NFL - NEWS & NOTES

They do. Now if only Jon Gruden had a track record of developing young talent!

 

true Axe. hope he lasts the season to see the 2019 draft. hahahha

 

Oh, he will be. They didn't sign him to a 10-year deal just to cut bait after one miserable season.

 

They also have two 2nd round picks in 2019 and two 1st round picks in 2020. Bottom line is they could trade up to the #1 pick O/A if they wanted to.

 

The Giants are definitely in the mix for taking a quarterback high in 2019, but the Raiders may also be looking in that direction. They could get out from underneath Carr's contract without a lot of dead cap (especially considering all of the potential contract money they've already parted with in Cooper/Mack) and with regime changes the possibility of getting a new passer for the new coach is always on the table.

 

WEEK 8 Schedule...

 

Jason Garrett defends decision to give up a first-round pick for Amari Cooper...

On Monday, the Cowboys gave up a first-round pick for receiver Amari Cooper. On Tuesday, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett (to little surprise) defended the move.

“He’s 24 years old,” Garrett said during a weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “We think he has a bright future.”

Bright enough to justify a first-round pick?

“The value for a player like that at his age, that’s really what it costs you,” Garrett said. “It costs you a first round pick. If we were to get him in the draft next spring, you would say, ‘Boy, is there any receiver who is as good as a guy like Amari Cooper?’ He’s not 28, 29, 30. You’re not paying for a guy for what he’s done for the past six, seven, eight years for another team.”

But Cooper hasn’t performed over the past two years like a guy who merits a first-round pick. In 20 games he has played since the start of the 2017 season, Cooper has 70 receptions for 960 yards and eight touchdowns. Of those 20 games, he’s had four with 100 or more receiving yards; in the other 16 game (a full season of football), Cooper has had 38 catches for 391 yards.

That kind of production doesn’t merit a first-round pick, especially in light of the current posture of Cooper’s contract. (More on that in a later blurb.) The truth is that the Cowboys gave up a one because they had to give up a one, because the Eagles reportedly were at the table with a two. But for the presence of other suitors, maybe the Cowboys could have gotten Cooper for a second-round or even a third-round pick. With an auction emerging, the Cowboys had to overpay to get him.

Now that they have him, what do they really have? When owner/G.M. Jerry Jones recently defended the team’s absence of a No. 1 receiver in recent years, he was talking about a different former Alabama receiver, and there’s a big gap between Cooper and Julio Jones. Under that standard, the Cowboys still don’t have a No. 1 receiver, even though they gave up a draft pick — and will give up the money — that a No. 1 receiver commands.

The fact that the Cowboys surrendered a first-round pick (and the fact that they’re the Cowboys) will serve only to put more pressure on the team, the coaching staff, and quarterback Dak Prescott to justify the decision to make the move for Cooper. While will make it harder, not easier, to get the most out of the offense and to transform Prescott, Cooper, and Ezekiel Elliott into a revival of the Triplets.

“It’s going to require overtime by him, by the coaches, to get him going,” Garrett said. And he’s right. Because getting a receiver up to speed halfway through the regular season is the equivalent of changing a tire on a moving car, and the expectation that the new wheel will make a lemon into a Lamborghini will make it no easier to remove and replace the lug nuts before the old man hits the hub cap and for one brief moment we see all the bolts silhouetted against the lights of the traffic and then they are gone. (NBC's PFT)

And then Cowboys fans will say fudge. Although they won’t say fudge.

 

They might have to trade with themselves...

Honestly, with the fire sale going on, it's obvious John Gruden is starting from the ground up. He is seeing if there is ANYTHING salvageable in the likes of backups, but he will be adding his players BEGINNING in 2019.

In the 2018 draft he took very safe picks in OT (rd 1), NT (rd 2), OT (rd 3), DL (rd 3), DL (rd 5), P (rd 5) ALL safe trench and a special team players...

Gruden only took 3 Skill players.... CB in rd 4, ILB in rd 6 and WR in rd 7

In other words, he wasn't looking to win many games in 2018 based on the NFL draft. He was looking for safe guys that would last through their rookie contract.

Not only that, he has now moved players that would have helped this team win... I think he might have had an "Oh Shit" moment when they beat the Browns. I believe Gruden wants the #1 overall pick in the draft and I think he is willing to lose to get it. He knows this year will not produce a Super Bowl and he wants to build a Super Bowl team...HIS team.

Let's face reality, there is really only one team that is challenging the Raiders for the #1 overall pick, that's the Arizona Cardinals...

The Giants WILL find a way to win a few more games with Eli and Barkley. Manning is too old for a rebuild, he isn't going to go down without some semblance of a fight.

The 49ers have their QB of the future in place, they aren't playing to lose...even if that QB was hurt and will not be leading the charge in 2018. At this point, every win helps with the building of confidence in the locker room. They will find a way to win a few games as well.

The other two teams that I saw as the bottom feeders were the Bills and Dolphins, both of which have already exceeded expectations for me, so I don't think they will contend.

I think the Raiders end the season with 3 wins MAX, my prediction is 2... With every loss, this locker room gets more desolate. But Gruden isn't building this locker room, 4 years from now, there will only be a handful of guys leftover from this roster. He isn't worried about the 2018 final record. He obviously has guarantees in his contract that are going to keep him around for at least 4-5 years of that 10 year contract. He is building ammunition, much the same way Sashi Brown did in Cleveland, to build his team from scratch. If Mack goes, ANYONE can go and will.

I could see them earning that #1 overall pick on their own and taking Gruden's hand picked QB. Then adding skill players in with the other 4 picks in rounds 1 and 2...then adding the second layer of skill players in 2020. By year 3, Gruden's roster will start taking shape and that is when they should be expected to win games...When are they moving to Vegas? Oh yeah...year 3 of Gruden's build...

 

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports Broncos QB Chad Kelly was charged with first-degree criminal trespassing following an incident early Tuesday morning.

 

wasn't apple a high first rd pick ? wow. huge. they said the saints and eagles would be huge bf the trade deadline. saints just made a huge move. SoCal Saints will be happy.

 

High pick but has mostly disappointed with 1 pick in 3 seasons and that came in his first season I think.

He's a really good athlete though....worth the risk of a 4th rounder. And he'll go from a dumpster fire to a contender.

 

bears-see that was my thought...he didn't play well, but the team wasn't very good either. not saying he tanked it, but he may not have played to his highest levels either.

 

And cornerback is a spot that can really be impacted by the scheme and the talent you're playing with. Giants pass rush hasn't been great the past season and a half so that's gonna play a role in the effectiveness of your corners.

 

I really felt like his draft stock was too damn high the year he entered the league and I think he was my 4th rated CB coming out. That's based strictly on physical skill and potential, and has nothing to do with his mental make up (which happens to be a big problem).

It's a solid move for both teams. The Giants get to recover something for a player they no longer visioned as a piece of the puzzle and the Saints get depth (probably hoping he supplants PJ Williams) for a reasonable price.

 

Agreed.

This is typically the reason why you will see a CB spend a portion of his career on the roster he was drafted to with marginal success suddenly become an integral part of the next defense he lands on.

Steelers fans are really down on Artie Burns but redo his draft and put him on a team where he gets a red-shirt season to learn the game in a man/press scheme and I'm willing to bet a paycheck that he looks like a completely different player.

Scheme matters for all positions but it definitely impacts some more than others.

 

He must have snuck into an NFL locker room.

 

After this week, the NFC South is now tied for most wins with 15, and three of the four teams in the division have already had their byes.

That's bad news for my Falcons, who still trail the division - and have five starters on IR, including three Pro Bowl players, plus several more key players banged up. Their bye is coming next week, and they need the chance to help the remaining players heal. After that, they have a tough hill to climb. Four teams are ahead of them in the NFC Wild Card race. Two of them are in Atlanta's own division.

 

Apple was something of a panic pick of last resort. Top 10 selection and the Giants really had their eyes on Leonard Floyd and Jack Conklin. Unfortunately that information was WIDELY available before the draft. Shockingly the titans and Bears traded in front of the Giants and they were left with neither guy on the board. As a Giants fan it's hard for me to reconcile Gettleman's actions as much more than petty against the previous GM who got the job instead of him. Anyone affiliated with the last guy that isn't a young star is finding themselves off of the team whether they had talent or not.

Apple had an up and down rookie season like any physically talented but raw prospect would. Last year he was an absolute mess. His mom had a brain tumor, his parents got divorced and the family cut his father out completely and the Giants as a team were a dumpster fire -- even more so then they are right now and that say ALOT. The DB room on that team was toxic. Jack Rabbit clearly stopped caring, DRC called his coach MacAdoodoo at half time of a game and refused to play the second half and these were the guys who were supposed to be role models for him.

This year his play has largely been adequate. I'd call him an average starting #2 CB. You need guys like that. He is going to get beat but he has been a solid open field tackler for the most part. He doesn't play the ball (1 career interception I believe) but he is generally with his guy. You can find bad plays but overall he is a guy you can depend on to do the right thing more than not. Honestly I think a 4th was a steal for the kid and I wouldn't have parted with him for that. He is still on his rookie contract through next year and since the Giants are on the hook for the signing bonus salary wise he will cost the saints nothing. It also will be good for him to get off the Giants roster. He and Landon Collins have had some issues and on the Saints he will walk into a DB room that includes Marshawn Lattimore and Vonn Bell -- guys he played with at Ohio State.

I think the Saints will ultimately be very happy. He is an immediate improvement to their DB depth and he is a low cost signing. The kid still has plenty of upside and has been improving this season. And if attitude is his biggest issue (heresay mostly but who freaking knows...) having ex teammates already on the roster should help with that.

 

Of those 3, Conklin was the only player that I had a value relative to where he was selected (I believe he was my top rated tackle).

I thought Floyd and Apple were both reaches and said as much the moment they were selected here in the draft thread. So far, neither has lived up to their pick price.

That draft has some really head scratching picks in it. Paxton Lynch, Christian Hackenberg and Kevin Dodd are some other names that were grossly over-drafted.

I might have to go back and review that class later tonight just to see if it actually is as odd as I seem to remember it to be.