Footballguys Daily Email - Volume 9, Issue 88 (Sunday, July 20th)
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Hi Folks,
Good Monday to you. Camps are starting to open and already we have a season ending injury and a big trade. It's starting to heat up and we're ready for you with the news and notes. Plus we've got new features on the website for you. Let's get to it. JSITE NEWS
A.
Top 200 IDP With Comments
Our Top 200 for offensive players is one of our most popular features. Aaron Rudnicki has our Individual Defensive Players (IDP) Top 200 and it's must read for you IDP guys.
B.
Consistency Rankings
When evaluating and ranking players, one thing that is often overlooked is how consistent this player is. Is he an up and down guy that might carry your squad but also might sink your team? Or is he a steady type player that consistently turns in production within a predictable range? Our David Dodds takes a detailed look at those questions as we assign some value and rank to a player's consistency factor.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1. WAS - WR Randle El Returns To Practice Following Knee Surgery2. NE - OL Kaczur Had 202 Oxycontin Pills When Arrested
3. DET - FA QB Culpepper Has Contacted The Lions
4. MIA - Dolphins QB Battle About To Commence
5. NYJ - Jets Undecided On QB
6. HOU - HC Kubiak Wants To Run More
7. DEF - WAS - MIA - Redskins Trade For DE Taylor
8. DEF - WAS - Redskins DE Daniels Out For Season, As Is DE Buzbee
9. DEF - STL - Rams Agree To Longterm Deal With First-Round DE Long
WAS - WR Randle El Returns To Practice Following Knee Surgery
Source: Jason La Canfora, Washington Post
HC Jim Zorn was impressed with WR Antwaan Randle El's speed at Redskins' practice today in his first real action since undergoing knee surgery in May of this year.
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Excellent news for the Redskins as they'll be depending on Randle El and we'd been wondering how he'd look on the field. So far so good.
NE - OL Kaczur Had 202 Oxycontin Pills When Arrested
Source: ESPN.com
New England Patriots OL Nick Kaczur had 202 Oxycontin pills in his possession when he was arrested in New York in April, according to police reports. Kaczur is scheduled to be arraigned in a town court in Whitestown, NY this week on a misdemeanor charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree.
Kaczur's attorney, Steven J. Comen, declined to comment on the report. "Out of respect for the ongoing legal process, we cannot comment at this time," he said, according to The Globe. Friday, Patriots spokesman Stacey James said "I will confirm that he is still on the team, but we are not providing additional comment," the newspaper reported.[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
Let's see how this plays out. Public perception is becoming more and more serious about abusing prescription pain medicine like Oxycontin so there could be more repercussions coming from this from the league office beyond what the courts decide.
DET - FA QB Culpepper Has Contacted The Lions
Source: Mike O'Hara, Detroit News
Quarterback Daunte Culpepper has contacted the Detroit Lions to see if they are interested in signing a quarterback before the start of training camp. The contact by Culpepper has been confirmed by a Lions official. It is not known when Culpepper called the team's management, but it is believed to be earlier this month. There is no indication that the Lions are in the market to add a quarterback before training camp starts. Players report to the team's Allen Park headquarters on Wednesday. The first practice is Thursday morning.
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The Lions seem pretty content with Jon Kitna, Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton right now. Not sure that Culpepper would make much sense. But stranger things have happened...
MIA - Dolphins QB Battle About To Commence
Source: Barry Jackson, Miami Herald
Though quarterback Josh McCown is considered by many to be the front-runner because of experience, the Miami Dolphins have told NFL people the battle remains competitive with John Beck, and preseason performance will determine the winner. Several players thought McCown was better in May/June drills, but another starter favored Beck. Chad Henne remains an underdog, though nobody would be shocked if he was starting at some point this season. McCown, who is OK after his wood-chopping accident, has impressed with athleticism and mobility, but his accuracy must improve.
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We see it pretty much the same with McCown leading, Beck at #2 and Henne to see a little bit of work. Don't be surprised though if we see some pretty wild swings as the team will likely struggle and with Parcells in the mix, don't rule anything out. It should be an interesting August for the quarterbacks in Miami.
Source: Dave Hutchison, Newark Star-Ledger
Jets coach Eric Mangini says he has no timetable as to when he'll make a decision on the QB starter. He said he will split the reps 50-50 in practice but isn't sure how he'll play Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens during preseason games.
Since the Jets appear to be focused on winning now, Pennington could be the choice, especially with the team looking to run the ball more. With pass protection and a running game, Pennington has proven he can win in the NFL despite his off year last season (10 TDs, nine INTs and 1-7 record as a starter). Clemens played well in his first NFL start but struggled the rest of his time as a starter (five TDs, 10 INTs and a 3-5 record as a starter). The Jets QBs struggled behind a patchwork offensive line. That shouldn't be the case this season. "The (decision) is really based on who we think is going to be able to lead the team and do the best job," Mangini said.[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
In other words, they don't know. Some of it will boil down to how good they think the team will be. If they look competitive, they'll likely be more inclined to stick with Pennington and let him manage the game. If they look like they need to focus on the future, that means Clemens will be the guy they need to get started under center. Obviously, they don't really know the answer there on how good they are until a few weeks into the season. So it could conceivably be a situation where Pennington starts but then gives way to Clemens. But camp will have a lot to say about that as well.
HOU - HC Kubiak Wants To Run More
Source: John McClain, Houston Chronicle
"We don't want to throw the ball 30 to 35 times a game," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "That's not our identity. We want to keep the quarterbacks healthy."
Matt Schaub is healthy after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder and Sage Rosenfels is one of the league's best backups. The coaches and players are comfortable with either as the starter. "Matt was better this offseason," Kubiak said. "He's got a year in this system, and you can see a difference. He's gotten stronger and more confident. There's pressure on him to stay on the field, but knowing what kind of competitor he is, he wouldn't want it any other way."[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
This is pretty standard coach speak. Every coach says they want to run the ball. They'll point to the stats that show how winning teams run yada yada. The reality is that there's a large disconnect usually between what a team wants to do and what they are able to do. If they run the ball poorly, or their defense puts the team in a hole, you can throw out wants and start dealing with the reality that the passing game is going to be at the forefront. This could very well happen to Houston again. So bottom line, it's nice to hear this kind of stuff from Kubiak if you're an Ahman Green or Chris Brown owner but the reality is that it's pretty much standard coach speak.
DEF - WAS - MIA - Redskins Trade For DE Taylor
Source: Associated Press, NFL.com
The Miami Dolphins have traded DE Jason Taylor to the Washington Redskins in exchange for two draft picks. The Dolphins will receive a 2009 second round pick and sixth round pick in 2010. The Redskins expect Taylor to report to camp on Monday.
The deal came about nine hours after starting defensive end Phillip Daniels was carted away from the practice field at Redskins Park with a season-ending left knee injury on Day 1 of training camp. It also came only about 1 and a half hours after Washington executive vice president Vinny Cerrato told reporters: "We haven't talked to anybody about anything." Cerrato said Taylor is expected to report to training camp on Monday. "We're fortunate there was a guy that caliber on the market when somebody got hurt," Cerrato said. "Normally, in most years, there's not a guy of that caliber on the market."[ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
This deal was apparently started and finished in 90 minutes. That's of course if you believe Cerrato. Regardless, it finally brings some closure to the tense situation Taylor had been looking at in Miami. It'll be interesting to see how long Taylor plays. He's said that he would only play one more year. But Cerrato seems to think differently. Said Cerrato, "I'm 100 percent positive he'll play longer than one year." We'll see.
Whether it was luck or smart management, this is a huge win for Bill Parcells. Waiting until a team was in desperate need for a DE paid off big time as he wouldn't have been able to land this much for Taylor earlier in the year. He got a lot in return for a vet, and solidified his "rep" in the locker room as a guy that you don't want to cross if you want to stay in Miami.DEF - WAS - Redskins DE Daniels Out For Season, As Is DE Buzbee
Source: Jason La Canfora, Washington Post
Washington Redskins defensive end Phillip Daniels, who was hurt in the morning practice, will undergo surgery to repair his torn left anterior cruciate ligament Friday. Second-year defensive end Alex Buzbee, who was hurt 30 minutes into the afternoon practice, has a ruptured right Achilles' tendon and will miss the season, obviously. He will have surgery Monday. Washington traded for injured defensive end Erasmus James, but he is not close to being ready to play right now as he recovers from knee surgery, and is likely to begin the season on PUP. The Redskins have traded for Jason Taylor of Miami.
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Tough break for the Redskins to lose a guy like this on the first day of camp. But they moved quickly to replace him with Taylor. This will be expensive next year when they pay with draft picks, but for this season, they won't feel the loss as long as Taylor delivers as expected.
DEF - STL - Rams Agree To Longterm Deal With First-Round DE Long
Source: John Clayton, ESPN
Defensive end Chris Long, the second overall pick in the NFL draft, reached agreement with the St. Louis Rams on Saturday night. The financial terms of the five-year deal, with the option for a sixth, were not available. The Rams report to training camp at Concordia University in Mequon, Wis., on Thursday. The Rams anticipate the 279-pound Long starting at right end to beef up an anemic pass rush. The Rams have signed half of their eight picks.
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Excellent news for Long and the Rams. He'll have a steep learning curve adapting to the game at this level. We think he'll do fine but there will be bumps in the road. And the more reps he sees, the better off he'll be. So getting into camp on time is a nice boost for him.
That'll do it for today, Folks. Have a great Monday and we'll see you tomorrow with the update.
J