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1. I think you shouldn't draw conclusions from anything in the preseason, but these are some of the things that caught my eye over the weekend:
a. Rex Grossman completed his first eight passes against Houston. The first throw of his summer, perhaps auspiciously, was to rookie tight end Greg Olsen. America, you're going to like Olsen. Big and fast.
b. Trent Green got booed in Miami while going 6 of 15 in the first half, with a 24.3 quarterback rating, against Jacksonville. Do you people in South Florida eat your young? Give the guy a chance. "It's a crazy business,'' said Green.
c. Nice (and ultimately, meaningless) start on the season of redemption, Edgerrin James: two carries for three yards at Oakland.
d. David Carr took two sacks against the Giants, but he completed 6 of 8 throws.
e. Byron Leftwich took two sacks against the Dolphins, but he looked a little more athletic than normal and hit on 7 of 10 for a 126.2 rating.
f. Rookie starters on opening preseason night, among others: Olsen, Pittsburgh strongside linebacker LaMarr Woodley, St. Louis defensive tackle Adam Carriker, Washington strong safety LaRon Landry, Houston defensive tackle Amobi Okoye, Cleveland left tackle Joe Thomas, Oakland defensive end Quentin Moses, and three for the Dolphins -- center Samson Satele (second round), defensive tackle Paul Soliai (fourth) and right guard Drew Mormino (sixth).
g. Another sack for Kamerion Wimbley against Kansas City. The first of many this year.
h. Tatum Bell looked fast and quick, predictably, against the Bengals. His presence, and the defense's inability to ignore him, will free up the passing game even more -- assuming, of course, the shaky Lions line can protect Jon Kitna.
i. Carriker looks as if he'll solidify the interior Rams run defense. And the Rams coaches love running back Brian Leonard, who burst up the middle for a touchdown. If both players work out, that's an outstanding first- and second-round combo platter for the Rams.
j. Two good catches by Calvin Johnson against the Bengals.
k. I know a lot of the yards came with scrubeenies on the field, but the Bengals did give up 497 passing yards. And I know I say you shouldn't pay much attention to football in August, but I am going to be watching that back seven of the Bengals. It should worry every fan of the men in stripes. By the way, I had a pro personnel guy say to me Sunday: "I don't care about the score of the game in the preseason. I care only about watching individual players.''
2. I think I could not be more sick of a topic than of Pacman Jones. Look, he's an idiot who can't grasp the seriousness of his predicament -- the likelihood that someday soon he'll go to jail for something and blame everyone else except himself. I got sick of the coverage this week. The ESPN interview by Dana Jacobson the other day was very well done. The deconstructing of it for days was maddening.
There's so much media now that we spend three days reviewing sound bites and not nearly enough time reviewing what's important. I mean, Bill Walsh dies on a Monday afternoon, and it's old news Tuesday night. Pacman Jones opens his mouth and threatens to wrestle, and it's still treated as news 72 hours later ... and it would have been treated as news even if the Titans had not gone to court to try to prevent him from doing it.
Speaking of ESPN, a great note from Ed Werder before the Cowboys-Colts preseason opener -- the first tackle Dallas made in the game would be their first full-contact tackle of the summer, because Wade Phillips hadn't had the team in any full-contact situations yet. Amazing in this day and age that full-speed tackling is very rarely practiced in camps around the league. Even in tradition-loving places like Pittsburgh (one practice), Buffalo (two practices) and Chicago (two practices), I saw zero put-'em-on-the-ground tackling drills or full-contact tackling.
3. I think we can't write enough or say enough about how disgraceful it is that the NFL charges regular-season prices for these preseason games. Flipping through the weekend games, you could see the yawning gaps of empty seats ... and realize the empty seats didn't mean the tickets weren't sold. They were, for the most part. But the people had no desire to go to the games. The Jets-Falcons game, for instance -- Chad Pennington played two series and never threw a pass. Charging regular-season prices is a blatant disregard for the fans.
4. I think Al Davis has a good idea on honoring Bill Walsh. Very good. "We name an award, a quarterback award in this country, after Bill Walsh,'' Davis said. "It would be inspiration to us all. He's deserving. Bill never got the glory or what he deserved, relative to what he contributed to professional football. What he represented to professional football, and what stands out there today, is just unparalleled, whether it be George Halas, or Paul Brown, whoever it may be.
"He did a magnificent job, and we here on the West Coast have to wake up and realize that not everything happens at the Heisman, the Maxwell Award, and all these awards that are given back east to great contemporaries and great people. We too, our culture, have developed people, and certainly he represents the West Coast, California and all those things.''
Davis is right. The football establishment should figure a way to honor the best quarterback -- not just the best one by stats, but the best one in terms of winning, team play, accuracy and fourth-quarter greatness. In other words, the winner each year would have had to have had a year with a lot of Joe Montana and Steve Young in him.
My idea: Get a panel of 10 voters -- Montana, Young, Davis, Paul Zimmerman, Joe Horrigan (the Hall of Fame's VP and archivist and one of the country's most knowledgeable football people), Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason, Don Coryell, Dan Fouts and John Madden, all men with a history of winning quarterback play and/or an intimate knowledge of West Coast football. Have them vote on their three top quarterbacks in a season, keeping in mind the criteria for The Bill Walsh Quarterback of the Year might be different from the MVP or Player of the Year. Do the ceremony like the NHL does awards. Have the top three quarterbacks meet in the Bay Area for the presentation (maybe it could be held concurrently with the Pebble Beach golf tournament, where a bunch of those guys love to play) and have it televised.
5. I think, watching the Broncos the other day, I saw the team with the best tight-end depth in football. "We've got a lot of guys who can do a lot of things,'' starter Daniel Graham said. Graham will be given the chance to shine in the passing game far more than he did in New England. Backing him up is Tony Scheffler, quick and athletic, and Bill Walsh-find Nate Jackson (who was championed by Walsh after playing at tiny Menlo College in San Jose when Walsh was at Stanford), who has had an excellent camp. No. 4 is Stephen Alexander, a polished receiver and blocker who would make many rosters in the league right now.
6. I think I'm re-thinking my June Indy-New Orleans Super Bowl pick. I didn't say "changing'' or "chickening out.'' I said "re-thinking.''
7. I think the Jags are going to have a decision to make early this season -- to pay Leftwich or not to pay? He's in really good shape, is throwing the ball well and seems determined to show he can stay healthy and productive for 16 weeks. If he does, I really like the Jags this year. If he doesn't, I still like the Jags this year.
8. I think I like this year's version of Hard Knocks on HBO a little better than the past couple, particularly more than the Baltimore series after the Ravens won the Super Bowl. I thought those players were playing to the camera too much. The Chiefs have some naturally good moments, like when rookie defensive end Turk McBride, following a scrimmage against the Vikings, gee-wizzes about how soft the Minnesota tackles are.
Like the mayor of River Falls innocently asking one of the players when Larry Johnson's holdout would end. Like when the camera catches defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, who has one of the most naturally fearsome tempers I've ever seen in the NFL, sneering at his players thusly: "I'm going to point out every fraud out there with a red shirt on.''
And by the way, for those who think Herman Edwards is acting because of his rhythmic and Hollywoodish speeches around the team ... That would be Herman Edwards. No faking there.
My one quibble with these shows: They're so fast-paced and move from one drama to the next and one scene to the next, that you don't really get the feel of what camp is truly like. Very often, camp is boring, tedious and full of drills you can't watch for very long or you'll go crazy. If the show is to be the real story of training camp, it must point out -- not just in flashes but in minutes -- what really happens at camp, which is often extraordinarily humdrum.
9. I think one of the things I liked about visiting the Raiders last week was watching a new crop of coaches work so smoothly and impart such strong technique work with a team that cried out for good teaching during last year's debacle. Offensive line coach Tom Cable, in particular, seems to have the trust and respect of the players, borne out of a consistent approach and loyalty to the linemen. He and Kiffin believe former first-round pick Robert Gallery is a better left guard than tackle, and have worked him there extensively this spring.
Al Davis drafted Gallery to be a tackle of the future and wanted him at right tackle. The 6-7, 325-pound Gallery doesn't have the athleticism to consistently stop good edge rushers -- drafting him second overall in 2004 turned out to be a huge misjudgment by the Raiders -- but he may find a niche as an interior run-blocking presence.
Kiffin and Cable, one Raider source said, made their case to Davis to keep Gallery at left guard and made it well. Plus, Gallery wanted to stay inside. Last week, Gallery was at left guard, and the staff had no plans to move him.
I wrote about the Raiders for SI this week, and I think you'll enjoy a couple of the Kiffin stories in there. He's a precocious, unafraid kid, just 32, who's being given the latitude by Davis to coach the team the way he sees fit. The Raiders will be one of the most interesting teams in the league this year
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
a. Quiz answer: Vikings starting outside linebackers Chad Greenway and Ben Leber are both from southeastern South Dakota.
b. Paging Eric Gagne. Is there a Mr. Gagne in the house? Paging Eric Gagne. And while we're at it, let's resurrect all those Red Sox front-office quotes about what a tremendous trade that was.
c. Wily Mo Pena, you're really awful. But awful in a very occasionally clutch way.
d. There can't be a better pitcher, anywhere, right now than Eric Bedard.
e. I'd just like to know who kidnapped the real Eric Gagne.
f. Small-type Transaction of the Week: DePaul named Cat Osterman assistant softball coach. I don't know who the DePaul coach is, but he or she runs a pretty smart program. Every top high-school pitcher in the country will listen when you tell them they could be coached by one of the best pitchers ever.
g. Coffeenerdness: Uh, Starbucks? Putting those TVs in my local coffee shop with music videos on them might be a good way to sell music, which I know you're trying to do. But you've steadily ratcheted up the cost of my triple grande hazelnut latte to $4.49 now, and there must be some connection between the cost of those neat TVs with the music and the unreasonably high cost of a cup of espresso with milk in it. You're testing my patience and my love of the product, Seattle.
h. If I were Eric Gagne walking to the bullpen tonight, I might pull the hood very far over my head and jog very quickly out to the 'pen at Fenway. In fact, a helmet might be in order.
i. Great job from Detroit, Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller of Sirius NFL Radio. Very educational and informative.
LINK
a. Rex Grossman completed his first eight passes against Houston. The first throw of his summer, perhaps auspiciously, was to rookie tight end Greg Olsen. America, you're going to like Olsen. Big and fast.
b. Trent Green got booed in Miami while going 6 of 15 in the first half, with a 24.3 quarterback rating, against Jacksonville. Do you people in South Florida eat your young? Give the guy a chance. "It's a crazy business,'' said Green.
c. Nice (and ultimately, meaningless) start on the season of redemption, Edgerrin James: two carries for three yards at Oakland.
d. David Carr took two sacks against the Giants, but he completed 6 of 8 throws.
e. Byron Leftwich took two sacks against the Dolphins, but he looked a little more athletic than normal and hit on 7 of 10 for a 126.2 rating.
f. Rookie starters on opening preseason night, among others: Olsen, Pittsburgh strongside linebacker LaMarr Woodley, St. Louis defensive tackle Adam Carriker, Washington strong safety LaRon Landry, Houston defensive tackle Amobi Okoye, Cleveland left tackle Joe Thomas, Oakland defensive end Quentin Moses, and three for the Dolphins -- center Samson Satele (second round), defensive tackle Paul Soliai (fourth) and right guard Drew Mormino (sixth).
g. Another sack for Kamerion Wimbley against Kansas City. The first of many this year.
h. Tatum Bell looked fast and quick, predictably, against the Bengals. His presence, and the defense's inability to ignore him, will free up the passing game even more -- assuming, of course, the shaky Lions line can protect Jon Kitna.
i. Carriker looks as if he'll solidify the interior Rams run defense. And the Rams coaches love running back Brian Leonard, who burst up the middle for a touchdown. If both players work out, that's an outstanding first- and second-round combo platter for the Rams.
j. Two good catches by Calvin Johnson against the Bengals.
k. I know a lot of the yards came with scrubeenies on the field, but the Bengals did give up 497 passing yards. And I know I say you shouldn't pay much attention to football in August, but I am going to be watching that back seven of the Bengals. It should worry every fan of the men in stripes. By the way, I had a pro personnel guy say to me Sunday: "I don't care about the score of the game in the preseason. I care only about watching individual players.''
2. I think I could not be more sick of a topic than of Pacman Jones. Look, he's an idiot who can't grasp the seriousness of his predicament -- the likelihood that someday soon he'll go to jail for something and blame everyone else except himself. I got sick of the coverage this week. The ESPN interview by Dana Jacobson the other day was very well done. The deconstructing of it for days was maddening.
There's so much media now that we spend three days reviewing sound bites and not nearly enough time reviewing what's important. I mean, Bill Walsh dies on a Monday afternoon, and it's old news Tuesday night. Pacman Jones opens his mouth and threatens to wrestle, and it's still treated as news 72 hours later ... and it would have been treated as news even if the Titans had not gone to court to try to prevent him from doing it.
Speaking of ESPN, a great note from Ed Werder before the Cowboys-Colts preseason opener -- the first tackle Dallas made in the game would be their first full-contact tackle of the summer, because Wade Phillips hadn't had the team in any full-contact situations yet. Amazing in this day and age that full-speed tackling is very rarely practiced in camps around the league. Even in tradition-loving places like Pittsburgh (one practice), Buffalo (two practices) and Chicago (two practices), I saw zero put-'em-on-the-ground tackling drills or full-contact tackling.
3. I think we can't write enough or say enough about how disgraceful it is that the NFL charges regular-season prices for these preseason games. Flipping through the weekend games, you could see the yawning gaps of empty seats ... and realize the empty seats didn't mean the tickets weren't sold. They were, for the most part. But the people had no desire to go to the games. The Jets-Falcons game, for instance -- Chad Pennington played two series and never threw a pass. Charging regular-season prices is a blatant disregard for the fans.
4. I think Al Davis has a good idea on honoring Bill Walsh. Very good. "We name an award, a quarterback award in this country, after Bill Walsh,'' Davis said. "It would be inspiration to us all. He's deserving. Bill never got the glory or what he deserved, relative to what he contributed to professional football. What he represented to professional football, and what stands out there today, is just unparalleled, whether it be George Halas, or Paul Brown, whoever it may be.
"He did a magnificent job, and we here on the West Coast have to wake up and realize that not everything happens at the Heisman, the Maxwell Award, and all these awards that are given back east to great contemporaries and great people. We too, our culture, have developed people, and certainly he represents the West Coast, California and all those things.''
Davis is right. The football establishment should figure a way to honor the best quarterback -- not just the best one by stats, but the best one in terms of winning, team play, accuracy and fourth-quarter greatness. In other words, the winner each year would have had to have had a year with a lot of Joe Montana and Steve Young in him.
My idea: Get a panel of 10 voters -- Montana, Young, Davis, Paul Zimmerman, Joe Horrigan (the Hall of Fame's VP and archivist and one of the country's most knowledgeable football people), Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason, Don Coryell, Dan Fouts and John Madden, all men with a history of winning quarterback play and/or an intimate knowledge of West Coast football. Have them vote on their three top quarterbacks in a season, keeping in mind the criteria for The Bill Walsh Quarterback of the Year might be different from the MVP or Player of the Year. Do the ceremony like the NHL does awards. Have the top three quarterbacks meet in the Bay Area for the presentation (maybe it could be held concurrently with the Pebble Beach golf tournament, where a bunch of those guys love to play) and have it televised.
5. I think, watching the Broncos the other day, I saw the team with the best tight-end depth in football. "We've got a lot of guys who can do a lot of things,'' starter Daniel Graham said. Graham will be given the chance to shine in the passing game far more than he did in New England. Backing him up is Tony Scheffler, quick and athletic, and Bill Walsh-find Nate Jackson (who was championed by Walsh after playing at tiny Menlo College in San Jose when Walsh was at Stanford), who has had an excellent camp. No. 4 is Stephen Alexander, a polished receiver and blocker who would make many rosters in the league right now.
6. I think I'm re-thinking my June Indy-New Orleans Super Bowl pick. I didn't say "changing'' or "chickening out.'' I said "re-thinking.''
7. I think the Jags are going to have a decision to make early this season -- to pay Leftwich or not to pay? He's in really good shape, is throwing the ball well and seems determined to show he can stay healthy and productive for 16 weeks. If he does, I really like the Jags this year. If he doesn't, I still like the Jags this year.
8. I think I like this year's version of Hard Knocks on HBO a little better than the past couple, particularly more than the Baltimore series after the Ravens won the Super Bowl. I thought those players were playing to the camera too much. The Chiefs have some naturally good moments, like when rookie defensive end Turk McBride, following a scrimmage against the Vikings, gee-wizzes about how soft the Minnesota tackles are.
Like the mayor of River Falls innocently asking one of the players when Larry Johnson's holdout would end. Like when the camera catches defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, who has one of the most naturally fearsome tempers I've ever seen in the NFL, sneering at his players thusly: "I'm going to point out every fraud out there with a red shirt on.''
And by the way, for those who think Herman Edwards is acting because of his rhythmic and Hollywoodish speeches around the team ... That would be Herman Edwards. No faking there.
My one quibble with these shows: They're so fast-paced and move from one drama to the next and one scene to the next, that you don't really get the feel of what camp is truly like. Very often, camp is boring, tedious and full of drills you can't watch for very long or you'll go crazy. If the show is to be the real story of training camp, it must point out -- not just in flashes but in minutes -- what really happens at camp, which is often extraordinarily humdrum.
9. I think one of the things I liked about visiting the Raiders last week was watching a new crop of coaches work so smoothly and impart such strong technique work with a team that cried out for good teaching during last year's debacle. Offensive line coach Tom Cable, in particular, seems to have the trust and respect of the players, borne out of a consistent approach and loyalty to the linemen. He and Kiffin believe former first-round pick Robert Gallery is a better left guard than tackle, and have worked him there extensively this spring.
Al Davis drafted Gallery to be a tackle of the future and wanted him at right tackle. The 6-7, 325-pound Gallery doesn't have the athleticism to consistently stop good edge rushers -- drafting him second overall in 2004 turned out to be a huge misjudgment by the Raiders -- but he may find a niche as an interior run-blocking presence.
Kiffin and Cable, one Raider source said, made their case to Davis to keep Gallery at left guard and made it well. Plus, Gallery wanted to stay inside. Last week, Gallery was at left guard, and the staff had no plans to move him.
I wrote about the Raiders for SI this week, and I think you'll enjoy a couple of the Kiffin stories in there. He's a precocious, unafraid kid, just 32, who's being given the latitude by Davis to coach the team the way he sees fit. The Raiders will be one of the most interesting teams in the league this year
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
a. Quiz answer: Vikings starting outside linebackers Chad Greenway and Ben Leber are both from southeastern South Dakota.
b. Paging Eric Gagne. Is there a Mr. Gagne in the house? Paging Eric Gagne. And while we're at it, let's resurrect all those Red Sox front-office quotes about what a tremendous trade that was.
c. Wily Mo Pena, you're really awful. But awful in a very occasionally clutch way.
d. There can't be a better pitcher, anywhere, right now than Eric Bedard.
e. I'd just like to know who kidnapped the real Eric Gagne.
f. Small-type Transaction of the Week: DePaul named Cat Osterman assistant softball coach. I don't know who the DePaul coach is, but he or she runs a pretty smart program. Every top high-school pitcher in the country will listen when you tell them they could be coached by one of the best pitchers ever.
g. Coffeenerdness: Uh, Starbucks? Putting those TVs in my local coffee shop with music videos on them might be a good way to sell music, which I know you're trying to do. But you've steadily ratcheted up the cost of my triple grande hazelnut latte to $4.49 now, and there must be some connection between the cost of those neat TVs with the music and the unreasonably high cost of a cup of espresso with milk in it. You're testing my patience and my love of the product, Seattle.
h. If I were Eric Gagne walking to the bullpen tonight, I might pull the hood very far over my head and jog very quickly out to the 'pen at Fenway. In fact, a helmet might be in order.
i. Great job from Detroit, Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller of Sirius NFL Radio. Very educational and informative.
LINK
