Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
Let’s move right along to another division in the NFC. I like the South because only the Bucs even have a Lombardi Trophy. This is a fairly new division in league history that doesn’t have the rich tradition of the NFC East, or AFC East, you have a lot of good football though in these teams and I think they are fun to analyze.
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons: What a mess! They had things going in the right direction when Dan Reeves was the coach. Things started off OK under Mora Jr, but a lot of off the field problems have come to haunt this club. Arthur Blank is a newer owner in the league. He seems like a guy that is committed to winning but he also has had to deal with a boatload of problems and if he knew now what he knew back then when he bought the team…this guy might have been better served in the NBA or MLB really.
QB: I hate to be one of those guys that said I told you so…but people were quick to be Vick haters because of the charges and eventual prosecution of him. I never cared about the allegations and his conviction from an NFL perspective. Do I think he got a fair punishment? Not for me to say but I am glad he was not treated above the law. Vick may not have been the most accurate of NFL Qbs but he had some very special skills that forced defenses to commit a lot of guys to stopping him and this allowed other players and the entire offense in Atlanta to operate. Vick was out all of last season and that offense fell apart. They have virtually nothing at QB and it will not be surprising to see them go after a “franchise” type QB in the draft.
WR: Till they get the QB situation under control, this entire stable of WR is worthless to some extent.
TE: Crumpler departs, who replaces him? My gut says it will be a few years before we see a top 10 potential TE in Atlanta again. It falls back to the QB position.
RB: Michael Turner ends up in Atlanta and I for one think he will be a major bust and owners like myself who have been holding onto him for the big break…this was not what we signed up for but hopefully we can learn a very good lesson from all of this. Jerious Norwood? That bubble burst when Dunn departed and Turner was signed.
I know Rich McKay from his days in Tampa where he helped turn around one fo the worst franchises at that time along with Tony Dungy when the Bucs started to move forward in the late 90s. I don’t think that Blank is a bad owner and this franchise does play in a division where if they add a few pieces it is possible to turn this around. All that said the fact is they have a serious rebuilding effort in front of them. The Head Coach is now Mike Smith…again we have no track record and no idea what they are going to try and accomplish in Atlanta. As a FF owner I just don’t want to be stuck with a lot of their guys on my roster presently. They could become buy low candidates in a year or two, but for the present if I am all about winning, the Falcons are a team I try and pass on no matter who they bring in as of the moment.
Carolina Panthers: I am going to be honest upfront and say that I was hoping Fox would get the boot last season. There are a few things I do like about the team but overall this is a very shaky group.
QB: Is Delhomme coming back? Will he be 100%? They need some serious help at the QB position. I hate to keep bringing it up but the teams that have strong starting Qbs tend to make the players around them much better. Steve Smith really struggled when Delhomme was sidelined and it looked early on like both of them were going to have strong years. I really think Carolina should have made a push for some of the FA Qbs that were signed early on in FA.
RB: Hmmmm, if the Carolina Panthers do not take another RB in the 1st round of the NFL draft…meaning they wait till at least the 2nd or even better for DeAngelo owners the 3rd round, then Williams stock should soar. I already have to think though that the way they treat most of their rookies, that DeAngelo Williams will be the starter opening day when the Panthers take the field. Unless they somehow landed Darren McFadden, I cannot see them just pushing Williams to the side. The guy is a former 1st round pick himself albeit late 1st round, and he has looked good when given the right amount of touches. I also would not wait to unload DeAngelo before the season starts if he is crowned as the RB1 in Carolina. The shelf life of these RBs are quick and there has not been a RB that has been able to maintain success in Carolina over a period of multiple years. There was the Fred Lane/Biakabatuka combo early on, then the Foster/Davis combo, then Foster/Willaims…a few good seasons here and there but nothing sustainable over a period of 3-4 seasons really. Track record is not great.
WR: Steve Smith is one of the most talented WR in the NFL but just like anyone he has to have someone that can deliver the ball to him. His stock could not be much lower than it is right now. Some owners might be kicking themselves but the reality is no one knew how fragile the whole offense was till Delhomme went down. The WR2 and TE position on this club are a dark hole as of late.
I think most owners are a little too optimistic when it comes to this club. With Fox running the show, they are not suddenly going to become a high flying passing machine, and yet he never really allows his RBs to become uberstuds in the league either. He has shown he likes to use 2 backs with about a 60/40, 70/30 split at most. Someone else other than DeAngelo will see some significant time this season.
New Orleans Saints: Their history is not one of success but I think here is a team you have to look at for the past 2 seasons as they retain the same Head Coach, and Drew Brees will be entering his 3rd season as their starting QB.
I like what Payton did in 2006, but 2007 he seemed lost at times. This board called him out on a lot of his coaching decisions. I think the jury is still somewhat out. Everyone can have a down season but with NO, it seems that happens more often than not. No one gave them a chance in 2006 and they surprised. Everyone was blowing them up in 2007 and they were disappointing across the board.
QB: Solid, really. I am a Drew Brees fan but you got to keep him upright just like any other NFL QB. He has a lot of weapons to work with, and I hope we see a return to some of the 2006 season.
RB: Reggie Bush is not an every down RB, sorry guys. He could be great in a Brian Westbrook type of role…he isn’t Westbrook but he has a lot of skills out of the backfield and is best suited to get the ball in open space. He didn’t have a lot of open space in 2007. What happends to Deuce McAllister is anyone’s guess. I would not be banking a lot on him moving forward and I doubt the Saints are either. I do see someone being drafted to help take a little of the pressure off Bush. This team needs as many weapons on offense as they can get and another talented RB that they could easily pick up in the 2nd round would be terrific. Why would I think Ray Rice might be a good fit here? Payton coached under Parcells for awhile and I think he might have heard how much Parcells loved Curtis Martin. Rice reminds of Martin…he isn’t the biggest guy and neither was Martin, he came out of the Big East and so did Martin who played for Pitt, he isn’t the fastest guy and neither was Martin…but he has the ability to carry the ball 30 times and at the end of the game the guy has racked up 150 rushing and makes a big difference. I’ll get off my Ray Rice soap box for now.
WR: I was glad Henderson is coming back, a great buy low candidate in dynasty leagues…likely never get him for as cheap as you can right now. Colston is embedded as the WR1…went from 70 catches to 98 last year, went from 8 TD his rookie year to 11 last year. Colston holds the NFL record for most catches thru the first 2 years of his NFL career with 168…think about that.
TE: not much to say really. They resigned a couple of guys and there has been Shockey rumors…I think they definitely need to upgrade here if they want to get to the next level.
Overall it seems like this organization is or has turned things around. At least offensively and even if their defense cannot get a lot better, that only helps put the offense in a position where they must score 28-31+ points to win…that isn’t a bad thing for FF owners.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: It seems like ages since they held up that Super Bowl trophy. I have to say that I am not stoked about Bruce Allen, the GM, who I think is pretty mediocre and has done nothing to make fans forget about Rich McKay. I do believe the Glaxers are interested in putting the best product on the field. Fans in Florida catch a lot of slack for being lousy fans but the Bucsfans are a different story. Many of them hold seat rights to the stadium for 10 years…those are pretty big commitments from the fans. Not sure the Glazers are going to be able to make the Bucs worth a lot more than they already are…they bought them for $192 million back in 1994 I believe, and now they are estimated to be worth between $750 million and $1 Billion dollars depending on who you talk to…not a bad investment.
QB: I don’t see anything long term here but I am still fairly comfortable with Jeff Garcia as long as Gruden is the HC…I don’t think Gruden is great with young inexperienced QBs and he needs someone under Center who can think like he does. Almost a QB/Coach if you will and Garcia fits that bill for him. I like the trade to get Griese who was doing very well in Tampa bay before he injured his knee. He is a little older now but he can still be effective in the right system. Luke McCown looked good in stints as well last season. They won a SB with Brad Johnson so I don’t think this team has to have a top5 NFL QB in order to win…that said they ahd a much better defense when Johnson took them to the Super Bowl.
RB: Where do I start? Cadillac is likely not coming back in 2008. Should Graham owners really be excited? I don’t think he will be getting 75+% of the load like he did at times last season. And I do not put it past the Bucs to jump on a RB if one slides down to them in the later part of the 1st round or 2nd round. There really has not been a great deal of success in Tampa Bay for starting RB…nothing that would scream top5 or anything.
WR: Joey Galloway is still the main WR here. There is talk of Bryant Johnson from AZ coming in for a visit…I might like that signing if it happened. A good young WR that played wel when given some opps in AZ behind two topflight WR…this guy could go on and be very productive. Or he could prove that he is at best a WR3 and the Bucs once again waste a lot of money at the WR position. Antonio Bryant has been signed. The Bucs seem to be trying to upgrade at WR, they need to. Galloway is turning 37 but has pieced together back to back to back 1,000+ yd seasons for the 1st time in his career. He also has seen his catches go from 83, to 61 to 57,a dnhis TD go from 10 to 7 to 6…he likely will be catching about 50-60 balls this season if he can stay healthy.
The Bucs are kinda old in a lot of spots. Garcia, Galloway, Dunn, Hilliard…these guys are either ancient or getting there quick. From a Dynasty perspective I don’t like it much. And this team was $44 million under the cap and to this point they have just not made a big splash. $44 million so far has gotten them John Gilmore at TE…he was the number 3 in Chicago, Jimmy Wilkerson DE Chiefs who has a total of 1 sack in his career, Leon Joe (LB), Teddy Lehman (LB), Matt McCoy(LB), Sammy Davis(CB), Warrick Dunn, Antonio Bryant who didn’t play for anybody last year, Brian Griese and Ben Troupe. I’m just saying that it looks like the Glazers perhaps realize that their investment is not going to be worth a lot more and perhaps they would assume not blow all the money under the cap and pocket some of it for themselves. They could have made a very big offer to Randy Moss and put the pressure on New England…they opted not to. They could have gone after Samuel as a potential long term replacement for the eventual retirement of Rhonde Barber. They opted to do almost nothing and I am a little puzzled by some of it. They should have looked hard at Michael Turner IMO as well. A lot of OL were out there too.
Have an opinion, bring it.
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons: What a mess! They had things going in the right direction when Dan Reeves was the coach. Things started off OK under Mora Jr, but a lot of off the field problems have come to haunt this club. Arthur Blank is a newer owner in the league. He seems like a guy that is committed to winning but he also has had to deal with a boatload of problems and if he knew now what he knew back then when he bought the team…this guy might have been better served in the NBA or MLB really.
QB: I hate to be one of those guys that said I told you so…but people were quick to be Vick haters because of the charges and eventual prosecution of him. I never cared about the allegations and his conviction from an NFL perspective. Do I think he got a fair punishment? Not for me to say but I am glad he was not treated above the law. Vick may not have been the most accurate of NFL Qbs but he had some very special skills that forced defenses to commit a lot of guys to stopping him and this allowed other players and the entire offense in Atlanta to operate. Vick was out all of last season and that offense fell apart. They have virtually nothing at QB and it will not be surprising to see them go after a “franchise” type QB in the draft.
WR: Till they get the QB situation under control, this entire stable of WR is worthless to some extent.
TE: Crumpler departs, who replaces him? My gut says it will be a few years before we see a top 10 potential TE in Atlanta again. It falls back to the QB position.
RB: Michael Turner ends up in Atlanta and I for one think he will be a major bust and owners like myself who have been holding onto him for the big break…this was not what we signed up for but hopefully we can learn a very good lesson from all of this. Jerious Norwood? That bubble burst when Dunn departed and Turner was signed.
I know Rich McKay from his days in Tampa where he helped turn around one fo the worst franchises at that time along with Tony Dungy when the Bucs started to move forward in the late 90s. I don’t think that Blank is a bad owner and this franchise does play in a division where if they add a few pieces it is possible to turn this around. All that said the fact is they have a serious rebuilding effort in front of them. The Head Coach is now Mike Smith…again we have no track record and no idea what they are going to try and accomplish in Atlanta. As a FF owner I just don’t want to be stuck with a lot of their guys on my roster presently. They could become buy low candidates in a year or two, but for the present if I am all about winning, the Falcons are a team I try and pass on no matter who they bring in as of the moment.
Carolina Panthers: I am going to be honest upfront and say that I was hoping Fox would get the boot last season. There are a few things I do like about the team but overall this is a very shaky group.
QB: Is Delhomme coming back? Will he be 100%? They need some serious help at the QB position. I hate to keep bringing it up but the teams that have strong starting Qbs tend to make the players around them much better. Steve Smith really struggled when Delhomme was sidelined and it looked early on like both of them were going to have strong years. I really think Carolina should have made a push for some of the FA Qbs that were signed early on in FA.
RB: Hmmmm, if the Carolina Panthers do not take another RB in the 1st round of the NFL draft…meaning they wait till at least the 2nd or even better for DeAngelo owners the 3rd round, then Williams stock should soar. I already have to think though that the way they treat most of their rookies, that DeAngelo Williams will be the starter opening day when the Panthers take the field. Unless they somehow landed Darren McFadden, I cannot see them just pushing Williams to the side. The guy is a former 1st round pick himself albeit late 1st round, and he has looked good when given the right amount of touches. I also would not wait to unload DeAngelo before the season starts if he is crowned as the RB1 in Carolina. The shelf life of these RBs are quick and there has not been a RB that has been able to maintain success in Carolina over a period of multiple years. There was the Fred Lane/Biakabatuka combo early on, then the Foster/Davis combo, then Foster/Willaims…a few good seasons here and there but nothing sustainable over a period of 3-4 seasons really. Track record is not great.
WR: Steve Smith is one of the most talented WR in the NFL but just like anyone he has to have someone that can deliver the ball to him. His stock could not be much lower than it is right now. Some owners might be kicking themselves but the reality is no one knew how fragile the whole offense was till Delhomme went down. The WR2 and TE position on this club are a dark hole as of late.
I think most owners are a little too optimistic when it comes to this club. With Fox running the show, they are not suddenly going to become a high flying passing machine, and yet he never really allows his RBs to become uberstuds in the league either. He has shown he likes to use 2 backs with about a 60/40, 70/30 split at most. Someone else other than DeAngelo will see some significant time this season.
New Orleans Saints: Their history is not one of success but I think here is a team you have to look at for the past 2 seasons as they retain the same Head Coach, and Drew Brees will be entering his 3rd season as their starting QB.
I like what Payton did in 2006, but 2007 he seemed lost at times. This board called him out on a lot of his coaching decisions. I think the jury is still somewhat out. Everyone can have a down season but with NO, it seems that happens more often than not. No one gave them a chance in 2006 and they surprised. Everyone was blowing them up in 2007 and they were disappointing across the board.
QB: Solid, really. I am a Drew Brees fan but you got to keep him upright just like any other NFL QB. He has a lot of weapons to work with, and I hope we see a return to some of the 2006 season.
RB: Reggie Bush is not an every down RB, sorry guys. He could be great in a Brian Westbrook type of role…he isn’t Westbrook but he has a lot of skills out of the backfield and is best suited to get the ball in open space. He didn’t have a lot of open space in 2007. What happends to Deuce McAllister is anyone’s guess. I would not be banking a lot on him moving forward and I doubt the Saints are either. I do see someone being drafted to help take a little of the pressure off Bush. This team needs as many weapons on offense as they can get and another talented RB that they could easily pick up in the 2nd round would be terrific. Why would I think Ray Rice might be a good fit here? Payton coached under Parcells for awhile and I think he might have heard how much Parcells loved Curtis Martin. Rice reminds of Martin…he isn’t the biggest guy and neither was Martin, he came out of the Big East and so did Martin who played for Pitt, he isn’t the fastest guy and neither was Martin…but he has the ability to carry the ball 30 times and at the end of the game the guy has racked up 150 rushing and makes a big difference. I’ll get off my Ray Rice soap box for now.
WR: I was glad Henderson is coming back, a great buy low candidate in dynasty leagues…likely never get him for as cheap as you can right now. Colston is embedded as the WR1…went from 70 catches to 98 last year, went from 8 TD his rookie year to 11 last year. Colston holds the NFL record for most catches thru the first 2 years of his NFL career with 168…think about that.
TE: not much to say really. They resigned a couple of guys and there has been Shockey rumors…I think they definitely need to upgrade here if they want to get to the next level.
Overall it seems like this organization is or has turned things around. At least offensively and even if their defense cannot get a lot better, that only helps put the offense in a position where they must score 28-31+ points to win…that isn’t a bad thing for FF owners.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: It seems like ages since they held up that Super Bowl trophy. I have to say that I am not stoked about Bruce Allen, the GM, who I think is pretty mediocre and has done nothing to make fans forget about Rich McKay. I do believe the Glaxers are interested in putting the best product on the field. Fans in Florida catch a lot of slack for being lousy fans but the Bucsfans are a different story. Many of them hold seat rights to the stadium for 10 years…those are pretty big commitments from the fans. Not sure the Glazers are going to be able to make the Bucs worth a lot more than they already are…they bought them for $192 million back in 1994 I believe, and now they are estimated to be worth between $750 million and $1 Billion dollars depending on who you talk to…not a bad investment.
QB: I don’t see anything long term here but I am still fairly comfortable with Jeff Garcia as long as Gruden is the HC…I don’t think Gruden is great with young inexperienced QBs and he needs someone under Center who can think like he does. Almost a QB/Coach if you will and Garcia fits that bill for him. I like the trade to get Griese who was doing very well in Tampa bay before he injured his knee. He is a little older now but he can still be effective in the right system. Luke McCown looked good in stints as well last season. They won a SB with Brad Johnson so I don’t think this team has to have a top5 NFL QB in order to win…that said they ahd a much better defense when Johnson took them to the Super Bowl.
RB: Where do I start? Cadillac is likely not coming back in 2008. Should Graham owners really be excited? I don’t think he will be getting 75+% of the load like he did at times last season. And I do not put it past the Bucs to jump on a RB if one slides down to them in the later part of the 1st round or 2nd round. There really has not been a great deal of success in Tampa Bay for starting RB…nothing that would scream top5 or anything.
WR: Joey Galloway is still the main WR here. There is talk of Bryant Johnson from AZ coming in for a visit…I might like that signing if it happened. A good young WR that played wel when given some opps in AZ behind two topflight WR…this guy could go on and be very productive. Or he could prove that he is at best a WR3 and the Bucs once again waste a lot of money at the WR position. Antonio Bryant has been signed. The Bucs seem to be trying to upgrade at WR, they need to. Galloway is turning 37 but has pieced together back to back to back 1,000+ yd seasons for the 1st time in his career. He also has seen his catches go from 83, to 61 to 57,a dnhis TD go from 10 to 7 to 6…he likely will be catching about 50-60 balls this season if he can stay healthy.
The Bucs are kinda old in a lot of spots. Garcia, Galloway, Dunn, Hilliard…these guys are either ancient or getting there quick. From a Dynasty perspective I don’t like it much. And this team was $44 million under the cap and to this point they have just not made a big splash. $44 million so far has gotten them John Gilmore at TE…he was the number 3 in Chicago, Jimmy Wilkerson DE Chiefs who has a total of 1 sack in his career, Leon Joe (LB), Teddy Lehman (LB), Matt McCoy(LB), Sammy Davis(CB), Warrick Dunn, Antonio Bryant who didn’t play for anybody last year, Brian Griese and Ben Troupe. I’m just saying that it looks like the Glazers perhaps realize that their investment is not going to be worth a lot more and perhaps they would assume not blow all the money under the cap and pocket some of it for themselves. They could have made a very big offer to Randy Moss and put the pressure on New England…they opted not to. They could have gone after Samuel as a potential long term replacement for the eventual retirement of Rhonde Barber. They opted to do almost nothing and I am a little puzzled by some of it. They should have looked hard at Michael Turner IMO as well. A lot of OL were out there too.
Have an opinion, bring it.
