I'm so bored I can’t see straight and this is truly the doldrums for football.
I half expect to see an article that polls Rams players on whether pineapple is good or awful on pizza and a whole workup on what they thought of the last season of GoT.
We were supposed to see some FA activity in late May because of some
CBA thing, but nope...
I mean, when the latest thing is reading about Blake Bortles accidentally buying a Tesla because he wanted to stop dipping... I can’t even.
I guess I should take advantage and get my reading in...
Here, mull this over and tell me who will appear on 2019's Hard Knocks ...
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One-on-One: Which NFL team deserves 'Hard Knocks' in 2019?
By Michael Tunison and Chris Mueller | Last updated 5/23/19
Yardbarker NFL writers Michael Tunison and Chris Mueller address some of the hottest issues in the league. This week's topics: which of the likely "Hard Knocks" teams for 2019 would be most compelling.
Tunison: The oddsmakers, presumably looking to satisfy the teeming hordes waiting to lay bets on who will be the subject of a documentary series, have installed the 'Skins as the favorite to be this year's "Hard Knocks" team. For a while,
apparently the Raiders were the favorite , meaning the country's appetite for the Gruden brothers is thought to be extremely high, possibly insatiable. It's unclear what exactly swung the favor toward Washington, though one must figure the team drafting
Dwayne Haskins in the first round has a lot to do with it. Two out of the past three years, the "Hard Knocks" team was one with an incoming rookie quarterback, which makes sense since the show focuses on the adjustments they make during their inaugural training camp and their attempts to secure the starting job going into Week 1.
While Oakland has a number of volatile elements that could make for good TV, including their Gruden, Washington is a worthwhile selection in a number of ways. Plus, it might be worth saving the Raiders for next year, as it would be their first in Las Vegas, as the series did with the Rams' move to LA.
Jay Gruden earlier this off-season announced, to the surprise of many, that he considers the 'Skins to be in
win-now mode. While not quite as animated as brother Jon, Jay has his moments, and the pressure of entering Year 6 with his job potentially in jeopardy is bound to bring out the tension.
In terms of player storylines, there's Haskins, the return of running back Derrius Guice after an injury that denied us a hyped rookie season, and whether tight end
Jordan Reed can ever realize his potential. Josh Norman is never shy about giving provocative quotes. There's more than initially meets the eye for a team that's been middle of the pack for a few years running.
Admittedly, the 'Skins would have been a much more appealing choice about 10 years ago, before the "Hard Knocks" series was defanged a little bit by the NFL for being, at least in its eyes, too revealing. The constant dysfunction inspired by owner
Dan Snyderwould doubtlessly have been revealed in memorable ways. It's still likely there will be a disconcerting, or at least amusing, moment or two involving the team brass, but it's a little sad thinking about what might have been.
Mueller: Public appetite for putting bets on which team will have to give a premium cable channel all-access to its business is a commentary on the popularity of the NFL, or the popularity of betting on things, or perhaps just both.
Anyway, while it might be tempting to shine that drama-filled spotlight on Washington, especially since they’re being much less
secretive these days, it would be better if HBO just jumped at the chance to cover Jon Gruden and
Antonio Brown right now, because who knows what their relationship is going to be like at this point next year. Brown might not be a rookie, but he’s mercurial, has more superstar cachet than anyone on the Redskins, and probably won’t hold back if he is asked questions about Ben Roethlisberger or
Mike Tomlin. Why use the "Hard Knocks" forum to generate headlines about one team when you can get a buy-one-get-one that brings the Steelers into the equation?
As magnetic as Brown is, Gruden might be the more interesting of the two. It would be instructive for fans who only think of him as a broadcaster and not a head coach to see him in his true form. You think he’s a friendly guy with nothing bad to say about anyone, no matter how egregious their error? Think again. There’s a reason that people call him “Chucky,” and Brown is going to find himself dealing with an altogether different animal than Tomlin. If Oakland ends up on the show, we’ll see if the
sunshine and rainbows state of affairs between two massive egos can sustain itself.
Rookie quarterbacks are usually Hard Knocks-bait, but
Clelin Ferrell, the former Clemson defensive end, should provide plenty of fodder. Not because he’s some sort of fascinating character, but because the Raiders picking him fourth overall was seen as a major reach by most draft experts. That kind of built-in pressure tends to make for great television, especially if he struggles to adjust to the pro game and looks out of his depth.
Oh, and there’s the owner. Mark Davis drives six hours each way to get his haircut, is a P.F. Chang’s zealot, and that’s just the tip of the eccentricity iceberg where he is concerned.
That said, if eccentricity is a selling point for "Hard Knocks," it’s hard to do much better than Washington. Defensive line coach Jim Tomsula and inside linebackers coach
Rob Ryan on the same coaching staff? Why don’t they have a sitcom already?
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Tunison: I worry that everyone has this image of unfiltered, fly-off-the-handle
Jon Gruden that probably doesn't exist anymore. After the years of doing the MNF booth and conducting the "Gruden QB Camp" segments for ESPN, the guy is far more media trained than your average NFL head coach. It's like the difference between "Hard Knocks" Rex Ryan and the one who toned himself down considerably in the years that followed. Once you've had that kind of exposure as a head coach for raw emotions, you realize it's to the detriment of your team and your continued public profile to keep it up. So while I'm sure he might have a colorful thing or two to yell at players to motivate them during workout segments, I think on the whole he'd be fairly vanilla and canned in his comments with the cameras around.
Conversely, because Redskins president
Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder have been such adversaries of the media, they haven't spent that much time offering themselves up for public scrutiny. Despite it all, I'm willing to believe Snyder is deluded enough that he still thinks he's a good guy and likable, which will almost certainly manifest itself in some amusing interactions with the filmmakers.
As for AB, he's almost too chaotic at this point. In one sense, I get how that could potentially translate to good television. The thing is, he seems to be willing to conduct all his drama over social media these days. So I could see him being on his best behavior around the team, only to pop off with provocative tweets between episodes. "Hard Knocks" would have to cover those comments, of course, but because of the schedule of production, any attention-grabbing post he'd have made would already have been picked apart by the content mill anyway.
I will say, don't discount the weirdo tendencies of Adrian Peterson. He's not charismatic, per se, but this is still a guy who rode into his 30th birthday party on a camel decked out in Aladdin cosplay and has made his share of baffling comments over the years. This being possibly his last training camp, I imagine he'll have the chance to create a headline or two. And, it may be a minor thing, but I will get a considerable amount of joy out of hearing
Liev Schreiber solemnly intone the name Jeremy Sprinkle.
Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
Mueller: This hurts to admit, but you’ve made a great case against Oakland, or more appropriately, for Washington. While I’d hope that the stresses of the job pushes Gruden over the edge, he may have gotten with the times and mellowed with age. That would be a shame, but the longer I think about it, the more likely it seems.
Watching Snyder on camera calls to mind a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" vibe; you imagine him being very awkward and doing strange things, and either not knowing or caring how bad he comes off in the process. Throw in Tomsula and Ryan, and couple all of that with the fact that the juiciest AB-Gruden interactions will likely come in their second year together, after both have had time to get sick of one another, and you have a strong case for Washington landing "Hard Knocks." However, we’ve forgotten about another challenger in the arena: the
New York Giants.
If HBO likes rookie quarterbacks and the intrigue that surrounds them, why are the Giants not the betting favorite in Vegas? It’s the country’s biggest media market, New York is one of the league’s blue bloods, and there are plenty of juicy storylines and subplots to follow. Maybe HBO doesn’t realize that the Giants drafted Daniel Jones, and it thinks that Manning merely has a
body double following him around wearing a No. 8 jersey. In all seriousness, the drama is ready-made. Taking Jones with the sixth pick was widely seen as a reach by Giants GM
Dave Gettleman, and the
rationale behind the pick was not great.
Also not great? This
justification from the general manager. When there is a widespread perception that you could have had your quarterback with the 17th pick of the draft, and could therefore have taken a better player with the sixth pick, and
the preeminent NFL insider in the country can’t find anyone who can verify your claim that two teams would have taken said quarterback before that 17th pick, the potential for compelling television is high. All the ingredients are there.
New York should be on "Hard Knocks." It’s hard to imagine that actually coming to pass, though, because like the Steelers, Patriots, Packers and Cowboys, the Giants are one of the league’s prestige franchises, and if any of the owners of those franchises lean on
Roger Goodell for a favor, like say, lobbying HBO to keep their suddenly dysfunctional team away from the spotlight, they tend to get their way. The Mara family name shouldn’t make a bit of difference.
https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/arti...eserves_hard_knocks_in_2019/s1_13132_29149421
