This whole week, I will be reviewing the biggest player or players drafted by every team by division. Let's get started with the North divisions! AFC North now, NFC North should be up later.
AFC North
Cleveland Browns Beau Bell, LB, UNLV I like the pick, and in my opinion, I don't know how this guy got skipped over to the 4th round, because I had him going in the late first-early second about two weeks ago, but definitely a steal by Cleveland, and he should immediately help out that defense that had some glaring holes last year. Grade: C+
Cincinnati Bengals Keith Rivers, LB, USC By far the best linebacker in the draft, and this guy will be a force that no RB will wanna go up against in 2008. Best move Cincy could have made at their position. Jerome Simpson, WR, Coastal Carolina Coming from a small school, it's hard to know what to expect out of thi guy, but I se big progression in his rookie year. Chad Johnson and TJ (SOMETHIN-ZADABER) look like they will be the starting wideouts, but Chad may make room for Simpson by whining and moaning. Grade: B-
Pittsburgh Steelers Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Illinois Wow, I wasn't expecting this, but I couldn't be happier. This was probably the smartest late-first round pick, and this guy is a beast. Second only to Darren McFadden, and not by much. Definitely a ROTY pre-season candidate. Limas Sweed, WR, Texas This may be the taller wideout Ben had asked for. 6-foot-5, and quite a physical player. His speed and agility, despite being that tall, are terrific, and I expect a good season outta this guy. Watch out for the Steelers. Grade: A-
Baltimore Ravens Joe Flacco, QB, Delaware My favorite QB in this class, Joe Flacco, ended up a 1st-rounder to the Ravens. I'm feeling that he's a Week 1 starter over Boller and Smith. This guy has great leadership ability, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he started the first game. Ray Rice, RB, Rutgers This guy is small and quick, and I would compare him to Maurice Jones-Drew out of Jacksonville, and I think he could have a similar rookie season impact. With McGahee and Rice, the Ravens have been building all off-season, and could make a real run at the AFC North division title. Grade: A
Thanks for reading! Check back in later or tomorrow for the NFC North report!
What if Matt Ryan were to slip past Atlanta at #3, and Kansas City ay #5? It seems that the majority of opinions say that Baltimore would #### him at #8.
What would this mean for the rest of the AFC North? The Bengals have Carson Palmer, the Browns Derek Anderson, and the Steelers Ben Roethlisberger. If all 4 teams were to have terrific QBs and great talent surrounding them, who could possibly win the division?
Take a look at each teams’ starting offense if the Ravens were to take Ryan.
Baltimore: QB: Matt Ryan RB: Willis McGahee WR: Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton TE: Todd Heap
Cincinnati: QB: Carson Palmer RB: Rudi Johnson WR: Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmandzadeh TE: Ben Utecht
Cleveland: QB: Derek Anderson RB: Jamal Lewis WR: Braylon Edwards, Donte’ Stallworth TE: Kellen Winslow
Pittsburgh: QB: Ben Roethlisberger RB: Willie Parker WR: Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes TE: Heath Miller
There is not distinct winner with these 4 lineups, so just to make things more fun and entertaining in the AFC North in 2008, I hope to hear these words coming from Goodell’s mouth by the end of the day:
“With the 8th pick of the 2008 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens select, Boston College QB, Matt Ryan.”
Uh-oh. Steeler fans have been blindsided by a very rare move called "The Good Cleveland Move". It is very seldom seen, but has struck 4 times just today and yesterday. This is really scary. I mean, APOCALYPSE scary.
The Cleveland Browns re-signed QB Derek Anderson just 10 hours after the RFA period started. This guys is incredible.
That was scare #1
The Browns also extended Jamal Lewis's contract, keeping him as a Brown for a while. That's one more thign for the Steelers defense to worry about.
That's scare #2
The Cleveland Browns, contrary to what I, and other FOX Sports NFL Writers reported, have landed DT Shaun Rogers from the Detroit Lions.
That was scare #3
This is by far the scariest move yet. If you have children, please cover thier eyes and ears. The Cleveland Browns... SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY... acquired Donte Stallworth from the Patriots.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
-Mike Greensp...
There's someone over there. HEY! Who are you? What is that on your face? It's... no it can't be!
IT'S A COMPETITIVE CLEVELAND BROWN! AND HE'S WEARING THE DAWG MASK! SOMEONE SAVE ME!
Let's start with the early morning story, and move into the late one.
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns made thier best move in recent franchise history around 10:00 EST this morning, by resigning surprise star QB, Derek Anderson to a multi-year deal.
The total amount of years and money on the contract was not released in the Browns' report today, but reports say that it contains a 3-year, $21 million number, with a $6.5 million signing bonus. Nothing has been confirmed, however.
Congrats to the Browns on openign this year's Restricted Free Agent period with a good move... for a change.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles have landed (LOL!) Pro Bowl Safety, Asante Samuel from the Patriots.
This means anything can happen in the RFA period. In case, you don't recall, Samuel was on that same Patriots team that won Super Bowl XXXIX (39) vs. the Eagles.
Asante Samuel didn't say much. He did make short statment, however.
"I just want a chance to be able to win and get back to the Super Bowl and that's why I picked the Philadelphia Eagles," Samuel stated in a press conference earlier today. "I came here with an open mind. Everybody treated me like I belong here, like I'm wanted."
Great move, and the Eagles got a great player. One problem I have with the Eagles right now is this. The Eagles just cut their Pro Bowl DE, Jevon Kearse for some reason. Pickign up Asante Samuel pretty much cancels that out. They better get something in the draft to jump-start that defense, because Kearse was a good leader, and those are the hardest to replace in the huddle.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints have come to terms with the New York Jets to trade Jets LB Jonathan Vilma for a conditional draft pick, depending on Vilma's playing time, reports Jay Glazer.
This is a very good move, and by next season, I can gurantee that the Saints are'nt gonna need a 1st-round draft pick. This season is going to be a complete domination in the NFC South by New Orleans. Nobody stands a chance.
What does this do to the Saints' first-round draft pick this year? I'm not sure, but they definitely want to buff up that defense. The offense has the potential to be #1 in the league, the defense, however, was one of the NFL's worst.
Personally, Aqib Talib, CB from Kansas is who I have them taking right now. He had a great combine workout, and impressed the scouts easily. He should drop no lower than the Top 15, which is where the Saints are conveniently positioned right now. Good things are to come from this deal.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals got one of th, if not the hottest DLineman on the market today. The former Detroit Lion, DT Shaun Rogers, was traded to Cincy today.
Yet again, another good move. My fingers are starting to erase the letters "G-O-O-D M-O-V-E" from my keyobard from typing it some many times today. This guy is going to be an immediate help to that 21st ranked run defense form last year.
This may be the spark I've been expecting to help the Bengals resurge. Do I think that it eventually will be? No. He's had one of the rockiest careers that I have witnessed, being a Lions supporter (I can't say that I'm a proud Lions supporter anymore) I don't think that this is the move that makes everything fall into place for Cincy. You need better than an overweight dopehead to get your team to the playoffs. Good luck, Cincinnati, good luck. (chuckle)
Buffalo Bills
The Bills struck gold today by convincing the Giants' LB, Kawkia Mitchell to sing with them. the move is probably to fix the apparent gap in the defense that had been there all season after Takeo Spikes left the team last summer.
Way to go, Buffalo! This is one of the better moves of the day, and it means that Buffalo might just be able to get above .500 next year, after goign 7-9 for the past two seasons, and missing the playoffs. We'll see what they do with their draft pick and what happens next season. Personally, I am leaning towards something like
Buffalo deserves more Monday Night Games. That one vs. Dallas early in the year was the best game on the regular season. No question. Give them more primtime games! Only Mondays, though. The 56-10 blowout vs. the Patriots on Sunday Night was just plain boring.
New York Jets
The Jets landed DT Kris Jenkins from the Carolina Panthers today. Jeez! There are so many good moves going on, I'm having trouble keeping up with them.
The Jets defense finished way worse than it was in their 9-7 season from a year ago,a nd they need some serious help. Mangini's system didn't quite seem to function the same in Jonathan Vilma's mind as easily as Herm Edwards's defense.
What's even better for the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS is that they only had to give up their 3rd and 5th round draft picks, Alex Marvez reports. HAHAHA! You tell me who got the better end of that deal!
And my Off-Season Move of the Week is...
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars have got him. They landed the hottest wideout on the market, Jerry Porter. Congrats to them. This is going to make them that much more of a fore for the Colts to have to contend with in the AFC South next season.
David Garrard will be red-hot next year, with weapons like Maurice Jones-Drew, Fred Taylor, Ernest Wilford, and now, Jerry Porter. I will personally ridicule him if he doens't take this team to at least a wild card appearence. I don't think there's any way they miss the playoffs, after handling teams like they did this year (Can you feel my humble-ness?LOL!) Jags will be the dark horse for sure next year, watch out for them.
Thanks for reading this summary of the first day of the NFL Off-Season Tasks! Keep checking!
Early on Saturday morning, the Cleveland Browns found their man. Just one day after firing defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham, the Browns have a new man at the helm of the defense.
Mel Tucker, Ohio native, was hired earlier today to take over the defense.
His previous jobs have been co-defensive coordinator for Ohio State, as well as DB's coach for the Browns for over 3 years now. He has also coached at LSU and Miami University (Ohio)
Tucker turned 36 years old last week, and has a long career ahead of him if he can do the job the Browns hope he can.
A statement from head Caoch Romeo Crennel was as follows:
"We are excited to have Mel as our defensive coordinator. He has a football plan, a life plan, coaches the fundamentals and relates well with the players. I believe he will be successful in this new role."
Tucker will have his work cut out for him. The Browns have ranked near last place of almost all defensive categories for the past few seasons.
A side note to pass along: Rod Chudzinski, Offensive Coordinator will also be returning next season.
Tucker has some weapons to use for his defense. Safties Brodney Poole and Sean Jones had terrific years, along with up-and-coming cornerbacks, Brandon McDonald and Eric Wright.
"I would like to thank Randy Lerner, Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel for the opportunity to be the defensive coordinator for my hometown team," Tucker said in a statement issued from the Cleveland Browns this morning. "I'm looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead and I'm confident with hard work we can improve our defense. We have a great group of players on this team and my familiarity with them will be an asset."
This guy seems like the kind of guy you want coaching your defense. We'll see how well he can do when the Browns play again in the Fall.
I'd like to thank clevelandbrowns.com for giving me the information needed for me to right this blog.
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I am Mike Greenspire and I am a sports blogger for FOX Sports and I love the NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, and NASCAR! I was born and raised in the city of Pittsburgh, PA, so naturally I am a die-hard fan of the Pens, Buccos, and Steelers. Since Pittsburgh basketball is long gone, my favorite team in the NBA is the Orlando Magic. Please leave a comment on my blog, I love feedback. My blog is fun, and I enjoy writing it, and I hope that you will enjoy reading it! Thanks!
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