As I page through the new NFL preview mags and the many, many NFL websites I can’t help but feel something special in the air this year. Most of the time I’ve said this in all previous years, but this year seems different and the excitement is almost to a boiling point within me. The stories and the drama that will make up this years NFL season will be like a super reality series that will come to a volcanic climax on Super Bowl Sunday eight months from now. But when the season unfolds on September 6th in Indianapolis when the Saints take on the Colts we as the typical football fan will be in utter bliss. This year more than ever will be some of the most interesting and intriguing plots and sub-plots the NFL and their respective fans will have ever seen. Every team except Oakland, who should be picking in the top five of the 2008 NFL Draft, will have an appealing story line. And even they have an interesting plot going into the ’07 season.
One of the more interesting, actually probably the most fascinating stories that will be followed this year will be the play of the New England Patriots. With the huge free agent signings of Adalius Thomas and Donte Stallworth along with the subsequent trade for Wes Welker that cost the Pats 2007 2nd and 7th round draft choices. Not to mention the Pats only having one pick on the first day of the draft that landed them Brandon Meriweather, the troubled safety from the U. And easily one of the most immense stories of the past few years was the gigantic draft day deal that sent Randy Moss to the Patriots for a 4th round pick. This consequently could be the most important and the most closely watched stories of the entire year. How could you not be completely fascinated with the New England Patriots this year? This story line will yield how Bill Belichick can rope in the wild and ego eccentric Moss, who could quite be the most talented wide out to ever put on the pads, but not necessarily the hardest working. Most non-Moss fans will say that the Pats sold their soul for another run at the Super Bowl and that Moss is going to be Moss no matter where he goes because he’s going to bring himself along. But to the entire nay Sayers against Moss apparently Belichick, Tom Brady and even Brett Favre all think he is something special or they wouldn’t have made such a fuss to garner him. And as far as I’m concerned Belichick, Brady and Favre all carry a little more weight than any fan or any NFL analyst. But I regress. The story of the 2007 New England Patriots is going to be a highly watched one even more so than the Dallas Cowboys of last year, because unlike Dallas, New England actually has an excellent chance of winning their forth championship in the past six seasons.
The Patriots aren’t the only team that has a story line raising eyebrows this coming season. The San Diego Chargers who probably have the best all around team on paper even have questions that must be answered. Can Norv Turner who has failed at his last two coaching jobs, Washington and Oakland, succeed in San Diego? Will LaDainian Tomilinson add to his MVP performance of 2006 with another MVP showing? What about the departure of Donnie Edwards? Will the Chargers be affected by the absence of Edwards or will Matt Whilhelm be able to take over and the defense not miss a beat? Also, what about Philip Rivers? Will Rivers be the quarterback that we all saw at the beginning of the 2006 season or will he be the QB we saw struggle at the end of last year? Will Shawn Merriman repeat as the sack leader in only his third year after missing time to substance suspension? Lastly, what about rookie Eric Weddle? The safety from Utah was the most coveted player the Chargers drafted giving up multiple picks this year and next year, will he be the safety the Chargers have been in so desperate need of or will the Chargers be regretting the fact that they didn’t sign a veteran during the off-season? These questions and more will be answered this upcoming season.
The Chargers and the Patriots along with the Indianapolis Colts all have the best chance of taking home the crown, but the teams to watch will be the teams challenging for the other three playoff spots in the AFC. Will the Jets be able to build on last years amazing turn around? Will Chad Pennington be able to survive another full sixteen game schedule? What about Thomas Jones? Will he be able to carry the rushing work load that Eric Mangini will install and more importantly succeed?
The Baltimore Ravens were two games away from the Super Bowl last year. Will they be able to get over that hump this year with aging players Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden, and Steve McNair? And how much does the aging Raven defense have left? Will they be able to duplicate their success this year and be one of the stingiest defenses in the league? Will Willis McGahee live up to his title of being the best running back in the league behind the Raven offensive line, or will he flop and be just as much of a distraction this year as he was last year when he played in Buffalo?
Will the Cincinnati Bengals ever live up to the hype? Will Carson Palmer be able to propel his team over the good mark and turn them into elite? Will Willie Anderson continue to be the standard for offensive right tackles at his age? Will Andrew Whitworth be able to fill the massive shoes left by OG Eric Steinbach? Will the defense ever get it? Will Justin Smith finally live up to his lofty 4th overall draft selection and produce like a franchise defensive end? How well will Leon Hall play in his rookie year? Will Jonathan Joseph along with Leon Hall be the new Antoine Winfield and Nate Clements? Will David Pollack ever be able to come back from his horrendous neck injury he suffered in week 1 of last year? And speaking of linebackers how well will Ahmad Brooks do as the starting MLB? Will Brooks be the star everyone says he can be? Will Ahmad Brooks be able to be the leader of the Bengal defense that Coach Marvin Lewis so desperately needs?
What about the Denver Broncos? Will they be able to completely forget about the wasted year that was 2006? Will Coach Mike Shanahan ever be able to return to the promise land with a QB not named John Elway? Will Jay Cutler live up the expectations of being the next great gunslinger, a la Brett Favre? How will the rushing attack be once Travis Henry becomes familiar with the Bronco kind of running style? Will Travis Henry be the missing piece they haven’t had since the loss of Clinton Portis? Will the offensive line hold up for one more run at Super Sunday? How will the defense react to the loss of long time leader Al Wilson? Will D.J. Williams be able to take over the Mike duties with the tenacity that Wilson did? How much does superman John #### have left? Will Dre Bly be content with being the number 2 corner, or will his ego and mouth be more trouble than its worth?
The Chiefs are another team at a cross roads and their story line will be interesting from the stand point of how will Herm Edwards react to not having Trent Green? Or how will Larry Johnson hold up to another pounding that Herm will inflict on him by having Larry carry the ball 400 plus times? Will the Chiefs’ secondary with 10 plus year veterans Ty Law and Patrick Surtain be able to play up to their high standards and the live up to the fans’ expectations? Will Jared Allen and Tambi Hali become one of the best young defensive end duos in the NFL? Does Tony Gonzalez have another Pro-Bowl year in him or will the constant focus of the defense give way to the decline of the aging superstar? Can Damon Huard be legit QB, or is Kansas City just buying more time for Brodie Croyle? Will MLB Donnie Edwards resurrect his career in Kansas City as a WLB? But most importantly can the Kansas City Chiefs finally break into the playoffs after a 5 year drought and will Herm Edwards be the coach that everyone expects him to be? Or will the Kansas City stop on the Herm Edwards express be yet another failure and more evidence that Edwards isn’t NFL coaching material.
What about the other AFC teams that is on the cusp of playoff contenders? Are the Pittsburg Steelers, a team that is only two years removed from being Super Bowl champs, back to there 2005 form or are they back to the drawing board? Is Big Ben Rothlisberger back to his Super Bowl, Pro Bowl form or is the quarterback that led the league in interceptions last year the guy behind center? What about the new regime? Will Mike Tomlin be able to have the more than ten years of success and respectability that Bill Cowher demanded? Will Willie Parker be able to duplicate the Pro-Bowl form of last year or will the Pittsburg brass be regretting not taking a bruising tail back in this past April’s draft? What does the future hold for the Pittsburg defense? Will they stay the same using a multiple 3-4 base defense? Or will they now incorporate Tomlin’s base 4-3 scheme into their repertoire? What will the future hold for first ballot Hall of Fame, All-World guard Alan Faneca at the end of the 2007 season? Are the Pittsburg Steelers building from square one or will they pick up were they left off after their improbable run to the Super Bowl in the 2005 season?
If there was ever a team that could duplicate a repeat of a championship it would have to be the Indianapolis Colts. Can they do it? Can Peyton Manning do the unthinkable and follow up his Super Bowl MVP with another run to Super Sunday? Can Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne be as reliable as ever and provide Manning with one of the most consistent receiving duo in the league? Can Joseph Addai be the running back everyone in Indy thinks he can be? Can Addai fill the huge void left by Edgerrin James and be the primary back? Will the defensive line ever be able to be a force against the run or will the run defense be the Achilles for the Colts’ defense? But most importantly will Peyton only win one champion?
The Jaguars, once a team on the ascension, have been struggling with a QB controversy the past year and are at the end of the line with former top 10 draft pick Byron Leftwich. Will the 2007 season be Byron’s last year in Jacksonville? Will his backup, David Garrard, be the quarterback of the future? If not Garrard or Leftwich where does this team turn? They passed on Brady Quinn in this past April’s draft and I truly don’t believe that the Jags will be bad enough to pick atop the 2008 NFL Draft to get a shot at top QB prospect Brian Brohm. The good news on offense is that the Jags have two quality running backs in 9 year veteran Fred Taylor and second year man Maurice Jones-Drew. You can’t really talk about the backs without asking the question of can Fred Taylor stay healthy for the full year? If he can’t can Maurice Jones-Drew be the feature back? Will Jones-Drew be able to carry the ball 20-25 times a game like Taylor? Another major
Impact player that needs to come back from his injury last year is Greg Jones. Jones, one of coach Jack Del-Rio’s favorite go to guys, has to be the player he was before his season ending injury. Can he be that player? Can the receiving corps live up to their lofty expectations? Can Reggie Williams build off of a solid 2006 and finally become that impact player that Jacksonville envisioned when drafting him with their 2004 top 10 pick? Will Matt Jones be able to finally learn the nuances of the wide receiver position? Will Matt Jones be more of an offensive down the field threat instead just a big red zone target? Although there are many questions on the Jags offense, the defense is more than capable of playing at a high level and shutting down opposing offenses. The only questions I can even think of is there a DE on this team that can consistently get after the quarterback? Can Reggie Hayward be that guy? Or is he just another high priced free agent bust? And can FS Reggie Nelson take over for fan favorite, Deon Grant? The defense is more than playoff and Super Bowl worthy, but the real question for the Jags is can there offense finally come together and lead this team into contention?
The Tennessee Titans were one of the Cinderella stories of the 2006 season and Vince Young solidified himself as the next big thing. Will the off the field issues of Pac-Man Jones still be a distraction or is this team finally through with their former top 10 pick? Will the absence of Travis Henry be the subtraction that most limits the Titans? Can LenDale White ever recapture that amazing potential we all saw during his days at USC? Can anyone of the Titans’ receivers stand out this year? Or will Young be left by himself to repeat his death defying performances of last season? Can Albert Hanynesworth ever be the guy the Titans envisioned him being when they selected him in the 1rst round? And most importantly can the Titans build on last year or will they regress to the misery that is the land of the bottom feeders?
Buffalo has been on the fence the last couple of season bordering on mediocrity and solid. Can this prove different with J.P. Losman at the helms? Or will Losman just be another non-factor? Can he live up to his success of last years unthinkable 8 wins? Will Marshawn #### be able to replace Willis McGahee or we #### be another Cal disappointment along the lines of J.J. Arrington and Aaron Rogers? Can the Bills defense ever get back to the stingy days of early this century? Can John McCargo become the beastly DT that Marv Levey thinks he can be? Will Paul Posluszny become the force that the Bills need in their LB corps? Also will Posluszny make the teams that passed on him regret it with his excellent instincts and nasty style of play? And can Ko Simpson and Donte Whitner build on last year’s chemistry to become the best young safety duo in the NFL?
The Cleveland Browns have had one of the better off-season builds of all 32 teams. The 2007 NFL Draft could go down as the draft that put the Browns on the map the same as the ’96 NFL Draft did with the Baltimore Ravens when they selected Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis. Cleveland selected the behemoth OLT Joe Thomas with the 3rd overall selection and then went onto pull of one the biggest moves in the off-season by trading back into the 1rst round and selecting home town boy Brady Quinn. Can Brady Quinn and Joe Thomas do for Cleveland the way Ogden and Lewis did for Baltimore? And when will Brady Quinn get the call to start? Can Quinn shake the stigma of not being able to handle the pressure situations? As for the rest of the Browns can they ever become a winning franchise or will this be another year of bad luck and disappointment? Will this be Romeo Crenel’s last year? Will he be the one former Bill Belichik protégé that doesn’t succeed? Can Kamerion Wimbley build on his impressive rookie campaign? Will the Browns cornerbacks ever be able to stop anyone? Will Sean Jones be able to take the next step to the Pro-Bowl? And will Brodney Pool ever live up to his 2nd round billing? How much does the former Louisville 1rst rounder Ted Washington have left in the tank in his 17th year? Will Cleveland’s two most talented players, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow II, take the next step to super stardom and live up to the fans’ expectations?
The Houston Texans are finally through the David Carr era and are now entering the Matt Schaub age. Will Gary Kubiack and Matt Schaub have that powerful relationship that other great coach and quarterbacks have had such as Brady and Belichik, Elway and Shanahan, Montana and Walsh and Favre and Holmgren? Will the addition of Ahman Green give some energy and excitement to an anemic running game? Will Andre Johnson be by himself again or will one of the young receivers step up and take the #2 job? Can Jerome Mathis return to his Pro-Bowl form of returning kicks? Will Jacoby Jones be able to handle the jump from lowly Lane College to the NFL? The defense seems to be the most important part of the success to the Houston Texans organization if you take how they’ve been drafting into account. Will this defense be the backbone of the Texans? Can the defensive line made of almost entirely of 1rst round draft picks live up to the high expectations? Will Amobi Okoye be able to handle the strength and power of the interior at such a young age? Or will his learning curve take longer than expected? Can Jason Babin build of a strong 2006 season and break the 10 sack mark? Was DeMeco Ryans’ rookie season a fluke are will he be the next great NFL MLB? Can he sustain a high level of play in his 2nd year or will he be plagued by the dreaded sophomore slump? Can Dunte Robinson reach the elite level of other press corners or will he be just another solid NFL CB? What will happen with the Texans two safety spots? Can these two positions be strength or will it once again be the Achilles of the defense? And most importantly for the Houston Texans success, can Mario Williams quiet the nay Sayers? Will he be able to prove to everyone that the Texans made the right choice by taking him with the #1 overall pick in 2006? Can he break into the elite company of Julius Peppers, Dwight Freeney and Jason Taylor? And will the Texan fans finally embrace him as one of their own?
What about the Miami Dolphins? Can Cam Cameron turn this once glorious franchise around and out of the gutter? Or will they forever be in the dire portion of substandard teams? Can they make a run while Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor; the teams’ only Hall of Fame players are still productive? And really how much does Zach Thomas, in his 12th year, and Jason Taylor, in his 11th year, has left in the tank? Will Trent Green be able to bring his efficacy and leadership to the Dolphins? Can Ronnie Brown make the jump to becoming one of the top backs in the league? Will he ever justify his #2 overall pick status? Can Chris Chambers recapture his 2005 form when he was one of the more dangerous receiving threats in the game? What about the Dolphins secondary? Can the corner backs with stand a full season of being one of the weaker units in the league? Will the safeties be a revolving door or will there be consistency with them? Can Jason Allen live up to his 1rst round billing or is he just another Nick Saban picked bust? Will Joey Porter be able recapture his Steelers form or was the Pittsburg organization justified in letting him go? Can the O-Line block somebody and begin to be a cohesive unit? Will Ted Ginn Jr. be a star in the making? Or was he figment of huge draft hype? Can he be a playmaker or were the fans that booed his selection right? Will the passing on Brady Quinn begin to haunt this team starting this year? Will the Miami Dolphins be selecting in the top 5 of the 2008 NFL Draft?
The Oakland Raiders were easily the worst team last year and could’ve quite possibly been one of the worst teams in the history of the league, or at least in the salary cap era. Will this team be on the ascension or will they be, once again, the worst team in the NFL? Can this team win more than 5 games this year? Who will be their starting quarterback? Will Dunte Culpepper be able to revive his once super star career? Can Joey Porter play by the rules or will this be his last chance in Oakland? Will Mike Williams ever be able to live up to his top 10 overall pick? Can he become the receiver so many thought he could be under his old offensive coordinator at USC? And speaking of coaching, will Lane Kiffin make Al Davis look like a genius are like an old kook? Is Robert Gallery a bust? Remember he was drafted in the Eli Manning draft and we don’t consider Manning a bust. So I’ll repeat, is Robert Gallery a bust? Can he live up to the huge expectations of the Raider fans and Oakland front office? And will the O-Line have some sort of organization to it this year or will they be once again the worst in the NFL? Can LaMont Jordan be the back Al David wants or will he be another high priced FA bust? As for the defense the Raiders were ranked as one of the top units in the league, can they do it again? How long can Warren Sapp play at such a high level? Can Gerard Warren be a brick wall defender or he reverts back to his bust days in Cleveland? Can Fabian Washington and Nnamdi Asomugha become one of the elite CB tandems in the NFL? Will Asomugha build on his unbelievable performance of 2006 and finally make the Pro-Bowl in 2007? Can Kirk Morrison crack the elite status of his own? Will Morrison be recognized as one of the true up and comers of the MLB position in the NFL? What about Thomas Howard? Howard could quite possible be the most athletic and fastest OLB in the entire league, can he become an elite LB? And will Michael Huff live up to his top 10 pick status? Can Huff break into the level of other great safeties like Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Sean Taylor, Brian Dawkins, Roy Williams and Adrian Wilson? And will Huff fortify the Raider secondary to assemble one of the best secondaries in the NFL?
These and other inquiries will all be answered come the end of January. But more important than all of these questions and their subsequent answers is us the fan. This year will be a special year for the fan because the NFL is bigger than ever. The popularity of the sport has grown into a magnificent beast that will even take a regular season game overseas. Of all the leagues the NFL, even more than the MLB, is the league that I’m the most proud of being a citizen of the United States. Every year I cherish this first week of football because I know that the next 5 months will be action packed and more exciting than all the other sports put together. We as the fans can’t wait for these questions to be answered and we can’t wait for the next batch of questions. So in closing all I can say is, “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?”
Randy Moss being dealt to the New England Patriots literally made me cry, I’m dead serious, there were actually tears. When I was sitting in front of the plasma and the ESPN draft day crew announced the Randy Moss was heading to the East Coast to play on Tom Brady’s offense I was so ecstatic. I probably called about ten people just to yell on the phone to all my buddies about the transaction. I swear, I think I’m on about 5 or 6 call blocks from my boys. All kidding aside though, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing on Sunday when I heard the news. Moss is now on the fast track to the Hall.
On the 2nd day of the NFL Draft Randy Moss was traded for a 4th round pick to the New England Patriots. I wrote in another post that I believed that Cleveland had stolen the 2007 draft. The Browns did in terms of actually drafting 2 top 5 prospects in the 1rst round. But New England literally ripped off Randy Moss from Oakland. Yes, I know Randy Moss had become even a bigger malcontent in Oakland than he was in Minnesota, but let’s take a look at what Oakland has to work with without Moss.
Oakland’s first problem going into the 2008 season all starts up front. As much as I love Zach Miller, the TE from Arizona State, he’s a TIGHT END not an offensive lineman. Passing on Ryan Kalil, Tony Ugoh, Aaron Sears, and Justin Blalock in my opinion was their biggest mistake of the draft. They did draft Mario Henderson, the offensive tackle out of Florida State, but the 6’6 305 lbs. tackle isn’t exactly a huge addition to the fledgling o-line. For a team the suffered one of the most embarrassing seasons at the expense of the offensive lineman, you’d think that the o-line corps would be addressed with several draft picks. But typical Al Davis, who chooses sexy over practical, took Johnnie Lee Higgins (99th overall) who was one of the fastest wide receivers in the 2007 draft. Davis also drafted Michael Bush (100th overall), running back out of Louisville, who was coming into the draft with one of the biggest question marks because of his gigantic leg injury. Michael Bush dropped further than anybody even with his potential because of the major concerns over his broken leg. This injury wasn’t the same kind of injury Willis McGhee suffered and came off of, but worse because rods and screws are involved. Bush may never play football again yet Davis used the 1rst pick of day 2 on him.
The draft picks made by the Oakland Raiders didn’t improve the overall talent of the offense. And the offense is where the talent needed the most improving. Using draft picks on a tight end, 2 wide receivers, a running back, a full back and just one OT is just unacceptable. And with 4 other draft picks the Raiders took 2 defensive ends, a corner back and a safety to go along with one of the best pass defenses going into the 2008 season. Why? That part of their defense is solid, if the Raiders were going to go defense, they should have picked up a run stuffer like Tank Tyler, not an underachieving pass rusher like Quenten Moses. But that wasn’t the biggest duh moment of the draft. That came with this blunder, the trade of Randy Moss to the Patriots for a nothing 4th round pick. Already suffering a total lack of playmakers the Raiders sold their only playmaking receiver for tidally winks.
My main point was that I don’t care what happens with the Oakland Raiders, even though I do root for them, I only care about what’s in store for the future of one of the greatest talents at WR this game has ever seen. I believe that it’s pretty easy to answer. Hall of Fame. Randy Moss is now, finally after being subjected to that purgatory in Oakland, on the fast track to greatness. Randy Moss will finally be playing with a competent quarterback, which he has never had. Even with a young Dante Culpepper, Moss never had that total trust in his quarterback like he’ll now have with Tom Brady. Culpepper doesn’t demand the same kind of respect that Tom Brady does. Culpepper doesn’t have the same kind of winner’s swagger that Tom Brady has. And Dante Culpepper doesn’t have the same kind of ability that Tom Brady has. All of these things are what Randy Moss has been craving for since he’s entered the league. There is one thing you have to respect about Randy Moss, even if you don’t like him, you still have to respect him for being all about the “W”. Randy Moss wants to win more than improving his stats, Moss wants to win more than being liked by his teammates, he wants to win more than being liked by the fans, and he wants to win more than being liked by his coaches and front office. If there was ever a person who fully understood the notion that winning cures everything it was Randy.
In all honestly I don’t have to explain the ways in which the Patriots are better than the Raiders. I don’t have to sit here and explain to you how the running game, offensive line, wide receivers, defense, and coaching staff are head and shoulders above the Oakland Raiders. But what I will say is that as happy as Randy Moss is going to play for a perennial powerhouse such as the New England Patriots, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are just as excited. Congratulations Patriots fans you guys are in for a very wild ride that will probably end with Moss hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
