Following an exciting first round, we break down the favorite picks, most pleasant and biggest surprises, most under-appreciated pick, worst move and more.
Peyton Manning, Mario Williams, Mike Wallace and Carl Nicks headline an intriguing free agent class that can shift the balance of power this offseason.
The Eagles seemingly came out of nowhere to sign Nnamdi Asomugha as they eye a trip to the Super Bowl.
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This week?s edition is sponsored by Vicodin, thanks to my shattered fingertip on my right ring finger. That combination also makes for some strange typing outputs, so I apologize in advance for any typos and/or malapropisms.
$.01--The Oakland Raiders severed ties with QB JaMarcus Russell, the #1 overall pick in the 2007 draft. Three seasons of apathetic, inaccurate play was enough for Al Davis to cut his multi-million dollar losses and cut the hefty chucker.
This presents sports writers with a plethora of directions to take this story, one that paralyzed this particular writer?s mind. Do I use the ?is Russell the biggest bust ever? angle? (I still think Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith, Cade McNown, and Mike Junkin, among others, were all worse).
How about Russell?s future? (I can actually envision a Jim Plunkett-like career renaissance down the road).
Should I explore the ?money makes athletes fat and complacent? vein? (According to people I?ve talked with who knew Russell at LSU, he was lazy well before he was rich).
What about the future of the Raiders at QB? (Call me crazy but I think Jason Campbell just might make them a playoff team, whereas they had no shot at more than 4 wins with Russell at the helm in 2010).
How about where Russell winds up in 2010? (Early guess: Buffalo or Cincinnati).
Does this make any sort of statement about the ?science? of the draft? (I can tell you firsthand that many teams more carefully evaluate desire and character now than 3 years ago, but some still will ignore it in the face of great potential talent).
Will this make other teams more willing to cut their losses on other major underperforming players or awful contracts? (I hope so but doubt it).
$.02--Lawrence Taylor is back in the news, once again for all the wrong reasons. LT was arraigned on charges of rape and soliciting an under-aged prostitute, while an accomplice was arrested for forced imprisonment of the 16-year old girl among other charges.
Much like the Russell story above, there are myriad ways to go with this story, but I?ll draw from personal experience to hopefully help fans out. I worked at a hotel in Cleveland during college where opposing NBA and MLB teams often stayed while in town. If you think this sort of behavior is uncommon, you couldn?t be more ignorant. I am certainly not defending LT, who has proven to be a drug-addicted crime wave outside of football, but he?s distinctive only in that he got caught (again). I?ve seen a prominent MLB player from the early 90s have a steady stream of hookers escorted to his room. I know another player that had a long-running affair with one of our desk clerks; every time he was in town she never went home. Both were married with children. Another desk clerk had a long-running affair with a multiple-time NBA All-Star. That desk clerk happened to be a man. Our security guard did little to hide his frequent deliveries of drugs and nubile young women to another NBA player. Every night from about 11 PM to 4 AM, the lobby was full of young ladies of the night coming and going in various states of dress and intoxication. The 1995 Kansas City Royals were the most notorious, and I know someone who has (technically had--I haven?t seen this person in over a decade) the video to prove it--underage hookers, copious amounts of cocaine and pot, deviant sexual behavior beyond what most people can dream up. As a side note to athletes, make sure you don?t leave behind incriminating evidence...
Drugs, prostitution, unbelievable entitlement, and illicit extramarital activity are rampant for pro athletes. If you think it?s easy to stop that pattern of behavior in retirement, LT should prove to you that it isn?t. Certainly you aren?t na?ve enough to think Big Ben is going to change his spots overnight, right...? Just because someone is a great athlete, even an exceptionally great one like LT was, doesn?t make them a good and decent person. Please stop buying into that delusion and you?ll be a much happier fan.
$.03--Pacman Jones is also back in the news, this time for his long-overdue union with the Cincinnati Bengals, home of the NFL?s halfway house for the character-challenged athlete. The poster boy for bad behavior finds open arms with the Brown family, which has yet to encounter a lost cause from whom they didn?t believe they could milk a year or two of good football.
I spoke to a Bengals staffer about the signing in strict football terms. He advised me they are looking at Jones more for his return man capabilities than as a corner, where he was unimpressive in his last stint in Dallas. In fact, this person told me, ?He isn?t in our top six on our corner (depth chart), and I don?t suspect he will be either.? Which begs the question...why sign him? Did this organization learn nothing from the Chris Henry fiasco? At what point will they stop enabling bad people to do bad things by giving them big money? They already have a decent return man in Quan Cosby and drafted another in Jordan Shipley.
I can appreciate their big-hearted desire to help young men in need of guidance, and with certain people it has paid off. Tank Johnson went from Somali warlord-wannabe to integral part of the D-line and good citizen, and already Johnson has reached out to Pacman. But is it really worth the potential headaches, the bad jokes, or the chemistry risk? I sincerely hope Pacman Jones has seen the light and gets his life in order, and if he happens to play football well again, that?s gravy. But if I?m Inky Moore or Jack Brennan (both good guys) in the Bengals beleaguered PR department, I have to wonder when the game against the prison guards is being scheduled and how to handle marketing that one.
$.04--New Orleans Saints guard Jahri Evans is a very rich man. The Super Bowl champs backed up the money truck to Evans? door, dumping $56.7M upon their Pro Bowl guard, $19M of which is guaranteed. That makes Evans the highest-paid interior lineman in NFL history. It?s also the richest deal ever signed by a non-Division 1 player, a pretty big accomplishment for a 4th round pick from Bloomsburg, a D-II school that you?ve likely never heard of.
Normally we see role players from Super Bowl champs showered with outrageous money just because they happen to have won a ring, but this strikes me as different. Evans is clearly one of, if not the best player at his position in the NFL today. In terms of ability for guards at both the pass and run, he?s the best, and the Saints offense would have a real hard time replacing him. Plus the uncapped environment of 2010 allows the Saints to open the checkbook a little wider to reward their own players, something that has typically not been feasible in recent years. If this becomes one of the by-products of an uncapped system--teams paying more to keep good players in the fold long-term--then fans should embrace the demise of the cap. So should players, who now have a clear benchmark and evidence that the good players will indeed get paid. Congrats to Jahri Evans and his agent, who did his client right by keeping him with a winner.
$.05--Because so many have asked, ten collegians I have a strong eye upon as very high draft picks in 2011.
1. Adrian Clayborne, DE, Iowa
2. Cameron Heyward, DE, Ohio State
3. Julio Jones, WR, Alabama
4. Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas
5. Jake Locker, QB, Washington
6. Ahmad Black, S, Florida
7. A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
8. Gabe Carimi, T, Wisconsin
9. Greg Jones, LB, Michigan State
10. Robert Quinn, DE, North Carolina
Incidentally, this upcoming North Carolina team has as many as seven defenders that could be drafted next year, four of them in the 1st round. It will be real interesting to see how that team plays with all that potential.
Jeff Risdon is RealGM's senior football writer and may be reached at jeff.risdon@RealGM.com
