to handle the worst-case scenario if it were to come. That, of course, is the idea of program as a whole, as McClendon sees it—making sure his players are ready for whatever might come
“One thing we do, we care about the man,” said McClendon, who lasted seven years on and off NFL rosters. “And if you care about the man, and you make him a more complete man, he’s a less distracted football player and he’s going to perform optimally. I feel like that’s what we do here. We truly care about these guys, and that makes my job easier, because that comes from the top, not just from me.”
---------------------------------------------------- SCOUTING THE SENIORS
Every summer, National Football Scouting produces grades on the following year’s college seniors for teams, as a sort of kickoff to the evaluation process. The value of the grades is up for debate—they’re done by scouts looking to break into the league, by definition guys not nearly as qualified as those who’ll make the decisions next April. And of course, leaving out underclassmen makes the list pretty incomplete.
But the grades can provide a road map. So this week I was able to get a list of the eight highest-graded seniors on the NFS list, and I figured we’d roll it out here and give you a quick line on each guy. If you’re interested in a few players to keep an eye on in the fall, here you go (in alphabetical order):
Trey Adams/Getty Images
Trey Adams, OT, Washington: He’s 6’8” and 327 pounds, entering his fourth year as a starter, and was first-team All-Pac-12 for the conference champs in 2016. If it hadn’t been for a torn ACL in October, he might have come out this year. Adams sat out spring but is expected to be ready for fall camp in August.
Adonis Alexander, CB, Virginia Tech: Academic woes pushed his process forward, and the Seattle-type corner is now one of three players entered into the July 11 supplemental draft. If not for maturity issues, he might have been a Day 2 pick had he declared for the 2017 draft. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s taken in a couple weeks.
Zach Allen, DE, Boston College: Overshadowed by star teammate Harold Landry the last couple years, the 6’3”, 285-pounder was one of only two defensive linemen in the country with 100 tackles in the 2017 season, and he led the Eagles with six sacks in his first year as a starter.
Deandre Baker, DB, Georgia: Size is an issue, but he’s played a lot of football at a blueblood program, starting the last two years and emerging in 2017 as an All-SEC player. He led the Bulldogs in pass breakups and was second on the team in interceptions, one of which came in the national title game against Alabama.
Austin Bryant, DE, Clemson: You’re going to hear a lot about the Clemson defensive line in the weeks to come, and Bryant may have been a first-rounder if he’d come out last year. As it is, he returns after posting a consensus All-America season in 2017, one in which he had 8.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for a loss.
Ryan Finley, QB, N.C. State: Finley is still trailing underclassmen like Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham and Missouri’s Drew Lock in the minds of scouts I talk to, and there are questions about his personality and what kind of teammate he is. That said, he’s talented and was awfully efficient during his junior year. So we’ll see.
Bryce Love, RB, Stanford: Doak Walker winner. Lombardi Award winner. Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year. Heisman finalist. Everyone’s first-team All-America. Rushed for more yards (2,118) last year than his predecessor, Christian McCaffrey, ever did in a single season. And he stayed in school because … he likes school. There are questions about size and his passing-game ability. But he sure has produced.
Christian Wilkins, DT, Clemson: This true senior’s decision to stay in school was even more of a stunner than Bryant’s call to do the same. One of the most disruptive players in college football, Wilkins was an All-America last year. He’s also been known to backflip, among other freakishly athletic feats the 300-pounder has pulled off.
So there’s a start for you, with one other note to get you ready: If last year was about the quarterbacks, this year will be about the guys hunting them. Wilkins and Bryant are joined on the Clemson front by Dexter Lawrence (a top-of-the-draft DT prospect) and Clelin Ferrell, and Houston’s Ed Oliver, Ohio State’s Nick Bosa, Michigan’s Rashan Gary and Mississippi State’s Jeffery Simmons will also likely be part of a defensive line crop that could populate half the top 10 picks.
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Lincoln Riley doesn’t need a reminder. He saw it, just like you did: Quarterback takes the snap near the goal line, flips it to the back, who flips it to a receiver, who presses the goal line, steps back and floats the ball to the waiting, and open, quarterback for a touchdown, just before halftime.
Philly Special? Nope.
This was actually at the Rose Bowl, a month earlier. And it was Baker Mayfield, not Nick Foles, carrying it out, then making the catch. So when the Oklahoma coach saw Foles and Corey Clement and Trey Burton pull off something similar (the biggest difference was a direct snap to Clement) in Super Bowl LII, he could laugh a little, and watch his phone light up with others who made the correlation.
Now, here’s the really interesting part: It was far from the only thing out there on the US Bank Stadium turf that rang a bell for the 34-year-old offensive guru who has captured the imagination of the NFL.
“There were a couple in that game that looked a little familiar, which was good,” Riley said from his office on Thursday. “But hey, we’ve taken things from people too. I’m not saying anyone took it directly from us. There aren’t too many brand-new schemes out there. It’s how you package it, put it together. There’s only so many things you can do with 11 guys.
“But yeah, it was fun to see. The Super Bowl looked like one of our games on a Saturday. It’s kind of fun to see the gap really narrow between the two levels.”
There’s an evolution (not a revolution) happening in the NFL, and one that’s been on the come for a while. You saw it with option concepts installed by Kyle Shanahan in D.C. and Greg Roman in San Francisco and run by Robert Griffin III and Colin Kaepernick a half-decade ago. Chip Kelly’s hire in Philadelphia was a part of the evolution, to be sure, and a lot of Kelly’s concepts are in the NFL now to stay.
And now Riley is to NFL coaches what Kelly once was—the guy so many of them want to meet, talk ball and trade info with. So chances are that come fall, what you see on Sundays across the league will look a little more like Oklahoma.
In this week’s summer vacation edition of the MMQB, we’re going to jump into the Cowboys’ rebuild-on-the-fly of the last two years, dig a little deeper into Jameis Winston’s suspension, explain how the NFL’s new rookie transition program works for one team (and that’s actually really cool), and get you an early look at how the 2018 college seniors are being graded by the national scouting services.
But we’re starting in the college town that’s become an unlikely destination travel spot for NFL people over the last six months: Norman, Okla.
Thirteen months ago Riley wasn’t even a head coach there yet. In 14 games since, his Sooners are first nationally in total yards (8,114), yards per play (8.29), touchdowns (80), yards per game (579.6) and passing efficiency (202.67 college passer rating), while averaging 5.6 yards per rushing attempt. And since Riley arrived as Bob Stoops’s coordinator in 2015, OU is first in passing efficiency, completion percentage, points per game and total offense.
We’ve seen cartoonish numbers at the college level before, though. What’s separated Riley is the way he systemically and aggressively stresses defenses at every level, marries his passing game to his running game, and makes something that is simple enough to allow players to play at breakneck speed at the same time so complicated for opponents.
When I asked one NFL head coach about OU’s system, he answered, “I like it a lot. His players know what they’re doing, and his plays complement each other. He gets the quarterback lots of easy yards and completions.” Another head coach added, “The way he mixes tempo and attacks people, love it.” And so guys like these have come to campus, either as part of normal scouting or on special recon trips, with questions.
“You do see the difference in the interest, a dramatic difference,” Riley said. “I’d say in all the years at Texas Tech, all the years at East Carolina and the first couple years here, I had a true football discussion with maybe one NFL team. The interest in people reaching out to do that has changed a lot. And that’s probably due to some of the players we had, and how much they were studied.
“But also, you see what’s going on around the league, and offensively, it’s trending a lot more towards what you see on Saturdays.”
What have they picked up? Well, Riley was careful to say that he’s gotten as much as he’s given: “As long as there’s been ball, coaches have shared with guys they trust or guys where they feel like they can get something out of it as well.” But there’s no question that NFL people have benefited from these visits, and in a few very clear ways.
Making the most of your time. That whole thing about making the easy look hard? It’s especially important in an era when NFL coaches’ time with players is limited, a dynamic college coaches have dealt with forever under the NCAA’s 20-hour rule.
“The thing we’ve found here is you can’t have too much in schematically,” Riley said. “You’ve got your time you feel like you’ve got to spend on fundamentals, you’ve got your time you feel like you’ve got to spend on schematics. And when there’s less time to work, you’ve got to decide what your priorities are, understand if you add something from somewhere you’re probably taking it from somewhere else.
“It just makes you nail down your priorities. And as you go through the season, you’ve got to be willing stick to them.”
Implementing and defending RPOs. Here’s something that’s been happening all over the country this offseason: NFL coaches visiting and talking to college coaches to learn more about read-pass options. And it’s not just offensive coaches wanting to crib concepts. It’s also defensive coaches looking for ways to slow them.
“We’re not a huge RPO team here at Oklahoma,” Riley said. “There’s a lot of teams collegiately that do it much more than we do. But the RPOs, you never saw it, not nearly as much in the league as you see right now.
You watch the Super Bowl, and a good majority of what the Eagles did was RPO-based. Some of the run schemes have carried over, some of the tempo has carried over, and the aggressiveness in play-calling and schemes, just from a general standpoint, has carried over.”
Making fewer routes add up to more. This goes back to getting players playing fast, and making the most of the time coaches have with them by shifting the burden from the players to the coaches—with players getting really good at a smaller number of things, then weaponizing those elements creatively by dressing plays up in different ways through formations and motion.
One way Riley sees that approach coming to life with NFL coaches is in how they teach their receivers routes.
“I think route-wise, you see it a little bit more, kind of what we’re doing here, maybe teams are trying to narrow down and focus in on a few routes, where they get more comfortable, as opposed to what it was,” Riley said. “In the past when you had damn near unlimited hours with these guys from an NFL perspective, your play sheets, the amount of stuff you put in, you’d have all the time in the world to do it.”
There are differences between the two levels, of course. We wrote last summer on the explosion of the read-option, and how it had settled to maturity as an NFL concept. It can be a very powerful club in your bag—it just can’t be the only club in your bag. The same goes for the RPO game and other concepts long derided as “college.” They can be very effective pieces of what you do, but not all you are.
That said, the trend to learn and implement from the college game is only growing, based on the guest list that Oklahoma and other schools boasted this spring. It makes sense, too, in that this is where the NFL gets its players from and, as a result, plenty of them have experience with these schemes going into the pros. And Riley, for now at least, happens to be at the forefront of all of it.
“The two teams in the NFL that look the most like us, or several other college teams, were the two teams playing in the Super Bowl,” Riley said, “so when people are having success with it, that’s not going to slow down.” Riley credits coaches like Pats coordinator Josh McDaniels and Eagles coach Doug Pederson for adapting certain run-action (in New England’s case) and RPO (in Philly’s case) looks to the pros.
“It says a lot—it shows they’re willing to do whatever it takes,” Riley said. “It shows they’re willing to adapt to their players, adapt to schemes they’re seeing defensively, adapt to new hour rules. I know it’s not a new rule, but that has made a big difference in the NFL—you can ask anyone. I think it just shows that they’re ahead of curve, and that’s why they’re best in the business.”
And it also says plenty about Riley, that so many NFL coaches have looked to him for help. Would he ever consider taking all this stuff to the league himself? We’ll get to that a little later in the column.
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Dak Prescott gets into the action at Cowboys minicamp earlier this month/AP Images
TRUSTING YOUTH, THE COWBOYS REBUILD FROM WITHIN
Fun fact I stumbled into a few weeks ago: There are only three 30-somethings on the Cowboys’ roster. For a team that just a few years ago relied on aging stars like Tony Romo and Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware, it sure happened quietly.
The 10 highest-paid players on the roster by APY are DeMarcus Lawrence (26), Zack Martin (27), Tyron Smith (27), Travis Frederick (27), Tyrone Crawford (27), La’El Collins (27), Sean Lee (30), Tavon Austin (27), Ezekiel Elliott (22) and Allen Hurns (27). Dak Prescott is 24. And the two guys over 30, aside from Lee, are kicker Dan Bailey and long-snapper L.P. Ladouceur.
What does it mean? Dallas has effectively rebuilt its roster on the fly, without really ever bottoming out, and now it looks like they’re a few things breaking right—young DBs developing; Prescott rebounding; a young receiver, like Michael Gallup, emerging—from being set up nicely for some time to come. Which isn’t bad when you consider half of the eight Pro Bowlers from the 12-4 team of 2014 are gone.
“There’s no question, we feel really good about it,” Dallas COO Stephen Jones said from vacation this week. “I mean [corner] Chidobe [Awuzie], working there with [DBs coach] Kris Richard, Kris believes that Chidobe could play himself into being a really high-end corner. So you throw that in with some really good linebackers in Jaylon [Smith] and [Leighton] Vander Esch working with a seasoned veteran in Lee, and some young pass-rushers.
“And the offense goes without saying, I think we have the best line in football. We have one of the best running backs in football, and I think Dak’s going to pick back up and roll again and have a great year. He can be one of the best in the business. We just feel really good about the foundation.”
And that’s in large part because the Cowboys have drafted really well since 51-year-old senior director of player personnel Will McClay ascended to the top of the team’s scouting side. Eight of the 10 aforementioned moneymakers, and Prescott too, are homegrown. Seven (plus Prescott) were drafted; Collins was a college free agent.
Meanwhile, the closest thing Dallas has had to a first-round bust this decade was 2012 cornerback Morris Claiborne (he’ll make $7 million this year from the Jets), with five first-rounders over that span having made Pro Bowls. We’ll see what becomes of last year’s No. 1, Taco Charlton, and this year’s pick, Vander Esch, but that’s a pretty good track record.
Add the non-first-round hits like Lee, Lawrence and Crawford, players who’ve since departed such as DeMarco Murray and Anthony Hitchens, and undrafted finds like Cole Beasley, and it’s clear how the Cowboys have withstood the gradual attrition of the old core (Ware in 2014, Romo in 2017, Witten and Dez Bryant this year) with only one significant bump, a 4-12 mark in 2015 fueled by Romo’s injury and the Greg Hardy circus.
“We’ve just really drafted well over the last 10 years,” Jones said, “and when that happens, your young players that you draft, you keep them so they can push old players off. That’s what’s happened here. We feel very confident, comfortable that we have players on our roster, young players that are ready to step up and do the job. If you don’t ever give them opportunity, you won’t ever see what you have.”
So that brings us to where the Cowboys are in 2018, and why I think it’s probably not smart to discount them based on the skill-position questions they have. Jones didn’t say this, but others in the building have—Bryant simply wasn’t what he used to be last year, and Witten had lost a step too. The end was coming for those two, one way or the other. And no, there isn’t a pedigreed player waiting at either spot.
What’s there, however, is a roster that’s young and ascending. Leadership will shift. Jones told me that as Martin signed, he told his All-Pro guard, “We need you now more than ever to step up, you and your group, Tyron and Travis. With Jason being gone, y’all are gonna fill that leadership role.” On Prescott, Jones says, “He’s got rare leadership skills,” and he trusts that the quarterback knows it’s time to show it.
But more importantly, he knows they can play.
“One thing that Jerry [Jones] and Will and Jason [Garrett] and I talked about—if you’re gonna be a leader on the team, one of the prerequisites for being a leader is you gotta be a great football player,” Jones said. “Michael Irvin was a leader and also a great player. You don’t see many people that aren’t. Jason Witten was a leader, but a great player. You’ve got to have both in order to lead, and you’ve got to do it both on and off the field.
“As I said, my hat’s off to Will and his staff, and Jason and his staff, in what we’ve been able to accomplish as an organization in terms of our drafting, I do think we drafted quality men who have leadership skills.”
1. I wrote the other day on the Jameis Winston situation, and I don’t have a ton else to add. But I will say that I believe, and others do too, that Winston’s willingness to take the penalty without fightingwould be a factor in the league’s discipline. And I think it’s a factor for Winston too, in that it would allow him to move past the incident fairly quickly.
2. Another rookie to watch from the spring: Broncos second-round wideout Courtland Sutton. Coaches were impressed with his attitude during OTAs and minicamp, and his catch radius enabled more than a couple one-hand catches that caught everyone’s attention. The strength of his hands stood to the staff, as does his size (6’3”, 218), and he’s positioned himself well to compete for playing time in camp.
3. The Saints’ defensive rebirth last year under coordinator Dennis Allen was in large par driven by veteran stars like Cam Jordan and Sheldon Rankins, and instant-impact rookies like Marshon Lattimore and Marcus Williams.
So New Orleans went into the offseason knowing that the core of something really good was in place. And that has to make it all the more heartening to see strong springs from guys like DL David Onyemata, LB Demario Davis and S Vonn Bell, giving the team promise that its second tier will give the unit real growth potential in 2018.
4. I think the league denying Laurent Duvernay-Tardif the chance to put the letters “M.D.” on his name plate ranks among the sillier decisions I’ve seen Park Avenue make. The NFL had an opportunity served up to spotlight a pretty amazing feat by one of its guys—Duvernay-Tardif completed medical school as an active player—and show everyone else how it values those who make the league look good off the field. And somehow, it passed on that.
5. I think if I had to bet on a rookie quarterback starting Week 1 right now, and a lot can happen between now and then, I’d put my money on it being Sam Darnold. The third overall pick has been a quick study through the spring, showing he can absorb and apply the information thrown at him. And the fact that he showed great ability to take hits and compartmentalize mistakes last year at USC mitigates the risk the Jets would take throwing him out there. I’d say there’s a better than 50-50 chance he wins the job outright in camp.
6. Speaking of rookie quarterbacks, worth paying attention to this quote from Ravens LB CJ Mosley on Lamar Jackson: “Once he gets out of the pocket, it’s like watching a young Michael Vick. It’s amazing to watch. When you’re defending him, you just have to act like you’re tagging off—you don’t want to be on the highlight reel.”
That’s not some slappy saying that. It’s a team captain. Someone brought it up to me the other day, and said “it’s over” for Joe Flacco. I wouldn’t go that far. But to hear respected members of the team talk about the rookie that way does put another level of pressure on the 11th-year vet.
7. I wouldn’t rule out Michael Gallup making an impact in Dallas right away. He’s built like a horse (6’1”, 205), and has made some catches in spring that turned heads. And Stephen Jones brought him up to me unprompted when we talked the other day: “He was inconsistent, but he showed why he was highly thought of coming out of college—he made some really rare plays out there. And it should only get better, and his consistency should get better too as he matures.”
8. Back in the fall, it looked like there was a good chance Eli Apple, the 10th pick in the 2016 draft, wouldn’t make it to 2018 with the Giants. But with a new staff in place, Apple has turned over a new leaf, showing a desire to improve and flashing the athleticism that pushed him near the top of the draft in the first place. Put him together with Odell Beckham and a few others, and I think Pat Shurmur has staff has done a really nice job healing the wounds of 2017.
9. So I did ask Lincoln Riley if he has an interest in coaching in the NFL. Here’s his answer: “Hard to say, it would be really difficult to ever leave this place. This place is very invested in me and my family. They gave me a great opportunity, and I think this is one of the best if not the very best job in all of football. So I don’t know.
I really, really enjoy the college game. I don’t know that you can ever say never. I don’t know what the future will hold. But yeah … it’s hard to see myself ever leaving Oklahoma right now.” It’s not hard to see NFL teams trying to pry him loose, though, based on the aforementioned interest in what the Sooners are doing.
10. We mentioned in the lead of the column that what we’re seeing with offensive football is evolution, not revolution. And I made the call on that word after I ran it by Chip Kelly over the weekend. “I don’t think it’s revolutionary,” Kelly said. “I think things trickle-up and trickle-down. And I think when you have good coaches, they don’t try to put a box of what they do.
They say, ‘How do we adapt to what we have?’ And I thought what Doug (Pederson) did last year at Philly was as phenomenal a coaching job as I’ve seen in that way. He adapted from Carson (Wentz) to Nick (Foles). What a great coach does is he puts guys in position to make plays, and that’s what he did with those guys.” Kelly’s point is well-made too here, in that the NFL going to some of these concepts is adaptation to what their feeder system is giving them. We’ll have more from Chip next week.
....So why the heck do I have to look at this tool?!!.....
...everywhere I look it’s this dude with a handful of starts under his belt. I assume it is a regional thing. I am in Northern California. But Jimmyjaw even gets top billing over Derek Carr, or Khalil Mack. Pretty sad. I want to destroy that dude week 7.
So my question, for you guys in Southern Ca. Who is on the cover of all the preview magazines down there? How about you guys in Florida? Reno? Texas, North Carolina, etc? I'd be curious to know.
My guess in Southern Ca...Todd Gurley and Phillip Rivers. It would be nice to hear Goff made it, but my guess is Gurley?
Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. In the late 70's, every guitar teacher on earth taught kids learning to play guitar, segments of this song...Extreme love and overuse of it, killed it for me. We all laughed when a movie scene in a guitar section in a music store, taped a warning: "NO STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN!"
I hardly listen to the old Rock songs anymore, just because there are so many distractions in life now. But today, I thought of the song again and am listening to it now, and it's so fantastic. It took 30+ years of me shunning it whenever possible, until today.
Now, I still can't listen to Slip Slidin' and Away by Paul Simon, after hearing it ALL DAY at the Manteca Water Slides in the 80's.....What are your shunned songs, that you have found yourself liking again...?
One of the first writers I admired. I didn't realize, until recently, he spent the bulk of his adult life paralyzed from the waist down, from a diving accident in college. Charles faced his struggles with dignity, and was always a gentleman in all his dealings, even with those he politically disagreed with.
The Rams win the title by beating (divisional round), (NFC championship), (Super Bowl).
My 3:
Divisional: Cowboys
Championship: Vikings
Super Bowl: Patriots
Avenge the 70s. Avenge 2001.
And I want a Super Bowl blowout...the kind of game that causes beat writers to spend the offseason writing articles about whether the game has passed Belichick by and whether its time for Brady to retire.
When the dust settled after the NFL Draft and Les Snead was finally done wheeling and dealing, the Los Angeles Rams had made 11 picks. Three of them were offensive linemen, and while it’s tough to judge linemen without pads on during offseason work, offensive line coach Aaron Kromer is encouraged by their progress so far.
First was tackle Joseph Noteboom at 89th overall in the third round. Then came center Brian Allen in the fourth, 111th overall. Next came small-school standout tackle Jamil Demby out of Maine in the sixth (192nd overall). Although the Rams return all five starters from last year’s line, the current group might not stick together much longer. All-Pro left tackle Andrew Whitworth is 36, while Rob Havenstein, Jamon Brown and Rodger Saffold are all heading into the last year of their contracts. It makes sense that the Rams wanted to address both tackle and interior line in the draft, and the trio could turn out to be the future protectors of Jared Goff.
Now that the Rams have gotten their initial look at this freshman class through rookie minicamp, OTAs, and regular minicamp, Kromer had some initial thoughts on the three new players and their transition to the NFL during a recent interview with the Rams’ website. Kromer said the trio has done “a great job of learning, understanding why things are happening, and trying to master those techniques.”
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Kromer was signed away from the Bills by coach Sean McVay, who added him as part of his initial Rams staff. After offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur left for the Titans, Kromer was promoted to run game coordinator this past January. Kromer was widely credited with helping the Rams offensive line go from one of the worst in the league to one of the best in just one year. He certainly knows the position well, having coached lines in the NFL since 2001, and likely had some sway in the Rams’ war room on draft day.
Kromer hammered home that the rookies are strictly focused on learning and not actually doing at this point, saying “everything we do is schematics, technique” before the pads come on later this summer. He added that it’s hard to accurately evaluate linemen “until after training camp, during training camp, and during the preseason games when everything really starts happening fast.”
Until then, it’ll be hard to tell what the Rams have in their three new draft picks. But Kromer seemed genuinely excited and bullish about the group’s future during his recent media availability. In an ideal world, none of them will see much playing time this year, but all three could potentially be key contributors down the line.
Any of you out there? My wife has got me going three times a year now. I need some Ramily to hang out with. 9/2/18 is the next one out of Miami for us then 11/25/18.
Anybody going this year?
