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No Longer Your Dad’s NFL
Shawn Hochuli—the son of Ed—is all but guaranteed to be working on Sundays this fall, just as officiating undergoes a major overhaul ... plus, Johnny Football’s pro day, Jim Kelly’s latest battle, the sad saga of Mark Sanchez and more.
By Peter King
Full article at the link
Highlights:
ORLANDO, Fla. — The news here this week at the annual NFL meetings at a ritzy Ritz in central Florida? Officiating and an effort to create a more virtuous culture. That’s what you’ll be reading and hearing about from the meetings. Not expanding the playoffs from 12 teams to 14, which won’t happen until at least 2015. Not the push by the Patriots and some others to move the PAT from the 2-yard line to the 25. So that means officiating czar Dean Blandino is going to be the star of these meetings, not Roger Goodell or the rulesmeisters, Rich McKay or Jeff Fisher.
“We’re going to implement an official-to-official communications system, so all seven officials can communicate wirelessly,” Blandino said. “Each official will have an earpiece, a microphone, and just a little radio pack where they can communicate in a closed system, encrypted.
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The State of Manziel
So the long awaited pro day workout for Johnny Manziel will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. in College Station, on the Texas A&M campus. It will be a scripted 50- to 60-pass workout designed and run by Manziel’s personal quarterback coach, George Whitfield. Manziel will have four familiar receivers: college mates Mike Evans (himself a likely first-round pick), Travis Labhart, Ben Malena and Derel Walker. Because of the wide disparity of opinions around the NFL (including those among opinion-swayers in the media) about Manziel, this is probably the single most important workout any player will have before the May draft.
But no matter how good a day Manziel has on Thursday, with no defenders on the field, there still will be questions about his ability to operate in an NFL pocket until he proves himself against a pass rush.
We’re really in a fascinating time, 45 days out from the first day of the draft. We’ve gone from feeling it’s a sure thing that the top three quarterbacks—Teddy Bridgewater, Blake Bortles and Manziel—are locks to be picked in the top eight to wondering if one or more of them could plummet to late in the first round, or out of it. Bridgewater’s workout was surprising last week because the ball didn’t come out of his hand with the kind of velocity NFL teams hoped to see.
Bortles did well in his workout, but his deep balls weren’t accurate. Manziel goes third, in front of some skeptical NFL coaches and scouts, with a drumbeat of negativity growing louder in the backdrop. Last week, respected ESPN tapehead Merril Hoge said Manziel “has absolutely no instinct or feel for pocket awareness. When traffic comes around him, he runs, and that’s dangerous in the NFL.”
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“Narrowing the goal post: We have talked about that a lot this year. We are at a place where field goals are made 86.6 percent of the time, which is really an amazing thing because in 1970 that number was around 59 percent. We have really moved up. We have had some really good discussions about that. I do not think there is enough momentum to do it this year, but I think there will be discussions with the goal post going forward.”
— Competition Committee co-chair Rich McKay of the Falcons, on the possibility of future NFL meetings taking up the debate of narrowing the width of the goal posts to make field goals and extra points more challenging.
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“I’m a servant leader. I’m someone who wants to make everyone else around me better people, better players, with nothing in return. I’m not looking for any recognition or anything like that. I’m a team player, someone that’s willing to go the extra mile, willing to come in early and go the opposite way. Not go in that locker room and try to win guys over, but win guys over by going in that film room and that offensive room and learning the playbook right away, breaking down film, showing the guys that I understand what’s going on. Once guys see that you know your job, you know what you’re supposed to do, you’re responsible, then they’ll begin to trust you more. I feel that I have that capability. From a playing side, I feel that I’m an accurate passer, I’m smart with the football, I’m a winner.”
— Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, to the NFL Network on Friday, about why he thinks he should be the first pick in the May 8 draft.
Not sure what a “servant leader” is, but it sounds pretty unselfish.
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From the Remnants of JaMarcus Russell Dept.:
JaMarcus Russell was the first overall pick of the 2007 NFL draft. (Jeff Lewis/Icon SMI)
In the wake of the Matt Schaub trade from Houston to Oakland on Friday, and assuming Schaub starts at least one game for the Raiders in 2014, this will be the sixth consecutive year a non-homegrown quarterback will start for the Raiders.
In order: Charlie Frye (2009), Bruce Gradkowski (2009, ’10), Jason Campbell (2010, ’11), Carson Palmer (2011, ’12) and Matt Flynn (2013). If Schaub does start, that means six imported quarterbacks starting in six seasons.
Football people sometimes say if you take a quarterback very high in round one and he bombs, it could set the franchise back five years. Well, Russell was the first pick of the 2007 draft, and that colossal mistake has set the Raiders back seven years—and we may not be done counting yet.
Oakland’s records since the day Al Davis drafted Russell: 4-12, 5-11, 5-11, 8-8, 8-8, 4-12, 4-12.
-----------------------
I think the one thing I heard from new NFL Players Association president Eric Winston that I liked upon his recent election is his view that an 18-game regular season is a non-starter for players. That should be his line in the sand with NFL owners. Sounds like it will be. Players take too many injury risks as it is to even consider playing 13% more snaps in a season.
-----------------------
I think you can talk about Mark Sanchez getting jobbed by the Jets if you’d like, and I agree that holding him off the market for the first 11 days of free agency because the Jets wanted an insurance policy in case they couldn’t sign Mike Vick was wrong—because the team never had any intention of paying Sanchez his March roster bonus.
But for those who say the Jets should have kept Sanchez, I’d cite two important factors: The team had lost faith in his ability to be its long-term answer at quarterback, and he completed just 55.1% of his throws as a Jet. Though he was a solid player his first two seasons and showed signs of that play before getting hurt last summer, Sanchez just isn’t accurate enough for a team to count on him as its answer at the position.
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I think you’d have a fair argument if you said, “Mike Vick’s not accurate either.” He is just a 56.2% passer for his career, but in his three Philadelphia seasons with Marty Mornhinweg—who will be his play-caller and instructor with the Jets—Vick’s accuracy rate was 63%, 60% and 58%. And Vick is hardly being imported to be the quarterback savior in New York. He is signed for one year and $5 million, and the team still thinks Geno Smith could be the man of the future.
-----------------------
I think this is a pretty good postscript to the short piece I wrote on the incredible fall of Josh Freeman last week. He’s gone, in six months, from a solid starting quarterback to a man who, at best, will struggle to be a backup or even a third quarterback this year. Gil Brandt of NFL.com checked in with his opinion the other day: “When Freeman was jettisoned by the Bucs, ending a rocky relationship, I thought he still had a chance to do something in the NFL, because he did have some talent. But I think I was wrong about him. I’m not sure if he has the desire to get better.
At this point, I think Vince Young, who is out of football altogether, is better than him. I’m not sure if Freeman will get another chance in the league, though I could see someone bringing him into camp on a minimum salary.” Consider that a good season last year in Freeman’s walk year could have netted him a $15 million-a-year deal this offseason, and you see what a crazy story this is.
Shawn Hochuli—the son of Ed—is all but guaranteed to be working on Sundays this fall, just as officiating undergoes a major overhaul ... plus, Johnny Football’s pro day, Jim Kelly’s latest battle, the sad saga of Mark Sanchez and more.
By Peter King
Full article at the link
Highlights:
ORLANDO, Fla. — The news here this week at the annual NFL meetings at a ritzy Ritz in central Florida? Officiating and an effort to create a more virtuous culture. That’s what you’ll be reading and hearing about from the meetings. Not expanding the playoffs from 12 teams to 14, which won’t happen until at least 2015. Not the push by the Patriots and some others to move the PAT from the 2-yard line to the 25. So that means officiating czar Dean Blandino is going to be the star of these meetings, not Roger Goodell or the rulesmeisters, Rich McKay or Jeff Fisher.
“We’re going to implement an official-to-official communications system, so all seven officials can communicate wirelessly,” Blandino said. “Each official will have an earpiece, a microphone, and just a little radio pack where they can communicate in a closed system, encrypted.
------------------------
The State of Manziel
So the long awaited pro day workout for Johnny Manziel will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. in College Station, on the Texas A&M campus. It will be a scripted 50- to 60-pass workout designed and run by Manziel’s personal quarterback coach, George Whitfield. Manziel will have four familiar receivers: college mates Mike Evans (himself a likely first-round pick), Travis Labhart, Ben Malena and Derel Walker. Because of the wide disparity of opinions around the NFL (including those among opinion-swayers in the media) about Manziel, this is probably the single most important workout any player will have before the May draft.
But no matter how good a day Manziel has on Thursday, with no defenders on the field, there still will be questions about his ability to operate in an NFL pocket until he proves himself against a pass rush.
We’re really in a fascinating time, 45 days out from the first day of the draft. We’ve gone from feeling it’s a sure thing that the top three quarterbacks—Teddy Bridgewater, Blake Bortles and Manziel—are locks to be picked in the top eight to wondering if one or more of them could plummet to late in the first round, or out of it. Bridgewater’s workout was surprising last week because the ball didn’t come out of his hand with the kind of velocity NFL teams hoped to see.
Bortles did well in his workout, but his deep balls weren’t accurate. Manziel goes third, in front of some skeptical NFL coaches and scouts, with a drumbeat of negativity growing louder in the backdrop. Last week, respected ESPN tapehead Merril Hoge said Manziel “has absolutely no instinct or feel for pocket awareness. When traffic comes around him, he runs, and that’s dangerous in the NFL.”
------------------
“Narrowing the goal post: We have talked about that a lot this year. We are at a place where field goals are made 86.6 percent of the time, which is really an amazing thing because in 1970 that number was around 59 percent. We have really moved up. We have had some really good discussions about that. I do not think there is enough momentum to do it this year, but I think there will be discussions with the goal post going forward.”
— Competition Committee co-chair Rich McKay of the Falcons, on the possibility of future NFL meetings taking up the debate of narrowing the width of the goal posts to make field goals and extra points more challenging.
---------------------
“I’m a servant leader. I’m someone who wants to make everyone else around me better people, better players, with nothing in return. I’m not looking for any recognition or anything like that. I’m a team player, someone that’s willing to go the extra mile, willing to come in early and go the opposite way. Not go in that locker room and try to win guys over, but win guys over by going in that film room and that offensive room and learning the playbook right away, breaking down film, showing the guys that I understand what’s going on. Once guys see that you know your job, you know what you’re supposed to do, you’re responsible, then they’ll begin to trust you more. I feel that I have that capability. From a playing side, I feel that I’m an accurate passer, I’m smart with the football, I’m a winner.”
— Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, to the NFL Network on Friday, about why he thinks he should be the first pick in the May 8 draft.
Not sure what a “servant leader” is, but it sounds pretty unselfish.
------------------
From the Remnants of JaMarcus Russell Dept.:
JaMarcus Russell was the first overall pick of the 2007 NFL draft. (Jeff Lewis/Icon SMI)
In the wake of the Matt Schaub trade from Houston to Oakland on Friday, and assuming Schaub starts at least one game for the Raiders in 2014, this will be the sixth consecutive year a non-homegrown quarterback will start for the Raiders.
In order: Charlie Frye (2009), Bruce Gradkowski (2009, ’10), Jason Campbell (2010, ’11), Carson Palmer (2011, ’12) and Matt Flynn (2013). If Schaub does start, that means six imported quarterbacks starting in six seasons.
Football people sometimes say if you take a quarterback very high in round one and he bombs, it could set the franchise back five years. Well, Russell was the first pick of the 2007 draft, and that colossal mistake has set the Raiders back seven years—and we may not be done counting yet.
Oakland’s records since the day Al Davis drafted Russell: 4-12, 5-11, 5-11, 8-8, 8-8, 4-12, 4-12.
-----------------------
I think the one thing I heard from new NFL Players Association president Eric Winston that I liked upon his recent election is his view that an 18-game regular season is a non-starter for players. That should be his line in the sand with NFL owners. Sounds like it will be. Players take too many injury risks as it is to even consider playing 13% more snaps in a season.
-----------------------
I think you can talk about Mark Sanchez getting jobbed by the Jets if you’d like, and I agree that holding him off the market for the first 11 days of free agency because the Jets wanted an insurance policy in case they couldn’t sign Mike Vick was wrong—because the team never had any intention of paying Sanchez his March roster bonus.
But for those who say the Jets should have kept Sanchez, I’d cite two important factors: The team had lost faith in his ability to be its long-term answer at quarterback, and he completed just 55.1% of his throws as a Jet. Though he was a solid player his first two seasons and showed signs of that play before getting hurt last summer, Sanchez just isn’t accurate enough for a team to count on him as its answer at the position.
-----------------------
I think you’d have a fair argument if you said, “Mike Vick’s not accurate either.” He is just a 56.2% passer for his career, but in his three Philadelphia seasons with Marty Mornhinweg—who will be his play-caller and instructor with the Jets—Vick’s accuracy rate was 63%, 60% and 58%. And Vick is hardly being imported to be the quarterback savior in New York. He is signed for one year and $5 million, and the team still thinks Geno Smith could be the man of the future.
-----------------------
I think this is a pretty good postscript to the short piece I wrote on the incredible fall of Josh Freeman last week. He’s gone, in six months, from a solid starting quarterback to a man who, at best, will struggle to be a backup or even a third quarterback this year. Gil Brandt of NFL.com checked in with his opinion the other day: “When Freeman was jettisoned by the Bucs, ending a rocky relationship, I thought he still had a chance to do something in the NFL, because he did have some talent. But I think I was wrong about him. I’m not sure if he has the desire to get better.
At this point, I think Vince Young, who is out of football altogether, is better than him. I’m not sure if Freeman will get another chance in the league, though I could see someone bringing him into camp on a minimum salary.” Consider that a good season last year in Freeman’s walk year could have netted him a $15 million-a-year deal this offseason, and you see what a crazy story this is.
