Sports

[Spurt]

Washington has signed half of their 8 draft picks:

These players signed their rookie deals on Friday:

DB Christian Holmes

QB Sam Howell,

OT Chris Paul

TE Cole Turner 

Chase Young believes he will be ready to go Week One, also Chase Young's jersey made the top 50 in merchandise sales....Except for TE George Kittle the rest of the top 10 in sales were QB's not surprisingly----Gee Dak is just  #6....tsk tsk......(but the Cowboys did have 5 players in the top 50)

11. Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens

12. T.J. Watt, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers  

13. CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys

14. Aaron Donald, DT, Los Angeles Rams

15. Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns

16. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys

17. Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

18. DK Metcalf, WR, Seattle Seahawks

19. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

20. Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams

21. Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans

22. Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

23. Nick Bosa, DE, San Francisco 49ers

24. Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals

25. Josh Jacobs, RB, Las Vegas Raiders

26. Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks

27. Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints

28. Micah Parsons, LB, Dallas Cowboys

29. Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams

30. Darren Waller, TE, Las Vegas Raiders

31. Baker Mayfield, QB, Cleveland Browns

32. Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars

33. Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers

34. Rob Gronkowski, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

35. Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles

36. DeVonta Smith, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

37. Stefon Diggs, WR, Buffalo Bills

38. Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

39. Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Miami Dolphins

40. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts

41. Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants

42. Chase Young, DE, Washington Commanders

43. Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers

44. Trey Lance, QB, San Francisco 49ers

45. Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers

46. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers

47. Amari Cooper, WR, Dallas Cowboys

48. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

49. Derek Carr, QB, Las Vegas Raiders

50. Zach Wilson, QB, New York Jets

And Washington is getting their marching band back together with a brand new fight song....

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

Josh Boeke has a Wentz post today on Twitter where he complains that: "Carson Wentz had a negative EPA in weeks 1-5 and 16-18 where the Colts went 2-6. From weeks 6-15 when the Colts were 7-2 and had the best scoring offense in the NFL, Wentz was a top-8 QB. You just can't function as a franchise with that level of QB volatility."

Let's take a deeper look at that, shall we? Carson Wentz broke his foot in late July/early August and had surgery in August and was expected to miss 5-12 weeks. He didn't miss a single game. He was there for the opener. Who were these pushover teams in weeks 1-5 that Carson failed to beat? The Seahawks, Rams, Titans, and Ravens. He did beat Miami. And the Ravens game went to overtime before it was decided. Heck, any QB playing on one surgically repaired foot, way ahead of schedule with limited practice should have beaten those teams. Uh, no. Losing to four good teams when you've missed nearly all of training camp and are playing on one healthy foot doesn't make you a bad QB.

On to the winning streak where Wentz was a top-8 QB. The Colts beat Houston 31-3, Niners 30-18, lost to Tennessee in overtime 34-31, beat the Jets 45-30, beat the Jags 23-17, beat the Bills 41-15 (Wow!), lost to Tampa 38-31, beat Houston 31-0, beat New England 27-17, and beat Arizona 22-16. In that ten-game stretch, Wentz averaged 31.2 points per game. And there were some very good teams in that stretch of games.

What happened in the last two games? The Colts lost to Las Vegas on January second, but Wentz had tested positive for Covid on December 28th and couldn't practice all week. And the Raiders are a playoff team. And the at Jacksonville game is one the Colts just haven't won in six years. 

Now, if you're arguing that a guy who could have/maybe should have been out for 12 weeks after foot surgery and came back sooner than expected should have been able to beat four of the better teams in the league in Seattle, Baltimore, the Rams, and the Titans after missing most of training camp and being limited in practice, then it's not a great argument. 

A healthy Carson Wentz played in ten games, won eight, lost two, with one loss being an overtime loss to the Titans and the other loss being to Tampa where he still scored 31 points. 

A ten-game streak of playing at a very high level when healthy and then not playing as well when injured and unable to practice is the norm. There's a reason players practice. It's to sharpen their skills. When you can't practice with a broken foot, in a new offense, with new players around you, and you go 1-4 as a result, it's not to be unexpected. In the next ten games when healthy you go 8-2 and include wins over Buffalo, the Niners, Patriots, and Cards, it's more representative of who you are. 

The Commanders have a good QB in Wentz. Arguably, the best they've had in recent memory. When healthy, Wentz is as good as any QB in the league not named Brady or Rodgers. When he's injured and unable to practice, or limited in practice, things slip a bit. People focus too much on the bad and ignore the good with Wentz. He's a good QB. I'd prefer it if he wasn't in Washington. He's going to be scary.

[teganslaw]

I expected Matthew Stafford jersey sales to be higher since he led the Rams to the Super Bowl. 

Spurt, you said that your cat Figgy's team is the Bengals. Wasn't Figgy a Panthers fan a few years ago? She must have changed. My cat, Simone, doesn't care about football. Her idea of sports is chasing her toys around the house. 

The falcons in the local nest seem to like Matt Ryan, though.  Their babies are growing fast. 

[Txblond]

About the Cowboys G Man & Spurt - Dream On,  Dream On!! We got an A in the draft.  That ain't too shabby.  We shall see.!

I love to hear your Cowboy rants !!.

[Spurt]

@teganslaw

Figgy has always been Bengal fan--i even have her Bengals collar
But my other cat Puddy cat is the Panther fan she even has a Sir Purr mascot toy. Puddy cat is my avatar they are both Tuxedo cats

[Spurt]

---

@Txblond wrote:

About the Cowboys G Man & Spurt - Dream On,  Dream On!! We got an A in the draft.  That ain't too shabby.  We shall see.!

I love to hear your Cowboy rants !!.

---

@Txblond 

Who gave them an A ..i trust @gardenman analysis more. Sometimes draft picks don't pan out. What's the saying don't count your chickens before they hatch.  Our city gives more of an unbiased view of the Cowboys 

..here's some interesting news Papa John's former CEO said Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder tried to have him start the ball rolling to get Roger Goodell fired which he refused to do. Snyder called Goodell a drunk and other owners tried to force Jerry  Jones to sell but they backed off.

Now Mark Davis is being accused of harrassment

@gardenman @teganslaw 

I am adding that book THE PLAYMAKERS by Mike Florio to my summer reading list.

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

It's amazing how they go out of their way with the Wentz bashing. Thanks for the info I trust former teammates and coaches more than

 media moguls

[Txblond]

Spurt -  it should have been A-, but still in A range.  It was the same poll that gave the Eagles an A.  I'm sure you would rather believe Garden man more, since  we are competitors. Lol.

[gardenman]

The reality is that no one knows how good or bad a draft was until three or four years later. Some look great at the time, then look horrible later and vice versa.  As long as the fans are happy now, teams have won the draft. Teams can sell tickets, jerseys, and whatnot as long as the fans are happy. 

The Patriots had an interesting draft that doesn't look great now, but who knows? In three years we might look at it as a great draft. You just never know.

[Txblond]

Garden man - Quite true!