Top Ten Picks of the 2009 Fantasy Football Draft
With the off-season ahead of us, and the agony of the "competitive" Pro Bowl upon us, let us take a moment to look ahead to the '09 season that we can hardly wait for and wonder... and continue wondering for the next six months until we have to endure the preseason. Now that 2008 is in the books, who's going off the boards first come Draft time for Fantasy leagues?
1. Adrain Peterson - Min
Okay, so the guy smeared his hands in butter before every game to lead the league with nine fumbles. He also proved he had legs that overcame that to lead the league in another category, total rushing yards; with 1,760. Tack on 10 TD's and proof that Adrian Peterson can survive a 16 game season. AND is only in his second year of the league, he will only have better output in the future.
2. Michael Turner - Atl
If there was such thing as Pick 1A, Turner would defiantly be it. He was second this season in rushing with 1699 yards and second in touchdowns with 17. After his exodus from San Diego and the shadow of LaDanian Tomlinson, he got fixated into a run-happy team and proved to the league that Turner is for real.
3. DeAngelo Williams - Car
Williams was strong down the stretch and ended with 1515 rushing yards (3rd in the league) and first in the league with 18 touchdowns. Many may take Williams number one. Williams defiantly made a case.
4. Brian Westbrook - Phi 5. Thomas Jones - NYJ 6. Clinton Portis - Was
Westbrook proved a lot in '08 regardless of his injury plagued season. In his 14 games of action (many of them not 100 percent), he accumulated 936 yards and nine touchdowns. Even through the fiasco with McNabb, Westbrook was still consistent and solid.
Thomas Jones was able to finally get a bit more recognition this past season. Whether that was because of Brett Favre or not is up for dispute, but Jones certainly put up the numbers with 1487 rushing yards (fifth in NFL) and 13 touchdowns (fifth in NFL).
Clinton Portis had the makings of leading the league in yards and maybe touchdowns as well, but fell short due to injury. With over 1,000 yards by Week 8, he defiantly had a shot at a 2,000 yard season. Due to his performance down the stretch though, he wasn't the same as he was right out of the gates. Portis finished the season fourth in the league with 1487 yards and nine trips to pay dirt.
7. Steve Slaton - Hou
After a sensational rookie season no one really saw coming, Steve Slaton came in and helped the Texans reach their first .500 season. Slaton racked up 1,282 yards, sixth in the league. He also ran in for nine scores.
8. Matt Forte - Chi
Another great rookie breaking the top ten is "the second coming of Walter Payton" Matt Forte. And as his last name implies, he defiantly made some noise in '08 with 1,238 rushing yards (seventh in NFL), eight rushing scores, 477 receiving yards (the most by any running back to break 1,000 yards this season) and 4 receiving touchdowns. With Bernard Berrian leaving for Minnesota, Forte picked up the slack and helped the Bears stay in contention for the NFC North title right up through Week 17. Forte could easily go earlier in some leagues.
9. Larry Fitzgerald - Ari
The ball-boy from Minnesota has come a long way from practicing pitch and catch with Cris Carter on Vikings' sidelines to catching 62-yard touchdowns in the Super Bowl. Fitz had a stellar season with Cards tied for the most touchdown receptions in the league with 12 and second in the league with 1,431 behind Houston receiving star, Andre Johnson. Larry ain't done either. He probably won't go too much higher, but he defiantly won't be falling much farther come Draft day.
10. Chris Johnson - Ten
Rookie number three. Chris Johnson amassed 1,228 yards (eighth in NFL) in his rookie year with the Titans. He introduced amazing speed to compliment LenDale White in end zone and third-down situations. Chris also found the end zone nine times.
Copyright (c) 2009 Bleacher Report, Inc
Tomlin: In a hurry, in the Super Bowl and not done
TAMPA, Fla. Mike Tomlin is always going somewhere in a hurry.
No matter the role childhood sprint king in Newport News, Va., speed reader, honor student, pizza delivery man, star wide receiver at William & Mary, or football coach with planning notebooks that go back to the first day of his first job Tomlin doesn't know the concept of slowing down.
Not with another paper to write. Pass to catch. "A'' to earn. Job to interview for. Practice to run. Player to motivate. Child to raise. Hug to give. Game to win.
Tomlin briefly considered law school after college, mostly because his mother wanted him to, but coaching has consumed him since his playing days ended.
"Coaching is something I was meant to do," Tomlin said Friday.
Tomlin wasn't quite good enough to make the NFL as a player he had tryouts with the Browns and 49ers but no colleague who has worked with him the last 13 years is surprised he's made it as the Pittsburgh Steelers' coach.
Made it to the Super Bowl, too, where the 36-year-old Tomlin can become the youngest coach to win it if the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
"This is a man who was born to coach. Born to coach," said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart, who gave Tomlin his first sideline job at VMI in 1995. "His players play for him, his players respect him. And he respects them. You knew Mike Tomlin was going places."
When Tomlin accepted that $12,000-a-year job, his new boss knew Tomlin wouldn't spend much time in football's lower echelons. The young man was too polished, detailed, smart, determined and motivated. Broke, but motivated.
"I was single, I didn't have cable or long-distance calling, so there was nothing else to do other than immerse yourself in the game," said Tomlin, now the married father of three. "I was with a bunch of guys that were like-minded, and we had a great time."
That job lasted one season, and so did the next. Each subsequent job was the same, be it at Memphis or Cincinnati or Arkansas State, the Buccaneers or the Vikings he was too good to stay very long.
Even if the Steelers win, Tomlin is likely to hear what he's been told throughout his career: This guy has a lot more left to do.
"He's been that guy that's always done it his way," wide receiver Hines Ward said. "He always stayed the course. He really never let anything deter him off that. It's no longer Bill Cowher's team and we're going to do it his way. As players, you respect that. A guy comes in and you want to test him a little bit, but he held his own and here we are, in his second year, in the Super Bowl."
Tomlin was offered West Point and Naval Academy appointments after graduating from Denbigh High in Newport News, but wanted to play football; his older brother Ed, was a Maryland captain with former Steelers quarterback Neil O'Donnell. Their father, Ed Sr., played at Hampton Institute and, after being a Colts 10th-round draft pick in 1969, in the CFL.
Mike Tomlin ended his William & Mary career with 101 catches for 2,046 yards and 20 touchdowns, and his name remains in the record books for highest career receptions average at 20.2 yards per catch. After that came the quick succession of college jobs that led from VMI to Tampa Bay's staff in only six years.
Tony Dungy, the former Bucs and Colts coach who became his NFL mentor and close friend, hired him in 2001 from dozens of candidates, saying he was told to grab this on-the-rise coach before someone else did.
Everywhere he went, Tomlin kept detailed notes and still relies upon them. It was this type of detailed organization that led Minnesota to hire him as defensive coordinator in 2006. The Vikings immediately improved from No. 21 to No. 8 in total defense.
Many coaches wouldn't have dared seek a head coaching job so quickly, but Tomlin's success and reputation led the Steelers to interview him following Cowher's resignation in January 2007. Three other NFL jobs were open, and Tomlin told his wife, Kiya, that if he could get an interview with any of the four, he felt he could get hired.
Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and assistant head coach Russ Grimm were the favorites in Pittsburgh, but Tomlin blew away owner Dan Rooney and team president Art Rooney II in two lengthy interviews. Tomlin showed them detailed plans for the next 12 months, and every phone call with the Rooneys gave them something more to like.
Tomlin never had to win the players' respect, according to All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu if the Rooneys hired him, he was good enough for them. As an African-American, Tomlin was able to relate to many players in ways a non-minority coach could not, Polamalu said.
"It's really unique in a sense that he's younger and more hip, more GQ than you would see any other coach," Polamalu said. "He's more compassionate, more sympathetic to what we experience as players, being young and being a similar cultural background as a lot of the players as well."
The Steelers got off to a fast start in Tomlin's first year, winning nine of 12, but began wearing down amid injuries and lost four of their final five, including two home-field losses to Jacksonville in as many months the second of which knocked the Steelers out of the playoffs.
A few months later, he gave a much-praised commencement speech at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., without a note. His pregame speech to his team Saturday night will be the same.
"I make a conscious effort to wing it," he said Friday.
His players notice he's frequently gotten off script in running them this season, too.
"I think the main thing this year is he's doing a better job of listening to his vets," nose tackle Casey Hampton said. "I think last season he was just feeling guys out and doing his own thing and going with his gut. We feel like he's with us, instead of us just being out there and doing his thing."
Roethlisberger enjoys how Tomlin slaps hands and chest bumps players.
"Coach Cowher was cool, calm and collected around us because he's been around a long time," Roethlisberger said. "Coach Tomlin is giddy like we are. Coach Cowher was more like, 'I've been here before.' It's fun. Nothing against coach Cowher, he was a lot of fun, too, but coach Tomlin seems like he's one of us and is out there having fun like we are."
To Ward, changes that are "like night and day" since last season prove Tomlin is continuing to learn and adapt.
"I pull from all of it on a day-to-day basis lessons learned from leadership," Tomlin said. "It's about people. It's about taking care of the troops (players). It's about putting them first. I've learned that if you are going to lead, you try to lead with a servant's heart. I try to do that, try to take care of my men and give them what they need to be great."
(c) Copyright 2009 The Log Cabin Democrat and Morris Digital Works
Are NFL Overtime Rules Overdue For A Change?
In addition to being a media spectacle, the Super Bowl is also an annual convention of all things NFL. I hear it's also a football game, but haven't seen solid evidence yet.
Among the more important get-togethers this week were the meeting of the NFL Players Association (no president to succeed the late Gene Upshaw yet), the election of the new class to the Hall of Fame, and the delivery of the State of the League address by Commissioner Roger Goodell.
After his speech, Goodell took questions from the media. While labor issues dominated the discussion, questions surrounding overtime rules also came up a couple of times. The rules have been the same since 1974, but there is new impetus for a change because this year the Indianapolis Colts lost in overtime in San Diego without getting an offensive possession.
Is it fair that one high-profile perceived injustice could be what prompts change? Well, think of how much more the Electoral College was discussed after the 2000 presidential election than in the 50 years before it. Think even about the new stop sign that goes up in a neighborhood after a child almost gets hit by a car. Addressing inequities only after they're shoved in one's face is human nature.
And the sight of Peyton Manning sitting impotently on the sidelines got a lot of people demanding change - CBS announcer Jim Nantz among them. Or, to be more accurate, Nantz has always disliked the overtime rules, but the Colts' loss gave him the platform to be heard.
Nantz and his researchers came up with an interesting set of statistics that show that while the overtime rules haven't changed since 1974, the NFL has.
During the first five years of overtime, the team that won the coin flip, and therefore received the ball first, was 15-16-1. This was in an era of 62 percent field-goal accuracy, when kickoffs were from a team's 40-yard line.
But in the past five years, field-goal accuracy has increased by 20 percent and the kickoff has been moved back 10 yards. So over the five years that ended in 2008, the team that received the ball first won the game 62 percent of the time. That's statistically significant. In 2008, the coin flip winners were 11-4-1.
I have never before found fault with the overtime system. I believe that if a team plays good defense, it can serve an offensive function of delivering good field position. But Nantz's stats have convinced me that there are more equitable systems out there.
I think the college "shootout" system wouldn't be best. Instead, league officials may want to simply eliminate field goals as a scoring option in overtime. They could ensure that both teams get an offensive possession. They could make overtime not "sudden death," but first team to 6. But they should do something.
One other amazing fact: In the NCFL, the National Coin Flip League, when a regulation coin-flipping contest (or a "Glimity" in the strange terminology of the sport) goes into overtime (or as they call it "susicivus-temous") the contestants settle the tie by engaging in a game of tackle football. Who knew?
Copyright 2009 NPR
Kurt Warner: Better than Peyton Manning?
This borders on blasphemous.
Kerry J. Byrne makes the case statistically at SI.com that Kurt Warner is a better quarterback than golden boy Peyton Manning.
Peyton, the star of Oreos commercials?
Here's the deal: In the regular season, the Arizona Cardinals' Warner and the Indianapolis Colts' Manning are pretty much equal.
Both entered the league in 1998. Manning is second in NFL history with a 94.7 career passer rating, Warner is third with a 93.8.
But Warner -- who's going to his third Super Bowl, one more than Peyton and Eli Manning combined -- has been better in the playoffs.
After lighting up the Philadelphia Eagles last week, Warner has a 97.3 rating in the playoffs, second only to Bart Starr's 104.8.
In 10 games, Warner has completed 63.9% of his passes for 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
In 15 games, Manning has completed 61.6% for one fewer TD, 22, and 17 interceptions for an 84.9 passer rating.
Basically, Warner's numbers go up in the playoffs, and Manning's go down.
Finally, Warner's teams are 8-2 in the playoffs, and Manning's are 7-8.
freep.com
Cards show change Lions can believe in
If a black man can become president ...
If the Arizona Cardinals can go to the Super Bowl ...
Then can't the Lions at least make the playoffs? Next year? Is it so crazy to think such a turnaround is possible?
Drew Sharp says: I'm foolish to think the Cardinals' win means anything when it comes to the Lions.
Probably so. Of course, one franchise's rebuilding has nothing to do with another's. But it at least shows what is possible.
The Miami Dolphins went 1-15 a year ago and made the playoffs. The Cardinals have been terrible for longer than the Lions, and they're going to Tampa.
If there was ever a day to dream, this is it.
Call me crazy. But for one day, I'm going to believe. Why not? Strange things, unbelievable things, they happen all the time.
Watching the Cardinals celebrate in a sea of falling confetti, it was hard not to get swept up and think for a moment or two that anything is possible. As Rod Marinelli would say, 'Believe in the invisible!'
From the Los Angeles Times: "Arguably the worst professional sports franchise in this country's history is going to be a participant in its biggest sporting event.
The oldest continuously run pro football franchise in the country will have a chance to win its first championship in 61 years, and its third championship in 110 years.
An organization so cheap it once charged players the Federal Express cost of mailing their contracts is playing in the richest sporting event in the country.
A team so poorly run it once gave players only one pair of socks per season is playing in the most popular sporting event in the country.
The Arizona Cardinals are in the Super Bowl.
Cheap ownership, poor management, a long-standing tradition of losing. Now the Lions have a blueprint to follow that suddenly doesn't seem so unattainable.
Lions assistants, past and future
What else is there to note today concerning the Lions?
The Chicago Tribune makes a case for Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman to be the first overall pick in the NFL draft.
From the article: Physically, he is the best. At 6 feet 6 inches, 248 pounds with a cannon arm, he is a little like the Raiders' JaMarcus Russell. He is sure to shoot up charts once he starts working out for scouts. But he has won only seven games and is a raw prospect who will take time to develop. One scout said he questions his decision-making and poise.
Got a hankering to add a piece of the Detroit Lions perfectly imperfect season to your sports memorabilia collection? Check out this item for auction in Bay City at an American Red Cross dinner and auction event. ...
Former Lions defensive coordinator Joe Barry is back in the NFL coaching ranks in a familiar place - Tampa Bay. He'll be a linebackers coach for the Bucs. ...
The Lions staff is in Mobile, Ala., for Senior Bowl practices, where they can have a look at lots of guys who aren't good enough to go No. 1.
It's also assumed that new coach Jim Schwartz will make some headway with his staff in-between scouting sessions.
Early reports tap Gunther Cunningham as a likely candidate for defensive coordinator.
What do we know about Cunningham? He is 62 and has been in the league for 27 years. He's worked with Schwartz before - three years in Tennessee.
Cunningham spent two seasons as the head coach for the Chiefs before he was fired and retained as defensive coordinator. (Side-note: Cunningham found out about his firing while reading the Internet late at night. So he has experience dealing with inept organizations.)
The Chiefs weren't exactly defensive stalwarts this season. They ranked in the bottom third of most defensive categories and set an NFL record low with 10 sacks.
He prefers to work from the sideline instead of the booth because he likes to get in his players' faces when they mess up. No doubt in Detroit, that could keep him busy. Though it's questionable whether it actually would have any effect on the results.
From a Kansas City Star column from October: "This past week, Cunningham decided he would go to the sidelines," wrote Joe Posnanski. "This would provide inspiration! This would change the culture of the team! It was all very exciting. The Chiefs responded by allowing a team-record 332 yards rushing."
freep.com
No Cleveland Browns makes Sunday blue
Many people in Cleveland can't shake it, or maybe it's just me.
I admit it, my stomach hurts because Matt Stover is an American hero and the Arizona Cardinals have a chance of reaching the Super Bowl before the Cleveland Browns.
The Arizona Cardinals.
Did the Baltimore Ravens just make it to the AFC Championship game again?
Is Maurice Carthon, the running backs coach for the Arizona Cardinals, going to the NFC Championship game?
Yes and yes--crap and foot odor.
The Cavaliers are the backbone of Cleveland while the heart of city by the lake will go under the knife this off-season.
Did you know that Cleveland Browns fans know more football history than most fans? Especially recent history--because Cleveland fans are watching football teams from the entire United States play in the post-season year after year.
We watch eagerly as we prepare to join the football country club next season, shivering with anxiety through the non-football months looking join the party.
The hope for Cleveland is that there is parity in the NFL. If teams like San Diego and Arizona have paved a road to the playoffs there has to be hope for the Browns right?
Besides a good pint of ice cream and greasy Chinese food, I have two solutions for the Brown's blues.
1. Don't watch football.
2. You can't do number 1 so refer to number 3.
3. Buy, rent, or steal The Complete History of the Cleveland Browns.
This DVD was given to me as a gift over Christmas and, I'll tell you, it got me fired up. If you haven't seen it-- the DVD goes through each decade of the Cleveland Browns history. This DVD rocks harder than Rocky IV--and that rocks hard.
Trust me, if you're a Browns fan than you'll know why you're still a Browns fan after watching.
What to watch this Sunday:
Chargers vs. Steelers
Browns fans have at least one team left to cheer for in the AFC
Giants vs Eagles
A tough NFC battle between the returning Super Bowl champs and the resurgent Eagles
(c) 2008 Copyright Examiner.com. All Rights Reserved
Browns 'Dream Team' should feature experience
Nine times out of 10 when someone says "No disrespect meant," the next thing you hear is disrespect. But this is the one time out of 10 that there is no disrespect involved. So here it goes.
No disrespect meant to the USA Olympic basketball teams of 1992 and 2008, but a Dream Team is out there for the Cleveland Browns to solve their vacant coaching and general manager positions.
The Dream Team is not Bill Cowher and whoever would join him as the GM. Nor is it any combination of Scott Pioli, Kirk Ferentz, Eric Mangini, Steve Spagnuolo, Josh McDaniels or Jim Schwartz. Although Cowher is the People's Choice, Mangini would be mine, but it is doubtful he and Pioli could coexist based on their opposing views off Spygate. The other listed coaching candidates don't have NFL head coaching experience, while Ferentz had a nice run — not a great run — as head coach at Iowa, combined with NFL assistant jobs with the Browns and Ravens.
All of the listed candidates, other than Spagnuolo, have ties to Cleveland.
But none of the above is good enough to qualify for the Dream Team.
Current Atlanta Falcons President Rich McKay, who built up two organizations, the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and recently released Denver Broncos coach and two-time Super Bowl champion Mike Shanahan are. For a Browns organization that rarely hires experienced people, what could be better than that?
The only experienced NFL head coach hired in the history of the franchise was Nick Skorich, in 1971. And since Bill Belichick arrived on the scene, personnel decisions have been made by Ernie Adams, one of the NFL's most mysterious characters, Mike Lombardi, Dwight Clark, Pete Garcia and Phil Savage.
All Shanahan has done is rack up an NFL regular season record of 138-90 with the Broncos and Raiders, along with a postseason record of 8-5, including those two Super Bowl wins.
Who is available out there who has better resumes than McKay and Shanahan? Nobody!
But with the two most important decisions, since the return of the franchise in 1999, ready to be made, what are the chances of the Dream Team becoming reality? Unfortunately, probably none.
The Browns will have the fifth pick in the upcoming draft, and they have plenty of needs. Since 2002, the only top pick used on defense was Kamerion Wimbley in '06. The first round picks in that time have included Joe Thomas, Brady Quinn, Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow Jr., Jeff Faine and William Green.
Conventional wisdom would dictate a pick from the defensive side of the ball this year. But the Browns have a better chance to be very good on offense, before the defense comes along. And since there is no personnel department in place right now, there is no telling what the team will do.
So here's a suggestion, and it can be done even without a scouting department. If he declares for the NFL draft, go ahead and take Ohio State's Beanie Wells. There are questions about his durability, but there are no questions about his being the best running back around.
The Browns rightfully passed up Adrian Peterson to take Thomas in '07. But opportunities to get a running back like Wells don't come along too often. Jamal Lewis still has two years to go on his current contract, but the previous regime had questions about his future. Backups Jerome Harrison and Jason Wright appear to be nothing more than just ... backups.
Don't let the Cavaliers easy 117-92 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday lull you into thinking they will be fine without Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Z will probably miss at least four weeks with a bone chip in his ankle. They didn't miss him much against the Bulls because of the matchups, but that won't be the case several times in the next month.
Despite all of the optimism in regards to the Cavaliers chances this year, they will diminish significantly if Z doesn't return to full health.
There are those who will tell you that the Indians acquisition of Mark DeRosa is not much of an upgrade over Casey Blake. True, they have racked up similar stats over the past couple of years, but DeRosa is two years younger than Blake, and, with one year left on his contract, he won't tie the Tribe up as Casey would have with a three-year deal. Both are extremely versatile, but, unlike Blake, DeRosa can adequately handle the second spot in the order, a problem the past couple of years.
It also allows the Indians to decide if they want to explore a contract extension with the former Cub, or turn third base over to Wes Hodges next year.
Ideally, you would like a run producer at third base, but the Indians should be happy with this deal. Yes, they gave up three minor leaguers, but that's why you strive to have depth in the minors. Two out of three major needs have been taken care of with the addition of two former Cubs, DeRosa and closer Kerry Wood. There probably isn't enough left in the budget to get a starting pitcher, but that doesn't mean they can't acquire one with another trade. The AL Central is up for grabs, and now is the time to go for it. They don't have to worry about competing with the big-money Yankees or Red Sox until October.
What are the college football decision makers thinking by not setting up a four-team playoff for the national championship? Nobody cares about the current structure of bowl games.
It's simple.
Use the BCS formula, and let No. 1 play No. 4, and No. 2 play No. 3, with the winners meeting for the title.
Wouldn't you like to see Southern Cal play the winner of Oklahoma-Florida for all the marbles? At least fans would really care about three games at the end of the season, instead of just one.
(c)Copyright 2009 The Morning Journal
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