Should I do a Draft Recap?

Yeah, why not. Not like I am stupidly busy with life.

Alright we made it through all seven rounds (and the various undrafted signees over the following 48 hours). It was a slog at time but there was some very interesting spots during the three days, especially night one. Let’s just do this point form, shall we? I don’t feel like putting a ton of effort into something that is done in a much more thorough fashion by some websites who go as far as rating EVERY PICK. Yeah I’m not doing that.

• The most stunning development of the draft, by a country mile, was the Atlanta Falcons and their pick at the #8 spot in the draft. I wondered if they would pick J.J. McCarthy in my final mock draft to back Kirk Cousins up for a season and then see where things are. I was right…the Falcons did draft a quarterback. That quarterback’s name, though, was Michael Penix Jr. People were stunned. Hell, Cousins was stunned. He certainly DID NOT LIKE THAT. This has all the makings of a three-ring circus so we shall see how things progress down in the heart of Georgia.
• Speaking of stunning, how about Penix being one of the six quarterbacks picked in the first 12 spots of the draft. Incredible. Easily a new record for the draft.
• Hey, look at me! I got the first four picks absolutely correct…as did I think almost everyone. It was almost a no-brainer as to who the first four selections would be and in what order they would go in.
• Now, as for the first stretch of the draft I would go with Penix at #8 since I figured he would go much later in the first round. As for bigger stretches, how about Ricky Pearsall at #31, Max Melton at #43 (again with those Falcons) and Ben Sinnott at #53 who I had going sometime after the third round. Yikes.
• Over 700,000 fans were at this draft. 700,000. I mean it wasn’t 700,000 different people but still. That’s an insane amount of people. And let’s be honest here: other than the people under the structure and close enough to be maybe caught on camera once, is it really that fun an experience? It looks awful to be part of unless you are close enough and feel like you are part of the “action” for lack of a better term. At least it doesn’t cost anything to go there so you could come and go as you please (as far as I know).
• I perused all three shows on Night One. Gotta say, Nick Saban was a breath of fresh air. Honest insight and gave you info that always seemed to be missing from previous draft broadcasts. NFL Network did their usual solid job. And if you want to know how ESPN did, as soon as I went over to that broadcast, the first thing I saw is Mel Kiper basically yelling right in Booger McFarland’s face. So yeah, I would go 1) ABC 2) NFLN 3) watching people on Twitter bitch and complain about all things draft-related but at least picks weren’t getting tipped early unless you were looking for it 4) ESPN.

Let’s get to the winners and loser of this draft:

Winners

• As I usually do, I will preface this with the fact that it is really too soon to truly understand the ramifications of this draft. Many pundits have been wrong. No one thought Tom Brady would be what he ended up being after being drafted 199th back in 2000.
• Da Bears – Caleb Williams was the no-brainer first overall pick. Getting Rome Odunze to pair with him eight picks later was a big pick. Then to pick Tory Taylor in the fourth round was a coup. Overall, a great draft from Ryan Poles.
• Da Vikings – This seems to be a bit more polarizing. As a friend of mine stated, he just wanted the Vikings to have a plan and stick with it. So if it’s taking J.J. McCarthy, then take J.J. McCarthy and don’t overthink it. Which they did. Then they moved up to get Dallas Turner in one of the best trade-ups of the draft. Including Khyree Jackson as their fourth-round pick means they actually got a lot of value with some of their picks, something many teams can’t say.
• Philly – Their secondary is going to be something to deal with. Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean were drafted lower than many thought they would be (including myself). And now with Vic Fangio running the defense? Watch out.
• Indy – They got quite the haul with their 2024 draft. And Adonai Mitchell actually picked around where he was supposed to be picked (if not a little later which makes him a bit of a steal). How about that?

Losers

• I don’t care what anyone thinks but drafting Michael Penix Jr. at #8 is a terrible choice. I mentioned it above and I am not going to go over it again. There’s a GM overthinking things and it was interesting watching him try to basically justify the pick to Arthur Blank (or at least that’s what it looked like).
• The Raiders – Now the Raiders, they needed a quarterback. Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell are not the answer unless one of them plays out of his mind this season. So did they trade up? No. They did get Brock Bowers which is a good pick but they need someone to throw him the fucking ball.
• Buffalo* – I put an asterisk here. When they didn’t trade up to grab Brian Thomas Jr. I thought, OK maybe they aren’t go to draft a receiver. Then they trade with the Chiefs to move down to #32 which is kind of weird. The Chiefs picking Xavier Worthy is so much less of a deal than many made it out to be, it’s laughable. According to some, Worthy is nine Puka Nacuas rolled into one. Get the fuck outta here. The Chiefs reached for Worthy according to almost everyone’s thoughts going into the draft so cut it with the “he’s a sure-fire HOFer with Patrick Mahomes” horseshit. THEN, the Bills trade down AGAIN to get out of the first round altogether. Sure, the Panthers also reached with their receiver pick but still, what was Brandon Beane trying to accomplish? And please, moving up on Day 3 of the draft means very little, admit it. So after all this, what do the Bills do? DRAFT A RECEIVER! Are you kidding me? I mean the guy is hilariously entertaining but trading down twice to do what you could have done the previous night all to move up some of your later picks? Oh yeah, real big brain stuff. Again, get the fuck outta here. Over………thinking. And that kind of thing pushes general managers out the door.

OK I have to calm down. Enough of the draft. I was getting pretty pissed off there at the end. Maybe it’s the residual from the Leafs losing in heartbreaking fashion…again. Being a Leafs fan and a Bills fan I should know the pain is coming. But even though I do, it still sucks. Big time.

Were there other winners and losers at this draft? Sure. I don’t have the time, energy or inkling to even go into that. Not my forte, so I dip my toe in the water and steer clear of the “experts” who do this for a living.

Now a little blurb about what is happening with Rogers and their NHL contract. Remember what I said years ago about it? Let’s step into the way-back machine and take a look, shall we?

My opinion was that Rogers would rue the day they made that deal. Not the cost (although it was a ton) but the length of the deal. Twelve years at the time. Now it took longer than I thought it would (and that’s because Rogers couldn’t do this before now becuase there was no interest) but Rogers is selling off the Monday Night NHL game package to Amazon. Yep, it’s only the last two years of the twelve-year contract but still, I had a feeling it would happen. I don’t think Rogers is getting the return on investment they desired and that’s obvious with this move. I am guessing they will be much less of a major player when the Canadian rights come up in 2026. Feels good to be right at least some of the time, especially when others don’t quite agree with you. Then again, I live in the middle of a hockey-mad country that just watched the first- or second-most popular team (depending on who you ask) get bounced from the playoffs….OK I’m not going back to that well. It’s done. Over with. Stop it, Bossman.

Soon enough I will get back in the groove of things. Most important games lists. Conference predictions. My (probably shitty) Heisman ballot. I know it’s only May but with the new college football video game coming out soon I am starting to feel it. College football is in the air (kind of). Have a great week everyone!

DOBBS! – The Week 10 NFL TV Schedule

I’m a Bills fan as you know. And yes, Damar Hamlin returning to Cincinnati for the first time since last year’s horrific incident was a big story. But I have to admit there was an even bigger story coming out of the NFL this past weekend.

How about Josh Dobbs? He went from playing in Cleveland to being traded to the Cardinals to replace injured starter Kyler Murray to being traded yet again to the Vikings to replace another injured quarterback, this time Kirk Cousins who is out for the season. He joined the Vikings after he was acquired last Tuesday at the trade deadline. He had almost no time to prepare but no big deal, right? He was the backup to Jaren Hall. Well, Hall ends up getting a concussion in the first quarter so in comes Dobbs. He had to go over cadences with the offensive line since he hadn’t done that before and the O-line hadn’t heard him do it. Hell, he barely even knew most of their names yet.

So this ended up in disaster for the Vikings, right? Nope. The Vikings ended up scoring 31 on the Falcons, including the game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds left on a drive engineered by Dobbs. That win put the Vikings back not only in the playoff race, but back in the NFC North race which no one expected to happen. It would be something if they could make the playoffs and its not out of the realm of possibility if Dobbs develops a great chemistry with his teammates.

OK let’s get to the schedule, which does include the Vikings and Dobbs!

American Networks

Green Bay at Pittsburgh	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
San Francisco at Jacksonville	1:00		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
New Orleans at Minnesota	1:00		Minneapolis, Detroit
Cleveland at Baltimore	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester
Detroit at LA Chargers	4:05	Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland
Washington at Seattle	4:25		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane
NY Giants at Dallas	4:25		Minneapolis, Detroit, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle

Canadian Networks

Green Bay at Pittsburgh	1:00		All affiliates
Cleveland at Baltimore	1:00	Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa
San Francisco at Jacksonville	1:00	Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Montreal, Atlantic		TSN1, TSN3, TSN4
New Orleans at Minnesota	1:00	Winnipeg
Houston at Cincinnati	1:00			TSN+
Detroit at LA Chargers	4:05			TSN1, TSN3, TSN4
NY Giants at Dallas	4:25	All affiliates (except Vancouver & Alberta)
Washington at Seattle	4:25	Vancouver, Alberta

Primetime Games (und das morgendliche Spiel)

Carolina at Chicago	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/4/+
Indianapolis vs. New England (in Frankfurt)	9:30 AM, NFL Network, ABC Boston, TSN4
NY Jets at Las Vegas	8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/+
Denver at Buffalo	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 1/3/+

A Little Random Notes and Shit

• Hey, no one gets stuck with a shitty game while you know the rest of the country can enjoy a good football matchup (at least on paper). Unless you count the potential blowout with the Cowboys and Giants.
• Games not being shown up here in now suddenly cold Canada (at least where I’m from) unless you have the Reddest of Zones:
  • Tennessee at Tampa Bay
  • Atlanta at Arizona
• Only two games not appearing on Canadian television this Sunday and let’s be honest: I doubt many people give a shit about any of those four teams right now unless you are gamblers or fantasy football players. Hmmm…I guess that actually means a lot of people would care about those games. Well, get Sunday Ticket or RedZone or stop complaining then.
• With the CFL moving the first two rounds of their playoffs to Saturdays, it frees up more TSNs to show the NFL. That’s why you will see three (count em, THREE) TSN stations showing games on Sunday. This will change next week with the Grey Cup so don’t say I didn’t warn you.
• Oh, is this the worst Thursday Night Football matchup ever? It very well could be.

Hey, let’s look at what the updated playoff picture looks like:

AFC	NFC
#1 Kansas City (AFC West)	#1 Philadelphia (NFC East)
#2 Baltimore (AFC North)	#2 Detroit (NFC North)
#3 Jacksonville (AFC South)	#3 San Francisco (NFC West)
#4 Miami (AFC East)	#4 New Orleans (NFC South)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Pittsburgh	#5 Seattle
#6 Cleveland	#6 Dallas
#7 Cincinnati	#7 Minnesota

How about the AFC North? I know we are only going into Week 10 but holy shit to have all four teams in playoff spots is pretty damn amazing. The Eagles already have a one-and-a-half game lead on the field in the NFC and looks like they may waltz to that number one seed in the conference. The AFC is a hell of a lot tighter as all seven current playoff teams are one-and-a-half games apart. Yes, the same amount that the Eagles lead the #2 seed Lions. Impressive. By the way, the Cardinals can already lose their shot at the #1 seed this weekend. I know…I’m shocked as well.

Wow, we had shitty weather yesterday in my neck of the woods. And I know many parts of Canada have had either freezing rain or snow already and we are still in early November. So good thing we have FOOTBALL to keep us company inside while the weather sucks outside. Enjoy the games everyone!

What the hell is going on with the running back position? Also, the Week 3 NFL TV Schedule.

No, I won’t post the picture of the injury. You want to see it (if you haven’t already) go find it yourself. And don’t be a fucking idiot about it like Drew Magary.

So what is going on with running backs these days? Sure, football is a passing game now but running backs still had use and there are still those running backs that can top 1,500 yards in a season every so often. But man, the running back position sure has changed in the last decade…a lot. First off, running backs are almost more important in the passing game nowadays. No, I don’t mean blocking (although that is important). Running backs need to be able to catch balls out of the backfield or else they are semi-useless to most coaches.

Secondly, running backs just aren’t getting paid as much as many other positions. Kind of shocking but it is a sign of the times. And leads me into my third point…running backs are getting injured at a bit of an alarming rate. Nick Chubb is done for the season after his injury this past Monday night and Saquon Barkley got injured as well on Sunday but, luckily, is only gone for maybe up to three weeks. Other running backs who are injured right now include Marlon Mack (torn Achilles), J.K Dobbins (torn Achilles), Jonathan Taylor (ankle), and Jeff Wilson Jr. (knee). Mack and Dobbins’ seasons are over. And there are at least a dozen other running backs with various issues that are anywhere from gametime decisions to being out for a week or two. I don’t get it. Most teams have natural grass now so that can’t be an issue.

I do remember when I was a running back years ago, though (a whole lot lighter and a whole lot more muscular than now that’s for sure). It did feel like every season I had an injury even if it was an annoyingly nagging one (like an ankle injury in grade 12). I still remember taking over for the running back who broke his leg and then in the next game, by the end of it, I was hobbling too after getting hit in the knee. So it comes with the territory to have nicks and bruises and cuts and shit like that. It just feels like more running backs (even at the college level) are getting injured and the average career of a running back might be shorter than ever. I don’t think the running back will go the way of the option where only a few teams use the running back often but I can see more and more teams running the ball a whole lot less in the future (or allowing their quarterback to run all the time….yeah looking at you Josh Allen…learn to fucking slide before you get killed).

Alright enough being sentimental (kind of) over running backs and my prior abilities to run without getting winded. It’s time for the NFL television schedule for Canadians.

American Networks

Tennessee at Cleveland	1:00	Cleveland
Buffalo at Washington	1:00	Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown
New England at NY Jets	1:00	Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
New Orleans at Green Bay	1:00		All affiliates (except Minneapolis & Detroit)
LA Chargers at Minnesota	1:00		Minneapolis
Atlanta at Detroit	1:00		Detroit
Carolina at Seattle	4:05	Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit
Chicago at Kansas City	4:25		All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Buffalo at Washington	1:00	Vancouver, Alberta, Northern Ontario, Toronto
New England at NY Jets	1:00	Montreal, Atlantic
Atlanta at Detroit	1:00	Kitchener, Ottawa		TSN4
New Orleans at Green Bay	1:00	Saskatchewan, Winnipeg	All affiliates
LA Chargers at Minnesota	1:00			TSN+
Carolina at Seattle	4:05	Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan
Chicago at Kansas City	4:25	Winnipeg, Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa, Atlantic
Dallas at Arizona	4:25	Montreal		TSN4

Primetime Games

NY Giants at San Francisco	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/4/5
Pittsburgh at Las Vegas	8:20, NBC, CTV, TSN 3/4/5
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay	Monday, 7:15, ABC, TSN 4/5
LA Rams at Cincinnati	Monday, 8:15, TSN1

Canadian-Style Notes for this football schedule…an NFL schedule for the third week of the season

• That was kind of wordy. Have to work on that.
• Games not being shown here in Canada (unless you have the Reddest of Zones):
  • Denver at Miami
  • Indianapolis at Baltimore
  • Houston at Jacksonville
• When is the last time a Cowboys game was barely available if you didn’t have RedZone or Sunday Ticket? That tells you how terrible the Cardinals are and that very few people want to watch them (until they get Caleb Williams and even then).
• I think from now on with the conferences not tied to the networks, we should see better games in both windows. I say that knowing that the Bears are playing the Chiefs in a late game that everyone can watch.
• Monday Night Football Kinda Sorta Doubleheader-ish thing this week again. Rams-Bengals only on TSN1 with the Eagles and Bucs on an extra TSN as well as ABC.
• Big time miss with the Sunday nighter. Honestly, this shouldn’t have been picked in the first place but what can you do.

Interesting start to the NFL season so far. When you have Kirk Cousins on pace to shatter every quarterback record known to man and the Vikings on pace for an 0-16 season at the same time, you know things have been a bit wacky to start. I wondered if I would have the same excitement that I did when I played fantasy football and gambled on the games and I actually do. Surprising, I know. We shall see if that will last the entire season. But for now, let us all enjoy the games everyone!

Sure, let’s do a bit of a draft recap

I will get to this man a bit later since he went through quite the night.

As usual, the draft was a fun time…well, the first night was fun then it got steadily less fun until the final rounds when other than NFL Network’s Stump The Truck, almost nothing was really all that fun. But I watched most of it. What can I say, I am way into football. Probably too much but soon enough I will be on my own a lot more so football may be the only thing that keeps me company. God, that’s sad. Let’s move on.

First of all, I will take a look at my mock draft and compare it to the actual draft results and…yep, I got basically nothing right. I couldn’t even get the first two picks right. I had C.J. Stroud going first followed by Bryce Young. I think Carolina made the right pick out of the two but I was sure they had their sights set on Stroud. Funny enough, though, I got two picks exactly right: Zay Flowers to the Ravens at #22 and Wanya Morris to the Chiefs at #92. That really doesn’t make any sense but it’s the truth. Other than that, everything else wrong and some were REALLY wrong.

Reaches

It’s always too soon to look at this but there seem to be picks that were universally thought of as reaches: as in a team picked a player way earlier than they probably would have gone. I know some teams absolutely want a specific player and worry about not getting them that much that they either take them too soon or trade up to get them when they didn’t need to. Still doesn’t mean it wasn’t a stretch for that player. Let’s look at a few that felt obvious.

Darnell Wright (#10 overall to Chicago) – I, along with most others, had Wright pegged as a late-1st round/early-2nd round pick at best. The fact that the Bears also passed on Peter Skoronski, from Northwestern (supposedly Chicago’s Big Ten school) is the real headscratcher here.

Jahmyr Gibbs (#12 to Detroit) – Speaking of headscratchers, it’s like Detroit brought back Matt Millen and his new focus wasn’t wide receivers but running backs. Detroit did not need help at running back but took Gibbs at this point anyway. I had figured he’d end up on the Bills which didn’t thrill me but Gibbs is better than what they have at this point. Anyway, Detroit ended up trading D’Andre Swift to the Eagles because of this pick. I don’t get it.

Deonte Banks (#24 to NY Giants) – Did the Giants need a cornerback? Absolutely. Was Joey Porter Jr. still on the board? Absolutely. Was Kelee Ringo still on the board? Absolutely. Was Cam Smith still on the board? Absolutely. I could go on and on but Banks wasn’t a first rounder and I’d be shocked if he plays like one.

Derick Hall (#37 to Seattle) – The Seahawks didn’t exactly need a defensive end but they decided to pick one anyway. OK, that’s fine. To pick Hall when there were a few other guys on the board who were rated way higher made no sense. Hall was barely a second rounder in most mock drafts.

Steals

On the other hand, we have our draft steals. Every draft has their steals and yes I know Tom Brady was a “steal.” Actually, no, at the time, no one thought he was a steal of a pick. No one. At all. If you say you did, you’re a dirty fucking liar. Again, this is way too early so by the time the next draft occurred, yes, Brady was considered a massive steal. Hell, he would have been a steal as a late second rounder.

Christian Gonzalez (#17 to New England) – The biggest steal of the draft in my opinion. I had him going third overall and many mock drafts had him in the top seven picks. Did the Pats need any help in the secondary? No, but how do you pass on a guy that has dropped approximately 10 spots or so in the first round when you don’t have a huge need? Once again, Bill Belichick is playing 4-D Parcheesi while everyone else is playing Snakes and Ladders.

Dalton Kincaid (#25 to Buffalo) – I was not happy when Bijan Robinson was off the board super early. Man did he go from not even a first rounder like a month ago to Top 10 pick. Anyway, the Bills did the next best thing (that they needed) by getting the best tight end in the draft in Kincaid. Josh Allen could make the guy…well, not a star but a very dependable receiver.

Joey Porter Jr. (#32 to Pittsburgh) – How did the last into the second round? There were easily six different teams that should have taken him and passed. Yeah I’m looking at you New York Football Giants (or GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-Men in honour of Chris Berman). He may make a couple of teams pay for passing on him this coming season.

Jalin Hyatt (#73 to NY Giants) – So the Giants make one of the worst picks of the early part of the draft and then somehow snag Hyatt in the third round. Hey, whatever works. I could have also put Hyatt’s Tennessee Volunteer teammate Cedric Tillman here as he went one spot later to the Browns.

Alright let’s get down to the Will Levis situation. ESPN did this man (and his family) dirty. Well, most of them. I think the girlfriend loved the attention. Still though, to spend four-plus hours in that room and not get your name called has to suck. And ESPN loved it. You know they did. Most people had him going in the #7-#13 range. I had him going to Washington at #16. Then someone on Reddit (I think) tweeted that the Panthers were considering him for the top pick. All of a sudden, people became a lot more interested in him. It also meant that every draft pick that wasn’t him would make him look worse. And yes I know there are others that suffer the same plight but he is, by far, the most hyped of anyone who has had that happen. Also, why didn’t Tennessee move up into the first round to get him? Now they lose a potential option year if he ends up being good. Poor management by the Titans there.

Best Draft

Again, this is way too early but you can kind of tell when a team probably had a good draft (unless one of their top picks is a flop). Here is my list of the top three teams from draft day.

Philadelphia – It feels almost unanimous among experts (which I am not one of) that the Eagles had the best draft. Not only did they continue their Georgia Bulldog-riffic defense picking Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, but they also drafted Bama’s Tyler Steen who could potentially anchor the offensive line soon enough and somehow had Kelee Ringo (another Bulldog) fall into their lap in the fourth round. Finally, Detroit’s stupidity made it so the Eagles got D’Andre Swift in a trade with the Lions. An all-around great few days for possibly the NFC favourites.

Indianapolis – No, this isn’t all about the Anthony Richardson pick although that is what much of the Colts’ draft will hinge on. They had a great draft otherwise, though, with a huge value pick in the fourth round, nabbing Adetomiwa Adeboware. Really, it’s Richardson and Adeboware for the Colts. If they both hit then this will end up being the number one draft crop in hindsight. Otherwise….yikes. Huge risk-reward for a team that feels the time is right to make huge moves.

Pittsburgh – The Eagles’ cross-state rival also had quite the good, if not underrated, draft, looking like the smartest team coming out of the draft. They filled pretty much all their needs in the first three rounds and then got some great value late. Porter is a steal and teams may regret not picking him.

Worst Draft

Very rarely does a team get selected having the worst draft and then it ends up that everyone was wrong in hindsight. So yeah, this is not a good group to be in.

Jacksonville – Third worst on our list is the Jags with a bit of a perplexing draft. Things were looking great for a team that looked like it may run away with the AFC South over the next few years. That may not be the case anymore, and this draft didn’t help matters any. Unfortunately, the Cam Robinson situation forced them to pick O-line early but Anton Harrison may not have been the guy. Tank Bigsby was a pretty bad pick and could have been got two rounds later. And for a team that needed a tight end as another weapon for Trevor Lawrence, getting Brenton Strange isn’t it with other guys on the board. Just weird all around.

Minnesota – Look, they did pretty well with the Jordan Addison pick. Beyond that? Woof. Every other pick was a reach and they really didn’t do anything to help Kirk Cousins beyond getting Addison to hopefully pair with Justin Jefferson. Cousins is in the last year of his contract and this felt like the year the Vikings really had to try and go for it or start building for the future and they did neither.

San Francisco – Just like Philly, it’s a pretty unanimous vote on the other end of the draft grades. The ass end, if you will. The 49ers did a deplorable job this time around. Lucky for them, as long as Brock Purdy and/or Trey Lance are ready to go, this team is ready to battle for the NFC title at the very least. But holy shit, you’d think you would draft one guy that would help the team this coming season. Especially on the offensive line, where they needed help and drafted nobody. But hey, they drafted a kicker. Before the 100th pick. For fuck’s sakes what a joke.

Finally, a quick look at the two networks showing the draft. Most people seemed to be watching ESPN, as per usual. The NFL Network picked up the rest of the viewers. Problem was, the amount of complaints I heard about ESPN were staggering. Yet, these same people obviously outright refused to just, oh I don’t know, turn to the other network with draft coverage. I get that hearing the old NFL Primetime music is great (it really is) but if the coverage sucks then change the channel. My opinion, as you may know, is that the NFL Network has always had better coverage since they started showing the draft. I mean, that’s their whole thing: the NFL. ESPN suffers from trying to put in as many horrific stories about the draftees and too many people involved in the production. At least a quarter of the people involved could have been axed because they sucked at their job on this night.

I think that’s the first draft recap I have done in a long time. I don’t feel like looking. I’m not really a recap kind of guy but I figured what the hell. We are now 107 days away from the college football season and the posts will start coming along more frequently once again. We are getting close to true football season, folks! Not that I’m minding the XFL since it has been pretty good. The USFL, on the other hand, ugh. Have a great rest of the week everyone.

The Footballgasm Continues! – Week 12 College Football TV Schedule

You like that?  You like that!  You can use that Kirk Cousins line for so many different scenarios.

Of course the Footballgasm alludes to football every day until the day before American Thanksgiving.  It is a great time of year to be a football fan, college or pro.  As for what else has been happening lately, the same mid-week things occur every season happened again: the CFP Rankings and MACtion:

• The CFP Rankings came out on Tuesday again.  A lot of movement and contrived controversy.  People who hate Alabama hate the fact that they didn’t fall like 20 spots after their loss to the #1 team in the poll, LSU.  Meanwhile, Georgia sits at #5 with a loss to South Carolina of all teams.  Yuck.  And remember, no Group of Five teams allowed in the Top 4.  Hell keep them out of the Top 10.  This an unofficial rule.  The Committee won’t tell you this but it’s true.
• MACtion graces our screens on weekdays now.  MACtion is fun to watch I will admit.  Usually some pretty good close games.  Attendance, however, at games during mid-week MACtion is abysmal.  This is nothing new.  Going to a sporting event on a weekday night is tough.  As a student, even worse.  Luckily for the MAC, during the season there have been more games getting a national spotlight on Saturdays.  This way, MACtion isn’t the first check-in on the conference all season for most college football fans.

Anyway, other than that, not much to discuss so let’s get into the schedule alright?

Thursday

		US	Canada
Buffalo at Kent State	7:00 PM
North Carolina at Pittsburgh	7:30 PM

So an OK MAC game and an OK ACC game.  Not too bad at all and these games actually have some stakes to them.  Kent State and North Carolina aren’t nearly as bad as they were last year which helps a lot here.  I just hope at least one of these games stays close or otherwise it’s off to Thursday Night Football.

Friday​

		US	Canada
Louisiana Tech at Marshall	7:00 PM
Fresno State at San Diego State	9:30 PM

OK another couple of average, but relatively important, games.  The Conference USA game is important since it could be a preview of the conference championship.  Fresno State, despite not being near the team they were the last two seasons, somehow holds all the cards and sits in the catbird seat in the Mountain West West…win out and they go the Mountain West Championship to somehow keep things close with Boise State (again).

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Indiana at #9 Penn State	Noon
UMass at Northwestern	Noon
#14 Wisconsin at Nebraska	Noon
#11 Florida at Missouri	Noon
VMI at Army	Noon
#5 Alabama at Mississippi State	Noon
TCU at Texas Tech	Noon
Tulane at Temple	Noon
Michigan State at #15 Michigan	Noon
Kansas at #22 Oklahoma State	Noon
Alabama State at Florida State	Noon

We get the Rodney Dangerfield of programs, Indiana, facing Penn State trying to put the nail in the coffin of their College Football Playoff chances.  We get little brother Michigan State trying to derail Michigan’s postseason hopes.  We also get Nebraska’s final chance, really, to look like an important team this season (and not make my preseason projection look even more awful) as they host Wisconsin in Lincoln.  And there’s a few other good games as well.  Oh and also UMass-Northwestern which could be brutal if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#23 Navy at #16 Notre Dame	2:30 PM
Wake Forest at #3 Clemson	3:30 PM
#2 Ohio State at Rutgers	3:30 PM
#4 Georgia at #12 Auburn	3:30 PM
Central Michigan at Ball State	3:30 PM
West Virginia at #24 Kansas State	3:30 PM
#18 Memphis at Houston	3:30 PM
#19 Texas at Iowa State	3:30 PM
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech	3:30 PM
Kentucky at Vanderbilt	3:30 PM
Syracuse at Duke	4:00 PM
Wyoming at Utah State	4:00 PM
#8 Minnesota at #20 Iowa	4:00 PM
Stanford at Washington State	4:30 PM

Three huge games in the afternoon timeslot.  Navy visits South Bend hoping for an upset to put themselves firmly in the Group of Five race, Georgia is on upset alert as they head to the Plains to face Auburn and Minnesota has to prove that their jump in the rankings (the largest jump to get into the Top 10 in the history of those rankings) wasn’t a fluke.  An Auburn win will definitely end UGA’s CFP chances and an Iowa win would do the same to Minnesota.  Also if we get Mississippi State somehow upsetting Bama we are getting close to 1990-style chaos which I would definitely welcome.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
#17 Cincinnati at USF	7:00 PM
#1 LSU at Ole Miss	7:00 PM
Air Force at Colorado State	7:00 PM
#10 Oklahoma at #13 Baylor	7:30 PM
Louisville at NC State	7:30 PM
#25 Appalachian State at Georgia State	7:30 PM
Arizona State at Oregon State	7:30 PM
South Carolina at Texas A&M	7:30 PM
UCLA at #7 Utah	8:00 PM

And now a game of the year candidate.  Oklahoma and Baylor, despite both of them being fairly far out of the Top 4, have the biggest Big XII game of the season.  This game will decide if Baylor honestly has what it takes to get to the CFP or if the Sooners are still the cream of the crop in the conference.  The only TSN game of the week appears in this timeslot as LSU heads to face Ole Miss.  Why not show the 3:30 game as well?  Seems weird to me.  They must have something important on in that timeslot.  So what is taking college football out of that timeslot?  The ATP Tennis tour semi-finals.  Wow.  OK then.  That couldn’t be on another of the TSNs?  I get that it is part of the contract to show that (and for tennis fans it’s a huge event) but nothing in the contract says it has to appear on TSN2…or at least I assume that’s the case since that would be really oddly specific.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
New Mexico at #21 Boise State	10:15 PM
Arizona at #6 Oregon	10:30 PM
USC at California	11:00 PM

No big games here but USC-Cal is clearly the least important game of the late night sked.  Never thought I’d say that about a USC game but there you go.  Boise State should continue their charge for the New Year’s Six spot and Oregon tries not to be complacent against an entirely average Wildcats squad.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Georgia at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – This is the Game of the Week but there could be a few choices here.  So we will call it GOTW 1A.  Auburn has a chance to cause major problems for the SEC with a win here.  Well at least the SEC East since it means the Dawgs don’t clinch the division yet and it eliminates them (for sure this time) from the College Football Playoff.  It also keeps Auburn somehow in the hunt.  I would chuckle if Auburn wins and is at like #7 next week with a legitimate shot at the Top 4 and watch the media go crazy over it.

Oklahoma at Baylor (7:30, ABC) – This should have more hype attached to it and it may by the time the game beings.  This game harkens back to the time RGIII passed his way past Oklahoma with a last minute touchdown which was a bit shocking at the time despite the fact the Bears were a good team that year.  I expect the same thing here.  Even if the Bears win, they will probably sit at like #8 and still won’t get the praise they do deserve for still being undefeated.  Matt Rhule really has done the best job in college football this season and should be the Coach of the Year (sorry to Ed Orgeron and P.J. Fleck).  I still believe we could get a Minnesota-Baylor Fiesta Bowl CFP semi-final which would be hilarious and make ESPN somewhat sad.

Minnesota at Iowa (4:00, FOX) – Speaking of big tests, Minnesota has two left.  This is the first one with Wisconsin on the final weekend.  Look, the Gophers are undefeated.  Not their fault they aren’t a blueblood program like some of the others.  To me this is worse than blaming Clemson for being in the shitty ACC or Bama for not beating a ranked opponent.  But at least Minnesota is in the Big Ten so if they beat Iowa, Wisconsin and the East Division champ they are in no matter what.  The tough part about this may be playing in Iowa City since the Hawkeyes tend to be tough to beat at home.

Navy at Notre Dame (2:30, NBC) – Navy is back!  Now we can definitely say that last season was an aberration and people like me were slightly fooled (since I still had Navy winning six games).  The Irish have been shaky lately so it wouldn’t surprise me if they struggled with the ol’ option offense.  Navy needs this way more than Notre Dame as a win here for them puts them in the G-5 conversation for the NY6.  The Irish do, however, need a win here to keep their New Year’s Six hopes alive.

Indiana at Penn State (Noon, ABC) – Flip a coin between this and like six other games to determine who should inherit this spot.  I picked this game since I believe Indiana should be ranked, even if it was at #25.  And they could give the Nittany Lions some headaches.

Honourable mention: Michigan State at Michigan (Noon, FOX); Louisiana Tech at Marshall (Friday, 7:00, CBS Sports Network); Texas at Iowa State (3:30, FloSports)

Some gambling fun and games

Let’s not look at my last week’s picks.  Things were going well, I got the upset pick of VaTech over Wake Forest and then BLAMMO, four straight wrong picks (including the two big games of the week).  So I am going to forget that and move on with this week’s picks.  Here we go:

Marshall over Louisiana Tech

Oklahoma over Baylor

Auburn over Georgia (big upset!)

Iowa State over Texas (upset?)

Penn State over Indiana

Michigan over Michigan State

Iowa over Minnesota (big upset!)

Notre Dame over Navy

Appalachian State over Georgia State

Clemson over Wake Forest

Oregon over Arizona

Ah more Thursday Night Football.  Better than Monday Night Football!  That should be their new slogan.  I remember a time when Thursday Night Football was hot garbage and should have been abolished.  Now it’s Monday Night Football that might end up going back to ABC?  The last time MNF was any good (and yes I miss the old MNF theme).  Anyway, tonight’s game is the Steelers, who somehow have become good again, and the Browns, who have been playing like the Browns teams we all know and love.  Should be good.  And cold.

Not going to get a full day of watching college football in but will watch most of it.  Plus I will be up until god knows when in the morning so I am sure I will see all the highlights I need to see depending on what I miss.

NFL schedule tomorrow as per usual.  Enjoy the games everyone!

Oh Jimmy G we are hardly knew ye – Week 4 NFL TV Schedule

Poor Jimmy Garoppolo.  Considered to be the 49ers’ savior this season and he ends up tearing his ACL.  His season is now over.  I mean let’s be honest here: if the Niners get within sniffing distance of the Wild Card spot now, someone deserves a lot of money since everything was about Jimmy G with this team.  And top of this, now I had to go out and get a new quarterback for my fantasy team.  Welcome, Josh Allen.  You better keep playing well or I will nail your ass to the bench, son.  OK let’s get to the schedule and follow that with some positive vibes (or something like that):

Sunday Early

Buffalo at Green Bay	Minneapolis, Detroit, Buffalo, Rochester		Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa
Cincinnati at Atlanta	Cleveland
Miami at New England	Seattle, Spokane, Burlington, Boston		BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Montreal, Atlantic
Houston at Indianapolis
Detroit at Dallas		Detroit			All affiliates
Tampa Bay at Chicago		Minneapolis
Philadelphia at Tennessee
NY Jets at Jacksonville		Rochester, Burlington

Sunday Late

 

New Orleans at NY Giants	Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Burlington, Boston		Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal		Atlantic
San Francisco at LA Chargers	Seattle, Spokane		BC, Alberta
Cleveland at Oakland		Buffalo, Boston		TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5
Seattle at Arizona		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane

Sunday/Monday Primetime

Baltimore at Pittsburgh	Sunday, 8:30, NBC, TSN 1/3/4/5, CTV Two
Kansas City at Denver	Monday, 8:30, TSN 1/3/4/5

Positive Vibes (or something like that)

• Guess what?  It’s CROSS-FLEX TIME BAYBEE!  Everyone’s least favourite part of figuring out the NFL broadcast schedule.  TWO games have been moved from FOX to CBS: Saints-Giants and Niners-Chargers.  Then Browns-Raiders was moved over to FOX (you lucky buggers).  Also, Jets-Jaguars are on FOX early on in the day.  So four games overall have been cross-flexed.  Sweet Jesus.  Look, the NFL should just take my idea and forget the conference divide.  It’s over.  Quit it.  Let Nantz and Romo call the NFC Championship I honestly don’t care.
• Cleveland and Oakland also get the TSN all-in game this week.  All the TSNs (other than red-headed stepchild, TSN2) get that game late.  Good to see they decided not to take the New Orleans-NY Giants affair.  That would have been dumb.
• I don’t remember the last time every CTV Two affiliate got a single game. They get that with the Lions and Cowboys this week.
• Only two early games not shown anywhere in Canada.  That’s more like it.  Then again, Eagles-Titans sounds like a good game.

Did you watch last night’s Thursday Night Football affair?  Amazing.  Except for the fact I left Kirk Cousins and Robert Woods on the bench on my fantasy team.  Fuck.  Anyway, enjoy the games everyone.

For once it’s kind of quiet – Week 8 NFL TV Schedule

Usually we are doing with some off-the-field shitstorm and can’t concentrate fully on the action actually happening on the field.  A guy could be paralyzed and I am almost certain it would be drowned out in the media by something stupid Goodell said or something happening with a player protest or an issue with players dealing with the media.  It’s ridiculous.  So this week, it’s been all quiet on the NFL front.  I hope I didn’t jinx it.

Time for Oversaturation City!  When will the NFL ever learn?  Sked time!

Sunday Early

Minnesota vs. Cleveland (in London)			All affiliates
LA Chargers at New England	Minneapolis, Detroit, Burlington, Boston		Northern Ontario, Ottawa, Montreal, Atlantic
Oakland at Buffalo	Buffalo, Rochester		Kitchener, Toronto
Indianapolis at Cincinnati	Cleveland		BC
Chicago at New Orleans		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit	Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg
San Francisco at Philadelphia
Atlanta at NY Jets		Rochester, Burlington		TSN1, TSN3
Carolina at Tampa Bay

Sunday Late

Houston at Seattle	Seattle, Spokane		BC	TSN1, TSN3
Dallas at Washington		All affiliates except Tacoma & Seattle	Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa		Atlantic

Sunday/Monday Primetime

Pittsburgh at Detroit	Sunday, 8:30, NBC, TSN 1/3/4/5, CTV Two
Denver at Kansas City	Monday, 8:30, TSN 1/3/4/5

Random Analysis

• Of course there’s another London game because why not?  I’m just sick of it.  And it’s the Browns as well.  I hope they win so they could be 1-0 outside the U.S. and 0-15 inside it this season.  It would look glorious.
• Only two games in the late window.  Wow.  The worst part is that neither game is huge.  Dallas-Washington would have been a lot bigger if the Cowboys hadn’t shit the bed already a couple of times this year.  I do feel for Kirk Cousins though.  He’s the best option that Washington has and a major reason they aren’t near the bottom of the NFL and everyone seems to treat him like shit.  If he gets a big money offer from the Niners or Browns I say he should take it despite the fact he will lose a part of his integrity by doing it.
• There is almost no way the Colts-Bengals game will be done in time for viewers in BC to get to Houston-Seattle.  I mean it can happen.  Games have been known to end just before 4:00.  But with the 4:05 start for the non-doubleheader network (as opposed to the 4:25 start time for the network with the doubleheader) it would make it very difficult to go from one game to another.  Luckily, CTV wouldn’t cut away from the game.  They’ve done it before (as has every other network at one point) and people had a shit-fit over it.  Lesson learned.
• Only two games not being shown in Canada (except for you DAZNers…DAZNites?) and honestly, no one wants to see the Niners anyway.  If you’ve seen their home crowds, neither do their fans.  Don’t even get me started on the ridiculous Chargers home-field disadvantage situation.

That’s it.  Very little here.  It’s still before the halfway point.  Let’s just hope for some good games and no crazy off-the-field horseshit…yeah I definitely jinxed it.

How Did I Do? – 2016 NFL Draft Edition

Yeah that pretty much sums it up.  My final mock draft wasn’t even close on almost every pick.  To be honest, I am sure I didn’t get even one right.  Pretty sad.  Then again, almost everyone’s mock drafts blew up before the draft even began thanks to some Laremy Tunsil shenanigans.

That one picture made day one of the draft this year the goofiest, craziest draft day ever.  I do feel for Laremy somewhat.  Who knows how long ago that pic was taken and the fact his Twitter account (along with his Instagram account later on) was hacked is no laughing matter.  Sounds like a former financial advisor of his is the guilty party here (probably a guy who was cut out right before Mister Tunsil was ready to make some serious cash).  Saying all that, why do people in all walks of life continue to have pictures and videos that could potentially be harmful to them or others?  We are in an era where people love to overshare and get burned by it or they forget to delete that incriminating video or dick pic or naked selfie.  They make their lives (usually) much more stressful than they have to be with this shit.

A few notes before we get started with the team rankings:

• Great on the Cowboys picking Jaylon Smith on day two. The guy won’t be playing the entire 2016 season but the hope is he will be a force in 2017.  If he gets healthy this might be one of the steals of the decade as every other team seemed scared to take him.
• Hats off also to the Ravens for picking local boy (somewhat) Keenan Reynolds. Getting athletes that can play a few different positions (he’s a quarterback that was drafted as a wide receiver) is smart for any team.  If used properly he could be a huge part of Baltimore’s offense for years to come.
• Finally, a great pick by Minnesota in the sixth round. Moritz Boehringer, a wide receiver selected straight outta Germany, started playing football after watching videos of Adrian Peterson.  A few years later the Vikings make his dreams come true by drafting him.  Thing is he could be quite the draftee.  Runs a sub-4.5 40 and is a big target.  Give him a year on the practice squad and then watch out since he’s a raw talent if there ever was one.

Alright enough draft overview.  Now on to team ratings.  I will go over first round picks, any other great picks, and maybe some bad picks or early round stretches.  This will be done on the Mel Kiper Ocho Scale.  Before I begin I have to say ESPN’s coverage was mediocre at best.  Not bad, just nothing special.  Kiper was fine (although he looks like he’s staring into the sun when he’s on camera).  Berman was his usual annoying, idiotic self with nothing to add to the telecast.  What surprised me was Jon Gruden just being a nobody most of the night.  Maybe he’s still upset with Tirico leaving the four-letter network.  Alright here we go!

8 Mel Kipers (You dun good!)

Jacksonville (First pick: Jalen Ramsey, Other Notable Picks: Myles Jack, Yannick Ngakoue, Tyrone Holmes) – I would say the winner of the draft was the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Unfortunately for me, Colin Cowherd also said the same thing.  I don’t like agreeing with the man but in this case he is right.  The pick of Myles Jack alone puts them in the top tier.  Getting Ramsey when they got him was great value.  No real bad picks at all.  A great draft.

Cincinnati (First pick: William Jackson, Other Notable Picks: Nick Vigil, Andrew Billings, Christian Westerman) – Getting Jackson was a pretty good pick but he was expected to be picked around there.  Getting Billings where they got him was huge as I (along with many others) had him as a day two pick.  Just like the Jaguars, the Bengals had no bad picks.

Baltimore (First pick: Ronnie Stanley, Other Notable Picks: Bronson Kaufusi, Kenneth Dixon, Keenan Reynolds, Maurice Canady) – A great three days for the Ravens.  I touched on Reynolds on how that was a good (yet shrewd) pick.  Getting Canady as low as he did was a steal as one of my mocks had him as a second rounder.

Houston (First pick: Will Fuller, Other Notable Picks: Braxton Miller, K.J. Dillon) – A solid draft but not spectacular.  The picks of Miller and Dillon are exceptional with no real weak spots.

7 Mel Kipers (Hey, good stuff!)

Pittsburgh (First pick: Artie Burns, Other Notable Picks: Sean Davis, Javon Hargrave, Tyler Matakevich) – Despite the fact they may have had one of the biggest stretches of the first round, picking Artie Burns who probably would have been there during their second round selection, they made up for it with pretty good picks the rest of the way, highlighted by Matakevich late.

Chicago (First pick: Leonard Floyd, Other Notable Picks: Cody Whitehair, Jonathan Bullard) – Floyd was a good pick and fits perfectly with what the Bears needed.  The Bears and linebackers go together like peanut butter and jelly (supposedly).  No bad picks but nothing spectacular afterwards.

Los Angeles (First pick: Jared Goff, Other Notable Picks: Tyler Higbee, Pharoh Cooper) – Goff was an easy choice and now the Rams have their franchise quarterback (sorry Nick Foles).  Cooper in the fourth round was a steal and I think Higbee could be a great weapon for Goff.

Indianapolis (First pick: Ryan Kelly, Other Notable Picks: Le’Raven Clark, Hassan Ridgeway, Austin Blythe) – To say the Colts went out of their way to find protection for Andrew Luck is a VAST understatement.  The rest of the AFC South better watch out if this new O-line including Kelly and Clark protects Luck the way they could.

6 Mel Kipers (Still doing well)

Green Bay (First pick: Kenny Clark, Other Notable Picks: Jason Spriggs, Kyler Fackrell) – Clark and Spriggs alone put the Packers at least at the 5 Kiper level.  No bad picks and Kenny Clark was a decent first rounder.

Washington (First pick: Josh Doctson, Other Notable Picks: Su’a Cravens, Kendall Fuller) – Doctson, in my opinion, is better than Will Fuller who was drafted in the slot before him.  I’m sure Kirk Cousins likes that pick (YOU LIKE THAT?).  Kendall Fuller was also a great pick as I had him late first round/early second round for most of my mocks.

San Diego (First pick: Joey Bosa, Other Notable Picks: Hunter Henry, Joshua Perry) – Bosa was a fantastic pick at three.  The Chargers, in their lame duck San Diego season, will give their fans a treat…before they fuck off for LA.

Miami (First pick: Laremy Tunsil, Other Notable Picks: Xavien Howard, Kenyan Drake, Jakeem Grant) – Miami obviously has some balls to pick Tunsil.  Either that or they realize he was a college student (and therefore, prone to make stupid mistakes) and that he probably isn’t Ricky Williams.  Drake was overshadowed by Derrick Henry but is a definite talent in the backfield.

5 Mel Kipers (OK, you’re not doing too badly)

Minnesota (First pick: Laquon Treadwell, Other Notable Picks: Mackensie Alexander, Kentrell Brothers, Moritz Boehringer) – I touched on Boehringer earlier.  I think Treadwell was the best WR in the draft and if he and MoBo team with AP and Teddy Ballgame, the Vikings could be the team to beat in the NFC North, if not the entire NFC…in 2017.

NY Giants (First pick: Eli Apple, Other Notable Picks: Sterling Shepard, B.J. Goodson, Paul Perkins) – Apple was a huge stretch in the first round.  Besides that, WHO WILL COOK FOR HIM?  Shepard and Perkins are underrated picks for the offense and should work well in the Big Apple (more so than the Eli Apple).

NY Jets (First pick: Darron Lee, Other Notable Pick: Christian Hackenberg) – A pretty average draft for the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS.  It will be interesting to see what Hackenberg can do with an offensive line that isn’t basically cardboard cutouts of fat guys.

Oakland (First pick: Karl Joseph, Other Notable Picks: Shilique Calhoun, Vadal Alexander) – Calhoun as late as he was picked was a steal.  I’m not totally sold on Karl Joseph but I will say it was still a good pick.  How will these guys feel about playing in the Vegas heat though?

4 Mel Kipers (Alright now things aren’t looking so swell)

Buffalo (First pick: Shaq Lawson, Other Notable Picks: Reggie Ragland, Cardale Jones) – You could say the Bills had an OK draft.  The Bills Mafia may put you through a table for your troubles though.  Lawson and Ragland were good, not great, picks.  Jones could end up being a great player but I wouldn’t piss off Tyrod Taylor too much more or otherwise they will have to find out how good Cardale is now (which probably is not that great).

New Orleans (First pick: Sheldon Rankins, Other Notable Pick: Michael Thomas) – Rankins was a pretty good pick for the Saints.  Honestly, I put the Saints here because they didn’t have more picks to fuck things up since it kept getting worse for them as the draft went on.

Arizona (First pick: Robert Nkemdiche, Other Notable Pick: Evan Boehm) – What was it with Ole Miss?  I can see a big fat probation for the Rebs this season.  Too bad since the players were all drafted lower than they should have been.  Nkemdiche was no exception.  Other than him and Boehm though, the Cards had a sub-par draft.

Seattle (First pick: Germain Ifedi, Other Notable Picks: Jarran Reed, C.J. Prosise) – I honestly think Prosise was a fantastic pick for the Seahawks.  Reed was also picked later than I thought he would go.  Other than that, a lot of meh for the Seahawks.

3 Mel Kipers (Things are going downhill)

Denver (First pick: Paxton Lynch, Other Notable Pick: Devontae Booker) – Lynch will be the quarterback of the future in the Mile High City and I wouldn’t be surprised if he turns out to be the best QB in this draft.  Booker was a solid pick (Denver and running backs…huh, who would have thought?).  But picking a fullback AND a punter in the same draft?  For shame Elway.

Dallas (First pick: Ezekiel Elliott, Other Notable Picks: Jaylon Smith, Dak Prescott) – Elliott was probably selected too high but there was no guarantee he’d be there for the Cowboys second pick.  Dallas’ pick of Smith was a nice touch and possibly the smartest move of the draft.  Dak could be sneaky good but the rest of the picks weren’t good at all with Darius Jackson and Rico Gathers back-to-back late being some of the worst in the entire draft.

New England (First pick: Cyrus Jones, Other Notable Pick: Joe Thuney) – The Patriots almost always end near the bottom of these team rankings.  I don’t think Belichick gives a single fuck about that stat either.  At least one of these not-so-notable picks will end up being an All-Pro one day.  We all know it.

Tampa Bay (First pick: Vernon Hargreaves, Other Notable Picks: Noah Spence, Roberto Aguayo) – The Bucs are getting a lot of shit for picking Aguayo in the second round.  Thing is the guy is cash money.  One of the best kickers of the past decade in college football.  However, it was the second round when he would have been available in the fifth I’m sure.  That and also picking a fullback means the Bucs land here.

2 Mel Kipers (Why did you show up again?)

Tennessee (First pick: Jack Conklin, Other Notable Picks: Kalan Reed) – When Mr. Irrelevant could be your best pick of the draft, you might have a problem.  I kind of wished the Titans kept trading and ended up with 20+ picks in next year’s draft.

Atlanta (First pick: Keanu Neal, Other Notable Pick: Deion Jones) – Their first pick was named Keanu and he wasn’t a white guy actor without facial expressions at all times.  I was disappointed.  I was also disappointed in the Falcons draft class.  Pretty crappy.

San Francisco (First pick: DeForest Buckner, Other Notable Picks: None) – If they hadn’t picked Buckner (who may have been one of the best two or three picks of the entire draft) then I might have put the Niners on the bottom.  You’d have though Jim Tomsula was still there acting like he had no idea what was going on.  But no, it was Chip Kelly.  So, close enough?

Cleveland (First pick: Corey Coleman, Other Notable Picks: Shon Coleman, Scooby Wright III) – So the Browns had like a thousand picks and could only get two good ones.  They missed on two better receivers early on and it just got worse from there.  But it is the Browns so I kind of expected it.

1 Mel Kiper (Complete and utter shitshow)

Kansas City (First pick: Chris Jones, Other Notable Picks: None) – Jones was a good pick and he looked very excited to become a Chief, even if Andy Reid is his coach.  But when Kevin Hogan is arguably your best pick after that, you should have just traded all your picks Ditka style and tried to get the top three picks next season.

Carolina (First pick: Vernon Butler, Other Notable Picks: None) – It’s like the Panthers weren’t even there.  No one notable picked, not even Butler really.  Just sad for Riverboat Ron.

Philadelphia (First pick: Carson Wentz, Other Notable Picks: None) – Hopefully Wentz doesn’t end up being the Ryan Leaf to Jared Goff’s Peyton Manning.  The rest of their picks were mediocre to fucking awful.  They have definitely shored up their special teams and practice squad needs though.

Detroit (First pick: Taylor Decker, Other Notable Picks: None) – The Lions were the dirt fucking worst of this draft.  That doesn’t bode well for a team that’s almost as sad as the Browns have been (historically).  Three of their final four picks are three of the absolute worst from the draft.  Drafting Jake Rudock at all is ridiculous with Vernon Adams on the board and I could see Dwayne Washington not even making the practice squad (and struggling to find an arena football or CFL gig).  Brutal.

So there you go.  Draft synopsis done.  It was actually more exciting than it had any right to be.  That has to bode well for the NFL (and college football really).  Any publicity is good publicity I guess.

Next up in the next couple months is the biggest games of the college football season, the start of the conference previews, predicted cable schedules, and perhaps a random post or two.  We are inching closer to the start of the college and NFL seasons people!

Wild Card Round Schedule and Playoff Outlook – Sponsored by the 500 (or so) teams moving to L.A.

So we have the Rams, the Raiders, and the Chargers all wanting to move to Los Angeles. Good stuff.  Why don’t they send all three, plus the Jaguars, and change the AFC West to the AFC Los Angeles Division.  They could probably relatively easily change the divisions around and make that work.  Who really gives a shit at this point.  It’s painfully clear these franchises don’t want to stay in their respective cities (especially St. Louis) so let them move as long as they have a feasible financial plan.  I know the NFL could play to empty stadiums and still make money but why not try and maximize return.  That’s why, unless a bigger stadium is built, I believe they should never have an NFL team in Toronto.  I think the novelty would wear off because they aren’t the Leafs.  Unless they win.  The Blue Jays proved that.  Anyway…

It’s playoff time! Wild Card weekend is upon us so let’s take a look at the schedule for the second time this week:

Saturday
4:30	Kansas City at Houston	ABC/CTV
8:00	Pittsburgh at Cincinnati	CBS/CTV
Sunday
1:00	Seattle at Minnesota	NBC/CTV
4:30	Green Bay at Washington	FOX/TSN1/TSN4/TSN5

Still amazed NBC didn’t get the Saturday night game which seems to be the marquee game of the week (usually). Good to see the games are spread out among all four major networks.  Kind of wish college football would do that a bit more but then ESPN wouldn’t have ALL THE COLLEGE FOOTBAW!!!!!!!!!!!

Let’s take a short look at the games and my predictions (which invariably will be wrong):

Kansas City at Houston – There is no hotter team in the NFL right now than the Kansas City Chiefs.  After a horrid start, they have torn through every team they have met since.  As for the Texans, they also had a turnaround that normally would have been embraced as the best in the league if it weren’t for what KC did.  Someone’s hot streak has to end this weekend. My pick: Kansas City 39-20.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati – Poor Cincy.  As they enter the playoffs they are haunted by their playoff past.  And now they are going with their backup quarterback and they play the Steelers, the third of the fairly hot AFC teams entering the postseason.  Honestly, I can’t see this ending well for the Bengals. My pick: Pittsburgh 24-17.

Seattle at Minnesota – Everyone goes on about how the Seahawks mopped the floor with Minnesota during the season.  Everyone seems to forget how horrid the Seahawks are on the road in the playoffs (2-8 all-time).  I think the Vikings exact a small measure of revenge here and move on to the next round. My pick: Minnesota 44-31.

Green Bay at Washington – The absolute coldest team going into the playoffs in the NFC is the Packers.  They have looked no better than mediocre in most of their games.  I think A-a-ron Discount Double Checks his way to another poor game and home for the rest of the playoffs as Kirk Cousins somehow gets the Redskins to the Divisional Playoffs (which makes me giggle a bit). My pick: Washington 38-23.

If my picks were correct (IF!!!!), it would set up the following matchups:

• Pittsburgh at Denver
• Kansas City at New England
• Washington at Carolina
• Minnesota at Arizona

We all know what happened in Denver last time these two played (Tebowmania!!!!!!). New England is the Green Bay of the AFC, as in they are the coldest team in that conference right now going into the playoffs.  Washington and Minnesota can’t get through to the next round, can they?  I think this sets up a KC-Denver AFC title match and a ratings bonanza Panthers-Cardinals NFC title tilt.  I have Carolina facing off against Kansas City for the Super Bowl so we would have a first-time winner in Super Bowl L at Acid Washed Jeans Stadium.  My pick to win the Super Bowl will not be a popular one as I think the Carolina Panthers will hoist the Lombardi Trophy in early February.  This probably means I have jinxed them and that they may possibly lose their first playoff game.  Kind of like the SI curse.

Along with the start of the NFL playoffs this weekend, for those with the college football specialty pack, the FCS National Championship is on Saturday at noon. And of course, the FBS National Championship is Monday night at 8:30.  Enjoy the football everyone.

Week 12 Short NFL Recap – Sponsored by the Cleveland Browns: Finding New Ways of Losing since 1999

I don’t include the original Cleveland Browns since they were an average team that, every so often, did quite well. Not these Cleveland Browns though. Oh no. They find new ways to lose. Take last night’s game for example. Last play of the game. Browns line up for a 51-yard field goal attempt in a tie game. It’s a long field goal so if they miss it, at least they have overtime. Nope, not the Fighting Pettines. The field goal is blocked and returned for a touchdown for a Ravens win. Unreal. How can you be a Browns fan in this day and age? You’d have to drink a lot of alcohol to drown your sorrows week after week after week after week…

Alright some of the rest of the goings on from Week 12 of the NFL season of 2015:

Awwwwww, the Denver Broncos? Yes the Denver Broncos spoiled New England’s perfect season. Was it a well officiated game? Well…..you could debate that. In the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn’t matter since the Patriots, almost assuredly, will win the AFC East and get a first-round bye in the playoffs. Losing Gronk may be an issue but it sounds like it’s not as serious as what was originally thought. Also, it may be the end of Peyton Manning in Denver since Brock Osweiler has done quite well in his place.

Now that’s the Falcons we all know and love. I think some of us were fooled by the early season playing of the Atlanta Falcons. They stormed out of the gate. Many more thought “Hmmm, maybe they are a playoff contender.” Now we know that’s all crap. This team is no different than they were the past few years. Not very good. It doesn’t help that Carolina has been nothing short of awesome this year but still, the Falcons are coming back down to the Earth with a harder thud than has been seen in the NFL in a long time.

Wait a minute…there are TWO above-.500 teams in the AFC South? Well, well, well. Indianapolis and Houston have got out of their early-season funk and are playing some of the hottest football in the league. Now I have to amend my statement from earlier weeks saying we would have a 6-10 AFC South champ. Thanks guys. It still may end up at 8-8 though. Don’t count that possibility out.

Wait a minute…the Washington F’n Redskins are leading the NFC East? Yes, those Washington Redskins coached by the founder of the RGIII Hate Club, Jay Gruden. Somehow, Kirk Cousins has become a good QB. Somehow the rest of the offense has woke up. Somehow the defense has been pretty stout all year. Also, there’s the fact the rest of the NFC East is hot garbage but hey…I would love to see the Redskins in the playoffs since it goes against EVERYONE’s pre-season picks.

Wait a minute…the Chiefs won AGAIN? It is really starting to look like the Chiefs could be the team that waltzes into one of the AFC Wild Card spots. They are the only non-division leading team playing well in the AFC for the most part. Let’s look at the teams just below them:

• First of all, we have Pittsburgh, N.Y. Jets, and Houston all tied with KC for the wild-card spots. All three of those teams have been inconsistent although the Texans are coming on strong right now. Still think KC can beat at least two of those three.
• Just on the outside looking in we have Oakland, Baltimore, Buffalo, Jacksonville, and Miami. I cannot see any of these teams being in the playoffs. If so, it might be a travesty.

Back for another look at the playoff predictions. Here we go:

AFC		NFC
Division Champs		Division Champs
1	New England (East)	1	Carolina (South)
2	Cincinnati (North)	2	Arizona (West)
3	Denver (West)	3	Minnesota (North)
4	Indianapolis (South)	4	Washington (East)
Wild-Card Spots		Wild-Card Spots
5	Kansas City	5	Green Bay
6	Pittsburgh	6	Seattle

 

Only one change in division leaders. Washington seems to be heading towards an NFC East title. That may change by next Sunday night. As for the Wild-Card spots, KC and Seattle have worked their way into those spots. I already went over the gongshow that is the AFC Wild-Card race. The NFC race is a little clearer even with five weeks to go. The teams chasing the Packers and Seahawks (Atlanta, N.Y. Giants, Chicago, Tampa Bay) honestly aren’t on the same level as Green Bay and Seattle. So unless something big happens (injury to important player, big loss in a game that should have been won), those two teams should end up in. But it is the NFL so you never know. Wait, of course we do. For all the talk of parity, there are still about a dozen teams that have done sweet fuck all over the past decade.

For once, there is no football Tuesday and Wednesday. I am somewhat sad on that. Then again, I have a feeling I may find my house to be a bit cleaner over the next month and errands actually done since I basically ignored almost everything this past month. But it was football so it was good.

Next game will be Thursday night as the Packers try to rebound against the Lions.

Week 10 Short NFL Recap – Sponsored by Big Dud

Wow, the Cowboys are bad. Like really bad. I know Tony Romo will be coming back soon but is this team too far gone? I think they are. Tony will help them to a few more wins but he won’t be bringing them back for a Wild-Card spot or anything like that. I mean if the rest of the team can’t perform well enough to score more than 6 points against Tampa Bay, then they won’t just magically get better. They should release a lot of dead weight and guys who are basically locker room cancer (ahem, Greg Hardy). Trade Dez Bryant for something since he’s shown he’s basically out for Dez and Dez only and start again. It’s worked in the past and I think if they built it correctly again they can get back to prominence.

Hey there were other things that happened over the past two days:

Cincinnati lost! And to the Texans. Damn. And they looked horrible doing it. Are these the “real” Bengals or was this just an aberration? I guess we have to ask the same thing about the Texans. Let’s be honest, the AFC Dirty South is a terrible division and the NFL deserves to have a 10-loss division champ. I just don’t know if it will be Houston or not.

Green Bay lost! And to the Lions. Damn. That entire team looked shitty. A-a-ron isn’t the same A-a-ron of earlier this season. This team is falling apart while the Vikings are just motoring past them. I would not be surprised now to see Minnesota take the NFC North this season, meaning the Packers would have to fight for a Wild-Card spot. Not easy in the NFC.

New England won! A close game for sure with a couple of interesting (read: controversial) calls. But the Patriots pulled it out yet again. My guess is they will go 15-0 and then lose the season finale in Miami to a Dolphins team that signed some shitty QB because Tannehill couldn’t do the job (think Jason Campbell).

Denver lost! Wow, Peyton Manning was a dumpster fire in that game. Absolutely brutal on a day he breaks Brett Favre’s passing yards record. And to the Chiefs! Ugh.

It now seems like there is one dominant team in each conference (Carolina and New England), one semi-dominant team that’s kind of out of nowhere (Minnesota and Cincinnati), one decent division champ who will get the #3 spot by default (Arizona and Denver), and then a really shitty division champ who may not even deserve to be in the playoffs (NY Giants and Indianapolis). The middle of the pack has become very crowded and with seven weeks to go I think I can confidently say it will go down to the wire this season. Here is how I see things shaking out:

AFC		NFC
Division Champs		Division Champs
1	New England (East)	1	Carolina (South)
2	Cincinnati (North)	2	Minnesota (North)
3	Denver (West)	3	Arizona (West)
4	Indianapolis (South)	4	NY Giants (East)
Wild-Card Spots		Wild-Card Spots
5	Pittsburgh	5	Green Bay
6	Buffalo	6	Washington

 

OK hear me out. I have a feeling I have eleven picks out of the twelve most of you would pick at this point. One of these things is not like the other (sing along!). No I am not smoking crack right now. I have picked the Washington Redskins to win the last wild card spot in the NFC. Here is my reasoning:

• The Skins have, arguably, the hottest quarterback in November in Kirk Cousins. The guy has somehow been on fire. RG Who?
• The Skins overall have played quite well. Well, at least well enough not to lose which has been an issue for the better part of the last decade.
• The Falcons are not for real. Matty Ice has turned into Matty Lukewarm Soup. The team around him is faltering. Yes they have a two-game cushion on the Skins but that will evaporate, mostly because they haven’t played Carolina yet.
• The Skins have a ridiculously easy division to play in, whereas other contenders like the Bears and Seahawks don’t.

There are other reasons. I also put them there partially to piss some people off. Can you imagine, considering so many people want Washington to change their team name, and they make the playoffs? People would be pissed and I would be happy.

Anyway, enough of the NFL for now. College football tonight and tomorrow (with one game tonight on TSN3 and TSN5). NFL back, along with more college football, this Thursday.