First, I commend him for quickly filling out his staff of asst coaches with top drawer people. Seemed to take Fisher weeks and weeks to hire a new asst coach, often seeming to take leftovers. (Cignetti or Boras, anyone?) Fisher's string of OC's is a quick study of ineptitude, don't you think? But I digress...

Back to WR and TE.

First thing that told all of us that there was a new sheriff in town was that Britt and Quick were allowed to walk without any pretense of a contract extension song and dance. I mean, Dang! The new staff was already convinced that they could and must do better than Britt and Quick. Another couple of pieces of evidence that they recognized shortcomings that Fisher and his staff simply couldn't see.

Another early dramatic move was the release of Kendricks. Clearly, they were unwilling to "settle" for Kendricks. Plus, the cap savings was nice, too. When I learned of the Kendricks release, it really opened my eyes to the fact that these new coaches were damned serious about upgrading their talent at the TE position, too. I'm betting that they have their eyes on a few TE's from this rich TE draft. So much so that they were sure that they could upgrade over Kendricks while quickly developing Higbee and the rookie. Something else that Fisher's staff failed to do. That shows confidence and bold thinking, imo.

There is little doubt in my mind that we will see a WR and TE added from this deep draft. Both will be weapons that fit nicely into McVay's new O. Both will be quickly developed and will quickly contribute.

I admire a HC that knows what he wants and has a plan to get there, AND is willing to make the tough decisions quickly to make it all happen.

Don't let McVay's glibness and happytalk during interviews mislead you. Yeah, he's a charmer, and that's certainly a good thing. But he also has demonstrated the ability to make the tough decisions, and quickly, that are necessary to turn this trainwreck of a roster completely around and headed in a playoff direction.

I LOVE that in a HC. I strongly feel that the Rams hit a HR with this 31 year old HC.

Somebody pinch me, 'cause I must be dreaming.

There are far too many charts to post so you'll have to click the appropriate links to get all the information.
**************************************************************************************
https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2017/2016-adjusted-games-lost-unit

2016 Adjusted Games Lost by Unit
by Scott Kacsmar

In the first part of this year's adjusted games lost (AGL) study, we looked at team results and found that the Bears had the highest AGL total in our database going back to 2000. By looking at each unit, we can get a more granular look at where teams were impacted the most by injuries.

For those unfamiliar with this metric, with AGL we are able to quantify how much teams were affected by injuries based on two principles: (1) Injuries to starters, injury replacements, and important situational reserves matter more than injuries to benchwarmers; and (2) Injured players who do take the field are usually playing with reduced ability.

Which is why AGL is based not strictly on whether the player is active for the game or not, but instead is based on the player's listed status that week (IR/PUP, out, doubtful, questionable, or probable).

Team/ OFF AGL/ Rk

Rams/ 7.7/ 1

Then we have the case of the Rams. The healthiest offense in the league was also the worst offense in the league according to DVOA. While our next study on snap-weighted age will likely show that the Rams were one of the youngest offenses in 2016, the results were just not good no matter how much youth, perceived talent, and health existed in Los Angeles last year. Jeff Fisher is gone, but rookie head coach Sean McVay will have his work cut out for him.

Kansas City and Los Angeles had the best tight end health, though football fans can actually name the tight end for the Chiefs. His name is Travis Kelce, and he had a really fine year (first in DYAR). Lance Kendricks finished 42nd in DYAR for the Rams, and rookie teammate Tyler Higbee was dead last at the position (46th).

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2017/nfl-head-coaches-adjusted-games-lost

NFL Head Coaches: Adjusted Games Lost
by Scott Kacsmar

Last week, we posted our annual study of adjusted games lost (AGL), which is Football Outsiders' metric for the impact of injuries on a team during the regular season. None of the five teams that accumulated at least 100 AGL made the playoffs in 2016.

We also made note of how Mike McCoy, who was fired after four seasons as San Diego's head coach, had AGL ranks of 28th, 31st, 26th, and 31st during his tenure. Any coach would find his job that much more difficult to deal with when there are that many injuries to starters and key reserves on a yearly basis.

This led us to wondering which coaches have benefitted from generally healthy seasons, and which coaches were dealt a tough hand like McCoy had in San Diego. That data is compiled below, and as it turns out, McCoy has had the worst injury luck of the 70 coaches since 2002 with at least three seasons of experience.

McCoy's teams averaged the most AGL (104.8), the worst average AGL rank (29.0), and the worst average z-score (minus-1.3) in AGL. So it has been an exceptionally bad run of injuries for the Chargers since 2013.

This is not to say that AGL alone is a great indicator of a team's win-loss record. We have found the correlation between AGL and wins to only be in the 0.2 to 0.3 range. However, when we chart the last 15 years of AGL rankings vs. winning percentage, there is an obvious disadvantage to having a banged-up squad.



Twelve of the 15 teams to finish first in AGL (the healthiest teams each season) won at least eight games. Only the 2016 Rams (4-12) were worse than 6-10, and we detailed last week how they had the healthiest offense, but the worst performance, as coaching and talent still outweigh health on the importance scale.

AGL by Head Coach (2002-2016)

Jeff Fisher had the healthiest teams on average, ranked 11th overall in z-score. Yet only four of those 28 coaches had a worse winning percentage than Fisher's .484. Fisher only made the playoffs four times in his final 14 seasons, and he can't blame his failures on his team's health.

Rookie HC or not, he's shown evidence that he knows the importance of OL play to his team's O success.

Something that Fisher never quite seemed to fully grasp, btw.

Consider...

Aaron Kromer hired asap. One of the top OL coaches available.

It was quickly determined that an upgrade at LOT and C simply had to be made. No more "settling" could be afforded at those 2 positions. The importance of the new coaches to readily determine this can scarcely be overstated. Gotta give Goff and Gurley a fighting chance.

Whitworth signed to secure that LOT position with a Pro Bowl player. Huge upgrade.

Sullivan signed to secure that C position. Tried Groy, but wouldn't overpay. Knew that they could upgrade via draft and/or FA. Looks like they succeeded. We can expect a C from this draft, also, probably mid rounder.

Kromer is gonna have a 3 way battle for RG and RT among Hav, GRob, and Brown at a very minimum. And who knows what other player might surprise by stepping up big under Kromer's direction? He's got a history of doing just that with players before.

These are all positive, confidence building moves quickly made by the new staff. They immediately recognized fatal OL shortcomings that Fisher/Boudreau failed to recognize.

Don't know about you, but I've got a more peaceful, easy feeling about our OL under McVay.

Hot Damn!

http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2017/i...-kiper-favorite-day-3-2017-nfl-draft-sleepers

People are always asking about sleepers. Well, some folks have a different meaning of what a "sleeper" is. It's not a second-round pick. No Day 2 pick can be a sleeper. Tight end Adam Shaheen from Division II Ashland is not a sleeper -- he's well known at this point and could be a top-40 pick. Neither is Lamar cornerback Brendan Langley, who will likely go in the first three rounds.

So, to me, a sleeper is a prospect from a small school who will go in Rounds 4-7. Here are six of my favorite sleepers for the Class of 2017 -- three on offense, three on defense:

Eric Saubert, TE, Drake
Saubert, not Shaheen, is the true tight end sleeper in this draft. A four-year starter for the Bulldogs, Saubert is a pass-catcher, not a blocker. He had 183 catches for 2,179 yards and 20 touchdowns in his career. He must improve as a blocker to have a future in the NFL. But he can stretch the deep middle of the field, and he can run after the catch. One comparison that I gave on the First Draft podcast was to former NFL tight end Jay Novacek, who was a sixth-round pick by the Cardinals in 1985. Novacek wasn't a speedster, but he had reliable hands.

Saubert could be taken as high as the fourth round, joining the last Drake player to get picked in the draft -- the Bears took tight end Pat Dunsmore No. 107 overall in 1983, and he had 17 catches and a touchdown during two seasons.

Chad Williams, WR, Grambling
Williams was a late invite to the Senior Bowl, where he showed he belonged among the nation's best senior prospects. He has decent size (6-foot-1, 204 pounds) and put up big numbers for the Tigers -- 90 catches for 1,337 yards last season and 21 touchdown catches during the past two seasons. He has potential as a big-play threat. There are offseason concerns, however, as Williams was arrested last May for possession of marijuana and possession of a firearm with drugs.

Nate Theaker, OL, Wayne State (MI)
The more I watched Theaker's tape, the more I liked him. He played both left and right tackle and some guard for the Warriors, and he was just dominating Division II defenders. At 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, he doesn't have the arm length (32 5/8) to play tackle in the NFL, but he could develop at guard. He played stronger than his 23 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press at the combine. He could be a seventh-round pick with future starter potential.

Jordan Herdman, ILB, Simon Fraser
Herdman impressed me during Senior Bowl week practices, making tackles all over the field and taking on blockers without fear. He's just not very big -- 5-foot-11, 238 pounds. You don't see many inside linebackers that small playing every-down roles in the NFL. He could contribute on special teams, though. At Simon Fraser -- which is in British Columbia, Canada, and is the only international program in Division II football -- he had 428 career tackles and was the conference defensive player of the year in 2014 and 2015.

Grover Stewart, DT, Albany State
This kid is worth taking a flyer on as a developmental plugger prospect. He's huge -- 6-foot-4, 334 pounds -- and has some quickness. He put up 7.5 sacks for the Division II Golden Rams last season, and he had 15 tackles for loss in 2015. He'll take on double-teams in the middle of a 3-4 defense in limited snaps, and he'll play hard. He's worth stashing on a roster and seeing if he can contribute.

Lorenzo Jerome, S, St. Francis (PA)
Like Herdman, Jerome caught my eye at the Senior Bowl. He had two interceptions and a forced fumble in the game, and the ball just seems to find him. He had 18 career interceptions for the Red Flash. He also had two interceptions at the NFL Players Association Collegiate Bowl. His stock dropped a little at the combine, however, as he ran a 4.70 40 at 5-foot-10, 204 pounds and didn't test well overall. I feel confident in saying he'll make an NFL roster, though. He has the instincts to play in the league.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2017/i...prospects-target-nfc-west-team-2017-nfl-draft

The NFL draft is less than two weeks away, and there's no better time than the present to take a closer look at which prospects make sense for each team.

We'll go through each division to pair prospects with each team on Days 1, 2 and 3 of the draft. (Even if a team does not have a pick on a given day -- for example, the Patriots on Day 1 -- we'll still recommend a player, as trades can always change the draft order.)

Important note: This is not a mock draft. We aren't predicting where players will land. Rather, we're identifying a few prospects who fill a need and/or fit what each team likes to do schematically.

Here's a breakdown of the NFC West.


Arizona Cardinals
Day 1 (pick No. 13): Kevin King, CB, Washington

The Cardinals need to find a starter opposite Patrick Peterson. Marcus Coopersigned with the Bears, Justin Bethel struggled at corner and Arizona reached for a developmental prospect last year, drafting third-round pick Brandon Williams. I've already said the Saints could target King at No. 11, but the Cardinals would do well to land him if he gets to 13. At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds with 32-inch arms and 4.43 speed, King has the tools to match up with bigger receivers on an island. His exceptional performance in the short-shuttle (3.98) and three-cone (6.56) show he's fluid enough to blanket receivers underneath, too.


Joshua Dobbs, QB, Tennessee

Carson Palmer is 37 and backup Drew Stanton turns 33 in May. It wouldn't be a surprise to see GM Steve Keim trade back into Round 1 to draft either Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes or Notre Dame's DeShone Kizer if they start to fall, but Dobbs is an interesting option if Arizona can't move up. Dobbs' stock has steadily risen since the Senior Bowl, and he has the tools -- strong arm, good work ethic and high-level intelligence -- to succeed in head coach Bruce Arians' offense.

Day 3: Isaac Asiata, G, Utah

The Cardinals used five starters at right guard last year, Evan Mathis retired and Earl Watford, who started games at right guard and right tackle, signed with Jacksonville. Asiata, who's the younger brother of running back Matt Asiata and was a three-year starter at Utah, tied Auburn DE Carl Lawson for the best performance on the bench at the combine (35 reps). Asiata has the frame (6-foot-3, 323 pounds) to quickly develop into a starter.


Los Angeles Rams
Day 1 (No pick as of today): Marlon Humphrey, CB, Alabama

The Rams placed the franchise tag on Trumaine Johnson for the second straight year, and there's no guarantee they'll be able to sign him to a long-term deal. E.J. Gaines, who is undersized at 5-foot-10 and had missed 21 games the past two seasons, is in a contract year. New defensive coordinator Wade Phillips needs corners who can hold their own in man coverage. To that end, the Rams, who don't have a first-round pick, could trade up to get Humphrey late in the first. Humphrey is an instinctive cover corner with the size to press receivers and the speed to run with them downfield.

Day 2: Evan Engram, TE, Ole Miss

Tyler Higbee (2016 fourth-rounder) has the potential to develop into a productive receiving tight end playing for new head coach and former Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay. No offense got more yards from its tight ends than the Redskins last year. But the Rams need to get quarterback Jared Goff more weapons, so Higbee's presence shouldn't prevent Los Angeles from targeting Engram. He could easily be the best receiving option available at the top of the second round. Engram's versatility, size (6-3, 234) and speed (4.42) make him a nightmare matchup.

Day 3: Robert Davis, WR, Georgia State

Kenny Britt signed with Cleveland and Brian Quick bolted for Washington. Free-agent signing Robert Woods and Tavon Austin have the potential to be effective complementary receivers, but neither is a true No. 1. The problem is the Rams aren't in a position to land one of the top three receivers without giving up a lot. Davis is an intriguing Day 3 option. There are concerns about the level of competition he faced at Georgia State and he's a raw route runner, but he has a high ceiling thanks to his size-speed combination (4.44 40 at 6-2 and 219). Davis' ability to stretch the field would create space for the Rams' other receivers underneath and make it tougher for defenses to key on talented third-year running back Todd Gurley.


San Francisco 49ers
Day 1 (pick No. 2): Mitchell Trubisky, QB, North Carolina

Head coach Kyle Shanahan has said that San Francisco will be patient addressing the quarterback position, and he will get the most out of free-agent signings Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley. But Trubisky has the frame, accuracy, mobility and arm strength to be a franchise quarterback, and the presence of Hoyer would allow Shanahan to bring Trubisky along slowly. While the North Carolina product has a second-round grade on our board, he's the No. 1 QB prospect in this class. He'd be a great fit in Shanahan's scheme.

Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado

San Francisco released Tramaine Brock after he was arrested and booked on suspicion of felony domestic violence earlier this month. The 49ers also are reportedly considering moving Jimmie Ward to safety, where he's likely be a better fit considering new defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is expected to favor bigger corners. Witherspoon, at 6-foot-2¾ and with 33-inch arms, has the frame and skill set to excel in Saleh's scheme.

Day 3: Kareem Hunt, RB, Toledo

Shanahan had a potent one-two punch in Devonta Freeman and Tevin Colemanin Atlanta. Both were Day 3 picks. Carlos Hyde is a talented back who averaged 4.6 yards per carry last year, but he has yet to play in all 16 games of a season and he's entering the last year of his rookie contract. The 220-pound Hunt, who reportedly ran in the mid-4.5s at his pro day, has the vision and power to help share the load as a rookie. He's also a reliable receiver who makes defenders miss after the catch, making him a good fit for Shanahan's scheme.


Seattle Seahawks
Day 1 (pick No. 26): Cam Robinson, OT, Alabama

Seattle GM John Schneider needs to improve the Seahawks' pass protection after allowing 42 sacks last year (27th in the NFL). Free-agent signee Luke Joeckel could line up at left tackle, but he's a better fit on the inside, where the Seahawks also need help. While there's a chance that all three of the top offensive tackles are gone by the time the Seahawks pick at No. 26, Schneider shouldn't hesitate to take Robinson if he's on the board. The Alabama product has the length (35½-inch arms) and flexibility to develop into a blindside pass-blocker. At 332 pounds, he's also a powerful run-blocker who can help a Seattle running game that went from third in rushing yards per game in 2015 to 25th last year.

Day 2: Montravius Adams, DT, Auburn

Seattle doesn't have great depth behind Jarran Reed (2016 second-rounder) and 30-year-old Ahtyba Rubin. Adams played much harder on his 2016 tape than he did in 2015 and there are concerns about him reverting to his old form once he signs an NFL contract, but his talent could make the risk worth the reward. At 304 pounds and slightly taller than 6-foot-3, Adams has an explosive first step and he ran a 4.87 40 at the combine.

Day 3: Brian Allen, CB, Utah

Seattle is entertaining trade offers for Richard Sherman and DeShawn Sheadtore an ACL in the playoffs. Free-agent signing Perrish Cox isn't likely to be the long-term answer. While this is a pressing need, Schneider hasn't drafted a corner earlier than the fourth round since taking over in 2010. Allen is raw but he has the frame (6-3, 215) and length (34-inch arms) to succeed in Seattle's scheme.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/l...-carson-wentz-trades-ahead-of-2017-nfl-draft/

It's April 18, 2017, which means your taxes are due (no, wait, don't stop reading, they'll do themselves, I promise). It also means a year ago, the Eagles and Browns consummated the second of what would be two top-five draft trades for quarterbacks. The Rams and Eagles wouldn't say it at the time , but everyone knew who they were taking in the 2016 NFL Draft.

This is a good reminder that all the draft-day intrigue has yet to fully realize itself (the draft was 10 days away when those trades happened, and the 2017 NFL Draft is just over a week away) and that it's always smart to periodically check back in and see how the teams involved in these blockbuster trades ended up doing.

We knew the compensation involved when the deals occurred, and we had a good idea about how the compensation played out during last year's draft, but heading into this year's draft it's worth another look.

Let's see how the four teams involved fared almost exactly a year later, taking into account the players they drafted last year and the production those players gave them (we'll use Approximate Value, Pro-Football-Reference's catch-all statistic to measure the value of individual players) as well as looking at any future picks.

Los Angeles Rams
The price to move up to No. 1 overall last year was not cheap . With the Rams moving to Los Angeles, general manager Les Snead and then-coach Jeff Fisher decided to make a bold play up the board and get a franchise quarterback in California native Jared Goff. They ignored the very history they wrote in doing so , but if you want a quarterback and don't have the top pick, you have to pay a steep price.

At the time, the Rams lost when it came to any trade value chart you looked at -- Tennessee just held them hostage.

We'll get to the selections the Titans received soon, but the Rams got No. 1 overall, No. 113 and No. 177. They would eventually spin the 113th pick into the 117th and 206th overall picks.

We're giving them credit for utilizing that fourth-round pick to nab an extra player, but if you want to limit it to three that's fine too.

Players they got:

Player

Position

Round

Overall Pick

Approx. Value

Jared Goff

QB

1

1st

-2

Pharoah Cooper WR 4 117th 1
Temarrick Hemingway

TE

4

177th

0

Mike Thomas

WR

7

206th

0

Not great, Bob. It's not entirely fair to judge the Rams' draft yet, though, because we need to see how Goff looks when he's given some protection (the Rams did a good job in bringing in Andrew Whitworth this offseason), some weapons (they added Robert Woods to Tavon Austin so that's something?) and a full season of snaps in new head coach Sean McVay's offense. Firing Fisher was a good move long term to help out Goff's development. The Rams didn't even use him for the first half of last season.

The haul looks bad now but if Goff becomes a franchise quarterback then the Rams made a smart decision. Snead is still very much willing to defend the trade . It's too early to tell. There will be plenty of scrutiny on the Rams this season however.

Everyone eventually lost in the RG3 trade . Hopefully that won't be the case here.

Tennessee Titans
It's hard to imagine the Titans losing in the deal, too. Again, if Goff is a franchise quarterback, it's a good move for the Rams, but the Titans absolutely fleeced them in terms of the picks exchanged.

Tennessee got No. 15, No. 43, No. 45 and No. 76 overall as well as the Rams' first pick in 2017, which ended up being No. 5 overall. They gave up last year's No. 1 overall for three top-50 picks/four top-100 picks. Heck of a job by Jon Robinson -- if he hits on the pick (and his other first-round pick in this draft) the Titans could be morphing into a contender in front of our eyes.

Player

Position

Round

Overall

Approx. Value

Jack Conklin

OL

1st

6th

15

Austin Johnson

DT

2nd

43rd

1

Derrick Henry RB 2nd 45th 4
TBD (2017)

TBD

1st

5th

N/A

The Titans actually traded in reverse, utilizing No. 76 overall (which they received from the Rams), coupled with No. 15 overall (from the Rams) to move up to No. 6 overall, where they drafted Jack Conklin, who turned out to be a jackpot as a top-10 pick.

Conklin was part of a dominant, quickly rebuilt offensive line that set the stage for Mike Mularkey's "exotic smashmouth" offense, which at times also featured second-round pick Derrick Henry, who is the heir apparent to DeMarco Murray and some very nice insurance should something happen to Murray. At times last season Henry looked like he might already be the better running back.

Tennessee can either grab a stud offensive play-maker (O.J. Howard?) at No. 5 this year or go defense early and look to grab a wide receiver (Mike Williams or John Ross) with their second first-round pick. They are in fantastic position and absolutely made the right call in doing this deal with the Rams and in utilizing their resources to acquire talent.

Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles are a perfect reminder that it's almost always too early to judge a trade -- the Eagles looked to be in a weird spot when they were facing a draft in Philadelphia without a first-round pick while holding onto a bunch of quarterbacks. Then Teddy Bridgewater went down and the Vikings sent a first-round pick to the Eagles for Sam Bradford. Throw in Carson Wentzclearly looking like a future franchise quarterback during his rookie season and this trade looks like a winner for the Eagles, even though they gave up a lot of picks to receive the No. 2 overall pick and a 2017 fourth-round pick.

Let's see who they got.

Player

Position

Round

Overall

Approx. Value

Carson Wentz

QB

1

2nd

10

TBD (2017)

TBD

4

139th

N/A

Again, Wentz was surprisingly good despite being thrown into action when most expected him to be redshirted in 2016. Regardless of what it cost Philadelphia, the Eagles appear to have acquired a franchise quarterback. That is almost priceless in today's NFL. That Howie Roseman netted this year's 14th overall pick from Minnesota for Bradford while giving up the 12th overall pick in the Wentz trade adds a little gravy to the situation.

Wentz does have to become a franchise quarterback -- and plenty of guys have gone on to fail after good starts to their career -- for this to look like a good deal, but right now the Eagles have to feel good about how they handled the situation.

Cleveland Browns
The Browns also got a good deal in this trade, because of the picks they acquired. But at some point, the fans will require a quarterback, and seeing Wentz succeed (especially in a season-opening victory over the Browns in Week 1 of 2016) when he was sitting there will be tough to stomach. But they netted some great value in the deal , although not quite the haul that the Titans got from Los Angeles.

The Browns got the No. 8 pick (dealt later to the Titans), the No. 77 pick (which they traded), the No. 100 pick (which they also traded), a 2017 first-round pick and a 2018 second-round pick. It's a minor miracle they haven't dealt the last two already. They almost certainly will.

Player

Position

Round

Overall

Approx. Value

Corey Coleman

WR

1

15th

3

Shon Coleman OT 3 76th 0
Cody Kessler

QB

3

93rd

3

Derrick Kindred

S

4

129th

2

Ricardo Louis

WR

4

114th

1

Jordan Payton

WR

5

154th

0

Spencer Drango

OL

5

168th

4

TBD (2017) TBD 1 12th N/A
TBD (2018) TBD 2 TBD N/A
Bear in mind that when we look at these picks, it's not always an even trade. They also gave the 141st pick to Carolina in order to move up, but that was the only other pick Cleveland sacrificed in these deals. Otherwise the Browns were just trading down, which has been the m.o. of this particular front office.

And let's not sugarcoat this for Cleveland: It doesn't look great right now. The Browns might have done the smart thing by trading down to acquire more picks. But all the picks in the world are meaningless if the evaluation isn't accurate.

That's not to say these players won't or can't be good. Corey Coleman flashed a lot. Can Drango play right tackle? That's the last piece of the puzzle for a potentially dominant offensive line. Expecting the first-year development of these guys to tell us everything about them is a mistake.

But Cleveland has been desperate for a quarterback for a long time and might have passed on a guy in Wentz that could be a franchise quarterback in order to add some nice complementary pieces.

The value of this deal could very well end up swinging on what Cleveland can accomplish with the No. 12 overall pick in this year's draft. No pressure.

Seen 4 games live , my daughter seen 5 yet we never seen them win ! What game should I go see to see the rams win ? I drove 8 hours to Detroit last year , 12 hours to St. Louis to watch them lose the home opener on her birthday to the Eagles 9/11 is her bday.. seen them lose in Baltimore and in new Jersey... I can't deal with philly fans , they are ridiculous . Any suggestions ?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...randts-topranked-prospects-for-2017-nfl-draft

Hot 150: Gil Brandt's top-ranked prospects for 2017 NFL Draft

• By Gil Brandt
• NFL Media senior analyst
• Published: April 17, 2017

This is the 57th year I have produced rankings of NFL draft prospects. In the early years when I was with the Cowboys, we had only a fraction of the information we have today, with very few confirmed measurements and times for prospects.

But that has all changed. I can now look at my database and pull the confirmed short-shuttle or three-cone time of the 947th-ranked prospect instantaneously ... and in a matter of seconds have on my computer screen in front of me all the third-down-and-short run plays he was involved in at his Div. III school.

It makes an evaluator's job easier and harder at the same time. There's so much more to consider with the overload of information, but ultimately it's more accurate info, which should (in theory) make draft boards around the league more informed and precise.

With that said, here are my "Hot 150" prospects for the 2017 NFL Draft.

Myles Garrett - DE, Texas A&M
Leonard Fournette - RB, LSU
Solomon Thomas - DE, Stanford
Marshon Lattimore - CB, Ohio State
Jamal Adams - S, LSU
Malik Hooker - S, Ohio State
Jonathan Allen - DT, Alabama
Mitchell Trubisky - QB, North Carolina
Deshaun Watson - QB, Clemson
John Ross - WR, Washington
Gareon Conley - CB, Ohio State
Christian McCaffrey - RB, Stanford
O.J. Howard - TE, Alabama
Reuben Foster - LB, Alabama
Cam Robinson - OT, Alabama
Derek Barnett - DE, Tennessee
Charles Harris - DE, Missouri
Parick Mahomes - QB, Texas Tech
Ryan Ramczyk - OT, Wisconsin
Jarrad Davis - LB, Florida

Jabrill Peppers - S, Michigan
Garett Bolles - OT, Utah
Mike Williams - WR, Clemson
Takkarist McKinley - DE, UCLA
Dalvin Cook - RB, Florida State
Adoree' Jackson - CB, USC
Quincy Wilson - CB, Florida
Kevin King - CB, Washington
David Njoku - TE, Miami
Tre'Davious White - CB, LSU
Corey Davis - WR, Western Michigan
Chidobe Awuzie - CB, Colorado

33 DeShone Kizer - QB, Notre Dame
34 Evan Engram - TE, Ole Miss
35 Curtis Samuel - RB, Ohio State
36 JuJu Smith-Schuster - WR, USC
37 Haason Reddick - DE, Temple
38 Marcus Williams - S, Utah
39 Josh Jones - S, N.C. State
40 Jordan Willis - DE, Kansas St.
41 Forrest Lamp - G, Western Kentucky

42 Taco Charlton - DE, Michigan
43 Marlon Humphrey - CB, Alabama
44 Marcus Maye - S, Florida
45 Malik McDowell - DT, Michigan State
46 Zach Cunningham - LB, Vanderbilt
47 Tim Williams - LB, Alabama
48 Chris Wormley - DE, Michigan
49 Ryan Anderson - OLB, Alabama
50 Dan Feeney - OL, Indiana

51. Chris Godwin, WR, Penn State
52. Pat Elflein, C, Ohio State
53. Justin Evans, S, Texas A&M
54. Ethan Pocic, C, LSU
55. Budda Baker, S, Washington
56. Dorian Johnson, OL, Pittsburgh
57. Daeshon Hall, DE, Texas A&M
58. Davon Godchaux, DT, LSU
59. Tedric Thompson, S, Colorado
60. T.J. Watt, OLB, Wisconsin

61. Jourdan Lewis, CB, Michigan
62. Zay Jones, WR, East Carolina
63. Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington
64. Samaje Perine, RB, Oklahoma
65. Teez Tabor, CB, Florida
66. Dion Dawkins, OL, Temple
67. Tyus Bowser, OLB, Houston
68. Obi Melifonwu, S, Connecticut
69. Desmond King, CB, Iowa
70. ArDarius Stewart, WR, Alabama

71. Dalvin Tomlinson, DT, Alabama
72. Raekwon McMillan, LB, Ohio State
73. Jordan Leggett, TE, Clemson
74. Dawuane Smoot, DE, Illinois
75. Josh Malone, WR, Tennessee
76. Carl Lawson, DE, Auburn
77. Duke Riley, OLB, LSU
78. Alvin Kamara, RB, Tennessee
79. Sidney Jones, CB, Washington
80. Brian Hill, RB, Wyoming

81. Davis Webb, QB, Cal
82. Joshua Dobbs, QB, Tennessee
83. Isaac Asiata, OG, Utah
84. Cam Sutton, CB, Tennessee
85. Zach Banner, OT, USC
86. Jeremy Sprinkle, TE, Arkansas
87. D'Onta Foreman, RB, Texas
88. Josh Reynolds, WR, Texas A&M
89. Vince Biegel, LB, Wisconsin
90. James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh

91. Roderick Johnson, OT, Florida State
92. Alex Anzalone, LB, Florida
93. Shaquill Griffin, CB, Central Florida
94. Jaleel Johnson, DT, Iowa
95. Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE, Villanova
96. Julie'n Davenport, OT, Bucknell
97. Dede Westbrook, WR, Oklahoma
98. Nathan Peterman, QB, Pittsburgh
99. David Sharpe, OT, Florida
100. Caleb Brantley, DT, Florida

101. George Kittle, TE, Iowa
102. Ricky Seals-Jones, TE, Texas A&M
103. Fabian Moreau, CB, UCLA
104. Gerald Everett, TE, South Alabama
105. Ishmael Zamora, WR, Baylor
106. Bucky Hodges, TE, Virginia Tech
107. Chad Hansen, WR, Cal
108. Taylor Moton, OL, Western Michigan
109. Nazair Jones, DT, North Carolina
110. Nico Siragusa, OL, San Diego State

111. DeMarcus Walker, DL, FSU
112. Brad Kaaya, QB, Miami
113. John Johnson, S, Boston College
114. Kendell Beckwith, ILB, LSU
115. KD Cannon, WR, Baylor
116. Kenny Golladay, WR, Northern Illinois
117. Jake Butt, TE, Michigan
118. Danny Isidora, OG, Miami
119. Adam Shaheen, TE, Ashland
120. Cordrea Tankersley, CB, Clemson

121. Carlos Watkins, DT, Clemson
122. Montravius Adams, DT, Auburn
123. Carlos Henderson, WR-KR, Louisiana Tech
124. Amara Darboh, WR, Michigan
125. Anthony Walker, LB, Northwestern
126. Tarell Basham, DE, Ohio
127. Taywan Taylor, WR, Western Kentucky
128. Derek Rivers, DE, Youngstown St.
129. Donnel Pumphrey, RB, San Diego St.
130. Antonio Garcia, OT, Troy

131. Howard Wilson, CB, Houston
132. Kareem Hunt, RB, Toledo
133. Jehu Chesson, WR, Michigan
134. Jessamen Dunker, OG, Tennessee St.
135. Fadol Brown, DE, Ole Miss
136. Collin Buchanan, OT, Miami (Ohio)
137. Avery Gennesy, OT, Texas A&M
138. Larry Ogunjobi, OT, UNC-Charlotte
139. Jonnu Smith, TE, Florida International
140. Shelton Gibson, WR, West Virginia

141. Jeremy McNichols, RB, Boise St.
142. Mack Hollins, WR, North Carolina
143. Tarik Cohen, RB-KR, North Carolina A&T
144. Jalen Myrick, CB, Minnesota
145. Zane Gonzalez, K, Arizona State
146. Brandon Barnes, TE, Alabama St.
147. Ben Gedeon, ILB, Michigan
148. Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado
149. C.J. Beathard, QB, Iowa
150. Deatrich Wise, DE, Arkansas
____________________________________________________

When you look at Brandt's ranked prospects in groupings of who the Rams would have to choose from "assuming" their board was similarly stacked ..

Looking at the window from 32 - 50 gives an idea of several players that could be in play for the pick.

For pick #37

32 Chidobe Awuzie - CB
34 Evan Engram - TE
35 Curtis Samuel - RB
36 JuJu Smith-Schuster - WR
37 Haason Reddick - DE
38 Marcus Williams - S
39 Josh Jones - S
40 Jordan Willis - DE
41 Forrest Lamp - G
42 Taco Charlton - DE

43 Marlon Humphrey - CB
44 Marcus Maye - S
45 Malik McDowell - DT
46 Zach Cunningham - LB
47 Tim Williams - LB
48 Chris Wormley - DE
49 Ryan Anderson - OLB
50 Dan Feeney - OL
____________________________________________________

Looking at the window from 60 - 79 gives an idea of several players that could be in play for the pick.

For pick #69

60. T.J. Watt, OLB, Wisconsin
61. Jourdan Lewis, CB, Michigan
62. Zay Jones, WR, East Carolina
63. Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington
64. Samaje Perine, RB, Oklahoma
65. Teez Tabor, CB, Florida
66. Dion Dawkins, OL, Temple
67. Tyus Bowser, OLB, Houston
68. Obi Melifonwu, S, Connecticut
69. Desmond King, CB, Iowa
70. ArDarius Stewart, WR, Alabama

71. Dalvin Tomlinson, DT, Alabama
72. Raekwon McMillan, LB, Ohio State
73. Jordan Leggett, TE, Clemson
74. Dawuane Smoot, DE, Illinois
75. Josh Malone, WR, Tennessee
76. Carl Lawson, DE, Auburn
77. Duke Riley, OLB, LSU
78. Alvin Kamara, RB, Tennessee
79. Sidney Jones, CB, Washington
____________________________________________________

Looking at the window from 106 - 128 gives an idea of several players that could be in play for the pick.

For pick #112

106. Bucky Hodges, TE, Virginia Tech
107. Chad Hansen, WR, Cal
108. Taylor Moton, OL, Western Michigan
109. Nazair Jones, DT, North Carolina
110. Nico Siragusa, OL, San Diego State

111. DeMarcus Walker, DL, FSU
112. Brad Kaaya, QB, Miami
113. John Johnson, S, Boston College
114. Kendell Beckwith, ILB, LSU
115. KD Cannon, WR, Baylor
116. Kenny Golladay, WR, Northern Illinois
117. Jake Butt, TE, Michigan
118. Danny Isidora, OG, Miami
119. Adam Shaheen, TE, Ashland
120. Cordrea Tankersley, CB, Clemson

121. Carlos Watkins, DT, Clemson
122. Montravius Adams, DT, Auburn
123. Carlos Henderson, WR-KR, Louisiana Tech
124. Amara Darboh, WR, Michigan
125. Anthony Walker, LB, Northwestern
126. Tarell Basham, DE, Ohio
127. Taywan Taylor, WR, Western Kentucky
128. Derek Rivers, DE, Youngstown St.
____________________________________________________

Looking at the window from 137 - 150 gives an idea of several players that could be in play for the pick.

For pick #149

137. Avery Gennesy, OT, Texas A&M
138. Larry Ogunjobi, OT, UNC-Charlotte
139. Jonnu Smith, TE, Florida International
140. Shelton Gibson, WR, West Virginia
141. Jeremy McNichols, RB, Boise St.
142. Mack Hollins, WR, North Carolina
143. Tarik Cohen, RB-KR, North Carolina A&T

144. Jalen Myrick, CB, Minnesota
145. Zane Gonzalez, K, Arizona State
146. Brandon Barnes, TE, Alabama St.
147. Ben Gedeon, ILB, Michigan
148. Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado
149. C.J. Beathard, QB, Iowa
150. Deatrich Wise, DE, Arkansas

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I wish more of our receivers wore numbers in the 80s. I'm glad Mike Thomas switched to 88.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/l...-we-already-know-about-the-2017-nfl-schedule/

1. The Patriots will be hosting the first game of the regular season
Not only do you get a Lombardi Trophy when you win the Super Bowl, but these days, you also get the honor of hosting the first game of the following NFL season. Thanks to their win over the Falcons in Super Bowl LI, the Patriots will be hosting the Thursday night opener when the NFL regular season kicks off on Sept. 7.

Although the Falcons are scheduled to play in New England in 2017, don't look for that to happen in the opener. Several recent reports have indicated that Atlanta likely won't be traveling to New England for Week 1. And according to this report, the Chiefs-Patriots 'will almost certainly be' the opening game .

Of course, the Patriots probably aren't worrying about who they're going to play in Week 1, and that's because the team has more pressing things to worry about, like where to put their fifth Super Bowl banner.

They've run out of room at Gillette Stadium.

That's a fun problem to have.

On the other hand, something that's not a fun problem is going to a game when you know you're going to get booed mercilessly, which is almost certainly going to happen to Roger Goodell on Sept. 7. The NFL commissioner has said he'll be at the opener , marking the first time he's been to Gillette Stadium since Deflategate started in January 2015.

2. The Patriots will be playing in Mexico (and no, we won't only be talking about the Patriots here)
One year after sending the Texans and Raiders to Mexico, the NFL has decided to hold another game south of the border in 2017, and this time, the league is sending the Patriots to take take on the Raiders. Before heading to Mexico, the Patriots might want to make sure Tom Brady's jersey has its own security team, and that's because Mexico just happens to be the place where Brady's stolen Super Bowl jerseys were recovered after the greatest international manhunt of all-time.

By the way, although he's based in Mexico, I'm guessing the NFL probably won't be giving a media credential to Mauricio Ortega for this game.

According to ESPN.com, this game will likely be played near Thanksgiving, with the Sunday before Turkey Day being the most likely candidate.

3. Four London games are being played in 2017
At the rate we're going, don't be surprised if the NFL moves all 256-games to London at some point in the next five years. Just kidding. I think. For the 2017 season, the league will be holding four games in London , which is the most ever for a single-season.

Two of those games are already officially on the schedule , with the Jaguars "hosting" the Ravens on Sunday, Sept. 24, in a Week 3 game. That will be followed one week later by Dolphins "hosting" the Saints, who will play against each other in London on Oct. 1. Those two games will be played at Wembley Stadium.

The other two games are still up in the air as far as the dates go. The Browns "host" the Vikings and the Rams will "host" the Cardinals in a set of games that will both be played at Twickenham Stadium. Those two games will be played on Oct. 22 (Week 7) and Oct. 29 (Week 8), although the order hasn't been officially determined yet.

4. The dreaded 9:30 a.m. kickoff time is returning this season
If you live on the West Coast (like me) then you'll probably agree that the 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff is the worst thing to ever happen to profession football. As horrible ideas go in the NFL, it's right up there with the single-bar facemask.

I mean, at that point, you're probably just better off with no facemask at all.

Although there had been a report in November that the NFL would be eliminating the 9:30 a.m. kickoffs for the 2017 season, that won't be happening. The league has already announced that the Saints and Dolphins will be kicking off in the early slot in Week 4 (Oct. 1). That should be fun for Saints in New Orleans, where the game will be kicking off at 8:30 a.m.

5. There will be two weeks worth of Saturday games on the schedule
In 46 of the past 47 NFL seasons, there's been at least one Saturday regular-season game on the schedule, and that streak is going to continue in 2017 . For the upcoming season, the league will be scheduling Saturday games for different weeks. The first Saturday game will come in Week 15 (Dec. 16), which will be followed by a Saturday game in Week 16 (Dec. 23). Unfortunately, the Saturday schedule won't be as crazy as it was last season when we got spoiled thanks to the fact the Christmas Eve fell on a Saturday, which led the NFL to schedule 12 games that day.

6. There are going be a lot of holiday games, so plan accordingly
You're probably already well aware of the fact that there will be three games on Thanksgiving -- with two of those involving the Cowboys and Lions -- so let's look at a different holiday: Christmas.

For the first time in 11 years, Christmas falls on a Monday, which means the NFL is going to get to combine the America's two favorite things this season: Christmas and "Monday Night Football." Also, don't be surprised if the league gives us a Monday doubleheader. Back in 2006, the NFL scheduled two games for Christmas Day, which was the last time the holiday was on a Monday.

We'll also be getting a heavy dose of New Year's Eve football this year with Week 17 falling on Sunday, Dec. 31. That news most likely means we won't see an Eastern Time Zone team hosting the Sunday night game that week because that would mean ringing in the new year at a stadium. The last time NYE fell on a Sunday (2006), the Bears hosted the Packers in a regular-season finale game that kicked off at 7:15 p.m. CT and ended less than two hours before midnight.

7. There will be a lot of playoff rematches on the schedule
There's always playoff rematches on the schedule, but this year, there's going to be a ridiculous amount of them. For the first time since divisional realignment in 2002, we're going to get a rematch of EVERY non-wild card game. That means every divisional playoff game from 2016 will see a rematch on the 2017 schedule. That also means the AFC (Patriots-Steelers) and NFC (Falcons-Packers) title games will get rematches, and yup, that definitely means a Falcons-Patriots Super Bowl LI rematch will also be on the schedule.

8. The Broncos have the most difficult schedule heading into 2017
This is the part where we wish Vance Joseph good luck during his first year in Denver. Not only is he the head coach of a team for the first time, but he has to do it in a season where the Broncos have the most difficult strength of schedule . That doesn't mean you should count them out of the AFC West race though: The next three toughest schedules belong to the Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders. Just in case you're wondering, the most difficult schedule in the NFL that doesn't belong to an AFC West team belongs to the Bills. Good luck ending that playoff drought, Buffalo.

9. We know the opponents for all 32 teams
Although we don't know the dates or times of games that are on the 2017 NFL schedule, we do know who each team will be playing. You can check out the list of all 16 regular-season opponents for each team by clicking here.

10. The schedule will be released Thursday (we think)
Now that you've made it all the way through this list, you're probably wondering when the regular-season schedule will be released. As we already noted, thanks to Lions president Rob Wood, who appeared to spill the beans on the schedule release date last week , we think we have the answer for you. Wood said the schedule will be released on April 20, which means you have three days to get all your 4-20 jokes together before Thursday night's release.

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On the one hand, many evals and mocks are showing TE, WR, CB, and even C there.

All players with great value/need intersections.

However...

There are endless other evals and mocks showing players that should be able to contribute in their rookie year at those very same positions of TE, WR, CB, and C that can be selected through the 4th round, at least. I'm defining "contribute" as getting significant quality snaps, perhaps even being the new starter by midseason. Maybe even by opening day.

So, how to handicap the Ram draft strategy this year?

I think that the smart play is to let the draft come to us. Just roll with it, resisting any temptations to trade up.

There will be a 1st round rated talent that falls to them at #37. Probably several, actually. Take their favorite.

They must avoid getting married to a particular position or player prior to #37, IOW.

Then take BPA at the subsequent picks at needed positions not previously acquired.

Repeat through at least round five.

In this way, the draft decisions and roster fills will sort themselves out. Easy peasy, huh?

It's just that kind of a draft.

Kinda fun not knowing if our newest O weapons at TE or WR will come to us in the 2nd round or the 4th. Fun and exciting.

Can't wait.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ms-facing-loss-of-chartered-flights/#comments

Roughly 20 NFL teams facing loss of chartered flights
Posted by Mike Florio on April 17, 2017

Getty Images

Road trips may soon be getting more interesting for NFL teams.

Per a league source, roughly 20 teams may end up without charter arrangements for the 2017 season. According to Forbes.com, American recently suspended its charter arrangements with six NFL franchises: the Cardinals, Ravens, Colts, Jaguars, Dolphins, and Steelers.

According to the Forbes report, American will continue to service the Panthers, Cowboys, and Eagles.

The reason given for the suspension of service is that the airline lacks the machinery to do the job. A cynic would predict that it’s the first step toward a supply-demand effort by American to throw a thumb or two onto the scale for cost-insensitive clients.

The issue, based on information from PFT’s source, extends beyond American Airlines. Delta is believed to be doing the same thing, and United could be next. The source said that roughly 20 teams currently don’t have a charter provider for the coming season, and that it could become a “real issue” for the league.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tedree...including-dolphins-and-steelers/#6b8c25194cbc

American Airlines Drops Charter Flights for Six NFL Teams Including Dolphins and Steelers
Ted Reed


The Chicago Bears disembark from a United Airlines charter at Miami International Airport before the 2007 Super Bowl. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

American Airlines says it has suspended its arrangements to provide charter flights for six NFL teams because it lacks sufficient aircraft.

American will end agreements to fly the Arizona Cardinals, the Baltimore Ravens, the Indianapolis Colts, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2017-2018 season, according to an internal memo obtained by Forbes.

American will, however, continue to transport three teams: the Carolina Panthers, the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles.

It is hard to ascertain a clear pattern in the selection. Dallas is American’s biggest hub in terms of departures, passengers and employees. Charlotte is second biggest in terms of departures and passengers. Dallas, Charlotte, and Philadelphia all have maintenance bases.

But Miami and Phoenix are also hubs. Miami has a maintenance base and ranks third in both employees and passengers. Chicago is third in terms of daily departures.

“After careful evaluation, we are reducing the number of charter operations for 2017 to ensure we have the right aircraft available for our passenger operation,” said American spokeswoman Lakeesha Brown.

In the memo, American informs crew members, who had the ability to bid for the chartered flights as part of their flying schedules, of the change.

“We wanted to let you know of a strategic change to our NFL charter commitments this fall,” the memo said. “Network planning has advised we will have fewer aircraft available for charter flying in 2017 and after careful analysis it is necessary to reduce the number of NFL teams we carry this season.

“This was a very tough decision as many of the teams have been longstanding customers of the airline,” the memo says. “The decision came down to available aircraft, location and input from senior leadership.

“We have completed the difficult task of notifying the Cardinals, Ravens, Dolphins, Colts, Jaguars and Steelers that we will not be able to support them this season.

“For those of you who worked these teams, we share your disappointment,” the memo said. “We hope to have the opportunity to support these teams in the future should resources become more readily available.”

Didn't copy/paste well and link has videos of McVay interview. But no surprises.

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With the Rams’ new coaching staff bringing fresh offensive and defensive systems, there will be a few players shifting positions on their respective units.

One of the more significant changes should be for defensive backLamarcus Joyner, who is set to see time at free safety during Los Angeles’ offseason program. Joyner has primarily played as a slot corner in his first three pro seasons, occasionally working on the outside in a pinch.

“He shows up [on film] and you want to find as many ways to get him on the field as possible,” head coach Sean McVay said of Joyner on Monday. “Whether that’s him at nickel — which I think he’s one of the elite players at that spot in this league — or the safety, I think you see an instinctual player that has a great feel for the game. I think our coaching staff has done a nice job targeting him as a player that we have to make sure that he’s on the grass, he’s competing.”

When L.A. signed defensive backNickell Robey-Coleman, it gave the club some flexibly to move Joyner. The USC product has also primarily played at slot corner for Buffalo over the last four years, making a pair of interceptions in last year’s Rams-Bills matchup in October.

Shifting Joyner to free safety also fills a need internally, asMaurice Alexanderis expected to shift to strong safety following T.J. McDonald’s departure to Miami in free agency.

While moving to safety will be an adjustment for Joyner, it’s one McVay sounded confident the defensive back can make. The head coach noted much of what Joyner has been doing as a slot corner translates to what he’ll be asked to do in his new role.

“I think our coaching staff has done a nice job figuring out ways we can make that transition smooth,” McVay said. “I think it’s just getting comfortable — he is an instinctual player. And just understanding some of those exit angles, some of those break points, based on starting from 15 yards off as opposed to down where you’re 10-yards within the line of scrimmage, will be a little bit different. But I think you’ve seen examples of great guys be able to do both across the league and we’re hoping that he’ll be able to do the same thing for us.”



Robert Quinnhas also been brought up throughout the offseason as someone in line for a position change. With the Rams’ shift to a 3-4 base defensive front, Quinn is now officially listed on the Rams’ roster as an outside linebacker instead of a defensive end. Nevertheless, his role role is expected to remain largely the same.


“For all intents and purposes, Robert will line up as the Will linebacker, but he’s a rush player. He’ll play a similar role to what DeMarcus Ware did in Denver for Wade the last couple of years,” McVay said. “I think he’s going to still be, he’s going to be an elite rusher in this league for years and that’s what we’re hoping to do with him moving forward.”

“From my understanding, what we’re going to ask him to do is going to be pretty much the same — do you and do your ‘Bernie’ and all that stuff,” middle linebackerAlec Ogletreesaid. “It’ll be good, we’re definitely looking to get him back and stay healthy.”

Offensively, the Rams have made it clear players will be shifting along the offensive line. Signing left tackleAndrew Whitworthprompted L.A. to moveGreg Robinsonover to the right side to compete at tackle, which both McVay and general manager Les Snead addressed at the Combine. But Robinson’s move is expected to kickRob Havensteininside to guard. Havenstein has started 28 games at right tackle since his selection in the second round of the 2015 draft.

“I think when he was coming out, you looked at Rob as a potential guy to be able to move inside and do some of those things. Really, going back two years, I thought he’s put some excellent tape out there as far as playing that right tackle position,” McVay said, adding Havenstein has a strong ability to process football information. “I think he and Greg working in coordination, in unison, will be able to help both of those guys.”

Based on his comments on Monday, it appears McVay will begin the offseason program with Whitworth at left tackle,Rodger Saffoldat left guard,John Sullivanat center, Havenstein at right guard, and Robinson at right tackle. McVay also mentionedJamon Browncould be in the mix for the offensive line, which could change plenty between now and Week 1 in September.

“I think we’ve got some good depth up front and I’m excited to see how these guys process that information and then translate it to the grass once we get the OTAs started in Phase III,” McVay said.

These are excerpts. To read the whole article click the link below. Does Peter King manage to post something about his main squeeze, Tom Brady, and the Patriots? Oh you bet your azz!
****************************************************************
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/04/17/dan-rooney-dean-blandino-nfl-draft-peter-king

On Dan and Dean
Roger Goodell remembers Dan Rooney, the late Steelers owner and an NFL treasure. Plus a closer look at the Dean Blandino mess in the NFL office
By Peter King


Photo: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

On March 31, two days after returning from a historic NFL owners meeting in Arizona (for several reasons), NFL commissioner Roger Goodell flew to Pittsburgh to see the ailing Steelers owner, Dan Rooney.

Goodell feared what he might see. Rooney, 84 and seriously ill, was now in a rehabilitation facility with major back problems and an undisclosed ailment. Goodell hadn’t seen him since Super Bowl Sunday in Houston.

When Goodell opened the door to Rooney’s room, Rooney was in bed, too weak to get up and greet him. A slim man already, Rooney had lost weight. But when he saw Goodell, Rooney smiled broadly.

“Commissioner,” Rooney said.

Goodell didn’t want to get emotional just then. It was difficult. “I flashed back,” Goodell said on Sunday afternoon. “It was exactly the same thing he’d said to me once before.”

Eerily, it was. Same word, same smile too, as on a hot day in August 2006, in a hotel in Northbrook, Ill. In a ballroom of the hotel, the 32 NFL owners ended a lengthy debate about the man they’d elect to succeed Paul Tagliabue as commissioner, choosing Goodell over league lawyer Gregg Levy.

One of the league’s biggest power players for four decades, Dan Rooney, was dispatched to give the winner the news. Rooney went to room 755 and knocked on the door.

When Goodell opened the door, Rooney smiled broadly.

“Commissioner,” Rooney said.

* * *

The NFL is buzzing with Marshawn Lynch in Raider limbo, and with vice president of officiating Dean Blandino quitting at a terrible time as the NFL gets ready to run replay from New York this year. Dan Rooney died Thursday, and it took the media world a half day to move on to the next story. I know how it works.

But this week I’m not moving on. When a Mount Rushmore figure in NFL history dies, he’s going to get his due in this column. I hope you read about Rooney, but if not, there’s 6,000 more words here about the rest of the football world. Before that, I’m going to try to explain why Dan Rooney matters, and why he’ll be missed for years to come.

Thirteen days after Goodell’s hospital visit, Rooney died, and so much of the history of the league (and the all-for-one, one-for-all nature of the old NFL) died with him. Rooney had a key role in four labor negotiations; I believe he’s the most significant diplomat between players and owners in NFL history, and that had much to do with him skating into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.

Rooney stuck his neck out to hire the unknown Chuck Noll, 37, in 1969 (and to keep him when the Steelers went 12-30 in Noll’s first three years) and the unknown Mike Tomlin, 34, in 2007; in this era of instant gratification, Rooney knew something so many other owners didn’t. The Steelers have had three coaches in the 48 seasons since 1969, and won six Super Bowls, more than any other NFL team.

And so unique. For the past 41 years, he awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature to a young Irish writer. The annual prize money (now 10,000 euros) wasn’t as significant to most of the writers as the career push. Rooney didn’t forget his first sporting love while ambassador: On each of the Fourth of July holidays he served in Ireland, an American football game was played on the front lawn of his ambassador’s residence in Dublin.

“The NFL was the least of his accomplishments,” Tagliabue told me. “He truly cared about an extraordinary array of world affairs.”

Rooney longed for the Steeler life while in Dublin, and when he returned four years ago, he was back running the team with son Art Rooney II. Intensely loyal to his team, he was as loyal to his league. Rooney was in Pete Rozelle’s kitchen cabinet throughout Rozelle’s commissionership, then in Paul Tagliabue’s, then in Goodell’s, almost until the end.

When I mentioned to Goodell on Sunday that he must have learned a lot in his weekly talks with Rooney, he said, “It was more than weekly. Really, it was daily. I talked to him almost daily. It goes back, I’d say, 30 years.

“So many of the conversations I had with him, I came to realize, were to prepare me to become commissioner. He has such a strong sense of history. He has a perspective that is unmatched by anybody in the league.

Often we’d talk about his historical perspective, and things that were important to focus on for the future, and the importance of the game itself, which he was intensely focused on. The players, the officiating, the game … the game. He had a focus that a lot of other owners didn’t have.

“Pete would always say, ‘Dan is one of the most valuable owners in the league.’ And Paul would say that. And of course, now, I would say that. He was a treasure.”

Goodell got quieter for a moment. Over the phone, he sounded emotional.

“I never met a better man in my life. He had the highest integrity. There was a genuine goodness about him. He was the most devoted man I ever met … devoted to his wife—he met his wife in 1936! Devoted to his family.

Devoted to his city, Pittsburgh. Devoted to his Steelers. His father, The Chief [Hall of Fame owner Art Rooney] was a legend, and Dan came in and created his own legend. It was always about the game, his team, and his league.”

Said Tagliabue: “His values were so traditional, but he was one of the first people to support major change and innovation. Stadium financing, the salary cap. He was for free agency, and for fundamental changes in how players were treated.

The Rooney Rule, so characteristic of him, seeing a wrong and trying to right it. I don't think enough attention has been paid to a man who was such a traditionalist and was truly so innovative.”

I found it compelling that as much as Rooney was egalitarian about every team in the league being able to compete fairly, he never minded sticking a needle into Goodell (or the commissioners before him) when he felt his team had been wronged. I witnessed it at a dinner in 2009, when Rooney bitterly complained to Goodell (with wives present) that the NFL was unfairly trashing the reputation of Hines Ward. I reminded Goodell of that Sunday.

“I used to tease him,” Goodell said. “He would call up on a Monday, and if he was mad about the officiating, he’d say it was ‘your officials.’ After a good game, he’d said, ‘The officials did a pretty good job.’ With Dan, his guys never committed a foul. He was all Steeler, through and through.

“I remember he was the first person I fined as commissioner. Remember that?”

October 2006, seven weeks into Goodell’s reign: After a 41-38 Atlanta win over the Steelers, Rooney, mad at several calls from ref Ron Winter’s crew, said, among other things: “Those officials should be ashamed of themselves.”

“So,” Goodell said, “I got Dan on the phone. I read him his quotes. I said, ‘Dan, is this what you said?’ He said, ‘That sounds about right.’ I said, ‘That’s a violation, Dan. I’ve got to fine you.’ He told me, ‘That’s okay. I deserve it.’ He knew.”

* * *


Photo: David J. Phillip/AP

Rooney was at the fore for a lot of famous things—CBA talks, the Rooney Rule, commissioner elections. But where Goodell valued him was as a conscience, and a sounding board. Before he became commissioner, the NFL was about to expand to 32 teams, and realign from six divisions to eight. It was a clunky time, back in 1999.

Few teams want major changes. And so Tagliabue and top lieutenant Goodell and Rooney (among others) began months of talks to figure out how to take a 31-team league with six divisions, add Houston in 2002, and become a 32-team league with eight divisions.

At the time, all visiting teams would get a financial share of the eight games they played on the road from the home teams. And the teams playing at Dallas or the Giants, for instance, lucrative dates, didn’t want to give those up.

So it wasn’t going to be easy to form an AFC South with smaller markets (Nashville, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, for example) making less than the teams with foes from bigger markets. So it was proposed that instead of each game being an individual visitors’ share, all 256 regular-season games be pooled and all 32 teams get the same collective visitors’ share each year.

Rooney loved that. “Both to maintain the proper rivalries and to get the schedule perfect, and to get the regional divisions right, it made sense,” said Goodell. “Through the process, Dan would scratch out his ideas for the right divisions, and he’d send them all to me. With the financial incentive taken away, it leveled the playing field.

It was crucial for revenue sharing. It got us to a place where we could now talk football. Dan would talk to owners, I would talk to owners, Paul would talk to owners. Dan did a lot for that process and that solution, but he didn’t want any credit. He operated with total humility.

He just wanted what was best for the health of the game, the future of the game, the future of the league. He just always put the game first. I start almost every league meeting with that point.

“In fact, I talked about that in Arizona. History is so important to our league. When we started the meeting this year, I said, “Except for a year or two when he was in Ireland serving as our ambassador there, this is the first league meeting since 1961 that Ambassador and Mrs. Rooney have not been to a league meeting.”

I wrote this the other day, but it is Rooney to the core. One year, the Steelers announced they were holding the line on ticket prices, which means that the percentage the Steelers would be contributing to the visitors’ share of the pie would stay flat.

Rooney heard some grousing at a league meeting about it. He got up and said: “I’m not concerned about your share. You’ve got enough money—we’ve all got enough money. I’m concerned about our fans and their ability to afford the tickets.”

Are there enough Dan Rooneys out there to keep this game great, and to be fan advocates? After a four-month period during which rabid fans in San Diego watched the Chargers leave because a new stadium wasn’t forthcoming, and rabid fans in Oakland watched the Raiders leave because a new stadium wasn’t forthcoming there either, are there enough men and women of conscience in the league to watch out for the fans and the football?

If Dan Rooney could have left one message to his peers—the 32 stewards of the game, and Roger Goodell—I can pretty safely predict what it would have been:

We’ve all got enough money. It’s got to be about the game. The game. The game.

* * *

The Dean Blandino Mess


Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images

It’s true: If the NFL knew vice president of officiating Dean Blandino was going to leave for a TV job—which Ian Rapoport and Aditi Kinkhabwala reported Friday—there’s a strong chance owners would not have voted for centralized replay last month, with Blandino making the calls from the league’s New York officiating command post. Clearly, a big part of voting for centralized replay was the strength of Blandino, and how good a media face he was for officiating.

He ran the beehive of an officiating command center, the size of a large Manhattan studio apartment, with 82 TV monitors and 21 employees following the games, calmly and authoritatively. He earned the trust of the league, and the officials.

Blandino rose from never being on the field as an official to lording over the best football officials in the world. “You ask the officials … and they trust Dean,” Rich McKay, the chair of the rules-making NFL Competition Committee, told me last month. “He’s very detailed. We’re fortunate to have Dean Blandino as our head of officials.”

So why didn’t the NFL make sure to have him under contract so he couldn’t walk away to do TV? That’s the question many around the league were asking after this bolt out of the blue happened Friday. It was such a surprise that three prominent club officials over the weekend said they hadn’t heard about Blandino and TV until they heard the news Friday.

And though it wasn’t a shock to some of his friends, and some in the league office knew Blandino would want to do TV one day, they didn’t think one day was now. This was not an active rumor, at all, at the league meetings, when the centralized replay vote passed in a landslide, moving the final calls on reviewed plays from the referees on the field to the Blandino team in New York. I can tell you with certainty that the Competition Committee was blindsided by the news on Friday.

No one can blame Blandino. If, as Mike Florio reported, Blandino leaves for FOX to supplement his smooth predecessor, Mike Pereira, as a second voice interpreting calls, he’ll be doing a job with far less pressure for significantly more money. As one of Blandino’s friends told me Saturday: “Dean’s 45, married, and has two children under 5.

He’s probably working 80 hours a week in-season at the NFL. That’s not really good for a father of two young kids.” Another friend said Blandino has long fancied himself a future TV guy. Being home for dinner five nights a week, and working 50 hours a week in the fall instead of far more, and having much of the off-season off—and making more money? A logical decision.

Still, there’s no logical person to take his place. NFL execs have a big problem on their hands. I’m assuming they tried to negotiate a deal with Blandino and failed. They should have tried harder. So what does the league do now?

This job requires a public figure comfortable in front of the camera and on social media. Blandino was just that. Al Riveron, Blandino’s lieutenant and a former referee himself, is not regarded as comfortable with that part of the job.

He could still be considered for it, but after Carl Johnson never could get comfortable on TV and video as Pereira’s first heir, I would expect the league to cast a wider net. The three most prominent candidates—my guess—among current officials are three referees: Gene Steratore, calm and comfortable with a mike on; Clete Blakeman, a Nebraskan with a good presence and very well-liked by the league; and Bill Vinovich, who while on health leave from on-field duties worked in the New York command center for almost two years.

The NFL could also consider Mike Carey, who had a shaky TV tenure as CBS’ rules analyst, or Terry McAulay, whose side job is as supervisor of officials for the American Athletic Conference.

Of course, it wouldn’t surprise me if one of the TV-comfy officials emerged as media voice for, say, ESPN soon either. ESPN has to look at FOX and say, “We’ve got high-profile college and NFL games, as FOX does. They’ve got two officiating experts now?”

ESPN doesn’t have an in-studio rules expert either Saturday or Sunday, and the absence seems notable now. Which is why it wouldn’t surprise me if they added a smart and cool voice to the studio shows, at least.

But this is a fire the NFL’s going to have put out, and soon. It’s a bad look after a bold March step to centralize replay.

* * *

Our Time in the UK


The NFL UK Live group in Edinburgh, from left: Steve Smith Sr., Kurt Warner, Peter King, Danny Shelton and Sky Sports host Neil Reynolds
Photo: Dave Shopland

This photo was taken last Thursday evening in Scotland, at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, when NFL UK, the league’s overseas organizational arm based in London, put on the last of four programs (or programmes, if you may) to bring the game to fan bases in London, Liverpool, Nottingham in England and, finally, Edinburgh in Scotland.

I was there to document the trip, and the curiously strong knowledge of these fans, for a future story. On the way, I told a few yarns as part of the panels, hosted by Neil Reynolds of Sky Sports, along with Miami receiver Jarvis Landry, Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins, Hall-of-Famer-to-be Kurt Warner, retired receiver Steve Smith Sr., and Cleveland defensive tackle Danny Shelton. (Reynolds hosted all four evening events at various downtown theaters/venues; the players cycled through, appearing at two or three of them each.)

Observations:

• These fans are a bit intense. When I said in Edinburgh that I thought the Titans had a chance to be good for a long time, a fan in a Tennessee jersey in the second row of the auditorium started pumping his fist and yelling, “YEAH! YEAH!”

• These fans are smart. One Ravens fan walking out of one of the events asked me, “Would Derek Barnett be a good pick for the Ravens in the first round?” (Yes, sir. But Haason Redick might be better.)

• I am a big fan of The Beatles, and we (Warner, Cousins, Landry, me) toured a museum in their honor in their hometown of Liverpool. Very cool. I dawdled at one point at one of the exhibits, and was late to put on one of the four weird/colorful Sgt. Peppers smocks from the cover of the album, for a photo. Cousins yelled back to me: “Hey Ringo! Let’s go! It’s people like you that cause bands to break up!” I hustled up. Wish I’d said, “Nice zinger. YOU LIKE THAT!”

• One of the great stories from the Beatles museum: There’s a photo, taken not long before John Lennon was assassinated in New York City, of Lennon and Yoko Ono walking down Central Park West in Manhattan, with this caption: “John was once in Central Park when someone yelled, ‘Hey John Lennon! When are you getting The Beatles back together?” John yelled back: ‘When are you going back to high school?’”

• Rode the train from London to Liverpool with Cousins and his wife, Julie. He’s one of the smartest, most inquisitive, most interesting players I’ve been around in recent years. We spent 20 or 30 minutes talking about the books he’s read and learned from—biographies mostly.

He loves the Jack Welch book, “Winning,” so much so that he gave copies of it one year to his coaches with a personal note to all. Good, too, to have conversations with a couple of other guys I didn’t know—the driven Jarvis Landry and honored-to-be-there Danny Shelton—plus two I do: the ever-accommodating Warner (we had a good taping for a future podcast, and I got him to sip a Scottish beer) and the ever-frank Steve Smith.

• My thanks to the NFL UK office, led by Ellen Padwick, for four days of smooth journeys and perfect connections. Talk about efficient. Four days of clockwork with an extremely friendly staff.

The trains in England are amazing. They leave me envious, and wishing the United States was as progressive and smart about train travel as Europe is.

It’s not just the frequency and availability of trains, which criss-cross the United Kingdom, day and night. It’s the timeliness.

The traveling party on the UK tour took the train from London to Liverpool on Tuesday morning, a bus from Liverpool to Nottingham on Wednesday and a plane from East Midlands (near Nottingham) to Edinburgh, Scotland on Thursday.

I asked if I could take a train on Thursday instead, and that was fine. The train was scheduled to leave Nottingham at 8:47, with a stop and change in Chesterfield, then a direct train to Scotland departing Chesterfield at 10:03 a.m., due into Edinburgh at 2:10 p.m.

I boarded the train at Nottingham at about 8:43. Outside my window was a digital clock, with minutes and seconds. At 8:46, a man with a round paddle in a blue suit stood by the side of the train.

8:46.50: Man in blue suit holds paddle in air, begins waving it up and down.

8:46.57: Train moves. Scheduled in Chesterfield at 9:20.

9:19 approximately (no digital clock on platform in Chesterfield): Train arrives in Chesterfield.

In Chesterfield, eight minutes before the 9:52 train to Norwich, this announcement over the PA: “We are so sorry. The oh-nine-52 train service to Norwich is delayed by approximately four minutes.” It was repeated at 9:48. It was repeated at 9:52. The train arrived in the station at 9:54.

Damned if that Chesterfield-to-Edinburgh train didn’t slip into the station at about 10:02. And we left pretty close to 10:03, if not exactly, according to my watch with the sweep hand that keeps good time. Somewhere along the way, we had a delay on the track for four minutes, and the conductor announced he’d try to make it up as we trained north to Scotland. And we did.

The last half-hour or so, we had a lovely view of the North Sea out the right-side windows, and we aimed to keep the 2:10 p.m. arrival time. We pulled into the station in Edinburgh, teeming with pre-Easter travelers it seemed, and as I got off, I looked at the digital clock on the platform.

2:09.21

* * *

The Eli Manning Memorabilia Saga

Photo: Rich Graessle/Icon SMI/Corbis via Getty Images

I asked The MMQB’s Jenny Vrentas to catch us up on the Eli Manning memorabilia story. Here’s her report.

Until last week, you may have forgotten about the fake memorabilia lawsuit against the Giants and Eli Manning. The civil suit was originally filed in January 2014, alleging, among other claims, that the team and its star quarterback have been falsifying game-worn memorabilia that was then sold to unsuspecting collectors. It was a big headline three years ago, as the suit was filed the same week Manning’s older brother, Peyton, was preparing for Super Bowl XLVIII at the Giants’ home stadium.

Since then it fell out of the public eye as it has been caught up in the court system. The Giants’ lawyers sought dismissal of some of the claims facing their team employees and attempted to move the case to federal court.

But the fraud claims survived the motion to dismiss and are now moving forward in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Bergen County. A trial has been set for Sept. 25, and the discovery period in the case is open until June 30. As part of that process, a potentially damning email from Manning was filed in the public record last week.

As first reported by the New York Post, Brian Brook, the lawyer for the three memorabilia collectors who are bringing suit against the Giants, submitted in a court filing an email said to be provided in discovery by Manning and his attorneys.

In that email, sent from Manning’s personal account in April 2010, the quarterback is asking team equipment director Joe Skiba for “2 helmets that can pass as game used.” The ask came in response to a request from Manning’s marketing director for two game-used helmets and jerseys to fulfill his contract with Steiner Sports Memorabilia.

The Giants responded with a statement from a spokesperson for the team’s counsel, saying the email was “taken out of context” and referring to the lead plaintiff, Eric Inselberg, as an “unscrupulous memorabilia dealer” seeking a big payday.

The court filing also includes a previously disclosed email exchange between Skiba and Inselberg, provided by Inselberg, in which Skiba appears to acknowledge the existence of “BS ones,” i.e. made-up Manning game-used helmets and jerseys so that No. 10 didn’t have to give up the real ones.

This case casts a wide shadow. The origin dates back to 2011, when Inselberg, a New Jersey-based memorabilia dealer, was one of six men charged with sports memorabilia fraud as part of an FBI probe. Those charges were dropped, however, after defense attorneys argued that members of the Giants equipment staff lied to federal agents and the grand jury about selling Inselberg game-used items from their locker room.

In response, Inselberg filed this suit; the other co-plaintiffs are two collectors, Michael Jakab and Sean Godown, who unknowingly bought and sold what they claim is a fake Eli Manning game-worn helmet.

In reporting our True Crime story on the Tom Brady jersey caper last week, we stumbled upon another offshoot of the web: Brandon Jacobs, running back on the Giants’ Super Bowl 42 and 46 teams, believed he had his game-worn jersey from each of those two games hanging on his wall at home.

But two years ago Jakab contacted Jacobs with pictures of what looks to be Jacobs’ entire game-worn Super Bowl XLII uniform, including the jersey. Bewildered, Jacobs asked the collector where he had gotten it from, and Jakab said that Inselberg, his collector buddy, had purchased the uniform from Joe and Ed Skiba.

So what’s next? As the civil case moves forward, things could get even more interesting. Brook said his understanding from Manning’s lawyers was that their discovery was “substantially complete” at this time, which means don’t expect any other emails to be filed. But the depositions have yet to be completed, including Manning’s.

And if this case indeed goes to trial this fall, on some or all of the claims, Manning would be called to testify. You’d think the Giants would be motivated to settle, if only to avoid the distraction and PR hit around their star quarterback—one that he is already taking, and that may potentially only get worse. But all indications so far are that they will fight this case, so perhaps they have another strategy that is yet to be revealed.

* * *

Quote of the Week

“Hey guys, be good to us on the relo fee. We want to be good partners. I want to do things differently than my father did.”

—Raiders owner Mark Davis, in the excellent piece by Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta on how the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas happened. The “relo fee” means the relocation fee, which the NFL reportedly set in the $350 million range.

Three thoughts from the story that confirmed things rolling around in my head in the wake of the approval of the Raiders’ move three weeks ago:

• Mark Davis is smarter than we all thought.

• Now it’s clear why Davis thanked Adelson when the move was announced—because he knows Adelson helped pave the way for the move even though they had a falling-out.

• Davis is his father’s son in many ways (mostly, because he doesn’t want to cede control of the franchise his father built), but as Wickersham and Van Natta reported, his reaction of not going ballistic after the Rams won the L.A. vote in January 2016 actually turned out good for him.

Instead of being one of two teams in a meh stadium in Carson, south of Los Angeles, he got a jewel of a stadium in an intriguing market, and he got it to himself. As Van Natta and Wickersham reported, Mark Davis wanted Vegas all along.

* * *

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I’m sure he didn’t. But if his Miami Dolphins signed Drew Brees instead of Daunte Culpepper in 2006, he’d have won a lot, and I’m guessing he would have been just fine with egalitarianism.

* * *

Things I Think I Think

1. I think I don’t know how you can’t have a broken heart hearing about the horrible accident that took the life of Todd Heap’s young daughter. I know Heap some, and he was not only an excellent tight end—he was, and is, a generous, thoughtful family man whose wife and kids are the center of his universe. So many hearts all over the country go out to the Heap family.

2. I think there’s no way to follow the horribly accidental death of a 3-year-old girl with anything about football. Or anything about anything. But go on we must.

3. I think, still, that Marshawn Lynch ends up with the Raiders. It makes too much sense for the Raiders and for him for it not to happen.

4. I think it would be amazing if the Bills—who traded a quarterback-like haul (first-round and fourth-round picks in 2015 to move up five spots in the 2014 draft) to get him—did not pick up the fifth-year option on wideout Sammy Watkins … and it would be a strong indication that the franchise is worried that his lingering foot injury in 2016 is a continuing factor.

Watkins has averaged an unimpressive 51 catches a year in his three NFL seasons, missing 11 games due to injury in the process. He never was right all of 2016. But if this is his last year in Buffalo, it could be a harbinger of doom for GM Doug Whaley.

5. I think the situation doesn’t look good for Eli Manning, based on the email he allegedly sent to a Giants’ equipment manager asking for two jerseys that could pass as game-used in 2010. There’s still much to be discovered here. But the advice I’d give to anyone who is about to buy stuff they think is game-worn or authentic is this: Don’t.

I once saw a quarterback sign a jersey for a teammate, then sign a form (feeling awful about it) saying it was game-used. He did it because he didn’t want to be known as a guy who wouldn’t help out teammates when they had fundraisers, and the teammate in this case cajoled him strongly to do it because “game-used” would fetch more money.

I once suspected that an administrative assistant in a football coaches’ office was being paid to sign different players’ autographs on cards and photos for people who mailed in requests. In other words, I wouldn’t trust the authenticity of an autograph unless I witnessed it being signed.

6. I think I’m proud of our team on the Tom Brady jersey-caper story. Not just because Jenny Vrentas and Robert Klemko and editor Gary Gramling put together a compelling account of one of the strangest stories around the NFL in years—how a member of the media from Mexico, who, we’ve come to find out, is a sports-memorabilia burglar, got away with pilfering the jersey in a locker room packed with players and interlopers and Patriots employees.

But how they were able to find out things in the course of their reporting that confirmed what a cool and brazen character Martin Mauricio Ortega was. A Patriots’ camera in the locker room captured for a moment Ortega standing next to Brady’s locker before the theft, looking like he fit in the space perfectly. He belonged. “He looks very relaxed,” one investigator told our team. “He’s honed his skills over the years.” Imagine how you’d feel if you were Ortega.

I’m about to steal the jersey of this great quarterback who just completed the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history—with any of 100 people who could spot me doing it! It is just stunning, even now that we’ve known the outcome for a month.

Our team also got one of the coolest images from this investigation: a photo from a collector, a Patriots fan living in Seattle, that he sent to an investigator. It’s a cell phone photo he got from Ortega of the Brady jersey from the Seattle Super Bowl two years ago. Amazing discovery. You’ll like the digging, and the story.

7. I think this is exhibit one in why so many people think America’s gone way too far with football, and not just in the NFL: Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports reports that each locker of University of Texas football players is equipped with a 43-inch flat-screen TV and has a cost per locker of $10,500. We officially have gone off the deep end with this game, if you didn’t know that already.

8. I think I think this is the Oral History of the Week: Don Banks is so good at these, and he’s authored a memorable one for Patriots.com on the 1967 draft. Imagine no one calling you to say you’d been the fourth pick in the draft. That’s what happened on draft day 1967 to Miami pick Bob Griese, who told Banks: “I think I had a job interview scheduled with some company that had come to campus. I majored in industrial management, so I’m thinking I’ll go to work for Johnson & Johnson or Procter & Gamble, some company like that.

The way I found out I was drafted was my offensive [coordinator]/quarterback coach, Bob DeMoss, saw me in the hallway as we were passing, like we had done a million times, and he kind of looked down at me and said, ‘Hey, congratulations. I hear you’re going to Miami.’ Just like that. I mean, nobody called me. The Dolphins didn’t call me. The NFL didn’t call. The writers, the media, nobody called me.” Some great stuff in here too about Steve Spurrier and playing among the seagulls and worms at Kezar Stadium.

9. I think I challenge you to read this, by Garrett Downing of the Ravens team site, and not get misty. Konrad Reuland, and his family, should be in all of our thoughts today. The story was also done well, the same day, by Dan Brown of the San Jose Mercury News.

http://prod.www.rams.clubs.nfl.com/...d-Safety/b2c8f422-c4f9-4d17-b2e1-b4c2e261e4e7

Alexander Named PFF's Most-Improved Safety
Nate Bain/Digital Media Manager



Once known for his job as a stadium janitor, safety Maurice Alexander has made a name for himself in the Los Angeles Rams' secondary.

Alexander found a niche on special teams after being drafted in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. The Utah State product has gone on to improve his game over the course of three seasons, making the biggest leap in 2016.

The site Pro Football Focus recently named Alexander the most-improved safety of the 2016 season. The company specializes in football rankings and statistics on team and player performance.

PFF Grades:
2015 season grade: 44.6
2016 season grade: 83.4

Here is the full PFF write-up on Alexander's improvement:

Alexander played nothing but special teams as a rookie in 2014. The next season, he got his shot on defense in Week 7 and ended up playing in every game to finish out the year. The Rams moved him all over the place; he spent 43 percent of his snaps as a free safety, and he struggled.

Jump to 2016 and Alexander found his rhythm as the team’s starting FS, playing over 75 percent of his snaps there. He displayed great coverage skills, as he was targeted once of every 32.4 coverage snaps (the fourth-best rate of 92 qualified safeties).

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/71453/71/nfl-draft-needs-rams


Rams No. 1 Team Need: Offensive Line



Silva’s Analysis



The Rams’ line couldn’t block anyone last year. Andrew Whitworth solidifies left tackle in the short term, but he turns 36 during the season. After a sophomore step back, RT Rob Havenstein is converting to guard. Cement-footed LT failure Greg Robinson will apparently be auditioned on the right side. With 22-year-old stringbean Jared Goff at quarterback, it is imperative that Los Angeles finds at least one new offensive line starter. The most pressing up-front needs are center and tackle.


Rams No. 2 Team Need: Pass Catcher



Silva’s Analysis


The Rams used nine draft picks on wide receivers and tight ends during the five-year Jeff Fisher era. Today, their No. 1 wide receiver is Robert Woods and their No. 1 tight end is Tyler Higbee.


Rams No. 3 Team Need: Defensive Back



Silva’s Analysis


In LCB Trumaine Johnson, slot CB/FS Lamarcus Joyner, and SS Maurice Alexander, each of the Rams’ top-three defensive backs are entering contract years. Los Angeles made the mistake of letting Janoris Jenkins (Giants) walk a year ago, and lost FS T.J. McDonald (Dolphins) in 2017 free agency. This secondary is hanging by a thread.

Other Considerations: Defensive Line, Linebacker, Quarterback, Running Back


2017 NFL Draft: More coverage here





Norris’ Mock Draft


Round 2 (37): C/G Pat Elflein, Ohio State - Elflein is an immediate starter at center or guard, spots where he starred at Ohio State. His testing was well below average, which could keep him out of the first round. Despite spending eight draft picks over the last three drafts on offensive linemen the Rams front five is a mess outside of free agent pickup Andrew Whitworth. Elflein would help anchor it.

Round 3 (69): WR Taywan Taylor, Western Kentucky - I am Taywan’s biggest fan. He can win outside and inside, big and small, as well as after the catch. He is the type of player the Rams need on offense.

Round 4 (112): CB Shaquill Griffin, UCF - An outstanding athlete who might be available on the third day due to the depth of this corner class. As Evan mentioned, the Rams corners look quite different than two years ago, and might look even more different in 2018.

Round 4 (141): EDGE Joe Mathis, Washington - Pass rushers are difficult to find, and Wade Phillips likes to rotate at the position. Mathis could still be on the board due to previous injuries.

Round 5 (149): CB Bernard Langley, Lamar - Former Georgia Bulldog who is listed as many evaluators’ “gem” at the corner position.
Round 6 (189): T Storm Norton, Toledo - Norton will likely stay at tackle in the NFL.

Round 6 (206): WR Trent Taylor, Louisiana Tech - I love Trent Taylor. I have no idea if he is drafted due to size limitations, but McVay could see Taylor in a Jamison Crowder type role. I’d bet on him to succeed.

Round 7 (234): S Leon McQuay, USC - East West Shrine invite.

C'mon...we can always develop a 6th round WR..or convert a UDFA TE to WR. We just don't take WR's that high in the draft (4th round, tops!) err..wait, we say these things about interior Olinemen, don't we?

They get little respect in the draft and by the draftnicks...How many times have I heard "Shoot, we'll just convert that UDFA into a Center"...or crosstrain some 3rd rate guard into a Center. IF we got a STUD center in the 2nd round, it would potentially upgrade the whole Oline, and by extension the whole offense.
1. Pat Elflein
2. Ethan Pocic
3. Tyler Orlosky

I have heard a lot of possibilities with the 37th pick. I, myself am leaning towards an offensive pick such as Wr or Te...... and i am torn between JuJu, Godwin, and Jones if we go Wr at that point. I've seen a lot of projections that involve JuJu and Godwin but none that involve Jones..... so I was wondering why not Zay Jones with the 37th pick? I myself have given him a late 1st to early 2nd round grade...along with Smith-Schuster and Godwin .... so what are the perceived weaknesses that I don't see? Interested in hearing your thoughts....

Go Rams..........

I know he played div2,but my God what a beast.
This guy is throwing around defenders like their 13yo kids.
6'7, 277-pound with great athleticism for his size
@jrry32 What do you think about this beast?
.



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Agree with this but there should be no fines either. Bring back the fun to the NoFunLeague. Of course Goodell and the rest of his crew will make sure every ounce of fun is taken out of the game for the sake of the profits. Best comment:

Not only should celebrations not be penalized, there should be a weekly reward for AFC & NFC Celebration of the Week just like the weekly offensive & defensive performance acknowledgements
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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...-want-nfl-to-eliminate-celebration-penalties/

Referees want NFL to eliminate celebration penalties
Posted by Michael David Smith on April 16, 2017

Getty Images

NFL fans, players and referees all seem to agree that the league office is too concerned about cracking down on touchdown celebrations.

The head of the NFL Referees Association, Scott Green, said on SiriusXM NFL Radio that the on-field officials think the league office is putting them in a difficult situation with trying to figure out where the line is between a celebration that deserves a penalty and one that can be permitted. Green said the officials would prefer to eliminate penalties and instead enforce any celebration issues with fines.

“Nothing is worse than someone going 80 yards for a touchdown and then we’re trying to figure out does that warrant a flag for what he’s doing in the end zone,” Green said. “We don’t really enjoy that. If we could get to a point where it would simply be fines by the league, that would be great. The issue we’ll still have is that guys can get pretty creative out there. The question of whether it’s a foul or not a foul, hopefully we’ll get closer to more of a black-and-white situation.”

Unfortunately, the NFL is considering going in the opposite direction, and enforcing celebration violations only with on-field penalties, not with fines after the fact. That puts even more pressure on the officials to figure out where the seemingly arbitrary lines on celebration penalties are drawn.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ills-hesitant-to-exercise-watkins-2018-option

Report: Bills hesitant to exercise Watkins' 2018 option

The deadline to exercise fifth-year options on 2014 first-round picks is approaching, and Sammy Watkins' long-term future with the Buffalo Bills remains in limbo.

The wide receiver, drafted fourth overall out of Clemson three years ago, has incurred multiple injuries over his first three seasons, the latest being a foot ailment that landed him on injured reserve in 2016. The Bills have seen Watkins miss 11 games over the past two years and are reportedly hesitant about extending the wideout through 2018.

According to WGR 550's Sal Capaccio, the team has not yet picked up Watkins' option because the fifth year is guaranteed against injury. If Buffalo exercises the option, the Bills will shell out around $13 million in 2018, more than double what Watkins is earning in 2017.

While new coach Sean McDermott has said recently that his star wideout has suffered "no setbacks" in his rehab and should be in the organization's plans in 2017, it will be hard to evaluate Watkins' value to the team going forward if he continues to miss significant time in-season.

Hints at Watkins' future with the club should come on draft night. The Bills are slated to pick 10th in the first round and have been linked to the class's top two wideouts, Mike Williams and Corey Davis. It would be quite cruel for Buffalo to draft Williams, a Clemson wideout in the same mold as Watkins, and then choose to bypass the veteran's fifth year, but that's the business.

If Buffalo chooses not to exercise the option, it can always offer Watkins an extension during the season or place the franchise tag on him in the offseason if he stays healthy and produces at a level worthy of a longer deal. That's a big if.

New Rams OL Andrew Whitworth has left Cincinnati for the Rams and talks to John about his health, his career longevity and has a message for NFL Draft prospects.

Listen to Whitworth Interview

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/04/11/ross-tucker-sees-red-flags-with-myles-garrett/

Myles Garrett won’t be submitting to an interview with Ross Tucker, either.

Tucker, the former NFL player turned multi-media personality, has concerns about Garrett, based in part on Garrett’s refusal to submit to an interviewwith ESPN’s Booger McFarland due to McFarland’s criticism of Garrett. But Tucker has other concerns, as explained during a Tuesday visit to PFT Live.

Tucker pointed to a comment from Garrett to ESPN The Magazine regarding the presumptive No. 1 overall pick’s intellect.

“I don’t think I’m the smartest player in the draft, but if you consider all the things I think about daily, how many things intrigue me and I try to get to get involved in, I’m up there,” Garrett said.

“Who says stuff like that?” Tucker said on Twitter, before elaborating in the clip embedded in this post.

Garrett’s comment tempts me to reconsider the official PFT position on reporting Wonderlic scores, something we stopped doing a few years ago for a variety of reasons — including but not limited to the complete and total irrelevance of the results to whether a guy will be a good football player. With Garrett touting his own intelligence, someone will surely be tracking those numbers down, if only out of curiosity.

If you’re curious to hear what Tucker had to say about Garrett, you don’t have to be the smartest person in the draft to figure out how to turn on the video.