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These are excerpts. To read the whole article click the link below. McVay, Snead, Phillips, and Cooks get mentioned so there's that.
************************************************************************************
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/04/09/nfl-draft-prospects-gil-brandt-dallas-mmqb-peter-king
Everything to Know About the 2018 NFL Draft Crop, According to Gil Brandt
The 411 on what to expect in Dallas in a little more than two weeks from the man who would know best.
By Peter King
Stream of pre-draft consciousness, 17 days before the first round kicks off before 75,000 fans in Jerryworld:
IT’S GIL BRANDT’S WORLD, AND WE’RE ALL LIVING IN IT
Sixty years ago, Brandt, then 25 and a baby photographer, was hired as a full-time scout for the San Francisco 49ers. Two years later he moved to the expansion Dallas Cowboys as their chief scout. He’s lived in Dallas ever since, and this will be the first time in his life that the draft is a home game for him.
Now he’s the NFL draft shepherd, going to almost every pro day, keeping tabs on the prospects, wooing the top ones to come to the first round, working for the league and helping organize the football side of the draft. We caught up late Saturday, and I tried to denude Brandt of everything he knows about the 2018 crop.
• On what makes this draft different: “This is going to be the most talked-about draft in history. And not just because quarterbacks could go one through four, or four of the top five picks. But this will be an incredible extravaganza. For years to come, people will compare every draft to Dallas. The saying Everything’s bigger in Texas will definitely apply.
We’ll have sections all over the stadium for all 32 teams, and it’ll be like a competition between all the teams and their fans. Twelve big-time college coaches will be there—Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Chris Petersen, others. Day two’s going to have the same excitement.”
• On the walkup to the draft: “There’s been more activity than I ever remember at all these pro days. More coaches, more assistant coaches. South Dakota State had their pro day last week, and there were six NFL tight-end coaches there to see their guy [Dallas Goedert]. But he didn’t run the 40. Hasn’t run it yet. He could go anywhere from low first to the third, but it’s hard to know because teams don’t know his speed.”
• Quality of the draft: “This is a draft where 13 to 17 guys I could point to and say for sure, This guy’s a first-round pick. After that, there’s a lot of starting-type players who could go anywhere. Let me put it to you this way: My guy who I have 21st overall on my list could go 64th. The guy I rank 47th could go 19th. So the Patriots, with their needs and their two first-round picks, should be able to get a tackle to replace Nate Solder.
They need the tackle from UCLA, Kolton Miller. He’s Nate Solder, is what he is … 6'8", 310 pounds, unbelievable 10-yard speed, which is what you need for a tackle. Needs development. But [offensive line coach] Dante Scarnecchia can develop a guy like that as well as anyone.”
• His order of the quarterbacks: “Rosen, Darnold, Mayfield, Allen, Jackson.”
• Top of the draft: “Here’s what it looks like: The running back from Penn State [Saquon Barkley] has all the characteristics needed to be an All-Pro player and could go anywhere in there. Nothing would surprise me. Let’s go to the quarterbacks. Josh Allen has everything you need to be a franchise QB, but he lacks accuracy, and you can’t complete 56 percent in the NFL. Now Sam Darnold, he’s got great mechanics and the right attitude and approach to be great. But he throws interceptions.
This is where you have to grade him—was the interception his fault? Josh Rosen started as a true freshman at UCLA. Never happened before. Started 5-0 or something like that as an 18-year-old. [Actually 4-0, and he won seven of his first nine starts]. You want to be the surest that you won’t be laughed at five years down the line with one of these quarterbacks? Pick Rosen. He’s a player.
Lamar Jackson, immense talent, immense upside. Baker Mayfield is a guy like Drew Brees. He’s got velocity, good accuracy. We all undervalued Drew. But what you don’t know about anyone is which quarterbacks are gonna work like Drew Brees. Drew’s gonna work his ass off.
His agent could get a call during the season from a car company saying, ‘We got a $200,000 commercial for you to tape on Tuesday.’ And Drew would say, ‘No, I’m not gonna do that on Tuesday. That’s my day to work on the next opponent.’ Your job if you’re going to draft one of these guys is to figure out who’s like Drew Brees.”
• Josh Rosen and the questions surrounding his desire: “I have zero questions about Josh Rosen. I have no problems with him at all.”
• Biggest surprise in the top 10: “[Notre Dame] tackle Mike McGlinchey. He’ll go in the top 10.”
• Player who will go higher than everyone thinks: “Will Hernandez, guard, UTEP. Reminds me of Mike Iupati—both drafted higher than anyone thought.”
• Draft invitee who fascinates Brandt: “Leighton Vander Esch, the Boise State linebacker. He’ll be the first man ever invited to the draft who played eight-man football in high school. He’s from Salmon River High School in Riggins, Idaho. A true rising star.”
• The Super Bowl champions’ plans: “I don’t know what [the Eagles] are going to do, but I have been amazed at their presence everywhere at these pro days. I told [general manager] Howie Roseman, ‘You must have an unlimited scouting budget—and I think you’ve exceeded it.’ They’ve had coaches and scouts everywhere. They don’t act like they just won the Super Bowl. They act like they’re dying just to make the playoffs.”
• Happiest draft invitee: “We’ve got 22 guys coming in, and maybe the happiest is a guy who won’t be picked in the first round: Shaquem Griffin [the UCF linebacker who lost his left hand because of a birth defect at age 4]. When I called his mother to invite them, she started crying because of how much this means to the family.”
------------------------------------
SPORTS QUIZ
On Saturday, the fledgling league The Alliance of American Football announced the first of eight franchise cities, Orlando. The league said 72-year-old Steve Spurrier would coach the team.
This will be the first pro football coaching job by Spurrier since 2003. Spurrier’s embarrassing 12-20 two-year run in Washington ended on Dec. 27, 2003, with a 31-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Here’s the quiz:
Who was Spurrier’s starting quarterback in the last game he coached in the NFL?
Here’s the bonus quiz:
Who was the replay official in the press box for the last game Spurrier coached in the NFL?
Answers in number 8 of Things I Think.
----------------------------------------------
“The defensive coordinator has more swag than all of ’em, so we’ll be in good shape.”
—Rams coach Sean McVay, on the big stars the Rams have added to the defense (Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Ndamukong Suh), and how he thinks 71-year-old Wade Phillips will coach them up.
------------------------------------------------
STATS OF THE WEEK
I
The Denver Broncos lucked into a top-five punter for very good value last week, signing Jon Gruden-reject Marquette King for three years and $7 million, making him approximately the 12th-highest-paid punter (in average cap value) in the NFL. Not bad for King, who finished second in the league in punting average in 2016 and third in 2017, and who is 29 years old.
When the Broncos signed King on Thursday, he was positively giddy about getting to punt in altitude for half his games over the next three years. “Denver’s a punter’s paradise,” King said. “The ball definitely travels a lot further. I’ve always enjoyed punting out here in the altitude just because the ball travels further.”
The evidence in his five seasons is significant, if limited. King’s numbers in Colorado versus all other places:
The Broncos are going to have to work with King specifically on placement on inside-the-20 kicks—kicking as he did for Oakland could result in too many into the end zone.
II
Rams receiver Brandin Cooks, 24, is a mere 16 months older than the top receiver prospect in the draft, Alabama’s Calvin Ridley, 23. Ridley will turn 24 in his rookie season. Cooks leads Ridley in NFL games played, 61-0.
-------------------------------------
POD PEOPLE
This week’s conversation: Rams GM Les Snead.
Snead on his willingness to trade more than his predecessors, and on the willingness of a cadre of young GMs to do the same: “You know, that’s an interesting question, and to start with, I don't think you can ever be reckless because—let's go way back to 2012. You know we traded the No. 2 pick overall to the Redskins that ended up being known as the RG3 [Robert Griffin III] deal, but the whole purpose of that was to acquire as many draft picks as possible.
We got to build a young core because at that point it’s nearly, let’s call it 26 players of the 53 who finished on that 2011 Rams team never played in the NFL again, so you knew we had we had to replenish this with a good core, and over the years you draft it, but last year we tipped into let's call it being a ‘legit contender.’ So at that point, you’re well aware, wait a minute, we want to sustain this, we want to keep contending.
And, I’ll always say this, I got a simple rule: You can't be scared in this league. Look at Doug Pederson this year and, it wasn't reckless but it took courage and guess what? They won a Super Bowl on some of those fourth-down plays. So you try to do that as a general manager, but I also think, and this is long-winded answer, some of the analytics that you have now to really look at what historically draft picks bring you in reality over time …”
Me: “You’ve basically looked at draft choices as tools in the toolbox. That's how I kind of look at your thing: You’re not wedded to your draft picks.”
Snead: “Right. You should be my interpreter.”
---------------------------------------
View: https://twitter.com/sonofbum/status/982314890038620161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F04%2F09%2Fnfl-draft-prospects-gil-brandt-dallas-mmqb-peter-king
------------------------------------------
THINGS I THINK I THINK
1. I think Baltimore signing Robert Griffin III doesn’t mean anything about the Ravens’ draft-weekend intentions. If there’s a quarterback there at 16 (Lamar Jackson?) whom the Ravens love, they’ll take him. As they should. Since Joe Flacco won the Super Bowl with Baltimore, there have been five seasons played in the NFL. In those five seasons combined, 31 quarterbacks have started at least 40 games. Flacco is 30th in passer rating in those five seasons, at 82.1.
2. I think if, in “Paterno,” HBO intended to show Joe Paterno as an altogether doddering old man who had no business coaching Penn State in his last few years, HBO succeeded. I have no dog in this fight, and there is no question whatsoever that Paterno was allowed to coach that team far too long. But was it really that bad? Was he really that bad? Check out Conor Orr’s commentary on “Paterno.”
3. I think one of the best free-agent signings of the second wave of the free market is New England procuring wide receiver Jordan Matthews after his lost and injured season with Buffalo in 2017. New England signed him for one year and about $4 million.
Mike Reiss reported in his Sunday column that Matthews wanted to play with Tom Brady and, presumably, could have signed for more years and money elsewhere. Love this for the Patriots because Matthews will play this year at 26, is now healthy, and in his three NFL seasons before 2017 with Philadelphia, averaged 75 catches and 891 yards. He’s the kind of big target (6'3") the Patriots and Brady needed.
4. I think I don't understand why uniform numbers can’t be simple. Just like I never understood why the Bucs made the numbers on their new uniforms unintelligible, I don’t get Tennessee’s new digits either. Why can’t a 2 look like a 2, and not a Z? Why make numbers make you do a triple-take?
5. I think, while I’m on my 60-year-old-man riff, what’s up with “uniform launch parties” or “uniform unveilings?” I see the Jaguars are having one April 19, on the heels of the Titans drawing 20,000 for theirs last week. I don’t get the unveiling of uniforms being a news event.
How did we get to this point? You know, it’s okay to not have everything be a big event. It’s okay for teams to say, “We’ve got nothing going on this week. Go cover something else.” And it’s okay for media to say, “We’ll run a photo of your next uniform on our site. That’s enough.” And be done with it.
6. I think now I’ll stop screaming for you to get off my lawn.
7. I think this Johnny Manziel admission to Dan Patrick just really rubbed me the wrong way: “Guys are good in the NFL because they know film, they study hard, and they work even harder in the offseason. I didn’t know that. I feel like if Cleveland did any of their homework, they would have know that I’m a guy that didn’t come in every day and watch film …
When I get to Cleveland, I have a quarterback in the room [Brian Hoyer] that’s not helping me. And it’s not really his job to, but nobody was there, helping me. And it was hard. I struggled … There was a lot of winging it, and not a lot of, you know, knowing what I was doing.”
One: It’s not the starting quarterback’s job to help the backup take the job from him. It would be nice if the starter did that, but in my experience, many more starting quarterbacks over time have been okay but not super-helpful to the first-round pick who’s there to put the starter out of business. Two: “Nobody was there, helping me.”
What? Dowell Loggains, quarterback coach, and Kyle Shanahan, offense coordinator … They didn’t help? They weren’t there to help? Their office doors were closed? That is, to be charitable, a disingenuous claim by Manziel. To be uncharitable, it is downright lame.
8. I think the answers to the Steve Spurrier quizzes surprised me.
The starting quarterback for Washington in the 2003 season finale—and one of six quarterbacks to throw passes for Spurrier in his two NFL seasons—was Tim Hasselbeck.
The replay official in FedEx Field for Spurrier’s last game? Dean Blandino.
9. I think I can’t say this enough: If San Francisco safety Eric Reid does not get signed, it sends a chilling message about free speech to every NFL player who would think about protesting anything. Colin Kaepernick being unsigned is reprehensible enough.
But if Reid, Kaepernick’s protest partner with the Niners in 2016, is not signed to a representative safety contract this spring, every player will know the league’s mantra: Get in line, or this will happen to you when your contract expires—no matter how good you are.
************************************************************************************
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/04/09/nfl-draft-prospects-gil-brandt-dallas-mmqb-peter-king
Everything to Know About the 2018 NFL Draft Crop, According to Gil Brandt
The 411 on what to expect in Dallas in a little more than two weeks from the man who would know best.
By Peter King
Stream of pre-draft consciousness, 17 days before the first round kicks off before 75,000 fans in Jerryworld:
IT’S GIL BRANDT’S WORLD, AND WE’RE ALL LIVING IN IT
Sixty years ago, Brandt, then 25 and a baby photographer, was hired as a full-time scout for the San Francisco 49ers. Two years later he moved to the expansion Dallas Cowboys as their chief scout. He’s lived in Dallas ever since, and this will be the first time in his life that the draft is a home game for him.
Now he’s the NFL draft shepherd, going to almost every pro day, keeping tabs on the prospects, wooing the top ones to come to the first round, working for the league and helping organize the football side of the draft. We caught up late Saturday, and I tried to denude Brandt of everything he knows about the 2018 crop.
• On what makes this draft different: “This is going to be the most talked-about draft in history. And not just because quarterbacks could go one through four, or four of the top five picks. But this will be an incredible extravaganza. For years to come, people will compare every draft to Dallas. The saying Everything’s bigger in Texas will definitely apply.
We’ll have sections all over the stadium for all 32 teams, and it’ll be like a competition between all the teams and their fans. Twelve big-time college coaches will be there—Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Chris Petersen, others. Day two’s going to have the same excitement.”
• On the walkup to the draft: “There’s been more activity than I ever remember at all these pro days. More coaches, more assistant coaches. South Dakota State had their pro day last week, and there were six NFL tight-end coaches there to see their guy [Dallas Goedert]. But he didn’t run the 40. Hasn’t run it yet. He could go anywhere from low first to the third, but it’s hard to know because teams don’t know his speed.”
• Quality of the draft: “This is a draft where 13 to 17 guys I could point to and say for sure, This guy’s a first-round pick. After that, there’s a lot of starting-type players who could go anywhere. Let me put it to you this way: My guy who I have 21st overall on my list could go 64th. The guy I rank 47th could go 19th. So the Patriots, with their needs and their two first-round picks, should be able to get a tackle to replace Nate Solder.
They need the tackle from UCLA, Kolton Miller. He’s Nate Solder, is what he is … 6'8", 310 pounds, unbelievable 10-yard speed, which is what you need for a tackle. Needs development. But [offensive line coach] Dante Scarnecchia can develop a guy like that as well as anyone.”
• His order of the quarterbacks: “Rosen, Darnold, Mayfield, Allen, Jackson.”
• Top of the draft: “Here’s what it looks like: The running back from Penn State [Saquon Barkley] has all the characteristics needed to be an All-Pro player and could go anywhere in there. Nothing would surprise me. Let’s go to the quarterbacks. Josh Allen has everything you need to be a franchise QB, but he lacks accuracy, and you can’t complete 56 percent in the NFL. Now Sam Darnold, he’s got great mechanics and the right attitude and approach to be great. But he throws interceptions.
This is where you have to grade him—was the interception his fault? Josh Rosen started as a true freshman at UCLA. Never happened before. Started 5-0 or something like that as an 18-year-old. [Actually 4-0, and he won seven of his first nine starts]. You want to be the surest that you won’t be laughed at five years down the line with one of these quarterbacks? Pick Rosen. He’s a player.
Lamar Jackson, immense talent, immense upside. Baker Mayfield is a guy like Drew Brees. He’s got velocity, good accuracy. We all undervalued Drew. But what you don’t know about anyone is which quarterbacks are gonna work like Drew Brees. Drew’s gonna work his ass off.
His agent could get a call during the season from a car company saying, ‘We got a $200,000 commercial for you to tape on Tuesday.’ And Drew would say, ‘No, I’m not gonna do that on Tuesday. That’s my day to work on the next opponent.’ Your job if you’re going to draft one of these guys is to figure out who’s like Drew Brees.”
• Josh Rosen and the questions surrounding his desire: “I have zero questions about Josh Rosen. I have no problems with him at all.”
• Biggest surprise in the top 10: “[Notre Dame] tackle Mike McGlinchey. He’ll go in the top 10.”
• Player who will go higher than everyone thinks: “Will Hernandez, guard, UTEP. Reminds me of Mike Iupati—both drafted higher than anyone thought.”
• Draft invitee who fascinates Brandt: “Leighton Vander Esch, the Boise State linebacker. He’ll be the first man ever invited to the draft who played eight-man football in high school. He’s from Salmon River High School in Riggins, Idaho. A true rising star.”
• The Super Bowl champions’ plans: “I don’t know what [the Eagles] are going to do, but I have been amazed at their presence everywhere at these pro days. I told [general manager] Howie Roseman, ‘You must have an unlimited scouting budget—and I think you’ve exceeded it.’ They’ve had coaches and scouts everywhere. They don’t act like they just won the Super Bowl. They act like they’re dying just to make the playoffs.”
• Happiest draft invitee: “We’ve got 22 guys coming in, and maybe the happiest is a guy who won’t be picked in the first round: Shaquem Griffin [the UCF linebacker who lost his left hand because of a birth defect at age 4]. When I called his mother to invite them, she started crying because of how much this means to the family.”
------------------------------------
SPORTS QUIZ
On Saturday, the fledgling league The Alliance of American Football announced the first of eight franchise cities, Orlando. The league said 72-year-old Steve Spurrier would coach the team.
This will be the first pro football coaching job by Spurrier since 2003. Spurrier’s embarrassing 12-20 two-year run in Washington ended on Dec. 27, 2003, with a 31-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Here’s the quiz:
Who was Spurrier’s starting quarterback in the last game he coached in the NFL?
Here’s the bonus quiz:
Who was the replay official in the press box for the last game Spurrier coached in the NFL?
Answers in number 8 of Things I Think.
----------------------------------------------
“The defensive coordinator has more swag than all of ’em, so we’ll be in good shape.”
—Rams coach Sean McVay, on the big stars the Rams have added to the defense (Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Ndamukong Suh), and how he thinks 71-year-old Wade Phillips will coach them up.
------------------------------------------------
STATS OF THE WEEK
I
The Denver Broncos lucked into a top-five punter for very good value last week, signing Jon Gruden-reject Marquette King for three years and $7 million, making him approximately the 12th-highest-paid punter (in average cap value) in the NFL. Not bad for King, who finished second in the league in punting average in 2016 and third in 2017, and who is 29 years old.
When the Broncos signed King on Thursday, he was positively giddy about getting to punt in altitude for half his games over the next three years. “Denver’s a punter’s paradise,” King said. “The ball definitely travels a lot further. I’ve always enjoyed punting out here in the altitude just because the ball travels further.”
The evidence in his five seasons is significant, if limited. King’s numbers in Colorado versus all other places:
The Broncos are going to have to work with King specifically on placement on inside-the-20 kicks—kicking as he did for Oakland could result in too many into the end zone.
II
Rams receiver Brandin Cooks, 24, is a mere 16 months older than the top receiver prospect in the draft, Alabama’s Calvin Ridley, 23. Ridley will turn 24 in his rookie season. Cooks leads Ridley in NFL games played, 61-0.
-------------------------------------
POD PEOPLE
This week’s conversation: Rams GM Les Snead.
Snead on his willingness to trade more than his predecessors, and on the willingness of a cadre of young GMs to do the same: “You know, that’s an interesting question, and to start with, I don't think you can ever be reckless because—let's go way back to 2012. You know we traded the No. 2 pick overall to the Redskins that ended up being known as the RG3 [Robert Griffin III] deal, but the whole purpose of that was to acquire as many draft picks as possible.
We got to build a young core because at that point it’s nearly, let’s call it 26 players of the 53 who finished on that 2011 Rams team never played in the NFL again, so you knew we had we had to replenish this with a good core, and over the years you draft it, but last year we tipped into let's call it being a ‘legit contender.’ So at that point, you’re well aware, wait a minute, we want to sustain this, we want to keep contending.
And, I’ll always say this, I got a simple rule: You can't be scared in this league. Look at Doug Pederson this year and, it wasn't reckless but it took courage and guess what? They won a Super Bowl on some of those fourth-down plays. So you try to do that as a general manager, but I also think, and this is long-winded answer, some of the analytics that you have now to really look at what historically draft picks bring you in reality over time …”
Me: “You’ve basically looked at draft choices as tools in the toolbox. That's how I kind of look at your thing: You’re not wedded to your draft picks.”
Snead: “Right. You should be my interpreter.”
---------------------------------------
View: https://twitter.com/sonofbum/status/982314890038620161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F04%2F09%2Fnfl-draft-prospects-gil-brandt-dallas-mmqb-peter-king
------------------------------------------
THINGS I THINK I THINK
1. I think Baltimore signing Robert Griffin III doesn’t mean anything about the Ravens’ draft-weekend intentions. If there’s a quarterback there at 16 (Lamar Jackson?) whom the Ravens love, they’ll take him. As they should. Since Joe Flacco won the Super Bowl with Baltimore, there have been five seasons played in the NFL. In those five seasons combined, 31 quarterbacks have started at least 40 games. Flacco is 30th in passer rating in those five seasons, at 82.1.
2. I think if, in “Paterno,” HBO intended to show Joe Paterno as an altogether doddering old man who had no business coaching Penn State in his last few years, HBO succeeded. I have no dog in this fight, and there is no question whatsoever that Paterno was allowed to coach that team far too long. But was it really that bad? Was he really that bad? Check out Conor Orr’s commentary on “Paterno.”
3. I think one of the best free-agent signings of the second wave of the free market is New England procuring wide receiver Jordan Matthews after his lost and injured season with Buffalo in 2017. New England signed him for one year and about $4 million.
Mike Reiss reported in his Sunday column that Matthews wanted to play with Tom Brady and, presumably, could have signed for more years and money elsewhere. Love this for the Patriots because Matthews will play this year at 26, is now healthy, and in his three NFL seasons before 2017 with Philadelphia, averaged 75 catches and 891 yards. He’s the kind of big target (6'3") the Patriots and Brady needed.
4. I think I don't understand why uniform numbers can’t be simple. Just like I never understood why the Bucs made the numbers on their new uniforms unintelligible, I don’t get Tennessee’s new digits either. Why can’t a 2 look like a 2, and not a Z? Why make numbers make you do a triple-take?
5. I think, while I’m on my 60-year-old-man riff, what’s up with “uniform launch parties” or “uniform unveilings?” I see the Jaguars are having one April 19, on the heels of the Titans drawing 20,000 for theirs last week. I don’t get the unveiling of uniforms being a news event.
How did we get to this point? You know, it’s okay to not have everything be a big event. It’s okay for teams to say, “We’ve got nothing going on this week. Go cover something else.” And it’s okay for media to say, “We’ll run a photo of your next uniform on our site. That’s enough.” And be done with it.
6. I think now I’ll stop screaming for you to get off my lawn.
7. I think this Johnny Manziel admission to Dan Patrick just really rubbed me the wrong way: “Guys are good in the NFL because they know film, they study hard, and they work even harder in the offseason. I didn’t know that. I feel like if Cleveland did any of their homework, they would have know that I’m a guy that didn’t come in every day and watch film …
When I get to Cleveland, I have a quarterback in the room [Brian Hoyer] that’s not helping me. And it’s not really his job to, but nobody was there, helping me. And it was hard. I struggled … There was a lot of winging it, and not a lot of, you know, knowing what I was doing.”
One: It’s not the starting quarterback’s job to help the backup take the job from him. It would be nice if the starter did that, but in my experience, many more starting quarterbacks over time have been okay but not super-helpful to the first-round pick who’s there to put the starter out of business. Two: “Nobody was there, helping me.”
What? Dowell Loggains, quarterback coach, and Kyle Shanahan, offense coordinator … They didn’t help? They weren’t there to help? Their office doors were closed? That is, to be charitable, a disingenuous claim by Manziel. To be uncharitable, it is downright lame.
8. I think the answers to the Steve Spurrier quizzes surprised me.
The starting quarterback for Washington in the 2003 season finale—and one of six quarterbacks to throw passes for Spurrier in his two NFL seasons—was Tim Hasselbeck.
The replay official in FedEx Field for Spurrier’s last game? Dean Blandino.
9. I think I can’t say this enough: If San Francisco safety Eric Reid does not get signed, it sends a chilling message about free speech to every NFL player who would think about protesting anything. Colin Kaepernick being unsigned is reprehensible enough.
But if Reid, Kaepernick’s protest partner with the Niners in 2016, is not signed to a representative safety contract this spring, every player will know the league’s mantra: Get in line, or this will happen to you when your contract expires—no matter how good you are.
