Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Fantasy football radio show
Every Sunday starting at 9am, tune into 98.5 The Sports Hub for the fantasy football show. We will be there for your weekly lineup questions, add/drops and trades will all be covered. This week will be a pre-draft show. Every Sunday at 9:20am, Will Carroll from SI.com will join us for the injury report. Call us at 617-779-0985 or text us at 69985. If your not near a radio, steam us live at 985thesportshub.com. Join Nick Cattles and myself all season long for your fantasy fix!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
A sigh of relief
The Patriots opened up the preseason at Gillette tonight against the reining champs the saints. the defense came out looking good. Rookie Jermaine Cunningham recorded a sack in the first drive. Brady and the offense came out looking a little flat after a long Julian Edelman punt return. But after that the offense started to gel. BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran well and scored a TD. Rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski had a great block on that play. Moss, Tate and Edelman got into the mix catching passes. Edelman looks great everytime he touches the ball. Left guard Dan Connolly did a fine job in the place of Logan Mankins who is currently holding out in a contract dispute. The defense looked stout against the run. It wont surprise me to see Brandon Spikes end up getting the defensive rookie of the year award. After Brady losing it on the line last week and some poor practices. There was a lot of positives from tonights game. The defense looked good and the offense did as well. Lawrence Maroney ran hard, but can he do it during the regular season? We've all bee fooled before.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Brady sets a tone
Today was an interesting morning at camp. When I got there the three QB's were tossing footballs into a barrel from 30 yards away into the corner end zone. Brian Hoyer was the only player to sink one in the can. meanwhile the rest of the team was practicing special teams. Again, Brandon Tate stood out. After the horn sounded the first offense got together against the first defense. The offense looked sloppy. Aaron Hernandez, Randy Moss and the entire offensive line got chewed out by Brady at different points. Near the end of practice the team ran two minute drills. After being yelled at by Tom, the offense looked much better. Hernandez and Welker made a most of the plays. Both looked good in the short to intermediate routes. Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis was by far the best runner. Kevin Faulk was his usual outlet in the flats catching the ball. Offensive lineman Dan Connolly played a lot of left guard. He made some nice blocks out there and could be the replacement for Logan Maknkins. I was pretty big on Torry Holt coming in here. It looks as if he could be a roster casualty if things don't turn around. With Moss, Welker, Edelman, Tate and Price he could have a tough time making the 53 man roster.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Breaking down the divisions: AFC West
1. San Diego Chargers - (10-6) - The Chargers are in a year in which they need to find an identity. Tomlinson is gone and rookie Ryan Mathews is in. Mathews and Darren Sproles should form a solid duo in the backfield. Philip Rivers is coming off a nice season in which he threw 4,254 and 28 touchdowns. One of his top targets Vincent Jackson is suspended for the first three games. Jackson had his best season a year ago. Tight end Antonio Gates inked a new deal with the team and should be River's security blanket again this season. He will be leaned on in the first three weeks. Malcom Floyd is the only guy who had a decent amount of catches and he only had 45. He will have to step up the first few weeks and through out the season. Josh Reed and Buster Davis aren't going to do much. The offensive line is solid. Marcus McNeil has taken some steps back in the last few seasons. Not to mention he is holding out of camp for a new contract. The defense has some new faces. Massive Rookie Cam Thomas will battle Ogemdi Nwagbuo as the Anchor at nose. Shawne Merriman is another holdout for the team. Larry English will take his spot should the team release him or if he continues to hold out. English got his feet wet as a rookie and should be a good replacement. The rest of the linebackers look good. Shaun Phillips, Brandon Siler and Stephen Cooper are all good tacklers and can get after the QB. Trading Antonio Cromartie should have no effect of the defense. Antione Cason and Quentin Jammer should hold down the backfield fine. Neither are shutdown corners, but they can get the job done with a solid pass rush. Rookie Darrel Stuckey should be the starting strong safety if he can pick up the defense in the preseason. He doesn't have much competition. Eric Weddle will be back at free safety. Weddle is a very underrated player in my opinion. There probably wont be another team from this division in the playoffs. So it;s the Chargers spot to take.
2. Oakland Raiders - (8-8) - The Raiders made some positive moves this offseason. Bringing In Jason Campbell was a good start. Campbell has had his hiccups in his career. But he has some very good games under his belt as well. Jason Campbell is an upgrade over JaMarcus Russell for sure, that's not saying a whole lot. Darren McFadden has been a bust up to this point. Michael Bush will try to win the top runningback stop this preseason. Zack Miller has been the most consistent weapon in the passing game for the Raiders. The tight end is entering his forth season and could blow up this year with a legit QB. Campbell loved to target tight end Chris Cooley when in Washington. So look for big things from Miller this season. The Wide outs are below average. Chaz Shillins is the best player in that group. He missed the first 9 weeks of the season. But played pretty well when he came back. He should have a solid season for himself. The rest of the receivers aren't anything special. Louis Murphy will have to take a step forward after a decent rookie year. Darrius Heyward-bey is a huge bust and was a big mistake of a first round pick. Johnnie Lee-Higgins isn't anything special. The offensive line is average. Drafting Bruce Campbell could come in handy in passing situations. The defense is going to be the strength of the team, although I believe the offense will be better than in past seasons. The defensive line is solid. A 4-3 defense featuring Richard Seymour, Tommy Kelly, John Henderson and Quentin Groves. They will be good against the run. They may not be as good against the pass. Rookie Lamarr Houston is a smaller lineman who can get after the passer. Quentin Groves may be able to help in that area as well. The linebackers should be very strong. Rookie middle linebacker Rolondo McClain will be the next big thing. He will be that 100+ tackles a year type of player. Oakland got Kamerion Wimbley in a trade with Cleveland. He's a been a bit disappointing but can still bring something to the pass rush. Thomas Howard has been backing up Wimbley at the weak side this camp. He lost his position on the strong side to Trevor Scott. The secondary is held down by one of the top corners in the league. Nnamdi Asomugha makes it impossible to throw on and can shut down any teams top receiver. Tyvon Branch has been a nice surprise at strong safety. Free safety Hiram Eugene has been entrenched as the starter since his rookie year. He only has one interception in that span. Chris Johnson is excellent against the run at the other corner spot. If the line and linebackers can step it up rushing the pass. This could be a strong defense in a weak division.
3. Kansas City Chiefs - (6-10) - Matt Cassell and the Chiefs had a tough season a year ago. The offense looks like it could be potent this year. New additions Thomas Jones and rookie Dexter McCluster should add between the tackles runner and an explosive play maker. Jones gives Jamaal Charles a change of pace from a speed outside runner. Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers form a formidable duo. McCluster can play running back as he did at Ole Miss, Receiver, kick returner and QB in the wildcat formation. The offensive line is average. Matt Cassel will pair up again with former coordinator Charlie Weis to try and rekindle the old Patriot magic. I think Cassel will have a solid year. He should hit the 3,000 yard mark and 22-25 TD's. The defense is the weakness. Even though they have spent so many draft picks on it, it's not good. The line is underwhelming. Tyson Jackson only had 36 tackles and no sacks in his rookie season. Glen Dorsey hasn't been much better in the 2 seasons he has played. Both high first round picks. The middle linebackers are terrible. Outside linebackers Mike Vrabel is getting old and showed it last year. Tamba Hali had 8.5 sacks. He was the pass rush last year. The secondary is going to be better. It's young like the rest of the defense. Rookie Eric Berry will be a star and will make an immediate impact. Javier Arenas is another rook who may start this season at corner. Brandon Flowers is solid and will man the other corner spot. The linebackers are to bad to make this a good defense. In a 3-4 defense the backer are the most important players on the field. The will lose a lot of game because of them.
4. Denver Broncos - (5-11) - It was a tale of two seasons a year ago for Denver. They went from the hottest team in the NFL to finding a hard time to find a win. They lost star player Brandon Marshall. It looks as if Kyle Orton will be back behind center. They acquired Brady Quinn from the Browns and drafted Tim Tebow late in the first round. Orton should be the guy as he was last year. The runningbacks are not great. Correll Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno will get the bulk of the carries. Moreno suffered a hamstring tear and the team hopes he will be ready for week one. They added some pieces to the receiving core. Eddie Royal hopes to rebound from a down year two. They drafted Demaryius Thomas in the first round. They hope he can replace Brandon Marshall. That will be a tough task. Look for Eric Decker to be a surprise for the team in the receiving game. He was a top prospect until he was injured half way through his senior year at Minnesota. The offensive line took a major hit when left tackle Ryan Clady hurt himself playing basketball. The team hope he can be ready early in the season. But it could take longer and he wont be full strength or speed. The defense has taken some major blows as well. NFL sack leader Elvis Dumervil's season is in jeopardy. He tore a pectoral mussel. His back up Javis Moss is also injured. He will need surgery to repair his broken hand. He should be back at some point in the season. Robert Ayers needs to have a better second year to make up for these injuries. The signing of nose tackle Jamal Williams will help plug up the middle. The secondary is average. Champ Bail;y is still good, he has definitely lost a step. Safety Brian Dawkins brought a lot of leadership to the defense last season. He should be back with a high motor this year as well. Andre Goodman had a good year intercepting 5 balls. They will need this secondary to really play well with Dumervil sidelined for the season. I think injuries, bad roster moves could really hurt Denver enough to land them in the cellar of the AFC West.
2. Oakland Raiders - (8-8) - The Raiders made some positive moves this offseason. Bringing In Jason Campbell was a good start. Campbell has had his hiccups in his career. But he has some very good games under his belt as well. Jason Campbell is an upgrade over JaMarcus Russell for sure, that's not saying a whole lot. Darren McFadden has been a bust up to this point. Michael Bush will try to win the top runningback stop this preseason. Zack Miller has been the most consistent weapon in the passing game for the Raiders. The tight end is entering his forth season and could blow up this year with a legit QB. Campbell loved to target tight end Chris Cooley when in Washington. So look for big things from Miller this season. The Wide outs are below average. Chaz Shillins is the best player in that group. He missed the first 9 weeks of the season. But played pretty well when he came back. He should have a solid season for himself. The rest of the receivers aren't anything special. Louis Murphy will have to take a step forward after a decent rookie year. Darrius Heyward-bey is a huge bust and was a big mistake of a first round pick. Johnnie Lee-Higgins isn't anything special. The offensive line is average. Drafting Bruce Campbell could come in handy in passing situations. The defense is going to be the strength of the team, although I believe the offense will be better than in past seasons. The defensive line is solid. A 4-3 defense featuring Richard Seymour, Tommy Kelly, John Henderson and Quentin Groves. They will be good against the run. They may not be as good against the pass. Rookie Lamarr Houston is a smaller lineman who can get after the passer. Quentin Groves may be able to help in that area as well. The linebackers should be very strong. Rookie middle linebacker Rolondo McClain will be the next big thing. He will be that 100+ tackles a year type of player. Oakland got Kamerion Wimbley in a trade with Cleveland. He's a been a bit disappointing but can still bring something to the pass rush. Thomas Howard has been backing up Wimbley at the weak side this camp. He lost his position on the strong side to Trevor Scott. The secondary is held down by one of the top corners in the league. Nnamdi Asomugha makes it impossible to throw on and can shut down any teams top receiver. Tyvon Branch has been a nice surprise at strong safety. Free safety Hiram Eugene has been entrenched as the starter since his rookie year. He only has one interception in that span. Chris Johnson is excellent against the run at the other corner spot. If the line and linebackers can step it up rushing the pass. This could be a strong defense in a weak division.
3. Kansas City Chiefs - (6-10) - Matt Cassell and the Chiefs had a tough season a year ago. The offense looks like it could be potent this year. New additions Thomas Jones and rookie Dexter McCluster should add between the tackles runner and an explosive play maker. Jones gives Jamaal Charles a change of pace from a speed outside runner. Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers form a formidable duo. McCluster can play running back as he did at Ole Miss, Receiver, kick returner and QB in the wildcat formation. The offensive line is average. Matt Cassel will pair up again with former coordinator Charlie Weis to try and rekindle the old Patriot magic. I think Cassel will have a solid year. He should hit the 3,000 yard mark and 22-25 TD's. The defense is the weakness. Even though they have spent so many draft picks on it, it's not good. The line is underwhelming. Tyson Jackson only had 36 tackles and no sacks in his rookie season. Glen Dorsey hasn't been much better in the 2 seasons he has played. Both high first round picks. The middle linebackers are terrible. Outside linebackers Mike Vrabel is getting old and showed it last year. Tamba Hali had 8.5 sacks. He was the pass rush last year. The secondary is going to be better. It's young like the rest of the defense. Rookie Eric Berry will be a star and will make an immediate impact. Javier Arenas is another rook who may start this season at corner. Brandon Flowers is solid and will man the other corner spot. The linebackers are to bad to make this a good defense. In a 3-4 defense the backer are the most important players on the field. The will lose a lot of game because of them.
4. Denver Broncos - (5-11) - It was a tale of two seasons a year ago for Denver. They went from the hottest team in the NFL to finding a hard time to find a win. They lost star player Brandon Marshall. It looks as if Kyle Orton will be back behind center. They acquired Brady Quinn from the Browns and drafted Tim Tebow late in the first round. Orton should be the guy as he was last year. The runningbacks are not great. Correll Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno will get the bulk of the carries. Moreno suffered a hamstring tear and the team hopes he will be ready for week one. They added some pieces to the receiving core. Eddie Royal hopes to rebound from a down year two. They drafted Demaryius Thomas in the first round. They hope he can replace Brandon Marshall. That will be a tough task. Look for Eric Decker to be a surprise for the team in the receiving game. He was a top prospect until he was injured half way through his senior year at Minnesota. The offensive line took a major hit when left tackle Ryan Clady hurt himself playing basketball. The team hope he can be ready early in the season. But it could take longer and he wont be full strength or speed. The defense has taken some major blows as well. NFL sack leader Elvis Dumervil's season is in jeopardy. He tore a pectoral mussel. His back up Javis Moss is also injured. He will need surgery to repair his broken hand. He should be back at some point in the season. Robert Ayers needs to have a better second year to make up for these injuries. The signing of nose tackle Jamal Williams will help plug up the middle. The secondary is average. Champ Bail;y is still good, he has definitely lost a step. Safety Brian Dawkins brought a lot of leadership to the defense last season. He should be back with a high motor this year as well. Andre Goodman had a good year intercepting 5 balls. They will need this secondary to really play well with Dumervil sidelined for the season. I think injuries, bad roster moves could really hurt Denver enough to land them in the cellar of the AFC West.
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