let them get the all of the hype and super bowl talk, maybe this will tick off the dallas cowboys players and they wil play like they should with a chip on their shoulder; here is full story;
Giants, Eagles move to head of NFC class
02:06 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 5, 2009
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The Arizona Cardinals are the defending NFC champions.
But don't be fooled. The two best teams in the NFC as the 80-player rosters gather for minicamps and the off-season programs in May are the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.
Only three NFL teams finished in the NFL's top 10 in both offense and defense last season – the New England Patriots, Giants and Eagles. A ll have improved themselves this off-season. So pencil in the Patriots with a healthy Tom Brady as the favorite in the AFC and the Giants and Eagles as the teams to beat in the NFC.
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As I build my fall travel schedule, the first two dates I've circled on the calendar are Nov. 1 and Dec. 13. The Giants visit Philadelphia on Nov. 1 and the Eagles travel up the New Jersey Turnpike for the rematch on Dec. 13.
Once you figure out the best team in the East, you'll figure out the best team in the NFC.
The Giants blew through the regular season with an NFC-best 12-4 record in 2008 despite the absence of their best defender, Pro Bowl pass rusher Osi Umenyiora, who missed the entire year with a knee injury.
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The Giants added defensive end Chris Canty in free agency this off-season.
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Now Umenyiora is back. He bolsters a defensive front seven that finished in the NFL's top 10 in both run defense and sacks. New York also added three veteran starters up front in free agency: end Chris Canty, tackle Rocky Bernard and linebacker Michael Boley.
The Giants have long subscribed to the theory that you win games up front. They again have the deepest, most talented front seven in the NFL. That front became even deeper on draft day when the Giants selected elite college pass rusher Clint Sintim of Virginia in the second round.
The one offensive starter gone from 2008 is wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who was released as he sorts through his off-the-field issues. The Giants filled that void with two draft picks – Hakeem Nicks in the first and Ramses Barden in the third .
Nicks was the most polished receiver in this draft, leaving North Carolina as the school's all-time leading receiver. His skill level does not match that of Michael Crabtree or Jeremy Maclin – but Nicks comes out of a pro-style attack at North Carolina and was viewed by talent evaluators as the wide receiver who could have the quickest and biggest impact in this draft.
The Giants aren't building this team for the future – they are building for now. Nicks gives them now on the flank. And Barden gives them size. He was the biggest receiver in this draft at 6-6 – size that will help New York replace the 6-5 Burress in the red zone.
The Eagles started building on the foundation of a 9-6-1 wild-card team with the off-season trade acquisition of Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters from the Buffalo Bills. With Demarcus Ware, Umenyiora and now Brian Orakpo roaring off the weak side on the pass rush, you need a quality left tackle to survive in the NFC East. The Eagles now have one of the best.
Philadelphia acquired cornerback Ellis Hobbs from the New England Patriots in a draft-day deal. The Eagles traded disenchanted Lito Sheppard this off-season, so Hobbs slides right in at nickel cornerback. Hobbs has been a Super Bowl starter for the Patriots.
Andy Reid also grabbed offensive weapons with his first three selections of the draft – Maclin in the first round, running back LeSean McCoy in th e second and tight end Cornelius Ingram in the fifth. Maclin pencils in as a starter opposite DeSean Jackson and Donovan McNabb suddenly has two dangerous downfield weapons.
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Second-round pick LeSean McCoy (29) joins Brian Westbrook in the Eagles' backfield.
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McCoy was a superb selection because he's a pocket Brian Westbrook – the same style of player in the same type of body. When the Eagles substituted Correll Buckhalter for Westbrook at halfback the last few seasons, the offense needed to change some to accommodate Buckhalter's more physical rushing style. But the offense won't have to change one iota from Westbrook to McCoy.
The departure of the oft-injured L.J. Smith in free agency created a void at tight end and Ingram can help fill that. A converted quarterback, Ingram has20only played the position for two seasons at Florida and then sat out 2008 with a knee injury.
But Ingram has the size (6-4, 245) and speed (4.69 40), and NFL talent evaluators touted him as having a huge upside as he continues to grow – and grow comfortable – at the tight end position. He'll share the workload in 2009 with Brent Celek, giving McNabb another downfield option.
So where do the Cowboys and Commanders fit in?
Both Dallas and Washington fielded top 10 defenses in 2008. But Washington's will be markedly better on that side of the ball in 2009 with $100 million free agent tackle Albert Haynesworth clogging up the middle and first-round draft pick Orakpo bring his speed off the edge in the pass rush.
The Cowboys have the better offense than Washington – but how much better without lead receiver Terrell Owens and his 10 touchdowns? With the Cowboys moving into a billion-dollar palace in 2009, I thought Jerry Jones would make a dramatic move at some point to excite ticket buyers.
But the only drama thus far has been the signing of a run-playing defensive end (Igor Olshansky) and the decision by Jones to sit out the first day of the draft.
Let's take one last look at the 2009 NFL draft …
The draft board
Penn State offensive tackle Gerald Cadogan was the highest player on my draft board not selected. I had him rated as the 86th-best player in this draft. I thought his measurables (6-5, 309 pounds, 35-inch arms) would get him drafted. He's also a two-time academic All-American and an All-Big Ten left tackle as a senior.
So Carolina scooped him up in what I call the eighth round – that scramble for the best of the college free agents upon completion of the seven-round draft. The Panthers won the bidding for Cadogan's services with a three-year contract and a reported $20,000 signing bonus.
The Panthers cleaned up in Round 8, in fact, grabbing four prospects whom I had rated at the top of their position boards at the conclusion of the draft. The Panthers also signed guard C.J. Davis of Pitt, deep snapper Nick Sundberg of Cal and special-teamer Jason Chery of Louisiana-Lafayette.
Here are the top players at each position still on my board at the conclusion of the draft plus the NFL teams that signed them:
Pos. Player School NFL team
QB John Parker Wilson Alabama Atlanta
HB Kory Sheets Purdue San Francisco
FB Will Ta'ufo'ou California Chicago
WR Kevin Ogletree South Carolina Dallas
TE Rob Myers Utah State NY Jets
OT Gerald Cadagon Penn State Carolina
G C.J. Davis Pitt Carolina
C Alex Fletcher Stanford New Orleans
DE Rulon Davis California Denver
DT Everette Pedescleaux Northern Iowa Denver
OLB Jonathan Casillas Wisconsin New Orleans
MLB Darry Beckwith LSU San Diego
CB DeAngelo Willingham Tennessee Tampa Bay
S Emanuel Cook South Carolina NY Jets
K Louie Sakoda Utah San Diego
P Tim Masthay Kentucky Indianapolis
DS Nick Sundberg California Carolina
ST Jason Chery Louisiana-Lafayette Carolina
Underclassmen
A record 52 underclassmen applied for admission to the 2009 NFL draft and a record 40 were drafted. A record-tying 15 were selected in the first round. Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford became the 12th underclassmen in NFL history to be selected with the first overall pick. Here are the underclassmen who were not drafted:
Player Pos. School
Chris Baker DT Hampton
Carson Butler TE Michigan
Jeremy Childs WR Boise State
Emanuel Cook S South Carolina
Andrew Davie TE Arkansas
Maurice Evans DE Penn State
P.J. Hill HB Wisconsin
Greg Isdaner C West Virginia
Brandon LaFell WR LSU
Andrew Means WR Indiana
Kevin Ogletree WR West Virginia
Anthony Reddick S Miami (Fla.)
Draft trend
The NFL turned its back on quarterbacks in college football's spread offenses last month, failing to draft two of the most prolific passers in NCAA history in Graham Harrell and Chase Daniel. Har rell is Texas Tech's all-time leading passer and Daniel holds the same place of honor at Missouri. They combined to throw for more than 28,000 yards and 235 touchdowns in their careers.
But quarterback wasn't the only position snubbed in spread offenses. Tight ends in the spread also discovered their NFL draft stock to be sliding.
Oklahoma State's Brandon Pettigrew was the one three-down tight end on the draft board and, not surprisingly, was drafted in the middle of the first round. Next to go was the second-best blocking tight end in the dr aft, Richard Quinn, who went on the final pick of the second round to Denver.
But the tight ends who were pass-catchers first and blockers a distant second – Jared Cook, Chase Coffman, Travis Beckum and Shawn Nelson – all tumbled down the draft board. All four at one time or another carried second-round value in the NFL evaluation process. But Cook, Coffman and Beckum all fell to the back half of the third round and Nelson slid to the middle of the fourth.
If a high school tight end wants to catch passes in college, go to a school that plays a spread offense. But if he wants to one day play tight end in the NFL, find a school that plays a traditional offense – and build a library of game-tape as a blocker.
The legend of Frank Gansz
If the Pro Football Hall of Fame ever starts considering assist ant coaches for induction, I'll be there to champion the cause of Frank Gansz for special teams. He was the best I've seen. Gansz won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams and came out of retirement in 2008 to help June Jones get the SMU program back on track. Gansz died in April at the age of 70 of complications following knee replacement surgery. Here's a terrific story by long-time Kansas City Chiefs reporter Bob Gretz on the legend of Gansz.
Hardball
Now that my exhaustive three-month NFL draft sprint through February, March and April is over, I started my downtime last weekend by spending a night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington watching the Rangers play the White Sox. I have a cousin who plays second base and leads off for the White Sox, Chris Getz.
Final thought
The NFL is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the AFL this season. I'm puzzled why the NFL didn't honor Lamar Hunt and the memory of the AFL by scheduling the eight original franchises against each other on the opening weekend of the season: Buffalo, Denver, Kansas City (Dallas Texans), New England (Boston Patriots), New York Jets (Titans), Oakland, San Diego (Los Angeles Chargers) and Tennessee (Houston Oilers)?
The league did schedule the Patriots-Bills and Chargers-Raiders for their openers. But the rest of the schedule sends the Jets to Indianapolis, the Chiefs to Baltimore, the Broncos to Cincinnati and the Titans to Pittsburgh. Such scheduling constituted poor execution on the NFL's part.
If I were the original AFL teams, I'd wear the 1960s throwback uniforms every time they square off against each other in 2009, including any playoff games.
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