Wellness

[teganslaw]

The Kansas City Chiefs signed quarterback Terrelle Pryor and former Colts wide receiver Da"Rick Rogers. Pryor will have to compete for two others for the second place behind Alex Smith.

Since the Chiefs haven't had a wide receiver scoring a touchdown, signing Rogers makes sense. I'm thinking that this will be his last chance, though. Rogers is talented and has potential to be a rising star in the NFL. The reason he was cut by the Colts is because of a DUI charge and other off the field issues. If he can get his act together and stay out of trouble, he could add a lot to the Chiefs. They have given him a second chance, and I hope he doesn't waste it. He's too good a player for that.

[gardenman]

Terrelle Pryor is one of those low risk, high reward guys. The guy has tons of potential and all of the tools you want in a quarterback, but he just can't seem to use them properly. He's a good guy to take a shot at for a reclamation project though.With the right coaching and the right attitude he could become something special.

I'm pretty sure the Chiefs are hoping to luck into a wide receiver in free agency or the draft. The problem is the really good receivers likely won't be available for them. Andy would love to get Jeremy Maclin, but Maclin looks like he'll resign with the Eagles. The Cowboys are insisting they'll resign Dez Bryant no matter what it takes including using the franchise tag on him. Michael Crabtree might be available. Demaryius Thomas might be available. It's not a great group of wide receivers in free agency though. I have a suspicion Andy wishes he could go back a year and trade for DeSean Jackson.

[Spurt]

On 1/3/2015 gardenman said:

According to the Eagle's press release Howie Roseman will still "oversee" contracts and the salary cap, along with managing the medical staff and some other auxiliary positions. It sure sounds like a big demotion for him, but he also got a contract extension through 2020 so that's not so bad.

I've always been a fan of the coach having a big say in who he coaches. A coach who doesn't believe in a player will often work to diminish that player to prove that his evaluation of the guy is right, whether it is or not. When it's the coach who picked the guy then he's going to do his best to be sure the guy performs as well as possible to prove that it was a good pick.

Football coaches can be a bit weird. I had a neighbor who loved football and who played in and excelled in peewee football, then was a star on the freshman team playing both the offensive and defensive line. He was widely regarded as the best player on the freshman team. Everyone thought he'd be a star on the high school level, but the high school coach had an old grudge with the kid's dad from back when they went to school together and refused to put him on the field. The kid worked his tail off, practiced hard, the other players all felt he should be playing, but the coach kept him on the bench all the way through high school and never let him on the field for even one play. The coach was a local legend so he was able to get away with it, but it was a dumb move. After his senior homecoming game when every other kid on the team got on the field the kid finally had enough and walked off the team. The coach referred to him as "Quitter" whenever he saw him after that. I was truly surprised the kid didn't snap and kill the coach. The coach didn't want him on the team and by God he wouldn't play him.

Similar stuff happens even in the pros. You'll see a guy who spent years on the bench with one team suddenly play great on a new team. If a coach isn't invested in a player he's less likely to do his best to get the most out of the kid.

GARDENMAN----yep coaches are weird .......the story you shared sounds like what my older brother went through in high school. My brother was a pretty good player a RB. And the Assistant Coaches thought so, and even in games players would go to the head coach and urge him to play my brother. But no matter how hard my brother worked and even when he ran some great plays, the few times he got in, the coach would hardly play him and my brother sat on the bench. The reason he didn't get to start, was the guy that played was a cousin of the wrestler, Shawn Michaels, and Michaels and his wrestling gang would hang around the practices and the coach enjoyed mingling with them and attention the practices were getting from the local media because of it.....After enduring a couple seasons of this, my brother gave up football and decided to concentrate on track on field....

That's a great story about Vermeil getting penalized for being on the field, and all Madden got was a laugh out of it.

And great minds think alike, because I'm hoping that Jerrah's success goes to his head, and it will be interesting to see what they do with Dez and other free agents.....and yep I hope he overpays and gets cap strapped... opponents will eventually find a way to stop Murray, and the Cowboys defense will be on the field more and their defense will be exposed, so Jerry still has lots of holes to fill on that team....they aren't the juggernaut they are being portrayed to be....they still have a lot of holes to fill, and Romo is getting older, and has a bad back....that Oline is their saving grace right now---jump starts the running game and protects a not so mobile Romo....

[Spurt]

On 1/7/2015 gardenman said:

Did I imagine it or didn't the Giants' owners say the other day they were keeping the coaching staff intact? Today they fired the defensive coordinator and DB coach. I'm not sure what changed, but it's a pretty sudden flip.

The Redskins are talking about hiring Wade Philips as their new defensive coordinator which is bad news for Gruden. Wade Phillips always ends up being the interim head coach every place he goes as DC. He's a good defensive coordinator, but somehow within a year or two of his being hired, he's the interim head coach and the head coach is gone. Unfortunately for Wade he then follows the head coach out the door after finishing the season. It'll be interesting to see how Wade adjusts to the newer style offenses in the league. He'll face the Eagles twice a season and more teams are moving to a faster paced offense. A lot of teams are looking towards coaches with recent college experience who have faced such offenses there, but Wade is more old-school. We'll have to see how he can adjust.

The Saints have decided to keep Rob Ryan and try to give him better players. That's interesting. I'm pretty sure 99% of observers thought Rob was gone. I'm not sure what the Saints are hoping to gain by keeping him, but that'll make it interesting watching them this coming season. There definitely seemed to be more than a little tension between Rob and Sean Peyton during the season. The Saints don't have a ton of cap room and I'm pretty sure Brees would like a few more weapons on offense, so where they'll find those players for Rob will be interesting.

The Rob Ryan thing was a SHOCKER....I'd thought for sure he'd be gone....

That was indeed odd about the Giants and there defensive coaches being fired...And I think Odell Beckham JR saved their OC's job......andhe cured a lot of ills as a stop gap but the Giants still aren't a very good team.....

I'm not a fan of hiring Wade Phillips....he never holds a job for long...perhaps because he winds up as an interim coach so much .....BUT I am VERY PLEASED with our new GM Scot MCCloughan he was the architect for the 49ers and Personnel Exec for the Seahawks ...the only negative he did have a problem with alcohol addiction....he will report to Allen. A lot of folks were hoping that Allen's duties would be changed and for the team to get a REAL GM and personnel guy and it actually happened!!!!

[Spurt]

On 1/7/2015 Txblond said:

Hey SPURT - well, at least we agree on one thing - LOL. Maybe two things, I like the SA Spurs.

You know, they keep trying to make a big thing out of Chris Christies being a fan of the Cowboys & living in another state, but you live in TX & are a fan of the Redskins, so what's the big deal? It's really nobody's business who you root for in a ballgame, right?

Hey G-Man, what's your take on the above opinion - are you ticked off at Christie? I'll bet you are hoping the Cowboys win this Sun. - LOL.

Please, don't anybody jinx us!

GOOOOOOOOOO COWBOYS!!

Hey TXBLOND....see we actually agree on several things who would've thought...GO SPURS GO!!! Our Spurs need to make their free throws and STOP WITH ALL THE TURNOVERS!

I just don't understand all the negative on Christie cheering for a team outside the state he lives in....SHEESH!!!! I think you have to have a deeper reason when choosing a sports team.

[Txblond]

Please G-Man, don't say "GooooCowboys" - you are going to jinx us! Your paragraph about why you hope the Boys win the Super Bowl was hilarious. It seems the officials will be going out of their way to be sure the Cowboys are not getting away with anything. We had statistics showing the head official almost always ruled for the Packers. Why are they trying to penalize the Cowboys - we didn't make the wrong call - the Official did, so why take it out on us! How about a penalty for the Official instead?

Hi tegan - Yeah, hugging JJ was a little overboard - LOL.

Not looking forward to the Ice Bowl - the Cowboys have been practicing outside all week & yes, our weather here in Tx. has been rather frigid for us, especially when those North winds are blowing.

GOOOOOOOOOO COWBOYS!

[gardenman]

Txblond. I thought you'd be happy I was rooting for the Cowboys. Granted, I have an ulterior motive that benefits the Eagles, but I'm still rooting for the Cowboys.

Some interesting chatter coming out about the draft. I'd been assuming Marcus Mariota would be the first overall pick, but some draft experts are now predicting he'll drop pretty far (10-15 is possible and maybe farther) because he's being viewed as a system quarterback who would struggle in a conventional NFL offense. They think he'll look a bit lost at the combine and in individual workouts. If he starts dropping on draft day, then chances are Chip Kelly will try to find a way to go up and get him. Going from twenty to first overall is nearly impossible, but going from twenty to ten, twelve, fifteen is pretty manageable.

There's a wackiness that takes place as the draft nears where guys who were expected to be top picks get picked apart and their flaws magnified to a point where teams lose sight of how they played. That could already be happening with Mariota. Now if he has a great combine and good to great individual workouts he'll climb right back up to the top of the draft, but a struggle anywhere along the way and he might fall into Chip Kelly's pocket. Tracking Mariota will be a big deal for local draftniks between now and the draft.

Last year Johnny Manziel was expected to be the first overall pick (or among the first) by many, then he slid to twenty-second. We could see a similar slide by Mariota if teams aren't impressed by his combine and individual workouts and buy into the argument that he's just a system quarterback who won't be able to adapt to the pro game.

[Spurt]

On 1/9/2015 gardenman said:

Txblond. I thought you'd be happy I was rooting for the Cowboys. Granted, I have an ulterior motive that benefits the Eagles, but I'm still rooting for the Cowboys.

Some interesting chatter coming out about the draft. I'd been assuming Marcus Mariota would be the first overall pick, but some draft experts are now predicting he'll drop pretty far (10-15 is possible and maybe farther) because he's being viewed as a system quarterback who would struggle in a conventional NFL offense. They think he'll look a bit lost at the combine and in individual workouts. If he starts dropping on draft day, then chances are Chip Kelly will try to find a way to go up and get him. Going from twenty to first overall is nearly impossible, but going from twenty to ten, twelve, fifteen is pretty manageable.

There's a wackiness that takes place as the draft nears where guys who were expected to be top picks get picked apart and their flaws magnified to a point where teams lose sight of how they played. That could already be happening with Mariota. Now if he has a great combine and good to great individual workouts he'll climb right back up to the top of the draft, but a struggle anywhere along the way and he might fall into Chip Kelly's pocket. Tracking Mariota will be a big deal for local draftniks between now and the draft.

Last year Johnny Manziel was expected to be the first overall pick (or among the first) by many, then he slid to twenty-second. We could see a similar slide by Mariota if teams aren't impressed by his combine and individual workouts and buy into the argument that he's just a system quarterback who won't be able to adapt to the pro game.

I am hearing and reading the same thing about Mariota by the so called "experts" too...Mariota =SYSTEM QB.....especially with Robert and Manziel not seeming to pan out in the NFL.....Who knows Gardenman about what the Eagles might be able to accomplish, weird things have happened in the draft.... And as for young QB talent....keep your eye on Michigan I bet there will be tons of young recruits wanting to learn an NFL type system that Harbaugh is sure to employ.