Casey Matthews Should Really Thank His Brother Clay

Casey Matthews could not be in a better position as his brother Clay seemed to dominate every game he played in this past season.  If not for him, Casey could be looking at mid to late round value in this year's NFL draft, instead of the millions more that await in a most likely first round pick.  Full disclosure, I absolutely love Casey Matthews and I think he is a very good player.  He needs to put on some size but he has a terrific motor, loves to play the game and oh yeah he has terrific NFL bloodlines as his father, the original Clay Matthews, his uncle Bruce and of course his brother Clay Matthews who was in the running for defensive player of the year this past season.  Due to all of this, most important of all, how well his brother has played, Casey will in my opinion be a first to second round pick where in my opinion a player of his caliber would normally go later.  I for one think a team would be lucky to have this type of player and the one thing that could go wrong is him going too high and Casey feeling the pressure to play up to his brother's high standard.  So at any rate, if there ends up being a lockout this upcoming year we should be able to see some fireworks at this year's draft.

Draft Prediction I Hope I am Wrong About

2009 Heisman winner Mark Ingram Jr. with Greg McElroy(#12)

Sometimes the analytical and emotional parts of me like to do battle and this blog is one of those times.  Mark Ingram Jr., the 2009 Heisman trophy winning running back from the Alabama Crimson Tide is considered by many to be the number one running back in this year's draft, I am not one of those many.  Ingram, was a great college running back that as good as he was played for a team and a system that highlights the running back despite having one of the best wide receivers in this year's draft, Julio Jones.  Terrence Richardson, the other Alabama running back was able to carve up defenses just as much as Ingram did.  They are both solid running backs, but were able to excel on a much better team, it is not like he was doing this at Vanderbilt.  Ingram reminds me a lot of Mike Hart, who was great at the University of Michigan and a running back I loved watching on Saturday afternoons.  Hart, who does not have great NFL speed has been playing for the Colts the past couple of years not causing much of a stir.
Now the emotional side of me is pulling for Ingram, as  he seems to be a class act and very humble for that matter.  His dad has been in jail for the past couple of years and Ingram never shies away from that fact.  He was very emotional when he won the Heisman trophy and it struck me as a guy who I didn't feel deserved it from a football standpoint, he deserved it as a human being.  So depending on how fast he runs his forty this weekend, Ingram could be looking at a first round draft status.  A part of me thinks that is ludicrous, but a big part of me hopes for the best for this kid, who unlike many of these college divas is a class act and deserves good things to happen.

Ray Lewis is Good not Great Anymore

Raven Linebacker Ray Lewis

Baltimore head coach, John Harbaugh, has come out and stated that Ray Lewis is the greatest middle linebacker in NFL history and still the best in the league today, which means they will not be shopping for an heir apparent at the draft this year.  I for one can't blame a coach for backing his guy and talking him up in the process, or for that matter I won't even argue his comment about Lewis being the best ever.  To be honest, he is easily in the conversation and I wouldn't argue too much against it.  Now, not preparing for the inevitable departure of Lewis is something I would like to argue.  I will spare you the suspense and tell you he is not the best linebacker out there right now, I am not even sure he is still in the top 5.  Much like Brian Urlacher, who I also don't feel is as good as the credit he gets, they are great leaders and have high football IQ's, which keep them playing at a higher level than their talent warrants.  Lewis has lost a few steps, I do mean plural, and he seems to miss more tackles than we are accustomed to seeing from him.  To his credit, he still does come up with big plays fairly often and he is a great leader.  That will only get you so far and times are a changing.  My advice to Mr. Harbaugh is if you want to get to the next level you will need to make some tough choices and Ray Lewis knows that.  It is time to start worrying about your team and not the mental state of your veterans.

Bob Sanders Will Make Some Team Very Happy

Free agent safety Bob Sanders
(Photo from
Americaswhiteboy.blogspot.com)

Bob Sanders, who possibly could have starred opposite Bruce Willis in the movie Unbreakable as Mr. Glass, could make some defense a lot better at probably a decent price.  I would like to believe after only playing the majority of one season out of the last 4 or 5 his rate would not be that high.  In this day and age, you just never know what to expect out of the NFL players and their agents.  If Sanders could become healthy, which seems like the big question, he could make a defense much better instantly.  When on his game, he is a top 5 safety and a game changer.  As much as I understand the Colts having to let him go, it is tough to let somebody this good go.  At the tender age of 30, he has really only played in 2 full seasons so he generally has a lot of tread left on the tires.  Depending on what he is asking, he should potentially have a few suitors.  Now the main issue will be if he does get picked up, can he stay on the field or will he spend his time looking for his arch nemesis, who may have been right next to him in the Colts locker room, Peyton Manning who has never missed a game in his long illustrious career.

Forget Kiper and McShay, Listen to Mike Mayock

Ever since I can remember,  there has been one name that has been tied to the NFL Draft, Mel Kiper Jr.  I don't have much of a problem with him, if I had to choose between him and young gun Todd McShay, I would choose Kiper.  At this point, I realize they are there for the entertainment factor while sprinkling in a bit of football.  If there is one guy I would want to listen to for pure football, it is Mike Mayock of the NFL Network.  This guy is a draft beast and seems to know every little tidbit about each of the draftees.  So when he says that he like Marcel Dareus over Nick Fairley and Warren Sapp, a proven entity at the same position, agrees with him I start to listen.  In my opinion so should you.

Browns Should Stick with Colt McCoy

Winningest QB in Division 1
history, Colt McCoy

It seems to me that the Browns probably have a bit of a quarterback dilemma as new head coach Pat Shurmur comes to town.  As of right now they are looking at Colt McCoy as the probable starter with Seneca Wallace and Jake Delhomme as the backups.  McCoy is not the prototypical size quarterback, but I think he is a winning quarterback even at the NFL level as he definitely was at the college level, where he won more games than any other division 1 quarterback in history.  My opinion is that they should stay in this direction for at least one more year and draft at other need positions such as defensive line or even wide receiver.  If they would like to take a late round pick on a quarterback that they feel is a good value I am all for that as you never know where this will go, but I do not think they should take an early round pick and waste it on a quarterback.  Once again, just my humble opinion.

Not Sure About Cam Newton

It is that time of the year where everybody starts to look ahead to the NFL draft, because let's face it the sports world lacks a little bit of luster when the NFL season ends.  We try to keep it alive by talking about things that usually most people would never care about if it was during the season.  So, here we are and the talk of the town is Cam Newton, the Heisman trophy winning quarterback from Auburn University.  He reminds of Vince Young with maybe a bit more speed, where he has the same kind of running style and both were not can't miss in the passing department.  I for one don't think Vince Young has been a terrible quarterback as he has been able to win in the NFL despite not doing it as much through the air as you would like to see your quarterback do.  I am not buying that he should be a top 15 pick, even though it is inevitable that he will be as NFL teams love taking chances on quarterbacks.  It would be fair to give him a shot later in the first round and maybe even the second as I believe there would be more value in that range.    As a general manager, I would be happy to take him in the third round or later anything above that would be risky.  That is my humble opinion.

I am Pretty Sure Kurt Warner is Underrated

Let's think about Kurt Warner this way, he is an amazing drive combined with an amazing catch and an Adam Vinatieri field goal away from having three super bowl rings.  I don't think that people really think about Kurt Warner that way.  We all know the story of how he stocked the grocery store aisles and came up from the Arena League, but I think people are too busy trying to make this guy a feel good story to realize how good he really was.  In his first full season, where he was thrown into the fire due to injury, he ends up setting the world on fire and leads the lowly Rams to a Super bowl win.  He has a decent second year where there were some injuries and they get to the playoffs with not much else.  Now in his third year, he has a season for the ages, where he almost throws for 5,000 yards and they lose the Super Bowl, in which he throws for 365 yards to the NE Patriots 270 yards of total offense and lose the game.  This can only happen if your coach is Mike Martz and you are up against Bill Belichick, who came up with a great game plan and Martz's ego did all the rest.
Dick Vermeil, also under rated in my opinion, was his coach in the first year where they won the Super Bowl.  Had he decided to stay, I think they win at least one more and at the least Warner does not fade away into oblivion like he did in St. Louis as did the organization after a couple of decent years.  Not until he lands in another NFL dungeon, the Arizona Cardinals in 2005 does he begin to show his skills where he eventually gets them to the Super Bowl only to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a great Roethlisberger drive that culminated with one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history to Santonio Holmes.  Another myth about Warner, is how good is receivers are, something you have probably heard about Peyton Manning as well.  In my opinion, in both of these instances it is the quarterback making the receivers look better.  Outside of Larry Fitzgerald, the rest have been good but have developed great chemistry with one of the best quarterbacks that we have seen come through this league.  Just ask Anquan boldin!

If Prince Amukamara Runs Good, he will be Great

Prince Amukamara, a cornerback for the University of Nebraska is my favorite cornerback in this year's draft.  The only thing that needs to be seen is if he can run with NFL wide receivers.  You might be able to get by at the college level with 4.5 speed, but that won't work at this level no matter how good your hips are.  The draft experts like Patrick Peterson, who I think is solid, but I think he is too tall to be a great cornerback.  Much like Antonio Cromartie, tall cornerbacks have the speed and height to cover taller receivers with more straight line speed such as Randy Moss or Mike Wallace of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but have trouble covering shifty guys such as Desean Jackson of the Eagles.  One of the main reasons for this is the rapid shift in what the NFL was looking for in wide receivers.  Just a few years ago, it seemed that unless you were 6'5" and ran at least a 4.4, you weren't getting a look in the draft.  Now, with the success of guys like Wes Welker and Steve Smith of the Panthers, teams have been shifting back to these types, which has been a problem for taller cornerbacks.  Prince Amukamara, who is close to 6 feet, does not play as tall as Patrick Peterson and has better hips.  Peterson seems to rely mostly on his speed, which with out proper coaching could hurt at the next level.  Mark my words, if Prince can run a good forty, he could become an instant starter much like Devin McCourty of the Patriots did this past season.  Any coach would be happy to have that kind of result.

Sean Payton not Going to Dallas

I will make this one short and sweet.  There is a lot of rumbling about the recent move of Sean Payton's family to Dallas.  This shouldn't really even be news, as in my opinion they are simply moving some where that they have always wanted to live.  It is not that far from New Orleans and Payton has a lot of leverage as to his work schedule.  Payton has an organization that has backed him at every turn, a quarterback he loves and a team that will compete for the next few years as an elite team.  If he was ever to become head coach of the Cowboys it would have happened a while ago.  Please stop trying to make news stories out of everything.

I Feel Bad for Rashard Mendenhall

After watching the Super Bowl, I could only help but wonder what people will think about when it came to Rashard Mendenhall's performance.  Most likely it will be the fumble he had in the third quarter, which ended up being the biggest play of the game.  The Steelers were driving with all the momentum, as they were on a 14-0 run at the moment, Mendenhall seems to stand straight up and basically hand the ball to the Packers.  This ultimately led to the Packers scoring a touchdown and an 11 point lead and ultimately the game.  Mendenhall had fumble problems early in has career and has since seemed to have it under control, up until the most crucial moment of one of the biggest games of his career.  The part that bothers me, is that Mendenhall had been running strong and hard all game, against a very tough defense.  He was very impressive and most people will likely forget all about it due to that one play.  He was very good during the  playoff run in general and in my opinion was the key to them getting to the Super Bowl, not Ben Roethlisberger.  Big Ben could have made everybody forget about his 2 picks as well as the Mendenhall fumble had he been able to lead the Steelers for one last touchdown drive in the waning minutes of the game.  It was not to be and the Packers are Super Bowl champs, which is also well deserved.

Let Me Clear Something up

Big Ben looks for his 3rd
Super Bowl ring vs the Packers

If Ben Roethlisberger wins his third Super Bowl tonight, this will not make him an equal to Tom Brady.  I have always thought Big Ben was underrated because he never got a ton of credit, but with all of these crazy articles stating a win would put him in this class is asinine.  Now, I would very much state that he is highly overrated because of these statements.  For the same reason, people do not equate Terry Bradshaw with Montana, the same can be said about this comparison. I also don't think that Brady's three Super Bowl rings make him a better quarterback than Peyton Manning.  Much like Montana, Brady has had a great coach by his side, which makes things a little bit easier.  I would be happy with either, as I could make a case for either of them depending on which fan I am arguing with.  Big Ben is a good quarterback, but let us not get ahead of ourselves.  I also think this article is irrelevant after tonight because I don't think the Steelers win anyway.  Let me repeat, Big Ben has largely been underrated in the past and is a solid quarterback, but he is not a top quarterback because of them possibly winning tonight.

Gambler's Corner Roundup

It is time for the allthingpigskin Super Bowl prediction.  Although, I did go 3 for 3 in my first weekend of making picks, I can not promise you anything.  The Packers are giving 2.5 points this Sunday and despite the Steelers being more experienced in this role and usually coming up big in these games and Aaron Rodgers not coming up big in these games, I am going to put my money on the Green Bay Packers.  I feel strange doing it, but there are two main reasons.  The first, which I have mentioned in an earlier post, is that Maurkice Pouncey will be out against one of the best defenses in the league, which will essentially kill the Steelers ability to run.  Second the Steeler secondary will not be able to stick around with the Green Bay receivers, plain and simple.  I don't expect to see the Packers run more the ball on more than 12 downs.  The most running will be done by Aaron Rodgers, who will probably throw for about 265 yards and 2 touchdown but also run for another 45 yards and a score.  Those runs will be big ones most likely, too.  Roethlisberger does usually come up big and I think Polamalu is a top 5 player in the league, but the stars aren't aligning for me on this one.  Take the Packers giving the points in this one.

Peter Keating Gets It

In his latest Next Level column from ESPN the Magazine, Peter Keating nails it on the head when he talks about the exaggeration of mid year coaching changes.  This is something that I preach especially when it comes to the recent Cowboy head coaching change.  This is a good Cowboy team that regressed to the mean, which essentially states that they were the normal Cowboy team in the second half of the season and it wasn't any great coaching going on.  At any rate, it is a very good read that I recommend.

Troy Polamalu Wins Defensive Player of the Year?

Defensive Player of the year,
Troy Polamalu of the
Pittsburgh Steelers

I am conflicted over this, as much as I love this guy and realize how much he does for his team, I am not sure if I would give him the award this season.  He is definitely the most important difference maker on defense as I have never seen a team lose a guy on defense and their team plays as if they lost their starting quarterback.  In fact, I will go a step further as Ben Roethlisberger missed the first four games this year and they went 3-1 losing a tight game to Baltimore 17-14.  When Polamalu didn't play this year, they went 1-1 and in years past it was a lot worse.  There were a few games this year when he made game saving plays, which I have discussed in the past, especially at the biggest moments of the season.  The Steelers are back in the Super Bowl again.  He was one of the leaders in interceptions, even though, he spends a ton of time around the line of scrimmage to help stop the run or blitz off the edge to add pressure.  Is there more that he could have done though?  No, not really.  This guy is insanely good and deserves the award I was just messing around, nobody impacts a team on the defensive side of the ball like this guy does.  Case closed.