Football Analysis

The current thinking here is to build the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the long run, taking the best of the Greg Schiano era and mixing it with what Lovie Smith did well in Chicago. Read more »

The NFL is a copycat league and Pete Carroll and his GM spent most of the first few years designing a roster that could stand up defensively to what is essentially an offensively-minded league. Read more »

Instead of another mock draft that will have to be revised on a whim, this time I offer to you 32 predictions on the draft as a whole. Some of these are rooted in conversations I’ve had with NFL personnel or prominent media members. Others are semi-educated guesses. Read more »

While Jadeveon Clowney is widely considered the top overall pick, Jake Matthews is ahead of him at No. 1 on our board, while Sammy Watkins, Khalil Mack and Teddy Bridgewater round out the top-5. Read more »

The 49ers are fundamentally sound, but not elite in all areas. They have great depth but their QB is good but not quite elite, a deep threat WR has not emerged, there is no true NT, and the secondary is sound as a whole but individually they are not much better than average. Read more »

The Rams just finished year No. 2 of Jeff Fisher’s rebuilding project. It’s clear they lack the talent and team depth of Division rivals San Francisco and Seattle, but much of what they are trying to do is geared for long and not short term success. Read more »

The first year staff (coaching and GM) represented an upgrade over the Norv Turner and A.J. Smith regime. Can they build on the success of 2013? Read more »

Pittsburgh is in very unusual territory, coming off back to back non-winning seasons. Since the Steelers are one of a few teams that shies away from the free agency market, the draft and young player development is absolutely critical. Read more »

Faced with a rather unfair schedule to start ’13, Philly survived and in the end, thrived. Chip Kelly got a taste of the fast-paced NFL draft scene. Now we’ll see how Chip Kelly uses the draft going forward. Read more »

Poor drafting and poor coaching at the top levels left the Raiders void of talent and decision-making, which led to a regression in 2013 and another 4-12 season. Read more »

A closer look at the Jets' season reveals that they may not have been as good as 8-8, meaning that the team must actually improve just to maintain this level. To rise above 8-8, the Jets must make all the right moves on draft day. Read more »

The Giants began the season 0-6. Moving up in the NFC East is not that difficult, but the Giants need help/impact defensively along with a return to form from its two-time Super Bowl champion QB. Read more »

Sean Peyton returned from his one-year ban and the Saints rebounded with another season of stellar offensive play and at least some improvement defensively. Read more »

Darqueze Dennard, Jason Verrett, Kyle Fuller, Bradley Roby and Bashaud Breeland are the top-5 cornerbacks in the NFL Draft. Read more »

Bonehead sleeper picks have prevented the Patriots from adding that one player who could have made a difference in many a close playoff/Super Bowl loss. Last year was their best year for their pass D since ’04. Read more »

Mike Zimmer finally gets an opportunity to be the main guy. If the Vikings get quarterback the future might be a good one around Adrian Peterson and an improving defense. Read more »

The Dolphins' defense regressed, but still performed well enough that any offensive improvement might have been good enough for these Dolphins to make the playoffs. Unfortunately, the weak link offensively was OL. Read more »

The truth is that KC’s true level is somewhere between that 9-0 start and the disappointing 2-6 finish. This is a good team that still has work to do in a few key areas. Read more »

Armed with the worst roster in the NFL, Jacksonville began the Gus Bradley era by going 0-8. Mistakes were made on draft day ’13, but previous drafts were borderline awful. Playing in the AFC South could be a positive as long as the Jags hit big at QB and use the rest of their ’14 draft picks wisely. Read more »

The future is bright for the Colts thanks to Andrew Luck and some very nice offensive pieces around him, but true top-five or so status may be elusive. The team lacks a first round draft choice and won’t be able to fix some obvious holes at RB, DL and in pass coverage. Read more »