The NFL Draft is over. I honestly thought it would never end.

God that was long.  Luckily for me I fast forwarded through some of Day 2 and pretty much all of Day 3.  Yes there were a lot of happenings and yes, things happened after Day 1 (or more like Night 1).  But I was too tired to care.

I have made the decision that the full draft recap will be a thing of the past since I can’t get myself to rate all the teams.  But I will go over some of the highlights and lowlights of the draft proceedings.  Let’s get started.

• Obviously the big Hot Button issue was the Kyler Murray/Josh Rosen/Arizona Cardinals thing going on.  Rosen had been drafted 10th overall last year and the Cards had traded up for the right to pick him.  Odd that they threw that all away for Murray.  Thing is they also fired their head coach after one season to bring in Kute Kliff Kingsbury.  So there has been a lot of change in the desert.  In the end, Zona drafted Murray first overall, and then shipped Rosen to Miami for a late second round pick.  And Kyler might end up buying Josh’s Arizona house.  See?  A win for everyone.
• Who had the best draft?  That’s up for debate.  I would say if you choose any of New England, Tennessee, Arizona, Denver or Buffalo you can be considered correct.
• It was looking for a while there that the Bills would be able to select Kentucky linebacker Josh Allen.  That would have been fantastic.  Instead, Allen was picked seventh overall by the Jaguars, meaning Josh Allens were selected in consecutive drafts in the same spot.  Kind of creepy actually.
• Oh good God what the hell is going on with the New York Football Giants?  Dave Gettleman seems to be trying to write the book on GM buffoonery which is difficult to do.  Daniel Jones at #6?  What?  And then saying he might backup Eli Manning for THREE YEARS?  And all because he looked good at the Senior Bowl, an all-star game with weird rules that only crazy people like myself try and watch.  Oh and of course Dave obviously.  Nothing else he could have done would have salvaged the Giants’ draft.  Luckily for them they whiffed on another few picks as well.
• Why did the Lions draft a tight end at eighth overall?  Does Matt Patricia think he can get the next Gronk?
• Reggie Wayne trolling the Titans fans was great.  We need at least one former player doing that every year.  I mean it was no Drew Pearson but it was still pretty good.
• Christian Wilkins almost took out Roger Goodell.  The fact that Goodell would have had Wilkins set up for the Rock Bottom and never took the chance makes me sick.

Winners

• Let me preface both the winners and losers list with this one indisputable fact: it’s really too early to tell.  So this is off of what many people observed so far with these picks.
• Buffalo – The Bills did quite well.  They got Ed Oliver to fall in their lap in the first round.  They also picked Cody Ford and Dawson Knox far below where they probably should have gone.  I don’t think any of their picks were reaches so they, by all accounts, GM Brandon Beane did a great job.
• New England – Nothing flashy but everything was good.  It typifies what the Patriots are all about.  N’Keal Harry was a great pick as I believe he’s almost as good as D.K. Metcalf was (but a lot smaller obviously).  Chase Winovich was also a great pick.  And they had the balls to take a punter in the fifth round which some experts HATE but I don’t mind at all.
• Tennessee – Many don’t agree with me but I think the hosts did well.  I believe Jeffery Simmons was a great pick as was A.J. Brown in the second round.  The only issue is if Simmons doesn’t fully recover from his ACL injury.  At this point though the Titans look golden.
• Arizona – Kyler Murray and Byron Murphy?  Enough said.

Losers

• NY Giants – I don’t care what anyone thinks: picking Daniel Jones at #6 was dumb.  I am also not super high on the Dexter Lawrence pick although it wasn’t a bad pick.  DeAndre Baker wasn’t a great pick at that spot.  Oshane Ximines was not a great pick at that spot.  Nothing the Giants did was good.  Period.
• Houston – Where do I start with this?  Tytus Howard was an awful pick for a first rounder.  The Texans could have easily had him in the second, if not third, round.  Especially with other lineman out there it was bad.  Their only decent pick was tight end Kahale Warring from San Diego State.
• Tampa Bay – They started with Devin White.  Things looked good for them.  Jamel Dean was also a pretty good pick.  Then the bottom fell out.  They reached for every pick afterwards.  And I get the knock on selecting kickers in the draft and I don’t buy it a lot of the time but they could have got Matt Gay in the seventh round no problem.
• Detroit – T.J. Hockenson in the Top 10.  Already discussed how bad that is.  Austin Bryant was the fourth-best guy on the Clemson defensive line.  Some say he was overshadowed.  I say he was helped by the domination of the other three.  Also Jahlani Tavai was a HUGE reach in the second round.

I still got most of my mock draft wrong but at least I got #1 correct unlike last year when Mayfield became the consensus #1 pick on most mock drafts like two days before the draft.  Honestly, part of me thinks I should just quit the whole mock draft thing and not bother with it.  It’s an internal dialogue I have with myself often and right now, it’s still a tug-of-war between doing it and not doing it.

Did I watch the whole draft?  In a way, yes.  I watched the first round live.  Rounds two and three I kind of fast forwarded through a bit when I could.  The final day was definitely on fast forward just to see the picks.  Unfortunately, day three is all about days one and two.  Talking about those two first nights.  The picks made on day three almost no one cares about…at the time.  I did a bit of live-tweeting during round one but not much.  My Twitter feed was going a mile a minute, especially when Daniel Jones was picked so I figured what was the point.  It’s not like tweeting during college football season which is more fun and keeps me in the loop as to what is going on.

We are getting closer my friends.  116 days to be exact until college football begins again.  Soon I will come out with the most important games series and I can start blogging on a relatively regular basis again.  I wonder if I should just tap out for a couple months each year to be honest.  Just not bother and take a break.  Maybe next year.  Anyway, have a good week everyone!

The Final Mock Draft…thank God

This almost feels like work.  I can’t imagine doing this for a living.  Mock draftologist?  Good lord.  I’d be into the liquor and nose candy in no time.  Let’s just get on with this final mock draft alright?

FIRST ROUND

1		Kyler Murray, QB (Oklahoma)
2		Quinnen Williams, DT (Alabama)
3		Nick Bosa, DE (Ohio State)
4		Josh Allen, LB (Kentucky)
5		Montez Sweat, DE (Mississippi State)
6		Drew Lock, QB (Missouri)
7		Rashan Gary, DT (Michigan)
8		Ed Oliver, DT (Houston)
9		Jawaan Taylor, T (Florida)
10		Greedy Williams, CB (LSU)
11		T.J. Hockenson, TE (Iowa)
12		Brian Burns, DE (Florida State)
13		Dwayne Haskins, QB (Ohio State)
14		Christian Wilkins, DT (Clemson)
15		D.K. Metcalf, WR (Ole Miss)
16		Andre Dillard, T (Washington State)
17		Clelin Farrell, DE (Clemson)
18		Jonah Williams, T (Alabama)
19		Mack Wilson, LB (Alabama)
20		Devin Bush, LB (Michigan)
21		Dalton Risner, T (Kansas State)
22		Jachai Polite, DE (Florida)
23		Erik McCoy, C (Texas A&M)
24		Trayvon Mullen, CB (Clemson)
25		Deandre Baker, CB (Georgia)
26		Dexter Lawrence, DT (Clemson)
27		Johnathan Abram, S (Mississippi State)
28		Cody Ford, T (Oklahoma)
29		Byron Murphy, CB (Washington)
30		Jeffery Simmons, DT (Mississippi State)
31		Devin White, LB (LSU)
32		Dre’Mont Jones, DT (Ohio State)

SECOND ROUND

33		Chris Lindstrom. G (Boston College)
34		Marquise Brown, WR (Oklahoma)
35		Zach Allen, DE (Boston College)
36		Taylor Rapp, S (Washington)
37		Parris Campbell, WR (Ohio State)
38		Daniel Jones, QB (Duke)
39		Nasir Adderley, S (Delaware)
40		Amani Oruwariye, CB (Penn State)
41		Noah Fant, TE (Iowa)
42		Rock Ya-Sin, CB (Temple)
43		Jaylon Ferguson, DE (Louisiana Tech)
44		Kelvin Harmon, WR (NC State)
45		Charles Omenihu, DE (Texas)
46		Will Grier, QB (West Virginia)
47		Deionte Thompson, S (Alabama)
48		Garrett Bradbury, C (NC State)
49		A.J. Brown, WR (Ole Miss)
50		Renell Wren, DT (Arizona State)
51		Riley Ridley, WR (Georgia)
52		Julian Love, CB (Notre Dame)
53		Joshua Jacobs, RB (Alabama)
54		Juan Thornhill, S (Virginia)
55		Damien Harris, RB (Alabama)
56		Deebo Samuel, WR (South Carolina)
57		Greg Little, T (Ole Miss)
58		Irv Smith Jr., TE (Alabama)
59		Justin Layne, CB (Michigan State)
60		Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, S (Florida)
61		Jerry Tillery, DT (Notre Dame)
62		N’Keal Harry, WR (Arizona State)
63		Benny Snell Jr., RB (Kentucky)
64		Ryan Finley, QB (NC State)

A bit more analysis this time around

• I still believe it’s all a ruse by the Cardinals and they are definitely going for Kyler Murray.
• The biggest wild card in the draft is, of course, the Raiders.  Who the hell knows what kind of crazy plan Gruden has.  I am sure he has concocted one trade where he sends every pick to some team to get like one roster player and more picks next year.  And Mike Mayock gets a front seat for it.  Ho boy.
• There are a lot of rumblings about Dwayne Haskins.  I mean who knows what that means but I figured I would jump on it.  The Giants will pick a quarterback, that is almost certain.  But now, instead of Haskins, I have them selecting Drew Lock out of Missouri.  Honestly, neither quarterback is a Top 5 guy so this may end up being a moot point as to who they end up picking.
• I have Ed Oliver back in the Top 10.  All I can safely say about this guy is that he will be drafted.  Beyond that, who knows.
• The Daniel Jones hype is odd.  I have seen a Twitter post about it and agree that Jones isn’t exactly a guy who looks like a solid first round pick.  I think he goes in the second round but with Will Grier and Ryan Finley probably still around then, he may drop further than that.  I have him going to the Jags for now but that could easily change.
• Yes I have the Patriots picking a quarterback.  At some point they have to draft a guy (AND KEEP HIM) so that he can eventually replace Tom Brady.  Could this be his last season?  Probably not.
• As for the Dolphins, they end up getting Dwayne Haskins in their lap which could be a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t know.

OK that’s enough analysis.  I just want this thing to start.

I got nothing else.  I have got the schedules almost done and will be ranking the games and telling you, the reader, about the best games every week….and some of the worst.  We are (does calculation in head) 123 days away from college football season.  I am glad I will be busy this summer.

Have a great week everyone and enjoy the draft…or don’t.  I don’t care.

Mock Draft…..4 I think?

It’s not like I lost count.  It’s kind of like I don’t care.  But I don’t want to be going over a month without posting anything. So consider this filler of sorts.  I mean I put work into it but it wasn’t my best effort.  Let’s just get to the mock draft shall we?

FIRST ROUND

1		Kyler Murray, QB (Oklahoma)
2		Quinnen Williams, DT (Alabama)
3		Nick Bosa, DE (Ohio State)
4		Josh Allen, LB (Kentucky)
5		Montez Sweat, DE (Mississippi State)
6		Dwayne Haskins, QB (Ohio State)
7		Rashan Gary, DT (Michigan)
8		Devin White, LB (LSU)
9		Jawaan Taylor, T (Florida)
10		Drew Lock, QB (Missouri)
11		Byron Murphy, CB (Washington)
12		Brian Burns, DE (Florida State)
13		D.K. Metcalf, WR (Ole Miss)
14		Clelin Farrell, DE (Clemson)
15		Jonah Williams, T (Alabama)
16		Dalton Risner, T (Kansas State)
17		Andre Dillard, T (Washington State)
18		Ed Oliver, DT (Houston)
19		Greedy Williams, CB (LSU)
20		Mack Wilson, LB (Alabama)
21		Christian Wilkins, DT (Clemson)
22		Devin Bush, LB (Michigan)
23		Cody Ford, T (Oklahoma)
24		Trayvon Mullen, CB (Clemson)
25		Deandre Baker, CB (Georgia)
26		Jeffery Simmons, DT (Mississippi State)
27		Jachai Polite, DE (Florida)
28		Dre’Mont Jones, DT (Ohio State)
29		Dexter Lawrence, DT (Clemson)
30		Marquise Brown, WR (Oklahoma)
31		Johnathan Abram, S (Mississippi State)
32		Parris Campbell, WR (Ohio State)

SECOND ROUND

33		Erik McCoy, C (Texas A&M)
34		Kelvin Harmon, WR (NC State)
35		Nasir Adderley, S (Delaware)
36		Taylor Rapp, S (Washington)
37		Zach Allen, DE (Boston College)
38		Chris Lindstrom, G (Boston College)
39		Renell Wren, DT (Arizona State)
40		Riley Ridley, WR (Georgia)
41		T.J. Hockenson, TE (Iowa)
42		Noah Fant, TE (Iowa)
43		Rock Ya-Sin, CB (Temple)
44		Jerry Tillery, DT (Notre Dame)
45		Gerald Willis III, DT (Miami)
46		Will Grier, QB (West Virginia)
47		Jaylon Ferguson, DE (Louisiana Tech)
48		Daniel Jones, QB (Duke)
49		Amani Oruwariye, CB (Penn State)
50		Greg Little, T (Ole Miss)
51		Germaine Pratt, LB (NC State)
52		Julian Love, CB (Notre Dame)
53		Damien Harris, RB (Alabama)
54		Joshua Jacobs, RB (Alabama)
55		Deionte Thompson, S (Alabama)
56		Charles Omenihu, DE (Texas)
57		Justin Layne, CB (Michigan State)
58		Irv Smith Jr., TE (Alabama)
59		A.J. Brown, WR (Ole Miss)
60		Juan Thornhill, S (Virginia)
61		Benny Snell Jr., RB (Kentucky)
62		Deebo Samuel, WR (South Carolina)
63		Jamel Dean, CB (Auburn)
64		D’Andre Walker, LB (Georgia)

Some crap

• Despite the fact the Cards are meeting with Bosa, that seems like a red herring.  They plan on picking Murray and they plan on trading Josh Rosen.  That seems like a 98.5% guarantee right now.  Meaning that there’s still a chance they pick Bosa.
• The Giants still seem to be in for Dwayne Haskins at their first pick but there are some rumours floating around that they may stick with Eli Manning for the coming season.  The only thing I could see here is they draft Haskins and protect him by getting Manning to be the punching bag for the season.  Otherwise, not picking a QB would make little sense.  This is the Giants we’re talking about though.
• I have the Redskins getting Will Grier in the second round but a lot depends on what they do before the draft to deal with their own QB situation.  With Alex Smith out for the year (and possibly forever), the Skins are in play for Josh Rosen when the Cards decide to make a trade.  If that’s the case, Grier might drop in the Dolphins’ lap and Daniel Jones falls out of the top 2 rounds.  Or Grier falls out of the top 2 rounds.  Either way, it is showing that quarterbacks aren’t nearly as important this draft compared to last year’s.
• I don’t think I will talk about steals of the draft either.  No point until the draft is over.
• Remember when I said Ed Oliver is rocketing up the draft board.  Yeah he has kind of dipped a bit.  Still a mid-first rounder but not a Top 10 guy like I had him.  I can see people going nuts over that issue he had, on national TV, with then-Houston head coach Major Applewhite.  Because scouts need to find SOMETHING or else they aren’t looking hard enough.

I will do one more mock draft right before the draft.  Maybe this time I will actually get some of the picks right.  Yeah, probably not.

So RIP to the AAF.  I think I may actually do a column with this involved so won’t go into much depth here.  Sucks for the men and women involved in the league but not fully surprising.

Draft is three weeks away.  Still working on the college football schedule.  Tweaking it, if you will.  Especially when updated info comes up.  Honestly contemplating a move to some sort of IPTV in the next few months.  Don’t worry though: I would still do the schedules for all of you.  It still keeps me organized (somewhat).  Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Back to Mock Drafts now that the Kreepy Kombine is over

I don’t watch the Combine.  I’ve said this before and I will say it again: I think it’s really fucking weird some of the stuff that happens there.  It would be like having closed circuit cameras in my gym and in some weird interview area and I get to watch it at home in my jammies.  The physical tests are just that: physical tests.  It’s not a Strongman competition or the Crossfit Games or anything like that.  It’s just watching guys do physical tests.  That’s odd enough.  But hearing about all the interview stuff makes it go from slightly crazy to full-on insane.  The questions these scouts ask are messed.  Can you imagine getting a question like some of these players have to endure in an interview for a job?  “So do you think your own mom is hot?”  “Was there time when you became obsessed with someone’s feet?”  “Do you enjoy the company of women or men or both?”  “What’s your favourite kind of toothpaste?”  “If you lit yourself on fire, how long do you think you last before you die?”  If I got anything like this at an interview I would wonder what kind of cult I was trying to be employed by.  Just completely nuts.  And everyone on the networks thinks it normal.  Seriously?

So now since this ridiculous exercise is done I go into one of my own: Mock Draft V3.  I know you are all excited.  To be honest I don’t know how much I am excited since I know much of this will be wrong but, hey, it’s how Kiper and McShay et al  make their living so let’s see how my predictions go (Spoiler alert: my predictions will change by the end of the month):

FIRST ROUND

1		Kyler Murray, QB (Oklahoma)
2		Nick Bosa, DE (Ohio State)
3		Quinnen Williams, DT (Alabama)
4		Josh Allen, LB (Kentucky)
5		Rashan Gary, DT (Michigan)
6		Dwayne Haskins, QB (Ohio State)
7		Jonah Williams, T (Alabama)
8		Montez Sweat, DE (Mississippi State)
9		Ed Oliver, DT (Houston)
10		Orlando Brown, T (Oklahoma)
11		Byron Murphy, CB (Washington)
12		Brian Burns, DE (Florida State)
13		D.K. Metcalf, WR (Ole Miss)
14		Clelin Farrell, DE (Clemson)
15		Dalton Risner, T (Kansas State)
16		Devin White, LB (LSU)
17		Greedy Williams, CB (LSU)
18		Jawaan Taylor, T (Florida)
19		Jeffery Simmons, DT (Mississippi State)
20		Mack Wilson, LB (Alabama)
21		Trayvon Mullen, CB (Clemson)
22		Marquise Brown, WR (Oklahoma)
23		Deandre Baker, CB (Georgia)
24		Jachai Polite, DE (Florida)
25		Andre Dillard, T (Washington State)
26		Dexter Lawrence, DT (Clemson)
27		Jaylon Ferguson, DE (Louisiana Tech)
28		Johnathan Abram, S (Mississippi State)
29		Joshua Jacobs, RB (Alabama)
30		Kelvin Harmon, WR (NC State)
31		Christian Wilkins, DT (Clemson)
32		Devin Bush, LB (Michigan)

SECOND ROUND

33		Cody Ford, T (Oklahoma)
34		Riley Ridley, WR (Georgia)
35		Nasir Adderley, S (Delaware)
36		Renell Wren, DT (Arizona State)
37		Dre’Mont Jones, DT (Ohio State)
38		N’Keal Harry, WR (Arizona State)
39		Julian Love, CB (Notre Dame)
40		Garrett Bradbury, C (NC State)
41		Parris Campbell, WR (Ohio State)
42		Noah Fant, TE (Iowa)
43		T.J. Hockenson, TE (Iowa)
44		Taylor Rapp, S (Washington)
45		Chris Lindstrom, G (Boston College)
46		Daniel Jones, QB (Duke)
47		Charles Omenihu, DE (Texas)
48		Erik McCoy, C (Texas A&M)
49		David Edwards, T (Wisconsin)
50		Jerry Tillery, DT (Notre Dame)
51		Amani Oruwariye, CB (Penn State)
52		Rock Ya-Sin, CB (Temple)
53		Oshane Kimines, DE (Old Dominion)
54		Deionte Thompson, S (Alabama)
55		Damien Harris, RB (Alabama)
56		Will Grier, QB (West Virginia)
57		Elijah Holyfield, RB (Georgia)
58		Zach Allen, DE (Boston College)
59		Joejuan Williams, CB (Vanderbilt)
60		Greg Little, T (Ole Miss)
61		Juan Thornhill, S (Virginia)
62		Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, S (Florida)
63		Austin Bryant, DE (Clemson)
64		Gerald Willis III, DT (Miami)

Random Info

• Two rounds now.  I am about as excited as you are…as in only somewhat moderately excited.  How does Mel Kiper do this every damn day for like three months?
• Normally I wouldn’t buy into the hype now that Kyler Murray could very well be the number one pick in the draft.  But then the news came that Josh Rosen is on the trading block and that changed my mind.  Murray is probably more the style of QB that Kute Kliff Kingsbury (Pro Edition) covets so this makes a lot of sense
• This may now work out great for the 49ers.  If the Cards pick up Murray than the jewel of the draft (up until the Combine), Nick Bosa, would fall in their laps.  With a full season of Jimmy Garoppolo and Bosa anchoring the D-line, the Niners could make a serious run to the playoffs this coming season.
• I don’t put trades in at all.  It doesn’t make sense to.  My mock draft is a bit of a crapshoot already.  Adding trades and getting them right would be like throwing three straight bullseyes in darts.  Honestly I am sure the Raiders will do something since Gruden’s gonna Gruden.  Also the Colts have quite a few picks so it wouldn’t surprise me to see them move up a bit if there’s a player they absolutely want.
• Ed Oliver is also rocketing up my mock draft list.  He has moved into the top 10 now and I have him going to the Bills at 9.  I could see him possibly getting into the top 5 since he is a monster of a defensive player.
• Alright look I know someone may ask why I have the Patriots drafting Will Grier in the second round.  I know Tom Brady wants to play until he’s 88 years old but at some point soon his skills will start to deteriorate.  Who knows, he may be done after the 2019 season.  Picking up Grier, a guy who seems like he has a good shot at being a starter in the NFL, would be a good move by the Pats here in my opinion.

Another mock draft in the books.  Even I’m not that excited.  But it does keep me in “football mode” so to speak.  I mean I try to watch some AAF but I almost never do.  Weekends are busy now and I have to use them to my advantage since come late August those weekends (especially the Saturdays) are taken up by copious amounts of football.

Should I do a few What-if posts in the Spring?  I am contemplating it since there’s not a whole lot else to talk about.  I don’t want to flood my blog with mock drafts since I would get burned out from that.  We shall see how things progress.  I mean I’d love to at least do a post a week until late Spring but that might not have a chance of happening.

I am working on the college schedule now that a lot of it is out.  Mapping it out and such.  It takes a while so I never do more than a bit at a time because even I would get bored and possibly confused with it.  I will ramp up quite a bit once the draft is complete in late April (God it’s still a month-and-a-half away).  Until then, have a good end of the Winter and hopefully the weather starts turning for the better.  Enjoy your week everyone!

The final mock draft? Yeah I think so.

Look I know there will be trades as the draft comes near.  Buffalo is almost certain to pull off another deal to move up at least one of their first round picks.  Other teams look to probably move up or down as well.  Should be interesting.

Saying that, this is my last mock draft.  Period.  I promise.  I am not going to go all Mel Kiper and do a new mock draft every hour on the hour until draft day.  That’s insane.  Even for a guy who’s job it is to analyze the draft to the point he’s checking the prospects’ fibre in their shit.  Anyway, let’s get to my last list followed by possibly inaccurate rantings afterwards:

FIRST ROUND

1		Sam Darnold, QB (USC)
2		Josh Rosen, QB (UCLA)
3		Josh Allen, QB (Wyoming)
4		Saquon Barkley, RB (Penn State)
5		Denzel Ward, CB (Ohio State)
6		Bradley Chubb, DE (NC State)
7		Minkah Fitzpatrick, CB (Alabama)
8		Quentin Nelson, G (Notre Dame)
9		Tremaine Edmunds, LB (Virginia Tech)
10		Vita Vea, DT (Washington)
11		Baker Mayfield, QB (Oklahoma)
12		Roquan Smith, LB (Georgia)
13		Derwin James, S (Florida State)
14		Marcus Davenport, DE (UTSA)
15		Orlando Brown, T (Oklahoma)
16		Connor Williams, T (Texas)
17		Leighton Vander Esch, LB (Boise State)
18		Mike McGlinchey, T (Notre Dame)
19		Joshua Jackson, CB (Iowa)
20		Rashaan Evans, LB (Alabama)
21		James Daniels, C (Iowa)
22		Mason Rudolph, QB (Oklahoma State)
23		Harold Landry, DE (Boston College)
24		Isaiah Wynn, G (Georgia)
25		Will Hernandez, G (UTEP)
26		Maurice Hurst, DT (Michigan)
27		Billy Price, C (Ohio State)
28		Malik Jefferson, LB (Texas)
29		Calvin Ridley, WR (Alabama)
30		Taven Bryan, DT (Florida)
31		Sam Hubbard, DE (Ohio State)
32		Kolton Miller, T (UCLA)

SECOND ROUND

33		Carlton Davis, CB (Auburn)
34		Derrius Guice, RB (LSU)
35		Jamarco Jones, T (Ohio State)
36		Isaiah Oliver, CB (Colorado)
37		Brian O’Neill, T (Pittsburgh)
38		Ronald Jones II, RB (USC)
39		Jaire Alexander, CB (Louisville)
40		Lamar Jackson, QB (Louisville)
41		Da’Ron Payne, DT (Alabama)
42		Sony Michel, RB (Georgia)
43		Chukwuma Okorafor, T (Western Kentucky)
44		Dorance Armstrong Jr., OLB (Kansas)
45		D.J. Moore, WR (Maryland)
46		Ronnie Harrison, S (Alabama)
47		Courtland Sutton, WR (SMU)
48		Terrell Edmunds, S (Virginia Tech)
49		Oren Burks, LB (Vanderbilt)
50		Dallas Goedert, TE (South Dakota State)
51		Arden Key, DE (LSU)
52		Kerryon Johnson, RB (Auburn)
53		Harrison Phillips, DT (Stanford)
54		Da’Shawn Hand, DT (Alabama)
55		Mark Andrews, TE (Oklahoma)
56		Anthony Miller, WR (Memphis)
57		Rasheem Green, DE (USC)
58		Justin Reid, S (Stanford)
59		Mike Hughes, CB (UCF)
60		Kyzir White, S (West Virginia)
61		Braden Smith, G (Auburn)
62		Martinas Rankin, T (Mississippi State)
63		M.J. Stewart, CB (North Carolina)
64		Anthony Averett, CB (Alabama)

Random Info

• Might as well give in and go with the QB top-heavy draft.  It feels like Darnold, Rosen and Allen will be the top three in some order.  The caveat here is that the three teams currently in the top three spots (CLE, NYG, NYJ) might not be the top three draft spots on draft night.  I could see Buffalo or even Denver moving up to get the quarterback they want unless they are OK with who I have them taking (Rudolph to the Bills, Jackson to the Broncos).  Lamar Jackson is intriguing and I could see him as a first round pick but he almost seems like a guy who has to be picked by the time Buffalo makes their first selection at 12 or he will wait until the next round.  As a Bills fan I honestly would be happy to get a guy like Lamar Jackson but I can understand the risks there.
• This all means the Browns may get a top QB AND Saquon Barkley for their first two picks.  Scary.
• Does anyone forgo getting a QB knowing one A-A-Ron Rodgers becomes a free agent after this season?  I could see a team basically balking at drafting a decent QB and making a serious run at Mister Rodgers during the 2018-19 offseason.
• If I had to go draft steals at this point, according to my mock draft, I would say the Bills getting Harrison Phillips, the Cards getting Courtland Sutton, Ronnie Harrison to the Bengals and the aforementioned Lamar Jackson to Denver.  Which means none of these will happen.

That’s it, that’s all.  The draft is 13 days away, Thursday night April 26th on like 400 channels or something.  I still will watch the NFL Network coverage.  I honestly believe they do a better job.  I have always found it amusing that the majority of people watch the ESPN coverage and then bitch about that same ESPN coverage.  Then turn the fucking channel, dipshit.

I will be live-tweeting the opening night I am sure (unless something comes up).  I will not live-tweet the rest of the draft.  Otherwise you would witness the clear breakdown of a man gone insane (in a series of like 200 tweets).  Would make for a fascinating TV-movie-of-the-week but not so fun to actually live through.

Soon enough (after the draft) I will do my annual draft review and talk about how shitty my picks were.  Then it’s on to the real meat and potatoes of my blog (and if you are vegetarian, find something else to eat.  I don’t make two separate dinners.)  The most important games of the season and then getting into some conference previews.  We are….oh god, 134 days away from the first official day of the college football season.  So.  Long.  Away.

A new mock draft after the Kreepy Kombine

I did not watch the Combine.  I saw a few tweets about certain players like Lamar Jackson (who is a QUARTERBACK) and Shaquille Griffin (who is a DEFENSIVE BEAST) among others.  Other than that, nope.  The Combine is just fucking weird.  I go to the gym and see people work out.  Because people work out there and I am also there to work out.  I would never watch those people work out on TV so there’s no way I would do the same for football players.  I get the idea behind it but a guy going up and down a draft board because of his speed in the 40 is ridiculous.  How often does someone go 40 yards, untouched, and in a straight line?  Maybe a few times a season?  Anyway, it’s bizarre.

What the Combine does do is allow me to do a Mock Draft V.3. since there would have been some movement afterwards because GMs and Assistant GMs and scouts need something to do.  So here’s the next iteration of the mock draft followed by some random info:

FIRST ROUND

1		Sam Darnold, QB (USC)
2		Saquon Barkley, RB (Penn State)
3		Bradley Chubb, DE (NC State)
4		Denzel Ward, CB (Ohio State)
5		Josh Rosen, QB (UCLA)
6		Josh Allen, QB (Wyoming)
7		Minkah Fitzpatrick, CB (Alabama)
8		Tremaine Edmunds, LB (Virginia Tech)
9		Quentin Nelson, G (Notre Dame)
10		Orlando Brown, T (Oklahoma)
11		Baker Mayfield, QB (Oklahoma)
12		Derwin James, S (Florida State)
13		Roquan Smith, LB (Georgia)
14		Marcus Davenport, DE (UTSA)
15		Connor Williams, T (Texas)
16		Derrius Guice, RB (LSU)
17		Leighton Vander Esch, LB (Boise State)
18		Joshua Jackson, CB (Iowa)
19		Vita Vea, DT (Washington)
20		Isaiah Wynn, G (Georgia)
21		Rashaan Evans, LB (Alabama)
22		Mason Rudolph, QB (Oklahoma State)
23		Mike McGlinchey, T (Notre Dame)
24		James Daniels, C (Iowa)
25		Harold Landry, DE (Boston College)
26		Maurice Hurst, DT (Michigan)
27		Billy Price, C (Ohio State)
28		Malik Jefferson, LB (Texas)
29		Courtland Sutton, WR (SMU)
30		Will Hernandez, G (UTEP)
31		Kolton Miller, T (UCLA)
32		Carlton Davis, CB (Auburn)

SECOND ROUND

33		Jamarco Jones, T (Ohio State)
34		Isaiah Oliver, CB (Colorado)
35		Ronald Jones II, RB (USC)
36		Sam Hubbard, DE (Ohio State)
37		Sony Michel, RB (Georgia)
38		Arden Key, DE (LSU)
39		Calvin Ridley, WR (Alabama)
40		Brian O’Neill, T (Pittsburgh)
41		Taven Bryan, DT (Florida)
42		Nick Chubb, RB (Georgia)
43		Chukwuma Okorafor, T (Western Kentucky)
44		Da’Ron Payne, DT (Alabama)
45		Anthony Miller, WR (Memphis)
46		Dorance Armstrong Jr., OLB (Kansas)
47		James Washington, WR (Oklahoma State)
48		Ronnie Harrison, S (Alabama)
49		Jaire Alexander, CB (Louisville)
50		Dallas Goedert, TE (South Dakota State)
51		Harrison Phillips, DT (Stanford)
52		Christian Kirk, WR (Texas A&M)
53		Trenton Thompson, DT (Georgia)
54		D.J. Moore, WR (Maryland)
55		Mike Hughes, CB (UCF)
56		D.J. Chark, WR (LSU)
57		Hayden Hurst, TE (South Carolina)
58		Terrell Edmunds, S (Virginia Tech)
59		Lamar Jackson, QB (Louisville)
60		Justin Reid, S (Stanford)
61		Mark Andrews, TE (Oklahoma)
62		Duke Ejiofor, DE (Wake Forest)
63		M.J. Stewart, CB (North Carolina)
64		Kyzir White, S (West Virginia)

Random Info

• Gone to two rounds!  I would say it means double the chances to get things wrong but that’s a lie.  It easily quadruples it.  Which makes me on par with Mel Kiper.
• I can’t see the Giants passing on Barkley now.  This means the Browns lose the opportunity to get a top QB and THE top RB in the first four picks.  It means, chances are, their pick at running back will come later in the draft (which I have them doing on their second 2nd round pick).
• This may now work out great for the Broncos.  They just got Case Keenum so whoever they draft at QB can at least sit and watch and be mentored for a season, which we know is definitely the way to go (most of the time).  See Rodgers, Aaron.
• I don’t put trades in at all.  I know they will happen but it’s difficult enough to pick two rounds of the draft let alone throw in trades.  But something tells me the Bills, after trading Tyrod Taylor to the Browns, will be moving up in the draft to get a QB.  As of right now I have them getting Mason Rudolph (which isn’t a bad pick at all) but they could move up to get one of Darnold, Rosen, Allen or Mayfield.
• Both Edmunds boys (Tremaine and Terrell) I expect to go in the first two rounds.  That should change I am sure since mock drafts, I realize once again, are a fool’s game.
• Yes the Saints just signed Drew Brees again.  But Lamar Jackson would do well to go there, watch a pocket passer like Drew who throws the ball approximately nine thousand times a game, and mesh that with his ridiculous athleticism.  This guy could very well be Michael Vick 2.0…without the bad shit.

So there you go.  Another mock draft.  Impressed, right?  Yeah, I’m not that impressed either.  And I still can’t believe the draft is like a month-and-a-half away.  Didn’t it always used to be early March/late April?  A quick online tells me the last time it was even as early as mid-April was the 2000 draft.  I must be hallucinating then.

Hey, remember my “I will try to post once a week” comment?  Yeah that got flushed down the toilet.  What else can I talk about without sounding like I am forcibly creating a post for no other reason than to create a post.  I will have at least one more mock draft…maybe two.  And perhaps another What-if post since they are SO popular (as in I assume they aren’t popular at all).  Other than that?   Crickets.

I am working on the college schedule now that it is out.  Mapping it out and such.  It takes a while so I never do more than a bit at a time because even I would get bored with it.  Once the draft is upon us, I should start getting back into things.  So let’s consider this a season finale of sorts.  Like on TV.  Except way worse.  Enjoy your week everyone!

So………………………………now what?

Man was that ever a fun Super Bowl.  The most pew-pew-pew Super Bowl ever.  Nick Foles and Tom Brady both had (arguably) the greatest two-game playoff stretches EVER for a QB in NFL history.  I will refrain from the Big XII jokes I heard about this one but every so often you need a game like that.  Especially in the NFL.  Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles for their first Super Bowl victory and good luck to the city of Philadelphia cleaning up after that celebration.

Might as well move on with Mock Draft 2.0.  OK Mock Draft 2.  No decimals.  I am not Mel Kiper (or any of the other drafttheads who do four different versions of the draft every damn day).  Here we go followed by inane somewhat-early analysis:

FIRST ROUND

1		Sam Darnold, QB (USC)
2		Josh Rosen, QB (UCLA)
3		Bradley Chubb, DE (NC State)
4		Saquon Barkley, RB (Penn State)
5		Josh Allen, QB (Wyoming)
6		Baker Mayfield, QB (Oklahoma)
7		Minkah Fitzpatrick, CB (Alabama)
8		Quentin Nelson, G (Notre Dame)
9		Orlando Brown, OT (Oklahoma)
10		Roquan Smith, LB (Georgia)
11		Derrius Guice, RB (LSU)
12		Connor Williams, OT (Texas)
13		Tremaine Edmunds, LB (Virginia Tech)
14		Denzel Ward, CB (Ohio State)
15		Billy Price, C (Ohio State)
16		Calvin Ridley, WR (Alabama)
17		Derwin James, S (Florida State)
18		Joshua Jackson, CB (Iowa)
19		Maurice Hurst, DT (Michigan)
20		Leighton Vander Esch, LB (Boise State)
21		Vita Vea, DT (Washington)
22		Mason Rudolph, QB (Oklahoma State)
23		Rashaan Evans, LB (Alabama)
24		Marcus Davenport, DE (UTSA)
25		Harold Landry, DE (Boston College)
26		Da’Ron Payne, DT (Alabama)
27		Malik Jefferson, LB (Texas)
28		Carlton Davis, CB (Auburn)
29		Mike McGlinchey, OT (Notre Dame)
30		Isaiah Wynn, G (Georgia)
31		Isaiah Oliver, CB (Colorado)
32		Kolton Miller, OT (UCLA)

Notes

• Still doing only the first round at this point.  I mean it’s two-and-a-half months until the draft.  Don’t want to burn myself out on this.
• Hey remember when I said I wouldn’t give into the Josh Allen hype?  Well I kind of am.  Kind of.  I’m moving him into the Top 10 at this point but with the following caveat: if the Broncos pass on him I don’t think the Jets would take him so he would fall pretty far down the ladder.  So it’s all-or-nothing at this point for Mr. Allen.  That should change 50 times between now and the draft.
• I think it makes sense (for now) that the Browns draft two offensive weapons early so that neither has to be relied on too much.  I mean the Browns will still suck but maybe they won’t suck as bad.
• Two Isaiahs in a row.  Nice.
• Mike McGlinchey with the farthest fall so far.  19 spots from the first mock to the second.  Then again I know next to nothing so who knows where he will end up.  Also we have fucking idiots for GMs on certain teams so at least one of them will do something relatively stupid on the draft’s opening night.

So that’s it.  No more football.  College football starts again in 201 days.  That is way too long.  I always try to remember how I get through these dark times.  At least the summer is easy to figure out since there’s a ton to do but right now I just feel sad.  Maybe I have F-SAD: Football Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Either way this should be a good time to get back into being a normal human being.  Like:

• workout more.  I am amazed I don’t always feel like a bag of shit but these are the times I usually do: the times when I have much less to do.
• work on projects around the house.  Not that there is too much I can do without spending the amount of money I would need but still…I have to stop letting things go so long.
• date more.  More like date at all.  This has to work in conjunction with the workout more point above and…
• eat better.  I know part of this is my depression but I have to fight and not take the lazy way out with food.  Plus I can’t see it costing a ton more to eat better so I might as well do it.  Got to be an example for my kids and whatnot.
• re-connect with friends.  This I am terrible at.  Not saying I have to put the first foot forward but I do have to try harder (and hope they also try in return which is another story altogether).

There’s way more stuff there.  Hopefully I can use the next six months to my advantage so that I feel fine spending a whole bunch of Saturdays in a row watching a shitload of college football and shunning some other responsibilities.  And with my kids ignoring me more and more these days (as kids are wont to do as they get older) this will only get worse.

I am hoping to continue to post at least once a week going forward until I start back up in the late spring with some schedule posts and important games posts and stuff like that.  We shall see how this goes.  Have a great week everyone.

It’s about that time of year…mock draft time WAIT DON’T LEAVE!

Yeah I’m not too happy about this either.  I mean I don’t mind the draft.  The lead-up to the draft is beyond ridiculous and the Combine is creepy as fuck but the draft itself is some solid stuff…at least the first two days.  The last day is…well, it’s something that’s for sure.  I can whip through it on the PVR in like an hour.  It’s good on fast-forward.

So the reason I am unhappy is doing this post means we are at the end of another football year.  Well almost.  We got the Pro Bowl ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha sorry I couldn’t say that with a straight face.  For normal football fans we have the Super Bowl obviously and the Senior Bowl this weekend which I will discuss later in this post.  For now, let’s get to my first mock draft:

FIRST ROUND

1		Sam Darnold, QB (USC)
2		Josh Rosen, QB (UCLA)
3		Orlando Brown, T (Oklahoma)
4		Minkah Fitzpatrick, CB (Alabama)
5		Baker Mayfield, QB (Oklahoma)
6		Saquon Barkley, RB (Penn State)
7		Bradley Chubb, DE (NC State)
8		Calvin Ridley, WR (Alabama)
9		Quentin Nelson, G (Notre Dame)
10		Mike McGlinchey, T (Notre Dame)
11		Roquan Smith, LB (Georgia)
12		Josh Allen, QB (Wyoming)
13		Derwin James, S (Florida State)
14		James Washington, WR (Oklahoma State)
15		Courtland Sutton, WR (SMU)
16		Derrius Guice, RB (LSU)
17		Connor Williams, T (Texas)
18		Joshua Jackson, CB (Iowa)
19		Vita Vea, DT (Washington)
20		Marcus Davenport, DE (UTSA)
21		Mason Rudolph, QB (Oklahoma State)
22		Maurice Hurst, DT (Michigan)
23		Denzel Ward, CB (Ohio State)
24		Anthony Miller, WR (Memphis)
25		Will Hernandez, G (UTEP)
26		Taven Bryan, DT (Florida)
27		Christian Kirk, WR (Texas A&M)
28		Tremaine Edmunds, LB (Virginia Tech)
29		Billy Price, G (Ohio State)
30		Arden Key, DE (LSU)
31		Malik Jefferson, LB (Texas)
32		Sam Hubbard, DE (Ohio State)

Notes

• Only did the first round this time around.  Will probably stick with that the first few mocks and then afterwards include the second round.  I will not do like a dozen mocks.  That’s absurd.  I did five last year and I wonder if that might have been too much as well.
• I am not giving into the Josh Allen hype.  Yes, he’s a good quarterback but I don’t think he’s better than Darnold or Rosen.  He should still get his name called somewhere mid-first round.
• Honestly I believe Josh Rosen is a more polished quarterback than Sam Darnold but he has made it abundantly clear they he does not want to play in Cleveland.  The Browns are a shitty franchise but even they have to see the potential John Elway situation and tell themselves it’s best to steer clear of this one.  It helps that Darnold should still be a good pick.
• There will be trades.  I know there will be.  There was last year that set up situations like the Bills picking twice in a row in this draft’s first round.  I am not including any potential trades.  At all.  Once they happen I will curse and then re-do my draft board (that sounds so douchey to say).
• What should my reward be if I get like half of these picks right three months before the draft occurs?  Actually, you know what…I’m not gonna go there.

This Saturday is the final college football anything of the season as we get to see the Senior Bowl on the NFL Network.  Starts at 2:30.  Again they have some weird variation on rules but it’s still college football.  As long as it’s a good game I don’t mind at all.  And yes the Pro Bowl is on Sunday at 3:00 on ABC and TSN2.  I will not be watching it.

Next week there’s an important game supposedly.  I might look into that next week.  Enjoy the rest of your week (and weekend) everyone!

Ranking the Bowl Games from First to Worst – 2017-18 Edition

First off, holy shit with that game on Sunday.  First walk-off touchdown in playoff history EVER.  Poor Marcus Williams will never live that down despite the fact he is a key reason that a) the Saints were still in the game to begin with and b) the Saints were even in the playoffs this season.  Either way, other than in New Orleans, he will get shit on forever.  Ask Scott Norwood (who is still revered in Western New York and treated like a goat (and not the good kind of goat) everywhere else).  So now we have Case Keenum vs. Nick Foles in a conference championship game.  What a time to be alive!

Alright it’s time to rank the bowl games after they have been played for, I believe, the second year in a row.  This is such a text heavy blog and I know it will probably look like shit (i.e. an absolute wall of words) so if you read the whole thing then congratulations.  I mean you don’t get a prize but that shows how focused you can be which is good in real life, correct?  Let’s begin.

1. National Championship (Alabama 26 Georgia 23 (OT)) – Jesus Christ this was an amazing game.  And that final touchdown throw in overtime: it was a thing of beauty.  Tua can really chuck the ball.  I see Jalen Hurts transferring soon enough although he will still try to win the starting job for the 2018 season.  It was a great way to end the season and gives us something to cling to (even you absolute despise Bama) for the next seven months or so.  OK I am getting sad already.  Somebody hold me (a female preferably).
2. Rose Bowl (Georgia 54 Oklahoma 48 (2OT)) – Should I make this number one?  Part of me thinks it should be but when the national title game is an all-time classic you almost have to put it number one right?  Anyway, this made last year’s Rose Bowl (one of the best ever) look like a mediocre game.  This game had almost everything and you couldn’t look away.  I think I needed a smoke after it was done and I don’t smoke.  Also, there was no Baker Mayfield crotch-grabbing so it was definitely a win-win…unless you’re a Sooners fan.
3. Belk Bowl (Wake Forest 55 Texas A&M 52) – Until the College Football Playoff again this stood a chance at being the best bowl game of the season.  Wake and the Aggies (this sounds like a horrible band name) decided “Fuck Defense” and put on an arena football-like performance for the ages.  The fact the Deacs could hang with TAMU shows that the ACC has really narrowed the gap recently on the field.
4. Alamo Bowl (TCU 37 Stanford 35) – Don’t bet against TCU when they play in San Antonio.  If TCU wants to schedule a series against your team and at least one of the games will be in San Antonio, DO NOT DO IT!  It’s a trick!  Gary Patterson owns the Alamodome.  Period.  No matter what colour shirt he wears.
5. Birmingham Bowl (USF 38 Texas Tech 34) – If this was based on everything up until early in the fourth quarter this game would be WAY down the list.  But Quentin Flowers went all Quentin Flowers and willed the Bulls to a victory over Texas Tech who had to reaffirm that, yes, Kute Kliff Kingsbury is safe and his job is not in jeopardy…until the first weekend of the college football season when we begin the serious hot seat discussions.
6. Armed Forces Bowl (Army 42 San Diego State 35) – Don’t let the final score fool you: this game was MUCH closer than that.  It was old-school football at its finest.  Running the ball a boatload of times to set up a few big passes.  It was glorious to watch.  The Black Knights scored with 18 seconds left to tie the game up, went for two, got it, then got a scoop n’ score on the final play of the game.  And even with all that, the Aztecs’ Rashaad Penny was a sight to watch.  Ran for over two bills and four touchdowns.  Unreal.
7. Arizona Bowl (New Mexico State 26 Utah State 20 (OT)) – And now for the game almost no one watched but should have.  The Aggies winning their first bowl game appearance in 57 years pushed this into the top ten although it was a damn good game in the fourth quarter.  This is why these bowls need at least partial national spotlights.  So they get their moment in the sun that’s not overshadowed by another bowl game at the same time.
8. Foster Farms Bowl (Purdue 38 Arizona 35) – Even though there was no GUS JOHNSON in this one and the better game on paper looked to be the Holiday Bowl, we lucked out when this one ended up on the main FOX network.    Quite a few lead changes in this one from two teams that almost no one expected to be bowling this season.
9. Citrus Bowl (Notre Dame 21 LSU 17) – That ridiculous catch-and-run in the final minute put this game into the top ten.  Otherwise it might have dropped into the 20s and maybe even farther considering the field was in atrocious condition thanks to all the rain (although it could have been worse *COUGH*Outback Bowl*COUGH*).  Expect Brian Kelly to sign that 12-year contract extension any day now.
10. Peach Bowl (UCF 34 Auburn 27) – True national champions?  Meh, I don’t think so but UCF was the only unbeaten (and untied LOL) team in FBS.  Scott Frost finishing what he started should be a reminder to almost all coaches to do the same before getting on the first private jet to your new destination.  Not just from a PR standpoint but also from a “Don’t be an Asshole” standpoint.
11. TaxSlayer Bowl (Mississippi State 31 Louisville 27) – If this wasn’t on at the same time as two other bowl games, I might have watched more of it (and may have moved it up a slot or two.  Lamar Jackson was good not great in his last college game (probably) but the story here was the Bulldogs.  Lose their coach to Florida.  Lose their quarterback a month prior due to a horrific injury on national television.  And what do they do?  Come back and win a bowl game against a good Cardinals squad.
12. Liberty Bowl (Iowa State 21 Memphis 20) – From the massive crowd at Liberty Bowl Stadium to the noise to the quality of football, this felt like a big-time bowl game; something completely lost from all non-New Year’s Six games (and non-College Football Playoff games also although this should be obvious).  The only thing that kept this from going up the list is the lack of points from two teams we figured would shoot the lights out in a potential pew-pew game.
13. Pinstripe Bowl (Iowa 27 Boston College 20) – A game that most people, including myself, figured would be a bit of a bore.  It wasn’t.  On the frozen tundra of Yankee Stadium, we witnessed slippin’ and slidin’ and more slippin’ and slidin’.  Part of me thinks it’s complete stupidity to put a game on this kind of field.  The other part of me thinks this is fucking fantastic and we need more of this!
14. Music City Bowl (Northwestern 24 Kentucky 23) – This will forever be known as the Benny Snell game for Snell being thrown out for…what I don’t really know.  Basically the ref was being a dick and took it out on this kid.  Both coaches said it was one of the worst officiated games they had ever seen.  I tend to agree.  From what I watched it was piss-poor which is saying something since bowl season was rife with terrible officiating.  Too bad since this was a close game that came down to the wire.
15. Hawaii Bowl (Fresno State 33 Houston 27) – For the first time in what feels like forever, these two teams made the annual “Finish up Wrapping Presents and Put this on in the Background” Bowl exciting.  I had to actually watch the entire second half since it was that good.  Fresno State finished up a remarkable turnaround year with this victory.  Oh and Ed Oliver will be a beast on Sundays.  Bank on it.
16. Outback Bowl (South Carolina 26 Michigan 19) – First off, the field conditions were atrocious.  The Bucs played a late afternoon game the day before this game which started at Noon.  And it rained a lot.  So yeah, not fun for the players.  Secondly, Michigan had the fate of the Big Ten’s ridiculous perfect bowl record on the line.  They couldn’t close out the Cocks and now they have the scorn of an entire conference and Big Jim Harbaugh on a Big Hot Seat next season.
17. Fiesta Bowl (Penn State 35 Washington 28) – No matter how close the Huskies tried to make this, it always felt like the Nittany Lions were at least a couple steps ahead.  Which meant I felt just a bit dirty after watching it since the hype didn’t match the actual game despite the score saying it was close when it really wasn’t.  Ugh.
18. Orange Bowl (Wisconsin 34 Miami 24) – The New Year’s Six itself, I would say, was underwhelming.  Some great storylines coming in but the games didn’t match the hype.  I was kind of hoping this would have been closer, especially once Mark Richt went fucking crazy on the sidelines before halftime.  Having him lose his shit again late in the game would have pushed this possibly into Top Ten territory.
19. New Mexico Bowl (Marshall 31 Colorado State 28) – Hey this wasn’t a bad bowl at all.  Too bad it was lumped in with a few bowl games on at the same time.  When that happens you really have to stand out to be high in these rankings.
20. Camping World Bowl (Oklahoma State 30 Virginia Tech 21) – Here is where things start to fall off a cliff.  I was really hoping and expecting this game to be good.  It was OK at times but there weren’t enough huge defensive plays or big offensive shootouts going on in this one.  It was just there.  At least we still had Mike Gundy’s mullet to keep us entertained.
21. Camellia Bowl (Middle Tennessee 35 Arkansas State 30) – A misleading final score as ASU wasn’t really in this one.  It did have a few bizarre plays that only bowl games seem to unearth.
22. Sugar Bowl (Alabama 24 Clemson 6) – This game suffered from it not being really close for a game that started at 8:50 on the night before many of us had to go back to work.  The other thing was it came on after that crazy Rose Bowl.  Not enviable at all.
23. Cure Bowl (Georgia State 27 Western Kentucky 17) – This was the game that ruined my chance at bowl perfection.  Yes, I know it was only like the fourth game of bowl season, leave me alone.
24. Texas Bowl (Texas 33 Missouri 16) – The punter was the MVP of this game.  Let that sink in.
25. Cactus Bowl (Kansas State 35 UCLA 17) – There were a lot of questions about the Rosen One (or Chosen Rosen which sounds infinitely worse but whatever) before this game.  He ended up not playing.  The first half had UCLA out to a lead and I thought this would be a good game.  It wasn’t  KSU blew them out in the second half and I’m being kind.
26. Las Vegas Bowl (Boise State 38 Oregon 28) – Boise State did everything in their power to keep Oregon in this game.  Oregon was terrible.  TERRIBLE!  It should have been 49-0.  That it was a ten-point game is a testament to college football getting wacky at times.
27. Heart of Dallas Bowl (Utah 30 West Virginia 14) – It was so depressing watching this game seeing the Cotton Bowl with barely any people in it.  It doesn’t look like the most, um, stable stadium I guess is the term I am looking for.  What a difference between that and the Red River Shootout.
28. Sun Bowl (NC State 52 Arizona State 31) – This was never close.  And it was on at the same time as a few other, better bowl games.  And it doesn’t include an SEC team on the network that has the SEC.
29. Cotton Bowl (Ohio State 24 USC 7) – For a New Year’s Six game, this was brutal.  Not fun to watch.  And it was the first NY6 game this season.  It gave everyone a bit of anxiety hoping that the rest of the games wouldn’t be this way.  They weren’t thankfully.
30. Quick Lane Bowl (Duke 36 Northern Illinois 14) – I will be completely honest…after the first half I watched very little of this game.  Fast forwarded through, noticed Duke was handling this game pretty easily, and felt good about my decision.
31. New Orleans Bowl (Troy 50 North Texas 30) – Only good thing about this one was that there were a lot of points.  I mean it was close for the first half but that was about it.
32. Idaho Potato Bowl (Wyoming 37 Central Michigan 14) – Did you know Josh Allen is a TOP-NOTCH quarterback that should be taken high in the first round?  If not, then you didn’t watch this game.  I don’t think the announcers were relatives of Allen but it sure felt like it.
33. Independence Bowl (Florida State 42 Southern Miss 13) – This had a certain car crash quality to it.  Would the Noles crash and burn and end one of their worst seasons in recent memory on a terrible note?  Or would they rise to the occasion and show everyone why this game shouldn’t be close.  It was definitely the latter which kind of made it more boring than the first option would have been.
34. Bahamas Bowl (Ohio 41 UAB 6) – I honestly hate this bowl game.  I don’t want to.  But it’s on at a horrible time every year (during the day on a weekday before Christmas).  So other than that one year with the ridiculous Central Michigan comeback with the crazy final touchdown and they still lost by 1, it hasn’t impressed me at all.  I guess the players get to go to Bahamas so that’s fun.  And UAB was there.  It was a fun story to talk about…during the first quarter.  After that?  Blah.
35. Gasparilla Bowl (Temple 28 FIU 3) – I was more in awe of the absolutely stupidly massive Bad Boy Mowers dog inflatable mascot than anything.  That thing was huge!  They really should have just had mower races.  I think the St. Pete crowd would have been more appreciative.  And I still think the Trop is a fucking dump even if they do have slightly nicer turf now.
36. Holiday Bowl (Michigan State 42 Washington State 17) – This may tell you how bad the worst five bowl games are.  I rated this game, a blowout that no Canadian could watch live, better than those ones.  Yeah.
37. Dollar General Bowl (Appalachian State 34 Toledo 0) – This should have been a better game.  Two Group of Five conference champs going toe-to-toe.  It was anything but.  The only interesting thing was if the Mountaineers would hold on to get the goose egg.  They did.
38. Boca Raton Bowl (Florida Atlantic 50 Akron 3) – A fair amount of Lane Kiffin talk and John Franklin acting like a douchebag and dropping the ball before the goal line on a long touchdown run are the only highlights here.
39. Military Bowl (Navy 49 Virginia 7) – At least the Hoos celebrated their first decent season in a long time with an opening kickoff return for a touchdown.  After that this game suck-diddly-ucked.
40. Frisco Bowl (Louisiana Tech 51 SMU 10) – New location, same shitty bowl game.  Other than the Memphis-BYU brawl a few years back the Miami Beach-turned-Frisco Bowl has been horrendous.  The game they had in Frisco recently (the FCS Championship) was tons better and might have had two better teams competing.

So a lot of good and a lot of not-so-good.  It was college football but some of the not-so-good games were tough to watch.  Tomorrow (or Friday depending on time) I will have the conference championship schedule up (all two games of it!).  Enjoy the rest of the week everyone!

Week 3 College Football Recap – Champions of Life Edition

Yeah that picture says it all about the ending of the Tennessee-Florida game.  OK actually it says a hell of a lot more than that but we will leave that for now.  What an amazing finish to what was arguably one of the worst SEC conference games I have ever seen.  It was awful to watch.  So much so that I watched very little of the first 50 minutes of the game.  But man was I ever glued to the last part of the game.  That was a massive throw by Felipe Franks and it was the longest Hail Mary to finish an FBS game in a long time.  It was the cherry on top of a great college football day.

Remember when I said last weekend had been kind of blah with the games.  It really had been.  And when you compare it to this past Saturday you understand why.  Such a crazy day full of Hail Marys and upsets and crazy finishes.  It was what college football is meant to be and it shows, yet again, why college football is light years ahead of the NFL in terms of excitement and entertainment.

So let’s get to the recap since there is a lot to talk about.

Fun-Time Recap!

• Will Butch Jones be fired during the season? I honestly think he won’t be but they can probably lose more than one or two more games this season or else Jonesy can take his Champions of Life title belt and take it somewhere else.
• Clemson destroyed Louisville. It was kind of boring.  Insert Bobby Petrino Motorcycle Accident pic here.
• Let’s say it: Texas is back. Yes they lost to USC in an amazing double overtime game (which means FOX had a better game than ABC…let the Primetime college football wars truly begin) but they showed that they belonged.  Also, this means we won’t have to replay Vince Young’s run against USC back in the 2006 National Championship in the Rose Bowl.  Also, I will say this as well: this was not revenge.  The game was over 11 years ago.  For some people it’s ancient history.
• Hey how did my Upset of the Week pick do?   My god, Pitt.  Couldn’t you have kept it at least somewhat close?  Maybe Oklahoma State is the real deal after all.  Bedlam is going to be REALLY fun this year.
• Oh LSU. That was awful.  Don’t want to take anything away from Mississippi State but the Tigers looked terrible.  And now we will hear a bunch of “Ed Orgeron is on the Hot Seat” hot takes for at least the next week or so.  I don’t think there should be any worry on his part but this is college football and programs have fired Bo Pelini, Les Miles (ironic), Earle Bruce, Ron Zook (at Florida), and Philip Fulmer after better results.
• Uh, is Vandy for real? They just completely shut down Kansas State and is now 3-0.  All of a sudden, next week’s game at home against Alabama may become a huge opportunity for the Dores.  I mean they won’t win but I could see their defense shutting down the Tide for large swaths of time.
• How about San Diego State? Huge upset of Stanford and now they are the 1B to USF’s 1A (and Memphis’s 1C) for the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six.  Maybe for once there will be some real drama and intrigue near the end of the season since it hasn’t been since the College Football Playoff was implemented.
• Speaking of Memphis, how about that win over UCLA? That really dulled the shine on Josh Rosen’s season so far that’s for sure.  And now Memphis could be a true contender to USF.  It would be great if they both made it to the AAC Championship Game undefeated.  Gives The Committee some more headaches (which will require more booze no matter what they say).
• How about Nebraska….losing to Northern Illinois at home.   Cue the Fire Mike Riley talk from Husker fans.  But hey, look at the bright side: now they can truly say they are a Big Ten team now that they have had their “lose to a MAC team at home” cherry popped (as is B1G tradition).
• We didn’t end up getting Kansas-Ohio on the specialty pack. We got Baylor-Duke instead.  A good game with Duke winning and the Bears still looking for their first win.  As for the former, Kansas should be relegated to Conference USA.
• We can’t call them Purdon’t this season (so far at least). Purdue dominated Missouri and go to 3-0.  Now they get Michigan in a nationally televised game on FOX.  This is the big time, something this program hasn’t seen in years.  Let’s see what they do with it.
• Um I have this feeling Josh Allen will not be the #1 overall pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
• Two more surprises: Cal and Kentucky are both 3-0. And they haven’t played three cupcakes.  This season is slowly marching towards chaos.  Let’s embrace this.

So yeah it was a fun day of watching college football.  That’s what I’m talking about.  We need more of that.  More chaos!  Now, let’s take a look at the Bossman Top 25:

#1	Alabama
#2	Clemson

Oh man, I am so tempted to put Clemson #1.  I really am.  Pretty easy wins over Auburn and Louisville, both who are in the Top 25, should probably put them there.  But I can’t………………wait, a minute.  Of course I can!  Behold the revised Bossman Top 25:

#1	Clemson
#2	Alabama
#3	USC
#4	Oklahoma
#5	Penn State
#6	Michigan
#7	Washington
#8	Wisconsin
#9	Oklahoma State
#10	Ohio State
#11	Florida State
#12	Virginia Tech
#13	Georgia
#14	Auburn
#15	Miami
#16	Louisville
#17	Washington State
#18	USF
#19	TCU
#20	Mississippi State
#21	Florida
#22	LSU
#23	Oregon
#24	Colorado
#25	San Diego State

Ah, that feels better.  In the end it doesn’t matter since if both teams win out they get to the College Football Playoff and won’t face each other in the semi-finals meaning we would be on a collision course for Bama-Clemson III: Back in Training.  I don’t see that happening but honestly it also wouldn’t surprise me if this ended up being the case.

As for the rest of the rankings, nothing really that shocking.  Mississippi State moves into the Top 25 with their impressive shellacking of LSU.  San Diego State also gets in thanks to their fun upset of Stanford.  On the outside looking in I have Maryland, Vanderbilt, Cal, West Virginia, and Notre Dame.  Another win this coming weekend and these teams are probably up in my official rankings.

Same old schedule for the rest of the week: tomorrow with the NFL recap, Thursday with the college football schedule, Friday with the NFL schedule.  At some point I will throw in an extra post on a Wednesday if I have nothing to do and just feel I need to post something.

YAWN! – Week 2 College Football Recap

Yes, yawn.  I would almost never say that about college football but I kind of do for this past weekend and for two very different reasons.

The first reason is the normal reason I have for saying this: I am up late watching college football.  Eventually that kind of lack of sleep catches up with you.  Say, about 10 hours later.  This will happen to me every Saturday through Conference Championship Week.  I know it.  I accept it.  I have to do something other than drink copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake for it.

The other reason is the fact that, looking back on what happened this past weekend in college football, it was a bit of a yawner.  Well, a yawner compared to most college football weekends.  Usually we get a bunch of fantastic plays or a few upsets or a monumental victory or something.  Other than a couple of things, nothing really moved the needle all that much.  There could be many reasons for this, chief among them being Hurricane Irma and the impact on anything related to the state of Florida.  Either way, I don’t expect this to happen again the rest of the season.

Saying all that, let’s get on with the recap!

• One of the bigger highlights of the day was Oklahoma’s victory over Ohio State in what seemed like relatively easy fashion. The icing on the cake (for Sooners fans) was Baker Mayfield trying to plant the Oklahoma flag in the middle of the Ohio Stadium O at midfield.  I guess Baker isn’t a turf management major since trying to plant that flag pole into artificial turf was never going to happen.  Alas, the symbolism was still stunning and may push Oklahoma to bigger heights.
• Easily the best game of the day was the last game of the night. Pac-12 After Dark lived up to its sometimes-crazy reputation as Washington State came back from down 31-10 with 8 minutes left to beat Boise State in triple overtime in an absolute classic.  Topping that was the fact that most of this was done on the strengths of both BACKUP quarterbacks.  Maybe, just maybe, Wazzu is a team to watch in the Pac-12.  Man, the Pac-12 North is shaping up to be a brutally tough division…you know, save Oregon State and Cal.
• Clemson had 11 sacks (ELEVEN!) against Auburn and still only won by 8. The Tigers (of the Death Valley persuasion…in South Carolina) and their defense will have to probably carry the load this season.  Not saying the offense isn’t good but without Deshaun Watson it is not nearly as dynamic.  Also, I can see the hype for Jarrett Stidham falling off a cliff now.
• For some hilarity, check out the fumble in the Mississippi State-Louisiana Tech Bulldog Bowl. LaTech had 2^nd and Goal from the MSU 6-yard line.  After the most ridiculous series of events (which must have involved everyone smothering their fingers with melted butter), the ball ended up on the LaTech 7.  So now LaTech had 3^rd & Goal from their own 7.  You will probably never see something like that in your life again.
• Another good game on the night was Georgia-Notre Dame. You just kind of knew that the Irish would blow it in the end though, right?
• Sam Darnold is REALLY making his case for the Heisman early on after that performance against Stanford. So is Josh Rosen for that matter.  Is the Pac-12 back in terms of star power?
• The annual battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy ended up being a pretty good game as well…as it normally is for some bizarre reason. Iowa had to really tough it out against a much-improved Iowa State team to win in overtime.  Watching some of these lower-level Big XII teams (other than Kansas) has me VERY worried for Texas this season.
• Hurricane Irma has now affected one of next week’s games as well: Miami-Florida State, which was supposed to be the ABC primetime game, has been moved to October. Now Clemson-Louisville will take its place and there will be a domino effect that will follow that I will discuss in more depth on Thursday.
• For anyone who left Lamar Jackson off their pre-season Heisman ballot: Shame on you!
• So many cancelled games. Why do I have this funny feeling that this may affect things in late November when it comes to conference championships and bowl-eligibility?
• Central Michigan beat Kansas and Eastern Michigan defeated Rutgers. Some things never change.

That’s about it for the recap.  Don’t need to explain much more.  What I do need to do though is the patented (not patented actually) Bossman Top 25 which will be slightly different than the AP Top 25 and I don’t care.  So here we go:

#1	Alabama
#2	Clemson
#3	USC
#4	Oklahoma
#5	Penn State
#6	Michigan
#7	Washington
#8	Ohio State
#9	Wisconsin
#10	Oklahoma State
#11	Florida State
#12	LSU
#13	Louisville
#14	Georgia
#15	Virginia Tech
#16	Auburn
#17	Kansas State
#18	Miami
#19	USF
#20	Stanford
#21	Washington State
#22	Tennessee
#23	TCU
#24	UCLA
#25	Florida

As you can see, quite close to the AP but some are a little off.  I didn’t move Oklahoma to #2 like the AP poll did because I believe Clemson and USC also had significant victories that were completely overshadowed by what the Sooners did in Columbus.  Honestly though, the top four are a fair amount of ahead of everyone below them so they could almost be interchangeable.  That should change in the next couple of weeks.  I think many should watch out for TCU and UCLA who inhabit the bottom part of my Top 25.  I could see them making up some serious ground over the next month.

Alright there you go.  The first NFL recap of the season (however crappy it may be) will appear tomorrow and then back to the college schedule on Thursday.  Remember there are two (TWO!) Monday Night Football games tonight.  Saints-Vikings at 7 and Chargers-Broncos at 10:15.  I can’t see me watching all of the late game but who knows these days.