He’s A Winner

This is an absolute must-read by Greg Cosell so I’m trying to post this in as many places as I can. Here’s the link:

http://nflfilms.nfl.com/2012/05/30/cosell-talks-hes-a-winner/

Best Single Season Since The Merger (WR)

As some of you may recall, I started this project last summer, when I attempted to uncover the single greatest season for a running back. This time around I’m going to tackle the wide receivers (figuratively, of course, as I doubt I’m physically capable of actually tackling any of the individuals that will be mentioned in this post). I haven’t ran the numbers yet, but my money is on one of Jerry Rice’s seasons, because he’s Jerry Rice, and I don’t really need a reason other than that. Who knows though, maybe I’ll be surprised.

The first thing I did was set some minimum standards:

• I only looked at 1970 or later, because the NFL/AFL merger happened that year and it served as a nice cut-off.
• The receiver had to play in at least 10 games, with a couple of exceptions made for Dwight Clark and Wes Chandler in the 1982 season, because of the lockout that year.
• The receiver had to have a minimum of 2.75 receptions per game. This sounds like a really low number, but if I had put it higher, 1982 would have been representing the seasons from the longest ago. That’s 12 years of football that would have been excluded. I think this number actually just illustrates how much the game has evolved since the 1970′s, so I’m okay with it being that low.
• For those that are curious, I will include a list of the excluded receivers at the end of this post, that would have otherwise been considered.

Friday 5: 2012 NFL Draft

It’s after midnight so it’s technically Friday, so I’m calling this a Friday 5. It’s going to be the same as we’ve done in years past. The five best picks of the first round, the five worst picks of the first round, and the five best remaining players after the first round.

Check it out after the jump, and be sure to vote in the poll at the bottom.

2012 NFL Draft Live Blog (Day 1)

Here we go.

1. Indianapolis Colts – Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford

Let the Luck Era begin.

2. Washington Redskins – Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor

No surprises so far…

3. Cleveland Browns – Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama

I’m still waiting for a big surprise to happen.

4. Minnesota Vikings – Matt Kalil, OT, USC

Again, not a surprise.

2012 NFL Mock Draft – Last Minute (04/26)

Hurray for last-minute mock drafts! The actual draft starts in less than 40 minutes. To help pass some of those final minutes, check out my final mock draft. I’m not very happy with how it turned out, but this is how the chips fell when I went through and did it.

Chasing Brett Favre and Dan Marino

Peyton Manning ranks third all-time in passes completed, passing touchdowns, and passing yards, with Brett Favre ranking first in all three, and Dan Marino second. Favre and Marino also rank first and second, respectively, in passes attempted, with John Elway third and Manning fourth.

I’m going to take a look at each of these four statistical categories and see what exactly it will take for Manning to catch Favre and Marino. I’m going to ignore Elway’s passing attempts, because he’s only 40 ahead of Manning, which could easily be accomplished in the first game of the 2012 season, and would be surprising if it didn’t happen during the second game.

Tebow to the Jets

ESPN has reported that Tim Tebow (plus a seventh round pick) has been traded to the Jets for a fourth and sixth rounder. As I mentioned in my mock draft, this was a trade that was expected to happen, it seemed to just be a matter of time before the details were hashed out.

The fun part about this is that my two least favorite quarterbacks are now in the same division together, and in that same division, the Bills have been putting together one of the best defensive lines in the league. I might write more on this later, but figured I would just put this up in the meantime.

2012 NFL Mock Draft I (03/21)

I realize that normally by this time, I have over 15 mock drafts up, but considering I hadn’t posted anything at all for about eight months until my Field of 68 Prediction (and it’s review) I think it’s forgivable that my first 2012 mock draft isn’t being posted until about a month before the draft itself. I also realize that I’m probably going to be putting up a second one soon because it sounds like that a trade is going to go through in the near future with the Broncos getting a draft pick for Tim Tebow.

Consequently, in an attempt to avoid having my mock draft becoming worthless shortly after I post it, this mock draft is only going to be three rounds. Obviously with the compensatory picks expected to be announced next week after the owners’ meeting (March 26-28) and the fact that there are still some free agents to be signed -I just read that the Broncos plan to sign (or at least meet with) Jeff Saturday, Brandon Stokley and Jacob Tamme- I may be putting up my next mock draft sooner rather than later anyhow.

Either way, let’s get down to it. The mock draft itself is after the jump.

Best RB Single Season Performance

Today, just like most days, I was perusing random football statistics. I came across something (I don’t even remember what it was now) and started wondering if Reggie White’s 1987 season was the best season for a defensive end of all-time. Then I wondered if 1987 harbored both the greatest season by a defensive end of all-time and the greatest season by a wide receiver, with Jerry Rice. Then I started to ponder if it was possible to pin down the greatest single season for each position.

For whatever reason, I started looking at running backs first. This was either a good idea or a bad idea depending on how you want to look at it, because there have been several incredible seasons by running backs that could be argued as the single greatest ever. I started by putting together a list, including all of the 2,000-yard rushing seasons, the top five rushing TDs in a season, top five all-purpose TDs in a season, and top ten yards from scrimmage in a season.

Barry Sanders, my favorite running back of all-time

There was obviously some overlap in these groups, so I conveniently ended up with a list of 20 seasons.

(Listed in chronological order after the jump.)

Draft Notes

You didn’t think we’d get all the way through the NFL Draft without a post, did you? I did. But we didn’t, so here it is. My Dad is a big draft fan (I had to get it from somewhere) but this year he hasn’t been able to do his normal draftnik stuff because of an Avenged Sevenfold concert and the circus. I’m not kidding and yes, his job is cooler than yours. Anyway, he asked me yesterday if I would send him some thoughts on the draft so he’d have some for tonight. The following is the email I sent him. Fair warning, we’re both Rams fans so that gets a little more coverage. Also, anyone who picks after the Rams also gets jobbed since I really don’t care what they do. It’s not the best draft post, but it will do. Also, I did not proofread this because I don’t like doing that.