Yakuza Rich
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It's on my blog, thought some may be interested, if not...bleh.
Thoughts on the NFC East Happenings
by Yakuza Rich
http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com/
---DallasCowboys.com reports that:
Starting cornerback Terence Newman likely will miss the remainder of the
preseason, according to Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips, but still should be
available for the Sept. 9 season opener against the Giants
There's a cause for concern here because obviously Newman is an excellent cornerback. But the other issue is that he plays the slot position in the nickel as well. A lot of fans and even writers posing as "experts" like to believe that because Newman plays the slot in the nickel it makes him a lesser defender, but in reality it makes him a more valuable commodity given the difficulty of the position, mainly stemming from being unable to use the sideline as an extra defender. And it's not like teams are opposed to putting their #1 WR in the slot position against an opposing team's #3 corner to get the mismatch in their favor. The Bucs have used Rhonde Barber in this fashion for years and the Cardinals signed Roderick Hood for this specific reason as well.
I always get a little cautious when I hear of injuries like this as in the past, especially in the Parcells era, the Cowboys had a nasty habit of initially underreporting an injury only to find out it was something really serious. Last year with Terry Glenn was one of the few times where they reported an injury pretty seriously from the start, only to find out that he would just miss a couple of games.
I probably wouldn't be too worried though since the goal of this preseason under Phillips has been keeping the starters healthy from the onset. But this does raise a point for next year's draft with Anthony Henry turning 31, Newman turning 30, and Aaron Glenn turning 36 years old. I've like Jacques Reeves, but he may not be to Phillips' liking. Of course Dallas does have two first rounders, but I'd be surprised if Julius Jones sticks around (at best he plays pretty well and asks for too much $$$$ for his services).
Darren McFadden appears to be the favorite for Cowboys fans and I can't blame them, but there's a long season ahead. Cleveland still has to be pretty bad adn McFadden can't get hurt too bad. Even if Cleveland finishes 6-10, Dallas may have a shot at McFadden because nobody really thought Adrian Peterson would go past the #3 spot at this time last year and he wound up going to the 6-10 Vikings. But if there's a cornerback that is just as good, can you blame Dallas for taking them? And what if there are serious questions about McFadden's attitude and work ethic (I have no idea what they are, but this could happen)? There's no guarantees in the NFL and there are certainly no guarantees come draft time.
----Commanders.com reports:
Head coach Joe Gibbs confirmed on Thursday that the team is close to trading for
12-year veteran offensive lineman Pete Kendall from the New York Jets
The reports have that they'll trade Kendall for a 4th rounder. You'll get two sides of this argument as either being "great trade for the Skins!" or "another stupid free agent trade by the Skins" depending whom you talk to.
I'd lean towards the former for them because their O-Line has looked horrible in preseason. Randy Thomas has played like his usual self, but Rabach stinks and the normally reliable Jon Jansen has been horrific. Stephon Heyer, filling in for the injured Chris Samuels, has been worse and Todd Wade at left guard has been a disaster. And sadly for them it's only been preseason. With Kendall they should solidify the left guard spot for now as Wade was a bust at the position. Samuels will come back and if he's not right or if Jansen still stinks they can at least put Wade at either position, but he's really only a right tackle in this league. It was a desperate move, but still a good one and I figure they felt that losing a 4th rounder in order to better protect their young QB was worth it.
Kendall has been really good at guard the past 3 years (he did play some center in 2005 and struggled), but he's 34 years old and I question how quickly he'll adjust to a new system so late in the year. But I can't really blame them for taking a stab at it. It does make clear that the Skins will have to address all of their starters on the O-Line in the next year or so because they are at least 30 years old and Thomas, Jansen, and Samuels have had some injury issues in the past. (Just an FYI - Kendall finished 9th at left guard in my statistical O-Line rankings last season)
---- Got this from http://mvn.com/nfl-eagles/2007/08/15/how-serious-is-shawn-andrews-injury/ on the Eagles:
Via ProFootballTalk.com comes a link to a strange sidebar on a
ComcastSportsNet.com story about the Eagles’ defense that adds more mystery
to Shawn Andrews’ ankle injury. Andrews was apparently evasive in answering any
question about the extent of his injury, but said that his meeting with a
medical specialist was a “tear-jerker,” wouldn’t comment on whether the injury
was season- or career-threatening, and wouldn’t directly answer if he would be
ready for the season opener. Instead, he said, ““I don’t know what the future
holds.”
Andrews made my All Pro team last year as he was truly a dominant blocker. He was overrated in 2005 as he ballooned up to 385 pounds and at times was pretty immobile out there, but he got motivated and dropped about 50 pounds last year and reminded me a lot of a young Larry Allen. If he's gone, that will put a big dent into the Eagles running game. The Eagles like their O-Line depth, but Todd Herremanns isn't exactly a world beater, so if backup Max Jean-Gilles was better than him, he'd be starting.
The one thing that scares me a bit about the Eagles is that if they finally get into balancing their run and pass attack, they could be a dangerous team. This league is built on winning the passing game battle, but you still need a running game to maintain your leads and put games away. Up until last year, Andy Reid never fully understood it and it has haunted the Eagles for years.
With all of that being said, this NEWZ comes from profootballtalk.com, which the chasm between what they report and the truth is so wide that Evil Knievel would fail to jump across it.
- I've been following the Giants a bit closer this preseason since the Cowboys open with them. The O-Line has looked pretty good so far and Eli played pretty well against the Ravens who run a similar 3-4 to what Wade runs. They've got a lot of injuries, but from what I've been told and what I've read I think you'll see a different kind of offense in New York this year. Former O-Coordinator Jim Hufnagel loved to do two things, throw it deep and throw the screen pass. The Giants threw the most screen passes in the game last year. Under new O-Coordinator Kevin Gilbride and the loss of Tiki Barber, I expect more no huddle offenses to keep defenses off balance and much more 3 step drops from Eli.
While the Giants situation doesn't look good this year, September 9th shouldn't be a cakewalk as the Giants have started each season 5-2 under Tom Coughlin. They are very good out of the gate, but as the season goes along they can't make adjustments.
- Dallas faces 4 teams in preseason that either use the Cover 2 as their base defense or it's their most used coverage shell. That should come in handy against the 5 full time Cover 2 teams they face this year (Buffalo, Minnesota, Chicago, Green Bay, and Detroit) along with other teams that love to use the Cover 2 like the Giants, Commanders (who may be getting away from that this year), and St. Louis.
YAKUZA
Thoughts on the NFC East Happenings
by Yakuza Rich
http://yakuzarich.blogspot.com/
---DallasCowboys.com reports that:
Starting cornerback Terence Newman likely will miss the remainder of the
preseason, according to Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips, but still should be
available for the Sept. 9 season opener against the Giants
There's a cause for concern here because obviously Newman is an excellent cornerback. But the other issue is that he plays the slot position in the nickel as well. A lot of fans and even writers posing as "experts" like to believe that because Newman plays the slot in the nickel it makes him a lesser defender, but in reality it makes him a more valuable commodity given the difficulty of the position, mainly stemming from being unable to use the sideline as an extra defender. And it's not like teams are opposed to putting their #1 WR in the slot position against an opposing team's #3 corner to get the mismatch in their favor. The Bucs have used Rhonde Barber in this fashion for years and the Cardinals signed Roderick Hood for this specific reason as well.
I always get a little cautious when I hear of injuries like this as in the past, especially in the Parcells era, the Cowboys had a nasty habit of initially underreporting an injury only to find out it was something really serious. Last year with Terry Glenn was one of the few times where they reported an injury pretty seriously from the start, only to find out that he would just miss a couple of games.
I probably wouldn't be too worried though since the goal of this preseason under Phillips has been keeping the starters healthy from the onset. But this does raise a point for next year's draft with Anthony Henry turning 31, Newman turning 30, and Aaron Glenn turning 36 years old. I've like Jacques Reeves, but he may not be to Phillips' liking. Of course Dallas does have two first rounders, but I'd be surprised if Julius Jones sticks around (at best he plays pretty well and asks for too much $$$$ for his services).
Darren McFadden appears to be the favorite for Cowboys fans and I can't blame them, but there's a long season ahead. Cleveland still has to be pretty bad adn McFadden can't get hurt too bad. Even if Cleveland finishes 6-10, Dallas may have a shot at McFadden because nobody really thought Adrian Peterson would go past the #3 spot at this time last year and he wound up going to the 6-10 Vikings. But if there's a cornerback that is just as good, can you blame Dallas for taking them? And what if there are serious questions about McFadden's attitude and work ethic (I have no idea what they are, but this could happen)? There's no guarantees in the NFL and there are certainly no guarantees come draft time.
----Commanders.com reports:
Head coach Joe Gibbs confirmed on Thursday that the team is close to trading for
12-year veteran offensive lineman Pete Kendall from the New York Jets
The reports have that they'll trade Kendall for a 4th rounder. You'll get two sides of this argument as either being "great trade for the Skins!" or "another stupid free agent trade by the Skins" depending whom you talk to.
I'd lean towards the former for them because their O-Line has looked horrible in preseason. Randy Thomas has played like his usual self, but Rabach stinks and the normally reliable Jon Jansen has been horrific. Stephon Heyer, filling in for the injured Chris Samuels, has been worse and Todd Wade at left guard has been a disaster. And sadly for them it's only been preseason. With Kendall they should solidify the left guard spot for now as Wade was a bust at the position. Samuels will come back and if he's not right or if Jansen still stinks they can at least put Wade at either position, but he's really only a right tackle in this league. It was a desperate move, but still a good one and I figure they felt that losing a 4th rounder in order to better protect their young QB was worth it.
Kendall has been really good at guard the past 3 years (he did play some center in 2005 and struggled), but he's 34 years old and I question how quickly he'll adjust to a new system so late in the year. But I can't really blame them for taking a stab at it. It does make clear that the Skins will have to address all of their starters on the O-Line in the next year or so because they are at least 30 years old and Thomas, Jansen, and Samuels have had some injury issues in the past. (Just an FYI - Kendall finished 9th at left guard in my statistical O-Line rankings last season)
---- Got this from http://mvn.com/nfl-eagles/2007/08/15/how-serious-is-shawn-andrews-injury/ on the Eagles:
Via ProFootballTalk.com comes a link to a strange sidebar on a
ComcastSportsNet.com story about the Eagles’ defense that adds more mystery
to Shawn Andrews’ ankle injury. Andrews was apparently evasive in answering any
question about the extent of his injury, but said that his meeting with a
medical specialist was a “tear-jerker,” wouldn’t comment on whether the injury
was season- or career-threatening, and wouldn’t directly answer if he would be
ready for the season opener. Instead, he said, ““I don’t know what the future
holds.”
Andrews made my All Pro team last year as he was truly a dominant blocker. He was overrated in 2005 as he ballooned up to 385 pounds and at times was pretty immobile out there, but he got motivated and dropped about 50 pounds last year and reminded me a lot of a young Larry Allen. If he's gone, that will put a big dent into the Eagles running game. The Eagles like their O-Line depth, but Todd Herremanns isn't exactly a world beater, so if backup Max Jean-Gilles was better than him, he'd be starting.
The one thing that scares me a bit about the Eagles is that if they finally get into balancing their run and pass attack, they could be a dangerous team. This league is built on winning the passing game battle, but you still need a running game to maintain your leads and put games away. Up until last year, Andy Reid never fully understood it and it has haunted the Eagles for years.
With all of that being said, this NEWZ comes from profootballtalk.com, which the chasm between what they report and the truth is so wide that Evil Knievel would fail to jump across it.
- I've been following the Giants a bit closer this preseason since the Cowboys open with them. The O-Line has looked pretty good so far and Eli played pretty well against the Ravens who run a similar 3-4 to what Wade runs. They've got a lot of injuries, but from what I've been told and what I've read I think you'll see a different kind of offense in New York this year. Former O-Coordinator Jim Hufnagel loved to do two things, throw it deep and throw the screen pass. The Giants threw the most screen passes in the game last year. Under new O-Coordinator Kevin Gilbride and the loss of Tiki Barber, I expect more no huddle offenses to keep defenses off balance and much more 3 step drops from Eli.
While the Giants situation doesn't look good this year, September 9th shouldn't be a cakewalk as the Giants have started each season 5-2 under Tom Coughlin. They are very good out of the gate, but as the season goes along they can't make adjustments.
- Dallas faces 4 teams in preseason that either use the Cover 2 as their base defense or it's their most used coverage shell. That should come in handy against the 5 full time Cover 2 teams they face this year (Buffalo, Minnesota, Chicago, Green Bay, and Detroit) along with other teams that love to use the Cover 2 like the Giants, Commanders (who may be getting away from that this year), and St. Louis.
YAKUZA
