Sports

[gardenman]

@Spurt

I wish you guys luck with Jonathan Allen. Those shoulders scared a lot of teams away from him. I think a lot of GM's flashed back to Brian Bosworth when they heard about the shoulders. It might all just be a false alarm, but it could also shorten his career. You got a bargain if he can play at a high level for five to ten years.

[gardenman]

Well, Jay Cutler is now on the number two broadcast team at Fox. That's interesting. Given his recent nude photos posted by his wife I kind of thought he wouldn't get the job, but I guess the controversy may have actually helped him. It's a strange world sometimes. Cutler is also saying his move to the broadcast booth is permanent. 

Myles Garrett has said he'll sack Ben Roethlisberger as his first NFL sack on September 10th. That's gotten the attention of the Steelers' offensive line. I'm not sure I'd do anything to motivate those guys more than they already are, but hey, Myles Garrett will get to see exactly how good they are on September 10th and we'll get some idea of how he'll fare in the league then also. It'll be an interesting matchup to watch. Garrett didn't fare all that well against top notch offensive linemen in college and the best guys he faced in college won't be as good as that Steeler line. He may be eating a bit of crow come September 11th, or maybe he'll be right and get a sack or two against them. It'll be fun to watch.

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

Well, Jay Cutler is now on the number two broadcast team at Fox. That's interesting. Given his recent nude photos posted by his wife I kind of thought he wouldn't get the job, but I guess the controversy may have actually helped him. It's a strange world sometimes. Cutler is also saying his move to the broadcast booth is permanent. 

Myles Garrett has said he'll sack Ben Roethlisberger as his first NFL sack on September 10th. That's gotten the attention of the Steelers' offensive line. I'm not sure I'd do anything to motivate those guys more than they already are, but hey, Myles Garrett will get to see exactly how good they are on September 10th and we'll get some idea of how he'll fare in the league then also. It'll be an interesting matchup to watch. Garrett didn't fare all that well against top notch offensive linemen in college and the best guys he faced in college won't be as good as that Steeler line. He may be eating a bit of crow come September 11th, or maybe he'll be right and get a sack or two against them. It'll be fun to watch.

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@gardenman

Who would've thought Fox Sports would sink that low. Well all I can say is I'll get my mute button ready if Jay does the games that I'm watching....

Myles Garrett is just an arrogant rookie idiot that will get his come-uppance ....he'll find out the NFL is totally different than his college competition---and we won't be getting a warm welcome from the NFL big boys ...should be fun to watch 

[gardenman]

Myles Garrett has always been bigger, stornger, faster than the guys he's played against. That ends now. When he's faced top level SEC competition his numbers have been average. His ego is likely to get rather badly bruised in the NFL.

Derek Barnett on the other hand has excelled against top level competition and is seldom the biggest, strongest, fastest guy on the field. Watching the careers of those two will be quite interesting.

[teganslaw]

Jay Cutlers' first broadcast will be a preseason game: Tennessee and Chicago. Sometimes Bears' games are televised in our area. I hope it is because I really want to see how Jay Cutler does as an analyst. He might do better than predicted.

Garrett can talk all he wants, but he'll soon get a rude awakening in the NFL, especially with the Steelers. The Colts always get a rude awakening with that team, even after all these years.

The Colts are cleaning house. They released several scouts, one of them Jerry Ray, who was in line for GM before Ballard was hired. So i guess this is common with teams after the draft.

SPURT: unfortunately, I can't get that evening off to see Cousins. Maybe someone else will ask him about his contract.  I'm sure that our local news will have an update on how the evening went.

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

Jay Cutlers' first broadcast will be a preseason game: Tennessee and Chicago. Sometimes Bears' games are televised in our area. I hope it is because I really want to see how Jay Cutler does as an analyst. He might do better than predicted.

Garrett can talk all he wants, but he'll soon get a rude awakening in the NFL, especially with the Steelers. The Colts always get a rude awakening with that team, even after all these years.

The Colts are cleaning house. They released several scouts, one of them Jerry Ray, who was in line for GM before Ballard was hired. So i guess this is common with teams after the draft.

SPURT: unfortunately, I can't get that evening off to see Cousins. Maybe someone else will ask him about his contract.  I'm sure that our local news will have an update on how the evening went.

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@teganslaw

Oh I was just teasing about you getting time off from work to go to the event to deliver Cousins that message from me that would be too much to ask of you, and I wouldnt want you to have the embarrassment of you being affiliated with my dysfunctional team ......Besides if he wanted to sign a long term deal who would his agent contact...The Redskins are now undecided as to what to do about the GM position---they might just leave it as is and report it to the league as a position they will not refill and go with the heiarchy they used in the draft....Some speculate they may promote from within whether it be their Director Of College Scouting who ended up doing a lot of the work this year, OR  perhaps Doug Williams (I dont know about Doug he was the one that urged Joe Gibbs to draft Jason Campbell but that didnt work out very well....how good of an evaluator is he??? Currently he is employed in the front office as part of the personnel executive team...........STAY TUNED!

[gardenman]

@teganslaw

This is the time of year when the front offices of teams get purged. The personnel decisions are largely done. Rosters are pretty much filled out. There are a couple of months before the scouts need to hit the road again, so a lot of them get fired in this time period.

The life of a scout is not a lot of fun. They typically start visting college campuses when those first practices start in late July or early August, making contact with coaches and assistant coaches, watching whatever practices they can, and reviewing reports on the kids they're seeing from the high school level on. They start looking for kids who flash in practice and look bigger, faster, stronger than the rest.  They'll get whatever feedback they can from the coaches, trainers, and other scouts. Each day they're on the road to a different school and a different set of coaches and players. Then when the football season starts, they're watching games live, watching games on tape, still visiting campuses, getting background information on players who stand out to try and find out what kind of person they are in addition to what kind of player they are.

Then they're constantly filing reports back to the team that's employing them on what they're seeing and hearing. When the college season finallly ends they head back to their team's offices and fill in the GM and various coaches on what they've learned. A file is created for each potentially draftable player. Then the combine and college pro days come along and they have to attend those to update the information they've collected all year. They're back on the road for the spring practices then finally the draft and free agency roll around and all that work done over the previous nine months comes into play. Then you get fired to be replaced by someone else at the start of the next college season.

It's an entry level job into the NFL for player personnel executives, but the majority of those in the job never advance to a higher level. They might last a year or two, then they're gone to be replaced by another aspiring newcomer. It's not a fun life, but if you love football and want to eventually become a GM or personnel guy, it's a necessary first step in the process. There's just no job security. Teams don't necessarily want to pay a guy to sit around and do nothing most of May, June and July.

Some teams will keep their scouts busy during that time going over reports from other scouts and studying film on teams they didn't watch as part of their job to see how they view those players compared to the scouts who originally covered them, but quite a few teams just cut the scouts loose to replace them for the next year. There may be a guy or two they value highly who they'll keep around, but being an NFL scout is not an easy job with lots of job security. For probably six or seven months of the year you're living out of a hotel and on the road. In the few months you're back at the team facilities you're being questioned about everything you've seen and heard and often disagreed with. You're typically the guy/gal who knows the most and is listened to the least.

A lot of the kids drafted are now learning how different life in the NFL is. The Chiefs new quarterback of the future, Patrick Mahomes is already a bit intimidated by the Chief's playbook and is finiding it a lot more complicated than he thought it would be. Andy Reid used to say it takes three years for a quarterback to fully grasp his offense. Mahomes is starting to figure that out now.

Three of the NFC East teams spent their first round picks on defensive linemen and I suspect those three guys will have a quiet competititon among themselves to prove which is the best. The Eagles took Derek Barnett, the Redskins Jonathan Allen, and the Cowboys took Taco Charlton. Of those three, Taco Charlton may be the most physically gifted of the three, but it's said he doesn't always play with much energy. It'll be interesting to see if the Cowboy coaching staff can motivate him more than Jim Harbaugh did at Michigan. Harbaugh's pretty good at firing guys up and if he couldn't keep Taco playing at a high level getting him to use his abilities to their fullest at the NFL level may be a challenge for the Cowboys.

Jonathan Allen is a beast, but he's got to stay healthy. Bad shoulders on a defensive player are a bad thing. You use your shoulders on every play and they take a pounding. If arthritic shoulders flare up then you've got to rest them until they calm down and that means no upper body weight training which means he'll lose strength and muscle mass that he'll need. It's not uncommon for a defensive lineman or linebacker with no shoulder issues to not be able to lift his arms over his head for a few days after a game due to the pounding his shoulders took. When you come in already with bad shoulders that period could be extended. He's likley to keep the trainers busy keeping his shoulders functional.

Derek Barnett's more of an effort guy than a physical specimen, but he works hard every play. Can his effort and technique overcome his physical shortcomings? Watching those three over the course of the season will be pretty interesting. They play very similar teams so we'll get a pretty good feel for which is truly best of the three. Each will likely be reminded of their competition by their coaches, trainers, and teammates to help fuel their fire.

[Spurt]

Well  Jerrah better get busy renting out his "palace" for different events because he's gonna need to pay out some BIG BUCKS to keep the Cowboy's excellent O line in tact.........And what Martin is saying sounds very similar to what Redskins Kirk Cousins said.....and I hope the negotiations are as smooth as Kirk's...

Getting guard Zack Martin signed to a long-term contract extension is one of their biggest goals of the off-season. The team has already picked up the fifth-year option on the former 2014 first-round pick.But getting a deal done as smoothly as they did previously with T Tyron Smith and C Travis Frederick might no be in the offing. Martin doesn’t appear interested in giving the Cowboys a hometown discount with a friendly deal and doesn’t plan to get involved in the negotiations on a personal basis. “I love being a Cowboy,” Martin said. “But I will let my agents handle it. They will let me know when it’s time to do something.”

Look for Martin’s deal to pass that of Cleveland Browns guard Kevin Zeitler, the current highest paid guard in the league following a five-year, $60 million deal to come over from the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency. It averages $12 million annually and includes $31.5 million in guaranteed money. When asked about a hometown discount, Martin said, “I don’t know about that.” Martin will not let the contract situation be a distraction. “I’m focused on winning games,” Martin said. “Everything will take care of itself.”  (isnt that what they all say..........)

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/cowboys-corner-blog/article149263074.html#sto...

[Spurt]

Nice of new Eagle's WR Torrey Smith to pay the adoption fees for 46 dogs at a Baltimore Shelter...........A good story to read for a change............

Torrey and his wife were at Pawject Runway, an event to raise money and awareness for Baltimore's homeless, neglected, and abused animals when Torrey took the microphone. He told the crowd that they wanted to make sure every cat and dog at the event had an adoption application by the end of the night and that they would pay for it.

Drew Rosenhaus, Torrey's agent, matched the donation to BARCS. 

[gardenman]

Everything you hear about Torrey Smith is positive. He's a great guy off the field and does lots of stuff for the community. The only real question is can he still play as an NFL receiver at a high level after two down years in San Fran.

The Cowboys will likely have to sacrifice a few more valuable players down the road as they just won't have the cap room to keep them. I think Witten's new deal pays him until he's close to qualifying for AARP. They keep adding more and more money to the back end of contracts and that's not going to work forever. When Dak and Zeke are ready for new deals the Cowboys will likely have to find an extra $60 million or so a year to keep them.