Changing of the Guard: New York Jets
In the painful half of the Meadowlands, Gang Green nation was bitten hard by the disappointing end of the Eric Mangini era. After a 4-12 finish in 2007, hopes were high as Brett Favre led a 2008 squad to an 8-3 record which included a Week 12 victory over the unbeaten Tennessee Titans. However just as in the past, a disappointing conclusion ended the hopes of a Super Bowl run. They lost four out of their last five and were left on the outside looking in when the postseason arrived.
Head Coach Eric Mangini did not have a terrible three year tenure (23-25), but his lackluster personality started to wear thin on Jets fans and many attributed the simple and almost boring level of play right back to him. The defense was vanilla; the offense had no identity. The future looked bleak up until the point where Owner Woody Johnson opted to show the door to Mangini so that he could offer the job to one of the greatest defensive minds in football, Rex Ryan.
Rex Ryan
When Rex Ryan became the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, he inherited a defense that ranked in the bottom third of the league. Since then, Baltimore has been either near or at the top of the defensive ranks including a No. 2 overall position in 2008. The son of Buddy Ryan and brother of current Browns Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan, Rex Ryan has been in and around some of the greatest defensive minds the game has ever seen. Known as the "Mad Scientist," Ryan will bring his media friendly personality to a market that will thirst for every single one of his words - especially after three years of the lifeless Mangini era.
To try and break down the Rex Ryan defensive scheme would be similar to explaining the country's economic crisis to a class of first graders. He will throw any front at the offense and bring pressure from every angle while minimizing the windows and lanes for a quarterback to throw to. Not many defensive play callers will send a 325-pound defensive lineman on a blitz up the middle from the safety position, but Ryan will instead send two of them. His schemes and personnel groups are solely based on mass confusion for the opposition. When the term "outcoached" is thrown around, Rex Ryan is the face that comes to mind when his defense is involved.
Players Who Benefit:
David Harris - ILB
Shaun Ellis - DE
Kris Jenkins - DT
Kerry Rhodes - FS
Vernon Gholston - OLB
Mike Pettine - Defensive Coordinator
If there was one person within the Baltimore Ravens organization that knew the potential of their defensive assistant coaches, it was Rex Ryan. He pulled Mike Pettine from the collar and brought him to New York and labeled him "a rising star." The one sector of the Ravens defense that was clearly head and shoulders above anyone else in the league was the linebackers. Pettine has spent the past four seasons coaching the likes of Bart Scott, Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs - who are all free agents this offseason. His No. 1 objective will revolve around 2008 first-round selection Vernon Gholston, who started his career off with a "Looks like Hercules, Plays like Jane" type performance. The ability is there but his role was never defined in 2008, and it was clear that he was in over his head. Pettine has proved he can take the strengths of any player and fit them into a specific role that elevates the level of the defense. The evolvement of Terrell Suggs is a key to point to as his work with Gholston begins. That project could make or break this defensive experiment.
Getting rid of the veterans that do not play with the reckless abandon style that Rex Ryan needs will be a top priority. His style is organized but crazy, fast but controlled. While he will not demand the most talented players to propel the Gang Green defense to the top, there are specific traits that will ease the process. Stout, technique-happy linemen in front of fast, overly aggressive linebackers that are backed up by instinctive, rangy and physical defensive backs are on the horizon for the Jets. Ryan has already stated he did not come here to test his patience, andt he expects the Jets defense to be near the level of his former team right away.
newerascouting.com
Eagles must fight out of McNabb trap
When caught in a trap, there are only two options. Since surrender never is very popular, particularly in the sport they present, then the Eagles might as well take the one suggested now by Donovan McNabb. They might as well fight their way out on the only terms they all have left, and never mind the possibility of any trails of blood, criticism or hundred-dollar bills.
The trap the Birds find themselves in this morning, after the NFL championship trophy was shipped to somewhere other than Philadelphia for the 48th consecutive winter, is this: They have to fight on now with McNabb, and it is going to cost them. They have to do that because it is too late for them to try anything else.
Had they operated their quarterback department like they do everything else in their organization, they could have been readying McNabb's exit papers by now. The quarterback is safely over 30, only a little bit popular, and he has a contract that essentially will shrivel and crumble at the end of the 2010 season.
The Birds' original plan - a goofy one, frankly - was to trust their own genius, as they often will. They traded away their 2007 first-round pick because they felt they could find their next quarterback in Round No. 2. That would be Kevin Kolb, who played non-BCS football in college and was in such little Draft Day demand that his name barely was uttered, if at all, during the first 3,000 hours of the TV coverage.
That kind of initiative would have been risky for a team with a successful drafting history; for one headed by Andy Reid, it was a farce. But that's what the Birds did, and that's when the trap was set. Now, the Birds' only way out is massage McNabb's contract and essentially grant the wish he revealed last week in Tampa to, "retire as an Eagle."
"I want to be in Philly," said McNabb, ever as likely to create a stir at the Super Bowl as the guy in the front row with the rainbow wig ... and often just as significant. "I know when Irving Fryar retired they gave him a motorcycle. Well, I don't ride motorcycles, but I can drive a car."
They usually give they keys to a luxury vehicle to the MVP of the Super Bowl, but McNabb lost that raffle ticket again this year when he was unable to lead the Eagles on a career-defining scoring drive with three minutes left in the NFL semifinal in Arizona. And that will be the hurdle - business-wise and emotionally - the Eagles and their customers must clear before they get around to doing what now is inevitable. They are going to re-up McNabb, essentially for his professional life, and they are going to brace for one more, one final, one desperate series of throws at a championship.
The Eagles will swing around the existing McNabb contract - that $112,000,000 flag of franchise honor - and pretend that the decision is only a formality. It's why Jeffrey Lurie and Joe Banner keep chanting that, yes, of course McNabb will be back to quarterback their team in 2009. The quarterback is signed.
But it is not just a matter of demanding that McNabb show up for work, although, technically, the Eagles could force that result. It's not that simple because McNabb has beaten them to their own trick. Somehow, he let it leak that he wouldn't mind playing elsewhere. Deion Sanders, of all unlikely insiders, even turned that leak into a fire hose flood. But while that was seeping out, McNabb also said he would quietly campaign for new contract terms. The effect, then, is that the existing contract wording could pull McNabb back to Lehigh ... but it could not pull a contented McNabb back to Lehigh.
If the Birds were confident that Kolb could be successful in what will be his third professional season, they would do what they often do with glee. They would bar McNabb from their gated premises. They would trade him, bank whatever draft choices they gathered in return, and drape No. 4 jerseys - in midnight green, white, black and that hideous yellow - from every hanger in their souvenir stands.
Kolb, though, has been unable to inspire such a franchise shift.
Thus, the appeal of the McNabb Plan. In it, the Eagles would extend McNabb's contract, with these results: They would commit to him until he is too old (he's already prone to injury) to help them win a Super Bowl; but they would be rewarded with enough short-term salary cap relief that they all might be able to drive away in one of those championship cars by then.
"We need more weapons," McNabb said. "We need more weapons in all phases of the game."
Upon the reworking of McNabb's contract, the Eagles theoretically would have some fresh capital for such projects. And should they do that - should they add a point-producer or two to an interesting young posse of DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek and Stewart Bradley - then they could be in a position to win something with McNabb as their quarterback.
"We'll hopefully get things solved," McNabb said.
They're trapped - they all are, the Eagles, McNabb, the fans. They're trapped and they have two choices.
They can have the quarterback show up old and miserable in training camp and be beaten out by a third-year quarterback who has earned no claim to the job.
Or they can buy some temporary salary relief, lengthen their commitment to McNabb, add some of those desired "weapons" and take a chance that one of these years they will make Super Bowl news for the right reason.
And even if that leaves a messy trail, at least it would show that they were willing to fight out of that trap.
(c) Copyright 2009 The Delaware County Daily Times
Cardinals a fluke? Not quite
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Arizona Cardinals are in Super Bowl XLIII not just because of what happened in the NFC Championship Game, but because of what happened 11 years ago in the North Carolina State weight room.
They're here because an area scout kept raving about a Richmond running back who wasn't even invited to the NFL scouting combine.
They're here because they got on a plane to talk to a Division II guard at Clarion University in 2003. Because someone in the organization charted the record of a supposedly washed-up quarterback when he played in domes and warmth versus, say, in East Rutherford, N.J.
They're here because they didn't overthink their No. 3 selection in the 2004 draft. Because they took a flyer on a punter who had already been with two other teams this season. Because they were convinced the punt returner they drafted in the fifth round of the 2007 draft could become a 1,000-yard receiver.
The difference between reaching the postseason and a losing record is as thin as a football lace. The Cardinals, who are making their first-ever Super Bowl appearance, know this better than anyone. The franchise is 88 years old, yet has made it to the playoffs only seven times, and only three times in the past 32 years. It is an organization familiar with abject failure and with turnover (a conga line of seven different head coaches since 1989).
The transformation slowly began shortly after Rod Graves was promoted to vice president of football operations in 2002. For so long the Cardinals were a franchise without a philosophical identity. All anyone knew for sure is that their owner, Bill Bidwill, wore a bow tie, and that the team lost lots and lots of games.
Graves, who was later named general manager in 2007, issued a mandate: The Cardinals would rebuild themselves through the draft and always select the best player available. No more draft-day reaches because of need. Instead, they would target free agents for need-based roster openings.
Phase 2 of the plan was to identify young, core Cardinals players on the verge of stardom and then try to lock up those players with new deals before their original contracts expired. It was a calculated gamble. If the players bombed, Graves was stuck. But if they performed as expected, or exceeded expectations, then the Cardinals would have those players during the primes of their careers -- and likely at a discount compared to what they could get on the free-agent market.
"Rod was really ahead of the curve on that," said Steve Keim, the Cardinals' director of player personnel.
"I don't think Rod gets enough credit in this league."
Offensive guard Reggie Wells is one of those players who re-upped before his original deal ended. Same goes for linebacker Gerald Hayes, strong safety Adrian Wilson, defensive tackle Darnell Dockett and wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. However, Boldin has since demanded a new contract or a trade.
The point is, this Super Bowl team didn't happen by accident. OK, maybe a little of it was by accident, like the time Keim was first introduced to a smiling, square-jawed, 185-pound freshman safety at North Carolina State.
"You walked away thinking, 'This guy has a chance to be special,'" said Keim, who played at NC State in the mid-1990s.
The guy was Wilson, who declared for the NFL draft after his junior year. By then he was 6-foot-3, 225 pounds and ran the 40 in 4.39 seconds. Keim knows; he's the one who worked him out as a junior.
But Wilson had glaring inconsistencies in his game, which is why he was still available in the third round of the 2001 draft.
"When he got to the 64th pick, I was going crazy," said Keim, who was in the Cardinals' war room that day. "My head -- I shave it -- looked like Rudolph's nose. I was lit up like a Christmas tree."
Keim desperately wanted the Cardinals to take Wilson. They didn't need a safety; they already had Kwamie Lassiter and Pat Tillman. "But he was sticking out like a sore thumb on our draft board," said Keim.
Then-head coach Dave McGinnis saw Keim's red face and started laughing. But with the 64th selection, the Cardinals chose Wilson. That was eight seasons and two Pro Bowls ago. No wonder Wilson, the longest-tenured Cardinal on the roster, could be seen giving a bear hug to Keim after Arizona beat Philadelphia in the NFC Championship.
"He's seen a lot of gloomy days," said Keim. "He had his chances to go other places. But Adrian has set the tone. He helped us change our [draft] philosophy."
So did Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. The Cardinals had the 16th pick of the 2008 draft and were considering several running backs. But after watching Rodgers-Cromartie at the Senior Bowl (he had a boffo week) and then working him out on their own, the Cardinals moved the cornerback from Division I-AA Tennessee State higher and higher up their draft board.
"Then it was having the guts to pull the trigger on him on draft day," said Keim.
They took Rodgers-Cromartie, figuring they could still find a running back later in the draft. The Cardinals of old might not have been so patient.
Thanks to one of their longtime area scouts, Jerry Hardaway, they found a steal in the fifth round. His name: Tim Hightower.
Seven months earlier, Hardaway had called Keim and gushed about Hightower. Then Keim got Hardaway's report.
"Jerry threw a huge grade on him," said Keim. "I'm thinking, 'That's high for a Richmond running back. Are you sure?'"
The Cardinals sent running backs coach Maurice Carthon to work Hightower out. Carthon's verdict: "This guy can play."
No kidding. The 149th pick started seven games this season, rushed for 10 regular-season touchdowns and is the reason starter Edgerrin James is playing with fresher legs.
This is a Cardinals roster full of success stories. One day in 2003, almost as a courtesy, nothing else, Keim decided to watch a tape of a Division II guard from Clarion (Pa.) University named Reggie Wells. When he was done, Keim said to himself, "You know what, I need to fly to Pittsburgh."
The Cardinals chose Wells in the sixth round of the '03 draft. He has made 74 regular season starts at tackle and guard since then.
Warner signed a one-year deal as a free agent in 2005. At the very least he would give the Cardinals a veteran quarterback who could make a run for a starting position. At the very most, he would give them this: a season for the ages.
"After his experience in New York [with the Giants], maybe a lot of people wrote him off," Keim said. "I don't think we knew. We thought he'd challenge for a job because of his pedigree. Plus, playing in warm weather, he's always been extremely effective. And you look at his record in the dome in St. Louis. It's an ideal fit."
Warner was one of those free-agent signings made out of need. So was James, who helped give the Cardinals credibility and a veteran running back. So was veteran defensive end Bertrand Berry, a pro's pro who signed with the Cardinals in 2004.
Journeyman cornerback Ralph Brown gave the Cardinals depth and surprising production. Fullback Terrelle Smith, who also bounced around the league, has found a home and a starting job with the Cardinals. Same goes for punter Ben Graham, who is on his third team this season. He'll become the first Australian ever to play in a Super Bowl.
Fitzgerald's arrival in 2004 was not made out of need. He was the No. 1-rated player on the Cardinals' draft board, but made his way to Arizona after Eli Manning was selected first overall by San Diego and Oakland chose offensive tackle Robert Gallery with the second pick.
That 2004 draft helped define this team. The Cardinals took linebacker Karlos Dansby in the second round, Dockett in the third round and defensive end Antonio Smith in the fifth round. The team had Fitzgerald, Dansby and Dockett all listed with first-round grades.
"A no-brainer," said Keim of Fitzgerald. "Absolutely a no-brainer. Here we had Anquan Boldin already. Now teams were going to have to figure out how to defend those guys."
Nobody has quite figured it out yet. And then the Cardinals added wide receiver Steve Breaston in the fifth round of the 2007 draft. Drafted as primarily a kickoff and punt returner, Breaston has gone from eight catches for 92 yards as a rookie, to 77 receptions and 1,006 yards this season.
"You stick with your system," said Keim. "You stick with your beliefs."
The shocker is that the Cardinals finally realized they needed a system. And then, thanks to people such as Graves, they stayed true to those football beliefs. So here they are in the Super Bowl. Not by accident, but, at long last, by design.
(c)2009 ESPN Internet Ventures
Donovan McNabb is no Eli Manning
Hey, Donovan McNabb. Phone's ringing. It's your career calling, with this important nugget:
You're no Eli Manning, pal.
McNabb and the Eagles flamed out in the NFC Championship game Sunday, the fifth time in McNabb's solid Philly career that he and his team have lost in the semis. The one time they won, the lasting image of McNabb's Super Bowl trip will be him, disoriented and sick, trying (and failing) to lead his team to an upset of the Patriots.
That's a big amount of fail at crucial times. Of course, you could look at it another way, a bit more charitable to a quarterback who's been to the postseason six times in his decade in the NFL: He's good enough to get his team close, but that's probably small consolation to the Eagles or their fans.
Hey, Donovan McNabb. Phone's ringing. It's your career calling, with this important nugget:
You're no Eli Manning, pal.
McNabb and the Eagles flamed out in the NFC Championship game Sunday, the fifth time in McNabb's solid Philly career that he and his team have lost in the semis. The one time they won, the lasting image of McNabb's Super Bowl trip will be him, disoriented and sick, trying (and failing) to lead his team to an upset of the Patriots.
That's a big amount of fail at crucial times. Of course, you could look at it another way, a bit more charitable to a quarterback who's been to the postseason six times in his decade in the NFL: He's good enough to get his team close, but that's probably small consolation to the Eagles or their fans.
Copyright (c) 2009, Newsday Inc.
These are the four QBs still playing? Seriously?
No way. Not possible.
These cannot be the four quarterbacks left vying for a Super Bowl title. One guy was last seen on a stretcher, another was benched in November, the third is just a kid and the fourth was washed up years ago.
Two weeks ago Ben Roethlisberger was carried off the field, addled by another concussion.
Seven weeks ago Donovan McNabb was benched in favor of Kevin Kolb in a three-point game.
Thirteen months ago Joe Flacco was losing to Appalachian State in something called the Football Subdivision Championship.
Fifteen months ago Kurt Warner was staying healthy by holding a clipboard and watching his heir apparent QB the Cardinals.
Sure, three of them have led teams to the Super Bowl and the fourth - a rookie - led his college team to a championship game last year. But the fact that these are the final four quarterbacks standing in this nutty NFL season is, well, nuts.
Yet here they are. In ascending order of improbability:
Ben Roethlisberger
It's an uplifting gesture when a player can muster the thumbs-up as he's carted off on a stretcher, but never before has it meant, "No worries, I'll be leading an offense that puts up 35 points in 14 days."
When Roethlisberger was concussed by the Cleveland Browns in the regular-season finale, the Steelers' title hopes looked like they were being carried off with him. But not only did Big Ben shake off his third concussion in the last two-and-a-half years to make it back onto the field, he was a master of efficiency on Sunday, helping the Steelers hold the ball for 36:30, including 14:43 of the third quarter.
Roethlisberger was 17-for-26 for 181 yards, a touchdown and no picks. His 98.4 passer rating was his highest mark since Week 7. He also delivered a solid block on a reverse and made a decent left-footed pooch punt.
And, of course, he won. In his four seasons not following terrifying motorcycle accidents/appendectomies he has gone 44-13, a staggering 77.2 winning percentage.
Big Ben had an up-and-down season that just two weeks ago looked like it might end with him supine on a stretcher. Now he could be less than a week away from returning to the Super Bowl.
Donovan McNabb
It was over. The divorce proceedings were under way.
Andy Reid had benched McNabb at halftime with the score 10-7 at Baltimore in a Week 12 loss that dropped the Eagles to 5-5-1. The team was going nowhere. The marriage had gotten rocky. It was time for a fresh start.
But a funny thing happened before McNabb could move his stuff out and set up shop in another city next year. Kevin Kolb actually took some snaps.
Kolb's 10-for-23, 73-yard, two-pick second half against the Ravens forced Reid into a shotgun reconciliation with his longtime QB. McNabb was clearly steamed by the dalliance - however brief - and began taking it out on his opponents.
Beginning with a surgical (121.7 QB rating) dissection of the Cardinals on Thanksgiving, McNabb has led Philly to six wins in seven games. On Sunday, trailing 11-10 and facing a 3rd-and-20 at his own 15 early in the third quarter, McNabb made one of those plays that showcased his singular combination of lower body strength, mobility and arm strength.
The Giants blitzed, but he shed both Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka before finding Jason Avant with a ridiculous throw across his body for a 21-yard gain and a first down. The drive ended with a go-ahead field goal and the Eagles never looked back.
Prior to his benching, McNabb had seven turnovers in seven quarters. In the 20 quarters that followed - as he led the Eagles into the playoffs - he had just two turnovers and 10 touchdowns (9 passing, 1 rushing).
The benching was an obvious turning point for McNabb, but his teammates point to another event: the delivery of his twins on Dec. 2. With his kids safely arrived, the hottest quarterback in the league may just deliver Philadelphia its first-ever Super Bowl title on Feb. 1.
Joe Flacco
A whole lot of college football teams have proven there's no great shame in losing to Appalachian State. It's just that quarterbacks who end their careers with an L against the Mountaineers don't generally find themselves in the AFC title game the very next year.
In his senior season Flacco and his Delaware Blue Hens also lost to New Hampshire and Villanova. But on Sunday he stared down Albert Haynesworth, Kyle Vanden Bosch and the rest of the bruising Titans to lead the Ravens into the conference championship game.
That's American Football Conference. National Football League. A long way from the Colonial Athletic Association.
Flacco had already proven his bona fides in the first round, joining Roethlisberger and Shaun King as the only rookie quarterbacks to win a playoff game. But he moved into a class by himself - the only rookie to win twice in a postseason - by delivering an ice-water third-down strike to Todd Heap with a minute left to set up the game-winning field goal against the Titans.
In the Year of the Bird (Ravens, Eagles, Cardinals), the Blue Hen-turned-Raven might be able to do something he couldn't do against Appalachian State: end his season with a victory.
Kurt Warner
Talk about Lazarus.
Warner's whole career has been improbable. From grocery stock clerk to Arena League to NFL MVP and Super Bowl record-setter. But this latest chapter might be the most unlikely of all.
Until his remarkable resurrection this season, Warner had not played 16 games in a season since 2001. In his final two seasons with the Rams - '02 and '03 - he played a total of nine games. He missed six games in his lone season with Giants and another six in his first season in Arizona. He was benched outright in 2006, only to be reinstated midway through 2007.
His injuries included numerous hand, finger and thumb injuries, a strained groin, a concussion, an MCL and an elbow injury on his non-throwing arm.
But suddenly, at age 37, he's an iron man. And in his last 24 regular season starts he has thrown 51 touchdowns. In two playoff victories he's thrown four more TDs and posted a 94 QB rating.
And now, for the third time in his remarkable career and first time in seven years, Warner will be playing an NFC title game at home.
And no matter what happens, a team that won nine games in the regular season will be representing the NFC in the Super Bowl. Just one more nutty aspect of this nuttiest of all seasons.
(c)2009 Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC.
Doug Baker's 2008 NFL Awards
Instead of having separate articles on my award winners for this year I thought I'd put them in one in article. So here goes my 2008 NFL Awards.
NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year:
Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings
Adrian Peterson led the league in rushing with 1,760 yards and single-handedly saved the Vikings in a few games this season. Without Peterson, the Vikings are not in the playoffs, and are an average team on offense at best. The necessity of focusing on Peterson in the running game allows the average quarterbacks of the Vikings to have some success in the passing game. And even when defenses do focus on Peterson, he still gashes teams in the running game. He has been the most impressive and consistent offensive performer this year.
I know that Peyton Manning won the NFL MVP Award this year, and I think he is deserving of it. For me it was almost a coin flip between these players for the MVP Award, but I lean toward Peterson because he has been more consistently good all season long.
I don't always necessarily give the NFL MVP Award and the Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year Award to the same person, but this year I am.
Other nominees for NFL MVP were:
Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis Colts
Matt Cassel, QB, New England Patriots
Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee Titans
Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons
Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
Kurt Warner, QB, Arizona Cardinals
Defensive Player of the Year:
James Harrison, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
James Harrison has been a one man wrecking crew at linebacker for the #1 defense in the league, the Pittsburgh Steelers. He makes the entire defense better, which is scary when you consider the Steelers also have the best strong safety in the league in Troy Polamalu. Ed Reed comes in a close second.
Other nominees included:
Ed Reed, FS, Baltimore Ravens
Kris Jenkins, DT, New York Jets
Albert Haynesworth, DT, Tennessee Titans
Justin Tuck, DE, New York Giants
Antoine Winfield, CB, Minnesota Vikings
John Abraham, DE, Atlanta Falcons
DeMarcus Ware, LB, Dallas Cowboys
Troy Polamalu, SS, Pittsburgh Steelers
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons
There are numerous excellent rookie running backs this year, with Tennessee's Chris Johnson and Chicago's Matt Forte standing out. And of course you also have the excellent rookie QB for Baltimore, Joe Flacco. The crop of offensive rookie players this year is outstanding and choosing just one for Offensive Rookie of the Year is very difficult.
I am going with Matt Ryan because he came to a team in complete and total disarray and helped turn the franchise around with his solid play at QB and cool demeanor. The quarterback position in the modern NFL is clearly the most important position on the field. Any team, but especially a young team in disarray like the Falcons, needs a solid building block at quarterback. Ryan has provided that building block, along with RB Michael Turner and WR Roddy White. And let's not forget first year head coach Mike Smith.
Other nominees included:
Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee Titans
Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore Ravens
Ryan Clady, LT, Denver Broncos
Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Bears
Eddie Royal, WR, Denver Broncos
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Jerrod Mayo, LB, New England Patriots
If there was a bright spot on the defensive side of the ball this year for the New England Patriots it was the play of Jerrod Mayo at linebacker. I doubt Bill Belichick has ever started a rookie linebacker as head coach, as he usually prefers veterans. Mayo was nearly the unanimous choice for Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press - which doesn't sway my opinion - but gives you an idea of how highly regarded he is around the league.
Other nominees included:
Keith Rivers, LB, Cincinnati Bengals
Chris Horton, FS, Washington Redskins
Coach of the Year:
Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons
Mike Smith turned a seemingly moribund, dysfunctional franchise around with the help of outstanding rookie QB Matt Ryan, RB Michael Turner, and a stout defense. Smith had a huge task ahead of him with he took over the Falcons in the wake of the Michael Vick disaster and the cowardly actions of last year's coach Bobby Petrino. He had to make the players believe in him and themselves to turn this franchise around. And the Falcons did turn it around and the future looks bright instead of bleak.
Other nominees included:
John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens. Another rookie coach with a rookie QB, Joe Flacco turned a losing team into a winner
Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans. The gutsy move to bench Vince Young in favor of Kerry Collins and getting a home field advantage throughout the playoffs should give Fisher consideration for the award.
Tony Soprano, Miami Dolphins. Soprano and his boss, Bill Parcells, engineered a remarkable turnaround by the Dolphins this year.
Bill Belichick, New England Patriots. Belichick took an injury ravaged team to an 11-5 record, just missing the playoffs. Most teams would have folded given the injuries they suffered this year.
Comeback Player of the Year:
Chad Pennington, QB, Miami Dolphins
To me there really isn't a "comeback" player of the year. Usually this goes to a player who has been injured and comes back and plays well, like Garrison Hearst (broken ankle), or a Tedy Bruschi (stroke). But if there is a comeback player of the year it's Chad Pennington. He's overcome shoulder problems, questions about his arm strength, and being jettisoned by the Jets. He led the Dolphins in one of the most amazing turnarounds in NFL history, going from 1-15 to 11-5 and AFC East Champions.
Biggest Disappointment of the Year:
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns were supposed to be an offensive juggernaut this year with Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow, Jr., and Jamal Lewis. Instead, Anderson played terribly at quarterback. Edwards dropped seemingly every pass that came his way. Winslow got hurt and became a distraction to the team with his usual whining and complaining. The only staple on the offense was Lewis. As a result, head coach Romeo Crennel is fired.
The second place finish for this award was the New Orleans Saints. Drew Brees had a great year but the team didn't win many games.
Trend of the Year:
The "Wildcat Formation"
Almost every year some type of trend emerges in the NFL. Some trends stick around for a while, like using two running backs instead of one to carry the rushing workload. Others pass away quietly, like the run and shoot offense.
This year Miami lined up running back Ronnie Brown at QB and used him as dual threat to run or pass, which was quite effective early in the season. Given this is a copycat league, other teams followed suit with their own variations, some more successfully than others. It's not really that novel of a concept. Pittsburgh used to run similar offensive sets with backup quarterback Kordell Stewart to capitalize on his speed and quickness.
It appears that defenses mostly caught up to this scheme by the end of the year. I still think teams will run this offense in the future, but maybe not quite as often as the Dolphins did this year.
Copyright (c) 2008 Bleacher Report, Inc
Contract gives Dolphins' Parcells lucrative out after only one season
DAVIE, Fla. -- The possibility Bill Parcells might leave the Miami Dolphins after only one season surfaced just as the team he rebuilt earned a playoff berth for the first time since 2001.
Parcells' contract allows him to leave after one season and still receive the US$12 million remaining on his four-year deal if the team is sold, owner Wayne Huizenga confirmed.
The sale of a majority share to New York real estate billionaire Stephen Ross is expected to be completed shortly after the season. Parcells would then have 30 days to leave without sacrificing the money due him in the final three years of his contract.
Surprising Miami plays host to Baltimore in a first-round playoff game Sunday. The Dolphins are 11-5, a dramatic turnaround from last year's 1-15 record.
The existence of the contract clause giving Parcells, 67, a lucrative way out was first reported by ESPN.
Huizenga and Ross said they hope Parcells will stay. Coach Tony Sparano smiled but declined to comment Monday when asked whether he has any leverage with Parcells that might keep his boss from departing.
The Dolphins' revival began a year ago when Huizenga hired Parcells as executive vice-president of football operations. Parcells managed similar turnarounds as a coach, taking over losing teams with the Giants, Patriots, Jets and Cowboys and transforming them into winners.
Parcells has a history of being on the move, and he has held three jobs in the past two years. He quit coaching after the 2006 season with Dallas and was a TV network analyst in 2007. He spent four years with the Cowboys, three with the Jets and four with the Patriots.
Ross bought 50 per cent of the Dolphins last winter and is expected to soon exercise an option to purchase up to 95 per cent.
Copyright (c) 2008 The Canadian Press
|
