Four Downs – Monday, August 21st: Fantasy Football Observations Before Draft Day

For those of you like me with a flurry of fantasy football league drafts starting this week, it’s time to seriously get studying. A few weeks back I wrote a list of 30 players I liked or disliked but now it’s time to elaborate.

Unfortunately there will be no mention of Anquan Boldin, who I have repeatedly criticized the Cardinals for not signing. Well so much for that…Boldin retired Sunday after a brief stint in training camp with the Bills. In my mind, he’s certainly a player who deserves Hall-of-Fame consideration.

FIRST DOWN: Don’t believe the “experts” who advise waiting on the top QBs…Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady are worth AT LEAST high 2nd round picks.

If you play in leagues where QBs achieve six points per passing touchdown, this is a no-brainer.

In his last three seasons (48 games), Rodgers has thrown for 12,630 combined yards and 109 touchdown passes. In that same time, he’s also run for nearly 1,000 combined yards and 7 TDs. It’s reasonable to expect another season of 4,200+ passing yards and 38 TDs…so why shouldn’t you give Rodgers serious consideration late in the 1st round of your drafts? Green Bay upgraded the tight end position by adding former Cowboy / Giant / Bear / Patriot Martellus Bennett and former Ram Lance Kendricks. His wide receivers are among the best in the league as a unit and the Packers’ primary RB, Ty Montgomery, is a converted wide receiver with excellent hands.

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Friday, 8/18 Quick Hitters: More anthem talk, Cards WR issues, and my favorite Tweet of 2017

First of all, I’ve received some negative feedback regarding my stance from Wednesday’s mailbag about athletes not standing for the national anthem. I said that if an owner / coach was willing to condone the players’ decision not to stand, then I was fine with it.

Personally, I would not be one of those owners / coaches. I would absolutely FORCE the players on my team to stand and properly acknowledge the anthem in honor of those who have given up so much, including their lives for this country. I’m all for creative expression and freedom as long as it’s not purposefully disrespectful. In this case, it’s a slippery slope.

In light of the current political turmoil, I think we’ll see more and more players continue to kneel, sit, and not regard the importance of our anthem. I hope those players aren’t on any of my favorite teams. Please take a stand owners and coaches to prohibit these acts!

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Do you view Marshawn Lynch’s decision to sit during the national anthem before last Saturday’s game in Arizona as disrespectful?

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August Mailbag: Cardinals-shaming, the next major sporting event in AZ, and a dating disaster

Back by ‘popular’ demand…the mailbag:

Stop being a Cardinals hater! You’re just jealous that they knocked your Packers out of the playoffs two years ago.
Yeah I wasn’t happy about the result of that game…but how am I hating on the Cardinals? Because I said they won’t win anything of consequence with Carson Palmer at QB? He’s won ONE playoff game in his career…and yes it was in January 2016 against Green Bay. But he’s getting up there in age, has a lousy offensive line in front of him, and I just don’t believe he will withstand the pounding for another 16 games this season. The Cards are a good team…but without superior o-line and QB play, a first round playoff loss is their ceiling.

How do you feel about athletes sitting / not standing for the national anthem?
Honestly I hate it but I get it. If I were a team owner, I would mandate that each player stand in solidarity during the anthem. But in this day and age freedom of expression is more tolerated than ever. If coaches and owners allow it, I guess it’s fine to let the players choose how they act.

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Four Downs – August 14th: Is the Ezekiel Elliott suspension justified?

FIRST DOWN: Should the NFL reduce the six game suspension levied upon Cowboys second year RB Ezekiel Elliott?

To be honest, if the allegations are true, Elliott is getting off easy with only six games. The NFL did its due diligence by undertaking a year-long investigation into Elliott’s misdeads against his girlfriend (see the TMZ photos for more) and had to take action. Remember the Ray Rice controversy from several years back…where he knocked his girlfriend unconscious in an elevator? Rice got a four game suspension but has never played in the NFL since. Domestic violence should absolutely not be tolerated under ANY circumstances.

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Friday, 8/11 Quick Hitters: Preseason Football, D-Backs, Uniform Watch, and Josh Rosen’s Comments

You know what I love about this time of year? That most every NFL and college football team’s fanbase has reasons to be optimistic. Even you, Bears fans (despite your new starting QB throwing a Pick-6 on his first possession of the preseason).

-At least the Bears have Mitchell Trubisky though…and you have to wonder how long it will take for this year’s #2 overall pick to gain the starting job over Mike Glennon.

From Thursday’s game:
Glennon: 2/8, 20 yards, 1 INT (returned for a TD)
Trubisky: 18/25, 166 yards, 1 TD

Hmmm…

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-The Jets on the other hand…well…there’s absolutely nothing to be looking forward to this season. Maybe next year’s NFL Draft.

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Predicting the Outcome of Every Regular Season NFL Game

We’ve had one game of 65 in the preseason and already I feel compelled to predict the outcome of every regular season NFL game. I guess that means I’m anxious to see some meaningful football for the first time since February!

These record predictions are subject to change based on preseason injuries, transactions, etc… but here’s my first stab at how the 32 teams should fare in 2017.

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Will Tom Brady and the Patriots go undefeated in the regular season for the second time?

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Four Downs – August 7th: It’s time to shorten the NFL’s preseason

I had a great time co-hosting “The Saturday Morning Tailgate” with Jeff Dean talking two hours of college football and an hour of NFL this past weekend. Jeff is a true pro, a fellow UofA grad, and even better, the public address voice of Arizona Basketball at McKale Center! If you’re looking for some (fairly) intelligent football talk, take a listen here (see the audio player at the bottom of the page).

FIRST DOWN: The NFL preseason is WAY too long.

Someone please tell me how or why it’s necessary that the Cardinals and Cowboys are scheduled to play FIVE preseason games. By virtue of both teams playing in the Hall of Fame Game last Thursday night, each team had another meaningless game added to their schedule.

And now the Cardinals are down their rookie speedster / likely #1 kick returner, T.J. Logan for half the season due to a dislocated wrist.

As I mentioned in Friday’s blog and on Saturday’s radio show, the second half of just about every preseason game is unwatchable. As someone who loves college football and will watch even the most meaningless of games, don’t compare Kansas-Iowa State to the 2nd half of Cardinals-Cowboys.

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