13
Mar
2011
TheDarkHorse’s 2011 Mock Draft – Picks 6-10
Colt McCoy needs a dance partner. A.J. Green will do. (Source: BCSknowhow.com)
For picks 1 through 5, go here.
Let’s continue with picks 6 through 10.
6. Cleveland Browns – A.J. Green, WR, Georgia: Cleveland’s in a terrible spot. They’re moving to the 4-3, but have nothing along the defensive line. They have a promising young quarterback in Colt McCoy — and they’re moving to the West Coast Offense — but he’s got almost nobody to throw to. They just cut NT Shaun Rogers along with a flock of grizzled defensive veterans — a fiscally sound move, but one that’s left Browns fans wondering who will take the field next season. Changing offensive and defensive philosophies during a lockout-hampered offseason in which coaches cannot communicate with players is tougher. The free-agency window possibly opening for mere weeks, if at all, is tougher. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh and Baltimore have stayed the course. This draft is critical for the Browns, forced to address needs all over the place. Pat Shurmur was brought in to groom McCoy and flip the switch on offense — and Green is the kind of sizzling wideout the team’s been missing since Braylon Edwards broke free in 2007 — and before that, since Webster Slaughter. Still, many could question the Browns passing up one of the blue-chip defensive linemen — but how do you meet two needs at once?
7. San Francisco 49ers – Da’Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson: This is a tough one for me. In a mock with trades, I see Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers pressing for a quarterback, or possibly even trading down into a spot where they can gather picks and select Florida’s Christian Ponder late in the first. Honestly, how many more coaches can call Alex Smith their starter? That experiment needs to cease. With Cam Newton and Blaine Gabbert off the board, the 49ers select Bowers, a defensive end who comes with question marks around the health of his knee, but, if ruled healthy, could serve as defensive stronghold while Harbaugh seeks a quarterback elsewhere. Moroever, there are some promising young passers to be had later in the draft, such as Washngton’s Jake Locker and Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick – not to mention the polarizing Ryan Mallett out of Arkansas.
Picks 8-10 after the jump.
28
Nov
2010
Sunday Morning NFL Notebook
Early tailgaters gather at The New Meadlowlands before a crucial showdown with the 6-4 Jacksonville Jaguars. (Source: Pat Hanlon, N.Y. Giants)
¶ Quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Brett Favre square off today during a season which has seen aging veteran passers struggle. McNabb is 4-2 vs. Favre, but has yet to face Favre post-Green Bay.
ESPN’s Ed Werder reports that Favre will start Sunday’s game in Washington despite battling what could be pneumonia. Favre told Werder that he required a steroid pack and an injection Saturday, and missed the first hour of team meetings because he couldn’t drag himself out of bed.
For his career, Favre is 70-of-118 passing for 802 yards, 4 touchdowns and 8 interceptions against the Redskins, according to the ‘Skins Twitter page. Favre hasn’t played at FedEx Field since 2004.
¶ Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune reports that Vikings wide receiver Bernard Berrian (groin) and cornerback Chris Cook (knee) are both inactive for today’s game.
¶ BTW, don’t assume we rate this Redskins-Vikings tilt a big deal. It’s not. What it is, is the meeting of two battered, lost teams — neither who have lived up to expectations this season.
¶ For my money, the game of the day is the Jacksonville Jaguars visiting the New York Giants, in what amounts to a solid test for both teams. The result will tell us a lot about both 6-4 teams as they fight for position in the playoff race.
¶ The Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot reports that the Browns’ Josh Cribbs is active against the Carolina Panthers. Quarterback Colt McCoy and cornerback Eric Wright are inactive.
¶ It will be interesting to see how the Denver Broncos respond today against the St. Louis Rams. The Broncos and coach Josh McDaniels were each fined $50,000 after Broncos’ video operations director Steve Scarnecchia violated NFL rules by taping a six-minute portion of a San Francisco 49ers walkthrough on Oct. 30, the day before the teams played each other in London.
MORE AFTER THE BREAK
16
Nov
2010
Watch all 6 of Michael Vick’s TDs from last night (VIDEO)
(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
The big story everybody’s talking about today is the performance of Eagles QB Michael Vick during the 59-28 beating they handed to the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football.
Already the comeback story of the year, Vick accounted for SIX TOUCHDOWNS – 4 passing, 2 on the ground – last night en route to a record-setting evening. The Eagles scored on the very first play of the game, and were up 28-0 before the end of the first quarter … the Redskins never even stood a chance. By the end of the night, Philly had set team records for total yards in a game with 592 and points in a half with 45.
In case you missed it, here are all six of Vick’s touchdowns:
With his performance, Vick became the first player in NFL history with at least 300 yards passing, 50 yards rushing, four passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in a game. Oh, and he hasn’t thrown an interception or lost a fumble yet this season. So I’d guess you could call his comeback an unmitigated success (thus far).
But before we start sucking each other’s Vicks here and hand the guy the MVP trophy, let’s take a step back and remind ourselves who we’re talking about here. And I’m not even thinking about the dog fighting scandal, as reprehensible as that may have been. I’m referring to the fact that Michael Vick has a history of performing great when it doesn’t matter, or when there’s very little pressure … but as soon as he gets into a must-win situation, Vick has historically had a tendency to implode. Or get injured … whichever comes first.
Of course, this might be the new, more mature Michael Vick we’re seeing here, but I’m not buying it just yet. Let’s see how he does down the stretch, and if he actually lasts the remaining 7 regular games. The win brings Philadelphia to 6-3 on the season and tied for first place in the NFC East with the NY Giants … who they will face off against this Sunday.
15
Nov
2010
Why did the Redskins give McNabb a 5-year extension now?
(Photo via NYDailyNews.com)
UPDATE: The details of McNabb’s contract have come out, and it looks like the guarantee is much lower than originally thought. Per usual, it’s a wildly confusing deal with all sorts of clauses and incentives, but if the Redskins decide to cut or trade McNabb after this year, they’re only on the hook for $3.75 million.
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In perhaps the strangest move Daniel Snyder has made in the last 3-4 days, the Washington Redskins gave Donovan McNabb a 5-year contract extension on Monday. Under the terms of the deal, the 33-year old QB is guaranteed to make $40 million, and could make as much as $88 million with incentives. But that would mean that McNabb would have to play out his contract in Washington, which doesn’t seem overly likely considering his age, and his recently-strained relationship with head coach Mike Shanahan.
As we all know, just 2 weeks ago, McNabb was benched by Shanahan in overtime against the Lions, setting off a firestorm of controversy surrounding the franchise. On consecutive days following the incident, Shanahan blamed the benching on both McNabb’s physical conditioning and his grasp of the 2-minute offense … neither of which seemed like valid excuses for sitting down a six-time pro bowl quarterback (especially when the alternative was Rex Grossman). This inevitably led to accusations of racism against Shanahan from the media, which has been a topic of conversation in DC ever since.
So why did the Redskins make this deal? And why now? I mean, McNabb hasn’t exactly gotten off to a great start this season (7TDs, 8 INTs, 70.6 passer rating through the first 8 games), so this wasn’t a reward for his play of late. Was it an olive branch from the franchise to try and make Donovan feel better after his benching? Or was it an attempt by Snyder to make the whole racism thing just go away? You also have to believe that Shanahan was consulted on this move … so would that mean he’s sold on McNabb – who is clearly well past his prime – as his long-term solution at QB?
It just seems like a very oddly-timed move by the Redskins, and I can’t say I quite get it. But it’s not like we’re talking about Haynesworth money here. And either way, I think we can all agree that McNabb is a way better option than Danny-boy’s Plan B, which was going out and signing JaMarcus Russell.
10
Mar
2010
Must be that time of year: McNabb to Niners story a fake
Earlier today, a very suspect ESPN link (with a flood of typographical errors), suggested that Donovan McNabb had been traded to the San Francisco 49′ers. The story is a fake, but has generated significant buzz online.
Here’s a screen grab of the story before it was pulled down, and Shutdown Corner has a breakdown of just how poorly executed this fake story was.
Please: they misspelled “Donovan McNabb” and “San Francisco” in the headline. Can we get a proofreader, people?
