Friday, April 23, 2010

Brady Quinn Owes Jimmy Clausen Money



With the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft only hours away, two of the looming questions are both surrounding Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen: Why did he slip out of round one and where will he land?

After Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford was taken first overall by the St. Louis Rams, Clausen was expected to be the next passer taken. Some of the possible destinations that were being thrown around were Washington at four, Kansas City at five, Seattle at six, Cleveland at seven, Oakland at eight, Buffalo at nine, Jacksonville at 10, and Minnesota at 30.

The Redskins and Jaguars can both be ruled out because of their current quarterback situations, with Washington acquiring Donovan McNabb less than a month ago and Jacksonville still having confidence in David Garrard. The Chiefs were reportedly willing to take him, probably because former Irish coach Charlie Weiss is now their offensive coordinator, but taking safety Eric Berry was a bigger need for them. And the Seahawks swapped second round picks with the Chargers in exchange for Charlie Whitehurst, who looks to be the successor to Matt Hasselbeck.

So what about the Browns, Raiders, Bills, and Vikings?

In Cleveland, team president Mike Holmgren came out and said that he wished he liked Clausen more. That’s a sure indication that they weren’t (and probably still won’t be) going after him.

Oakland would have made sense because Al Davis doesn’t make sense. Then again, taking Clausen would be Davis finally admitting that Jamarcus Russell is the biggest draft bust of all time.

Buffalo would have been a great fit for Clausen, but taking RB CJ Spiller was a good move.

And it was supposed to be very unlikely that the Vikings would even have a chance at Clausen, but with Favre probably returning and the coaching staff having confidence in Tavaris Jackson, passing on him and trading the pick was more appropriate.

Not to mention that Clausen has been bashed by analysts and the media lately. Now this doesn’t mean that NFL scouts and front offices are agreeing with the critics and leaking information, but if the first round is proof of anything, it’s that there is at least some truth behind their skepticism.

Issues like the size of Clausen’s hands and his “lack” of leadership were the two big knocks on him that were being publicized primarily. However, I like to think about another quarterback that came out of the same system and had very similar qualities and attributes to Clausen. That man is Brady Quinn.

Coming into the league in 2007, Quinn was said to be “the most pro-ready quarterback” that could be “thrown onto the pro-field immediately” because “he played in a pro-style offense at Notre Dame.”

Although fans and the media don’t seem to remember this, NFL teams do. Quinn serves as a precautionary tale to all teams interested in Clausen. Now presumably buried on the Denver depth chart behind Kyle Orton and last night’s surprise pick Tim Tebow, Quinn shows that quarterbacks that succeed in “pro-style” offenses, don’t always pan out in the NFL.

As for where will Clausen land? That will be answered tonight. I would put my money on Cleveland not being his new home though. That wound is still pretty fresh.

But if I were Jimmy Clausen, I’d be calling Brady Quinn asking him for some money, because his failure may have cost Clausen millions.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Final 2010 NFL Mock Draft

With the NFL Draft only three days away, I thought I'd let my three loyal followers in on my final mock board. I know that I have three of the first five picks hailing from Oklahoma, but hey, they have some good guys coming out. Anyhow, enjoy.

Round One
1. St. Louis Rams – Sam Bradford, QB. Oklahoma
2. Detroit Lions – Ndomukong Suh, DT. Nebraska
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Gerald McCoy, DT. Oklahoma
4. Washington Redskins – Russell Okung, OT. Oklahoma State
5. Kansas City Chiefs – Trent Williams, OT. Oklahoma
6. Seattle Seahawks – CJ Spiller, RB. Clemson
7. Cleveland Browns – Eric Berry, S. Tennessee
8. Oakland Raiders – Jason Pierre-Paul, DE. South Florida
9. Buffalo Bills – Jimmy Clausen, QB. Notre Dame
10. Jacksonville Jaguars – Dez Bryant, WR. Oklahoma State
11. Denver Broncos (via Chicago Bears) – Joe Haden, CB. Florida
12. Miami Dolphins – Rolando McClain, LB. Alabama
13. San Francisco 49ers – Earl Thomas, CB. Texas
14. Seattle Seahawks (via Denver Broncos) – Bryan Bulaga, OT. Iowa
15. New York Giants – Ryan Mathews, RB. Fresno State
16. Tennessee Titans – Derrick Morgan, DE. Georgia Tech
17. San Francisco 49ers (via Carolina Panthers) – Anthony Davis, OT. Rutgers
18. Pittsburgh Steelers – Mike Iupati, OG. Idaho
19. Atlanta Falcons – Everson Griffen, DE. USC
20. Houston Texans – Bruce Campbell, OT. Maryland
21. Cincinnati Bengals – Jermaine Gresham, TE. Oklahoma
22. New England Patriots – Taylor Mays, S. USC
23. Green Bay Packers – Charles Brown, OT. USC
24. Philadelphia Eagles – Sergio Kindle, LB. Texas
25. Baltimore Ravens – Jarred Odrick, DT. Penn State
26. Arizona Cardinals – Brandon Graham, LB. Michigan
27. Dallas Cowboys – Maurkice Pouncey, C. Florida
28. San Diego Chargers – Jhavid Best, RB. California
29. New York Jets – Demaryius Thomas, WR. Georgia Tech
30. Minnesota Vikings – Tim Tebow, QB. Florida
31. Indianapolis Colts – Devin McCourty, CB. Rutgers
32. New Orleans Saints – Sean Witherspoon, LB. Missouri

Round Two

33. STL – Arrelious Benn, WR. Illinois
34. DET – Jerry Hughes, LB. TCU
35. TB – Patrick Robinson, CB. Florida State
36. KC – Kareem Jackson, CB. Alabama
37. PHI (via WAS) – Dan Williams, DT. Tennessee
38. CLE – Colt McCoy, QB. Texas
39. OAK – Navorro Bowman, LB. Penn State
40. SD (via SEA) – Terrence Cody, DT. Alabama
41. BUF – Golden Tate, WR. Notre Dame
42. TB (via CHI) – Kyle Wilson, CB. Boise State
43. MIA – Brian Price, DT. UCLA
44. NE (via JAX) – Greg Hardy, DE. Ole Miss
45. DEN – Damian Williams, WR. USC
46. NYG – Rodger Saffold, OT. Indiana
47. NE (via TEN) – Mardy Gilyard, WR. Cincinnati
48. CAR – Carlos Dunlap, DE. Florida
49. SF – Linval Joseph, DT. East Carolina
50. KC (via ATL) – Brandon LaFell, WR. LSU
51. HOU – Dexter McCluster, RB. Ole Miss
52. PIT – Nate Allen, S. South Florida
53. NE – Jimmy Graham, TE. Miami (fl)
54. CIN – Jon Asamoah, OG, Illinois
55. PHI – JD Walton, C. Baylor
56. GB – Jonathan Dwyer, RB. Georgia Tech
57. BAL – Jamar Chaney, LB. Mississippi State
58. ARI – Chris Cook, CB. Virginia
59. DAL – Alex Carrington, DE. Arkansas State
60. SEA (via SD) – Geno Atkins, DT. Georgia
61. NYJ – Ben Tate, RB. Auburn
62. MIN – Morgan Burnett, S. Georgia Tech
63. IND – Vladimir Ducasse, OT. Massachusetts
64. NO – Reshad Jones, S. Georgia

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Steeler Nation Hates Women



With all of the Big Ben rumors and speculation going on, focusing on his sexual assault case in Georgia, Pittsburgh Steelers’ fans have ultimately proved, once again, they are dumb-asses.

On Friday, it was reported by ESPN’s Kelly Naqi that Ocmulgee (Ga.) Judicial Circuit District Attorney Fred Blight will most likely not be pursuing charges against the Steelers’ quarterback for his alleged sexual assault on a 20-year old college student in a bar on March 5.

Plus, he has already dodged criminal charges of rape from an incident in Nevada last year.

Being a Browns’ fan, and having nothing but hatred for Ben Roethlisberger and everything he does, I have been following the story on ProFootballTalk.com quite closely. One of the reasons writer Mike Florio believes that charges won’t end up being filed is because Blight would have to assemble a “Dream Team” of lawyers if he has any hopes of beating Big Ben and his high priced attorney. Remember, Blight doesn’t have any major cities in his jurisdiction, so facing a trial like this would presumably be unprecedented for him.

Now, the reason I am targeting Steelers’ fans on this is not because of how crooked this sounds. Rapistberger is a monster. You don’t get accused of sexual misconduct twice within a year without some sliver of truth behind it. Hell, he even admitted he was fooling around with the girl in the bathroom of the bar (while his cop buddy played lookout).

After the news broke that charges probably would not be filed, Steelers’ fans started posting all over ProFootballTalk.com on how now they forgive their quarterback and that they will now win the Super Bowl.

Dear Steeler Nation, we already know that you’re not the brightest of people, but this takes the taco.

First off, the Steelers didn’t even make the playoffs last year, losing several of their final games to the Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, and Browns. By the way, all of those teams have top eight picks in the upcoming draft. That has to sting a bit.

Second, while I do appreciate the fact that the fans weren’t supporting him because even they believed he is a sexual deviant, doing a complete 180 before the actual news is announced, on Monday, that he won’t be charged is very foolish. I can’t blame any of them for wanting to root for their Super Bowl winning quarterback. However, treating him as a god after this only says to Rapistberger that no matter what he does, in the end, the fans will stand behind him.

And third, just because charges aren’t filed doesn’t mean the dumb-ass is innocent. The guy still did something wrong here and will continue to break the law and mistreat women until he can stop buying his way out of trouble. Personally, it’s that fact that makes me most disgusted of all. He reminds me of that yellow-dude from "Sin City," never getting in trouble because of his wallet. His lawyers and police entourage have given him better protection than his own offensive line!

So no, I can’t blame Steelers’ fans for a corrupt judicial process and a possible cover-up.

However, I can blame them for being obnoxious about their quarterback going free, not because of his innocence, but because he has the deep pockets to do so. I can blame them for accusing the guy of being a criminal and then suddenly forgiving him for his offenses. And I can blame them for completely forgetting that this kind of behavior encourages others with money to go out and commit similar horrors to women.

Steeler Nation, ignorance is the worst kind of dumb-assery.