NFL Quick Hits

By:  Bobby Shores

Welcome to the weekly (until I get bored, or busy, whichever comes first) column giving my opinion (which should be read as fact) on the stories around the NFL the last week (or however long I decide to go back, it's mine and I will do with it what I please....that's what she said....too old? Never!).

Only pic I could find w/both MJD & Revis

--Players Unhappy With Contracts - This is the same old story every single year, Player "X" (Typically Darrell Revis or formerly Greg Ellis) talks to media about withholding his services because he is unhappy with his contract, team talks to media and says they expect all players to honor the contract they signed. Neither party talks to each other, which is problem #1.

Problem #2 is that the current state of NFL contracts are so far slanted in one direction (teams), and fans seem to pile on the players for not honoring their contracts, that players end up looking like the bad guy they aren't. I don't have a whole lot to say on this subject (actually I do and may write an entire article on it), but the problem is due to players having no choice but to withhold services when they have outperformed a contract they signed as they have no other recourse. Teams on the other hand can cut a player if they feel the player is under performing, even though they signed the same contract that they expect the player to uphold.

NFL owners and General Manager's are ruthless, they regularly squeeze TV Networks for new MAX deals,  taxpayers for MAX money when it comes to stadium deals, and they use every bit of leverage they can in seemingly every situation where they can stand to make a dollar or two. With all that said, I enjoy watching a couple of high profile players use the leverage they have against the team. MJD is without a doubt the most valuable member of the Jaguars (both on and off field) and it seems that he has the most leverage and needs to use it to his full advantage. Revis on the other hand is arguably the most valuable player on the Jets, and his leverage comes from the fact that he WILL withhold services and I think he would sit out an entire season if need be. There are only a few players in the league that have this sort of leverage, and it's kind of nice to see them turn the tables on the teams every now and then because we know that the teams regularly "put the squeeze" on the players.

--Chad OchoCinco Joins the Dolphins - While most "analysts" talk about how OchoCinco is washed up and not worth a 90-man roster spot as he only had 15 catches for like 260 yards (it's close....I'm just to lazy to look it up), no story has gotten more traction this week than that. So if he isn't even a lock to make it through training camp, why is it the top story on NFL shows everyday? Because as fans, we love us some Ocho!! I was listening to NFL Total Access yesterday (or was it Tuesday, who cares) when they were going over the most popular stories on NFL.com, and guess what was #1.....by a LARGE margin...."OchoCinco lands in Miami". In fact the poll they did showed that 57% of fans were most interested in the Ocho, and only 9% cared about Tebow QB battle in New York. (I hope that by mentioning both Teblow and OchoCinco in the same column blows up this site!!!!!)

--Mike Jenkins shows up for Mandatory MiniCamp in Dallas(DUH!) - Really I don't know how this is a story at all, the guy is making a paltry (really?) $1 million salary in a contract year. Did anybody really think that he was going to risk getting fined like $60,000 for missing a mandatory camp, especially since he can't participate because of his recovery from shoulder surgery? Of course not, he is basically getting paid to show up and sit around. While Jenkins is in a bad spot, after he played his heart out last year for the team while injured and then watched them bring in two high profile players to replace him, it's in the Cowboys best interest to keep him around. The bad part is that he will be the 3rd corner at best, and probably the 4th corner (Has never played slot in his career so probably won't start now) which means he will have less opportunities to showcase his skills to the other teams for that big contract he wants. Of course, if he wins the battle for no worse than 3rd corner he will play the majority of snaps since teams usually run 3+ receiver sets. Look for Jenkins to sign a 1-year "prove it" deal next year and then cash in the year after, because I believe that he is a top 15 corner in this league.

--OTA's....Who Cares? - There I said it, nobody cares about practices in shorts and t-shirts, it tells us absolutely nothing about how good the rookies or free agents are looking. Notice how ALL the reports out of these things are about players "looking good", cause guess what? I would look good out there running routes in shorts. There is no hitting (at least not much), the only thing you can tell is if players are jogging to the right spot at the snap of the ball. Nobody cares about these things, yea I read the reports and listen to the podcasts though too....It's the NFL, I need my fix....no matter how I get it.

--Texans HC Gary Kubiak gets Contract Extension - This is how the NFL should work, it seems too often nowadays that coaches do not get long enough to prove themselves, in this league of "win now", new coaches are often on the "hot seat" after only their second season. Some of the greatest coaches in the history of the NFL would've been fired if they coached today. It took Tom Landry 6 years to get his first .500 season and Chuck Noll's first winning season wasn't until his 4th year. I think Bob McNair has done this the right way, give the coach plenty of time to make the roster and coaching staff entirely his, now there is no excuse for him not to perform. The organizations that constantly change (Raiders) are also the teams that are constantly rebuilding and starting over, because every time you change the coach you change the culture, system, players, staff, etc.

Now the bad part about the Texans is the core that Kubiak built might be near the end, in fact, it has already started. Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels are breaking down, they were forced to replace much of their offensive line, Matt Schaub is in the final year of his deal and still cannot stay healthy for a full season. On defense they lost their on and off field leader in Demeco Ryans, arguably their biggest impact player and #1 overall draft pick in 2006, Mario Williams (overrated in my opinion) left via free agency,  their 2007 1st rounder (10th overall) didn't pan out for them, their 2004 1st rounder (also 10th overall) left. Filling these holes largely with free agents is why they are in the salary cap hole they are currently in.....(I think I can do a whole article on this...I have to many article ideas and not enough time!)

--NFL Monitoring Contact at OTA's - I think this is the biggest crock I have seen in a while (ok now that I think about "BountyGate", Lockout, Concussions, maybe not), but the NFL randomly reading some tweets and deciding to review tapes of some OTA workouts for "too much contact" is stupid. You have to either look at every team's practices or none of them, none of this "playing favorites" that the league tends to do. Mainly though, why should the team lose practices if the players are having to much contact? If the coaches are constantly telling the players, "Don't hit", "Slow Down", etc and yet the 88th player on the roster is trying to make an impression and blows up a receiver against the coach's wishes, how is that the fault of the team?

You know what? Sometimes it just can't be helped! When you have a bunch of young testosterone filled guys battling it out for 1 of only 53 spots on a team, you are not going to be able to stop them from getting physical or going to hard. Much like the stupid NCAA rules that punish people for the sins of years past, don't punish the entire team because a couple guys who probably aren't gonna be in the NFL 3 months from now are trying to make a name for themselves!

--Timeout Cause TO Needs a Tryout - (See what I did there with all the "TO" references? Clever I know) Why can't Terrell Owens get even a tryout with an NFL team? Not only is he going to be in shape because...well TO is ALWAYS in shape, and before his knee injury he was having a great year for the Bengals with 72 catches for over 900 yards and 9 touchdowns. Heck, even with the Bills (whose offense sucked then) he had 55 catches for over 800 yards and 5 touchdowns!

Now he surely hasn't helped himself lately with appearances on Dr. Phil and the publicity surrounding his money problems (Allen Wranglers appears to be on them using his reputation against him). While he does have a history of locker room problems, by all accounts he was not a distraction with the Bengals or Bills (why is Carson Palmer still working out with him). I believe that he can be a solid player on a team with a strong locker room like the Ravens (I know he burned his bridges there most likely when he forced a trade to them not to happen). But the Ravens have been bringing in veterans for years that haven't worked out, one thing TO always does is put up the numbers that help you win games!

--Rob Gronkowski Cashes In - After only 2 years in the NFL, Gronkowski has cashed in with a what amounts to an 8-year $54 million extension, and from what PFT says it is basically a 4-year deal with 4 1-year options after that (I am not getting into anymore details). Here is how I see this playing out:  I think Gronk is happy now because of his back injury history that threatens to derail his career IF it goes out again. But when/if he continues to put these amazing/record breaking numbers he will be wanting to renegotiate (ala Darrell Revis & the majority of Eagles players) this deal in just a few years, and with all his off-field antics I could really see him becoming a distraction.....

--Tim Tebow - I really have nothing to say about him, but since it seems that not a day can go by without some report about how he went 1-2 and "walked on water" at Jets OTA, I figured I better mention him also....If I want to be a "real sports journalist", so here it goes. He sucks as a quarterback, is one of the worst teammates I have ever seen (even worse than Owens), is a media whore, and owes his success to a Marion Barber III fumble, a great kicker in Matt Prater, a defense that played well during his time starting and some dumb luck....not The Man upstairs or "divine" power/intervention. If the Jets use him as a personal protector and maybe a lead blocker, than he could have a somewhat successful run, nothing more, and maybe a lot less.

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Best WR in the 2011 Draft - Rehash

I have been trying to post new piece once a day at the least, but with my paying job keeping me busy, having to spend time with the family (I mean WANTING to spend time, just kidding honey!!! Don't get mad), and it being relatively slow in the NFL world with the fan lockout (Yes, I think the owners and the players are locking out the fans and stopping us from enjoying our favorite past time.  No matter how you slice it, we the fans, are the only victims in this ugly game) I have just not had enough time to get any real writing done.  So while I work on constructing some new pieces with fresh ideas, I thought I would re-post one of my previous works.  The reason I chose this one (with a few edits) is because I have been saying for a long time that Julio Jones was the best WR in the draft, and have been getting ridiculed for it.  Well, now Peter King in MMQB has said that Jones has already passed Green on some teams boards (take that Evan Silva, just kidding....kinda...Follow Evan Silva on Twitter here @evansilva).  So here is the article originally posted on February 28, 2011 (with a few edits).



The consensus top 2 receivers in the draft this year are A.J. Green of Georgia and Julio Jones of Alabama.  From everything that I have read and watched on TV, A.J. Green is the unanimous best receiver in the class.  I disagree.

Now I could try and make my point by focusing on the numbers from the "Underwear Olympics" (combine), and to set the record straight I do not believe that watching football players in tight shorts and shirts run around really tells you that much about how they will perform in full pads with 21 (I hope I did the math right) other players running around with them in the same confined area, but I will get to that later.  I will use the combine numbers only because they strengthen my argument (might not be fair but I am doing it anyways).  In all the important categories (40 yard dash is kind of important for WR's) Julio Jones outperformed A.J. Green.  He was more than a second faster in the 40, had a better vertical leap by over 4 inches, and broad jumped by almost a foot more.  The only area that A.J. Green won in was the measurements, he was just under 1 inch taller.  These numbers tell me that Julio Jones is the better athlete and WR is a very athletic position.  But like I said I am not going to use the combine numbers to try and make my point.

When I look at Jones and Green side by side the comparisons to current NFL WR's are instant.  Jones reminds me of Terrell Owens while A.J. Green has more of a Randy Moss body.  I believe Jones has more explosion off the line and will fight through jams at the line better than Green because he is a more physical WR.  Jones's body type also lends itself to being able to take more hits and should allow him the advantage of "getting small" and absorbing hits while going across the middle while Green's body gives off the impression of being more of a deep, jump ball threat and while he may be able to go across the middle he leaves a bigger target for MLB's dropping into coverage and roaming safeties to unload on (even though I have watched Julio go up and get some balls during his college career).  Overall I see Julio Jones as being more dynamic and A.J. Green being more 1-dimensional in the NFL.  I could keep going on but I want to keep this at a decent length so people will read the whole thing before tuning out hopefully.

The most important criteria to evaluate when looking at draft prospects is without a doubt their college film.  Unfortunately I do not have access to it and since I was not planning on starting a blog I do not have notes like I used to take during the football season, so this is going off what I remember and a few things that I have read.  I remember both players being complete beasts in the SEC (which as a Razorback fan I follow closely), both players were "gamebreakers" capable of opening up a game with one play.  Julio Jones stood out among all other players I watched the last couple of years and here is why:
1) He seemed to be used in more ways, I remember him being a powerful and agile runner on reverses and screens.
2) He always made the play when it mattered.
3) Most important he was a dynamic blocker for the run game.  Everyone knows that Alabama has had one of the most powerful run games in the nation the last few years and Julio Jones was a major part in it.  He was a strong blocker on the edge and you very rarely saw the guy he was blocking make the play.  This tells me that he is ready to be an every down receive in the NFL, he will not be a liability in the running game.  I would compare him to Hines Ward and Roy Williams (underrated as a blocker) when it comes to run blocking.  Georgia also has a history of having a strong ground game, but I do not recall ever going "wow, look at that great block A.J. Green just threw" which I did many times during Bama games.

What stood out to me about A.J. Green's game which many will say is the most important is that he always seemed to catch the ball like he was bitten by a radioactive spider (Do not try microwaving a spider and having it bite you, it won't give you super powers, trust me).  I specifically remember watching him work the sidelines in a few games and he was snatching everything out of the air.  It kind of reminded me of the way Chris Carter used to work the sidelines except Green has big hands and a long reach that allow him to get the ball anywhere.  The other stuff that I have read about Green say that he has the "it" factor, a nose for the ball, good route running, etc.  Those things are vital in the NFL and I believe he will be a successful WR, just not as complete a player as Julio Jones.

As I have thought about this more and more, there are a couple of "red flags" that pop up when thinking/talking about Julio vs A.J. debate, and those are the ever important "character" issues.  Julio Jones has none, was never in trouble in college (or should I say "never got caught in college"), has a work ethic superior to most prospects, and seems to be a well rounded guy overall.  A.J. on the other hand, had a mini-scandal in college when he was busted selling his jersey.  Editors Note:  I completely disagree with almost everything the NCAA does and stands for (read about it here , here, & here so while I am going to "mark" A.J. because of this it is not because I think what he did was wrong, it is because he knew the rules and chose to break them anyways which to me means he does not make the best decisions.  That small transgression, along with his reported 10 on the wonderlic test (which I do not think means much, read a great article about it from my good Twitter friend Luis DeLoureiro...Follow him here on Twitter @deloureiro) it leads me to wonder whether or not he will be able to make "sight adjustments" and read defenses at the next level.

Ultimately only time will tell (5 years minimum, 8 if you are Brandon Lloyd) who will be the better NFL WR, but in this day and age of paying huge salaries to unproven guys at the top of the draft, and how far a bad 1st round pick can set your franchise back, I am going with Julio Jones every time.