NFC West Divisional Team

Article by Rob Newell

 

Browsing through NFL.com I stumbled across an article by Dave Dameshek (he of the podcast fame) which floats the idea of putting together divisional teams, made up from a combination of the four teams within the division.

If this idea sounds familiar, then I am not surprised.  It is an idea we have hinted at ourselves a month or so ago, but in the article I found Dameshek concentrated on the NFC West, see link below.

(http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000497529/article/russell-wilson-legion-of-boom-headline-allnfc-west-team)

For those that don’t want to know his reasons for his selections but are interested in the players, I have listed the team he selected below by position.

QB   Russell Wilson

RB    Marshawn Lynch

WR   Michael Floyd

WR   Anquan Boldin

WR   Doug Baldwin

TE    Jimmy Graham

LT    Joe Staley

LG    Mike Iupati

C     Daniel Kilgore

RG    Alex Boone

RG    Jared Veldheer

 

DE    Michael Bennett

DT    Aaron Donald

DT    Calais Campbell

DE    Robert Quinn

OLB  Bobby Wagner

MLB  Navorro Bowman

OLB  Aldon Smith

CB    Richard Sherman

CB    Patrick Peterson

FS    Earl Thomas III

SS    Kam Chancellor

 

Return Benny Cunningham

Kicker Chandler Catanzaro

Punter Johnny Hekker

 

Obvious conclusion here and probably fairly so, is that the Seahawks provide a large proportion of this team.  Is this the strongest team the NFC West could throw out?  Certainly this team’s obvious weakness would be Wide Receiver, but given that last years Super Bowl’s teams didn’t really have a star Receiver between them, it shows you can win in this league if your offensive scheme is good enough, and your Running Back demands that you stack the box against him.

 

 

However he are a couple of things you could do to strengthen that position, select Larry Fitzgerald firstly, the man is on his way to Canton.  Secondly play Jimmy Graham as a WR and take Vernon Davis as a TE instead.  We all know Jimmy wants to be a WR anyway.  Also you could throw in Tavon Austin or Stedman Bailey into the mix, both of whom have the ability to produce that magical play either in the Receiver position or in the kick return.  Witness the fake return against the Seahawks last year.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePc_27wLyog

 

On defence hard to not take the Legion of Boom obviously, and Patrick Peterson is a player that even Antonio Cromartie admits is one of the best in the game.  Special mention to the Honey Badger though who would have a shot at making this team.  It is the front 7 where things get interesting, purely down to the strength of the defence’s in this division.

The Rams alone have one of the most fearsome front 7 in the league’s so what about Chris Long, Nick Fairley, James Laurinaitis.  The Niners by everyone’s admission have been decimated especially on defence yet still provide two players to this front 7 and Darnell Dockett should be considered to.

If the strength of a team is in the trenches, the OL and DL then things look good for the 49ers and Cardinals this year, so all you Niners naysayers may just want to hold fire for a minute.  Behind the OL Carlos Hyde must be licking his lips waiting to pound the rock.

 

In Special Teams Greg Zuerlein, also known as Legatron for me makes a strong case for that role.  But whoever you selected, if you go with Dameshek’s selections or some of my suggestions, this NFC West team would be frightening.  Is there another divisional team that would beat this lot.  I’ll leave that up to you all to discuss, I feel we could meet up for a beer and have a lot of fun deciding how these games would turn out, a bit like deciding who the next James Bond, Dr Who should be (or is that just me?)

Team of the Millennials

Article by Rob Newell

 

With the NFL teams returning to mandatory (in most players cases) there is finally football activities happening again which is important when you like myself, can not wait for NFL football again.  That does give the football beat writers around the league access to some stories that we probably didn’t need to know about.

 

Johnny Football retiring the $ symbol for example.  How about you get named the starting QB first then talk about what symbols you may or not be making.  The strangest story for me though, and as in line with many off-season stories, came out of San Francisco. 

 

Apparently 49ers new Head Coach Jim Tomsula has decided that the Niners need to revolutionise their coaching techniques and approach to accommodate the fact that the team is now made up of the Millennial generation, which apparently means that these players can not concentrate in sessions for more than 27 minutes before things become counter productive.  When I read this story I wanted to check the date just to confirm that we had not gone back to 1^st April.

 

Bill Walsh must be spinning in his grave at this idea.  Just how did Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott manage to win all those Super Bowls when they had to endure over 30 mins of coaching in one session.  For Jim Tomsula’s sake I hope his new approach produces some fruit, but I don`t think this story helps Tomsula in anyway.  If the Niners get off to a bad start I fear this is the sort of thing that will hang around his neck, and the head coaching reign of Tomsula may not be for long in California.

 

The other big ongoing story out of the West, seems to be Russell Wilson and the ongoing contract situation in the Pacific North West.  Wilson has been saying all along that he does not have a timetable in place and he would be happy to play out the final year of the rookie contract.  Meanwhile, with every other new deal being agreed for other starting QB’s, it seems Russell Wilson is getting more and more leverage.

 

The latest deal was of course for Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton, who joined the $100 million club.  For a player who to date has only won one playoff game?  Whereas Wilson already a veteran of two Super Bowl appearances and winning one.  What then is the worth of Wilson?  The other findings suggest Wilson is on course for a large large pay day, it may be Andrew Luck has a playing role in this, depending on if his deal is renewed with the Colts before the Hawks redo Russell Wilson. In the meantime, should Seattle make a third successive Super Bowl as they are the favourites to do, what impact then on the long term worth of Wilson?

 

Meanwhile things are going quietly in Arizona, but significantly perhaps Carson Palmer is showing very encouraging signs in return from his ACL injury which should set the Cardinals on the right path offensively again.  Also rookie running back David Johnson is impressing a lot of people in camp, may be interesting as season progresses to see how he competes with Andre Ellington for starting snaps.

 

Special mention to some of the feared St Louis Rams defensive line, lead by Chris Long, who recently spent over 24 hours living on the streets of St Louis to raise money / awareness of the plight of the homeless in St Louis.  This after it emerged the Rams DL have been donated to a project to support these people for a while now.  At a time when we hear so many negative stories, and player suspensions, arrests and DUI’s etc… It is refreshing to hear the other side where NFL players give something back to their communities.  Good work fella’s!

 

NFC South news update

Article by Matt King

 

his week in the NFC South, it has been confirmed that Chris Chester has signed a one year deal with the Atlanta Falcons. Also new coach Dan Quinn has been talking about the starting Running back battle between Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. Quinn told NFL Radio reporters that “they are absolutely battling” for the job. It might be early days so far, but whoever wins the job come August, could be an asset on many Fantasy teams, and under Shanahan [whose previous successes came Alfred Morris at Washington, and last season’s dynamic duo of Isiah Crowell and Terrance West, Browns] via Wesseling of NFL.Com.

 

Over in New Orleans, the Saints have extended Cameron Jordan for [up to] $60m across five years. [NFL.Com]. It’s [ironically enough] five years since the Saints won it all, and QB Drew Brees has seen many different personnel but has been unable to add his lone ring [which he won in 2010]. It took the Saints 21 years to record their first winning season in franchise history [after their inception] and five years before the Saints won the Super Bowl, the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The Saints are a team that know how to rebound from adversity and have plenty of pieces in place to potentially rebound in 2015.

Over in Tampa Bay, Number One [overall] pick Jameis Winston has been seeing reps with the Buccs 2^nd string squad. To some, this could be an indication of who will suit up when the season starts in September, but head coach Lovie Smith stated that he “will make Winston earn the starting job, and later concluded Jameis is getting his first team reps also, don’t look too much into that” he told the Tampa Bay Times. Winston himself told reporters “the main thing is to earn the respect of all the players out here”.
While OTAs took place over the last week, Demar Dotson missed them over a contract dispute, despite being signed through 2016. Dotson was by far the best defensive player in 2014 [on the Buccs] which doesn’t tell us much about their prospects in 2015.

 

Finally, over in Carolina, fresh off signing a $103.8M contract extension, Cam Newton told reporters that “nothing about this contract changes my approach to the game”. Head coach Rivera stated “In the back of your mind, it’s not about money”. Rivera also spoke about being asked if he thought the money would change him and he responded “No, he already had money with the rookie contract and endorsements.  It won’t change him”

The Winds of Change

Article by Rob Newell

 

If any one NFL team could tell you about change this off-season then it would most certainly be the San Francisco 49ers.  The pace of change in this organisation is quite frankly frightening, and I feel certain that even the most ardent of 49ers would struggle to convince you that we are talking about change for the better.

 

This team has seen a new stadium, new head coach, and a playing Roster that as of right now is almost unrecognisable from the one that just lost the Super Bowl just a few seasons ago.  In fact you could almost semi seriously suggest that the next change should be to change the team name to the Santa Clara Revolution.  If it were possible all those Busts in the Hall of Fame of 49ers greats must be spinning at what is happening.

And yet despite all evidence to the contrary, I just don’t seem able to completely write them off just yet.  They may well finish at the bottom of the West this season, but I have a strong sense that this team will not be the train wreck that many are pointing too.  I believe that Jim Tomsula is a players coach, and what we will see this year is a strong case of a team exceeding the sum of its parts.

Other change blowing through the NFL right now is the looming presence of the City of Angels.  With every passing story it seems ever more likely that Los Angeles will be the home city of at least one franchise come the 2016 season.  Of the teams involved, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and St Louis Rams, the commitment of the current home city would suggest that it (in NFL parlance) is more probable than not, that it will come down to the Chargers and Raiders.  If this is the case then f course there are still repercussions for the NFC West.  The League do not allow two teams sharing the same stadium to play within the same division, so if Chargers and Raiders do take possession of the Carson area stadium, divisions are going to be redrawn, with the most likely outcome of the Rams moving to the AFC and one of the Chargers / Raiders moving to the NFC, my gut tells me that the NFL would prefer the Raiders move over in this eventually.  Time will tell, another Owners meeting has been scheduled for August to specifically review the LA position, so maybe more news will come then.

In the meantime, we are now deeply entrenched in the  Pay The Man calendar spot.  The latest big name to sign a multi million $ deal is Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton.  Newton of course does have significant skills but so far has only managed one playoff win in his career.  In the meantime the NFL awaits potential new contracts for Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson.  There are already rumours of Wilson’s deal being fully guaranteed, something Seattle have tried to deny, but for a QB coming off two Super Bowl appearances this will be a large payday. 

 

However, this begs the question, when do these large QB mega contracts start to actually hurt the team.  In all those years in Indianapolis Peyton Manning for example was given every possible resource for his Offence to succeed, often at the expense of the defence.  Would a more balanced approach have seen the Colts win more than the one Lombardi Trophy Manning did deliver.  The salary cap may be expanding these last few years, but each year there will be a cap figure, the more you pay a QB, the less you can the other players.  If Russell Wilson suddenly moves from the $1.5million his initial contract allowed to closer to $20million (which would be Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger type money) how many Marshawn Lynch, Jimmy Graham, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas can you keep?  I guess if Seattle get back to the Super Bowl as many predict then it would be a great problem to have.

NFC South gearing up for another close fight

Article by Matt King

 

We’re not far removed from the NFL draft, but equally looking forward to the 2015 NFL season and all four teams in the NFC South improved. In this edition I will look at what changes they made and how this may help [or hinder] them to get [back] to the post season. I will start with the Carolina Panthers [via stats sourced at NFL.com].

The Panthers largely under performed last season and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them bounce back and end up with a winning record. Despite a rocky season from Cam Newton, down the stretch he was able to guide them into the playoffs, although with the state of the NFC South last season, it would have been harder to miss them. Newton should be healthier this time around, and with a season under him already, Kelvin Benjamin should light the league up once more and joined with the experience of Jerricho Cotchery you shouldn’t rule out the Panthers scoring a tonne of points this year, and with deep defensive personnel, and Luke Kuechly getting better every year and registering 81 defensive stops in 2014, will look to push towards 100 and keep the score down for the Panthers. With Tre Boston [4^th round 2014 draft] and Bene Benwikere [5^th round 2014 draft] now fully settled into the rigours of the NFL, and the hard hitting South Division, the Panthers are arguably the favourites to win this division before a ball has even been kicked [or thrown].

 

Next up, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Buccs will be going to war with hopefully a better season with clarity regarding game plans and personnel [Tedford’s health issues]. They invested heavily in the draft in areas of need, but still have one of the worse squad depths in the NFL. Rookie QB, Jameis Winston. [The first overall pick in the draft] is likely to be the starting QB for Tampa. Winston will have a really good WR duo core with Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson [who nearly got traded last season], although rushing the football could prove a problem in the interim with a thin RB staff headed [just] by Charles Sims. Rookie will play a huge role with offensive line members Donavan Smith and Ali Marpet likely to head the line. Outside of these names, the Buccs don’t have many household names, that fans of the NFL will be able to quote in discussions such as Walter Payton, The Fridge, Joe Montana, Vince Lombardi, Lawrence Taylor etc…, but that doesn’t mean they won’t have in a few seasons’. This is clearly another season of transition for the Buccs but they should at the very least improve on their 2014 win total.

Now for a look at New Orleans.

Drew Brees hasn’t always been a model of consistency since entering the league] after being drafted in the 2^nd round of the 2001 draft] although it took an injury and a new team to tap into his 2^nd round potential. In 2006 he signed for the Saints as a Free Agent and hasn’t been away from the pro bowl since. RB duo Mark Ingram [1^st round, 2011] and CJ Spiller [1^st round 2010] could be a force as the season goes on, and both are well adjusted to the league now. Question marks could [and probably will] be asked about the Saints refusal to replace Jimmy Graham in the draft, or via trade and will hope Josh Hill [undrafted, 2013] will be able to contribute. Round 7 pick in the 2010 draft Zach Strief’s role could be up in the air slightly, with the Saints picking [at 13 overall] Andrus Peat and at this point, seem unlikely to want to sit him after investing with a high priority pick in round 1. At this point, it seems likely that the Saints could finish anywhere in the division, but it’s still early for them and perhaps pre-season games might tell us more about New Orleans.

Finally, a look at the Atlanta Falcons.

It’s been all change in the off season so far with the Falcons, and new Head Coach and OC could be the signing[s] off the draft season. Dan Quinn [HC] helped guide the Seahawks within half a yard of back to back titles [as the defensive Co-ordinator] and Kyle Shanahan [OC] with various experiences at different positions. The Falcons should have more impetus with Dan Quinn probably able to manage the clock when up in the 4^th quarter [that would help]. There won’t be too much to do in terms of finding talent, as they had a promising team that failed to deliver in 2014, but stats suggest they weren’t as bad as their record suggests and Matt Ryan was one of the top performing QBs for fantasy teams [although on mine he didn’t get a ring, much like real life] (but for that I blame the Colts D line) but more on that in a different piece. 22 Year old Tevin Coleman is likely to take over the RB role from Steven Jackson who is now a FA and went for 707 yards from 190 carries at an average of 3.7 yards per carry and finishing the year with 6 TDs. This was the second straight season [excluding his rookie year] he failed to break 1000 yards and was released back in February of this year. The WR core remains largely the same with Julio Jones fronting it and Round 4 draftee Justin Hardy at WR3. Hardy was drafted in the same round this year as Freeman was in 2014 [Round 4] and the Falcons certainly have enough pieces to be a real force in the next few years [similar to the Saints up to 2014].

 

A lot of football will be played between now and December and as the weeks roll by Rosters will look different, or the same come the playoffs, and the NFC south could be one of the most competitive again following recent drafting efforts by all clubs and it will be interesting to see which clubs drafting / off season reshaping proves best. It’s unlikely the Buccs will be as bad again as they were in their horrendous 2-14 2014 season, and the Falcons should at least be playing .500 football which could prove the Panthers and Saints fighting it out for the top spot once again in 2015.