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Rams sign Chunky Clements
Posted by Josh Alper on May 21, 2018
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The team announced the signing of defensive tackle Chunky Clements ahead of the first OTA on Monday afternoon.
Clements was undrafted out of Illinois last year and landed with the Texans after spending the summer with the Vikings. Clements bounced between the active roster and practice squad over the course of the regular season and wound up playing in the final two games of the season. He had two tackles and a half-sack, but still got waived in March.
The Rams also added Ndamukong Suh to their defensive tackle group this offseason and Clements will be trying to earn a spot behind him and Donald over the coming months.
The Rams have made a roster move in advance of the fist OTA session on Monday, signing free agent defensive tackle Chunky Clements.
Clements, 23, originally signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois in 2017. Minnesota waived Clements in the roster reduction at the beginning of the regular season. The defensive tackle then spent much of the rest of 2017 with the Texans, going back and forth between the practice squad and the active roster.
The Texans cut Clements on March 21.
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 295 pounds, Clements recorded 26.5 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks in his four years at Illinois. He also recorded three forced fumbles, five passes defensed, and one fumble recovery.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You: Peter King Says Farewell to SI’s Monday Morning QB Twenty-nine years after he was hired at the magazine and 21 years since he started this column, Peter King looks back in gratitude at the people who impacted his career. Memories include Favre, Manning, Brady, Deion, Parcells, Woody and Bailey, Dr. Z, Sgt. McGuire and many more By Peter King
This is my last Monday Morning Quarterback column for the Sports Illustrated franchise, and for the site I founded in 2013, The MMQB. I’ve been thinking about what to write and how to do it for the last couple of weeks. I just kept thinking, What I really want to do is thank people.
Thank you, readers. The way I figure it: I’ve produced about 5.5 million words since 1989—my rough guess is about 4 million words in 21 years of MMQB columns, and about 1.5 million words in the magazine and for The MMQB. In the last couple of weeks, since I announced I’d be leaving this place on June 1, so many of you have reached out to say thanks. I’m humbled. I’m appreciative. There would be no me without you.
Last week, a 30-ish guy on the 3 train on the west side of Manhattan said to me, “I’ve read you since I knew what football was. Thanks for everything.” SI’s reach and influence made that possible. We were good for each other.
Thank you, Mark Mulvoy. In 1989, as managing editor of SI, Mulvoy put his trust in a 31-year-old guy who’d covered the NFL for just five years to write the Inside the NFL column for the magazine. Four months after he hired me, Mulvoy sent me to Philadelphia for the 49ers-Eagles game in September, to do some research on a future 49ers-after-Bill Walsh story.
Joe Montana threw four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, and Mulvoy called me in the press box and said, “You may be writing live,” and when I got back up from the locker room, he called and said, “You’re writing.” And a couple hours later he called and said, “You better have something good—you’ve got the cover.” JOLTIN’ JOE, with Montana on the cover in a classic passer’s pose, and my prose, showed up in 3.1 million American mailboxes four days later.
Thank you, Eddie DeBartolo, for doing what I never knew owners did—in this case, leaping into Ronnie Lott’s arms as the clock ran out that afternoon at the Vet and yelling, “I LOVE YOU RONNIE!” DeBartolo wiped away tears as he told me how he loved this team. I’d see a lot more of that in the coming years.
Thank you, Michael Irvin. “We’re playing in a Sports Illustrated game!” he shouted when I showed up in Texas during the week of a big game in 1991, when the Cowboys started to get good. That Friday afternoon, Irvin said he’d sit for an interview with me, but not at Valley Ranch. We got in his car, and he took me to a strip club, where we talked for an hour. Great interview. Interesting scenery.
Thank you, Jimmy Johnson. For a lot of things. He’s as transparent a coach as I’ve covered in my 29 SI years. The first time we talked extensively, at a seafood place in San Diego in training camp in 1990, Johnson spoke about the pain of his 1-15 rookie season, and he was so candid about how much it sucked that at the end of the evening, perhaps emboldened by four or six Heinekens, he looked me square in the eye and said, “Peter, if you f--- me with this story, I’ll squash you like a squirrel in the road.”
When the Cowboys got good, he was always available. Johnson welcomed me on a pre-draft scouting trip in 1991 on Jerry Jones’s plane, opening up the real reason why the Cowboys were so good in the draft in those days.
He and his minions—Butch Davis, as I recall, was a particularly good campus sleuth—found out which prospects were clean and, more importantly, which ones were not, hopscotching America in the owner’s plane. And he didn’t take himself too seriously. On that trip, a can of Paul Mitchell Freeze ’N Spray Shine hair spray went rolling down the aisle of the plane. All Johnson could do was laugh.
Thank you, Steve Tasker, the most decent great player I have covered.
Thank you, Frank Reich, for the 41-38 comeback to beat Houston in the wild-card playoff game in 1992. Talk about memorable—a backup quarterback erasing a 35-3 lead and winning a playoff game. I recently told Reich the story about the Houston TV guy—when it was 28-3, Oilers, at halftime—who made the nonrefundable airplane reservation for the next week, the next game, at Pittsburgh.
It got to be 35-3 on a bad Reich pick-six in the third quarter, but all he kept thinking about was, “Just one play.” The Bills won in overtime. I waited for everyone to leave the locker room until it was just me and Reich left, talking about the greatest game of a backup quarterback’s life. He called over an equipment man, wanting to see his wife, and said, “Could you bring Linda in?”
And when the door to the locker room opened, they hustled to embrace like they hadn’t seen each other in five years. “I love you,” Linda said, and I bet 15 seconds passed before he said anything. “Praise the Lord,” were Frank Reich’s words. That was a moment.
Heinz Kluetmeier/SI
Thank you, Paul Zimmerman, a friend and a mentor and someone wholly opposite of me. You’re a brawler, a prove-it guy; I’m a peacenik, and my instinct is to trust. He was a crank, oftentimes a total crank. He’s not for everybody. But he was great for me.
He taught me so much. One: Talk to the offensive linemen; there won’t be crowds around them, and they know why everything happens. Two: Avoid the crowds; get your own stuff. Three: Make people earn your trust. Four: Make your own decisions. Forget what others say or write. As you try to find peace in New Jersey a decade after your series of strokes, please know how many people say to me monthly, weekly: “How is Dr. Z? Tell him we miss him.”
Thank you, Deion Sanders. You know what I feel bad about? Not that he and I were once close and I wrote some stuff that royally pissed him off and we didn’t speak for, oh, maybe 10 years. (When times were good, I had his get-through-the-switchboard-at-road-hotels name, which was a tremendous gateway pseudonym to have in those days.)
No—I feel bad that Young America doesn’t know what an incredible story and player Sanders was a quarter-century ago. In August 1992 he was a Pro Bowl cornerback for the Falcons, but he wanted it all. That summer he was a starting outfielder for the Braves, one of the best teams in baseball, and invited me up to his 19th-floor room in Pittsburgh after taking an 0-for-4 collar against Tim Wakefield.
We talked about the big decision he had to make. The Braves would take him as a job-share guy; the Falcons wanted all of him. When I knocked at his door, he greeted me, shirtless, glistening with sweat, bat in hand. He’d been taking swings in front of the mirror in the room, desperate to get out of a mini-slump.
Just so people know. In 1992, Sanders:
• Homered off Orel Hershiser and David Cone during the regular season.
• Returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown against Washington in September.
• Hit .304 with 14 triples and 26 stolen bases in 97 games for Atlanta.
• Had a .588 on-base percentage in four World Series starts against Toronto in October.
• Intercepted two passes against in a game against the Patriots in November.
• Returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown against Tampa in December.
We met at the Super Bowl this past February, and he told me: “Football was my heart. I adored it. Baseball was my challenge. I don’t know if I loved it. I liked it. I wasn’t married to it. Football was my wife. Baseball was my girlfriend. I wish it would have been the opposite. There are chapters in our lives we feel are incomplete. You know, coulda, woulda, shoulda. I still have baseball dreams.”
Thank you, Steve Young, for being the all-time mensch. He walked into an impossible situation—the Man Who Would Succeed Montana—and walked on eggshells for a time as he had to and handled it perfectly. Then he threw six touchdown passes, post-Montana and post-Bill Walsh, to win a world title in Miami in 1995.
I covered Young postgame, and he was so dehydrated that he had to lie down in Miami hotel room and get two IVs from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue unit while family partied in his room. “Joe Who?!” someone in the crowd yelled. Young had the decency to call out, feebly, from the bed: “No, don’t do that. Don’t worry about that. That’s the past.” That’s class.
Thank you, Brent Musberger, for saying this to me on my first night on TV, before the ABC “Monday Night Football” halftime show in a New York studio in September 1994 (I did a couple of minutes at halftime in the 1994 and 1995 seasons): “Don’t worry kid. I’ll take care of you.” He did. Every show.
David Bergman/SI
Thank you, Mike Holmgren and Ron Wolf, for letting me invade your space in Green Bay in 1995 for a week in the life of the Packers. That was one of the all-time enlightening experiences, complete with Brett Favre farting through team meetings (more about Favre in a moment) and a tremendous education in how a game plan is put together.
Thank you, Brett Favre, for being the most compelling person I’ve covered in my 29 years here. This could take a while. In that ’95 week in Green Bay, when I met Favre, he said, “What? Nothing to write about [Drew] Bledsoe this week?” A jab on the media’s love of the New England quarterback. That week, Holmgren told the Packers that I’d be hanging around, and to give me time if I asked. When I asked Favre if I could come to his house one evening, it became three nights in one week.
So … what I found interesting was his tirelessness. I’d be there at 10, 10:30 at night, and I’d be nodding off after a long day, and he was buzzing. Turns out a few months later we knew the reason for the buzzing. He spent 72 days in a drug clinic in Kansas City to get off Vicodin. This weekend, we talked about that, and about the end in Green Bay, and I found out something I never knew: I thought he went to rehab to kick his addictions once. Triple that.
“Oh, I remember that week,” Favre said over the phone. “You thought, ‘Man, this guys’s high on life.’ You didn’t know there was a reason for it. It is really amazing, as I think back, how well I played that year. That was an MVP year for me. But that year, when I woke up in the morning, my first thought was, ‘I gotta get more pills.’ I took 14 Vicodin, yes, one time.
I was getting an hour or two of sleep many nights. Maybe 30 minutes of quality sleep. I was the MVP on a pain-pill buzz. The crazy thing was, I’m not a night owl. Without pills I’d fall asleep at 9:30. But with pills, I could get so much done, I just figured, ‘This is awesome.’ Little did I know [fiancée and now wife] Deanna would be finding some of my pills and when she did, she’d flush them down the toilet.
“I actually went to rehab three times. I saw the most successful, smart people—doctors, professional people—lose it all, ruin their lives. A year or two before you saw me, I went to a place in Rayville, La., just outside Monroe. It was pills then too. Deanna and [agent] Bus [Cook] talked me into it. I didn’t think I had a problem, but they talked me into it. I went for 28 days.
When I got out, I was able to control myself for a while. I wouldn’t take anything for a day or two, and I wouldn’t drink. But I was a binge drinker. When I drank, I drank to excess. So when I went in the second time, to the place in Kansas, I remember vividly fighting them in there.
They said drinking was the gateway drug for me, and they were right, absolutely right, but I wouldn’t admit it. I will never forget one of the nurses. I had it all figured out. I fought with this nurse all the time. I would not admit the drinking problem. At the end she said to me, ‘You’ll be back.’
“I was back. 1998. Guess who was waiting there when I walked in—that same nurse. This time it was strictly for drinking. I didn’t go back to the pills. I admitted my problem, I was in there 28 days, and it worked. When I got out, the toughest thing was the first three months, because I had to change my thought process.
When I played golf before, I realized the only reason I wanted to play was to drink. After a while, instead of thinking, ‘How many beers can we drink in 18 holes?’ I fell into a pattern of what could I do to get good at golf. I realized with each passing day I really didn’t like drinking.”
John Biever/SI
Never thought the conversation would go this way. But that’s Favre. One time, for 90 minutes, we talked Slingblade.” He’d seen the movie once. He knew complete paragraphs of dialog, in that Billy Bob Thornton voice. No wonder Holmgren never worried about Favre learning plays. He had a ridiculous memory.
One more story. Favre did a charity bike ride for Bo Jackson at Auburn, and retired Auburn football coach Pat Dye insisted Favre stay at Dye’s house. Dye took Favre for a house tour. He saw all the trophies and framed pictures, and listened to Dye tell his stories. When the 78-year-old Dye showed him the memorabilia, he said, “Here’s the stuff that really doesn’t matter.”
Favre said to me on Saturday night: “And it hit me. Someday, if I’m lucky, I’m gonna be 78 years old, and the crowd’s not going to be cheering anymore. The roar of the stadium will be long gone. Hopefully, like Pat, I’ll go out and plant a Japanese maple on my property and just live life. Talk to my family, my friends. That was a moment, with Pat, where I thought, ‘So that’s what it’s going to be like.’ And it’s good.”
Thank you, critics. If we can’t take the heat in this modern-media business, and if we can’t admit our mistakes, we should get out.
Probably 5 to 10 percent of each column, at most, is the non-football stuff. The column is the longest pro football column on the internet, by far. If you skip over the non-football stuff, it’s still the longest football column on the internet, by far. So just skip what you don’t like.
Thank you to the loud guy at Eagles camp in 2008. After the Favre retirement/comeback/Packer divorce/Jet comeback, I’d been writing a lot about Favre for weeks, and some guy in Bethlehem, Pa., yelled: “Hey Peter! There’s other guys than Favre in the league!” Good to hear what fans think, and not just the good things.
Thank you, everyone else in the media and on talk radio and in social media who called me on my reporting mistakes on Deflategate and on the Ray Rice story. When we err in the media, we should be called on it, and we should admit our mistakes. When I talk to students, I often bring those up. I broke a trust you have in me. To this day, I’m chagrined over it.
Thank you, Don Banks, for being my adviser-in-chief, and for talking me down from some bad ideas, and for telling me there’s another life out there, which I needed to hear. And for the 1957 Ted Williams baseball card.
Thank you, Michael Strahan. We were town-mates for a few years in Montclair, N.J., and Strahan’s door was always open. I had no idea what he’d become, of course, but he, Derrick Brooks, Ronde Barber, Johnny Holland and Richard Sherman were the best I’ve met at explaining the complexities of defensive football. And Strahan told great football stories on top of that.
Thank you, Paul Tagliabue, for emoting (I did see a few tears) the way all of America emoted after 9/11. Sitting in his office at the NFL four days after the towers fell, I’ll never forgot Tagliabue sharing his vivid memory of walking down the streets in midtown Manhattan in the days after the event that changed us all, and smelling the acrid burning smell that wouldn’t go away in New York for days.
Greg Nelson/SI
Thank you, Bill Parcells. He taught me a lot about how football really works. I saw how some of his players didn’t like him treating 53 players all a little bit different. He didn’t care. He just tried to figure a way to get all 53 to play at their peak. I learned this from him: It’s not a one-size-fits-all league.
Thank you, Mike Shanahan and Mike Martz and Matt Millen and Scott Pioli and Thomas Dimitroff and Al Davis (yes, Al Davis), for giving me the peeks behind the curtains of the real game during my mid-career at SI. Theyallowed me to see drafts, game-plan meetings, team meetings (Shanahan gave me a riveting look at Saturday night Broncos team meetings before the ’05 AFC title game) and, in Davis’ case, the ability to see a little bit how his brain worked.
The day before the 2004 draft, Davis showed me his office, which had four big TVs in a diamond shape on the wall opposite his desk. “Basketball, women’s basketball, baseball,” he said. “All the sports.” He loved women’s basketball. He was fascinated with UConn, how everyone was shooting at the Huskies but couldn’t take them down with any regularity. Stupidly, I tried to test Davis, who was 74.
“Got a quiz for you,” I said. “Who took Diana Taurasi with the first pick of the WNBA Draft?”
He made a noise that sounded like Pfffffft. I’m sure Amy Trask and Bruce Allen and Jon Gruden heard it a hundred times. “Oh come on,” Davis said. “That’s easy. Phoenix.”
Thank you, Mike McGuire. I met this active-duty Army sergeant at a St. Louis Cardinals game—he had a PUJOLS jersey on—in 2005 on my training camp tour. He was here to learn some leadership skills at a nearby base before leaving for Iraq, commanding a platoon of 30 men, mostly between 18 and 21. “IED-hunting,” he told me. “Improvised Explosive Devices. Our job is to find them and neutralize them so they don’t kill people.”
Rube that I am, I asked: “I read about people dying every day because of these devices. Aren’t you scared?”
“Well,” he said, “you try not to think of that. I have 30 kids in my platoon to worry about. I’m not scared for me, really. I’m scared for those kids.” All I could think was: I’m going to watch a football practice tomorrow. This guy’s going to learn leadership skills so he can command 30 kids in the most dangerous job on earth.
We kept in touch. A year later, he sent this email, from the front, with the subject line “Pray for my men, Peter—Mike McGuire:”
“How do I start off this letter? 21 Sept 2006 is burned into my mind. I was out with my 1st squad doing a regular sweep of the area when we had to dismount the vehicle and trace wires to a suspected IED. The IED exploded and wounded two of my men very bad. SPC Regusci is on his way to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington as I write this and SPC Huerta should be right behind him.
The men will live but they are badly hurt and I can’t go into details because it hurts too much. Earlier in one of your Monday Morning Quarterback columns you wrote about Sgt. Bevington. Well, he did not make it from the blast. His life was claimed by the blast. It was a horrible sight to see, my men like that. And it pains me deeply. Sgt. Bevington was thought of very deeply by me and the entire platoon.
This is something that I will never get over. I keep thinking how did I survive and he did not? I was only about five feet away. I feel so sorry for his family and friends. He was like a son to me. So young. I can’t explain the grief. It's devastating. He is my hero and will be missed the remainder of my days. Mike.”
That was rough. Amazing thing about McGuire: He loved sports, the Rams in particular. And we exchanged emails about them quite a bit. He could go from combat to football seamlessly. In 2008, he wrote: “I am not a real religious man but someone is looking out for me.
We found an IED the other day and began to block off the area so it could be blown up in place when all of the sudden we began to take small arms fire (AK-47), which is not a big deal. That does not affect me, and we’ve taken a lot of it, but what did hit home was when the AIF (anti-Iraq forces) began to throw indirect fire (mortars) at us.
They came raining down on us just like in the movies. The first round went right by my shoulder. It was so close I felt the breeze as it went by me and hit the ground. We also got ambushed by 10 or 15 insurgents firing at us. We did get some kills and a number of enemy captures. I like when we capture them, they look so terrified. I have three guys in my platoon now who have been put in for the Purple Heart. Anyway, onto the fun stuff.
How about Kurt Warner???? 300 yards, 3 touchdowns, what a game! I was out on a 12-hour mission and stayed up until 3 a.m. here to watch it. And the Rams beat Denver (OH YES!) and Steven Jackson rushed for 100-plus yards. We don’t lose when we rush for 100 a game.”
Once, he told me there wasn’t much to do on the Forward Operated Bases (the invented bases, often in the middle of deserts) in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I asked if there was something I could do with my readers. Turns out that for $20,000, the USO could airlift in a rec hall, with video games, weights, and recreation equipments.
I put it out in MMQB, asked the band “Five For Fighting” if we could use their name and ask readers for donations of $5 or more. (The band loved it, and helped raise the money.) Your money, more than $200,000, put 10 of those recreation packages in remote areas of war zones, so our troops would have something to do on their down time.
I haven’t been in touch with McGuire for several years, and we tried to find him last week. No luck. Mike, if you’re reading this, I hope life is good with you. Find me at talkback@themmqb.com if you want to reach out. Friends of Mike can help too. Whatever you’re doing, Mike, you made an impact on my life. Thank you.
Thank you, changing business. (I think.) The morphing of the business into a 24/7 operation makes us better, even though it’s a total pain in the rear end in the off-season. This is how much the business has changed: In 1996, on a Wednesday night, Brett Favre told me and only me the story of why he was headed into rehab the next day in Kansas. It was ugly and involved a seizure on an operating table and scarfing down more than a dozen pills at the ESPYs, and so much regret and sadness.
Problem was, I had no outlet for the story of the year. No website. No TV. No radio show. So I had to wait. My story would not be out for seven full days, till the next issue of the magazine hit the stands the following Wednesday, and then in mailboxes Thursday and Friday.
Amazing thing is, it held. The story hit like a firecracker, particularly in Wisconsin, with the ugly details of Favre’s addiction. Think what would have happened 20 years later. I’d have written the story live for The MMQB, then taken another angle and written for SI, and been on 10 or 15 talk shows, and maybe the TV highlight shows and news shows … all in the first 12 to 24 hours of the story.
In 1996 it held for seven days. I often complain about what’s happened in our business, because we have too much news hole to fill constantly, even in 11 weeks of dead time from the draft to the opening of camps. But we’ve gone from the Stone Age to the iPad Age in less than 20 years. He/she who adapts wins.
John Iacono/SI
Thank you, Peyton Manning. More than any player in my time covering the league, Manning understood the back-and-forth nature of our jobs. In training camp every year, he’d grill me about where I’d been and who was saying what—any morsel of information that could help him even a little bit. Plus, he loved the gossip. In exchange, he knew what we wanted: colorful stories from the huddle and the field and sanitized ones from the locker room and the airplanes. He gave.
One time in my life—at least that I recall—he wouldn’t help me. I was doing a story naming Manning our midseason MVP in 2009. The unbeaten Colts were headed for a midseason showdown with the Patriots. He figured it out, and our magazine, likely with him on the cover, would be out a few days before the Pats-Colts game Nov. 15. No interview, he said. No cooperation with the story. His right, of course. But that got me a little fired up. I was going to beat the bushes to find out why Manning, with a bad running game and a beat-up line and a new head coach, was playing so great.
I found it in Qadry Ismail, who shared a story from his one year with Manning, 2002, and a game at Jacksonville.
Ismail shares what he calls a "CIA, burn-after-reading secret" out of the Indianapolis playbook from that Jaguars game. When Manning gave Ismail a shoveling motion or said the words "Crane! Crane!" Ismail would run a dig route—a curl or buttonhook in which the receiver goes downfield a certain distance, plants his foot suddenly and turns to face the quarterback.
Having seen the signal a couple of times early in the game, Jacksonville corner Jason Craft then taunted Ismail. "I know what y'all are doing!" Craft hollered. "Every time he gives that [shoveling] signal, you run that little in route!"
Now, Ismail could have said, "Are you seriously challenging Peyton Manning?" Instead he told the cornerback he didn't know what he was talking about, then told Manning and offensive coordinator Tom Moore on the sideline, "He's bragging like he knows what we're doing. He's going to jump that route!"
Manning filed the information and talked with Moore about using it later in the game. Sure enough, with the ball at the Jaguars' 12 in the third quarter, Manning told Ismail that "Crane!" would be a dummy call, and instead of the dig he should run a hitch-and-go (basically a dig, stop and sprint back upfield into the end zone). “What a simple TD,’’ Ismail said.
Manning, I’m told, fumed when he read that. He didn’t want his receivers—even ex-ones—to give away company secrets. That made me happy. Not that I wanted to make Manning’s job harder, but I wanted to find out real stuff that made Manning Manning.
Thank you, to so many, for the life of The MMQB. In particular, thanks to so many who helped us peel back the curtain and see what football really is.
Thank you, Austen Lane. The ex-Jaguars defensive end agreed to open a vein and bleed for one of our first stories ever, about getting cut. We titled it: “What it’s like to get whacked.” Really proud of that one, because Lane was so perfect, and described in such vivid detail the moment GM David Caldwell gave him the news.
“Austen,” the general manager says, looking me in the eyes. “We are releasing you.”
Cue numbness. A verbal lobotomy. That’s what the words “We are releasing you” feel like. I just sit, nodding my head like a human vegetable, saying nothing. Some sentences seep into my consciousness.
“You’re a great player.”
“We just can’t see you fitting the system.”
“You’ll get a shot on another team.”
The rest … gibberish.
Thank you, Richard Sherman. I flew to Seattle after getting the OK to found the site, and appealed to him to be the only active NFL player to write a regular column during the season. We met at a Macklemore concert, of all places. It took me 10 minutes to convince him. Sherman was exceedingly confident, and he knew this would paint him in the exact light he wanted to be seen: smart, uber-competitive football player with big hopes and dreams outside of football.
He was perfect for it. In his first column, he said: “I know there are people out there—fans and other players—who say, ‘Just shut up and play.’ But that's not me. Never has been, never will be. I can't make everyone out there happy.” His columns were so him, like him or not. And he worked. The night of his Erin Andrews explosion, he wrote for us, explaining his fury.
Thank you, Jerry Jones. More than any owner in my 34 years around pro football, Jones figured it out. He knew the game would not collapse if you open the world to see his product. In fact, it only makes the product more compelling. That’s why we wanted the first thing out of the box to be something people had never seen: a coach addressing his team at the start of training camp. And we wanted it to be the Dallas Cowboys, because they’re the Cowboys. Jones loved it.
Not sure how much Jason Garrett loved it, but he was great. So good, in fact, that two teams had their coaching staffs watch how the organized and passionate Garrett went topic by topic with his team. We taped the whole thing, and the 36-minute seminar/speech was on our site the day The MMQBwas born, in July 2013. Garrett on coaching: “The coaches I hate—that I had a visceral reaction to—were the guys who told me, ‘You’re doing a great job.’ … And allowing me to be as mediocre as mediocre could be.
None of us need help being mediocre—especially me. Coach my ass! … You been to the Pro Bowl eight times? You’re getting your ass coached. You just got here 15 minutes ago? You’re getting your ass coached. First-round picks, free agents who signed for nothing—everybody’s getting coached.” That can’t happen unless an owner has confidence in his coach, and a vision that watching his speech will actually draw more people into loving the game.
Thank you, Gene Steratore and (then VP of Officiating) Dean Blandino, for opening the window into what the life of an officiating crew is really like. In my 38 years as a sportswriter, I never learned so much in one week as I did trailing Steratore and his crew all over the country as they did their civilian jobs during the week and prepped for Game 150 (the name of our series), Baltimore at Chicago.
The time was unfortunately fortuitous, because that’s the week the Steratore crew was recovering from a rough game, Houston at Arizona, when the officials made mistakes and likely took Steratore out of contention to ref the Super Bowl. Memorable moment: Wednesday, in back judge Dino Paganelli’s AP History class in Wyoming, Mich., watching him teaching for 50 minutes and challenging smart kids … then going home to a house with three kids, where the widower is raising three kids. And doing homework on the Bears and Ravens for two to three hours at night. My favorite story in five years running The MMQB.
Thank you, Stevie Brown. The Giants’ safety tore his ACL early in 2013, and he and renowned surgeon James Andrews let Jenny Vrentas of our staff inside the operating theater to see the repair. So many stories like this … I can’t pick them all. But this was so enlightening about the surgery and the healing and the athlete questioning his future.
Fred Vuich/SI
Thank you, Carson Palmer, for illuminating a quarterback’s game week to me, starting when the game plan landed in Palmer’s email box Tuesday around dinnertime. If the ref week was one, this 2015 quarterback week before Arizona played Cleveland was two.
After an hour or so buried in the game plan diagrams, Palmer matter-of-factly said something that does not sound matter-of-fact when the words are spoken.
“I’m freaking out right now,” Palmer said, eyes buried in his notepad. “I have so much to do. But I’m weird. I’ll get it done, I always do. And I’ll get it done with plenty of time and I will feel fantastic on Friday. I’ll know what I am doing versus every possible Cleveland pressure. If we get that pressure we will gash that.
“I know this is weird, but I love the feeling of, ‘Man, I have so much s--- to do and it’s already Tuesday and I’m a day behind.’ Does that make any sense? It’s not challenging to the point where I feel it’s too much, but it’s challenging to the point where, man, I just love it.”
Arizona 34, Cleveland 20. Palmer was money. What a rewarding week that was. I remember walking out of Cleveland Browns Stadium after that game, feeling like I was flying. I was so happy, because I knew the story would be so interesting.
Thank you, Doug Pederson. By sharing so much interesting X-and-O stuff from the playoffs last year, and doing it humbly, Pederson taught so many football nerds and casual football fans that, with hard work and imagination, all things are possible … even beating the great Belichick in the Super Bowl.
• Thank you, Dan Rooney. The late Steelers owner always was the conscience of the league. On so many matters, Rooney was my first call to figure out what just happened.
Gisele Bundchen for The MMQB
Thank you, Tom Brady. But this is a story about The MMQB as much as it’s a nod to Brady for giving up an afternoon of his vacation after the Super Bowl comeback from 25 points down to beat Atlanta in February 2017.
I asked Brady if he could spare one hour the week after the game, while his memory was fresh, to tell the story of the comeback of comebacks. He said okay, and we agreed to meet early Sunday afternoon, seven days after the game, at Brady’s hideaway in Montana. After I landed in Montana, on the one-hour drive to see Brady, Mravic and I talked, and he thought I should break this into two parts. Just too much stuff there.
He said Chris Stone, the big boss, feels that way too. It didn’t feel right to me, but one thing I’ve learned in five years on this team is this: Listening is something I was bad at when I started the site in 2013. I think I’ve gotten better. This time I heard Mravic and Stone, and they were right—it would be a mistake to lead my Monday column with a 9,000-word Brady opus. Better to break it into two pieces, which would allow me to not just mash out an important story in a few hours. I would do a two-part series and if I was lucky enough, a long podcast with Brady as well.
So I got Brady, and recorded him for 76 minutes, a piece that will always seem to me as the first time I heard Brady not be press-conference Tom. And I’ll always be appreciative of Brady giving up his time and being so frank on so many subjects that day. He was great.
I was driving away … and thought, I’ve got all this tape of an interview to get transcribed. How would I do that? I called two of my backbones, Kalyn Kahler and Emily Kaplan, and asked for their help. I hardly had to ask. Down the mountain from Brady, I stopped in some little town and got WiFi, and sent the entire 86 minutes. I sent at 5:15 p.m. Eastern. Emily and Kalyn divvied it up. By 10 ET that night, in time for me to write for Monday, Kalyn and Emily, who had dropped everything, had the transcriptions to me—18,000 words worth.
No money. No overtime. They just cared enough about a story to give up their Sundays to work for the team. I’ll remember that experience with Brady on a mountain in Montana for a long time. I’ll remember the selflessness of the team longer. All of us who have been sportswriters understand the business: We’re essentially independent contractors. It’s almost always up to us and us alone—which makes the times we’ve teamed together so rewarding to me. Kahler, Kaplan, Mravic, Stone … all played a big part in that day.
And so a great core will live on, and will bring you the smartest and distinctive pro football coverage in the world. I’m so proud I got a chance to work with such a great group.
• Thank you, The MMQB.
Todd Rosenberg/SI
QUOTES OF A CAREER
From 1989
“Hi. Ah’m Johnny Cash. Welcome to Nashville.’’
—The Man in Black, to me, in June 1989, shaking my hand after I descended the stairs of a private plane in Nashville. I was on my first assignment with Sports Illustrated, with a delegation of former NFL employees led by ex-Cowboy boss Tex Schramm, looking for teams for the nascent World League of American Football.
From 1996
“I’m 26 years old, I just threw 38 touchdown passes in one year, and I’m the NFL MVP. People look at me and say, ‘I’d love to be that guy.’ But if they knew what it took to be that guy, they wouldn’t love to be him, I can guarantee you that. I’m entering a [drug-] treatment center tomorrow. Would they love that?”
—Reigning NFL MVP Brett Favre, to me, over the phone in May 1996, the night before he went to a rehab center in Kansas to beat his addiction to Vicodin.
From 1999
“I think the internet is like television in 1948, with infinite potential. The internet is going to completely change the way commerce is done in the world.”
—New England owner Robert Kraft.
From 2000
“It’s like a trip through the inside of Zsa Zsa Gabor’s brain.”
—Paul Zimmerman, watching the Walt Disney-produced halftime show at the Rams-Titans Super Bowl in Atlanta.
From 2002
“I like the Colts. We have something in common: We both defected in the middle of the night.”
—Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci, to USA Today.
From 2007
“It’s my hair, and I have nothing negative to say about it.”
—Mel Kiper Jr., owner of a fabulous bouffant.
From 2010
“Tell Peter King we already got our two wins.”
—Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber, after the Bucs won their second game of the season to go 2-0. I picked them to go 2-14. They went 10-6.
From 2014
“I sat on the Gatorade coolers on our sideline, and Brett limped over to sit next to me. I didn’t know what to say to him; I could feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. I could tell he felt the interception cost us the game and season. I could also sense that he envisioned the story of that year—at 40 years old, he was having his best season—was going to be summed up by that one play.
A play that never really should have happened in the first place. He had played almost flawless football, fighting like it was life or death to him, and this is the way it was going to end. We sat there for a few moments in silence. The referees and team captains went out for the coin toss to start overtime, and I got up to see who won possession. Brett didn’t even bother.
He didn’t have the energy, and I think he was still in shock from the interception. After the Saints won the toss, I walked back over and sat next to him. He turned to me and said, ‘I choked.’ I paused for a second and said, ‘Brett, you are the most amazing football player I’ve ever seen. It has been an unreal experience to watch you play this year.’ I can’t really describe the look he gave me, but I can tell those words meant something to him.”
—Sage Rosenfels, the former backup quarterback for the Vikings, writing for The MMQB, relating the story from the 2009 NFC Championship Game, when Brett Favre threw an interception at the end of the fourth quarter, leading to the Saints’ win in overtime. New Orleans went on to win the Super Bowl. Favre never played in another playoff game.
From 2017
"Three months after I retired, I was in Vegas for a fight and they were announcing the celebrities in the audience. Charles Barkley, Tiger Woods, Dr. Dre, and the audience was just cheering loudly and they announce my name as a celebrity and the whole MGM Grand just booed and hissed, and that of course had happened to me before, playing football. That's how it is.
But I always had this armor on and for whatever reason that night, I was filleted and displayed to everybody. This wasn't like, Oh, we don't like him as a football player because he played for the team we didn't like, but this was actually about like, we don't like him as a human being.
And sure enough, that night an acquaintance of mine offered me some Vicodin and I was going to be walking in and out of rooms that night where there were Hall of Famers and Super Bowl champions and I just always felt less than and judged in front of those men and he gave me those pills and I walked in and out of those parties the rest of the night and I didn't feel any of that. It killed that pain and it would become a crutch of mine. That simultaneously was killing me as well as giving me this relief for the next eight years.”
1. I think there’s something exciting, at 60, about changing lives.
2. I think the most-asked question to me over the last couple of weeks is something like this: How emotional is this for you? A bit, but you'd be surprised. I'm not very emotional about it, honestly, because I know it’s time. I know how good the people are who will write for the magazine and the site, and it's their time to do some of the big things I've done for a long time. They deserve it, and they’re ready for it, and they’ll shine at it. Those aren’t just words. I'd put my right hand on the Bible right now and swear that’s the truth.
When I got to this great place, I was a week shy of 32. I couldn’t do then what Jenny Vrentas and Robert Klemko and Albert Breer can do now. The other thing I feel strongly about is that this time comes for all of us. There's no reason why I should hang on here for years because it's convenient, or comfortable, or this is where I feel most at home, or this is where I can make the most money. I'm a firm believer that the next generation will be better (if it works hard) than the last generation. I fully expect those who follow me to eclipse whatever it is that I accomplished. It's the way the world works. I love my peers. I'll be rooting for them for the rest of my life.
3. I think I’ve never been a prediction guy, as you well know. These are my favorite predictions of my SIcareer:
• From April 1999: “Indianapolis will rue the day it passed on Ricky Williams to choose Edgerrin James in the first round of the draft.”
• From January 2000: “I think Miami has a chance Saturday at Jacksonville, a real chance.” Jags 62, Dolphins 7, the biggest rout in AFC playoff history.
• From October 2000: “That new Larry David show on HBO, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ might be the next ‘Seinfeld.’” Hey! I almost hit one!
• From April 2003: “I think in New England, it won’t be long before Dan Klecko is as beloved as Tedy Bruschi.”
• From September 2010: I picked a Green Bay-Pittsburgh Super Bowl. Green Bay and Pittsburgh met in the Super Bowl.
• From September 2011: I picked a San Diego-Atlanta Super Bowl. Neither won a playoff game.
4. I think I think right about now: Who would listen to a word I said?
Find me starting July 16 at NBC Sports digital platforms. My column will continue every Monday for 46 weeks a year. I’ll be doing one morning of radio with Mike Florio on Pro Football Talk Live on NBC Sports Radio, and I’ll be contributing to the Sunday night “Football Night in America” show. Follow me on Twitter (I’ll have a new handle in June) for all the pertinent details.
This time around, Day 1 of OTAs won't feel like starting over for the Rams
Their preparation began in April, before the start of the Rams' voluntary offseason program.
Quarterback Jared Goff and other players gathered for workouts and throwing sessions to run plays that helped them become the NFL's top-scoring team in 2017.
"It gives us an advantage just to come in already knowing some of the plays," receiver Robert Woods said at the time, "so when we do get to OTAs it's not like Day 1 for us.
"We're already putting in the work. We already have a rhythm down. So we're not starting back at ground zero."
After five weeks of individual and position-group work, the Rams' offense and remade defense will finally come together for full-team drills.
Monday marks the start of Phase 3 of the offseason program: organized team activities. The 10 OTA workouts, conducted over three weeks, cannot include live contact. But the offense and defense can participate in 11-on-11 situations.
It will be the first chance for second-year coach Sean McVay and assistants in new roles to begin tinkering.
It also will provide defensive coordinator Wade Phillips an opportunity to see how a star-studded defense looks when facing a fully equipped offense.
And special teams coordinator John Fassel can continue to assess which rookies and undrafted free agents might break through and find a role.
The only major change in the offense is loss of receiver Sammy Watkins and the addition of Brandin Cooks, acquired in an April trade with the New England Patriots that cost the Rams their first-round draft pick.
Cooks, a 1,000-yard receiver in three of his four NFL seasons, is expected to provide Goff with deep-threat capability. His presence for OTA's should help Goff develop timing on longer routes, something the quarterback was unable to do with Watkins at this time last year because Watkins was not acquired until training camp.
Watkins now plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. Tavon Austin, who never developed as a vertical threat, was traded last month to the Dallas Cowboys.
Goff blossomed last season under the coaching triumvirate of McVay, former offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur and former quarterbacks coach Greg Olson.
Now he is being tutored by a reconfigured staff.
Shane Waldron, the tight ends coach in 2017, is the pass-game coordinator. Zac Taylor, assistant receivers coach last season, is the quarterbacks coach. Jedd Fisch, UCLA's offensive coordinator in 2017, is a senior offensive assistant.
Four of the Rams' 11 draft picks play on offense, including running back John Kelly and linemen Joseph Noteboom, Brian Allen and Jamil Denby.
Goff and the offense will be looking across the line of scrimmage at some new faces.
Defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, linebacker Ramik Wilson and cornerbacks Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Sam Shields have been added to a unit that ranked 19th in the NFL last season.
Reigning NFL defensive player of the year Aaron Donald is expected to remain absent because of an ongoing contract dispute. Donald, though, might repeat what he did last year, when to avoid a fine he attended but did not fully participate in a mandatory minicamp.
The draft class included linebackers Micah Kiser, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Trevon Young and Travin Howard and linemen John Franklin-Myers, Sebastian Joseph and Justin Lawler.
Ranking the top QB-RB-WR trios for all 32 NFL teams ahead of the 2018 season
Offenses -- as much as defenses -- win championships in today's NFL
May 18, 2018
In 2018, offenses -- as much as defenses -- win championships. Of the 12 playoff teams, half fielded better offenses than defenses, and the Patriots, who lost to the Eagles in the Super Bowl, took it to the extreme; according to Football Outsiders, New England had the league's best offense and its second-worst defense.
And as the NFL continues to evolve, the importance of a franchise quarterback, do-everything running back, and game-changing downfield threat will only grow. With that in mind, we've ranked the best quarterback-running back-wide receiver trios from worst to best. For our purposes here, we're only considering the top three players at these positions and with the full realization that the depth chart could change between now and the start of the season.
McCown will be 39 years old when the season begins. And while NFL quarterbacks can have success at that age, they're also future Hall of Famers with a strong supporting cast. McCown has had a solid career but he's not headed for Canton, and as it stands, the Jets don't have any established offensive playmakers which goes a long way in explaining why they're dead last on this list. Crowell has shown glimpses of big-play potential, and Anderson averaged 14.9 yards per reception in 2017 to along with seven touchdowns. The good news is that Quincy Enunwa is healthy after missing last season; he averaged 14.6 yards per catch in 2015-2016.
31. QB Joe Flacco | RB Alex Collins | WR Michael Crabtree
This will almost certainly be Flacco's last season in Baltimore (the team drafted Lamar Jackson in the first round), and that reality is related to where the Ravensfind themselves here. The offense has been flaccid for a long time. The problems start with Flacco, who ranked 32nd in total value among all quarterbacks last season, but also extends to the wide receivers. Yes, Derrick Mason, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith and Mike Wallace have all had some success, but all were in their 30s and near the end of very good careers. Which brings us to Michael Crabtree, who scored 25 touchdowns in three seasons in Oakland but had just 10.7 yards per catch last season. Collins, meanwhile, has the potential to be one of the league's best young backs, and he could go a long way in making life easier for Flacco and wide receivers corps that enters the summer with plenty of questions.
Tannehill is coming off ACL surgery and we still don't know if he's the long-term answer in Miami (there was speculation that the Dolphins might draft a quarterback in Round 1 -- they took defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick instead). Drake, the team's 2016 third-rounder, averaged 4.8 yards per carry last season (644 rushing yards) and 7.5 yards per reception (239 receiving yards) in six starts. Meanwhile, Parker, the 2015 first-round pick, has never had more than 57 receptions, 744 yards and four touchdowns in a season. The Dolphins added Danny Amendola in the offseason and drafted tight end Mike Gesicki, but the former is 32 and the latter hasn't played in an NFL game.
Luck, the 2012 No. 1 overall pick who missed all of last season following shoulder surgery, is expected to return to the field during training camp. If this sounds familiar it should; a year ago, the expectation was that Luck would be ready to go by training camp. Instead, he didn't take a snap at all in 2018. Put another way: Indy's season rides on Luck's right shoulder. Hilton averaged 16.9 yards per catch last season with Jacoby Brissett under center, but it was the first time since 2012 that he didn't log at least 1,000 yards receiving. Mack, the team's 2017 fourth-round pick, had just 93 carries last season for 358 yards and three touchdowns.
28. QB AJ McCarron | RB LeSean McCoy | WR Kelvin Benjamin
Two questions come to mind when McCarron's name comes up: 1) Can he play quarterback in the NFL, and 2) Will he get a chance to? The Bills traded up from 12th to seventh to draft Josh Allen, who looks to be at least a year away from competing for the starting job. That said, in today's NFL you don't trade into the top 10 for a passer you plan on parking on the bench. Either way, the quarterback situation in Buffalo is a huge question mark. And while Shady McCoy has been one of the league's most versatile backs for almost a decade, he wasn't even a replacement-level runner a season ago when he ranked 38th in value per play (he was 32nd in value per play as a pass-catching running back). Benjamin, who was traded from Carolina midway through last season, managed 16 catches and a single touchdown in six games in Buffalo. He has just one 1,000-yard receiving season, and that came as a rookie in 2014.
27. QB Tyrod Taylor | RB Carlos Hyde | WR Josh Gordon
Coach Hue Jackson insists Taylor will be the quarterback for all of 2018 but the Browns drafted Baker Mayfield with the top pick for a reason. Whomever's under center will have Hyde lined up behind them in the backfield, assuming that 2018 second-round pick Nick Chubb doesn't earn the starting job in training camp. Hyde averaged 4.6 yards per carry with the 49ers in 2016. That average dropped to 3.9 in '17 but he scored eight touchdowns -- two more than he had the season before. Gordon is one of the NFL's most physically gifted wide receivers. His issues have come off the field; in 2013 he had 87 catches for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns but he played in just 10 games over the next four seasons -- including not seeing the field at all in 2015 and 2016.
26. QB Mitchell Trubisky | RB Jordan Howard | WR Allen Robinson
Trubisky had a rocky rookie season but some of that was because he was a rookie playing on a terrible Bears team. But defensive-minded John Fox is gone, replaced by Matt Nagy, a former offensive assistant under Andy Reid in Kansas City. Put another way: The conditions are right for Trubisky to take a big step in Year 2. Howard and his 1,112 yards and nine touchdowns ranked 10th in total value among all backs last season. And the addition of Robinson could pay off handsomely if he's fully recovered from the ACL injury that forced him to miss all of 2017. Robinson had 73 receptions for 883 yards with the Jaguars in 2016 and the season before he had 80 catches for 1,400 yards and 14 scores.
25. QB Jimmy Garoppolo | RB Jerick McKinnon | WR Pierre Garcon
The 49ers finally have their franchise quarterback but Garcon missed the second half of last year with a neck injury after 40 catches for 500 yards and no touchdowns in eight games. He'll be 32 when the season begins. The team signed McKinnon this offseason and general manager John Lynch lauded the former Vikings back as "an extremely versatile football player whose speed, elusiveness and tackle-breaking ability make him a very difficult matchup for defenses." As a runner last season, McKinnon ranked 40th in value per play; he was 31st as a pass-catching back.
24. QB Blake Bortles | RB Leonard Fournette | WR Marqise Lee
Bortles, the Jaguars' 2014 first-round pick, had his most consistent season in 2017 and in February the team rewarded him with a three-year, $54 million contract extension that will keep him in Jacksonville through 2020. But for as well as Bortles played, there were still holes in his game; he completed a career-best 60.2 percent of his passes for 3,687 yards to go along with 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, but he was no better than replacement level, according to Football Outsiders' metrics. As a rookie, Fournette ranked 11th in total value among all backs, but the second-biggest question after whether Bortles can continue to improve is who will be the No. 1 receiver. Lee was re-signed in the offseason but he had just 56 catches and three touchdowns in 14 games last season. Donte Moncrief, who arrives from Indy, had 26 catches with two scores in 12 games.
Collectively, there wasn't a lot to celebrate last season. That said, despite the 5-11 record, Winston did rank 11th in total value among all passers. That's something to build on heading into 2018, and Evans remains one of the league's best deep threats. The big question is at running back where Barber is currently at the top of the depth chart following Doug Martin's departure, though the more likely scenario could see rookie second-rounder Ronald Jones earn the bulk of the carries with a good showing in training camp and preseason.
22. QB Alex Smith | RB Derrius Guice | WR Josh Doctson
It's reasonable to believe that Smith could have a better season than Kirk Cousins, the man he's replacing in Washington, because ... well, that's exactly what happened last season. Smith was ninth in total value among all quarterbacks; Cousins was 16th. Of course, Smith was playing in an explosive, balanced Chiefs offense while Cousins was stuck in Washington with something much less than that. Doctson, the team's 2016 first-round pick, improved in '17 -- he scored six touchdowns but managed just 35 receptions in 16 games -- and he'll need to be even better in Year 3. The biggest difference in this offense could be the addition of Guice, widely considered a first-round pick who slipped to the second round because of off-field issues.
21. QB Sam Bradford | RB David Johnson | WR Larry Fitzgerald
Bradford is the reason the cliche "the backup is only a play away from becoming a starter" exists. Injuries have plagued him throughout his career but when he's been healthy, he's been very good. The problem is that he's played 16 games exactly once in his eight NFL seasons (he appeared in just two games last year he was Wally Pipp'd by Case Keenum) and he missed all of 2014 with an ACL injury. Johnson, meanwhile, was one of the league's best young backs before a broken wrist ended his 2017 campaign after just one game. The hope is that he can return to his '16 form when he rushed for 1,239 yards, added another 879 receiving yards and totaled 20 touchdowns. Fitzgerald is a first-ballot Hall of Famer but he'll also be 35 next season. That said, he tied a career high with 109 receptions in 2017, though his 10.6 yards per reception were more than two yards below his career average.
20. QB Andy Dalton | RB Joe Mixon | WR A.J. Green
Dalton is coming off his worst season as a pro, though some of that can be blamed on an offensive line that struggled to protect him. He was sacked 80 times the last two seasons and his passer rating was around 90. In 2015, when he was sacked just 20 times, Dalton completed two-thirds of his passes and set career highs in yards per attempt (8.4), passer rating (106.2) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (25:7). The Bengals spent the offseason upgrading the O-line, which should also benefit Mixon, who managed just 3.5 yards per carry as a rookie but has the potential to be an explosive player. Green turns 30 this summer but he remains one of the league's best deep threats; the seven-year vet logged his sixth 1,000-yard season in 2017 to go along with eight touchdowns.
The biggest question surrounding the Raiders' offense is what new (old) coach Jon Gruden's scheme will look like. Carr is coming off a forgettable year, but in 2016 he was the front runner for league MVP before an injury ended that campaign. Assuming Lynch buys into what Gruden's selling, he's still a very good back, even at 32. He rushed for 891 yards on 207 carries last season and scored 7 times. Lynch ranked ninth among all backs in total value, just behind Mark Ingram. Cooper had his worst season as a pro in 2017, catching 48 passes for 680 yards though he scored seven times. The Raiders added Jordy Nelsonand Martavis Bryant this offseason, which could open things up for Cooper.
18. QB Case Keenum | RB DeVontae Booker | WR Demaryius Thomas
The two biggest unknowns are 1) Can Keenum recapture the magic he found in Minnesota last season, and 2) What can we expect from Booker? Keenum was in the MVP race up until the final month of 2017 and he ranked first in value per play among all quarterbacks. FIRST. He helped the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game, although the team decided to let him walk in the offseason and replace him with Kirk Cousins. Whatever happens in Denver, this much is certain: Keenum is a huge upgrade over Trevor Siemian/Brock Osweiler/Paxton Lynch. Booker, a 2016 fourth-rounder, has averaged just 3.6 yards per carry in his career, though he could face competition from 2018 third-rounder Royce Freeman. Thomas is coming off his worst season since 2011 -- he had six-year lows in catches (83), yards (949) and touchdowns (5), but much of that can be pinned on the poor quarterback play.
17. QB Dak Prescott | RB Ezekiel Elliott | WR Allen Hurns
Prescott was just average last season and now he'll be tasked with overcoming the loss of Hall of Fame tight end Jason Witten. The good news is that Elliott, one of the league's best players as a rookie in 2016, isn't facing suspension, though there are plenty of unknowns at receiver. The Cowboys cut Dez Bryantbut signed Hurns, traded for Tavon Austin and drafted Michael Gallup and Cedrick Wilson. After a 64-catch, 1,031-yard, 10-touchdown season with the Jags in 2015, Hurns averaged nine starts, 37 catches, 480 yards, 2.5 touchdowns the last two seasons. He'll need to ramp up his production to in Dallas to make up for the loss of Witten and Bryant.
16. QB Russell Wilson | RB Rashaad Penny | WR Doug Baldwin
One of the biggest surprises of the first round was the Seahawks' decision to take Penny when they had glaring needs along the offensive line. But coach Pete Carroll is unconcerned with what we think, saying shortly after selecting Penny that "I don't mind telling you, this pick fired me up." If the offensive line continues to bumble its way through games, Penny's skills won't much matter in much the same way Wilson's effectiveness was mitigated by the lack of protection. Baldwin, who is one of the league's most tenacious receivers, had 75 catches for 991 yards, his lowest output since 2014.
The big unknown: When will Wentz be cleared to play and more importantly, when will he approach 100 percent? There's a very good chance Wentz is under center in Week 1, but the ACL injury he suffered last December may mean that he's more pocket passer than athlete for the first month or two of the 2018 season. That will almost certainly affect his production. Ajayi averaged 5.8 yards per carry after the Dolphins sent him to Philly in a midseason trade, which was more than a yard per carry above his career average. Jeffery is a big target but is more possession receiver than deep threat. Tight end Zach Ertz will draw attention in the middle of the field but there isn't much depth at wide receiver after Jeffery.
It seems silly to rank any Rodgers-led offense as replacement level but Rodgers is coming off a shoulder injury that limited him to just seven games last season. Likewise, rib and wrist injuries forced Montgomery to miss half the season. Adams managed 885 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns, which is impressive given that Brett Hundley started nine times.
13. QB Cam Newton | RB Christian McCaffrey | WR D.J. Moore
The Panthers went 11-5 last season, which gets overlooked, at least nationally, because the Falcons went to the Super Bowl in 2016 and the Saints were a fluke play away from the NFC Championship Game in 2017. McCaffrey rushed for just 435 yards last season but he led the team with 80 receptions and 651 receiving yards. With a year in the league, and likely sharing carries with C.J. Anderson, McCaffrey should be even better next season. Moore, the rookie first-rounder, is the key; retired Panthers legend Steve Smith was ecstatic when the team drafted him going so far as to say, "They have never been able to replace me ... until today."
How quickly can Moore make the transition from college to the NFL?
12. QB Tom Brady | RB James White | WR Julian Edelman
We wonder where the Patriots would rank on this list if, say, Garoppolo had remained in New England and was penciled in as the starter in 2018. We'd like to think they'd still be among the top 15. But they're this high because of Brady, who continues to get better with age. But the offense, at least on paper, has taken a step back. Dion Lewis is gone and James White -- or perhaps first-round pick Sony Michel -- will have to pick up the slack. Brandin Cooks is also gone, traded to the Rams, and Edelman, who missed last season with an ACL injury, will be vying for the No. 1 wide receiver job along with offseason addition Jordan Matthews.
11. QB Matthew Stafford | RB Kerryon Johnson | WR Golden Tate
Stafford is among the NFL's most talented passers but the Lions have been a one-dimensional offense for much of his career. The hope is that will change in 2018; the Lions took Johnson in the second round and the Auburn standout has drawn comparisons to Le'Veon Bell though he'll likely began his NFL career behind LeGarrette Blount on the depth chart. Tate had 92 receptions for 1,003 yards and five touchdowns last season but you could argue that Marvin Jones(61 catches, 1,101 yards, 18.0 YPC, 9 TDs) is the Lions' No. 1 receiver. Jones ranked No. 2 in total value among all wideouts last season behind only Antonio Brown.
10. QB Marcus Mariota | RB Dion Lewis | WR Rishard Matthews
How Mariota progresses new coordinator's Matt LaFleur's offense will go a long way in determining how good the Titans will be in '18. Mariota was replacement level a season ago though he was 10th in value per play in 2016. Having Lewis in the backfield will be a huge benefit; in 2017 he was the NFL's best rushing back, according to Football Outsiders, and ranked ninth in value per play as a pass-catching back. The Titans of course still have Derrick Henry to form a dangerous 1-2 punch with Lewis. Mathews had 53 receptions for 795 yards and four touchdowns but he did average 15.0 yards per catch. He also ranked 19th in total value among wideouts two spots behind the aforementioned Doug Baldwin.
9. QB Pat Mahomes | RB Kareem Hunt | WR Tyreek Hill
Here's the question: Can Hunt and Hill make up for Mahomes' growing pains? We think they can -- and we also think that the transition from Alex Smith to Mahomes, the team's 2017 first-round pick, won't be particularly bumpy. Of course, being able to lean on Hunt (1,327 rushing yards, 455 receiving yards, 11 touchdowns) and Hill (75 receptions, 1,183 yards, 7 touchdowns) will certainly make things easier for Mahomes. Also helping: Having Travis Kelce at tight end.
It took coach Bill O'Brien about 30 minutes to realize that he had made a grave mistake at the beginning of the 2017 season. That's why he replaced Tom Savage with then-rookie Deshaun Watson at halftime in Week 1. Waston would start the next six games, completing 61.8 percent of his throws for 1,699 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions, and he added another 269 yards and two scores on the ground. He tore his ACL in November, ending his season, but he should be ready for training camp. Miller was replacement level last season though he should benefit from a full season with Watson. Hopkins, meanwhile, had 96 receptions for 1,378 yards and 13 touchdowns despite having to catch passes from Savage, T.J. Yates and Taylor Heinicke.
7. QB Philip Rivers | RB Melvin Gordon | WR Keenan Allen
Rivers might be 36 but he ranked second in value per play among all passers last season behind only old-man Brady. Given his style of play there's no reason to think his production will change anytime soon. Gordon had his best season in '17, rushing for 1,105 yards and eight touchdowns and adding 476 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground. Allen isn't particularly fast but he's one of the NFL's best route-runners, which goes a long way in explaining his 102-catch, 1,393-yard, six-touchdown effort last season. Allen also ranked third in total value among all wideouts.
While it's easy to blame Manning for the offensive struggles last season -- he was 23rd in total value among all passers -- the reality is that he had virtually no supporting cast. That changes with the addition of Barkley, whom the Giants took with the No. 2 pick in the draft, and the return of Beckham, who missed 12 games in 2017 due to injury. Sterling Shepard and 2017 first-round pick Evan Engram will also open things up for Manning.
The Vikings let Case Keenum walk after an MVP-level season and replaced him with Cousins, who had a down 2017 campaign after ranking third in total value among all passers in 2016 behind Matt Ryan and Drew Brees. There's every reason to believe he'll be successful in Minnesota, where he'll have a great defense and dynamic offensive playmakers. Cook returns after tearing his ACL (he averaged 4.8 yards per carry and 8.2 yards per catch in four games before the injury), and Thielen has emerged as a top-10 wide receiver. And if you prefer Stefon Diggs as the Vikes' No. 1, he ranks ninth in total value.
4. QB Matt Ryan | RB Devonta Freeman | WR Julio Jones
It all starts with Matt Ryan, who was the league's best quarterback in 2016 and "dropped" all the way to No. 7 last season. The 33-year-old shows no signs of slipping, which explains the organization's decision to pay him $150 million over the next five years. Freeman averaged 4.4 yards per carry last season (865 rushing yards) as well as 8.8 yards per catch (317 receiving yards) while scoring eight touchdowns. Julio Jones was absolutely dominant (88 catches, 1,444 yards, 3 scores). Mohamed Sanu was a fantastic No. 2 receiver and oh by the way, the Falcons took Alabama wideout Calvin Ridley in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Jeff Fisher was the coach during Goff's rookie season and the quarterback looked like a bust. The arrival of Sean McVay changed all that and Goff was one of the league's most exciting players in 2017. Even more exciting: Gurley had 1,305 rushing yards, 788 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns. And the offense, which looked to be in the running for Odell Beckham earlier this offseason (seriously, imagine that) ended up with a nice consolation prize: deep threat Brandin Cooks.
2. QB Drew Brees | RB Alvin Kamara | WR Michael Thomas
Brees might be 39 but he's still the engine of the Saints' offense. It helps having Kamara, the 2017 third-round pick who averaged a staggering 6.1 yards per carry last season (728 rushing yards), 10.2 yards per catch (826 receiving yards) and 13 touchdowns. Michael Thomas followed up a 1,137-yard rookie campaign with 1,245 yards in 2017. In any other year, this trio would be No. 1.
1. QB Ben Roethlisberger | RB Le'Veon Bell | WR Antonio Brown
Big Ben threw for 4,251 yards in 2017, including 28 touchdowns, nine of which went to Antonio Brown, who logged his fifth-consecutive 100-catch season. He also had 1,533 receiving yards. For an idea of just how dominant he's been, those 1,533 yards ranks third behind his 2015 (1,834) and 2014 (1,698) seasons. Bell averaged just 4.0 yards per carry but he still rushed for 1,291 yards and had a career-best nine rushing touchdowns to go with 655 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.
I was sitting here thinking about OTA's, then I saw this Tweet From Ndamukong Suh posted 22 hours ago ... " Here I come L.A.!" It had a photo (I couldn't copy!) of him standing in the side-door of a moving Van!
Do you think he'll be here for the beginning of OTA's tomorrow!!? I Hope so!! Donald too!!
Many “experts” point to the Chargers, 49’ers, and Browns as emerging. Injuries can greatly effect things and a few more free agents and trades will shape rosters.
I would like to draw your attention to this quote from this Ramwire piece...
Gurley is rightly seen as being the best player on this team, so that would give him an inside track to ending the quarterback position’s recent dominance of this award.
Is Gurley really the best player on this team? I mean he just finished an awesome MVP type season even though sitting out the last game where he might have been able to pad his stats even further.
Or is AD the best player on this team? Many think AD is a future HOF’er and the best D player in the league.
Each player is clearly the best on his unit. But which is the true best player on this team?
And why do you think your choice is the better player?
We get it, the National Football League has a lot on its plate right now.
Among them, trying to make the game safer and sorting out the national anthem controversy and figuring out what constitutes a legal catch or not and adapting to the potential new world of legalized sports gambling.
So we’ll cut the powers that be a little slack if they’re not taking seriously the uproar going on in Los Angeles about the Rams god-awful mix-matched uniforms and a bunch of frustrated fans who turn to everyone and anyone for help.
Including the NFL’s New York City headquarters, which holds the key to turning the whole embarrassing situation into a feel-good story with a happy ending.
But rather than oblige, the NFL responds with a tone-deaf shrug of the shoulders as if to say: Them’s our rules, partner. Deal with it.
Even though, you know, we’re only the second-biggest market in the country, and after kicking us to the curb for 21 years you’d think the NFL would bend over backward trying to do everything possible to ensure a positive, healthy, long-term reconciliation.
Especially when, in this case, that “anything” is so incredibly easy and makes so much sense.
All it would take, really, is a teeny-weeny little tweak to the current rules.
As in, chilling out and letting the Rams wear their blue and gold throwback uniforms the next two seasons. Or until they roll out their permanent new unis upon opening their new stadium in 2020
That’s it. A simple, painless yes to a request that will have a minimal, if any, effect outside of a bunch of very appreciative fans in Los Angeles.
It’s a gesture about as harmless and innocuous as a cop pulling someone over for day-old expired tags, then letting them off with the promise they’ll head directly to the DMV to renew their registration.
That minimal amount of effort and rule-bending would send a powerful message from the NFL to its hardcore, devoted customers. The ones that rob Peter to pay Paul to buy season tickets and team gear and stadium hot dogs and beer more than four times above the normal costs.
The ones that tune in to games on TV each week in numbers that dwarf every other professional sports league and drive up network rights fees and help pay players and coaches and front office executives and league office personnel exorbitant amounts of money.
To those fans, the ones paying everyone’s salaries and making sure the money train keeps churning down the tracks, the NFL would be saying: We hear you. We’re listening. We get it. And we’re going to do right by you.
But I digress.
Like I said, the NFL has a lot going on. So maybe they just haven’t gotten around to opening up all those emails from the Rams explaining their fans frustrations about the current uniform situation. The ones pleading with the league to give them more leeway to wear their throwback uniforms until they roll out a fresh new brand and color scheme in 2020.
Or maybe, being all the way across the country in New York, the NFL just doesn’t appreciate the level of frustration fans feel upon watching their favorite team playing in mismatched uniforms that look like they were haphazardly yanked out of boxes from various different eras and thrown together right before kickoff.
For whatever reason the NFL seems to be poo pooing the whole thing as no big deal. All the while hanging its hat on a bunch of silly, archaic rules that make the young fans they’re trying to impress – and the old ones they want to hang onto – scream.
When the Rams returned to Los Angeles in 2016, after spending the previous 21 years in St. Louis, they came back with the uniforms they’d been wearing since 2000. Nothing against St. Louis, per se, but that uniform and color scheme wasn’t just a slap to the face of Los Angeles Rams fans who suffered for more than two decades without their beloved franchise, they were universally despised for lack of pop and the link they represented to the most woeful era in Rams history.
On every level – from emotional to aesthetics – the uniforms were a terrible eyesore.
The Rams, understanding the need for change to mark their new era in Los Angeles but also the immediate importance of appeasing their local fans, inquired to the league about wearing their throwbacks through the process of making a complete uniform makeover.
The plan was to unveil the new look at the grand opening of their new stadium in 2019 – now 2020 after weather issues pushed back the opening by a year – but also create an immediate connection in their former home.
Could the Rams have rolled out the new uniforms sooner? Yes. But they felt strongly it didn’t make sense to do it while playing at their temporary home at the USC color and logo dominated Coliseum.
Makes sense.
In the meantime, they pleaded with the NFL to relax its rule stipulating teams can only wear their throwback uniforms twice a year. This is important to note, as the Rams understood the vast majority of their local fans identify most with the uniforms they wore in Los Angeles and Anaheim from 1973 to 1994. Just as importantly, they knew how much fans truly despised the St. Louis era uniforms.
If the league could just find it in its heart to do the right thing, the Rams surmised, everybody would be happy. Including, you know, fans that would happily shell out big-time money to update their team-gear collection with their beloved colors. Only this time with names like Goff and Gurley and Donald on the back rather than Dickerson and Youngblood and Slater.
Talk about a no-brainer.
But the NFL just shrugged its shoulders.
No can do.
The frustrated Rams did get league approval to replace their St. Louis era helmets with their late 1960’s navy blue with white horns helmets and decided to go exclusively with white jerseys – albeit the St. Louis style – at home. It wasn’t perfect, and upon close inspection, the helmets clash with the jerseys and pants. But it was a bit of an improvement.
At home at least.
On the other hand, when they played on the road against teams that wore “away” uniforms at home – the Cowboys and Jaguars come to mind – it meant the Rams donning their St. Louis era blue jerseys with the throwback white and blue helmets and either blue or white pants.
The result was a uniform scheme that looked like someone went shopping at multiple thrift stores and threw everything together at the last minute. It was embarrassing, to say the least, and not worthy of a high school team let alone one from the NFL.
No matter how much the Rams protested to the league about taking the field looking like some low-budget, third-rate team wearing hand-me-down uniforms yanked from bygone eras, the NFL simply shrugged its shoulders.
A year later, nothing has changed. And with the 2018 kickoff just over 100 days away, it looks like the Rams and their fans will have to suffer through another season in uniforms the whole world is laughing at.
That is unless the NFL would just do the right thing.
It’s a harmless, painless OK. A no-brainer if there ever was one.
Just let the Rams wear their throwbacks the next two years.
» Josh Rosen will be competing against himself and Sam Bradford's health. If Bradford's knee survives training camp and the preseason, there's no reason to think Rosen will be the Week 1 starter. It's not just Bradford's $15 million base salary, but his quality play over the last three years when available that should make him a shoo-in to win the job initially. If Bradford can't stay healthy or keep the Cardinals near .500, Rosen should play over Mike Glennon.
» It was only a few years ago that Larry Fitzgerald was expected to settle into the team's third receiver role. Michael Floyd and John Brown are long gone now, and J.J. Nelson is a bit of an afterthought. Fitzgerald should play most of his snaps out of the slot, but he's clearly still the No. 1 wideout in what could be his final season.
» Christian Kirk, a Scottsdale native, was rumored to be a potential target for the Cardinals in the first round. Instead they got him as a bargain in the second round, possibly because he had a disorderly conduct arrest hanging over his head. While Kirk projects long term in the slot, he's too talented to sit behind Fitzgerald on a thin depth chart. Brice Butler is on his third team and has his best chance to be a starter.
» With Jermaine Gresham coming off an Achilles surgery, tight end Ricky Seals-Jones has a chance to emerge as a factor in this offense. He made an impression last season as an undrafted rookie and could earn more playing time because of his excellent hands.
» The transition to Wilks' 4-3 defense could have some awkward fits. Last year's first-round pick, Haason Reddick, might only be a part-time player at strong-side linebacker. Markus Golden, who broke out as an outside linebacker, will have to hold up as a defensive end at 260 pounds.
» The bigger concerns come in the secondary, though. Patrick Petersonremains top-shelf, but the cornerback spots after that could be the league's weakest. At least safety Budda Baker is a budding star.
» Don't necessarily expect Brandin Cooks to get the targets of a traditional No. 1 receiver. The Rams will want more production out of Cooks than Sammy Watkinsgave them last year, but the yardage could still be split evenly between Cooks, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp.
» Gerald Everett played far less than Tyler Higbee as a rookie, but tight end is a notoriously difficult position in which to make a quick impact. Everett's explosiveness as a receiver should get him on the field more.
» The Rams tried to address their lack of offensive line depth in the draft, but it's fair to say that 36-year-old Andrew Whitworth remains one of the most irreplaceable players on the team. General manager Les Snead has a lot of work to do because so many of his starting lineman are nearing free agency.
» Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has a lot of options for how he can line up this loaded defense, but a three-man line of Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh and Michael Brockers looks ferocious. That trio should make unproven outside linebackers Matt Longacre and Samson Ebukam become far more well-known.
» The linebackers don't need to be that special playing behind perhaps the stoutest line in football and playing in front of perhaps the best secondary. Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib both play a gambling style that fits perfectly in Phillips' scheme. Lamarcus Joyner and John Johnson are an underrated duo at safety who will provide cover on the back end. The entire group has a tenacious playing personality.
» There are virtually no position battles on Los Angeles for starting jobs, which is one sign of a team ready to contend for a Super Bowl. Phillips still needs to figure out his second inside linebacker and second defensive end, but those spots are unlikely to top 500 snaps.
» The magic of Jimmy G's late-season run has helped to diminish concerns about a relatively underwhelming offensive depth chart on paper. From expensive free-agent pickup Jerick McKinnon to No. 1 receiver Pierre Garcon to No. 2 wideout Marquise Goodwin, there are a lot of role players being asked to play bigger-than-ideal roles. It's only Year 2 of this rebuild, however. In Kyle Shanahan we trust.
» The battle for the slot receiver job between second-rounder Dante Pettis and Trent Taylor is one to watch. If Shanahan can help Goodwin nearly gain 1,000 yards, the winner of this No. 3 battle has deep fantasy football sleeper potential.
» Shanahan is counting on his coaching and scheme to help improve offensive linemen who didn't last elsewhere, like Laken Tomlinson and Jonathan Cooper.
» The 49ers didn't rotate that much on the defensive line last year, so expect to see a lot of this excellent starting group. The team wants to see a big second-year leap out of last year's No. 3 overall pick, Solomon Thomas, who had a quiet rookie campaign.
» The health of Richard Sherman and the continued development of Ahkello Witherspoon and K'Waun Williams at cornerback could make or break this defense. The 49ers believe in their young players, but there is some bust potential here. The 49ers gave somewhat surprising extensions to Williams and safety Jaquiski Tartt.
» Former Cardinals player Jaron Brown is the favorite for the No. 3 receiver role and there aren't a lot of promising young prospects threatening to take the job unless 2017 third-rounder Amara Darboh goes up a level. Tight end is also weak, with a replacementlevel starter in former Panther Ed Dickson.
» The Seahawks' offensive line may not be as bad as you think. Left tackle Duane Brown gives the group credibility. There are a lot of former high picks here and coach Pete Carroll seems to believe that the change in offensive coaches will make the group look a lot better. He may be right.
» The Legion of Boom is long gone, especially with safety Kam Chancellor's future in doubt. The Seahawks could be starting players in Byron Maxwell, Bradley McDougald and Justin Coleman that they picked up off the scrap heap last year. This is a defense of reclamation projects, with former top-10 picks Barkevious Mingo the potential starter at strongside linebacker and former Dolphins bust Dion Jordan likely to get a bigger role at defensive end after flashing late last season.
» The Seahawks could really use a vintage season from Earl Thomas, or this once-hallowed secondary could become a liability.
Franchise player or cap hog? The wisdom of heavy QB spending
We keep calling the NFL a quarterback-driven league, based on the football world's perception that the quarterback ultimately determines whether a team is a viable Super Bowl contender. While there is certainly some truth to the correlation between quarterback performance and title contention, the belief that any QB1 with any semblance of talent is a franchise quarterback worthy of "elite" money has always driven me crazy as a team builder.
Sure, quarterback is the most important position on the field, but not every signal-caller is viewed as a "truck" (as in, the QB carries the team) by evaluators around the league. Some are seen as "trailers" (as in, the team carries the QB). With each new quarterback contract topping the last -- earlier this month, Matt Ryan's record-setting extension with the Falcons placed him at the head of a parade of QBs inking big-money deals this offseason, including Jimmy Garoppolo and Kirk Cousins -- let's take a closer look at this issue.
The "trucks" are the elite guys capable of elevating the play of a pedestrian supporting cast through their own talents. They can win without marquee names on the perimeter, and they can mask the major flaws of the squad with their stellar play. Surveying the league, I believe you could put Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Cam Newton and Matthew Stafford in that special category, based on what they do for their current squads. While we can debate whether another quarterback or two should be included on the list, the point remains that only a handful of guys are in the VIP circle when it comes to playing the position like a true franchise quarterback.
So I can't understand why teams continue to overpay middling players at the position when we know those players aren't single-handedly capable of reversing the fortunes of the franchise on the strength of their arm and playmaking ability. Sure, they can win games, but to get the job done at the highest level, they need support, whether in the form of a dominant No. 1 receiver, an explosive multi-purpose running back or a solid offensive line. Granted, football is ultimately a team game, but if you're going to pay a quarterback $20 million-plus, he needs to be the best player on the team, or you're jeopardizing your chances of building the right supporting cast to help him lead the team to significant wins.
Don't believe me? It's not a coincidence that only three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks since 2006 have had a cap number that was 10 percent or more of the league salary cap in that year, according to numbers found at Over The Cap(Peyton Manning twice, Eli Manning and Tom Brady once), with at least two of those players (Peyton and Brady) qualifying as franchise quarterbacks. And consider that every Super Bowl QB in that span who took up 14 percent or more of the salary cap lost (Peyton Manning twice, Matt Ryan once). Thus, it appears that overpaying quarterbacks is a recipe for disaster for most squads.
(Some quick notes on those numbers: The uncapped 2010 season was not included. And the percentage of league salary cap was used rather than the percentage of adjusted cap for each team.)
Based on that, I think it's crazy that 16 quarterbacks are scheduled to carry cap numbers that are at least 10 percent of the league salary cap this season. With the salary cap set at $177.2 million for 2018, you're talking about half of the starting quarterbacks in the league earning the kind of money that should be reserved for elite players. Do we really believe there are 16 elite quarterbacks in the league?
Think about it this way. San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo's 2018 cap number will take up 20 percent of that $177.2 million salary cap figure after he signed a five-year, $135 million deal this offseason. Sure, he reeled off five wins in five starts with the team in 2017, but we're talking about a player with only seven career starts taking up one-fifth of the league salary cap.
If that's not enough to give you pause, here are the top five quarterbacks when it comes to percentage of the salary cap (again, according to numbers provided by Over The Cap, using the cap of $177.2 million rather than the adjusted cap figure for each team):
1) Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers: 20.9 percent, 7-0 career record, 99.7 passer rating. 2) Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions: 15.0 percent, 60-65 career record, 88.3 passer rating. 3) Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders: 14.1 percent, 28-34 career record, 87.5 passer rating. 4) Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens: 14.0 percent, 92-62 career record, 84.1. 5) Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts: 13.8 percent, 43-27 career record, 87.3 passer rating.
Falling just outside of the top five is Kirk Cousins, whose cap percentage of 13.5 ranks sixth. He's the definition of a "trailer" as a guy who needs a strong supporting cast to play at a high level. As it happens, Cousins received a market-setting deal to join a Minnesota Vikings team that was already loaded with supporting talent.
I will let you decide if the above five would be considered five of the best players in the league. But considering the number of all-star performers at other positions who are destined for gold jackets, I don't know if you could place any of the aforementioned guys in a credible top-five list at this time.
That's why I roll my eyes every time I hear an executive or analyst justify overpaying average quarterbacks in today's game. If you have to commit so much in the way of resources to helping an average quarterback play reasonably well, why are you paying the quarterback big bucks? If your compensation is ultimately tied to your performance, these $20 million quarterbacks must be able to elevate the play of the franchise; otherwise, teams should stick to the budget and play with a value-priced option at the position while placing a stellar supporting cast around him.
I know that sounds like a radical concept, but we've seen teams go to the Super Bowl without big-money quarterbacks under center. Heck, I was part of an organization (the 2003 Carolina Panthers) that went to the Super Bowl with Jake Delhomme installed as the QB1 surrounded by a couple of playmakers on the outside (Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad) and a star-studded defense. And last year, we saw Nick Foles guide the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl title backed by an ultra-talented defense and a handful of prime-time caliber offensive players. It's clear the team-building process doesn't necessarily need to be all about the quarterback if the decision makers involved know how to evaluate and acquire other players while also setting a hard line on the money paid out to the quarterback.
Now, if the QB1 is a legitimate stud worthy of being considered elite, the team should break the bank and build around his talents. If not, the team should pay him based on his talent and use the excess money to surround him with the assets that he needs to play at a high level.
Sounds simple, but it's hard to find execs willing to use common sense when it comes to paying quarterbacks in today's game.
As the reigning NFL offensive player of the year, Todd Gurley is the latest in a long line of outstanding Rams running backs.
Hall of Famers Eric Dickerson and Marshall Faulk are the two that most often come to mind, but Steven Jackson — the franchise's all-time rushing leader — also owns a place in the elite group.
"Sometimes, I talk to current fans here [in Los Angeles] and there's an argument of who's the greatest running back to be a Ram," Jackson said Friday at the Rams' Thousand Oaks training facility, where he took part in an alumni weekend. "I think it's me.
"Look at the record book. Everybody has their pick."
From 2005 to 2012, Jackson rushed for more than 1,000 yards in eight consecutive seasons for the St. Louis Rams.
"I'm a history freak," Jackson said. "And when it comes to the Rams' organization, if there's one thing we do, we pick running backs well."
Jackson, 34, looks fit enough to still be playing.
The former Oregon State standout, the 24th player selected in the 2004 draft, was a three-time Pro Bowl selection during his 12-year career with the Rams, Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots.
In nine seasons with the Rams, Jackson rushed for 10,138 yards and 56 touchdowns, and caught 407 passes for 3,324 yards and eight touchdowns.
His best season was 2006, when he rushed for 1,528 yards and 13 touchdowns, and caught 90 passes for 806 yards and three touchdowns.
But the Rams never posted a winning record during Jackson's years with the team. They made the playoffs only once, in his rookie season in 2004 when they finished 8-8.
"Everyone doesn't get the wins," he said. "Some guy's going to be a lucky this year, be a rookie to win the Super Bowl.
"And you have somebody like myself that plays 12 years and doesn't get a chance."
Jackson said it was not bittersweet to see the Rams flourishing under coach Sean McVay, who last season led them an 11-5 record and their first playoff appearance since Jackson's rookie season.
"When I played, it was more of, you get a lead and you always expected a team to come back," he said, adding, "It hurts to say that out loud, but that's how it was in those days.
"Now to watch the current Rams play, it's, more so, you see the confidence. And every week last year I saw the team grow."
The Rams led the NFL in scoring in 2017 as Gurley scored a league-best 19 touchdowns. Jackson said McVay's play-calling was reminiscent of former Rams coach Mike Martz.
Asked how he would fit in McVay's offense, Jackson said, "I think I'd probably still be running for 1,000 yards a season."
Jackson said he enjoyed watching the development of former teammates such as offensive lineman Rodger Saffold, kicker Greg Zuerlein and punter Johnny Hekker.
"To see the careers they've made for themselves has been impressive," he said.
In February, Jackson climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa as part of former Rams teammate Chris Long's annual "Waterboys" charity.
Now he is looking forward to seeing the Rams continue to develop under McVay, especially as Gurley continues the Rams' running backs legacy.
"We're all different and all are special in different ways," he said. "It's a group that we go for pound for pound against any other team in the NFL when it comes to the history of the running back position."
A year of progress
Hall of fame offensive lineman Jackie Slater attended last year's alumni weekend when McVay was preparing for his first season.
"The difference between what he did a year ago and what he did today — you could tell that this offense is in full bloom and that everybody in that [team meeting] room really has a handle on what he's teaching," Slater said, adding, "All I could see is a blossoming, and I think a bludgeoning, kind of a thunderous kind of a powerhouse that they're developing here.
"And... we could be watching some special football here for the next decade, if not longer. The guy's 32 years old. He's just getting started in this business."
Coaching clinic
Todd Lyght was impressed by what he observed from defensive backs during workouts and meetings.
Lyght, the fifth pick in the 1991 draft, played 10 of his 12 NFL seasons for the Rams. He coaches defensive backs at Notre Dame, his alma mater.
Lyght, a 1999 Pro Bowl pick, complimented cornerbacks coach Aubrey Pleasant, and said cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters were "probably going to end up being the best tandem in the league" for years to come.
"I've always been a fan of Talib's," Lyght said. "I think he's a phenomenal player, a great competitor. He takes a lot of pride in his tackling, which a lot of cornerbacks don't do all the time.
"And I think Peters is an outstanding player, a great playmaker."
Weighing in on Wade
Hall of Fame defensive lineman Jack Youngblood, the 20th pick in the 1971 draft, was in his sixth NFL season when Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips began his NFL coaching career in 1976.
Reynolds said Phillips reminds him of Ray Malavasi, the Rams defensive coordinator from 1973 to 1977 and head coach from 1978 to 1982.
"Very intelligent about what the offense is going to do to you, and therefore, what am I going to do to offset that," Reynolds said. "He puts his talent in position to be able to play and to be able to excel."
We still got fans of the Ginger Giraffe (glennon) here? Josh Rosen impresses Cardinals at OTAs while Mike Glennon reportedly vomits on field https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...hile-mike-glennon-reportedly-vomits-on-field/
Let's check in with the Cardinals' quarterback situation at OTAs
Sean Wagner-McGough @seanjwagner
The Josh Rosen era is off to a promising start in Arizona. On the other hand, the Mike Glennon era is off to a much yuckier kind of start.
According to right guard Justin Pugh, Rosen won over some of the veterans by opening with a joke. Pugh revealed that Rosen actually said, "'Hey, what's up, guys? I'm Josh,'" during his first huddle.
"He was good," Pugh said, via ESPN.com. "I was surprised at how well he did with the limited amount of time that he's spent here so far. The first thing I told him was, 'Take command of the huddle. This is your huddle.' He did a good job. I was impressed with what he did today."
"He stepped in the huddle and had a lot of pizzazz," left tackle D.J. Humphries said. "He didn't seem like he was choked up at all. Voice didn't crack none. He wasn't talking low. He was excited. He was asserting himself into the huddle, and I was pretty excited to see that."
Don't worry, he did more than just impress his teammates with the sound of his voice. He also impressed his coach with his actual quarterbacking abilities.
"Josh looked great today," coach Steve Wilks said. "Some of his timing and his throws with the quarterback and tight ends I thought were right on point."
Remember when pundits thought Rosen's penchant for asking questions would be a hindrance in the NFL? Well, it sounds like he's already asking questions and shockingly, his teammates seem to be more than OK with it. According to Humphries, Rosen asked a coach a question about a defensive look when he was still inside the huddle. Humphries came away impressed.
"That, to me, is a big deal," Humphries said. "A guy that's confident enough in himself to understand that, 'Hey, I don't know that. I'm going to turn around and ask this coach that knows. I don't mind pausing all of this stuff so I can figure this out, and I'm going to get out here, and I'm going to snap this ball, and we're going to get it going.'"
Obviously, it's voluntary OTAs, which means we shouldn't overreact to anything that happens. Just because Rosen impressed his coach and teammates at his first practice with them doesn't mean Rosen is going to beat out Bradford for the starting job. If Bradford is healthy, he'll probably be the team's starter because he's a good quarterback when healthy, though he's certainly had a problem staying healthy.
But the reviews coming from OTAs are encouraging because it wipes away the notion that Rosen wouldn't be a good fit in the NFL because of his so-called millennial-ness (whatever that means) and because it indicates that Rosen isn't that far away from being ready to start in the NFL. Who knew that asking questions would actually be a good trait for a young quarterback?
Unfortunately for Rosen, even though he might've been the most NFL-ready quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft, he's stuck behind arguably the best bridge quarterback on the best team in comparison to where the other top quarterbacks landed in the draft. If the Cardinals end up zooming out to a winning record with Bradford, they're going to have a difficult time making the move to Rosen. It got a bit lost due to the Rams' sudden emergence and Jimmy Garoppolo's closing stretch as the 49ers' quarterback, but the Cardinals found a way to go 8-8 last season despite the losses of both David Johnson and Carson Palmer. The Cardinals have a chance to be sneaky good if Johnson stays healthy and their quarterback situation improves.
Glennon is part of that quarterback situation, but he shouldn't expect to see the field unless both Bradford and Rosen go down with injuries. Glennon, who got his brief chance to start with the Bears last season before he puked all over the field in a horrendous four-game stretch, signed with the Cardinals in free agency. At the time, he might've thought he had a decent chance to see the field in 2018 due to Bradford's injury history, but the drafting of Rosen likely ended that chance.
Glennon's off to a rough start at OTAs too. If you're wondering why Rosen split first-team reps with Kanoff and not Glennon, it's because Glennon left practice 20 minutes after it started because he was vomiting on the field, according to Weinfuss. Wilks said that Glennon "ate something wrong."
Here's to hoping we find out in 20 years that Rosen, taking a page out of "Game of Thrones," actually poisoned Glennon to secure more first-team reps for himself as he tries to climb above the chaos of the Cardinals' quarterback room. Remember, chaos isn't a pit. It's a ladder.
ESPN has hired reporter Lindsey Thiry to cover the Los Angeles Rams, while former NFL Nation team reporter Alden Gonzalez moves into a new multimedia reporter role.
Thiry joins ESPN from the Los Angeles Times where she worked as a multimedia sports reporter the past four years, covering the Rams, Dodgers, Lakers, USC and UCLA. Thiry’s versatility was evident as she wrote regularly for the print and digital editions, while also producing daily videos and podcasts. She won an Associated Press Sports Editors’ award for a short video in 2016.
Before joining the Times, Thiry covered college football and recruiting for Scout.com, and appeared on Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports West and Spectrum SportsNet. The Seattle native graduated from the University of Washington where she was a member of the Huskies’ 2005 National Champion women’s volleyball team.
Gonzalez has covered the Rams as an NFL Nation team reporter for ESPN since he joined the company in 2016. He has also contributed to editions of SportsCenter and ESPN’s NFL shows, written features across multiple sports for ESPN.com, and assisted with coverage of the NFL’s games in Mexico City.
Gonzalez, who is bilingual, will now cover all of the Los Angeles sports teams in addition to covering major stories in Southern California. He will work out of ESPN’s LA bureau with Emmy-winning reporter Shelley Smith and others. Gonzalez’s reporting, in both English and Spanish, will be seen on multiple platforms including studio shows and ESPN.com.
Prior to covering the NFL for ESPN, Gonzalez worked for MLB.com, including a five-year stint covering the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Anyone thinking about attending this one? Its close to my birthday and the closest game to me this year. Didn't know if we wanted to start thinking about an ROD tailgate party like we did last year at Jacksonville.
The Secrets of a Linebacker Craig Robertson has made it in the NFL thanks to a sharp eye and keen sense of what’s coming next. The Saints linebacker walks us through five plays—telling us how he can figure out what’s coming—from a game against the Rams last fall By ANDY BENOIT
PETER G. AIKEN
Saints linebacker Craig Robertson is one of those players who keeps finding his way onto the field. Undrafted in 2011 out of North Texas, he spent his first NFL season on Cleveland’s practice squad before getting a chance to become a situational backup and special teamer in 2012.
He started three games for the Browns in 2012 and then 61 of his next 73 games, including 27 of 31 since signing with the Saints in ’16. Initially a safety in college, Robertson is a finesse linebacker with speed, though he’d never be confused for Deion Jones or Telvin Smith.
Guys like Robertson must play faster than their athleticism. That demands an aptitude for diagnosing plays. We think of this as reading and reacting, but for a linebacker, much of the game takes place before the snap, at the line of scrimmage. Watching his 2017 game against the Rams, Robertson showed me how he sniffs out plays before the snap.
13:33 FIRST QUARTER, SECOND-AND-6
Courtesy NFL Game Pass
Craig Robertson: We knew when Tavon Austin was in the backfield, he had his small book of plays that he ran. The tight end’s stance [Tyler Higbee] gave a lot of those plays away. Right here, his feet are even. On other plays, his feet will be kind of staggered, but not much. It was a slight but telling difference. Our defensive ends would look at his feet and make certain calls off it.
Andy Benoit: So the defensive ends knew that “even feet” meant a split-zone block, where Higbee would work back across the formation and block the opposite edge defender?
Robertson: Yeah. But the Rams would pass from this look, too. [Right defensive end Cam Jordan] knew that Higbee, from this stance, would be chip-blocking him [if it’s a pass]. That’s why Jordan widened his pass rush initially.
The result: Todd Gurley was stopped for a 1-yard gain.
11:38 FIRST QUARTER, SECOND-AND-1
Courtesy NFL Game Pass
Robertson: Here WR Cooper Kupp is at No. 3. [This is football-speak for saying Kupp is the third widest-aligned receiver on his side of the field. The widest guy, Austin, is No. 1. The second widest guy, Josh Reynolds, is No. 2.] Being at No. 3 and up on the line of scrimmage, with the two outside guys off the ball, we know Kupp won’t run a route to the flat.
[Visualize it: if Kupp did run to the flat, his route would collide with any route that Austin or Reynolds ran, unless they both also ran flat routes, which would be a nonsensical play design.] So Kupp will run either a Corner route, a Go route or an Over route. [All are routes that go vertical off the snap.]
Of course, with more limited route options from this alignment, the defense must be on higher alert for a run play, especially given it was second-and-1. Indeed, it was a misdirection toss to Todd Gurley.
Robertson: I thought Gurley was going to cut inside. I bounced outside first [correctly], but I peeked back. I needed to just get outside all the way.
The result: A five-yard gain for Gurley.
5:31 FIRST QUARTER, THIRD-AND-1
Courtesy NFL Game Pass
Robertson: We knew what this play was. Just by formation, down-and-distance and tendency.
Benoit: How, and at what point, did you know for sure?
Robertson: Simple: right there [points to Gurley]. He’s five yards deep, not the usual seven or eight. I’m thinking Gurley—big, strong guy—he’s going to dive into me inside. So I’m gearing up to make the tackle or get him to bounce it. I turned to Von Bell and said, ‘Make sure you Go!’
The result: Gurley is stuffed for no gain.
4:36 FIRST QUARTER, FIRST-AND-10
Courtesy NFL Game Pass
Robertson: The blitz! We changed this blitz. A.J. Klein was supposed to go first, but then they motioned. So I was like, "I’m goin’, I’m goin!" A.J. was blitzing from the passing strength of the formation. But once the guy goes motion, the passing strength changes.
Benoit: How’d you get the timing down so well on this one?
Robertson: Just watching the television copy, listening to the Rams’ cadence on it. And they were at home this game, so you could hear the cadence. And their cadence is their cadence—it’s the same one they’ve been doing since training camp. Once you hear the TV copy, you start to understand what words they use. What code words: colors, animals, cities, states—every team is different. But you listen to it and you get a beat on it.
When I was in Cleveland, every time we played Joe Flacco, he said the same colors, same cadence, everything was the same. So when you got certain colors, especially on first down when you get a lot of run plays [which draw a lot of extra cadence verbiage since teams check in and out of run plays so much], you knew. Plus, on this alignment here, there was a lot of space in the A-gap.
Benoit: Yeah, there’s a little extra width between the center and guard on your side. You see that sometimes between a guard and tackle, you don’t see it often between a guard and a center.
Robertson: Nope. Most times when an O-line gives you that wide split, they’re trying to widen everything out and handle the outside rushers.
Benoit: And just by the structure of where everyone is aligned, it’s you and DT Tyler Davidson 2-on-1 against the guard. From there only Gurley can help.
Robertson: And the hardest block for a running back is when he’s in the dot [directly behind the center—like “dotting the i”] and a blitzer flashes immediately. Because the running back has to go around the quarterback to get to his block, and he must not hit the quarterback.
The result: Robertson gets in for a clean sack.
13:31 SECOND QUARTER, FIRST-AND-10
Courtesy NFL Game Pass
Robertson: With Tavon Austin at five yards in the backfield, we’re thinking a trap play. And sure enough, they run trap. So the right guard fakes a block on Tyler Davidson and then gets up to the next level. When you get “trap” as an inside ’backer, you gotta come downhill.
I was thinking it was a pull block coming from the left because [LG Rodger Saffold] was light on his hands in his stance. [A lineman being light on his hands is an indication that he is going to move east and west, as opposed to firing off the ball north and south.] I got lucky that the right tackle [Rob Havenstein] was a little sloppy, that allowed me to get back in there.
If you're ever feeling depressed about the state of the NFL, do yourself a favor by wiping your mind of anything tangibly related to the catch rule, the quality of offensive line play, the Chargers' kicking situation, and Christian Hackenberg by pulling up all 32 rosters and sorting each of them by age. After getting over the initial wave of depression that usually hits when you realize how much younger than you the vast majority of players are -- what are we even doing with our lives, man? -- you'll feel better knowing about all of the players we'll have the pleasure of watching for the next decade-plus.
As the offseason slogs along -- it's somehow only been like three weeks since the draft -- it's time to look ahead to the future of the NFL by answering a simple question that's difficult to answer: Who are the best young players in the NFL? To answer that question, we decided to rank the top 25 players under the age of 25.
So, here's where I need to say that there are a crap ton of incredible players under the age of 25, which makes compiling the list rather difficult. To begin, I visited every team's roster, sorted by age, and jotted down the names of players who I thought could have a chance of sticking on the list. By the time I was finished with that portion of the process, I had written down 59 names. I narrowed down that list to 32 players pretty easily, but that's when the trouble began.
They weren't many easy choices, but after a couple hours, I had my list of 25 names. Or so I thought. It turns out, Cody Whitehair is already 25 years old. Who knew? It took me another 15 or so minutes to figure out how to replace Whitehair and how to reorder the list. Finally, I had it. A list of 25 names, which you can find below.
Josh McCown threw for 1,809 yards, 13 touchdowns, one interception, and a 109.8 passer rating over a seven-game stretch in 2013.
That's why he -- Watson, not the 38-year-old McCown -- barely missed the cut. As for quarterbacks like Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, who are also not present on the list, it's not even clear if they're top-25 (in hindsight, I probably should've written top-15) NFL quarterbacks at this point. That's why they're not on the list.
One more note:
Players entering the league this coming season did not qualify.
Nobody has any idea which rookies will flop and which rookies will shine. So, it's impossible to rank them among their peers. That's why they're not included in the group below.
OK, onto the list, which will almost definitely infuriate nobody (age in parentheses).
25. Bears RB Jordan Howard (23)
Up until the last minute, I had 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster slotted in at this spot. But at the final moment, I decided to bump Foster off the list for Howard. It's not that Foster isn't a good player. According to PFF, he graded out as the fourth-best linebacker in football last season, placing behind Bobby Wagner, Lavonte David and Luke Kuechly. It's just that, he needs to prove he can stay on the field and produce over the course of a larger sample size before he makes his way onto a list like this. To this point, injuries and troubling off-the-field incidents have overshadowed his production on the field. He played in only 10 games last season.
As for Howard, he's been a productive player for two straight seasons. Drafted in the fifth round in 2016, he's rushed for the third-most rushing yards since entering the league. Only Ezekiel Elliott and Le'Veon Bell have more rushing yards in that span. Howard is also averaging 4.6 yards per carry in his career. For the sake of comparison, LeSean McCoy has averaged 4.6 yards per carry over the past two seasons. Also consider that Howard has managed to piece together two good seasons even though he's operated within John Fox's "basic" offense. Howard should thrive in Matt Nagy's system that's designed for the modern era.
Really, the only knock against Howard is his inability to serve as a capable pass catcher, which is why he ranks so low on this list. It's almost why I left him off entirely. But in the end, Howard's contributions as a bruising runner were too much for me to ignore. He's a damn good player, if not a perfect one.
24. Steelers DE Stephon Tuitt (24)
Tuitt has flown under the radar in Pittsburgh due to the presence of some bigger personalities and flashier players on the Steelers' roster, but he's developed into one of the league's most underrated defensive linemen since entering as a second-round pick in 2014. Over the past four seasons, during which he's played in 56 games, he's registered 14.5 sacks, 99 solo tackles, an interception, six defended passes and four forced fumbles. According to PFF, Tuitt is coming off a season in which he graded out as the 18th-best interior lineman, ranked one spot behind Aaron Donald in run-stop percentage among 3-4 defensive ends, and was the fourth-most efficient pass-rusher at his position group, registering 40 total pressures.
Fuller, a third-round pick in 2016, has blossomed into arguably the league's top slot cornerback. Last season, he picked off four passes and defended 10 passes. According to PFF, he graded out as the fifth-best cornerback in football and allowed a 56.7 passer rating in coverage -- only six cornerbacks finished with a lower passer rating.
22. Bengals LB Carl Lawson (23)
Lawson's biggest problem during his rookie season was that the Bengals didn't give him a full-time role. Otherwise, Lawson, a fourth-round pick last year, was damn near perfect. In a rotational pass-rusher role, he grabbed 8.5 sacks. He finished with 59 total pressures even though he rushed the passer only 361 times, according to PFF. For context, consider that among all 3-4 outside linebackers, only Von Miller and Ryan Kerrigan were more efficient pass rushers than Lawson, per PFF.
Give this man a full-time job, Cincinnati.
21. Titans OT Jack Conklin (23)
Conklin, drafted No. 8 overall in 2016, has been nothing but reliable in his two full NFL seasons. That's what makes his torn ACL, which he suffered during the Titans' playoff loss to the Patriots, so devastating. Don't let that injury detract from what he's accomplished over the past two seasons. As a rookie, he was named First Team All-Pro. According to PFF, he allowed only two sacks in 552 pass-blocking snaps this past season.
20. Rams QB Jared Goff (23)
A year ago, the idea of Goff appearing on a list like this would've seemed like nothing more than a fantasy. But after Sean McVay and some actually talented football players arrived in Los Angeles last offseason, Goff turned into the quarterback worthy of the No. 1 overall pick. In 16 games last season, Goff completed 62.1 percent of his passes, averaged 8.0 yards per attempt, threw 28 touchdowns and only seven picks, and posted a 100.5 passer rating. That'll do.
19. Jaguars DE Yannick Ngakoue (23)
Earlier this month, the Jaguars decided to pass on Dante Fowler's fifth-year option because they want him to "earn a new long-term contract," even though he already saw his sack total double in 2017 before he brought down Tom Bradytwice in the AFC Championship Game. The Jaguars should've just told the truth. They didn't pick up Fowler's fifth-year option because they don't really need him anymore, not with Calais Campbell locking down one of their starting defensive end spots and Ngakoue occupying the other spot. Ngakoue, a third-round pick in 2016, has registered 20 sacks in two seasons -- including 12 this past season -- and 10(!) forced fumbles (tied for the most over the past two seasons).
18. Browns DE Myles Garrett (22)
The No. 1 overall pick last year saw his rookie season get overshadowed by the Browns' relentless pursuit of history. But make no mistake about it: The Browns hit a home run by taking Garrett. In 11 games, he collected seven sacks. According to PFF, he was just as productive at rushing the passer as Michael Bennett with 37 total pressures in 290 pass-rushing snaps. There's reason to believe his sack total will climb significantly in 2018. For one, Garrett missed five games this past season. Two, he's got a season under his belt. Three, the Browns just revamped their secondary, which means Garrett should have more time to get after quarterbacks this offseason.
"I've got a video of 28 snaps of Myles Garrett pass-rushes last year where he gets within two steps or less of the quarterback when the ball comes out," Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams told The MMQB after the 2018 draft. "Basically, we aren't covering long enough to let him get to the quarterback. Myles and others -- especially [defensive end] Emmanuel Ogbah -- will get more chances because of Denzel (Ward)."
17. Chargers TE Hunter Henry (23)
Finally, the Chargers are Henry's team and he is the Chargers' top tight end. Henry's been forced to share time with future Hall of Famer Antonio Gatesduring his first two years with the Chargers. Even still, he's managed to put up solid numbers, hauling in 81 passes for 1,057 yards and 12 touchdowns (the sixth-most among tight ends in that span). But what makes Henry such a good player at his age are his all-around contributions. He's much more than just a pass catcher. In 2017, he finished as PFF's second-highest graded tight end, behind only Rob Gronkowski and ahead of players like Travis Kelce, Delanie Walker, and Zach Ertz. He graded that highly because of his run-blocking abilities.
Expect Henry to thrive in Year 3 without Gates around.
16. 49ers DT DeForest Buckner (24)
Buckner has flown under the radar. First, he was stuck on an awful 49ers team. Then, when the 49ers got good at the end of this past season, new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo got all the acclaim. Now, as the 49ers enter the 2018 season full of hype and expectations, all the attention is focused on Garoppolo and new cornerback Richard Sherman. Don't forget about Buckner who, as a defensive tackle, has already acquired nine sacks in two seasons. Per PFF, he tied with Damon "Snacks" Harrison as the sixth-best interior defensive lineman last season. Only Aaron Donald, Geno Atkins, Fletcher Cox, Kawann Short, and Ndamukong Suh placed higher.
15. Saints OT Ryan Ramczyk (24)
Ramcyzk is the best young offensive tackle in the league. The last pick in the first round a year ago, he started all 16 games of his rookie season. He graded out as PFF's eighth-best tackle, allowing three sacks on 559 pass-blocking plays.
14. Falcons LB Deion Jones (23)
A second-round pick in 2016, Jones has made 166 solo tackles and defended 21 passes in his career while picking off three passes in each of the two seasons. He checked in as PFF's sixth-best linebacker in 2017.
13. Vikings WR Stefon Diggs (24)
In three seasons, Diggs has never played with a top-flight quarterback. Despite less-than-ideal circumstances, Diggs has caught 200 passes for 2,472 yards and 15 touchdowns in his career. He averages 12.4 yards per catch.
12. Titans S Kevin Byard (24) Deion Sanders might not have heard of him, but we have. After two seasons, Byard has established himself as one of the NFL's best safeties. He picked off eight passes this past season and graded out as PFF's fourth-best safety.
11. Rams WR Brandin Cooks (24)
Entering his fifth season, Cooks is somehow onto the third team of his career. Over the past four seasons, he's averaged roughly 986 yards and almost seven touchdowns per season. He averages 14.1 yards per catch. He's going to explode in the Rams' offense with McVay calling the shots and Goff throwing him deep bombs.
10. Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill (24)
Hill is more than just a receiver. He's a dangerous returner (four return touchdowns). He's a lethal ball carrier (41 rushing attempts for 326 yards and three touchdowns). And he's a dang good receiver (136 catches, 1,776 yards, and 13 touchdowns). He's done all of that despite having been an NFL player for only two seasons. Really, Hill's position should read: playmaker. He's a perfect fit for Andy Reid's creative offense, and I can't wait to see him play with flamethrower Patrick Mahomes.
9. Giants S Landon Collins (24)
Despite the demise of the Giants, Collins remains a game changer. He's missed only one game in three seasons. He's snagged eight interceptions. He's successfully defended away 28 passes. He's collected four sacks. And he's made 254 solo tackles. In 2016, he was PFF's second-highest graded safety. This past season, as the Giants bumbled around mindlessly in the dark, he tied for sixth.
8. Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (24)
Evans catches some flak for his volatile touchdown production, but he shouldn't be blamed for #TouchdownRegression. Since Evans' career began in 2014, he's averaged roughly 77 receptions, 1,145 yards, and eight touchdowns per season even though he's been catching passes from the erratic Jameis Winston. Does he drop too many passes? Sure. But that's only because his massive frame and leaping ability allows him to get his hands on passes most receivers would simply watch fall incomplete.
7. Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt (22)
Hunt cooled off at the end of his rookie season after a historic start, but when the season was over, Hunt's stat line remained incredible. He rushed for 1,327 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. And he caught 53 passes for 455 yards and three touchdowns. Put together, he totaled 1,782 yards and 11 touchdowns. Only Todd Gurley and Le'Veon Bell accumulated more yards from scrimmage.
6. Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott (22)
If this had been made after the 2016 season, Elliott almost assuredly would've placed in the top five. But Elliott's production slipped a bit in 2017 while other young players outshined him. Still, Elliott's status as one of the game's best running back remains secure. In two seasons (25 games), he's rushed for 2,614 yards and 22 touchdowns while averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He's added 58 catches, 632 receiving yards and three touchdown catches to his already impressive resume. Over the past two seasons, nobody has scored more touchdowns than Zeke (Todd Gurley is tied with him).
5. Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey (23)
Ramsey is the prince that was promised to take over Richard Sherman's mantle as the game's best and loudest cornerback. In two seasons, Ramsey has picked off six passes and defended 31 passes. According to PFF, he allowed the 10th-lowest passer rating in coverage (63.9) while allowing three touchdowns this past season.
4. Saints CB Marshon Lattimore (21)
The 2017 Defensive Rookie of the Year played a significant role in the Saints' defensive turnaround. In his first season (13 games), Lattimore intercepted five passes and defended 18 passes. According to PFF, he allowed a 45.3 passer rating in coverage. Only two cornerbacks finished with a lower passer rating in coverage. He didn't allow a single touchdown.
3. Saints RB Alvin Kamara (22)
The running back position might not hold as much value as the cornerback position, but Kamara is a better running back relative to his peers than Lattimore and Ramsey are to their fellow cornerbacks. What the 2017 Offensive Rookie of the Year did last season was historic. Even though he split touches with backfield mate Mark Ingram, he totaled 1,554 yards and 13 touchdowns from scrimmage while averaging 7.7 yards per touch. He also scored a touchdown on a kick return. With Ingram facing a four-game suspension to begin the upcoming season, Kamara's value might expand even more in 2018.
2. Chargers DE Joey Bosa (22)
So far, the only negative aspect of Bosa's two-year career has been his training-camp holdout during his rookie summer. Since then, it's been nothing but sacks. Bosa, taken third overall in 2016, has already grabbed 23 sacks in two seasons. This past season, he was the sixth-most efficient pass rusher at his position group, according to PFF. Only two 4-3 defensive ends registered more total pressures than Bosa.
1. Rams RB Todd Gurley (23)
Gurley is the best player under the age of 25. After finally being freed from the constraints of a Jeff Fisher "middle-school offense," Gurley ran wild in Sean McVay's system. In a 15-game season, he rushed for 1,305 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 4.7 yards per carry, and caught 64 passes for 788 yards and six touchdowns. His 2,093 yards and 19 touchdowns from scrimmage led the league. He was, quite simply, the best playmaker in football last season.
Which player’s emergence as an elite player would most likely coincide with a championship run for the Rams? Obviously, several players have made it already, so you may wish to choose an up and coming player.
My choice: Gerald Everett. If he could shine through among the many Rams weapons, that would likely mean our offense went from good to unstoppable.
Rams waive Dalton Keene
Posted by Charean Williams on May 17, 2018
Getty Images
The Rams waived defensive tackle Dalton Keene, the team announced Thursday.
The Illinois State product signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent earlier this week.
He finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference voting for defensive player of the year and was a second-team All-American.
Keene made 45 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, eight sacks and eight quarterback hurries in 2017. He finished his career at ISU ranked ninth in sacks (17.5), 11th in tackles for loss (33.0) and with 200 total tackles.
If you're like me, the specter of confusing the young prince that everyone is talking about - Carson Wentz, with that inbred Brit across the pond- Harry, is enough to cause a great deal of lost sleep.
I mean, say you are travelling to Wembly to attend an NFL game, and you run across this guy...
Do you say?:
A. "Carson Wentz! Wow. man! You know...I was a Wentz guy all along on ROD...I mean Goff is ok...hey, let's take a selfie!"
or
B. "Prince Harry? Dude, that Markle babe?...wooo. You did good, man. Way to parlay that whole royalty deal. She's alright!"
__________________________________________
Or....say you are in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl, and you run into this guy walking on the beach...
and you say, "Go Carson!" and then you go a couple more blocks and you run into this guy....
and you say, "Oh crap! I told Prince Harry 'Go Carson!'..." and in embarrassment, you approach this dude, and say, "Carson, you're not going to believe what I just did. I ran into that pussy-Brit Harry and said, 'Go Carson!'..., well, anyway. Good luck in the Pro-Bowl tomorrow, man."
...then, when the Royal British security team release you after hours of questioning, you vow to get your recognition skills checked.
___________________________________________
You just cannot have that happen, gentlemen!!
"Know your Gingers, boys!"
<----------- Wentz
<------------ Wentz
<--------- Harry
Johnny Hekker and Ron Howard
^
:eek:
I hope this little exercise has been as helpful for you guys, as it has been for me. So, if you are attending the royal wedding, or walking the streets of Philadelphia, take heart! YOU...are now a Ginger expert!
You can now confidently recognize Prince Harry, or Carson Wentz when you see them.
and in embarrassment, you approach this dude, and say, "Carson, 
you're not going to believe what I just did. I ran into that pussy-Brit Harry and said, 'Go Carson!'...
, well, anyway. Good luck in the Pro-Bowl tomorrow, man."