The Saints sign Ben Watson for reasons that are not entirely clear to me. I’m not convinced another non-blocking TE is a high need position for us.
I keep getting tease by new Brent Grimes to Cleveland rumors on a regular basis, so I really hope this gets done sometime soon. There was a jump the gun report that he’d signed with Miami. Cleveland is looking at Buster Skrine as the #2 CB currently and that’s unacceptable. Personally, I think Sheldon Brown is underrated and fine for another year, but everyone in the world disagrees with me. But the only gaping hole left on the team, besides probably QB, is #2 CB. Grimes, if he’s recovered, would make a ridiculous pairing with Haden.
Otherwise the Browns are basically forced to hope Milliner falls to them, or worse, trade up to get him. I wonder if they’d draft him anyway. Haden/Milliner/Grimes as a starting CB trio could be like the greatest of all time.
Edit: Don’t underrate Ben Watson as a blocker, he’s not a pure receiving TE. He’s a very harder worker, great locker room and community guy. You should be happy to have him as a #2 TE.
I’ve liked most of Detroit’s moves so far:
Keep Chris Houston
Sign Reggie Bush
Sign Glover Quin
Sign Jason Jones
Keep Jason Hanson (he’s old as hell, but he’s a fairly reliable kicker - I’d rather not go through the process of having a rookie get the yips)
Keep Louis Delmas - a lot of people are bitching about this one, but I like Lou. The defense seems to play better when he’s healthy.
Not sure what to do with the O-Line, though. With both tackles gone, I’d like to see them draft Fisher or Joeckel, if either are there at #5.
I think the
Even the greatest secondary won’t be able to hold up if there isn’t a pass rush. Sheard regressed this past year, and they need someone else to bring pressure. Plus, Grimes is an unproven, oft injured #2 who is likely going to get more money than he’s worth.
Making an outstanding CB position is great and all, but I think a team defense needs to be better balanced. A great secondary won’t matter if you can’t rush the passer or stop the run; teams will simply find a way to beat you. I said it when the Lions drafted Nick Fairley in the first round, but being dominant at one position on defense isn’t as important as being better all around. Teams will simply find a way to take advantage of your weaknesses and ignore your strengths.
Holy Crap! Optimism for the Detroit Lions is apparently fatal!
Ha! No idea what happened to the end of my post.
I think the Lions have a shot at 8-8 or 9-7 this year with the upgrades they made, provided they draft well (yeah, yeah, I know…).
I know I’m taking the optimistic view, but the Browns wouldn’t be weak across the front 7. Their D-line is actually pretty solid. Rubin/Taylor/What’s his face from Oakland makes for a good starting line most likely, and Billy Winn and John Hughes coming off the bench are quality backups.
Linebacker is weaker. Jackson is one of the best 4-3 MLBs, but not as good in a 3-4. Other ILB spot is kind of mysterious. I’m assuming Gocong. OLBs will be Kruger and Sheard. Sheard did regress somewhat, but he’s a solid all around player. Kruger, who knows. There’s definitely potential there.
So we’d be talking about a decent to good front 7 with a great secondary, not a weak one.
Plus I think Horton is one of the best D-coords in the NFL, a rising star. He’s able to maximize the talents on his D pretty well.
FWIW, I think FO or PFT or one of them ranked Grimes as the #2 corner in 2011, the last year he wasn’t hurt. Having him as a #2/#3, if he’s healthy, is crazy.
Even if they miss out on Milliner, they’d have Haden/Grimes and Dion Jordan or Jarvis Jones. So either way, the defense is going to get a whole lot better.
Edit: Incidentally, the rumors are that Rubin starts at DE and Taylor at NT. Seems like a weird usage of their talents.
Apparently the Pro Bowl is a topic of discussion at the owners’ meetings. Growing up, I was a huge fan of those cheesy shows like The Superstars on Wide World of Sports, so I hereby recommend that they give up playing a game that isn’t really a game that doesn’t matter at all and turn Pro Bowl week into a series of not too injury causing skills challenges, including a obstacle course as the final one. No one really gives a crap about the game, so let them just have fun doing stupid competitions.
Me, I’d love to see RGIII and Calvin Johnson go head to head on that old Superstars obstacle course.
And to gain SenorBeef’s support, I’ll mention that it’s one of the rare times that a Cleveland Brown has won something since the 60’s when Greg Pruitt took home the Superstars competition.
I made the same observation/hope myself. I miss the old NFL skills challenge they did before the pro bowl, with quarterbacks throwing the balls through hoops on moving golf carts at various ranges, receivers getting 30 balls thrown at them in 15 seconds with jugs machines, etc. That would be way better than the pro bowl.
I don’t mind having him, and I think he’ll be a good backup for Graham, it’s just not a move I would have made with the very limited cap space the Saints have available. I’d rather stick with Dave Thomas as the #2 TE and spend free agent money elsewhere, like OLB.
I’d actually watch that…or a Superstars-style competition. Anything would be better than a meaningless game played by players largely annoyed to be there instead of going to the Super Bowl, or even enjoying the off season.
No idea why the Lions paid for Reggie Bush. They already have a dozen backfield dancers.
Watson’s not even an upgrade over Thomas. I don’t understand that move at all, unless they only gave him training-camp-depth money.
The Buccaneers need a cornerback. We really, really need a cornerback. Did we sign Asomugha? No, he’s not even visiting. Did we sign Brent Grimes? No, apparently a backup plan. Instead we are talking Revis trade with the Jets? Why? Asomugha is 95% of the player, isn’t injured, and doesn’t cost a first round pick. Revis is in the last year of his deal so we’re going to have to pay him even more than Asomugha if the trade goes through; he’s asking for $16 million per from the Jets. Sure, we’ve got the cap room; we could sign two Revii, for that matter, but no non-QB is worth that.
We also really need a right tackle, because Jeremy Trueblood sucks. I suspect they’re looking at the draft for that since it’s so deep for outside linemen.
Who? LeShoure and Bell are “power” backs (using the term loosely). Jahvid Best will never play football again with his concussion issues. Stefan Logan is a returner (at best), and should be cut anyways.
LeShoure looked a lot more like a dancer to me but I didn’t watch that many Lions games. I thought Kevin Smith was still on the roster too but it looks like he was cut.
Good, now he can go and write Clerks 3.
Looking like Phil Dawson to the 49ers.
So long, Phil. You were our one consistent scoring option.
OK, looks like the Saints cut Thomas, so signing Watson makes more sense. Still not the move I would’ve made, though.
Here’s a breakdown of compensatory draft picks.
Couple of rule changes this year. First, runners are no longer allowed to lead with the crown of their helmets when initiating contact with a would be tackler. Seems like a fair rule, if the defender can’t do it, neither should the running back.
Second, the tuck rule was abolished. About fucking time on that one, stupid rule.
In other news, apparently the Bears are done with Brian Urlacher. Good call by the Bears, Urlacher is old, slow, and a liability in coverage. Nice to see the ever classy Urlacher bitching and moaning about how the Bears are treating him though. Waaaaaaahhhhh!!!