The Colts' Quarterback Situation: A Timeline

Browsing /r/nfl, I was stunned to find that the Colts have employed ten different quarterbacks over the course of the 2015 season. As a result of this, I figure some of you, like me, may be confused about the convoluted series of events, inextricably linked to the Titans' fortunes, that has led to a veritable quarterback catastrophe over in Indianapolis. But no longer! Just refer to this helpful, incredibly simple timeline, beginning at the close of the preseason:

September 5: Indianapolis releases Bryan Bennett, an undrafted free agent from Southeastern Louisiana and, further in the past, Oregon. This leaves Andrew Luck and Matt Hasselbeck as their two quarterbacks. Bennett had one of the worst preseasons of any quarterback, completing 20 of his 49 passes for only 222 yards with no touchdowns and five interceptions. Consequently, he was not offered an invitation to the team's practice squad, leaving the Colts with only a pair of quarterbacks, Luck and Hasselbeck.

September 27: Andrew Luck sustains a mysterious injury against the Titans. He's limited in practice as 40-year-old Matt Hasselbeck, himself a former Titan starter, takes on increased reps.

September 29: REVENGE! The Colts weakly strike back at the Titans for hurting their star by signing renowned trick-shot quarterback ("better than Johnny Mac!") and ex-Titan, the pride of Monmouth, Alex Tanney. The Colts are his sixth team in three years. Since being released in final cuts by Tennessee, he had a short stint with the Bills, and would later make his fateful return to Tennessee. Stay tuned!

October 2: Clearly judging the trick-shot master unfit to play, the Colts pick up ex-Harbaugh-protégé Josh Johnson, a quite capable scrambling quarterback last seen with the Jets in August. This is his sixth team, too.

October 4: Hasselbeck starts and pulls off a narrow win over the Jaguars in overtime thanks to a missed field goal from Jason Myers.

October 12: Johnson is released after having been released and re-signed during the previous week. This is a trick pioneered by Jim Harbaugh (using Johnson, in fact) that provides an effective 54th roster spot.

October 20: Clearly disappointed by his lack of success as an actual NFL passer, the Colts release Tanney, too, and replace him with another practice-squad-level quarterback, Matt Blanchard, whose latest action had come as something of an afterthought for Green Bay in the preseason. (He had been signed after Mike McCarthy invited him in for an offseason workout and asked him "Why the hell don't you have a job?" McCarthy clearly found out the reasoning quickly; Blanchard was released during the preseason.) But with Luck having come back, and a period of apparent stability approaching, why would they even need him?

November 10: The Colts announce that Luck has become mysteriously injured — again. Neglecting to slide on a scramble in an upset victory against Denver earned the franchise quarterback a lacerated kidney and a torn abdominal muscle. The Colts also swap out Blanchard for Tanney, who spent only three weeks out of a job.

November 12: The front office goes into action immediately to address the unexpected issue with Luck. With Josh Johnson having migrated north to Buffalo, Grigson and co. are left no choice but to claim Charlie "Clipboard Jesus" Whitehurst off waivers from Tennessee (no surprise there).

December 7: After back-to-back wins over NFC South opponents, the Colts, as well as Hasselbeck's torso, get crushed in a 45-10 loss to Pittsburgh. Clipboard Jesus rises from the bench to take his place. The rib injury continues to plague Hasselbeck during the remainder of the season.

December 21-24: Another backup quarterback exchange is in order. A needy Titans team, having shut Marcus Mariota down, requires some assistance for Zach Mettenberger. They pluck Tanney from the Colts practice squad. Indianapolis chooses to replace him with undrafted free agent Stephen Morris, whose services are required much sooner than anyone anticipated when...

December 27: Disaster strikes. Hasselbeck leaves in the middle of the game once again (for the fourth time, actually), but this time he doesn't come back. Whitehurst, much like his namesake, engineers a miracle, but this one goes only to preserve the team's minuscule playoff hopes with a victory against a sputtering Dolphins team. In the process, however, he himself suffers a hamstring injury. The Colts defense holds firm so that Morris isn't forced to enter after three days of acquainting himself with the playbook, but all signs point to him starting against — guess who — the Titans in Week 17.

During the week leading up to this climactic game for the Colts, Matt Blanchard, having rejoined the practice squad of the first team to give him a job, the Chicago Bears, turns down an offer from an unspecified AFC team, instead choosing a pay raise and a comfy spot on the Bears practice squad. With what was probably their plea denied, the Colts are forced to turn...elsewhere.

December 29: Enter a pair of NFL pariahs: Josh Freeman and Ryan Lindley. Freeman, once hailed by Skip Bayless as a better bet in the long term than Cam Newton, managed to burn all bridges with the team that drafted him, Tampa Bay. After a much-ballyhooed stint in Minnesota in which Freeman came in, started ten days later, accumulated a YPA of 3.6 and got embarrassed by the Giants, he faded into obscurity. Before this unexpected signing by Indy, he had been serving as the fumble-prone face of the FXFL's Brooklyn Bolts.

Lindley, meanwhile, actually started a playoff game under similar circumstances at the end of last season. He led the once-promising Cardinals to an embarrassing first-round exit. He had a chance to maintain a job with New England at the tail end of the preseason, but the repealing of Tom Brady's suspension made him an unneeded luxury behind Jimmy Garoppolo. He found himself unemployed until this lucky break.

January 3: The Colts ultimately couldn't pick a single quarterback from the pool of three. And improbably, their decision paid off. Freeman was assigned the regular offense, Lindley the two-minute drill, and the team's ninth and tenth quarterbacks of the year contributed a pair of touchdowns in the first half. Morris was left out completely.

On the opposite sideline, an ineffective and supposedly injured Zach Mettenberger was replaced in the third quarter by none other than Alex Tanney. In spite of the quarterback-killing Titans' best efforts and Tanney's first career touchdown pass, however, the rally fell short and the Colts' unrecognizable motley crew pulled off a 30-24 victory.

A team that entered the season with one of the most secure quarterback situations in the league finished it with an undrafted free agent and two disgraced disappointments — successfully. I can't recall any other instances of as much turnover at a single position as the Colts experienced this year at quarterback, but miraculously, the team finished the season close to a playoff spot and Pagano and Grigson kept their jobs.

I hope this timeline has been useful for those of you who might have been confused by the unexpected appearance of a pair of ghosts of post-Christmases (at least in Lindley's case) past. More actual playoff-related content coming soon to this blog.

Insufficient Canadians in the Canadian Football League

On November 8, the CFL's moribund Montreal Alouettes fell to an even worse team, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who claimed only their third win in eighteen games that season. The Alouettes had led 24-6 in the fourth quarter, but allowed Saskatchewan to rally, force overtime, and take a 30-24 lead behind a touchdown pass from Brett Smith to Weston Dressler (the latter of whom had tried to bolt the league for the Kansas City Chiefs a year earlier, only to be released in the team's final cuts).

Montreal quarterback Brandon Bridge, one of seven quarterbacks to throw a pass for the Alouettes that season, had already thrown for a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions in his first career start, and was given a final opportunity to rally his team thanks to the CFL's NCAA-like overtime rules. However, his final drive stalled ten yards from the end zone. With their victory, Saskatchewan avoided producing the worst season in team history, instead tying their previous worst.

Bridge, however, had indeed made history; that season, he had become the first Canadian quarterback to play in the CFL in five years, and more notably, his start against Saskatchewan made him the first Canadian quarterback to start a game — in the Canadian Football League — since Giulio Caravatta in 1996, and the first black Canadian quarterback to ever start. Bridge was then, and is currently, the only non-American quarterback on a CFL roster. In fact, Bridge, a two-star recruit out of high school, hadn't even chosen to play college football in the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport), instead playing for the FCS (within the NCAA) Alcorn State Braves, then the South Alabama Jaguars.

What's with the lack of Canadian-born, Canadian-raised quarterbacks? Former backup quarterback Frank Cosentino, in an interview with Canada.com, notes a so-called "glass ceiling" for Canadian quarterbacks, a general perception (among coaching staffs composed primarily of Americans) that Canadians aren't worth spending time on, while Americans can improve with enough practice.

This lack of patience manifests itself very often in the CFL. A Montreal Gazette article by Herb Zurkowsky points out that CIS quarterbacks are often converted to other positions, and that Montreal, at the time of Bridge's first action, had two such players on its roster: safety Marc-Olivier Brouillette and wide receiver Kyle Graves (who had played QB for the Montreal Carabins and Acadia Axemen, respectively). Brad Sinopoli, once viewed as a promising CFL quarterback prospect, was drafted by Calgary to play his natural position and also eventually converted. "It's probably an unintentional bias," Cosentino is quoted as saying. "Canadian coaches used to say the same thing about American hockey players... The American kid had to work twice as hard to show that they could play. Once they were given the opportunity... [they] turned out to be every bit as good as Canadian hockey players."

Another reason is built into the CFL's protectionist roster system, which outlines certain numbers of "import" (usually American) and "non-import" (Canadian) players — 19 of the former and 20 of the latter. Three more roster spots are dedicated to quarterbacks, who are excluded from the rule. American quarterbacks are generally better trained, and there's no incentive for teams to develop unpolished Canadian players because it doesn't help to fill the non-import requirement. As early as 2010, the CFL was considering changing this rule, but it remains in place to this day.

However, through a new so-called "internship" program, the CFL is currently encouraging the development of non-import quarterbacks. With the CFL's consent, sixteen Canadian quarterbacks, besides the three who had already signed with teams (Bridge, eventually-cut Jordan Yantz, and Andrew Buckley, who was drafted by the Calgary Stampeders but returned to the CIS to play another season), were given non-binding training camp invites that also did not require the teams to use a roster spot. Interestingly, half of these were in Montreal's camp alone.

(The aforementioned Yantz later claimed he wasn't given a fair shot in Winnipeg camp. He said he "was getting between one and three reps the entire practice"; clearly, creating the internship program alone won't be enough to eliminate the institutional bias against non-import QBs.)

If Bridge continues to excel, and if the internship program takes off, and if more Canadian quarterbacks get the chance to play, maybe we could see a change in the trend. But it's likely that the CFL will have to take action and change a rule that provides a real incentive to keep them on the roster throughout the season, not just give them a couple reps in training camp before casting them off forever.

Fringe Quarterback #1: Cody Fajardo

Hello! In the process of writing my preseason articles, I realized that I spent a lot of time discussing quarterbacks and their successes and failures. How could I utilize this skill during the regular season? When the Colts signed Josh Johnson ahead of practice squad QB Alex Tanney to back up Matt Hasselbeck for the last two weeks, I wondered if anyone who hadn't watched the Titans preseason would understand the move. So now I'm going to take low-level quarterbacks - free agents, practice squad members, perennial inactives - and watch their preseason film, then use it to determine if they have a future in the league.

First off, an apparent failure of a quarterback on my favorite team, one who remains unsurprisingly unsigned: Nevada product Cody Fajardo.

History: At Nevada, Fajardo succeeded 49ers started Colin Kaepernick as the starter. Much like "Kaep," he was a noted dual-threat quarterback, but unlike him, Fajardo lacked the necessary passing skills to get drafted this past spring. The Raiders picked him up and carried him through their training camp, but with Matt McGloin and Christian Ponder ahead of him on the depth chart, his chances of sticking with the team were incredibly slim. He would have to be exceptionally impressive in the preseason to even be in consideration for a spot on the practice squad.

Week 1: Given only a single garbage-time series with a 15-point lead over St. Louis, Fajardo completed a pair of wide receiver screens and was accurate on a halfback checkdown that was dropped by George Atkinson III (who proved vastly inferior to his Raider-luminary namesake). Fajardo showed decent mobility on a scramble. Ultimately, he wasn't asked to do very much.

Week 2: He didn't get a chance until the final drive of the game, down 20-12 to a Minnesota team that had completely shut down the McGloin-led offense. It was an important opportunity for Fajardo to prove his worth, one which he did not take advantage of. He once again showed his ability to evade pressure through several inventive scrambles, but didn't accomplish nearly enough in the passing game for a potentially game-tying touchdown. Fajardo forced a pair of ugly passes to Devon Wylie (another abject failure, by the way, this time a castoff from Kansas City who was only on the roster thanks to a tenuous Fresno State connection to Derek Carr), then an even worse attempt to Atkinson, who had a Vikings player standing right next to him, was unsurprisingly intercepted.

Week 3: Fajardo significantly sat out the entirety of the game commonly regarded as the principal tuneup for the regular season. He was cut two days later. Oakland tellingly passed on Fajardo for their practice squad even after Ponder was released, instead choosing to sign a very publicly terrible quarterback, Garrett Gilbert, who is best known for losing Texas a national championship game, then transferring to the illustrious SMU Mustangs football team.

Verdict: Fajardo's tape from Minnesota reveals a noticeable lack of decision-making skills. Mobility alone does not a quarterback make (hi, esteemed SEC Nation personality Tim Tebow!), and as a result, it's unlikely this inferior Kaepernick will ever be back in the NFL.

More of these to come, plus maybe even a new thing where I critique commentary teams! Stay tuned.

"American" Football Remains, Indeed, American

Basking in his team’s dominant 59-12 victory over Japan, IFAF World Championship MVP wide receiver Trent Steelman had this to say about the American team in a postgame interview: “We’re world champs. That’s what America does. We came in with the mentality that we’re going to teach the rest of the world that this is our game.”

One can forgive Steelman, who played quarterback at West Point, for his slightly excessive nationalism. But his disregard for other countries as part of the worldwide American football landscape is symptomatic of gridiron football’s general failure around the world.

The IFAF, the governing body of worldwide American football, hosts its own equivalent of the better-known FIFA World Cup or FIBA Championships every four years. Unlike its more storied counterparts, however, the IFAF World Championship has only been in existence for sixteen years. The tournament launched without much fanfare in 1999; the USA didn’t even send a team to the first two competitions, likely for the sake of competitive balance. Indeed, since their debut in 2007, the American teams are undefeated, in spite of being largely populated by sub-par amateur players; Steelman himself, the finals’ most exceptional player, failed to make the roster of the Baltimore Ravens after the Championship.

The USA’s IFAF domination indicates a wide chasm in terms of player skill. Excellent athletes in countries like Japan and France, which host some of the not-totally-incompetent international teams (though the USA did smash France 82-0 in their semifinal matchup), are not being raised to play on the gridiron. Most of them are bound for rugby, baseball, soccer, or even basketball careers.

There are football lovers around the world, but they’re the tiniest of minorities. Germany’s GFL, one of the more successful gridiron leagues, draws pitiful crowds (one of the top teams, the New Yorker Lions, brought in 2,250 for its latest game), especially in comparison to those of the German Bundesliga soccer league, for instance (league leader Bayern Munich has an average attendance of over 72,000).

The NFL does not respect these upstart leagues, who are effectively local small businesses whom the NFL seeks to replace with their iconic brand. This has manifested itself in the form of ventures like their failed developmental league, NFL Europe; the now-defunct American Bowl preseason game, held often in Tokyo, Berlin, and Mexico City; and the ongoing effort to gradually increase the number of low-quality regular season games played at London’s Wembley Stadium. Everything the NFL does in Europe and Asia indicates a lack of regard for anything but the success of the NFL brand. There’s no effort to build relationships with local leagues. 

Robert Huber, president of the American Football Association of Germany, put it well in a MMQB article: "You have to compare it to the Harlem Globetrotters in basketball. If they travel abroad, of course that will increase awareness for basketball. But that does not help the local structure, because everyone knows that's the Harlem Globetrotters and we will never play against them." This is in stark contrast to the actions of the Arena Football League, for instance, which in spite of being exceptionally strained financially has tried extremely hard to set up a government-sanctioned developmental league in China that heavily features Chinese natives alongside AFL castoffs.

Obviously, the world is not totally devoid of gridiron talent outside of the land of the free and home of the brave. The NFL has, admittedly, tried halfheartedly on several occasions to bring international players into the fold. A particularly interesting and potentially beneficial NFL initiative was the International Practice Squad Program, which assigned a number of non-American players to 16 teams’ practice squads.

A since-deleted ESPN article lists the 2007 assignees. While most were castoffs from NFL Europe who had been part of its own effort to incorporate so-called “national players” into the teams’ rosters, a select few were very much integrated into their country’s national American football cultures. Per the article, British linebacker and San Diego assignee Jason Brisbane, for instance, had led the London Blitz to a British American Football League championship and won a league MVP award. The article also stated that Sébastien Sejean, who was allocated to St. Louis, had played on the French team in the 2007 World Championship. In a remarkable display of carelessness, ESPN incorrectly referred to the Championship to as the World Cup in the article, which also spells Sejean’s name wrong.

Beginning in 2004, the initiative only produced a single player who actually made a team’s roster: Mexican guard Rolando Cantu, who saw limited action with the Arizona Cardinals in 2005 and has continued with the team in various front-office roles since. Otherwise, the players by and large washed out of the league.

It didn’t take long for the NFL to get bored of not producing significant results. The program was shut down in 2009, though the NFL supposedly still allowed for an exemption for an extra practice squad member for any team that wanted to employ someone from outside the United States. But when the Detroit Lions, four years later, attempted to use this rule to keep YouTube sensation Håvard “Kickalicious” Rugland on their roster, they were rebuffed by an NFL ruling stating that the rule was intended for NFL Europe. Clearly, in another example of NFL apathy toward actually cultivating international players, the league had left it in by accident, because it was silently removed sometime before this year. Vikings fansite writer Christopher Gates recommended that the team use the exemption to keep Polish project Babatunde Aiyegbusi around, only to discover, much to his embarrassment, that the newest collective bargaining agreement had simply omitted any discussion of the rule.

So as the situation stands currently, there has been no movement by the NFL to build relationships with leagues around the world, nor is there any remaining NFL program to encourage the development of non-American players. However, a recent IFAF proposal aimed to have gridiron football recognized as an Olympic sport, with provisions to begin playing it as soon as the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (where gridiron football is taken somewhat seriously).

While this proposal was ultimately rejected by the IOC, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman later spoke out in favor of American football as a potential Olympic sport, providing at least some publicity to the IFAF’s fruitless efforts. If there is ever a breakthrough, the Olympics could be a fantastic way for gridiron football to show its merits on a worldwide stage without being subject to the NFL’s jurisdiction.

edit 10/4: added Robert Huber quote

August 21st and 22nd Preseason Notes

Here are some notes related to the games I focused on from last weekend.

Jets 30, Falcons 22
- The Falcons' passing offense continues to amaze. While Atlanta is experiencing similar running back problems to Buffalo's, forcing them to use a fourth-stringer named Terron Ward, Matt Ryan's performances have been more than enough to carry the team so far. A nice throw to Collin Mooney left Jets linebacker Quinton Coples flat-footed and set up a 59-yard gain, then Julio Jones drew a pass-interference flag on Darrelle Revis to set up Ward for the easy touchdown. Ryan is even making mediocre players like Leonard Hankerson, scorer of the second touchdown appear competent.

- The Jets' first-team offense, on the other hand, is totally devoid of excitement. Not a single player is fun to watch. Chris Ivory showed some good vision on a touchdown run late in the first half, but the New York offense was entirely stagnant otherwise, as they were against Detroit. I foresee an awful inaugural season for Todd Bowles.

- TJ Yates, in limited playing time, managed to both take a safety and throw a costly interception. Perhaps there is a correlation between the fact that Yates was remarkably terrible both this week and last and the fact that Renfree experienced an increase in playing time. Who knows?? (Apparently Renfree has also been taking second-team reps in practice since last week.)

- The Falcons commentators thought it was hysterically funny when Jeremy Kerley tried to convince the officials that he had completed a questionable catch. They kept calling him a "litigator" and inexplicably chuckled a great deal when one of them said "Okay, it's time for you to stop being a litigator and go back to being a football player!" Also: "[Hester] simply emasculated that coverage team!" later in the game.

- There was a bit of debate between the commentators as to whether or not Bryce Petty would be able to develop quickly enough to serve as the primary backup to Ryan Fitzpatrick (following the Matt Flynn signing). Judging by this game, he has a long way to go. Every throw of his, at least on the drive I watched all the way through, seemed to be a risky deep pass; every once in a while one paid off, and it looked like a brilliant throw, but most of the time Petty missed by a wide margin.

Panthers 31, Dolphins 30
- The Panthers' play-by-play announcer had a strange habit of referring to quarterbacks by their full names. I thought it was strange enough when he introduced "Ryan Timothy Tannehill III," but it wasn't a one-time thing, as he also mentioned "Cameron Jerrell Newton."

- Carolina's first-team offense was just as terrible as I had anticipated. Jonathan Stewart is, and always has been, a mediocre running back, and Cam Newton started out 0 for 4 with an interception before completing a few passes against a Miami unit that, as it was the second quarter, may have contained some reserves.

- Newton's sheer mediocrity was especially noticeable because of how good Ryan Tannehill, and Miami's first-team offense as a whole, was in comparison. In general, this game followed a similar pattern to the Falcons-Jets game, in that one team completely dominated the first quarter, but comparatively mediocre backups squandered the lead.

- I'm a little irritated by the constant attempts to avoid overtime in preseason games. I understand that the quality of play isn't as high in general, but wouldn't a team want as much time to evaluate its personnel as possible, in as many different game situations as possible? In 2014 there was even a vote to eliminate overtime from preseason games completely. This game was a good example of a team, Miami, losing out on an opportunity to give more playing time to borderline prospects like riches-to-rags Josh Freeman, because they decided to go for two in a situation in which they never would in the regular season.

Vikings 20, Raiders 12
- I was glad to finally have the chance to watch my team in action. Unfortunately, their performance was pretty disappointing. The starting offense at least got into the endzone, with the help of a toe-tapping catch by Amari Cooper (notable because as the commentators pointed out, he's a rookie, and in college, receivers only need one foot down), but the backups were stifled by an endless stream of penalties.  Oakland has been constantly criticized for receiving exorbitant amounts of penalties in the past, and clearly Jack Del Rio has not done much to address that issue.

- There was a strange moment from the commentators, who were otherwise fairly competent, when an Oakland defensive back was called for unnecessary roughness on a touchdown, and the referee announced that the penalty would be assessed on the kickoff. When Minnesota lined up to kick off, a color commentator asked, "Why are they kicking from the 50?" Beth Mowins, the play-by-play woman, explained fairly clearly that the 15-yard penalty would move the kickoff from the 35 to the 50. The color commentator responded, in a tone reminiscent of a frustrated second-grader, "I still don't get it." After a moment of silence, Mowins moved on as if nothing had happened.

- Another preseason convention that bothers me: backup kickers and punters on teams that don't need any sort of competition. Case in point: Giorgio Tavecchio for the Raiders. It's not like Seabass is getting cut any time soon.

August 20th Preseason Notes

Redskins, Lions
- Golden Tate continues to receive targets from Matthew Stafford, as he did last week. Jeremy Ross also caught a few passes from Stafford and, later, a touchdown from the surprisingly competent Dan Orlovsky. This Lions receiving corps is quite capable, even without Calvin Johnson.

- The first-team Redskins defense cannot tackle at all. As a permanently addled Joe Theismann pointed out, three plays on the Lions' first drive, including a Tate catch, were kept alive by missed tackles. Their defensive positioning is correct — they swarm to the ball — but the technique needs work.

- Not surprising that Robert Griffin III got himself inexplicably injured again. Given the excellent performances of Colt McCoy and Kirk Cousins, both in this game and last season, I don't think Washington needs to be particularly concerned.

- Dan Orlovsky has already improbably unseated Lions developmental quarterback Kellen Moore for the #2 spot, at least according to the order in which they played in this game, and it's easy to see why. While Orlovsky completed 13 of 17 passes and threw for a pair of touchdowns, Moore missed on four of his seven throws against third-teamers, including one at pretty much point-blank range. Everyone was rooting for him following his highly successful college career at Boise State, everyone's favorite Cinderella story, but it doesn't appear that he has much of a future.

Bills, Browns
- Tyrod Taylor was able to run the first-team offense effectively. Jon Gruden was quick to discredit him for taking a sack rather than throwing the ball away, but as he was being swarmed by three Cleveland defenders and the offensive line had completely collapsed, I don't hold it against him. Rex Ryan should name him the Week 3 starter, and probably the regular season starter as well. Manuel was similarly impressive and especially good on the final go-ahead drive, which ended in a passing touchdown to the back corner of the end zone from 14 yards out followed by a two-point conversion on a rollout.

- Deonte Thompson, who ran a 4.21 40-yard dash coming out of college, is excellent at getting open, as he showed last week as the recipient of EJ Manuel's beautiful touchdown pass. This week he got a great deal of first-team action and repeatedly found open space. However, he usually failed to come up with Taylor's accurate passes. When his possession skills improve, he'll be an excellent deep threat for a team in need of dynamic receivers.

- The Bills' awful running back situation is pretty funny, to be honest. With the top five injured, we saw the sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-string running backs against Cleveland. All three were acquired within the last two weeks; two were acquired in the last two days. Combined, they rushed for the same amount of yards as Tyrod Taylor.

Remaining Week 1 Preseason Notes

Hello! Due to unfortunate circumstances, I missed most of the live airings of the remaining Week 1 preseason games. Fortunately, I was able to re-watch portions of each game using another Game Pass free trial that allows for the viewing of 30-minute "condensed games" that feature only the plays from each broadcast. Here's the next in my series of WalterFootball-inspired notes pages on a few of the games that I managed to watch.

Falcons 31, Titans 24
- As usual, everyone is hyped up about Julio Jones' excellent performance. I'd advise you all to avoid getting too excited; it'll be miraculous if he manages to stay healthy.

- TJ Yates does not look like a quarterback who once started a playoff game. On the first drive he made a pair of horrible throws when the Falcons were in the red zone. On the second he waited way too long in the pocket on one play and threw into coverage on another. Even on the halftime drive that resulted in a touchdown run, Yates nearly missed multiple wide-open receivers and was bailed out by their athletic plays.

- Always thought Harry Douglas didn't get enough credit for his role in the Falcons playoff teams of a few seasons ago; it was nice to see that he's becoming a favorite target of Mariota already. It would be nice if a moribund team like Tennessee could get exciting players like Douglas and second-quarter scorer Dexter McCluster more involved in the offense.

- David Cobb (11 carries for 53 yards) looks like a promising runner who could see some playing time, considering the mediocrity of those above him on the depth chart.

Panthers 25, Bills 24
- It's very telling about the Bills quarterback situation that the GM referred to them being in "quarterback purgatory" as a positive thing. Cassel is consistently mediocre. Taylor is exciting but has zero starting experience. Manuel is just wasted potential. None of the three is good enough to prevent opposing teams from just keying in on McCoy every game.

- The Panthers receiving corps is absolutely terrible without Kelvin Benjamin, who was lost to a torn ACL in a recent practice. The second-team offense under Derek Anderson used recent draft pick Devin Funchess in a similar role, but it remains to be seen if he is capable of being a starter right away. Expect Cam Newton to be relied upon way too much to propel an offense with no consistent running backs or wide receivers.

- The Bills commentators actively cheered on their team throughout the game, yelling at the refs when a flag was thrown too slowly for a dirty tackle and saying "come on!" excitedly as EJ Manuel scrambled out of the pocket, searching for a wide receiver.

- I was under the impression former Viking Joe Webb had given up on playing quarterback, but I'm glad he didn't. He's still an incredibly fun player to watch who possesses remarkable mobility (which he likely developed in an attempt to convert to wide receiver).

Chiefs 34, Cardinals 19
- Is it bad that I can't think of anything other than bodies mouldering in the grave when I hear the name of a certain Cardinals second-year receiver?

- I've always considered Chase Daniel one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league; he's impressed me in a few appearances replacing Drew Brees and Alex Smith. He reinforced my feelings with an amazing stat line against Arizona's second-team defense, by far the best any quarterback has accumulated thus far this preseason: 17 of 21, 189 yards, three touchdown passes, zero interceptions. (He might even have had a fourth touchdown pass had Andy Reid not pulled him in favor of an ineffective Aaron Murray during a third-quarter drive.)A pair of deep passes to backup receivers Williams and Hammond on a quick drive right before the half showcased Daniel's accuracy. Like Green Bay's Scott Tolzien and New Orleans' Ryan Griffin, the Missouri product could be a potential trade target for quarterback-needy teams, if Kansas City considers Murray a viable developmental prospect.

- I pray that CBS sends its #1 commentary team to the October 18th Cardinals-Steelers game and the Cardinals' fourth quarterback somehow makes the roster so that Phil Simms has to discuss Phillip Sims.

- Following a garbage-time touchdown pass by Sims, the commentary devolved into awful filler about a 100-year-old woman in a wheelchair who visited the Cardinals camp and apparently was apparently "walking around" and talking to players. (They showed a shot of her shaking hands with some players, but I have to believe that was the exception, not the rule.) Ron Wolfley, the color commentator, who sounded like he had inhaled sulfur hexafluoride before the game, added some insightful commentary about the invention of the automobile, said the phrase "pomp and circumstance" four times in about a minute, and compared the extra point to having a parade after conquering a city.

As you may have noticed while reading this post, I pay a great deal of attention to backup quarterbacks.

Anyway, my apologies if I passed on a game for which you had expected analysis. I'm lucky to have been able to watch any of these given the limited time I had. Tomorrow I'll be making another post for the first pair of games of Week 2, with a potential format change — stay tuned!

August 13th Preseason Notes

Hello, readers! I'm going to be making full use of my 7-day free trial for NFL Game Pass to watch a whole bunch of preseason games simultaneously and make random, potentially insightful observations. (One of my favorite football websites, WalterFootball, is run by a guy who does the same thing.) Don't expect any detailed technical analysis. Here's what I noted today in the two main games I watched:

Packers 22, Patriots 11
- Scott Tolzien looks extremely promising. Many questioned his ability to serve as a competent backup for Aaron Rodgers, but he looked the part in this game, most notably threading the needle to Jeff Janis for a touchdown early on. In general, Tolzien was excellent with the exception of an errant 3rd and 4 throw to second-year tight end Justin Perillo (who had a great 16-yard catch earlier in the game after which he impressively outmuscled a Patriots defender.) The Packers should consider trading Tolzien to a team that needs an emergency quarterback, as they just drafted Brett Hundley.

- What's the deal with Josh Boyce? For some inexplicable reason, he started the game and played throughout. Garoppolo kept throwing to him and repeatedly missed. Garoppolo had an underthrow to him nearly picked off by Rollins in the second quarter, and a mediocre pass in the third was deflected around and intercepted by Gunter. At one point, Jeff Howe tweeted that Garoppolo had completed 15 straight passes when not targeting Boyce.

- "Mediocre" is a good word to describe Garoppolo's performance as a whole. He flashed potential but for the most part looked incapable of leading the quarterback-dependent Patriots. Regardless of the quality of the supporting cast, it'll be difficult for this team to accomplish much in the month of September.

- We saw none of last year's playoff-game-starting quarterback for the Cardinals, and Patriot as of Monday, Ryan Lindley.

- Stop calling Garoppolo "Jimmy G," Patriots color commentator and former failure of a tight end Christian Fauria. Not everyone needs a nickname.


Ravens 30, Saints 27
- Exceptional quarterback play overall — with Brees sitting out, Luke McCown performed well against the Ravens' first team defense, and Ryan Griffin impressed me the most of any quarterback I saw today, most notably leading an excellent two-minute drill before halftime. The Saints commentators say other teams, including St. Louis, have wanted him in the past. New Orleans should trade him, since they just drafted Garrett Grayson. Yes, I know I just wrote this exact thing for Tolzien and Hundley. It's true that much of the preseason is just showing off your players' talents for other teams.

- As for the Ravens, having Matt Schaub as a backup is a nice luxury, though Joe Flacco doesn't get injured often enough to justify the expense.

- Tim Hightower still exists?! And he plays for New Orleans? Apparently he last played a game for the Fall Experimental Football League's travelling Blacktips after two seasons out of football. He still can't have a decent YPC average; apparently nothing has changed.

- Painful to watch Zach Hocker miss a field goal when all the commentators have to talk about is his competition with Dustin Hopkins for the kicker spot. At least he atoned for this later by drilling two kicks from a similar range.

- Not surprising given the quality of play in preseason that a game was decided by an incredibly obvious pass interference penalty. Yet I love the preseason all the same, in spite of its flaws.

Miscellaneous notes:
- I watched Dolphins-Bears just long enough to hear some commentator say that Jimmy Clausen, who inexplicably played most of today's game, played for Denver at one point. Uh, no.

- McLeod Bethel-Thompson is not a good name to have as a quarterback. McLeod Bethel-Thompson is also not a good quarterback, as evidenced by his pair of interceptions. However, he has inexplicably passed current fourth-stringer and former Tampa Bay "franchise quarterback" Josh Freeman, who went 5 for 16, on the Dolphins' depth chart.

- With newly minted wide receiver Terrelle Pryor, former Kansas City standout Dwayne Bowe, and potential starting running back Duke Johnson ruled out, there wasn't much to say about the Browns offense. So of course the commentators decided to do what they usually do and manufacture Johnny Football news. According to Michael Irvin and LaDainian Tomlinson, who should know better, Manziel's 12-yard touchdown run is proof that he is a "real quarterback." Yes, indeed, running is what quarterbacks do best.

- Golden Tate was excellent. With Calvin Johnson drawing defenders away from him, he should be able to shine this season, if his two catches from Stafford were any indication.

- I find it incredibly funny that, after the 0-16 season and bouncing around to three other awful teams (including the Peyton-less Colts), Orlovsky is suddenly a third-string quarterback for none other than the Lions. If you're a Lions fan, wouldn't you want him to be forever erased from existence?

- How exactly did Bryce Petty, playing the vast majority of the game, manage to complete only ten passes for an average of five yards per pass?

- Good to know that the Cowboys are employing a quarterback, Dustin Vaughan, from a school at which Ryan Leaf coached. (This game is going on as I write.)

Expect more of these spontaneous notes, coming soon! Tomorrow's slate of games will be quite intriguing.

Upset alert?

I don't think I deserve to be accused of being a homer when I say that my favorite team, the Raiders, have a legitimate chance of beating the undefeated Chiefs this week.

The Chiefs are the toast of the NFL right now, and I just saw a Jeffri Chadiha article touting them as the team to knock off the Broncos. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Jamaal Charles is injury-prone. Alex Smith is their quarterback. The receiving core is very weak. While their defense, led by Justin Houston, has excelled, the offense could hurt them in the long run. Oh, by the way, this team was 2-14 last year. And in an AFC with numerous wild-card-caliber teams, 5-0 is no guarantee of a playoff spot.

Meanwhile, the Raiders have quietly surprised the NFL. Pryor to this season, (see what I did there?) the esteemed Sports Guy Bill Simmons called Oakland the worst team in the NFL and postulated that they could go 0-16. But their much-maligned defense held the Chargers to zero touchdowns in the first three quarters yesterday, helped them almost beat the Colts, and overall, has done a lot better than expected (although that doesn't say very much.) In addition, Terrelle Pryor looks like a legitimate starting quarterback. For all of these reasons, I'm expecting a very competitive game next Sunday.

Plus, history is on my side. In the last three seasons, Oakland is 5-1 against Kansas City. The one loss was in Carson Palmer's debut, by the way. Kyle Boller also played, and each quarterback threw three interceptions. In addition, five wins is greater than or equal to eight of the Raiders' season win totals from the last ten seasons. The point is, this team just plays well against Kansas City.

To conclude, even with Arrowhead Stadium's home field advantage, I think the Chiefs will lose this week. Calling it now: Raiders 27, Chiefs 20.

The Browns' starting quarterback for Week 3 is...

Now, I know I haven't been posting on a regular schedule recently, but I just saw something striking enough that it deserves its own post: Brian Hoyer will start for the Browns this weekend.

Now, I know this seems trivial. But Hoyer has had a very weird career path, and he's starting for Cleveland this week over former Oakland and Washington starter Jason Campbell, so something must be up.

Hoyer played his college football at Michigan State, where he was a decent, not outstanding, quarterback prospect. As a result of this being the popular opinion, Hoyer went undrafted. The Patriots, who lacked a consistent backup quarterback, signed him. This was not unusual. What was unusual was when New England chose him as their sole backup to Brady, releasing a list of quarterbacks that reads like a Who's Who of mediocre third-string quarterbacks: Matt Gutierrez, Andrew Walter and Kevin O'Connell. It was an unusual decision, with the Bernard Pollard ankle injury debacle still fresh in the Patriots' minds. Hoyer played a couple times over the next few seasons, but the Patriots drafted Ryan Mallett in the 2011 draft, and next season, Hoyer was cut.

As a backup who had performed well behind Tom Brady, you would expect a lot of interest in Hoyer, but...

The Steelers signed him to back up Charlie Batch and released him two and a half weeks later. Then, by a bizarre turn of events, he found himself starting for the Cardinals in Week 17, his first career start. Apparently, the Cardinals had had their fill of Kevin Kolb, John Skelton and Ryan Lindley, who all seemed to be injured at various points in the season and all seemed to be equally awful. Hoyer was at best mediocre, going 19/34 for 225 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Pretty good, though, for a game in which William Powell was Arizona's leading rusher and Larry Fitzgerald had two receptions.

Remember those Cardinals quarterbacks from earlier? Yeah, all of them are gone except for Lindley. Including Hoyer, who was released in May and signed a week later by the Browns, who didn't really need him. Jason Campbell was slated to be their backup.

Fast forward to August. Brandon Weeden has a solid preseason. People think that he may actually be a solid quarterback for Cleveland this season, on a team that already has Trent Richardson entrenched in the starting running back role. Expectations are high, at least by the Browns' standards. And Hoyer may not even make the roster.

Fast forward to September. Hoyer's slipped onto Cleveland's roster as the third-stringer. Weeden is looking like he did a year ago. And then, he sprains his thumb. New coach Rob Chudzinski sends in Jason Campbell, but...

Today, Brian Hoyer was announced as the Browns' starter for Week 3 against the Vikings. This is his fourth team in two years and likely the last chance he'll get to start in an NFL game. That is, unless he can impress.

I don't know about you, but I'm picking up the Vikings defense.



(Some information comes from various sources.)

8/8 Mid-Game Update

Just watching the Monday Night Football crew feign interest in the Bengals-Falcons game and noticing a few things...

1) Jon Gruden cannot commentate. Already he's said things like "You have to hope your nickel corner can play corner," obsessively droned on about Falcons OC Dirk Koetter, and introduced officiating consultant Gerry Austin by saying that he "came all the way from...(10 second pause)...North Carolina."

2) The Bengals seem fine at backup QB... Journeyman quarterback Josh Johnson, himself a one-time draftee of Jon Gruden's Buccaneers, already has accumulated both a passing touchdown to wideout Brandon Tate and an impressive 42-yard run. He's been unable to stick in the league, but with Andy Dalton's history of minor injuries, he might be in for some playing time.

3) ...the Falcons, not so much. I don't think Atlanta should be too confident in Dominique Davis, their apparent #2 quarterback. While he did throw a touchdown, he was also intercepted by Bengals cornerback Brandon Ghee and posted a subpar completion percentage. None of Atlanta's backups have a snap of NFL experience.

For more, travel to this link:

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2013080803/2013/PRE1/bengals@falcons#menu=drivechart&tab=track

More updates coming!

Reasons To Watch the Preseason: Part I

It's that time of year again!

Everyone says that the preseason is pointless. It's not competitive, it happens during baseball season, Peyton Manning doesn't play, blah blah blah. Hey, why don't we just get rid of the preseason entirely and make the regular season longer?

Yeah, try telling that fourth-string quarterback from Southwestern Mississippi State that the league should abolish the preseason. Many players spend this little-known and often-neglected portion of the NFL calendar fighting for their jobs. For all NFL fans know, this seemingly random player could turn out to be the next Kurt Warner. And then all those preseason-hating fans will wonder where he came from, when the opportunity to watch him in his early days was right there the whole time.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that there are in fact reasons to watch the preseason. With six games televised during the first week alone, there are numerous opportunities to tune in. And here's why you should:

1) Watching your favorite team on national TV. As a Raiders fan, I know this all too well; certain teams like Dallas and Pittsburgh, regardless of how bad they are, just dominate the primetime spotlight. It's all based on money, because more people will tune in if "America's Team" is playing, right? Well, NFL Network doesn't really care during the preseason, which is why the Raiders, Bills, and Colts get nationally televised games during Week 1. So, if you live in, say, the Buffalo metropolitan area, don't have Sunday Ticket, and you want to see if E.J. Manuel is the real deal, what better time to do so than in August?

2) Interconference matchups. Each team only plays one division from the opposite conference each year, and the divisions alternate. This is why, for example, we don't see the Jets and the Giants play very often. Well, in preseason, the scheduling formula is thrown out in favor of traveling convenience for team buses, which is why we see more regional rivalries. This is how an uncommon but intriguing Chargers-Seahawks matchup ends up televised in preseason.

3) Rookies. Denard "Shoelace" Robinson may be a popular player, but we're not going to see much of him during the regular season, which is why Jaguars fans may want to tune in to see him on NFL Network in Week 2. Same with other "local hero" type rookies, or popular undrafted players like Lions kicker Havard "Kickalicious" Rugland. He may not make the Week 1 rosters, but we can witness his impressive range in preseason.

As the preseason progresses, I will continue to update my blog with preseason previews and recaps.
Week 1 officially begins August 8th with Bengals-Falcons on ESPN being the first televised game. More coming soon!

The Friday at School with Nothing to Do Update (FaSwNtDU)

1) The Raiders signed Charles Woodson for his second stint with the team after a band of Raiders fans came out to the team's headquarters to urge him to sign. Hey, if you're at the tail end of your career and a terrible team can bring out numerous fans to support you, you might as well join them, right? (I suppose the motto in this case would be "If you can beat 'em, join 'em.")

2) Former Stony Brook running back Miguel Maysonet was signed by Philadelphia as an undrafted free agent, then cut (after receiving a 10K signing bonus), then signed by the Browns. I was all ready to make fun of the analysts who called him a top UDFA, but then he was signed again, so clearly, someone liked him, so...yeah. My argument is invalid.

3) Long snappers! No one cares, but per longsnap.com, six long snappers were signed as undrafted free agents and seven more were given tryouts.

4) Super Bowl L will be in San Francisco's currently nonexistent Levi's Stadium, while Super Bowl LI will be held at Reliant in Houston, which is also the home of the Texas Longhorns football team.

UDFAs! or: Whatever Happened to That Guy?

Players like Kurt Warner and Arian Foster are evidence of how important undrafted free agent signings can be. The archetypal undrafted free agents would be a player deemed too small or a product of their system, a one-time hot prospect who suffered a severe injury; a former basketball or rugby player looking to make it big; a local hero getting a chance under the bright lights; a top high schooler who never made it in college; a pure athlete with little football experience; a big talent with a bad attitude; or a one-season wonder. Even as recently as last year, unknown wide receiver Rod Streater became an impact player for Oakland.

This year, Lawrence Okoye was one of the highest-priority undrafted free agents. A Brit who participated in the Olympics last year, Okoye was called an "Adonis" by coach Jim Harbaugh and has great potential if he can adapt well to playing football. San Francisco also signed another player who's undergoing a position change, former Minnesota Gophers quarterback and current tight end Marqueis Gray.

The other UDFA signing you'll hear everyone talking about was Buffalo's signing of Da'Rick Rogers, a wide receiver, from Tennessee Tech by way of Tennessee, who fell because of character problems, like seemingly everyone. People are already talking about Rogers as a potential starter opposite Steve Johnson, but if he really is a probable starter, wouldn't he have been drafted?

I don't quite understand why Collin Klein is so widely ignored. He was a Heisman candidate in college...doesn't that count for something? The former quarterback was signed by Houston and is likely going to be converted to tight end.

Speaking of quarterbacks, teams often use undrafted players to fill their third or fourth quarterback spots. And clearly, some teams like to stay local; Baltimore signed Trent Steelman from Army, New Orleans signed Ryan Griffin from Tulane, Detroit signed Alex Carder from Western Michigan, Jacksonville signed Jordan Rodgers from Vanderbilt (yes, he's Aaron's brother), and Kansas City signed Kansas' Dayne Crist. Others didn't follow this pattern, taking their UDFAs from across the country, but they were not in the majority.

Other notable quarterbacks include Clay Belton from Findlay, a school which claims to be the "largest private university in northwest Ohio." Woohoo. He was signed by Miami. That's going to be a big change for him. Belton actually has a large chance of making Miami's roster, given that they have very little depth at the position. The most highly touted undrafted quarterback, Tyler Bray, joined Dayne Crist on the Chiefs. Don't be surprised if either one plays this season. With the Chiefs, anything could happen.

I was going to make a comment about the Falcons signing Casey Barth, brother of Bucs kicker Connor, but then I read that he was cut 11 days ago, along with someone named Momo Thomas. So much for that clever piece of trivia.

The Raiders, my favorite team, didn't get any big-name UDFAs (is there such a thing?) but they did sign Rice RB Sam McGuffie, one of my favorite college players, as well as some defensive lineman with three consecutive A's in his name.

Another different-sport conversion: Wisconsin-Milwaukee basketball player Demetrius Harris, whose Twitter page is still plastered with images of his former sport.

I noticed that the Chargers signed a cornerback named Marcus Cromartie. That rings a bell. Oh, that's right, there's another cornerback named Antonio Cromartie, a cornerback named Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and a safety named Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith. Yes, those three are related. No, Marcus is not related to them. No, you weren't the only one who was surprised.

But yeah, there are many, many more UDFAs, and you can see if your favorite hometown player made a roster here: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000164809/article/undrafted-rookie-free-agents-for-all-32-nfl-teams (Hopefully your favorite hometown player hasn't been cut by now like Casey Barth and Momo Thomas.)

Draft season is officially over, but minicamps are going on right now and rookies are getting their first opportunities to impress. More articles in the coming days!

Day 3

It seems like the whole football community loses interest in the draft by Day 3. Only very enthusiastic fans watch. The draft is in the middle of the day, not primetime or even the late afternoon. Most sports fans devote their attentions to the end of the NBA season, or hockey, or NASCAR, whatever. Even the commentators often seem to ignore picks to talk about storylines from earlier rounds. In fact, only the actual NFL teams seem to take an interest, and even then, general managers will take "flyers" on high-risk players in the later rounds. With that in mind, we begin our coverage of the fourth round.

Because of the nature of the last few rounds, there aren't quite as many notable picks. The Eagles took Matt Barkley after trading up to the top pick of the round, introducing another questionable quarterback into the competition. This induced a run on quarterbacks, with the Giants taking Ryan Nassib (possibly Eli's successor?), the Raiders taking Tyler Wilson (he's been impressive in minicamps so far), and the Steelers taking Landry Jones (he was once regarded as a first round pick.)

Green Bay also surprised by taking Johnathan Franklin, their second running back of the draft, and perhaps the second best running back in the draft as well. With more smart drafting by Ted Thompson and the rest of the organization, the Packers continue to cement their place atop the NFC North division. They are assembling a rather intimidating running back-by-committee system to complement their excellent passing game.

Another pick I appreciated was the last pick of the fourth round, made by Atlanta using a compensatory selection. They took Levine Toilolo, tight end from Stanford and former target of Andrew Luck during his time there. Toilolo will be a great successor for Tony Gonzalez. (Also, he has a cool name.)

In the fifth round, Denard "Shoelace" Robinson was taken by the Jaguars. (He earned this nickname for playing with shoelaces untied. Seems like too much of a risk when one false step can cost you millions of dollars.) From what the media have said, he's the reincarnation of Kordell Stewart (who isn't even dead), a player capable of playing basically every skill position. I don't quite understand the NFL's tendency to convert mobile quarterbacks to other positions, (Antwaan Randle El, Matt Jones, Josh Cribbs, Josh Nesbitt, Armanti Edwards, Marcus Vick...the list goes on and on), but Robinson will likely fit in anywhere the Jaguars put him.

The Seahawks drafted a player who was arrested right before the draft. Character concerns, maybe? I guess taking anyone in the fifth round isn't too much of a risk, but still...

The Vikings said goodbye to the NFL's most vocal punter, Chris Kluwe, and replaced him with Jeff Locke from UCLA. (Postscript: Weeks after the draft, in need of a replacement for Shane Lechler, Oakland signed Kluwe.)

There were some more advances on the running back front as Arizona selected Stanford runner Stepfan Taylor to bolster an inconsistent, no-name backfield, while Miami chose Mike Gillislee from Florida to replace Reggie Bush (hopefully).

(Speaking of fifth round picks, the Chiefs released their fifth round pick from last year, cornerback DaQuan Menzie. Don't you give a mid-round pick more than one year to develop and improve? Yeah, I thought so too.)

Oddly, players who called out the NFL were selected early in the sixth round. Nick Kasa alleged that he was asked about his sexual orientation at the combine, and Ryan Swope complained about being compared only to white receivers.

It was another running back-heavy round, and teams were digging deep to find hidden talent. The Panthers added Kenjon Barner, another Oregon running back, while the Cardinals doubled up with Andre Ellington, the Raiders took little-known Latavius Murray, and the Buccaneers took Miami's Mike James. Running backs made up over 18% of the round's picks.

Not many notable prospects fell to the seventh round. Several quarterbacks were chosen, however. The Chargers made an interesting move by selecting Southern Utah quarterback Brad Sorensen to develop under Rivers, although he hasn't played against much high-level competition. The Broncos got VERY lucky when highly touted quarterback Zac Dysert, who shares an alma mater with Ben Roethlisberger, dropped to them at #234. The final quarterback chosen in the draft, Sean Renfree, will definitely help the Falcons, who have serious backup quarterback issues.

Mike Mayock praised the Ravens for their choice of Elon wideout Aaron Mellette four picks later. Perhaps he'll help them fill the hole left by Anquan Boldin.

The last drama of the draft was saved for the Colts' choice of Mr. Irrelevant, tight end Justice Cunningham from South Carolina, making him the second Colt in a row to be chosen as Mr. Irrelevant, and the second South Carolina player in recent years.

However, the drama was not over with the final pick of the draft. In some ways, the UDFA signings are even more exciting than the draft's later rounds. Local heroes, injury risks, boom-or-bust and one-year wonders will all find new homes. Numerous undrafted free agents, including a British discus thrower, a Heisman Trophy finalist, a YouTube sensation from Europe, and a dynamic, troubled wideout, were sent onto the open market, where teams would bid for their services.

Day 2

Welcome back to the Natural Football Log for our (somewhat overdue) review of Days 2 and 3 of the draft!

After the events of Thursday night, a dark shadow had fallen over the media. The two most overhyped players, Geno Smith and Manti Te'o, were still undrafted. "What to do?" one reporter asked. He looked visibly shaken. Then, a hero emerged. "I know," this reporter said. "Let's just forget about the other 220 draftable prospects!! We only care about these two, right? The best quarterback in a class of bad quarterbacks and a guy who fell for an imaginary girlfriend while failing against top competition? Right?"

And so, the media spent ALL of Friday talking about Smith and Te'o. There wouldn't be a breakthrough on that front for a while. When the draft reopened, the first player taken was not Smith, as many speculated, but safety John Cyprien from Florida International. (What does that school's name even mean?)  The 49ers owned the next pick from the Alex Smith trade, but they sent it to Tennessee so they could take Justin Hunter, one of the multitude of Tennessean receivers in the draft.

The circus came to town again for the Eagles. Would they draft Smith or Te'o??? After all, said everyone, they have needs at both positions. Nope, they just took Zach Ertz, tight end from Stanford, which was a pretty safe pick. Whoever starts at quarterback is going to need a reliable target, after all. (No one seems to notice that the Eagles have multiple starting-caliber quarterbacks on their roster, after all.)

After Detroit drafted cornerback Darius Slay (which is a pretty cool football player name), Cincinnati used one of its Carson Palmer picks to select  a running back. Not Eddie Lacy, the one everyone expected, but Giovani Bernard from UNC. It was becoming pretty apparent that this round was going in a different direction from what most had expected.

The media could breathe easy when the Chargers, perhaps one of the least interesting teams in the league, drafted Manti Te'o to spice things up. No doubt, he is a quality player. However, the new regime under Tom Telesco is going to have to take that quality with the attention that comes with drafting such a widely known player. (And he's not widely known for good reasons, either.)

But wait, there's more! The New York Jets took Geno Smith off the board, spelling eventual doom for Mark Sanchez. While New York insists that Sanchez is the starter, there's no way a prospect like Smith is going to hold a clipboard all season. Calling it now - Smith replaces Sanchez in Week 7 after a 1-5 start.

Things started to slow down after ESPN's two favorite players were drafted. The 49ers took recovered defensive end Tank Carradine. Then, the Bills made a very smart pick by taking Robert Woods, who was Matt Barkley's primary target at USC. He seemed to disappear from the minds of draft analysts after originally being one of the draft's top prospects.

The Raiders made a smart pick! I know, it may be hard for some of you to believe. Drafting offensive tackle Menelik Watson ensures that their quarterback, whomever that may be, will have good pass protection down the road.

Defense ruled the next 14 picks, as only three were offensive players (weird), and all were skill position players (weirder), and two of those were tight ends (weirdest). Most notably, the 49ers, who possessed an excess of picks, traded up for TE Vance McDonald (not a huge surprise since all every mock draft talked about is how much Jim Harbaugh loves multiple tight ends) and the Ravens traded up to select linebacker Arthur Brown. I think the Seahawks got the better end of this trade, though; moving down six spots and gaining two picks in the process.

At #26, the Broncos selected one-time Heisman finalist Montee Ball, who chose to stay for his senior season last year after receiving a mediocre grade from the draft advisory board. I think it's a good pick, as the Broncos don't have anyone great at running back. The other significant result of this pick was that Eddie Lacy, running back from Alabama, continued to fall...and the Packers, in dire need of a competent running game to take the pressure off of Aaron Rodgers, took him gladly at #29. This may have thwarted the Seahawks, who took running back Christine Michael immediately afterward.

And so, the second round came to a close. Fortunately, though, another round was about to begin.

The Chiefs spent their pick, the first of the round, on tight end Travis Kelce, brother of an Eagles offensive lineman. An inordinate number of tight ends were taken from the mid-second to early third rounds, an interesting trend in a draft that was rather unpredictable.

The next big news came several picks later. In the midst of a three-cornerback run, Arizona selected Tyrann Mathieu, another extremely publicized player who made a bizarre appearance on the cover of ESPN's draft preview. Honestly, what message does that send? Featuring a mid-round prospect who was kicked off his college team for violating team rules (i.e. failing drug tests)? Mathieu also planned a draft party to celebrate becoming a first-round pick, which never happened. The Cardinals, undaunted by this ridiculous character risk, selected Mathieu and announced that he would be moved to safety.

Later, the Buccaneers put some pressure on Josh Freeman by selecting Mike Glennon. (That is, not Matt Barkley or Ryan Nassib.) Perhaps this competition is what Freeman needs to elevate his game and establish himself as a consistent starting quarterback. Or, alternatively, this competition may be what Freeman needs to lose his job to Mike Glennon and be traded to the Raiders for 7 first round picks after Matt Flynn tears his ACL in Week 16. Hey, you never know.

Next, the Cowboys actually made a smart pick by taking somewhat-local wide receiver Terrance Williams, who was one of RG3's favorite targets at Baylor.

The rest of the round was rather uneventful. The Dolphins took an offensive tackle, something they definitely needed after losing former #1 overall pick Jake Long in free agency; the Bills took extremely fast wideout Marquise Goodwin; and, strangest of all, the Patriots reached for two players from Rutgers, cornerback Logan Ryan and safety Duron Harmon, the latter of whom was originally a late-priority undrafted free agent on Mike Mayock's draft board. The 49ers traded once again to select defensive lineman Corey Lemonier in the Packers' spot. The Rams selected West Virginia wideout Stedman Bailey, pairing him with his former teammate Tavon Austin. The best pick of the round, at least according to NFL.com's grading system, was the Giants' selection of Texas A&M end/linebacker Damontre Moore.

After three compensatory picks, the most questionable of which was Kansas City's selection of inconsistent Arkansas running back Knile Davis, Day 2 ended, bringing with it most of the draft's intrigue. However, the landing spots of highly touted quarterbacks Matt Barkley and Ryan Nassib were still unknown. Nassib wasn't going to his college coach Doug Marrone's Buffalo Bills, so where would he end up? Would an opportunistic contender snatch him up, hoping to develop him as their quarterback's successor? And would Barkley's junior season's film be enough to earn him an early pick on Day 3? The quarterback questions and many others would be answered in the draft's last four rounds.

Draft Day One!

The Football Log is back! After a promising start to last season, posting became inconsistent, and we had a disappointing finish to the season resulting in a first round exit. (I'm looking at you, fantasy football teams.)

Regardless, the last two and a half months were a bleak landscape filled with something called baseball and some kind of overhyped basketball playoff thing. (What is a Shocker, anyway?) And of course, football won't be starting for another 4 months, but at least the draft, an oasis in an otherwise empty desert that is the offseason, has begun.

Yesterday was the first round of a bizarre draft that seems to feature very few interesting skill position players. Offensive linemen and cornerbacks seem to be all the rage this year. After the Chiefs picked Eric Fisher over Luke Joeckel (I still can't tell if that was a surprise or not), which seemed to be a decision based on some mythical concept called "upside," Joeckel was immediately taken by the Jaguars, who are perennial losers in the AFC South. In the next few hours, when they take any one of Smith/Barkley/Nassib/Dysert/whomever, that probably won't change, because none of those four are able to turn a team around like Luck or Griffin.

Anyway, next up were the equally bad Raiders (sigh), who traded down nine spots and only gained a single extra pick, the tenth of round two. Keep that in mind as I progress through this recap. The Dolphins promptly took someone who doesn't weigh over 300 pounds, that being Dion Jordan, linebacker from Oregon.

After Philadelphia took another tackle, the Lions broke the trend by selecting Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah, a former soccer player from Ghana whose mother wanted him to be drafted by a team in Utah, since they had gotten so comfortable at BYU. Oh wait...yeah, there aren't any teams in Utah. Perhaps he will be the Ansah to Detroit's struggles. (I can't even count the number of times I've seen that inane pun, and I still used it regardless.)

Barkevious "Keke" Mingo, who sounds more like a pet dog than an NFL defensive lineman, was selected by the entirely new Browns regime, which has yet to ditch Brandon Weeden, despite the fact that former NFL.com staffer and current Browns GM Michael Lombardi doesn't like him very much.

The lack of a player capable of running a sub-5 second 40 yard dash was becoming more and more apparent as Arizona took guard Jonathan Cooper. Soon, the Rams traded up to #8 and took Tavon Austin, a dynamic wide receiver/running back from West Virginia. Austin's teammate, Geno Smith, the not-really-consensus top quarterback who was shown every 5 seconds on ESPN's broadcast, continued to fall.

The Jets took DeMarcus "Dee" Milliner next, the actually-consensus top cornerback. Hey, it's a start. Don't worry, we'll hear from them again in four picks.

As Mark Ingram was quick to point out, the next two players, Chance Warmack and D.J. Fluker, both linemen, completed the trifecta of Alabama players. No surprise there, given how thoroughly the Tide have dominated the FBS recently.

And then, the Raiders were up again. With Sharrif Floyd, their supposed target at #3, still on the board, it seemed like a golden opportunity, right? Wrong. Instead, the Raiders took D.J. Hayden, a cornerback from Houston who suffered a life-threatening injury in practice last season. He damaged his inferior vena cava, crippling his circulatory system. And then, he made it out of the hospital six days later. Flash forward to the NFL draft, and he's a first-round pick. It's a risky pick, but it definitely addresses a need, seeing as the Raiders need everything except running back and kicker.

Two defensive tackles followed, Sheldon Richardson for the Jets and Star Lotulelei, himself a victim of a heart injury, for the Panthers. The Jets conveniently failed to draft an impact player.

The Saints picked Kenny Vaccaro, who immediately stood out to us home viewers as ESPN showed not only an impressive highlight reel, but also the Texas safety's numerous tattoos.

And then the first quarterback came off the board. No, it was not long-suffering Geno, who was staring intently at...something and awkwardly glanced up at the camera before looking away. Instead, it was EJ Manuel, whom the Bills took. Honestly, just about anyone is better than a Tarvaris Jackson-Aaron Corp combo. (Doug Marrone didn't even know "Andy" Corp's name when he took over the job.)

After a second linebacker went to the Steelers, the inevitable 49ers trade up through the draft netted them Eric Reid, an LSU safety. Just as the Manti Te'o hype machine started to fire up, two more linemen followed for the Giants and Bears.

After the Bengals took Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert and the Falcons took Desmond Trufant, brother of current NFL corner Marcus, the Vikings were on the clock. Manti Te'o speculation continued, but everyone must have forgotten that Sharrif Floyd, projected #3 pick, was still on the board, because the Vikings were able to snatch him up half a round later.

The Colts took Florida State defensive end Bjoern Werner, which of course sparked a Bjoern = born pun on NFL.com. Then, the Vikings showed up again, using their pick that they acquired for Percy Harvin to take cornerback Xavier Rhodes. (Not Tyrann Mathieu, who scheduled a draft party to celebrate becoming a first round pick. And guess what? He wasn't taken.)

The Packers then drafted Datone Jones, whom Aaron Rodgers congratulated via Twitter. Rodgers also told Geno Smith to be patient. He'd be waiting for a while longer.

The Texans took DeAndre Hopkins next. It's about time they paired a competent receiver with Andre Johnson. They've waited so long that he'll be retiring soon and they'll need two good receivers.

Denver took another falling prospect, defensive tackle Sylvester Williams, before the Patriots were on the clock. The Vikings, however, traded up for their third first-round pick, in the process giving up four draft picks. Yes, four. The Dolphins only gave up two to move into the #3 spot. (They would later brag that they got the pick for "half price." Great job, Reggie McKenzie.) Minnesota then took Cordarrelle Patterson, who not only has a cool name but also a lot of potential as a wide receiver.

The Rams took inside linebacker Alec Ogletree with the antepenultimate pick. Then, the Cowboys, who had traded down earlier, took Travis Frederick, a huge reach in the late first round. I get the feeling there will be a new regime in Dallas soon.

Finally, the Ravens took safety Matt Elam with the #32 pick, which had a number of notable consequences for Day Two:

1) Three premier quarterbacks are still on the board.
2) Manti "Media Circus" Te'o is still on the board.
3) Tyrann "I got kicked off my school's team and still claim to be an elite prospect" Mathieu is still on the board.
4) For the first time in 49 years, no running backs were taken the first round. Eddie Lacy is still undrafted. All I know is that he was good in my Madden franchise.

See you later for a Day Two recap!

Week 9: Fantasy Football Update

So, some of my readers may know that I am the owner of a pair of fantasy football teams, "Saintly Cowboys" and "Shaky Lightning" (based on their default logos). I have been doing fantasy football for a few years, but my best finish was second place. I really want to win a championship this year. In 2009, "Hypnotic" destroyed rival "Crazy Jay" in the semifinal, but was beaten by an extremely powerful "Wrecking Crew" team in the championship. In 2010, "Strike" entered the playoffs with an impressive 11-3 record and the number one seed, but was upset by underdog "alldayap10" in a low-scoring battle. I lost the third place game, too. 2011 was not as good of a year. I slipped into the playoffs with an 8-6 record and the fourth seed, and I ended up in fourth place again.

How my teams are doing right now:

Saintly Cowboys (5-4):

I have alternated between winning and losing with this team. I started with a solid roster and improved by adding Fred Jackson, but both Greg Jennings and Pierre Garçon were injured. Fortunately, I picked up Randall Cobb and Denarius Moore to go along with Julio Jones, and all three have been excellent. Strangely, my last victory dropped me from fourth place to fifth place.

QB: Drew Brees is a consistent starter. I had Josh Freeman as a backup briefly, but after the Bucs' slow start, I replaced him with Matt Schaub.

RB: Maurice Jones-Drew and Michael Turner are not as good as you might think. MJD has missed many games, and Turner loses a lot of carries to Jacquizz Rodgers. I'm currently using Fred Jackson in place of MJD, and I have Rashad Jennings as a handcuff for MJD.

WR: I already discussed this position above.

TE: Vernon Davis is a great player, but his bye week was this past week, so I signed Kyle Rudolph, who did absolutely nothing.

K: I rotate players here. I have Shayne Graham right now. I use Young GZ when the Rams have a good matchup.

DEF: The Bears have been great all year. They had a fantastic performance against Tennessee this past week.

Shaky Lightning (6-3)

Shaky Lightning is probably the better of my two teams. I have made good waiver wire pickups and I currently have an amazing group of running backs. I am currently less than stellar at QB, however.

QB: Like I said, this position is one of my weaknesses, along with DEF. I have to alternate Phillip Rivers and Tony Romo based on recent success and matchups.

RB: I am loaded at running back. I have Run DMC, Trent Richardson, Stevan Ridley and DeMarco Murray as my main running backs, thanks to a combination of activity on the waiver wire and strange transactions from my opponents. Due to some weird circumstances (DMC and DMM are injured and Richardson has a bye), I have to use Vick Ballard at running back this week. He was not great, but I needed someone, and he outperformed my original option, Rashad Jennings.

WR: I somehow ended up with four wide receivers who can be started on a regular basis: A.J. Green, Steve Smith, Demaryius Thomas and Denarius Moore. They serve me well week after week.

TE: I already had Antonio Gates, and when one of the other teams dropped Aaron Hernandez, I snapped him up. I now play them based on matchups.

DEF: Who needs a consistent defense week after week when you can play matchups? I used the COLTS on Thursday night against Jacksonville, and they got me 20 points. I used to have the Ravens, but they're deteriorating rapidly.

I'm hoping for a lot of success this year in fantasy football!

Week 8

A week of surprises:

• Bucs 36, Vikings 17: I certainly was surprised when Doug Martin went off for a total of 33.4 fantasy points. Also, an underrated and surprisingly good Vikings team was blown out by Tampa Bay. The Bucs always seem like a team somewhere in between contender and bottom-feeder. This year, they have a chance to turn things around and go somewhere in a weak NFC South.

• Dolphins 30, Jets 9: The Jets are ridiculous. We see a different team every week. It seems like they are always either blowing a team out or getting blown out. As for the Dolphins, Matt Moore led them to this victory. Will there be a quarterback controversy in Miami? I doubt it, personally.

• Browns 7, Chargers 6: Especially now, after the Chargers destroyed the Chiefs on TNF, this final score seems strange. The Chargers are a talented team, but they never win the AFC West, a relatively weak division in which any team can beat any other. I personally did not expect a Browns win, and I definitely didn't expect Trent Richardson to perform well while injured, even though he did last time he was ailing. (P.S. It seems that San Diego now has a chance of making the playoffs after their win.)

• Colts 19, Titans 13: I read WalterFootball.com frequently, and I believe it was there that I learned that the COLTS are in PLAYOFF CONTENTION at 4-3. If they made the playoffs this year, that would be a remarkable turnaround after last season's miserable failure.

• Patriots 45, Rams 7: I thought the Rams were better than this. Young GZ (Greg Zuerlein), the Rams' kicker, let me down, too. I have him on both fantasy teams.

• Packers 24, Jaguars 15: The Jaguars were competitive without MJD! Against the Packers! I have to say that that's a surprise. The Packers definitely aren't as good this year as they have been in the past, but I think they can still make the playoffs.

• Falcons 30, Eagles 17: No surprises here. Vick is still mediocre, Falcons are still undefeated.

• Steelers 27, Redskins 12: RG3 can't do it himself for Washington, contrary to popular belief. Pierre Garçon (like my fancy ç cedille?) needs to be healthy. Alfred Morris is surprisingly consistent, though and I like this team right now. As for the Steelers, I'm surprised they won this game with only no-name running backs like Jonathan Dwyer, Chris Rainey and Baron Batch on offense.

• Lions 28, Seahawks 24: Well, Detroit looked more like the Detroit of last year than the winless Lions of a few years ago in this particular game. Seattle is a legitimately good team, though, but Russell Wilson needs some more experience.

• Bears 23, Panthers 22: Carolina's slide continues. Cam "Superman" Newton is looking more like the Joker (yeah, they're not from the same series). As of today, DeAngelo Williams hasn't been traded, but it's the tradeline, so he'll be a Panther for a little while longer.

• Raiders 26, Chiefs 16: KC needs a new QB. Matt Cassel isn't much better than Brady Quinn in terms of success at this point. There are a lot of QBs in the draft this year, and Kansas City will hopefully, for their sake, be in a position to get one.

• Giants 29, Cowboys 24: Revenge! New York overcame a Dallas team that beat them in the kickoff game this year. The Cowboys did pretty well, though, especially considering the fact that they had Phillip Tanner at running back during this game.

• Broncos 34, Saints 14: Would it surprise anybody to learn that the Saints are still mediocre? Maybe a few people thought Drew Brees would right the ship, but that's not looking likely.

• 49ers 24, Cardinals 3: Surprise! The Cardinals don't seem to be legitimate contenders. When they had a great start, many people, myself included, thought they had a chance this year, but they were dominated by a division rival.

The season is halfway done and I'm sure that an exciting second half awaits all of us NFL fans!

Week 7 Impressions

In a surprising week of football, some very interesting things occurred. This week, I was able to watch larger portions of the games. With the help of some statistics, here are my observations from Week 7:

• I'm changing my stance. The Panthers are the league's biggest disappointment, not the Saints. Everyone expected so much from Cam Newton, as they rightfully should have, but the reality is that Carolina has a pair of mediocre running backs, a dearth of good wideouts behind Steve Smith, and inconsistencies at many other positions.

• Quarterbacks aren't everything. While they are quite important, a team's performance does not depend on its quarterback's, as evidenced by the Redskins' loss to the Giants despite a big game from RG3.

• Who are the Texans? Which team are we going to see, the Houston team that obliterated Baltimore (a team that was missing two key defensive starters) or the Houston team that was handled easily by Green Bay (a team coming out of a slump)? I think they could go pretty far in a bizarre AFC filled with middling teams.

• The Patriots may have won, but their reign is likely coming to an end soon. They almost lost to the Jets, and the AFC East is a tight division. There's a chance they may not win it this year. This team needs some depth for the future at many positions. They could also use a top-flight running back to use on a regular basis. Their current strategy is alternating between Ridley, Bolden and Woodhead, and I'm sure that infuriates many fantasy football players.

• These Bengals aren't as good as last year. While Andy Dalton and A.J. Green are a great duo for the future, Cincinnati seems to have regressed after 2011's surprising playoff run.

• The Rams have come up close in many games against elite teams. This week, Green Bay beat them by ten. However, St. Louis hasn't made the playoffs in a few years. Their rebuilding process could finally be working out. They've already acquired some possible successors for Steven Jackson in Isaiah Pead and Daryl Richardson, and with the right pieces, this team could contend in a few years.

• Fantasy football is a strange world. I found myself dominating with non-big-name players like Randall Cobb and Fred Jackson, while Trent Richardson and Maurice Jones-Drew struggled, both due to injury. Drew Brees put up about 30 points, while Tony Romo scored about 14. I made the dumb decision to use the Titans defense against a Bills team that scored 34. For my opponents, Santana Moss had an unexpected breakout game in Washington's loss. Victor Cruz was a standout as well, but Calvin Johnson, of all people, underachieved. Jonathan Dwyer (!), a little known, one-time third-string running back scored 12 points, and Jordy Nelson also had a great game with Greg Jennings out. My teams are both in playoff contention at 4-3 each.

See you next week!