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This is an excerpt. If you want to read the entire article, click this link or the one in the title. My favorite quote: "10. St. Louis. Might not show up in the record, but the Rams are going to be hell to play, and they’ll be a playoff team if Sam Bradford plays the way he was drafted to play."
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Bill Wippert/AP
Welcome to Camp Hope
Five months after the Super Bowl ended, football is finally back ... well, sorta. Training camps are getting started this week, and optimism is high in all 32 locales—including Buffalo, where playoffs have only been a rumor since 1999
By Peter King
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Sunday night was precisely what the NFL wants out of the preseason. The night of the first practice of the NFL summer simply couldn’t have gone better. Hope was for sale everywhere on the St. John Fisher campus here, the same way it will be in 31 other camps starting with the Giants today in New Jersey, and there were thousands of consumers, happy to buy that hope.
The Bills traded up five spots in the first round to draft wide receiver Sammy Watkins. (Bill Wippert/AP)
Speaking of Sammy Watkins, he’s the belle of the football here. They love him. And they love GM Doug Whaley for overpaying to move up to get Watkins in the first round last May. To move up five spots in the first round, from nine to four, Whaley paid next year’s first-round and fourth-round picks to Cleveland. “Hey Whaley!’’ a fan yelled. “Thank you for Watkins!” On night one, Watkins was as electric as advertised. Especially interesting was the way he got off jams at the line. He juked lightning-quick on some snaps, and powered into unsuspecting corners on others. “You can never let cornerbacks read you,’’ he said later.
The Fine 15, Pre-Camp Edition
Now this is odd. A Fine 15 some 46 days before the season starts. But there’s nothing like a little controversy to sell papers.
1. Seattle. I like the approach of the coach and the defense (“We’re going to win again, and we don’t care who knows it”) and, from being with Russell Wilson a bit this offseason, I know his approach. He’ll enter camp this week thinking he’s got to beat out Tarvaris Jackson for the starting job.
2. Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers has his weapons and his health, and the schedule’s friendly post-Sept. 4, with the Bills, Jets, Dolphins out of conference on the docket.
3. San Francisco. If I trusted Colin Kaepernick as much as I trust Russell Wilson, 1 and 3 would be reversed.
4. New Orleans. The rich get obscenely richer, and Brandin Cooks wins offensive rookie of the year, and the defense stays stout. Need to survive the schedule: three of the first away, three of the last five away.
5. Indianapolis. I’m buying the Luck hype, plus he gets back one of the great young tight ends in the game—Dwayne Allen. Colts will score loads of points, and could go 6-0 in the AFC South.
6. Denver. Having a hard time getting That Game out of my head.
7. New England. Good chance to start 7-0 before a pretty rough six-game stretch (Chicago, Denver, at Indy, Detroit, at Green Bay, at San Diego).
8. Philadelphia. Chip Kelly, with a year to study. That’s dangerous. Also think Nick Foles wasn’t a fluke.
9. Chicago. Marc Trestman’s acing chemistry class. He’s got Jay Cutler kumbaya-ing in the cafeteria at Halas Hall. And who’s covering those Olajuwon-sized receivers and tight end Martellus Bennett?
10. St. Louis. Might not show up in the record, but the Rams are going to be hell to play, and they’ll be a playoff team if Sam Bradford plays the way he was drafted to play.
11. Arizona. Might not show up in the record, but the Cards are going to be hell to play, and they’ll be a playoff team if Carson Palmer plays close to the way he played in his prime.
12. San Diego. So impressed with the jobs Tom Telesco and Mike McCoy did last year. That’s a tough D to play, and an explosive offense.
13. Cincinnati. Deep and talented, but let me be the 4,672nd guru to say in the last six months, “It all comes down to Dalton.”
14. Carolina. I’d feel better about the Panthers’ chances if the receivers all weren’t told to come to training camp this week wearing name tags.
15. Baltimore. A few too many questions on defense for my liking, particularly rushing the passer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Wippert/AP
Welcome to Camp Hope
Five months after the Super Bowl ended, football is finally back ... well, sorta. Training camps are getting started this week, and optimism is high in all 32 locales—including Buffalo, where playoffs have only been a rumor since 1999
By Peter King
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Sunday night was precisely what the NFL wants out of the preseason. The night of the first practice of the NFL summer simply couldn’t have gone better. Hope was for sale everywhere on the St. John Fisher campus here, the same way it will be in 31 other camps starting with the Giants today in New Jersey, and there were thousands of consumers, happy to buy that hope.
The Bills traded up five spots in the first round to draft wide receiver Sammy Watkins. (Bill Wippert/AP)
Speaking of Sammy Watkins, he’s the belle of the football here. They love him. And they love GM Doug Whaley for overpaying to move up to get Watkins in the first round last May. To move up five spots in the first round, from nine to four, Whaley paid next year’s first-round and fourth-round picks to Cleveland. “Hey Whaley!’’ a fan yelled. “Thank you for Watkins!” On night one, Watkins was as electric as advertised. Especially interesting was the way he got off jams at the line. He juked lightning-quick on some snaps, and powered into unsuspecting corners on others. “You can never let cornerbacks read you,’’ he said later.
The Fine 15, Pre-Camp Edition
Now this is odd. A Fine 15 some 46 days before the season starts. But there’s nothing like a little controversy to sell papers.
1. Seattle. I like the approach of the coach and the defense (“We’re going to win again, and we don’t care who knows it”) and, from being with Russell Wilson a bit this offseason, I know his approach. He’ll enter camp this week thinking he’s got to beat out Tarvaris Jackson for the starting job.
2. Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers has his weapons and his health, and the schedule’s friendly post-Sept. 4, with the Bills, Jets, Dolphins out of conference on the docket.
3. San Francisco. If I trusted Colin Kaepernick as much as I trust Russell Wilson, 1 and 3 would be reversed.
4. New Orleans. The rich get obscenely richer, and Brandin Cooks wins offensive rookie of the year, and the defense stays stout. Need to survive the schedule: three of the first away, three of the last five away.
5. Indianapolis. I’m buying the Luck hype, plus he gets back one of the great young tight ends in the game—Dwayne Allen. Colts will score loads of points, and could go 6-0 in the AFC South.
6. Denver. Having a hard time getting That Game out of my head.
7. New England. Good chance to start 7-0 before a pretty rough six-game stretch (Chicago, Denver, at Indy, Detroit, at Green Bay, at San Diego).
8. Philadelphia. Chip Kelly, with a year to study. That’s dangerous. Also think Nick Foles wasn’t a fluke.
9. Chicago. Marc Trestman’s acing chemistry class. He’s got Jay Cutler kumbaya-ing in the cafeteria at Halas Hall. And who’s covering those Olajuwon-sized receivers and tight end Martellus Bennett?
10. St. Louis. Might not show up in the record, but the Rams are going to be hell to play, and they’ll be a playoff team if Sam Bradford plays the way he was drafted to play.
11. Arizona. Might not show up in the record, but the Cards are going to be hell to play, and they’ll be a playoff team if Carson Palmer plays close to the way he played in his prime.
12. San Diego. So impressed with the jobs Tom Telesco and Mike McCoy did last year. That’s a tough D to play, and an explosive offense.
13. Cincinnati. Deep and talented, but let me be the 4,672nd guru to say in the last six months, “It all comes down to Dalton.”
14. Carolina. I’d feel better about the Panthers’ chances if the receivers all weren’t told to come to training camp this week wearing name tags.
15. Baltimore. A few too many questions on defense for my liking, particularly rushing the passer.
