Sports

[Spurt]

@gardenman

The team said Galette was just a short term plug in so now they will be trying even harder to fill his position in the draft!!!!  

I agree...... immature players with lots of money and too much time on their hands is indeed a very dangerous situation......pretty soon they will be hiring nannys for some of the players....PLUS, while some players are diligent about working out on their own to keep in shape, others let themselves go and are in not good shape when training camps start, and with limited practice time you can see the results.....and it also makes them more susceptible to injuries too from what I've read.........I think this CBA deal was approved, probably just to appease players that arent happy with the way the relations are going with NFL management and the Commish....Boy the coach's union must be very weak they dont seem to have any voice at all!!!  Sorry NFL players, but the NBA plays preseason games, plus an 82 game season and then the playoffs go on and on........so they play from October until June without much time off........The NFL plays 4 preseason game and 16 game season and gets a lot of time off yet they are the ones whinning about practice time....go figure....

[gardenman]

---

@teganslaw wrote:

Happy Easter to everyone! Yesterday got up to 81 and today will be 70. Beautiful weekend.

Reports have Hue Jackson favoring Myles Garrett over Trubisky. It might go that way; what was the point of signing Osweiler if the Browns are taking a quarterback in the first round? Unless their drafted QB would be a backup. I thought that Osweiler was going to be the Browns starter. I haven't read that it's official, but that would make sense. I don't see Osweiler being signed just to be a backup.

---

The Osweiler trade was an NBA type trade where a team with a lot of cap space took a player from another team to use up some of their cap space, but got a second round pick in the process. Cleveland had almost a hundred million dollars in cap space and by taking on Osweiler's contract Houston gained sixteen million in cash and ten million dollars in cap space. Houston lost their second round pick. Essentially Cleveland bought a second round pick for $16 million. They had the cap space to do it, so it wasn't a big deal for them. In fact, it helped them as they have to spend something like 95% of their cap dollars each year and they don't have any players really worthy of that kind of money.

The Browns immediately put a "For Sale" sign on Osweiler and made it clear he was available to anyone who was interested hoping they could get another draft pick or two for him down the road. They also made it pretty clear he wasn't in their plans. The coach said that as long as he was there he'd coach him, but there's no real enthusiasm for Osweiler that I've seen.

So that leaves the Browns with Cody Kessler, Kevin Hogan and Brock Osweiler. Not an especially intimidating bunch. Cody Kessler will likely be their starter, but in his eight starts he went 0-8 and sustained two concussions and one other injury. As a general rule you prefer your quarterback to be a bit sturdier than that. The Browns front office has made it clear they're going to keep swinging for a QB until they get a franchise QB.

Now they've shored up the offensive line and maybe that will help improve Kessler's durability. Maybe Osweiler wil show them enough in their meetings and pratices before the draft to convince them he could be what the Texans thought they were buying. We'll see what happens.

The overall consensus is that Myles Garrett is the best player in the draft. The only real question mark you hear about him is whether he truly loves football. Which can be a huge question mark for some teams. Teams want the guys who love the game and will do anything to keep playing. If you've got a guy who's playing for money or fame, they tend to move on to other things pretty quickly.

It's interesting contrasting Myles Garrett with the kid from Tennessee, Derek Barnett. Myles Garrett is a physical beast. His spider chart is amazing. He excels in everything and he's racked up 31 sacks in three years.

Derek Barnett's spider chart is kind of ordinary. He's not especially impressive as a physical specimen, but he plays incredibly hard and loves the game. He broke Reggie White's sack record at Tennessee with 33 sacks. The kid's a good football player who doesn't test especially well. 

There are those who will tell you that Myles Garrett's play should be better given his physical capabilities. There are those who look at Derek Barnett and wonder how he does it with his limitations. Of the two, I would probably prefer Derek Barnett as you know what you'll get from him every play. He's not a guy you'll have to fire up before the game. Myles Garrett could be the next JJ Watt or he could be the next Brian Bosworth who's out of the game after just a couple of years. (Bosworth did have a significant shoulder injury however.) If I'm spending a first overall pick on a guy, I want him for ten years or more and I want him to play hard every down. Garrett's a very, very good athlete, but  we'll have to see how good of a football player he is. Derek Barnett is a very good football player who's not such a great athlete. His lack of athleticism may hurt him in the NFL, but we'll have to see. Of the two, I'd prefer Derek Barnett. We can coach him to be stronger, faster, and more atheltic (to some extent) but we can't necessarily teach someone to love the game and play with passion. I'm not sure Myles Garrett loves the game and that's a big red flag for some teams.

[Spurt]

@gardenman

If Garrett gets upset over criticism tht Booger McFarland made about him, (he questioned Garrett's motor and heartfelt desire--Garrett was so upset he wouldnt do an interview with ESPN's Mike & Mike Show)....just wait until Garrett gets hired by an NFL team and he gets both the local and national media on his back, as well as fans in social media....he also sounds immature....Like you I'd take Barnett....he sounds like he loves the game, will study his playbook and film, and play beyond his abilties....a real football type.....

I'm surprised the Osweiler trade deal got approved by the NFL....it does sound the NBA trading and dumping players to get rid of salaries................. 

[gardenman]

If you judge players by their heart, Garrett's likely not the first overall pick. He'll get killed in Cleveland if he's got a few bad games. How will he respond? The pressure that comes with being the first overall pick is enormous. We'll see how he handles it.

[Drythe]

---

@gardenman wrote:

---

@Drythe wrote:

Just can't manage to get excited about the thought of Peppers to Carolina. 

---

Yeah, his age (37) is a concern. He's just a very short term patch who may not even make it out of camp. He played pretty well with the Packers the last few years, but you question his locker room presence as teams don't go out of their way to keep him even though he's productive. He started out in Carolina, went to the Bears, then the Packers and now back to Carolina. Despite him being a pro bowl pass rushing defensive end, I don't think any of those teams ever tagged him to keep him. They've all just let him go, and that doesn't generally happen with guys as good as Peppers unless there's a locker room issue with the guy. 

---

@gardenman

He truly started at Carolina as in UNC.  Not a fan of his.

[gardenman]

Pierre Garcon has now come out and said that all of the Redskins players loved Scott McCloughan and called him a "football guy."  If you read between the lines, you get the impression the players didn't like the non-football guys in the front office. That could signal a bit of dissension between the locker room and the executive offices.

Gruden's going to have his hands full this year with two new coordinators, a quarterback who may not be signed to a long term deal, a bunch of new players to integrate into the team, and a few knuckleheads getting themselves suspended. It's not the easiest way to start a new season. The Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants are all retaining their existing staffs and have less turnover and uncertainty at the QB slot. Gruden's going to be earning his pay this year.

It looks like the speedster wide receiver John Ross is pretty high on the Eagle's wish list. So far they've met with him at the combine, at his pro day, they've brought him in for a private workout, and for a private visit. It looks like he's the only guy they've invested that much time into so far. (At least that we know of.)

[Spurt]

@gardenman

What a shame........I had red that a long time ago and recently when the whole Scot M thing exploded----that the players loved Scot---while Redskin management folks said he came into the locker room after "having a few", which others said was completely FALSE!!!  But Scot got the last laugh because they are using his draft board........This was a situation where Snyder SHOULD HAVE gotten invovled (wouldve been the actual right time) and fired Bruce Allen....  This reminds me of when Snyder apologized to GM Charlie Casserly and told him I should have kept you and fired Norv Turner .....yep, should've would've could've........my team seems to ALWAYS make the WRONG decisions........ 

Redskins start their offseason program today---  Football will be here before we know it..........

Days until:

—Redskins rookie camp (5/12) 25
—Redskins OTAs start (5/24) 37
—Training camp starts (7/27) 101
—First Sunday of 2017 season (9/10) 146

BTW wonder how this whole lawsuit against Eli (and they even dragged the Giants into it) for selling  helmets and such as game worn memorabilia but it actually wasnt game worn as advertised....hhhmmmmmmmmm.... I wonder if Eli will be suspended, Giants fined or draft pick taken away---afterall it impacts the integrity of the NFL shield as Goodell has been known to say............Conduct policy says the following......

“Conduct by anyone in the league that is illegal, violent, dangerous, or irresponsible puts innocent victims at risk, damages the reputation of others in the game, and undercuts public respect and support for the NFL,” the Personal Conduct Policy broadly provides in one of its preliminary paragraphs.  “We must endeavor at all times to be people of high character; we must show respect for others inside and outside our workplace; and we must strive to conduct ourselves in ways that favorably reflect on ourselves, our teams, the communities we represent, and the NFL.”

The laundry list of prohibited acts appearing later in the policy includes the following: “Crimes of dishonesty such as blackmail, extortion, fraud, money laundering, or racketeering.”

[gardenman]

I hadn't really thought about suspensions as a result of it, but that could be interesting. The leaked emails certainly look damaging to Eli's case, but his legal team and that of the other defendants say it's taken out of context. I don't know. There should only be a certain number of Eli Manning worn game helmets available and the team should know how many and which ones they are. I'd be shocked if they didn't have a serial number, barcode, or something to positively identify each and every helmet. The fact that the Giants erased their emails depsite a no erasure policy is one of those, "Uh oh!" signs that usuallly means a team is trying to hide something.

I doubt that we'll see a resolution anytime soon as the league likes to be very thorough, but at some point we'll likely see a punishment of some sort handed down, or new guidelines established. The league is still investigating Ezekiel Elliot and that's been going on for almost a year now I believe.

With the team equipment manager involved and not just Eli, it could get kind of messy for the team. If Eli was going down to a local sporting goods store and buying a GIants helmet and trying to pass it off as one he'd worn in a game, he'd be in trouble, but by involving the equipment manager the whole team could be in trouble.

It'll be an interesting case to follow. It may really kill the sports collectible trade though if the cheating is shown to be widespread. I think one guy paid $5,000 for one of Eli's helmets? That's crazy money to spend on a collectible.

[gardenman]

There's lots of speculation now that the Browns will take Myles Garrett first overall then bundle their pick at twelve and additional picks to move up as high as two to also get their QB. Many of the teams in the top five are looking to move back, so there's a chance that could happen.

[Greeneyedlady21]

Former Patriot Aaron Hernandez found dead in his prison cell overnight. Suicide with a bed sheet. He attempted to block the door from the inside so it appears to be a definite suicide. How that happened in a maximum security prison...?

He was acquitted last Fri on the two murders, Jose Baez talked that he was getting involved in the appeal of his other murder conviction.

Very sad because of his young daughter, she is another innocent victim of his decisions. The whole tale, a man who seemingly had it all from all outward appearances. And made the decisions he made anyway. His life growing up, apparently he could never get past that for whatever reasons. A cautionary tale.