I am not John Clayton. I will not regurgitate everything reported over the past month concerning the NFL. There are some stories (more like non-stories) that have continued to fly under the radar. More importantly, there are some things which need to be stories. Well, fear not. I am here to shine light upon those deserving of criticism or advice.1) Josh McDaniels - We all witnessed how he gutted the Denver roster to stroke his massive ego. I've written about this before. In a righteous world, McDaniels would have been fired for his blasphemy. Matt Cassel over Jay Cutler? Unnecessary and cruel. So here's the question which has yet to be addressed:
Why is he not on the hot seat?
Obviously the Broncos' 6-0 start bought him a grace period. But with the Tebow project at the single A level and no Elvis Dumervil or Brandon Marshall, I don't see how the Broncos win more than 5 games this season. Which begs the question, will McDaniels be jobless at the end of the season?
2) Tavaris Jackson on the trade block - In his last full season 2 years ago, he lead the Vikings to a 10-6 record and a playoff birth. Considering his horrendous quarterbacking skills, it was not too bad a job. If the Brett Favre saga has taught us anything, it's that the Vikings have zero confidence in Tavaris as their quarterback of the future. So why not deal him for a #3 WR, especially with Harvin suffering from migraines? When Brett does eventually retire, the Vikings will look for a new QB. If they were smart, they'd deal Tavaris while he still has some value and the team remains a serious Super Bowl contender.
3) The Matt Millen era continues - There's no need to harp on Matt Millen's obsession with WRs and skill positions players in general. But now that new management is in place, very little has changed. Most GMs realize the importance of the offensive line. Yet somehow this message continues to elude Lions management. They have made no attempt to acquire offensive lineman through free agency, and have continued to upgrade the skill positions (Nate Burelson, Jahvid Best). Defensively, Van Den Bosch and Suh will obviously help. As much as I want to, I cannot criticize Martin Mayhew on that front. But the downfall of every young QB is, without fail, the offensive line. Talent is meaningless when time to throw is at a premium (see David Carr). So everyone please jump off the Mayhew bandwagon for a second. He's better than Millen, but not by much.
4) Mike Martz is still an offensive coordinator - For someone who's a supposed offensive genious, Martz has bounced around quite a bit over the last few years. Since his firing from Saint Louis, he's made 3 stops in 5 NFL seasons, including Detroit, San Francisco, and now Chicago. Neither Detroit nor S.F. improved with Martz on board. Something tells me we'll see the same thing in Chicago.
One more thing that seems to go unnoticed:
Martz's offensive system is based on timing. The quarterback releases the ball and the receiver is expected to be there. If he's not, interceptions become an issue, no matter the quarterback. Maybe the Chicago front office hasn't noticed, but Jay Cutler is, to put it lightly, turnover prone. Does this not seem like a match made in turnover hell?
5) Jack Del Rio on the hot seat - I mentioned this in the AFC South/West podcast, but how is Del Rio still employed? Jacksonville has accopmlished all of nothing the past 5 years. Yes, they have been a wildcard team a few times, but Maurice Jones Drew now suffers from Barry Sanders syndrome: he's wasting the best years of his career on a miserable team. Then again, this is Jacksonville. The same team that has blackouts more often than a Rex Ryan expletive. Just move to L.A. already.
Good point on Tavaris Jackson. If they're not going to use the poor guy, might as well get something good for him when they're still a top team and playoff contender.
ReplyDeletePlus, Favre as QB 2011-2012? Not likely. 2012-2013? No way. I doubt the Vikings are a Superbowl-winning team this year (the Saints are just too damn good), and as each day passes and Brett's weak ankles get pounded, Minnesota is headed for a serious reconstruction era. Just wait til the Post-Favre Vikings.
One thing I forgot to mention about the Vikings: People can argue that the Vikings need a backup, but Sage Rosenfels is still on that team. He is more than competent.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I too am worried about the post-Favre Vikings. While their offense is still relatively young, their defense is not. Even if they find another quarterback after Favre, they'll have to make significant upgrades to the defense through free agency or the draft. I don't see this current one lasting more than 2 or 3 more seasons.
I think Josh McDaniels could be jobless at the end of this year depending on how the season goes. The only reason he isn't at this point is that he has only been there one year.
ReplyDeleteI think trading Tarvaris isn't a terrible idea. It's obvious he is not the guy and they should try to get something for him from another team. Sage Rosenfels can handle the backup duties with no problems.
Like we talked a/b today, that Lions offensive line isn't very good. We'll see if it holds up, but I would like to have seen them upgrade there.
Cutler and Martz is either going to work really well or not at all. I don't know if there is an inbetween on this.
Del Rio hasn't been fired because at this point no one in the Jaguars front office cares anymore. I know Wayne Weaver doesn't care and will change coaches once the team moves to LA.
It's funny how L.A. still doesn't have a team yet. If Jacksonville, Buffalo and Green Bay can have one, I think they can too. Plus Florida does not deserve more than one team.
ReplyDeleteTo the Josh McDaniels situation, he will have a job at least through next year as Denver owner Pat Bowlen will allow Josh to put his mark on the team.
ReplyDeleteThe Lions offensive line woes will be addressed next season, providing there is a season. I'm thinking there may be a cap problem, although I have not researched it.
I really want to see the Lions succeed. Under Matt Millen, I had zero sympathy. But even though I ripped on them, I'm still on their side.
ReplyDeletePat Bowlen needs to put his ego aside and evaluate the situation realistically. Ever since McDaniels has gotten there, the Broncos have been on a downward spiral. Mike Shanahan did not deserve to be fired, and now it seems karma is kicking in.
It was more Gus Frerotte who led the Vikings to the playoffs in 2008, not Jackson. Jackson did start in the playoff game itself after Frerotte's injury, but he was only 2-3 as a starter in the regular season while Gus was 8-3.
ReplyDeleteIn his defense, he started to look like he was coming around as an authentic quarterback at the end of the '08 season, particularly his game at eventual-NFC champs Arizona, and had a good '09 preseason. I've been wondering if maybe the Vikings finally lost patience with him right when he finally was ready to contribute.
I stand corrected about Tavaris Jackson. Gus definitely was the driving factor that gave the Vikings a chance at the playoffs. Tavaris barely squeaked them in. I should stop relying on my memory as often as I do. However, Tavaris did have that impressive 4 TD performance against the Cardinals in week 15, and as you pointed out he did get better towards the end of the '08 season.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I'm still in favor of the Vikings dealing Tavaris. Even though he's not a long term answer, I still think he can provide a short term solution somewhere and provide some much needed WR depth for the Vikings, even with the recent trade for Camarillo.