Tag: Cleveland Browns

2017 NFL Draft 1st-Round Review

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 2 Comments

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Well that didn’t go as planned. Despite months of draft analysis from experts, and countless mock drafts, the 1st-round of the 2017 NFL Draft was as unpredictable as the weather (Mel Kiper and Todd McShay do look a lot like meteorologists today). In between the plethora of boos hurled at Roger Goodell, the 1st-round provided more twists and turns than the Taconic Parkway (New Yorkers know what I’m talking about). There were multiple trades and many players rose or fell from their projected draft spots.

No surprise at the top, as the Cleveland Browns selected Myles Garrett from Texas A&M with the 1st overall pick. The Browns evening didn’t end there. They traded the 12th pick to the Houston Texans for the 25th pick and the Texans 1st-round pick in 2018. The Texans drafted Deshaun Watson from Clemson at 12 while the Browns drafted Jabrill Peppers from Michigan at 25. I don’t love either pick, as I think Watson, despite his outstanding career at Clemson, is an undersized quarterback who lacks the arm strength to succeed in the NFL . Peppers is a ‘tweener’ (safety/linebacker) who comes with baggage after failing a drug test at the NFL combine. The Browns then traded back into the 1st-round by shipping the 33rd pick and a 4th-round pick to the Green Bay Packers for the 29th pick. The Browns selected David Njoku from Miami. Njoku was the 3rd tight end selected in the 1st-round, and while I like the player, I wonder who will be throwing him the football this year….

Of the many trades from Thursday night, my favorite was the 1st one (for the 49ers that is). New 49ers General Manager, John Lynch, swindled the Chicago Bears. There is no other way to put it. The Bears traded up 1 SPOT, from the 3rd to 2nd pick, giving up 3rd and 4th-round picks from this year as well as a 3rd-round pick in 2018. Only problem is, the Bears LITERALLY didn’t have to do that. How did that conversation go?

Lynch: Listen Chicago, we’re getting multiple offers for the #2 pick here. If you can’t give us 3 valuable draft picks to move up only 1 spot, I’m afraid you’re going to miss out on your guy.

Ryan Pace (Bears GM): That sounds extremely fair. Now we can get Mitch Trubisky! You want me to throw in my 1st-born child too?

Yes, you heard that right. The Bears gave away the farm, to move up 1 spot, to draft a guy that was going to fall to them anyway. Even if Trubisky ends up being good, he simply is not worth such a high draft pick. He has only started 13 games at the collegiate level! The 49ers then drafted Solomon Thomas from Stanford, who yup you guessed it, is the guy they wanted anyway! Nice work Chicago. The 49ers, like the Browns, weren’t done for the evening. They moved back into the 1st-round by sending Seattle their 2nd and 4th-round picks in exchange for the 31st pick. John Lynch continued to impress in his 1st draft as the 49ers selected Reuben Foster of Alabama, who despite off-field issues, is regarded as one of the most talented players in the draft. The other major trade from last night saw the Kansas City Chiefs trade the 27th pick, a 3rd-round pick, and their 1st-round pick in 2018 to the Buffalo Bills to move up to the 10th pick. They selected Alex Smith’s potential successor in Patrick Mahomes II from Texas Tech. Mahomes has an absolute cannon for an arm, which often leads to risky throws. Only time will tell if Andy Reid can mold Mahomes into a successful NFL quarterback.

And last but not least, let’s talk about New York. We’ll quickly brush over that New York team that wears blue or purple or whatever color that is, so we can get to my New York Jets. The Giants gave Eli Manning another safety valve and drafted Evan Engram out of Ole Miss. Engram is an undersized tight end who will bring playmaking ability to an already talented receiving core for the Giants.

And then there were the New York Jets. As I like to call them, My New York Jets. With tank mode in full-effect, it was imperative that the Jets did not draft a quarterback on Thursday night. And thanks to the Chicago Bears, they didn’t even get that chance. The top 5 picks saw 3 offensive players fall off the board, leaving the Jets with the pick of the defensive litter. And even though the suspense was cut short when ESPN camera’s accidentally showed LSU safety Jamal Adams receiving his call of a lifetime, Jets fans have to be ecstatic that he fell into their laps. With the Jets’ secondary in shambles, they just picked up, according to some experts, the best player in the draft. Personally, I love the pick, and I love Adams already. First of all, CHECK OUT THE SUIT!! And talk about passion. His interview immediately following the selection was filled with raw emotion and the promise to “work his butt off”. Jets General Manager Mike Mccagnan has stuck to the motto ‘draft the best player available’ in the 1st-round. As for the 2nd-round, eh………not so much. So, let us collectively hold our breath until we reach the Jets next pick (39).

How do you feel about the Jets 1st-round draft pick? How do you feel about your teams draft pick? Tell me in the comment section below.

Since you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. You can also follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!    

 

 

One-Liner Fridays

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

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Every Friday I like to infuse a little humor into everyone’s day.  Here you will find a one-liner on a topic from this past week.  These gems will be one line and one line only (we’re gonna dance to one song and one song only).  Enjoy.

 

 

Aaron Hernandez is the 2014 version of OJ Simpson….only dumber.

If I had essentially gotten away with double murder, I wouldn’t commit another murder to cover-up the first 2 murders that I already got away with; I would lay low for the REST OF MY LIFE.

Anyone else want Donald Sterling to go away?

Yea, me too, so here’s what we’re going to do: stop talking about him.

Michael Sam is living proof of something I say every day; everything is about money.

Unbelievably hypocritically, Michael Sam has decided to do a reality tv show about his path to the NFL as a gay player because, HE JUST WANTS TO BE SEEN AS A FOOTBALL PLAYER AND NOTHING ELSE. 

With Marlin’s pitcher, Jose Fernandez, adding to the long list of pitchers needing tommy john surgery, MLB teams should just offer the surgery as an option on draft day.

Phil Jackson at the plate, and the pitch, he swings, and misses.

You know it’s bad when Phil Jackson can’t even convince his protégé to come work for him.

Now, Phil Jackson will be scouring middle schools across the country for his next coach.

I happen to like Stan Van Gundy as a coach, but you picked Detroit over Golden State?

Really?!?!

Must be the weather in Detroit that lured him in.

So let me get this straight, Johnny Manziel has the most jersey sales in the NFL since April 1st, people are actually excited and talking about the Cleveland Browns (for the 1st time in eternity), and in turn the organization will make more money, and you Jimmy Haslam, the owner of The Cleveland Browns, decide to tell Manziel to ‘act like a backup?!?!’

That makes about as much sense as the NCAA bylaws.

Oh yeah, there are hockey playoffs going on, I almost forgot.

In all seriousness, although I am not a New York Rangers fan, I fully appreciated the comeback that they pulled off to come back from being down 3 games to 1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I’m sure that Martin St. Louis will give it his all throughout the rest of these playoffs for himself, his teammates, and most importantly his mother.

 

 

This has been another edition of One-Liner Fridays.  If you have a One-Liner of your own, please feel free to leave them in the comment section below.  Thanks.

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

 

2014 NFL Draft: 1 Day Down, 178 To Go

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 1 Comment

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Round 1 of the 2014 NFL Draft is now officially in the books.  It was a very interesting 1st round that came with a few trades, a few surprises, but most things played out as expected.  Over the past 3 months, draft experts have been laying out any and all possibilities for the outcome of the NFL Draft.  Many have been suggesting that The Houston Texans could do a multitude of things with the #1 overall pick in the draft.  Some have suggested that they should select Johnny Manziel because they need a quarterback and he played his college ball in the state of Texas while some have suggested trading the asset of the #1 overall pick, move back in the draft, and collect an extra set of picks.  And the majority of people have implored the Texans to simply to the right thing and select the best player in the draft.  And that is what they did.  They selected Jadeveon Clowney because he is a “freak of nature”.  At his size, Clowney is listed at 6’5 1/4″ and 266 pounds, his speed, size, and power are unmatched.  He posted a very impressive 40-yard dash time of 4.53 seconds, the fastest of any defensive lineman in this years draft.  I believe this was the right selection by The Texans, but don’t be surprised if Khalil Mack is the best defensive player to come out of this years draft.  Oh no wait, he was drafted by The Oakland Raiders so never mind.

 

The first surprise to come out of the 1st round was the selection of Blake Bortles 3rd overall by The Jacksonville Jaguars.  I understand that he is your prototypical quarterback, standing 6’5″ and weighing in at 232 pounds, and he played his college football in the state of Florida, and Jacksonville desperately needs a quarterback, BUT I think that it was a reach taking Bortles this early.  The 2nd quarterback selected was Johnny Manziel at #22, so the Jaguars definitely could have capitalized on having the #3 pick by trading back in the draft, still drafting Bortles, and picking up an extra pick or 2 in the 2nd or 3rd round. 

 

The first trade occurred at the 4th overall pick in the draft, where The Buffalo Bills traded up from the 9th pick to acquire, who I believe is the best wide receiver in the draft, Sammy Watkins.  The Bills traded their 9th pick this year and their 1st and 5th round picks in the 2015 to The Cleveland Browns for the 4th overall pick.  Personally, I like this move because I feel that Watkins has the potential to be one of the best wide outs in the NFL for the next 8-10 years.  This is a move that I have been talking about for weeks, only I was hopeful that The New York Jets (having 1,278 draft picks this year) would have taken advantage of such an opportunity.  Instead, The Jets drafted Calvin Pryor, a hard hitting safety from Louisville.  I like Pryor, and while I believe he is the best safety in the draft, I would have been much happier with a cornerback (Darqueze Dennard) or a wide receiver (Brandin Cooks) at the 18th overall pick in the draft.  I believe that John Idzik was thinking about position depth in this years draft when he made this selection.  There is plenty of talent at cornerback and wide receiver, but the talent at safety is scarce.  Also, The Jets do have another 11 picks in this years draft, so I’m sure they will fulfill their needs at wide receiver, cornerback, tight end, and most importantly WIDE RECEIVER.  Did I say wide receiver?? 

 

The Jets crosstown riv…..oh wait they play in the same building and they’re not rivals, but anyway, The New York Giants did select a wide receiver with the 12th overall pick in the draft.  They chose a very talented playmaker in Odell Beckham Jr. from LSU.  I think The Giants should have drafted an offensive lineman here, because you can have all the talent you want at wide receiver, but if you can’t protect your quarterback, and provide him with enough time to throw the ball, then your talent at wide receiver will be all for naught.  However, you can’t solve all of your problems in 1 pick, so we will have to wait and see what The New York Giants do with their other 6 draft picks. 

 

Ah yes, which brings us to little Johnny football, aka Johnny Manziel.  Manziel “dropped” down to the 22nd pick in the 1st round.  ESPN kept showing his face on the screen as if we were supposed to feel bad for him for sitting in the spot light for 3 hours.  I think he and his millions will be just fine (as he so clearly let us know by rubbing his fingers together on his way on stage as if to say “show me the money”).  And despite all the money he did lose by not being drafted until 22nd, he did not get drafted into a bad situation.  If you look at all of the possible teams that could have drafted him, The Minnesota Vikings or Jacksonville Jaguars, he actually landed in the best situation.  The Browns offensive line isn’t terrible and Manziel will have 2 viable options at pass catching positions (Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron).  Having a reliable running back would help Manziel out, but it’s a better situation than his fellow competitor Blake Bortles is in. 

 

All-in-all I think it was an entertaining 1st round with a lot of interesting picks and moves.  I do have a gripe with the NFL though, with the way the draft is run.  Let’s use the very first pick of the entire draft as an example.  The Houston Texans have known they were going to pick #1 overall for quite some time now.  They obviously had decided before 8:00 p.m. last night that they were not going to trade their pick and they were going to select Jadeveon Clowney.  So, why in the world did it take them nearly 7 minutes to announce their selection?!?!?!  I’ll tell you why.  Now, I don’t want to get all conspiracy theory on everybody, but the NFL is a money making business just like any business in the world.  I have said many times before, and I will say it again: Everything is about money.  The longer the draft takes, the more money the NFL makes.  To keep watching the 2014 NFL Draft, you can tune in to ESPN tonight at 7:00 p.m. and coverage will continue at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN2.  Enjoy!!

 

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

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To Leave Or Not To Leave, That Is The Question (Either Way It’s All About The Benjamin’s Baby!!)

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 P.M. marked the beginning of free agency in the NFL. It didn’t take long for teams to start signing and resigning players shortly after the 4 O’ clock hour. There were many moves that happened right away, and there are many moves that are still going to take place. I will give you a recap of what moves have been made and where your favorite players will be suiting up next season. I will also give you a quick rundown of some key players who have yet to sign a new deal. Some of these moves make you scratch your head from a football standpoint, but you need to remember these moves are about one thing and one thing only; money. With that being said, let’s take this thing for a ride.

One of the biggest signings so far has surely been Mike Wallace. Tuesday afternoon, the former Pittsburgh Steeler, signed the dotted line to play for the Miami Dolphins. The deal is reportedly for 5 years and 60 million dollars (30 million of which are guaranteed). It appears that the Steelers only offered Wallace 10 million per year, however Wallace was looking for a minimum of 12 million per year (cha ching). Another significant signing that occurred on Tuesday was the Cleveland Browns signing former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Paul Kruger to a 5 year, 40 million dollar contract. This is big money for a pretty unproven player in Kruger. He is a good linebacker but does not have the track record that would merit a contract of this magnitude. Only time will tell if the Browns made a smart move by signing Kruger (considering we are talking about the Browns I’m sure this move will backfire). There were a couple of moves at the tight end position Tuesday with Martellus Bennett and Anthony Fasano both on the move. Bennett, the former New York Giant, inked a 4 year, 20 million deal with the Chicago Bears, giving Jay Cutler another legitimate option other than Brandon Marshall. Anthony Fasano formerly of the Miami Dolphins signed with the already very busy Kansas City Chiefs. The deal is reportedly for 4 years and 16 million dollars. The Chiefs continue to improve their roster, and dare I say that the Chiefs might sniff at a winning record this season? Yeah you’re right, probably not. The biggest news at the tight end position by far was the decision by future Hall-Of-Famer Tony Gonzalez to come back to play one more season with the Atlanta Falcons. This season will be Gonzalez’s 18th, and based on his production from 2012, I’m sure the Falcons are giddy at the news of his comeback.

On the defensive side of the ball there hasn’t been as much noise, but there have been some moves that will impact the New York teams next season. The Giants had released Chris Canty who is now a member of the defending champion Baltimore Ravens. In his place, the Giants have brought in Cullen Jenkins formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles. The New York Jets made some noise a day prior to the free agent frenzy with the earth shattering signing of David Garrard, however they made a couple moves Tuesday as well. They restructured Santonio Holmes’ and Antonio Cromarties’ contracts and they can wave bye-bye to Mike Devito as he is off to the most popular place to live these days (apparently), Kansas City. Another noteworthy move from the defensive side of the ball was that the Eagles released Nnamdi Asomugha. Asomugha is one of the worst free agent signings in recent history (don’t worry Albert Haynesworth, your’e still #1 in my heart). Another notable release was Ryan Fitzpatrick being let go from the Buffalo Bills. At least they didn’t wipe their butt with all that money (haha). William Gay, formerly of the solid Arizona Cardinals defense will add some depth to an aging Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Also, Dunta Robinson, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons, signed with the new and improved Kansas City Chiefs.

At this point there are still some big names hanging out in free agency that have yet to sign somewhere. Most notably Wes Welker, Reggie Bush, Ahmad Bradshaw, Greg Jennings, Rashard Mendenhall, and Steven Jackson. All of these guys will find a home in the coming days, it is just a matter of where. You also have Victor Cruz in waiting as a restricted free agent. For those of you who don’t know what it means to be a restricted free agent allow me to explain: A restricted free agent can negotiate with any team until April 19th. If another team presents said free agent with an offer, the original team has an opportunity to match or exceed the offer. If the original team decides not to match the offer, they will receive draft compensation based on the qualifying offer. While I like Victor Cruz as a player (and I’m sure the Giants like him too), it’s not about the player, it’s about the money. Can the Giants keep Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz? I highly doubt it.

Let us move on to the other New York “team”, the Jets. The New York Jets are going to be one of the worst teams in the league this year. They have two quarterbacks who are both completely useless, and they are losing players in bulk this offseason. They already released Calvin Pace, Bart Scott, and Erik Smith in February. As I mentioned earlier, they lost mike Devito to free agency, they waived Sione Po’uha, and it is likely that Darrelle Revis will be traded before this years draft. It is safe to say that they are in rebuilding mode.

All in all it has been a busy couple of days in free agency, and the fun has only begun. As it stands so far, you’d have to say that the Kansas City Chiefs are the big winner so far. There are big names still left to sign so that may change in a heartbeat. Stay tuned for the rest of the moves around the NFL.

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!