So does this put to rest the “Manning to the Jets” talk?
I’d say unequivocally “Yes”. Not that it really had much meat beyond what the Post has to say anyways.
One last PFT story.
Report: Vikings to cut Steve Hutchinson, Anthony Herrera.
Couple of thoughts, Hutchison was bad the last couple season’s but I wonder how much he has left. I’d sorta like to investigate if he’d be an upgrade over Chris Williams/Lance Louis that the Bears would consider. Also, is there any doubt the Vikings will be taking Kalil in the draft?
The Colts will probably be horrible, but:
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They seem to be committed to rebuilding with young guys around Luck, and the expectations will be set accordingly. The Redskins aren’t an especially young team either, and now they are going to be very limited in their ability to get any young talent around him. It’ll be RG3 and a bunch of free agents, with a lot more media attention and a more demanding fanbase.
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Whereas the Colts organization is committed to rebuilding and will be starting fresh, the Skins are two years into a mediocre Shanahan tenure. If they don’t show progress this year, there will be a coaching change.
The Redskins are actually one of the youngest teams in the league. They have a few outliers in prominent positions (e.g. London Fletcher, 37) and special teams (Sav Rocca, 38), but their overall average age is very low.
And again, they’ve got over $40 million in cap space and still have 6 picks this year and all of their 2-7 round picks the next 2 years. People are acting like they handed over all of their picks for the next 3 years. The notion that it’s impossible to pick up good players in the draft without a 1st round pick is ludicrous.
Two Superbowl MVPs later, the Giants trading two 1sts and a 3rd for Eli is looking solidly worth it.
Keep hope alive, Washington.
That process allows for ownership knowing what its doing in the meantime.
Keep hope alive, Washington…its all you’ll be able to sell.
Um, you’re reading that backwards. That chart is listed as oldest-to-youngest, not vice-versa.
Ignoring the overall average, just look at their key players. They are young at RB, but their leading WR/TEs from last year will be 32, 27, 33, and 32 next season. The O-line starters from last year will be 24, 29, 29, 27, 31. Keeping in mind that NFL players, like most athletes, are at their peak from 25-30, the only contributors on the offense who figure to still be in their prime in a couple of years (when Griffin is entering his prime) are Helu/Royster and Trent Williams.
It’s not that they are completely unable to get new players; it’s that they are at a disadvantage compared to their competitors, who have all their draft picks, and most of whom also have cap room and are younger teams to begin with. Drafting is hard, and first-rounders are significantly more likely to be useful players.
This could be interesting.
Bears interested in free agent linebacker David Hawthorne
I like Hawthorne quite a bit. I worry about him a little when he’s asked to drop back into coverage, something the Sam does a lot of in our scheme, but he’s an athlete and a sure tackler, something we really could use more of after watching the Wright/Merriweather whiff parade last season.
I really like the idea of getting a LB in FA as opposed to spending a high draft pick on it this year. Seems like a wise use of resources, that’d be one more pick we could spend on a RB, OG/C or CB.
Now that the first three picks are pretty much locked up at :
- Indy - Luck
- Wash - RGIII
- Min - Kalil
How will the next picks shake out? I am thinking that TB will probably go with Claiborne if he slips past Cleveland, but which way is Cleveland going to go? I think the Rams go with Blackmon if he is still there or Reiff if he is not.
The consensus I’ve seen says Cleveland takes Claiborne unless they can trade out of #4. If they can trade back a few spots, I could see them taking Trent Richardson. Or they just might take him at 4.
<Pure Phantasy> Kalil slips past Min at 3 and the Browns trade down to the sixth spot picking up both of the Ram’s second round picks this year. </Pure Phantasy>
There’s always the chance some team calls the GM during Minn’s allotted time and stalls them into missing their pick.
Good question. Personally, I would not want to be in the Browns shoes here. I think all of the next tier of players are seriously overvalued at #4 overall. I think Claiborne is going to be a liability in coverage, I think Blackmon will be very productive but in no way game changing. Reiff has short arms. I’m not that versed on the Browns needs but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them grab Richardson here. That would solve the Hillis quandary and give them a nice offensive boost, but taking a RB this high really sucks. Maybe they go off book a little bit and reach for Poe or Tannehill. The best case scenario would probably be a trade down, but they aren’t going to get fair value unless someone out there is in love with Blackmon/Claiborne. Maybe they could convince the Rams to move back up to get Blackmon.
In this day and age I just cannot see taking a RB at number 4, even though I think Richardson will be an excellent running back in the league.
Assuming they stay stuck at 4, if they think he’s a elite RB and they decide against Claiborne, then they have to take him at 4. He’s not going to be there at 22.
Its not about whether they can get Richardson at 22, but whether they can get a good RB at 22 or even later. The only running back selected in the top 10 who is an elite in the league is Adrian Petersen, taken at 8. The top 6 rushers last year were all drafted 2nd round or later (or even undrafted in the case of Arian Foster).
That’s true of any position though, and doubly true if you believe running backs are fungible. But we have to make a distinction between productive RBs and elite RBs. If they’re so easy to find, why did Houston give Foster that new contract rather than using the money to re-sign Mario Williams? Likewise, if Trent Richardson is potentially an elite RB, you need to spend a high first round pick on him, even if he would look “better” at picks 10-15.
I’m not saying the Browns should definitely grab him, but it’s a defensible pick.
The difference is that Foster is now a known NFL entity, so the comparison is not necessarily apt. And the hit rate on RBs relative to their impact on a team is not what I would want it to be. The fact is that this is not a league for RBs anymore. Yes, you could defend spending a #4 pick on Richardson, it is just my opinion that it is not worth it.
Running back is the position that offers the highest value in later rounds. As a NY fan I know all too well this phenomenon; neither Tiki Barber nor Curtis Martin were first round picks, and the Ron Dayne fiasco still haunts me.
I’d be interested to see the top 10 running backs in the league (consensus picks, not necessarily the top 10 yardage totals from last year) and seeing where they were drafted.
Adrian Peteson: 8th overall
Ray Rice: mid 2nd Round
Maurice Jones-Drew: Mid- 2nd round
Arian Foster: Undrafted
Frank Gore: 5th Round
Steven Jackson: Late 1st Round
Matt Forte: 2nd Round
Darren McFadden: 4th overal
Marshawn Lynch: 12th overall
Ahmad Bradshaw: 7th round
These are just the 10 I came up with off the top of my head, I am sure I am missing someone obvious.