Yes, it’s already the first mock draft of the year (along with some network change news)

Do I have time to do this? No. So why am I doing it? I honestly don’t know. I think I just feel I should put a bit more into the offseason portion of my blog. I mean it is half the year and there have been times I have gone dark for like a month. What will people read? The newspaper? Get the fuck outta here.

Honestly, I feel that even though this blog will turn 11 in a few months, I haven’t tried enough to take it to the next level, so to speak. Maybe not more posts but better posts. More informative stuff. It almost feels like this may be a make-or-break twelve months for me. With all the shit I have to do to get my career to the next step, it means there will be less and less time to do stuff I enjoy, like this blog. I always have to remind myself why I started this in the first place: to organize my own college football viewing. It allowed me to watch more college football than ever before and be efficient with it as well, while still making time for my kids. Then again, I ended up separated four months after the blog started so…..yeah.

So let’s just get on with the first mock draft of who knows how many leading up to the draft and hey how about that, look who’s going first overall.

1	Chicago	Caleb Williams, QB (USC)
2	Washington	Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU)
3	New England	Drake Maye, QB (North Carolina)
4	Arizona	Marvin Harrison Jr., WR (Ohio State)
5	LA Chargers	Brock Bowers, TE (Georgia)
6	NY Giants	Byron Murphy II, DT (Texas)
7	Tennessee	Joe Alt, OT (Notre Dame)
8	Atlanta	Malik Nabers, WR (LSU)
9	Chicago	Rome Odunze, WR (Washington)
10	NY Jets	Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT (Penn State)
11	Minnesota	Dallas Turner, OLB (Alabama)
12	Denver	Laiatu Latu, DE (UCLA)
13	Las Vegas	Bo Nix, QB (Oregon)
14	New Orleans	J.C. Latham, OT (Alabama)
15	Indianapolis	Nate Wiggins, CB (Clemson)
16	Seattle	Kris Jenkins, DT (Michigan)
17	Jacksonville	Quinyon Mitchell, CB (Toledo)
18	Cincinnati	Michael Hall Jr., DT (Ohio State)
19	LA Rams	Kamren Kitchens, S (Miami)
20	Pittsburgh	Jordan Morgan, OT (Arizona)
21	Miami	Troy Fautanu, OG (Washington)
22	Philadelphia	Jared Verse, DE (Florida State)
23	Houston	Kamari Lassiter, CB (Georgia)
24	Dallas	Brian Thomas Jr., WR (LSU)
25	Green Bay	Cooper DeJean, S (Iowa)
26	Tampa Bay	Xavier Legette, WR (South Carolina)
27	Arizona	Terrion Arnold, CB (Alabama)
28	Buffalo	Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB (Alabama)
29	Detroit	Cam Hart, CB (Notre Dame)
30	Baltimore	Xavier Worthy, WR (Texas)
31	San Francisco	Tyler Guyton, OT (Oklahoma)
32	Kansas City	Tallies Fuaga, OT (Oregon State)

I am firmly in the camp that says that the Bears will trade Justin Fields. Whether it’s before the draft, during the draft, or after the draft, I don’t know. I just can’t see them passing up on Williams when they could get him AND a really good receiver for their first two picks. On top of that, they could get more picks that will help them later in the draft or in the following year’s event. Not quite a win-win but damn near close. The Commanders and Patriots also need quarterbacks desperately so they will be watching what the Bears do very closely…and possibly even calling them to inquire about how much it would take to trade for that top pick of theirs. Other interesting notes from this first kick at the can:

• The first team that doesn’t need a quarterback is the Cardinals and they are very much hoping the Bears take Caleb Williams since it will mean that Marvin Harrison Jr. will fall into their lap. Pairing him with Kyler Murray could be quite something for a moribund Cards’ offense.
• The Chargers need almost everything that isn’t the quarterback position. If I am them, I nab Bowers, pick another receiver up later on, and bulk up the offense. Win games in true Big XII fashion this coming season. It may be their only hope at getting close to a playoff spot.
• Any potential steals here? Not really but the Saints nabbing Latham at #14 would be good value as would the Eagles picking up Jared Verse at #22.

Will I do more mock drafts? Of course. When? I have no clue.

Now let’s look at the changes coming to conferences and broadcast networks in the Fall. There really is only one major change but it does have a domino effect. The SEC is now fully on ABC/ESPN/SEC Network/ESPN2/ESPNU (if they absolutely have to be) and ESPN+ because they are contractually obligated to be once a season (at least that’s the way the previous SEC contract played out). With the SEC on ABC, they will easily get the majority of the Saturday night games. Not all, but with 14 weeks worth of games, the SEC will get no less than ten of those.

So that domino effect…SEC had every evening ESPN game last year. I can’t see that being the case since that would compete directly with the game on ABC. So they should get a lot less of those and they should get filled with the ACC and Big XII. The American might end up actually getting more games on ESPN with this new arrangement which seems crazy but with the ACC and, to a lesser extent, the Big XII getting hurt by this from a Disney/ESPN perspective, the American Conference is ready to pick up a few pieces here and there.

The Big XII won’t cry about this though. For everything they will end up losing from ESPN/ABC, they will gain more than that quite possibly from the FOX side of things. Sure, the Big Ten will get many of the Big Noon Kickoff games. But beyond that? Remember, the Big Ten has a game a week on CBS, a game a week on NBC and eight games on Peacock. Also, you might see a couple of late night Big Ten affairs on the Big Ten Network. So there will be plenty of spots on FOX and FOX Sports One for the Big XII to fill in since there is no more Pac-12. The other conference that wins here? The Mountain West. They should get a lot more FS1 games with how things are shaking out.

So even though the SEC and Big Ten will start to dominate the landscape of college football, we might get more chances than ever to watch other conferences. Now if they can just figure out how to get FS1 games up here legally and Canadians won’t have any reason to complain about access to CFB games in the future ever again (other than the one Notre Dame game a season on Peacock and weird stuff like the Hawaii Tests).

Alright more posts to come but no football for over a month. The UFL starts in late March and I’m…honestly not that excited about it but it’s football so I am sure will watch some at some point since it’s football and I love football. Better than watching the news, right? Have a good weekend 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!

I kind of hate myself for this (the 2023 NFL preview)

Ugh. I’ll be honest: I am not an Aaron Rodgers fan. Never really have been. I don’t hate the guy. I respect what he’s done on the football field. I just think he’s fucking weird and can be a complete crybaby pussy when things don’t go his way. Then again, I guess I could say that last part for many pro athletes.

OK Bossman, then why did you put his picture up to start this blog post? Well, as much as I dislike A-A-Ron, he’s still a top tier quarterback. And his move to the New York Jets after what seemed like a bunch of seasons being pissed off with Green Bay management (and rightfully so at times, I will admit) is the biggest offseason move in my opinion. It also makes it so he will be facing my favourite team, the Buffalo Bills, twice every season (and three if they meet in the playoffs). That’s a big deal. There is a shift in the AFC East and the AFC in general that’s a little more than your normal “Team A has improved and should fight for a playoff spot after not making it last year.” This is “Team A has acquired a gamechanger and could compete for the division title if the chips fall in their favour.”

It seems like every season I take a quick look at how I did the previous year with some of my predictions. So why not do that again right now? Because I don’t want to? Too fucking bad, it’s tradition. This is making me sound a bit schizophrenic.

• I had Buffalo beating the Rams in the Super Bowl. Good fucking God. I mean yeah the Rams had injuries but what was I thinking?
• Had the Chargers losing the AFC title game. Hey, they made the playoffs but lost in an epic collpase against Jacksonville.
• In the other conference championship I figured Tampa Bay would make it there and then lose. Actually I had them with the second-best record in the league. They were good…but not that good. Even with Tom Brady.
• I also had the Colts and Titans to make the playoffs. Woof.
• I did have Houston near the bottom to get the top pick of the NFL Draft. I had the Falcons actually “winning” that pick and they weren’t too far off. Having the Jags, Giants and Seahawks that low though? Damn.

Alright enough of that memory shit. I think I’ll do better this time, no….I WILL do better this time. I hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in the butt. Let’s go with the projected standings where a funny little asterisk beside a team means they get to be a Wild Card team this season (I think):

AFC East		NFC East
Buffalo	13-4	Philadelphia	13-4
NY Jets*	10-7	Dallas*	10-7
Miami*	9-8	NY Giants	8-9
New England	7-10	Washington	7-10
AFC North		NFC North
Cincinnati	12-5	Detroit	10-7
Baltimore*	12-5	Minnesota*	9-8
Pittsburgh	9-8	Green Bay	7-10
Cleveland	8-9	Chicago	6-11
AFC South		NFC South
Jacksonville	10-7	New Orleans	9-8
Tennessee	7-10	Atlanta	8-9
Houston	6-11	Carolina	6-11
Indianapolis	4-13	Tampa Bay	5-12
AFC West		NFC West
Kansas City	13-4	San Francisco	13-4
LA Chargers	9-8	Seattle*	9-8
Denver	8-9	LA Rams	7-10
Las Vegas	5-12	Arizona	3-14

Notes on all this fun and crazy crap

• I figured there would be a lot of parity last year. It didn’t quite work out that way with a few teams running away to the top of the league. I can’t see a 14-win team this season but you never know. I have the Bills, Chiefs, 49ers and Eagles all getting to the 13-win mark.
• The best race in the AFC will definitely be in the AFC North. Cincinnati and Baltimore look like they should be neck-and-neck to win the division and you can’t totally count out the Steelers either there although they will have to show out and garner a couple of upsets to make it a three-way race.
• In the NFC, the North is going to be closest divisional race there too. The Lions might finally be the class of the division although the Vikings are lurking and have been at the top many times over the last decade.
• The NFC South should also be a good race but for many of the wrong reasons. I do have the Saints getting over .500 but I could see the division winner having eight wins which I cannot stand.
• As for the Wild Card race in the NFC, it’ll be…alright. There’s going to be some eight-win teams in the mix late in December and into January and perhaps even a team like the Packers still alive going into the final week. Yeah, it might be that dire.
• In the AFC it won’t be quite the same. The Dolphins, Steelers and Chargers I have fighting down to the wire for that final Wild Card spot with the Broncos and Browns maybe, just maybe, being in the mix as well.
• It just feels like the Cardinals are already starting their race to the bottom of the league. Sure I have the Colts, Bucs and Raiders also not doing very well but Arizona…man, I wonder if three wins is too much for them. They could be that bad…even with Kyler Murray as their quarterback.
• I thought Josh Allen would win the MVP last season. He had a good year but nothing compared to Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts, who battled it out for the award with Mahomes winning it. This year…I believe Joe Burrow channels his inner “final year at LSU” and goes off for a monster season to lead the Bengals to the AFC North title.
• Should I pick a Rookie of the Year? Hey, I did well with my Aidan Hutchinson choice since I think he won one of the various rookie awards (although Sauce Gardner was the real revelation last season). This year I will go with Bijan Robinson on the offensive side of the ball and Jalen Carter on defense.
• I should have went with Dan Campbell last year as Coach of the Year. Trust your gut, Bossman! This year my gut says Robert Saleh of the Jets will win it but don’t count out Sean Payton or Dan Campbell yet again.

Playoffpredictionslet’sjustfuckinggo!

Wild Card Round

Buffalo (2) def. Miami (7)

NY Jets (6) def. Cincinnati (3)

Jacksonville (4) def. Baltimore (5)

San Francisco (2) def. Minnesota (7)

Detroit (3) def. Seattle (6)

Dallas (5) def. New Orleans (4)

Divisional Playoffs

Kansas City (1) def. NY Jets (6)

Jacksonville (4) def. Buffalo (2)

Philadelphia (1) def. Dallas (5)

San Francisco (2) def. Detroit (3)

Conference Championships

Kansas City (1) def. Jacksonville (4)

San Francisco (2) def. Philadelphia (1)

Super Bowl LVIII

San Francisco (2) def. Kansas City (1)

Yes the Chiefs will get back to the Super Bowl yet again. It’ll help that I have the Bengals getting upset in the Wild Card Round by the Jets. The Niners will finally get the Super Bowl that has eluded them for almost three decades and they get revenge for the Chiefs beating them four years prior. Jacksonville will get close by getting to the AFC Championship and the Lions will win their first playoff game since 1991. I can feel it. I think.

We are getting closer. That’s right, the first college football schedule of the season is right around the corner. Sure it’s Week Zero but still…it’s WEEK ZERO! As is the norm, I am so looking forward to this season. Hell, I will be on the edge of my seat watching New Mexico State hosting UMass in less than two weeks! That’s how much I am looking forward to college football returning. You all have a great upcoming week!

The NFL: Now with MORE Regular Season!

“Ha ha ha, that’s a great one Bossman.  Now fuck off while I sleep on a bed of money.”  I’m just assuming that’s what Roger Goodell would say to that.

If you didn’t already know, the NFL has now gone to a 17-game regular season.  This hasn’t exactly thrilled the players and I don’t blame them.  Just one more opportunity to get injured during the regular season.  It means one less week of preseason football which is fine by me.  I still believe every team should have one road, one home and one neutral-site game during the preseason but that’s a conversation I’ve had many times before that no one wants to listen to.  It also means there will be no more .500 teams unless you get a tie during the season.  Somewhere Jeff Fisher is shedding a few tears.

Alright enough of that.  It’s more football that means something so that’s not a bad thing for the fans, right?  Now do fantasy football seasons extend by a week?  I better figure that out before, say, December.  Now, let me get to my NFL predictions for the season which sometimes I do well at and other times…not so much.  Here are the predicted standings! (* means I predict them to be a Wild Card team):

AFC East	NFC East
Buffalo 13-4	Dallas 9-8
Miami* 9-8	Washington 8-9
New England 9-8	NY Giants 5-12
NY Jets 4-13	Philadelphia 5-12
AFC North	NFC North
Cleveland 12-5	Green Bay 12-5
Baltimore* 11-6	Minnesota 9-8
Pittsburgh 8-9	Chicago 7-10
Cincinnati 6-11	Detroit 4-13
AFC South	NFC South
Tennessee 11-6	Tampa Bay 14-3
Indianapolis 9-8	New Orleans* 10-7
Jacksonville 4-13	Atlanta 6-11
Houston 2-15	Carolina 6-11
AFC West	NFC West
Kansas City 14-3	Seattle 12-5
LA Chargers* 10-7	LA Rams* 11-6
Las Vegas 8-9	Arizona* 9-8
Denver 7-10	San Francisco 8-9

Notes

• I always seem to talk about parity with the NFL but it may not be as much of the case this season. I have six teams winning at least 12 games and if I put it down to 11 wins, 9 teams fit the bill, which is over a quarter of the league.
• Where will the good division races be?  The AFC North, NFC East and, especially, the NFC West should have some excitement.  This time it’s not the Patriots but the Bills who will run away with the AFC East (for something completely different).  Same goes for the Chiefs and Bucs who should easily win their divisions.
• The NFC Wild Card race should be very interesting.  The Rams, if they don’t win the division, should get the top Wild Card (otherwise it would be the Seahawks in that spot).  The other two spots will have six teams competing for it.  One of those teams will win the NFC East as I have the Cowboys and Washington Football Team Of Fun And Frolic going down to the final week for the division crown.  I think the Saints pull ahead and are joined by the Cardinals but it won’t be easy for those teams.  It’s going to feel weird for a team to lose eight games and be over .500.  Again, cue the Jeff Fisher tears.
• The AFC should also have a great Wild Card Race.  Hey, maybe this extra game is a good thing.  Still not for the players but I digress.  The Ravens or Browns, whoever doesn’t win the AFC North should have an easy road to playing the worst division winner in the conference.  As for the other two spots, pick two out of the Dolphins, Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Chargers and Raiders.  That Week 18 (yes, WEEK 18!) should be phenomenal this season.  Now watch it be a dud with only one game meaning anything at all and it’s the Sunday nighter.
• It really is a question of how bad the Texans could be, not if they will be last.  Seventeen losses in a season?  That has to be in play in Vegas and the odds can’t be too bad for it, either.  And if they trade Deshaun Watson (or he is released because of the legal issues he faces), this team is dead in the water.  Gonna be a long year in H-Town.
• This could end up being the closest MVP race ever.  You’ve got Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray all in the mix.  Matthew Stafford in that Rams offense has to be intriguing.  Then you have Dax Prescott returning from a horrific leg injury after having an amazing start to the 2020 season.  And finally, possibly the last hurrah for Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.  In the end, I think Rodgers wins a close vote over Allen and Wilson.
• Rookies of the Year are always a crapshoot.  I know many will pick Trevor Lawrence and that’s not a bad choice.  I am going to go slightly down from there and say Justin Fields wins it and is the main reason the Bears are even in the playoff race in December and January.  On defense it’s even more difficult to predict.  I believe it will be Patrick Surtain II winning it although watch out for Zaven Collins as he could be a big dark horse possibility.

I have decided the new tradition of not putting a reason beside every playoff prediction is a good thing now with two extra Wild Card games.  This post would have got seriously long otherwise.  Alright let’s get right into the predictions:

Wild Card Round

(2) Buffalo def. (7) Miami

(3) Cleveland def. (6) LA Chargers

(5) Baltimore def. (4) Tennessee

(2) Green Bay def. (7) Arizona

(3) Seattle def. (6) New Orleans

(5) LA Rams def. (4) Dallas

Divisional Playoffs

(1) Kansas City def. (5) Baltimore

(2) Buffalo def. (3) Cleveland

(5) LA Rams def. (1) Tampa Bay

(3) Seattle def. (2) Green Bay

Conference Championships

(2) Buffalo def. (1) Kansas City

(3) Seattle def. (5) LA Rams

Super Bowl

(2) Buffalo def. (3) Seattle

I think this is a dream season for the Bills.  With their roster and Josh Allen at the top of his game and pretty much no holes in their lineup, this is the season for them two win it all.  After last year’s loss to the Chiefs, I believe they are playoff-hardened and ready to get some revenge.  The NFC will be a bit of a mess as I don’t think the top two seeds get to the conference championship.  The Rams, if they get on a roll, could go all the way with that offense.  I know they say defense wins championships but if the Rams can score over 30 a game in the playoffs they could do some major damage.  The Seahawks are another team to watch in the playoffs.  Let Russ cook and you got a problem.  In the end, I have my Buffalo Bills finally winning the Super Bowl that eluded them in the 90s and sending me into complete delirium.  I won’t know what to do.  Honest.  I’ll have to take a week off of work just to recuperate.

Next up is for all of you to just watch some damn college football!  We are 17 days away from Week Zero!  I keep checking for a TSN schedule but still nothing.  As soon as I find something I can complete what I have for Week Zero and finally do an actual schedule post: the first of the 2021 college football season.  Can’t wait!  And in the meantime, watch some CFL or preseason NFL to whet the appetite.  Have a great hump day, everyone!

Is there even a win on the horizon for the Jets? – Week 10 NFL TV Schedule

Let’s look at the Jets’ remaining schedule:

• at LA Chargers
• vs. Miami
• vs. Las Vegas
• at Seattle
• at LA Rams
• vs. Cleveland
• at New England

Jesus Christ, do you see a possible win there?  Next weekend could be their best opportunity before the final week of the season.  I mean the Jets are a complete disaster but the Chargers have made a habit out of clutching a loss out of the jaws of victory.  Right now the Jets stand a game-and-a-half ahead of Jacksonville and two games ahead of Dallas and the Giants.  I would say they are a lock for the #1 pick but there are so many bad teams this year that they could win like four games and end up with the 9th pick.  The 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns are watching in interest as this team could honestly be worse than either of those teams.

That was a very short intro.  Do I need to say more?  It’s the Jets.  Let’s get moving to the good stuff…the schedule (which is kind of fucked up this week)!

Thursday Night

Indianapolis at Tennessee

8:20, FOX, NFL Network, TSN1/3/4, CTV Two

Sunday Early

Tampa Bay at Carolina		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Buffalo, Boston			All affiliates (except Ottawa)
Jacksonville at Green Bay		Minneapolis		TSN3
Philadelphia at NY Giants		Rochester, Burlington			Ottawa
Washington at Detroit		Detroit
Houston at Cleveland

Sunday Late

Buffalo at Arizona	All affiliates		Kitchener, Toronto	TSN3, TSN4, TSN5
Denver at Las Vegas
LA Chargers at Miami
Seattle at LA Rams		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit	Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Ottawa
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh		Buffalo, Rochester, Burlington, Boston	Northern Ontario, Montreal		Atlantic
San Francisco at New Orleans

Sunday/Monday Primetime

Baltimore at New England	Sunday, 8:20, NBC, TSN 1/3/5, CTV Two
Minnesota at Chicago	Monday, 8:15, TSN 1/3/4/5

Random-Ass Shit and Stuff

• Hey have you noticed what is happening this Sunday?  Yes, there are no early CBS games on Sunday because it’s the final round of the Masters.  And to be honest, CBS did a good job with the Masters by asking to have it end by 4:00 since it usually goes until about 7:00.  Then again, with the sun going down sooner that wasn’t going to be an option anyway.
• It’s cross-flex time!  At least for once it’s makes perfect sense as to why it’s happening.  FOX getting not one, but two CBS games this week actually very much helps out CBS.  In the end, I find most of these networks quite cooperative when it comes to scheduling with the NFL.  So anyway, Texans-Browns in the early timeslot and Bengals-Steelers in the late timeslot have been moved over to FOX.  How a game involving the Bengals is getting that much coverage here in Canada I have no idea.  Actually I do have a good idea.  Joe Burrow and an undefeated Steelers team.  Enough to give them coverage even though they aren’t on their normal network.
• Wow the primetime games look….pretty awful.  I guess the Colts-Titans game does have some AFC South intrigue but other than that?  Yuck.
• Four games not appearing on Canadian TV this Sunday.  One of them in the early timeslot and three late.  And let’s be honest: very few of you would be clamoring to watch any of these games.  I hope, for your sake, that none of those games are close and then you get the always excited “Bonus Coverage” followed by “pursuant to NFL rules we are not allowed to show you overtime of that game.”  Damn NFL.
• TSN steps up during the late games…kind of.  They have three channels showing a game in the late timeslot.  Problem is it’s all the same game.  Like why couldn’t they use one of those channels to show a game not being shown here?  I don’t get it.

Hey let’s look at the updated playoffs (if they started today):

#1 – Pittsburgh	#1 – New Orleans
#2 – Kansas City	#2 – Seattle
#3 – Buffalo	#3 – Green Bay
#4 – Tennessee	#4 – Philadelphia
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 – Baltimore	#5 – Tampa Bay
#6 – Las Vegas	#6 – Arizona
#7 – Miami/Cleveland/Indianapolis	#7 – LA Rams

We are now past the midway mark of the season.  These playoff looks tend to become more and more important.  At this point, the Super Bowl favourites would have to be the Steelers, followed by the Chiefs, Saints, Seahawks and even, dare I say it, the Bills.  I will say I am a bit surprised that the Dolphins are in the playoff picture at this point.  They are way better than they should have been and you have to give Brian Flores a lot of credit for that.  Now Arizona?  They are not really a surprise with how well Kyler Murray and that offense is playing.  As for the teams close to elimination, the Falcons, Bengals, Texans, Broncos and Panthers are really close unless they run the table.  Which they won’t.  And the Jets and Jaguars are already eliminated.  Seriously.  So we won’t even be at the three-quarter mark of the season and will probably have those seven teams if not a few more already eliminated.  Only 18 teams miss the playoffs this season so that could put a huge damper on the final week of the season which has been a ton of fun to watch recently.

OK finally starting to get colder after a pretty nice start to November…well weather wise.  Almost time to think about snow tires I guess.  And don’t be one of those people that had them put on a month ago.  That’s insane.  So with the weather going south, I look forward to staying inside and watching copious amounts of football.  Everyone have a great weekend!

From bad to worse: First my CFB predictions, now my NFL ones

I figured my college football predictions were bad.  They weren’t awful but they weren’t good by any stretch of the imagination.  My Stassen score put me near the bottom of the list again.  I don’t do this blog for a living so I am fine with this.  Now I turn my attention to the NFL predictions I made.  Did this work out better?  I’m sure you know the answer.  Same way as the past two seasons: I will take snippets of my NFL predictions post and put them here and see if I was right or if I might have been drunk when I made that prediction.  Let us begin.

Just like I thought last season, I think parity may end up being the name of the game.  I only have five teams getting at least 11 wins: New England, Kansas City, LA Chargers, New Orleans and LA Rams.

I got the Patriots right!  Twleve wins on the nose.  And the Chiefs were close with 12.  A huge miss, though, on the Chargers although the Melvin Gordon holdout was a harbinger for bad times in that soccer stadium outside Los Angeles.  The Saints were arguably one of the best teams to ever play on Wild Card weekend and the Rams were juuuuust outside the playoff picture.  So four out of five isn’t bad.  There was less parity than in recent years as the best teams were a TON better than the merely average teams so I got that one really wrong.

Where will the good division races be?  The AFC North, AFC West, NFC East and, especially, the NFC North should be quite close races.  The Patriots will win by their usual five games and I can’t see the Rams having any trouble this season winning their division.

Man I was awful with this prediction.  The Patriots were good but the Bills gave them a run for their money most of the season.  The Rams finished THIRD and missed the playoffs.  The NFC East was a great race but that’s because there were no good teams.  The other three divisions there were not close at all.  Baltimore won by six games and KC by 5.  Yikes.  At least I knew the NFC South wouldn’t be close.  Small consolation for this statement.

The NFC Wild Card race should be exciting down to the end.  The Bears should get in easy.  I have the Eagles one game ahead of the Falcons, Panthers, Niners and Seahawks and in a virtual tie with the Vikings for the final Wild Card spot in the conference.  I think they somehow win whatever convoluted tiebreaker they have to clinch that spot, sending many upset Viking fans to the bars to drown their sorrows for another season.

Good lord where the fuck do I start with this?  All garbage.  All of it.  The Bears struggled to get to .500.  The Eagles actually won the NFC East but wouldn’t have qualified for a Wild Card spot otherwise.  The Falcons and Panthers were awful.  The Niners were one of the best teams in football and the Seahawks weren’t that far behind.  And the Vikings actually got in to the playoffs rather easily and pulled a first-round upset.  So yeah, this was a disaster of a prediction.

In the AFC, not as much of a race but still a few teams in the mix.  The second-place team in the AFC West should clinch by American Thanksgiving.  I have Lamar Jackson fueling the Ravens to the other Wild Card spot ahead of the Steelers, Texans and Titans.  I doubt anyone else would even be close.

The AFC West, other than the Chiefs, was a joke.  The Ravens were the best team in football.  Again, other than the playoff teams, no one was better than .500.  The Steelers did just lose out on a Wild Card Spot so I was right on that account.  Houston and Tennessee both made the playoffs so do I count that?  I’d say no just to be fair to all the actual experts who probably picked the Texans or Titans to win the AFC South.

There won’t be much of a race to the bottom this season.  As hilarious as it would be if Arizona finished last again, it won’t happen since the Dolphins are so bad that I cannot foresee a way they escape the basement.  The odds for them to win 7 games should be 10,000 to 1.

Arizona and Miami were both bad.  But the Dolphins weren’t as bad as I, nor anyone else, thought.  Instead it was the lowly Bengals, Lions and Redskins filling the bottom three spots.  I wasn’t that far off since I had Cincinnati and Detroit only winning five games and the Skins getting six.  Miami fans should be pretty stoked that they were better than almost anyone figured they would be and that they could get their franchise quarterback in the upcoming draft.

I don’t think Patrick Mahomes will win the MVP award.  Going back-to-back is super difficult and despite the fact he’s a great talent, I can see at least one other guy having an amazing year.  I will go with Drew Brees this year.  I also think that if the Saints somehow win it all that Brees would go out on top.

Mahomes was damn good this season.  Many seasons he would have won the MVP.  But Lamar Jackson was a revolution.  He is slowly redefining the way more and more quarterbacks play.  As for Brees, if he hadn’t been injured, he might have cracked the Top 5 but no one was touching Jackson this season.

As for the Rookie of the Year choices, I will go with David Montgomery and Ed Oliver.  To be honest this is quite a bit of a crapshoot so who the hell knows with these picks.

I took a flyer on Montgomery to be honest since I figured he’d be a bigger part of the Bears offense to take the load off of Trubisky.  I was wrong.  Kyler Murray was the Offensive ROY which is not surprising considering the offensive weapons surrounding him in Arizona.  Nick Bosa was the Defensive ROY and rightfully so.  I am going to go out on a limb and say him and his brother Joey are the first brothers to both win Rookie of the Year awards.

And now my playoffs preview.  Let’s see how good/awful I did:

• I had the Chiefs losing in the divisional playoff and the 49ers missing the playoffs.  Well isn’t this just a great start.
• I also had Chicago losing the NFC Conference Championship so yeah, another shitty pick.
• I am looking through these predictions and I did not have one game where both teams actually ended up making the playoffs.  Can you believe that?  Holy fuck is that ever awful.
• And out of all the shitty playoff predictions, the Chargers were EASILY the worst pick of the bunch.  I’m gonna blame Philip Rivers for this.  Hey Phil, why don’t you just call TLC and have them create a show about your fucking ridiculously massive family and retire from football?

Phew!  Well that was brutal.  I think I could have picked at random and done better.

OK so there is some realignment news.  UConn becomes an Independent starting next season in the FBS.  The American Conference are going with eleven teams (for now) and scrapping the divisions.  I wish all divisions were scrapped but that’s a different story for another day.  However, when it looked like nothing else would happen, the realignment gods (or realignment devils depending on how you want to look at) gave us a gift.  Boise State is rather pissed off with the Mountain West’s new broadcast agreements.  Boise State is taking the conference to court over the agreement they signed with the conference seven years ago.  That agreement basically kept the Broncos in the MWC.  With the new TV deal, commissioner Craig Thompson said it would be the last time BSU’s home games would be negotiated separately.  Boise State says nuh-uh.  So if they decide to take action and leave the Mountain West they could end up being that twelfth team in the AAC.  This would be huge as the former Big East would get that much closer to creating that Power 6 they have wanted for years.  It also drops the Mountain West closer to the level of the other Group of Five conferences in terms of prestige.  Also, who knows what other dominoes would stop because of this.  BYU?  Army?  Possibilities are endless.  So this could be an interesting rest of the winter on this front.

The next post will be the conference tournament schedule and it’s still a while away from now.  The conference tournaments don’t officially start until March 3rd.  As has been the case the past few years, the Atlantic Sun is the New Mexico Bowl of CBB conferences as they begin the festivities.  We will be able to see none of that.  However, the Ohio Valley Conference will not be the first set of tournament action we see.  The Mountain West Conference starts things off on channels we can actually see on March 5th.  I wonder if I should actually set up an FA Cup-style NCAA Basketball tournament, for experimental and fantasy purposes only.  It would be hilarious to see some team from the MEAC go on a crazy run and then they get San Diego State in the sixth round and the Aztecs put up 140 on them.  I’d watch.

Anyway, enjoy your week everyone.

Oh god…time for my Heisman ballot of shame again

God damn I am so awful at this.  Last year I didn’t even have Kyler Murray in my honourable mentions.  I’m a fucking joke at this.  But I keep trying.  Why?  I honestly don’t know anymore.  Anyway here is my ballot for the Heisman for the 2019 season:

My Brutally Bad Heisman Ballot

1. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson – Lawrence is the odds-on favourite to take home the Heisman Trophy this season.  This means that he will either run away with it or something will happen and he won’t even be Top 10 by the end of the year.  Considering he is Clemson’s leader I can’t see the latter happening so I am going with the former.
2. Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama – Tung-uh-vie-low-ah.  Nice to see an Alabama quarterback be considered for the Heisman.  A school not known for churning out great quarterbacks has arguably their best of all-time in Tagovailoa.  He is going to have a tough go trying to pass Lawrence but if he can play more fourth quarter ball this season he might boost his stats to the point where he has to win the trophy.
3. Justin Herbert, Oregon – This guy had a shot at being the top quarterback picked in the 2019 NFL Draft.  Instead, he decides to come back for his senior year.  I really hope this doesn’t backfire on Herbert.  An injury or a sub-par season could push him way down the draft list.  But Herbert is the straw that stirs the drink in Eugene.  If Oregon does what I think they will do (win the Pac-12 North) then this guy will be the biggest reason by far.
4. Sam Ehlinger, Texas – Of all the PEW! PEW! PEW!ing going on in the Big XII this season, Ehlinger might just be the best at it.  I can’t even throw in a Texas is back because that’s old news now and Sammy Boy here is one big reason why.  If the Longhorns make it back to the Big XII Championship (or even win it) then Ehlinger might be making a trip to New York in December.
5. Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma – The streak is going to end.  The Sooners will not have three straight Heisman winning quarterbacks who were also transfer players.  Hurts is going to be a big part of Oklahoma’s season but they have other weapons so he will be sharing a bit more in the glory than the other players above him may have to.  I predict Oklahoma to get to the College Football Playoff so that may sway a few more voters to send him to New York instead of being where I have him here.
6. Jake Fromm, Georgia – Fromm is a talent, there is no debate about that.  But with D’Andre Swift also being a huge part of the offense, you have to wonder what Fromm’s stats will be like.  Considering the Heisman voters love quarterbacks, I will put him here with the caveat that if UGA can win the SEC, Jake (and possibly D’Andre) rocket up the list.
7. Shea Patterson, Michigan – When is the last time the Wolverines had a legit Heisman candidate?  I still believe this will be the year Michigan and Jim Harbaugh finally break through and win the Big Ten East.  Patterson will be a big reason why.  Again, like many on this list, the better the team is, the better their chances at winning the Heisman and I expect Patterson to put up huge numbers for a team I think will be in the CFP.  Small update: I forgot about Jabrill Peppers finishing in the Top 5 in 2016.  Don’t know why.
8. Justin Fields, Ohio State – I feel a bit hesitant to put Fields this high.  There has been no proof that he can perform at the major college level.  I mean he looked like money in QB1 (which is a great Netflix series) but never got the chance at UGA before transferring to tOSU.  If the Buckeyes are as good as I think and if he puts up crazy stats, maybe he pulls in some more votes.
9. Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin – A great running back out of Wisconsin?  Shocking!  And by shocking I mean not shocking at all.  Taylor is the first non-quarterback on this list and a guy that should be the best running back in college football this season.  Unfortunately, he will have to put together another 2,000 yard season on the ground to even get some Heisman consideration.
10. Adrian Martinez, Nebraska – Back to quarterbacks.  Nebraska should be better than almost they ever were under Bo Pelini.  Martinez only ranks in the Top 10 if the Huskers do end up where I think they will be.  Also, he’s the fourth straight Big Ten player on my list so he doesn’t even rank in the Top 3 of his conference.  Sad, but true.  And it will make people forget him unless he becomes the second coming of college football Michael Vick.

Honourable Mention

• Travis Etienne, Clemson
• Ian Book, Notre Dame
• Grant Delpit, LSU
• D’Andre Swift, Georgia
• J.K. Dobbins, Ohio State
• Eno Benjamin, Arizona State
• A.J. Dillon, Boston College
• Kellen Mond, Texas A&M
• Kelly Bryant, Missouri

And there is my (not so) fantastic list!  If one of these players doesn’t win the damn thing I might just quit ever doing this post ever again.  I have made this threat before and have never followed through with it.  Maybe one day I should.  Just to be honest with all of you (and myself) as to my player predictions.

Hey what’s up next?

GOD

DAMN

MOTHER

FUCKING

COLLEGE

FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s what!  It is about damn time.  And we get lucky with the Week Zero game of the week.  Florida and Miami in a massive quasi-elimination game to start the season.  Amazing.  I will also watch the FCS games and the game out in Hawaii as well because that’s what I do.

Tomorrow I will have up the first schedule post of the 2019 season.  Get ready to get back in the groove.  I know I am getting ready.  And even though I have IPTV now, I will still make sure you have the most complete Canadian college football schedule I can give you just because, well, that’s the whole reason for the blog in the first place.  Can’t forget what brought me to the dance (so to speak).

After the schedule post will be my annual NFL preview which is usually mediocre at best.  For that reason, when I get something right, I let EVERYONE know about it.  Everyone have a great hump day!

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!