THUNDERING BLURB

ANDREW GARDA'S ENDLESS TAKES ON NFL AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Posts Tagged Peyton Manning

The Thundering Blurb Show – 3/3

Mar 4

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Hey kids, hope this post finds you well. Last night was another great show and thanks for everyone who was in the chat or listening live. (You can also check it out on the ITunes if you’ve a mind…)

Thanks for you slackers coming in late as well.

That was a joke – I want to make sure you know that since my humor on Twitter has somehow been taken seriously of late.

It’s scary someone thought I really believed the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor when I was cheering the US hockey team to a comeback.

There have been others, so I’m just letting you know, I’m kidding. Just in case.

Before Matt comes on at the half-way point, I talk a little about several of the tenders teams are placing on players (Leon Washington, Brandon Marshall) and what the implications could be for both players and teams.

Also I talk a bit about players rumored to be potentially traded (Boldin, Marshall), those that will be cut (Thomas Jones) and those that could attract attention (Washington) regardless of tender.

At the halfway point, Matt Waldman of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio, Footballguys.com and Draftguys.com stops by to talk about some offensive players.

We touch on some running backs we like (Dwyer! Gerhart!), some wide receivers, the Qb triumverate of Bradford/Clausen/Tebow and whether Waldman will survive Tennessee with one Cecil Lammey as his sidekick.

Matt as always is money, and we don’t have near enough time to go over all he knows so you know he’ll be back.

Check out some sample pages of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio and save your pennies for April 1st when it drops.

Whether you’re a football fan, draftnik or fantasy owner, you will be blown away. Trust me.

Thanks to all for listening however you do it. Feel free to drop your thoughts in the comments.

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Thundering Blurb Football Show – 2/10

Feb 11

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SmashmouthWedFINAL[1]Didn’t get a chance to post one of these last week, but back in the saddle today. If you missed last week’s show, just check the archives on Blogtalkradio.com and check it out.

As for last night’s episode, check it out here.

Among the topics we discussed was—of course—the Saints Super Bowl victory and how despite what some have said, the Colts didn’t lose the game, it was the Saints who won it. A small but important distinction.

As I said in my NFL Late Hits column (final of the year, by the way) Saintsnfl_a_payton4_576[1] Coach Sean Payton made some bold moves. Maybe—as some people point out—had those moves failed some (many?) would be calling him an idiot.

Not me though. Even if the onside kick surprised me, I think it was a great move. Same with going on fourth down in the first half.

That was the difference between the Colts and the Saints. Caldwell, Manning or whomever is in charge called a conservative game. That might work against a team like the Jets who aren’t putting a ton of points up.

Against an explosive Saints offense? Dangerous. Sure it was the Porter interception which put the nail in the Colts’ coffin but the playcalling did it’s part.

We wrap up the Super Bowl talk by touching on Manning’s legacy post-INT (it’s still intact) and try to figure out just what Jim Caldwell does as a coach.

After some general NFL news and notes, we shift to some Draft talk. nfldraft[1]

Joe Everrett—host of The Fantasy Exchange and fellow SmashMouth Wednesday guy—calls in and we spend some time talking NFL Draft prospects until I wrap out the show.

As always, thanks to everyone for coming by the chat, and listening either via live streaming or by download. I appreciate you hanging with me every Wednesday Night at 10pm eastern.

You can always email me at thunderingblurb(a)gmail.com and follow me on Twitter here.

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NFL LATE HITS – SUPER BOWL EDITION

Feb 8

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I knew it would probably come down to one big defensive play, but I will admit I thought it’d be by the Colts, not the Saints.

Much less Tracy Porter.

Of course, the bigger play opened the second half and caught me by surprise as well – when Saints Coach Sean Payton called an onside kick. And it worked.

Bold decisions. We talked a lot about those this year—everything from Bill Belichick’s fourth down attempt against the Colts to the Colts’ decision to sit their starters.

Payton made several bold decisions last night. The onside kick. The two-point conversion attempt. The attempt to go for it on fourth down on the one yard line in the first half.

I didn’t like the called play but I did like that the Saints went for it. If they lost, there was never going to be a question as to whether they left it all out on the field. They did.

Same with the onside kick. I actually yelped in surprise when I saw it, I was so taken aback. You can ‘what if’ that call as much as you want, but it worked and set the tone for the second half.

That tone sounded a lot like a jazz band on Bourbon Street.

This game will take a long time to digest as many big things happened—most notably to the super-star quarterbacks involved.

It was a game where Drew Brees may have begun his own Hall of Fame discussion, while Manning may have ended the discussion as to whether he should be the Greatest Quarterback of All Time.

Manning’s interception—followed very shortly thereafter by another bad throw which should have been picked off in the end zone—shouldn’t really kill his over-all legacy. He’s too good for that.

I think it’s hard to argue him as the greatest quarterback ever after those two throws, though.

His career isn’t over yet, but consider this is a bit of a step back.

In the end, you have to feel good if for New Orleans and the Saints (yes, even Colts fans, though granted they can do so begrudgingly.)

1491291[1]It’s a city that is still rebuilding after Katrina. Until last night, it was a city which had never won a Super Bowl. It’s a city where people make bold moves every day.

Last night, their team made a few bold moves of their own and they paid off in spades.

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NFL LATE HITS – CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Jan 25

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What a weekend.

You have to hand it to the Saints and Colts. When it came down to it, both found a way to win.

The Jets hung in there with the Colts for almost a half but as Manning said, the Colts were trying to figure out how to crack the Jets’ defense.

They did that right before the half and then proceeded to beat the tar out of the Jets in the second half.

Sadly, it comes on one of the better games for rookie Mark Sanchez. One hopes that when he watches tape on the game he spends some time watching Manning as well.

If you’re going to watch your team get smoked by the league MVP, take notes.
 
Oh, and Braylon Edwards? You had a big touchdown. Great. Stop mouthing off to the media about how underused you were.
 
Know that every single person watching that throw assumed you were going to drop it—again—and you will know why you weren’t used in critical situations. You have PANS for HANDS.
 
Should the Jets have used him more? Maybe. They went into a shell for a lot of the second half until the middle of the fourth quarter where the playcalling just reeked of panic and desperation.
 
But if you’re wondering why you weren’t entrusted with more passes, more important plays—go check out that Charger game last week when you dropped a big touchdown becuase Sanchez hit you in the chest with it. Or the big drop from the game against the Bengals. Or any game this season.
 
Sit down and shut up and be thankful if the team offers you anything this off-season.

In the end (Edwards stupidity aside) as a Jets fan, this was all more than I expected. Would I have liked a win? Sure. Am I satisfied? I’d be lying if I said yes, 100%.

But it was a great season.

Meanwhile I continue to be impressed by Manning. Beyond him, you look at that team and have to think that as long as Manning is playing, they will always contend.

Collie. Garcon. Clark. Wayne.

They exposed the complete lack of play-makers beyond Darrelle Revis in the Jets secondary. Collie/Garcon flat out embarrassed Dwight Lowery, made him look silly. Rhodes continues to find himself out of position on big plays. Lito Sheppard was a Pro Bowler once, but not this year.

Manning and his guys tore them up.

The Saints better find an answer.

They didn’t have one for Favre, final interception aside.

Also, when a team coughs the ball up five times, you need to take more advantage than the Saints did when the Vikings tried to give the game away.

By Vikings I could just be talking about Adrian Peterson. His three touchdown performance notwithstanding, Peterson’s multiple fumbles were painful.

Yeah, he didn’t lose the majority of them but that was a brutal performance.

I watched Shonn Greene (rookie Jets running back) go from fumble machine to ball—security technician over the course of one season so I know that sort of thing can change.

I don’t know exactly what he did, but someone should find out and let Peterson in on it.

Did it look to you like neither team wanted to go to Miami?

Defensively neither team did all that much. Jared Allen was a non-factor, something I didn’t expect. For large stretches it seemed as if the defenses would just dissappear.

I mean, don’t get me wrong—high scoring games can be fun. A little defense would have been good though.

I’d like to say that this didn’t turn on any one thing—but let’s be honest, there were some terrible penalties called (or in some cases not) and that impacted the game.

I could spend an entire column on the officiating of these playoffs. You guys know how I feel at this point. Mark Sanchez gets hit in the back on a clear late hit. No call. Someone breathes on Favre and flags fly. Pass Interference penalties are terribly inconsistent.

Last night it took half an hour to burn five minutes of overtime—and they still struggled to make the right calls.

In the end though, the Saints made the plays they needed and Favre ended the Vikings’ season with an inexplicable pass play when they were closing on a game winning field goal.

So, you know—business as usual.

Saints/Colts will be talked about a lot the next two weeks (you know, while we’re killing time and pretending the Pro Bowl isn’t a joke) so we’ll back off of that.

For now, congrats to both teams and my condolences to the Jets and Vikings.

It’s a long off-season.
 
 
Drama in three…..two…..one….. GO!

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NFL Stands For ‘Nutty Fan Litigation’

Dec 29

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Colts fans are really, really angry.

Angrier than a toddler with croup. Angrier than the Incredible Hulk.

So angry they allegedly harassed Colts President Bill Polian off the air ten minutes early on his own radio show . 

Remind me never to anger Indiana. I wouldn’t like them when they were angry.
When they are angry (or wronged), they sue. Or more accurately, members of the Indianapolis City council—who, like Congress , seem to have nothing more pressing to occupy their time—are looking to sue for them .
I’m not totally sure who is doing what but for what it’s worth, I think it’s both understandable yet also ridiculous to sue over this.
On the one hand, nobody can argue the Colts tried their hardest to win the game with the Jets.

Maybe popping Peyton Manning back into the game late might have made the fans feel better. But you just don’t pull him midway through the game and then lose while still keeping your competitive credibility intact.

On the other hand, your ticket entitles you to many things—but one of those things isn’t a win or even an effort to achieve a win.

It may be implied, but it isn’t a promise written in stone—or on the ticket. Regardless, all I can say is, glad I’m not the judge.

Besides, if anyone in Indy should be suing, it should be back-up quarterback Curtis Painter. Talk about the ‘no-win scenario’.

Welcome to the NFL, Rook.

In thinking about the Colts and their fans, I realized there are probably many groups of disgruntled people out there who could be feeling a tad frisky.

So I reached out to Twitter as well as some fellow podcasters and writers to see what might force them—or their friends and fans—to drive to the local lawyer.

As always, the results were not disappointing.

Some were silly, some were serious, but all were interesting and entertaining.

 

I would sue the Rams/Lions/Chiefs/Bills for a crappy season

This was about the most common tweet or e-mail I got. In one case, an e-mailer wrote in very specific detail how he had been wronged by the Rams, not just this season, but for several in a row. Bad drafts, poor coaching, bad free agent signings. It was all there.

I got less lawsuit requests for the Lions involving former GM/train wreck Matt Millen than I expected, though he was involved in one angry email we’ll get to in a minute.

If fans of the Colts would like some perspective, maybe I can put you in touch with the fans of some teams who, in some cases, didn’t win 14 in two seasons, much less one. 

 

Football blogger @JeremyNPike tweeted a funny, but true one.

“The Bills for reckless endangerment and gross negligence of any QB who lines up under center and disappearance of T.O.”

I’m not blaming the Bills for the disappearance of one Terrell Owens, in part because he is so very good at hiding on his own. I think the reckless endangerment charge might stick though—at least if you ask Trent Edwards.

 

Fellow scribe  @A_E_M threw out several, the first one being the nugget below.

“…the fact that they have AARP players (B Favre) but dont give AARP discounts.”

I have no idea if not being eligible for said discounts is accurate. We already know the league is only just getting on board with looking out for it’s elder statesmen, so it wouldn’t shock me if there were no senior discounts.

On the other hand, does any sport do that?
@fantasyf00tball tweeted one that he called ‘The Shannahan Clause’ and I call the ‘Fantasy Football Owner Lament’.
“I’d sue Kubiak for not settling on a running back.”
Nobody who has ever played fantasy football has ever seen a Denver coach (former or current) allow for predictability in their backfields. The aforementioned Shannahan killed owners for years with his mix-and-match backfields. Kubiak did it this year with his gang in the Texans’ running back group.
Heck, current Broncos coach Josh McDaniels played with our emotions for much of the 2009 season, alternating between veteran Correll Buckhalter and rookie Knowshon Moreno.
A judge might throw this out—at this point there is implied risk. On the other hand, these guys need to come with warning labels.
At worst, maybe we can get the Surgeon General to slap some on their fantasy drafts: “Contents may cause headaches, dizziness and early ejection from the fantasy playoffs.”
 
Here’s one I got three different flavors of, though they all came down to the same sentiment.
I’d like to sue the league for not letting Ochocinco wear Chris Henry’s jersey.

All three e-mailers—Tito from NY, Ed and STKLM1 from parts unknown—all felt very strongly that the league erred in not allowing the man formerly known as Chad Johnson to honor his friend in this simple way.

Ed said he wasn’t a Bengal fan, but thought that given the situation as well as the fact that both players played the same position, the impact should have been negligible and the gesture allowed.

I asked him whether he would have felt the same way in regards to Sean Taylor, who died in 2007 from a gunshot would inflicted during an attempted robbery at his house.

Ed said some things transcend rules and yes, if a teammate had wanted to honor Taylor in that way, then what’s the big deal?

I don’t disagree. It all worked out for everyone involved with the Chris Henry thing, but I never saw the harm in Ochocinco’s request to begin with.

 

Back on the lighter side, @A_E_M came back with this tweet.

“What I would def sue for is not the NFL but ESPN for their MNF crew, can we get 3 ppl that actually can stay neutral?”

I got a similar e-mail from Dean in Texas who swore that another season of the NFLN crew of Millen and Collinsworth would force him to either drink himself to death or shoot his television.

It’s almost a yearly complaint about one or both of the weeknight game crews.

Neither crew is an incredibly compelling booth on the order of a Madden/Michaels. Few out there are.

Both booths have their downsides. On occasion I’ve heard both Millen and Collinsworth drop a few comments that make me go “what the heck?”

But I have also heard some good analysis. I’m hoping they get better as time goes on and honestly, anything is better than having Bryant Gumbel in the booth, because I’m at least reasonably sure Millen knows the names of the players.

ESPN has yet to put together a booth to unanimous applause, though firing/releasing /letting Tony Kornheiser leave was met with pretty large amounts of joy. I like Ron Jaworski and Mike Tirico quite a bit and Gruden brings a ton to the table, but A_E_M isn’t wrong—occasionally it gets pretty cloying in the booth.

Still, there’s no Gumbel/Kornheiser so, I’m good.

For this last one, I could have gone several ways. There were Chicago fans who want to sue over the Cutler trade (Gaines Adams was worse, folks), people who want to sue Browns Coach Eric Mangini for being Mangini, and many a Raider fan who wants to sue Al Davis for sole custody of the franchise—often citing some form of dementia.

In reality, it’s no contest though.

 

Nobody seems to be angrier than the Redskins fanbase.

For those who aren’t up on it, when Washington Redskins ticket holders were hit with hard times and asked out of their ticket agreements, the team did what any sensitive corporation would be obliged to do—they sued their fans .

The common sentiment from the missives I got was something I can’t repeat here (I mean it’s the Internet, but we try to keep it clean) involving owner Dan Snyder and where he can spend his winter break as well as enough activities to keep him very busy.

To be honest, only one referred to the Redskins’ fan-aimed lawsuits but none of them were particularly pleasant in feeling towards the ownership. They love their Skins, but Snyder…well, that’s another matter.

Taken in total though, most of these e-mails involved wresting control of the team from Snyder and a few might have mentioned burying him Jimmy Hoffa-style under an end zone.

See Colts fans? It could be worse. You feel your franchise quit on you, but at least they aren’t showing up at your door with a subpoena.

 

 If you have a lawsuit you would dearly love to see delivered to a NFL team or individual, drop it in the comments!

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NFL Late Hits – Week 16

Dec 28

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I’m going to try and not make this whole column be about the Colts and Head Coach Jim Caldwell.

It may be hard.

I’ll give this to the Colts’ coach—damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.

Well, I guess if you were predisposed to think Peyton Manning—one of the most durable quarterbacks in the game—would end up hurt. Frankly, I wouldn’t think that way.

I can’t put it better than my boy Sigmund Bloom did on Twitter:

You can’t coach afraid of negative outcomes, you focus on the positive outcomes you are pushing towards. Wonder how team feels right now.

Caldwell was preserving Manning, a guy who rarely gets hurt, and may have thrown off the timing of a team who was on a roll. There’s no way he puts the starters in for long this week, is there?

We’re watching momentum disintegrate for the Saints—are we going to see it for the Colts now.

As for the Jets, Mark Sanchez didn’t throw an interception.  Starters may have been sitting, but Sanchez protected the ball. Big deal for him this season considering how he has struggled. Good decisions, solid play-calling, effective ground game.

They still need to win against the Bengals (starters or not) and all those things need to be going if they are going to win.

Interesting side note: The Colts/Jets game inspired this piece of writing on a University of North Carolina website called The 5th Corner where writer AEM uses it as a cautionary tale for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, which is considering a move to a 96 team tournament.

(sidenote-within-a-sidenote: I think expanding to that size is a horrible idea, incredibly unmanageable and frankly giving the College BCS anti-playoff people ammunition they don’t need.) 

See what you did Jim Caldwell?

The Chargers, Cowboys and Patriots seem to be heating up at the right time.  The is standard operating procedure for the Bolts it seems but new ground for Dallas.

Romo has turned the concept he’s a Christmas choke artist on it’s ear the last few weeks. Maybe they aren’t perfect and maybe they won’t make it far into the playoffs, but they seem to be ready for the playoffs at a time when some teams—like the aforementioned Colts and Saints as well as the Vikings—are stumbling.

In the last few years both the Giants and Cardinals have shown us where momentum can take you. One of the fringe teams will heat up and cause some havoc in the playoffs.

Finally, I’ve danced around it enough this month: it’s retarded that Titans running back Chris Johnson isn’t getting more buzz for MVP. Beyond that, it’s criminal. I’m not saying he should be a lock to win it, but not enough writers are even taking note of him beyond ‘wow he’s pretty good’.

Maybe it’s a moot point, given that his team has struggled even when he’s doing well. That his impact on any game is negligible.

This fallacy—or what I consider one—pretty much makes it impossible for almost any position not named ‘Quarterback’, a problem which is already part of the Heisman lack of defensive players.

No one player wins a game every time out (just ask John Elway) but the MVP needs to be a game changer. Chris Johnson is a constant threat to break a long touchdown—a defense cannot afford to ignore him or he will burn them.

Maybe he hasn’t won a lot of games for the Titans. But at any moment, he could.

That should count for something in my opinion.

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NFL Late Hits

Nov 16

Posted by admin in Brian Westbrook, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Maurice Jones-Drew, NFL, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Peyton Manning, Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers, Uncategorized | No Comments

I’ve been throwing out my thoughts on Monday mornings on Twitter and will probably continue to do so, but felt like a proper article makes a ton of sense.

With that in mind, welcome to NFL Late Hits, my new Monday article here at The Thundering Blurb. It won’t cover everything that happens in the NFL on a Sunday, just the stuff that for whatever reason sticks in my brain by day’s end.

Two huge plays yesterday have caused some chaos in the NFL media and Fantasy Football community – one was the 4-2 call to go for it by Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, the other, Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew taking a knee at the one to milk the clock in the Jets game.

Let’s start with the call by Belichick. I’ll admit, I didn’t see it when it happened.

I did discover a new food allergy so, you know, win!

Instead, I went over the hightlites and looked over the game info at NFL.com. I can’t say I thought it was the best call, but I’m not sure it’s the worst ever.

Say what you will, but Belichick goes on fourth pretty often and it works out for him more than most coaches. I may be remembering wrong, but on NFLN last night, I believe Mariucci said it worked somewhere in the neighborhood of 78% of the time for him.

It’s not a bad percentage – on the other end of the field.

Look, Belichick has forgotten more about football in the time it took me to type this sentence out than I know now. So I’m sure he had all the facts, figures and percentages in his head when he made the call.

I just don’t know why you risk giving Peyton Manning the ball on your side of the field.

A great coach rolls the dice. Sometimes you hit the point, sometimes you crap out. Like The Hoodie said in his press conference, people will question you anyway.

I think it was a bad call. I also think the media shouldn’t be pulling their hair out over it.

Especially since, had the Pats made it, we would have had another round of ‘This is the kind of GENIUS which has made him so successful’.

A little perspective please.

Speaking of perspective – ok, so if you lost your Fantasy Matchup because Maurice Jones-Drew took a knee on the one yard line, you might want to skip a few paragraphs to where I chat about Brian Westbrook.

This was the right call. Could Jaguars kicker Josh Scobee have biffed the extra point kick? Sure. It happens less than 2% of the time, but like the man said ’so you’re saying there’s a chance?’.

Listen, when people say Fantasy Football is ruining enjoyment of the game, it’s because of reactions like this.

Scobee – shaky though he has been – wasn’t missing that kick. A short, high, kick is very hard to block. I know it cheeses you off not to get the 6 points but the Jags needed to milk the clock.

Whether reports are true that Head Coach Jack Del Rio called for a knee prior to the play or not, it was the right decision.

Seemingly overlooked in the ‘DAMMIT MJD YOU COST ME MY GAME’ shouting was the fact that Jones-Drew picked up the first down. That game was done. They could burn the clock all the way to the wire (which they did) and kick a ‘gimme’ field goal (which they also did).

It’s a no brainer. Sure, like Belichick’s call above if something bizarre had happened and the Jets had gotten the ball back and won, it would look foolish.

But the best way to finish a game and win is to keep the ball out of the hands of the opposing offense’s hands. They did that. As much as I don’t love the thought of Mark Sanchez having to lead his team 80 yards to a win, all it would have taken was a missed tackle and the Jets could have walked away with a win.

Why take that chance? Keep the ball in your hands as long as you can. Milk the clock. Kick the field goal.

It’s maddeningly simple to me, as it was when Brian Westbrook did it previously.

Hell, MJD even apologized to you which he really didn’t need to. Of course he admitted he had himself and screwed himself too, but also pointed out that hey ‘you play to win the game’.

Side note: With players owning themselves and other players in leagues that often deal with pots of prize money, is the league going to come down on this as gambling?  I know the arguement has been Fantasy isn’t gambling, but you have to wonder if the NFL worries.

Things didn’t go all that well for the guy who last took a knee at the line either. Brian Wesbtrook suffered his second concussion in less than a month yesterday and you have to start thinking we’re seeing the end of him in the NFL.

Listen, I’m no doctor – in fact I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night – but twice in a month is bad. In fact, as far as I can tell, it’s awful.

The more often you get them, the more easy it is to get them. More than one player can testify to that and with the recent discussion in the media and NFL circles about head injuries and their long term effects I cannot imagine the Eagles rushing him back out there.

Especially not with LeSean McCoy there. I mean, isn’t this what you picked him for?

Maybe not, if you run a grand total of 13 times.  The Eagles only threw to the backs a total of five times as well.

Sure, they were down and yes they moved the ball through the air effectively in the fourth quarter. Still, there was never a threat that they were running the ball – I wonder if the success moving the chains via air freight than on the ground says more about deficiencies in the Chargers secondary than the Eagles pass attack

Either way, one hopes the Eagles – and Westbrook himself – are very cautious this time out.

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Twitter Roundtable Vol. 4 The QBs Strike Back

Aug 12

Posted by admin in NFL, Twitter Roundtable, fantasy analysis, fantasy football | No Comments

Welcome to another edition of the Twitter Roundtable. As always, our group of Fantasy Experts discuss a topic of fantasy relevance to your league and season.
 
Today, we talk about Quarterbacks.
 
While many an owner is thinking about grabbing QB early, still others wait for their signal-caller. Which guy currently projected outside these twelve Quarterbacks has the best shot at making the top 8? Why?

Brady, Tom – NE
Brees, Drew – NO
Manning, Peyton – IND

McNabb, Donovan – PHI
Warner, Kurt – ARI
Rivers, Philip – SD
Rodgers, Aaron – GB
Palmer, Carson – CIN
Schaub, Matt – HOU
Romo, Tony – DAL
Cutler, Jay – CHI
Garrard, David – JAX
Orton, Kyle – DEN
 
 
Jared Feree – What’s Your Fantasy Podcast
Based on THAT list, two guys step out to me. 

1) Matt Hasselbeck – Hasselbeck, the last time he was healthy, finished top ten and he is gaining a great receiver in Houshmandzadeh.  He does still play in one of the weaker conferences in the NFC West.  I also think Carlson is a nice weapon and Deion Branch, when healthy, is a nice target as well.  I wouldn’t want to place any bets on Hassebeck finishing top 10, but wouldn’t be surprised if he wound up there. 

2) Matt Ryan – I like him to be close to top 10 and would prefer him over a guy like Garrard.  Roddy White is solid, Turner is solid, and the addition of Tony Gonzalez could add a few redzone passing TD’s.  While his overall numbers weren’t that impressive last season, he did finish top 15 as a rookie.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Brett Favre for obvious reasons, but I think he will move very close to the top 12 once he is in camp. 

 

 
Matt Schauf – RapidDraft.com
From what I’ve seen, Matt Ryan is far more often considered among the top 12 than Orton or Garrard. I agree that Hasselbeck doesn’t have a long trip to get back into the top 12, although I also don’t trust him to make it through a full schedule. I really like Trent Edwards, though his success (or failure) will depend on how quickly a whole new line can jell. I’m not betting on him as a starter right away, but I’ll absolutely take a shot on him as a backup/spot starter with upside. Matt Cassel got sacked more than any other passer in the league last year and he still managed to have a pretty nice season.

Terrell Owens was awesome in his first seasons with Philly and Dallas (despite some new kid taking over at QB during that year with the Cowboys), and he seems to be saying and doing all the right things again in Buffalo.

Another really late sleeper is Jason Campbell, who has a more experienced line and is, by all accounts, determined to finally put it all together this year. He’s done a pretty good job avoiding interceptions as a starter overall, so the big question will be whether he has enough at receiver.

 
Ginny Loveless – Footballdiehards.com
With Falcon’s bruuuuutal schedule, there’s no way I’d put Matt Ryan on the list.

HHmmmm…. Matt Hasselbeck and Trent Edwards

MH: In the past, Hasselbeck has been a proven fantasy starter. So, knowing he can be in that role eases the assumption that he can do it again.  Last year was extremely subpar for him due not only to the injuries to his receivers, but his own injury which caused him to miss half the season. Hasselbeck has said himself that he is now completely recovered from his back woes and even Coach More is happy with his progress, so that’s always good to hear. 

Doing some quick math here, had he played all 16 games –all things being equal – he would have ended the season with about 2850 yards and 11 touchdowns.   While that’s pretty middle-of-the-pack stats, he should thrive this year as he gets to air it out to TJ Houshmandzadeh and John Carlson. Not to mention that if Nate Burleson and Deion Branch can stay healthy, things will be even easier for the 10-year vet.

TE: From what I’ve seen and read, Trent Edwards is a great decision maker who understands the offense and we should see an overall improvement of him at this position as he enters his third year.  But, it’s the addition of Terrell Owens to his receiving crew that makes me include him here. Lee Evans is great to have on the other side of the field, too. If Marshawn Lynch and the Bills’ running game keep steady, that should make things easier for him as well.

Between Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson…..whoever wins that job I would add to the list… There’s talent in Cleveland with Braylon Edwards and Brian Robiskie.  Quinn is one more year into being more mature and I think he can really start something good this year with Edwards. Braylon’s flub last year was a fluke and he will rebound. :::crossfingers:::

 
Parag Gheewala – Mockumentary
I like the Matt Hasslebeck pick, but I’ll stick my neck out and go with Ben Roethlisberger.  I have a feeling that Ben will have solid but unspectacular season.  His owners will be constantly looking for an upgrade because he’ll never quite be a difference maker each week.  Not many will try to trade for him because he won’t seem like an upgrade.  But at the end of the season, everyone will be shocked to see that Ben’s made it into the top 8 (barely).  Some of the better QBs will get hurt (Kurt Warner, I’m looking at you) and some will sit because their teams have clinched the playoffs.  The result is that one of the best NFL QBs will put together a top 8 fantasy football season. Since his ADP is outside of the top 12, he sounds like a nice backup QB to grab.
 
Matt Schauf – RapidDraft.com
I’m definitely not a Braylon Edwards believer. I think that the numbers he has put up with various quarterbacks over four seasons indicate that he’s much closer to a 70-catch, 7-touchdown type of player at best than the blowed-up 2007 version. If he were a true, sure-fire No. 1 wideout, I have to think he either would have snapped out of the funk at some point last season or found the Giants willing to give up Steve Smith to bring him aboard this winter.
 
Roethlisberger is another player that I never end up drafting, because he has clearly shown that he can’t be counted on for big numbers. I’d like to think that the apparent emergence of Santonio Holmes will set Ben up to finally reach 20 TD passes for the second time in his career this year, but there was no good reason for him not to do so last year.

The potential for distraction in this new lawsuit that might involve sexual assault doesn’t help things either.

 
Josh Torrey – FantasyDC.com
I don’t believe Holmes “playoff” emergence will amount to much this season. He is a good player, but I don’t think he’ll be consistent enough to counter Ben’s lack of consistency.

That said, Trent Edwards & Matt Hasselback are my two nominations. I’ve written an article on Edwards (that received due heat) trying to show that big numbers from him are not that far fetched. The guy didn’t play in two games last year as was crazy efficient in his 2nd Year.  I obviously expect that efficiency to go down as he tosses the ball deep more often but he just got one of the best redzone WRs in the NFL. His TDs should be on the rise.

 
Ginny Loveless – Footballdiehards.com
 
Some thoughts on Parag’s Big Ben take:
 
Parag: I’ll stick my neck out and go with Ben Roethlisberger.
Me: Big Ben has never been a relevant/dependable fantasy option.
Parag: His owners will be constantly looking for an upgrade.

Me:  Agreed.

 
Parag: He’ll never quite be a difference maker each week.

Me:Agreed.

Parag: Not many will try to trade for him because he won’t seem like an upgrade.

Me: Agreed.

Parag: But at the end of the season, everyone will be shocked to see that Ben’s made it into the top 8. Some of the better QBs will get hurt and some will sit because their teams have clinched the playoffs.

 
Me: If he gets into the top 8 based on injuries and starters sitting then he has not achieved anything.  It will still be the same subpar fantasy performance we expect from Big Ben, but he is moving up in the ranks out of default.  I’ll pass.

 
Matt Schauf – RapidDrafts.com
From the looks of things, Holmes’ Super Bowl performance has led to him rededicating this off-season. He’s added some bulk and just generally seems more focused on proving himself every time I see him quoted. I’m not penciling him in as a fantasy No. 1, but I do think it’s possible he finally reaches that level.
 
Andrew Garda – ThunderingBlurb.com
Actually Big Ben is reliable from the standpoint of, he doesn’t lose you matchups – though he won’t win you championships.

But I’d be shocked if he hit the top 10.

Echoing thoughts here: I think Hasselbeck and Edwards have shots, though Hass has to stay healthy (and his Oline needs to hang on one more year) and Edwards has to overcome three new starters on the line.

I’m going to throw a different wrinkle in there – Chad Pennington.

Granted this will be a VERY tough climb – the schedule he has is abusive and just looking at the AFC East alone shows teams that managed to get better than they were last year. And last year they didn’t exactly suck.

Still, Pennington had a great season in 2008 and not much changed offensively for the Phins this off-season. Ginn has a year more experience, the team picked up some rookie help, Ronnie Brown looks healthy and ready to go and Penny is coming off a season where he finished top 10 in many leagues.

The Wildcat didn’t hurt Pennington and won’t this year – and Pat White hasn’t done a thing to impact the QB position yet (though White is a guy who always looks worse in practice than in games).

Aside from the tough schedule Pennington needs to: stay healthy (rare), stay accurate (usually a strength) and stay upright (Dolphins were ranked 23rd in sacks allowing only 26). The Dolphins were a top 10 passing offense in 2008 (according to NFL.com) – if that holds it gives Pennington (the main man there) a strong chance to do the same in 2009.

If you grab him as part of a QBBC, you limit risk and still have the upside for a nice season.

 
Jim Day – FantasyFootballWhiz.com
I am going to go outside the box here and say Shaun Hill. Yes I said Shaun Hill, STOP LAUGHING.

I know that Alex Smith was getting talked up out of OTA’s but he will NOT beat out Hill to start. Okay that established, let’s take a closer look at Hill.

In the last 8 games of 2008 (his starts) he finished 8th in QB scoring, beating out Warner, Big Ben, McNabb, Ryan, and most definitely Brett Favre. He has a completion percentage of 64% in his 10 career starts. He averages 250 yds per start and has 18 Tds versus only 9 interceptions over that same period.

Now he has a 2nd year receiver in Josh Morgan who many feel is in a good position to break out. Morgan has good size and speed and should improve on his 2008 numbers.

He also has a great veteran in Isaac Bruce who had 61 receptions for 835 yards and 7 TDs in 2008. Many feel he won’t put up those numbers in 2009, but it is hard to count him out.

Now add in a receiver many felt was the best receiver, if not the best impact player, in this year’s draft, Michael Crabtree. Crabtree had over 3000 yards and 41 TDs in just two years in a high powered Texas Tech offense. He has good size, great hands and very good speed.  He is not your ordinary rookie and should give Hill a very nice red zone option.

Look for Hill to top 3000 yards and be very close to 25 TDs.

 
Ginny Loveless – FootballDiehards.com
RE: Jim – I am going to go outside the box here and say Shaun Hill. Yes I said Shaun Hill, STOP LAUGHING.

That’s it.  I want out of these Roundtable shenanigans.

 
Josh Torrey – FantasyDC.com

Matt Schauf said: From the looks of things, Holmes’ Super Bowl performance has led to him rededicating this off-season. He’s added some bulk and just generally seems more focused on proving himself every time I see him quoted. I’m not penciling him in as a fantasy No. 1, but I do think it’s possible he finally reaches that level.

Me: I know this is a QB thread but I have to respond to this, lol.

Holmes spent a lot of time this last off-season adding strength too. He went through almost all practices in Training Camp with weighted gloves. I really felt it made a difference in terms of him snatching balls from the air. But my point was this, I’m not slighting Holmes. I’m just saying he wouldn’t be good enough to change how Ben plays football. To make Ben consistent, you’re going to need to sit him in the pocket & ask him to not take wild chances….that will lead to losing games. Ben will be erratic, he’ll have horrific fantasy games and you’ll regret drafting him when you’re playing against Brees, Brady or Manning.

All this btw? I’m a huge Steelers fan and own Big Ben as my Dynasty QB in a 16 Team League. So this is no anti-Ben bias.

 
Steve Wyremski – retiredrookie.com 
Sign me up for Matt Ryan and Trent Edwards to replace Orton.

Matt Ryan
I realize that he’s got a nasty schedule (or so it seems), but it’s very tough to give that a ton of weight at this point given the parity in the NFL and the fluctuation of top teams year after year.  Tony Gonzalez should help out big time freeing up the receivers and with a year under his belt he should be golden.  Come on…!  I’m a BC fan!

Trent Edwards
This is pretty simple for me taking a look at a simple fact.  Last year’s squad was Lee Evans, Josh Reed and Robert Royal.  Now, we’re looking at TO, Lee Evans and Shawn Nelson.  Talk about night and day.  Edwards is primed for a breakout season and the team should largely benefit from the presence of TO during his honeymoon season.  Besides, TO looks like his finally matured from watching his show on VH1.  Really.   

 
And that’s it for today’s discussion – thanks to everyone for taking part and for reading.
 
To find out more about the folks involved, please take a moment to read below:

 

Matt Schauf  (@mschauf63) You can now find his work as the lead football writer for PFS and SportsBuff.com or at RapidDraft.com, where he also provides the strategy for the “Hollywood” character in the industry’s first single-player fantasy football game. His IDP writing can also be found at SportingNews.com and in preview magazines for Sporting News, Rotoworld and Football Diehards.

 

Joshua Torrey (@jmtorrey) is a contributor to FantasyDC.com & is a fan of not just football but football strategy. Joshua enjoys breaking down game tape and team schemes to predict long term fantasy success.

 

Andrew Garda (@ThunderingBlurb) writes for a myriad of sites including FantasyPros911.com, BleacherReport.com and his own site, ThunderingBlurb.com. He also hosts his own weekly show The Thundering Blurb Football Show every Wednesday (10pm EST) on BlogTalkRadio.com.

 

Steve Wyremski’s (@retiredrookie) primary focus is to reach out to NFL and NCAA players for interviews in an effort to bring the players closer to fans.  Dynasty leagues are a huge focus of his, but general football strategy is his love.

 

Parag Gheewala (@vote4parag) is an average guy with a day job who loves fantasy football and is also the mastermind behind Mockumentary, which started as his Twitter commentary on the first Twitter Fantasy Football Mock Draft.

 

Jim Day (@Fantasytaz)  has been writing for FF sites since 2000 when he started with Xpertsports.com. Jim started Fantasy Football Whiz in 2007 just as a place to have some fun and conversation with fellow league mates and any other fantasy fanatic that wanted to talk FF.

 

Jared Ferree (@WYFShow ) hosts the “What’s Your Fantasy” radio show/podcast on Blogtalkradio’s Fantasy Sports Channel with Raymond Summerlin.  He is also a frequent contributor to www.lindyssports.com with both fantasy player rankings and general fantasy football articles. 

 

Ginny Loveless (@GBGinny) is a staff writer at Football Diehards and is part of the weekly fantasy football recap crew. This beer-drinking, brat-eating, cheesehead will give you her best tip at being successful in fantasy football: numbers don’t lie. Stick with the facts and you’ll do alright. However . . . a little luck never hurts.

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Quarterback Blurb Breakdown: Peyton Manning

Jul 12

Posted by admin in Uncategorized | No Comments

Can Manning and the Colts bounce back from a sub-par 2008?

Can Manning and the Colts bounce back from a sub-par 2008?

Peyton Manning used to be the picture of stability. Never got hurt, always had solid receivers and running backs. Coaching staff was the same guys (for the most part) for his whole career.
What a difference an off-season makes. At least he’s still incredibly durable.

Manning lost Head Coach Tony Dungy, a pair of other offensive coaches and finally Marvin Harrison. While that happened, his main back Joseph Addai came up lame again and the offense as a whole started very slow last season as Manning himself came off injury.

But how much to worry?

Reggie Wayne has played well as the official number one target in the offense. Harrison had been the nominal top cat in the pass attack but really Wayne has been the guy carrying a huge load for many years. Anthony Gonzalez .

Both underperformed last year, but are expected to bounce back. A big reason for the bad year was Manning’s own slow start coming off of a knee surgery which caused him to miss large portions of Training Camp.

At running back, rookie Donald Brown is expected to step in and at least spell Addai, if not replace him outright if Addai stays banged up. There is a good chance that the run game will be on track and help to set up the dynamic pass attack which feeds the Colt offensive attack.

As for the head coach, early reports are that Manning is just fine with new Head Coach Jim Caldwell and that the former offensive coaches who ‘retired’ will be back in some capacity.

The disruption should be minimal. All the above concerns are something to keep an eye on but it shouldn’t be something which causes you to pass on him if you’re looking for a quarterback early, especially if Brees and Brady are gone.

Manning should be a top fantasy quarterback this season again, with less of a roller coaster experience than his owners felt in 2008.

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