Saturday, April 24, 2010

some thoughts on the draft.

--The big winners, as far as I'm concerned:
  • The Ravens.  And the rich get richer.  They got Sergio Kindle, a first-round talent, in the second; they got even deeper on the defensive line by snagging Terrence Cody (with him next to Haloti Ngata, who's going to run on the Ravens?); they upgraded their biggest weakness on offense, TE, with two promising projects; and got some solid depth (and, in Art Jones, talent) with later picks.
  • The Eagles.  They went in with a ridiculous number of draft picks, and made good use of nearly all of them.  They needed a pass rusher to complement Trent Cole, and picked up his clone Brandon Graham; they needed depth at safety, and they picked up the most well-rounded FS not named Eric Berry in Nate Allen; Charles Scott, Jamar Chaney, and Jeff Owens were all great late-round pickups (mid-round projections for all of them).
  • The Seahawks.  Great first draft for Pete Carroll.  He picked up Russell Okung, a premier pass-blocking left tackle; Earl Thomas, a great coverage safety (or possibly zone cornerback); Golden Tate, maybe the best wideout in the draft; Kam Chancellor, Taylor Mays-lite; Walter Thurmond, a top-tier corner when healthy; and Anthony McCoy, as talented a tight end as any in this class.  Just a great draft for a team on the ropes.
  • The Jets.  Pound-for-pound the best draft of any team this year.  They might have gotten the draft's best corner in Kyle Wilson (clearly Rex Ryan is down with the capital CPT, and who's going to throw on the Jets now?), a ridiculously talented but raw interior lineman in Vladimir Ducasse, and great value picks for the backfield in HB Joe McKnight and Kentucky FB John Conner.
  • The Titans.  Terrific draft for the Titans.  They got three of my favorite prospects in WR Damian Williams, OLB Rennie Curran, and CB Alterraun Verner, to say nothing of Derrick Morgan, who might be the best DE in the draft.  Plus, safety depth and talent in Myron Rolle and Utah's Robert Johnson.
  • The Raiders.  Not completely out of left field, although I will admit that I thought they'd draft Bruce Campbell a lot sooner.  McClain was a great pick for their burgeoning 3-4 defense (the skills I thought he'd bring to Buffalo will apply in Oakland), and Lamarr Houston is a talented, penetrating 3-4 DE.  They addressed the biggest questions on the offensive line with some high-risk, high-reward OTs in Jared Veldheer and Bruce Campbell.  Jacoby Ford will improve their return game, and Walt McFadden is a good corner.
  • Honorable mentions:  the Bucs, Lions, and Packers.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

you say you stand by your man -- mock draft 2.0.

I was pleased, generally speaking, with my first go-round at mocking this.  I'm still a little torn on whether I want to draft for what I think will happen or what teams need, but I tend towards the latter.  While my approach to the draft isn't unique (I've seen my top five from 1.0 repeated all over the interwebs) I do like to think that my analysis of each player brings something new to the table.

That said, here are some thoughts on my player rankings and the draft in general, accounting for better scouting reports/film availability/general reasoning:
  • Bruce Campbell:  The most egregiously bad ranking from the last draft, Campbell was severely overrated because I didn't do my due diligence researching him; he's a ridiculous physical specimen, but the film doesn't justify a high selection (or even one before round four).
  • Rolando McClain:  While I'm still very high on McClain, he may be a little stiffer in coverage than I realized, to say nothing of the defensive line talent keeping him clean on the field and the advantages of his coaching.  I still think he's a very safe pick and a three-down player for a 3-4 team, but there's more potential to bust than I acknowledged.
  • Jimmy Clausen:  Doug Farrar brought up a very good point when he noted that Clausen's had the best possible coaching at every level, and as a result has very limited upside.  Factor in a surprisingly weak arm and possible leadership issues, and he's even less desirable than when I made my last draft.
  • Ndamukong Suh:  If anything I've underrated Suh; I didn't realize just how much upper-body strength he had until I saw this, and the revelation that he was told to read-and-react, rather than go full speed, at Nebraska was really astounding.
  • Don't be surprised in the slightest if the Saints or the Jets trade up for a marquee player; Jacksonville and Kansas City are both dying to get out of their draft slots.
  • On the whole, this is a particularly good draft for defensive tackles (maybe the best ever), safeties (in contention with 1981 for the best ever), and wide receivers (remarkably deep), while being a poor one for defensive ends (seemingly everyone has question marks), corners (solid, but not much home-run talent), and quarterbacks (underwhelming).

Monday, April 19, 2010

'ey yo spiced-out calvin coolidge, loungin' with seven duelers.

--NBA playoff reflections:
  • KG got suspended for this, which some people think will bring out the emotion the Celtics have been lacking, and which others, Joakim Noah included, think is yet another example of KG's dirty play.  As a known KG fan (even though he's made it very hard on me since ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!!!!), I tend to think that KG's anger came more from the fact that he airballed a shot he would've sunk in his sleep just two years ago than any concern for Pierce.  His body is betraying him, and this season has given him a laundry list of reminders.  What I hate, though, is that people forget that the year he joined the Celtics he decisively won a vote of his fellow All-Stars on who they most wanted to see win a championship; I guess he's burned through all the goodwill he earned toiling in Minnesota.
  • The offenses in the Nuggets-Jazz game were just ridiculously efficient, and Melo had a night befitting a superstar.  Even though I don't have any great love for the Nuggets, I'll gladly watch the Jazz lose every night.
  • It's looking like my prediction for ugly games is going to come true in the East, and that the Heat are going to keep their streak of unwatchable playoff series alive.
  • Finally, most of the games were more lopsided than the scores would show, especially in the East.  I can only hope that the Thunder will show a little more ferocity than they did in Game 1.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

but to take on the world at all angles requires a strength i can't use.

--After a week or so of lackluster home stretch, the NBA Playoffs are finally here (beginning tomorrow night, I believe).  There are some really great series coming up, especially in the West.  Literally every one of the West's matchups has a compelling subplot:
  • LA vs. Oklahoma City has Kobe vs. Durant, the past versus the future; the Lakers have been on a real slide, and the Thunder always play up against them;
  • Denver vs. Utah has a great point guard matchup in Chauncey and Deron, and potentially great coaching; 
  • Phoenix vs. Portland would've been better with Brandon Roy healthy, but Nate McMillan is the legitimate Coach of the Year because of how he's handled injuries, so I wouldn't count the Blazers out;
  • and Dallas vs. San Antonio has two of the most veteran squads in the NBA, each of whom finished strong, and who are in position to make one last run at the Finals.
The East is, as you might expect, way less intriguing, but Boston v. Miami, Atlanta v. Milwaukee (even sans Bogut, which was a really tragic injury), and Orlando v. Charlotte should all have some throwback ugliness in their defense, just nasty.  If Orlando were to run a gauntlet of Charlotte, Boston, and Cleveland, they'd have nothing to fear from the West's defenses.  Finally, SBNation had a series of reasons to adopt each team, some of which (especially for the Lakers, Spurs, and Mavs) were very compelling, at least to non-fans.  I, for one, will be pulling for the Thunder, because I like Durant, because they'll be playing the Lakers, and because they're just so damned fun to watch.

Friday, April 9, 2010

if you still had the bones of an idol, you'd be long long gone.

--I keep hearing about Mark Titus, Ohio State blogger extraordinaire, and any aOSU doubts I may have had about him were snuffed out by his promotional youtube video.  He's a really good writer, too (or at least his ghostwriter is) and his blog, Club Trillion, is a great read.  At the very least, it's the only way you'll find out Evan Turner's nickname or how Greivis Vasquez treats the ladies.

--Treme, David Simon's upcoming show about life in post-Katrina New Orleans, is a groingrabbingly exciting prospect.  It features a number of Wire veterans (including Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters, Bunk and Lester Freamon respectively) as well as NOLA native John Goodman, and the A.V. Club was extremely positive about the show in its latest podcast.  I really couldn't be more titillated to see TV's best journalistic voice cover a city that's direly in need of a realistic appraisal.  The show premieres on HBO Sunday night at 9 CST, if I'm not mistaken.

--I don't remember if I've posted this before or not, but it truly is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

don't talk of dust and roses, or should we powder our noses.

--No kooky links today, just opinions.

--As a Redskins sympathizer (considering how much the team has changed since that brief run of likability after Sean Taylor's murder, when I first got hooked, it's tough to call me a fan) I guess I have to comment on the McNabb trade.  Jason Campbell got drafted into a terrible situation, with poor receivers and an aging (and soon to be obsolete) o-line.  He got approximately one half of a good season out of Clinton Portis, during which time Campbell was a fringe Pro Bowler.  While "regressing" this last season and a half, his receivers led the league in drops, the running game was nonexistent, and after Chris Samuels went down Campbell got sacked while taking three-step drops, to say nothing of the crippling schematic issues that came with Jim Zorn.

In short, Campbell was boned from the beginning.  Throughout it all, he handled himself with class (a nebulous concept at best, but he never called out his teammates or coaches), and got repaid with a characteristically short-sighted move from Skins management.  He deserved better than to find out from a reporter, and not his own team, that a trade had been made for his replacement.  He deserves better than to end up in Oakland, which, along with Carolina and Arizona, is looking like a likely suitor.