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Someone raised an interesting point last week and, honestly, I do not remember who it was, but the bottom line was simple: Maybe if Mike Mayock was still at the NFL Network, we would have a different opinion on Clelin Ferrell, fourth overall.
It's a fair point too. The way in which the public watching the football matches perceives a perspective depends largely on the media, and the general manager of the Raiders carried a big stick in this arena after two decades of cancellation of the project on television. So when we spoke on Thursday, I had to ask the new executive, with whom I had been working for six years, how he would have reacted to Ferrell at age 4 if he had been on a set in Nashville rather than in a room. war in Northern California. .
"I do not think I would have been as surprised as the whole world," said Mayock laughing. "At the end of the day, people act as if I have the idea that I would feel impossible to negotiate and still get Cle. That was our guy, okay? And that we had it at 4, 8, 10, it did not matter. He was going to be our guy.
"He's a basic player. And more importantly, it's a defensive end consisting of three people who can stick their hand in the mud and play in downhill and pass. This is not a guy who is going to be a designated pass smuggler. He is there at every moment. And he's going to set the tone for these young guys. I could not wait to make that choice. "
In my last column on "rumors", which grew about three hours before the project started, we connected the Raiders to Ferrell. It was based on some advice I had received. But, full revelation, I did not think there was a chance that they take him to 4 years, any more than the teams had chosen. At the end? I have underestimated how vital it was to build around the right kind of guy – "our guy" -. I think most teams did it too.
So, if there is one thing that marks Mayock's first class, that's it, without a doubt.
Jeff Chiu / AP / REX / Shutterstock
And here's the problem: Mayock did not even hide it. He actually explained the idea of "our guy" several times before the project. But to say it and drive it home like the Raiders are two different things. And Mayock never returned home, first with Ferrell, then with Alabama RB Josh Jacobs, then with John Mississippi State Mississippi State, then with Clemson CB Trayvon Mullen, and you get the chart.
Message sent. Message received. Again and again.
"I thought the whole project was important that way," said Mayock. "We had four of the top 35 choices, and I think if you look at those four choices, they all share traits. They have a passion and a love for the game, and you can see it as they play. I think we were consistent throughout the project and we sent a message to Jon [Gruden] and I believe in
"Yes, Cle was very important, but we felt that the consistency of the entire project was just as important."
The good news for Raiders fans, in my mind, is that many rhymes and reasons explain what Mayock and Gruden do. I do not know if it will work or not. Nobody really does it.
But this plan, which Mayock drove me through, makes sense.
We are still digging into a ton of nuggets in this week's MMQB, and we have a lot to do. Among them:
• A look at the eye the last three years of quarterback in the draft – and how the people in charge of evaluating the shifts could rank the perspectives against each other.
• Why should you never believe that the team that tells you that their quarterback of the first round will not play as a recruit.
• A player who slipped 27 places in the upper part of the project, the main reason being the composition of the project class.
• Why the selection of T.J. by Hockenson Lions proves the value of relationships in the NFL.
• How crows could have found their replacement for Terrell Suggs and Za'Darius Smith.
• GM Colts Chris Ballard's next find.
And much more. But we start with perhaps the most interesting NFL general manager, and how his first four months of his career have been.
So, how does Mayock know that he would have approached Ferrell's choice differently from most analysts if he was on television? Because in the fall, he was preparing for the repechage as if it was where he was – that is, when he fell in love with the All First American team. Which is to say that he really knows what he would have said, for a fact.
"If you remember when Chris Long was drafted by St. Louis, he was the second choice and when they drafted it, I knew what kind of player they were getting," said Mayock. "Now they never managed to get the other players around him, but Chris Long played his game with every move he made a physical advantage in the running game he got his bags 7 , 8, 9, 10, and it energizes a cloakroom.
"That's what I call a glue player. I watched Ferrell in September and October and I watched three or four tapes and at the bottom of my notes, I wrote "Glue / Chris Long". That's the kind of guy, for me, that's more valuable than you can. even put a number. Chris was found there, found himself in New England, has a Super Bowl, goes to Philadelphia and has another one. Chris Long is a glue guy. And I think Cle too is.
Ben Margot / AP / REX / Shutterstock
In a way, it connects in some way the place where Mayock was in the fall – watching children on videotape from his home in Philly – in the place where he was found in the spring. But a lot happened in time between the two. And that's why, following his first sketch with Gruden, as they were assembling a class like a Raider, I imagined it would be logical to double now with Mayock and fill in the voids .
So here is the new world of Mike Mayock in four months, according to the man himself.
The biggest adjustment. When I asked Mayock for his biggest blind spot, he did not hesitate a second. It was in professional scouting. And his responsibilities in this area only increased when Raiders recruiting director Dave Vandernat was sacked in January. So, really, while Mayock was hired for his college work, the time that elapsed between his start date and March 13th of the opening of the free mission became a dead sprint on an unknown territory.
"I had to put aside everything else and just prepare Jon with free autonomy," said Mayock. "What was really intriguing was more work to do – by position, by free agent. And the only way to do it was to watch a tape. Jon and me and [director of football research] David Razzano and Jon's staff had to fend for themselves to prepare for release.
In doing so, the Raiders leaders, led by Tom Delaney, worked to compare the market to each player, which did little to calm the nerves. "The fear of the unknown was for me," Wow, we are talking about spending 20, 30, 40, 50 million dollars, a lot of that money is guaranteed, "said Mayock." We had to do things."
And as quickly as a class of independent agents led by Trent Brown, Lamarcus Joyner and Tyrell Williams met, it was over. "I just could not believe how quickly transactions were concluded on the day of liberalization," said Mayock. "I was just saying, 'Oh my god.' We immediately removed Trent Brown from the market. And you look around the league and you say to yourself, "Wow, three-quarters of our board are already gone!"
The relationship with Gruden. With all the work to be done and the game of catch-up played, you can imagine that Mayock has kept long hours. And as has been well documented, Gruden has always kept long hours. Over time, that's where they got together.
"The first month I was here, I was in the building and it's 5:30 am Jon is already watching a movie and I'm starting to watch a movie in my office," said Mayock. "And after a few days, it's:" It's crazy, why am I here watching a movie and it's over there? So I just started to get my coffee and go there, and he and I were sitting down to watch a movie.
"It was a very good lesson for me to see how he looks at a movie, because everyone looks at it a little differently. And Jon has only miles and miles of training that he has had all his career. He can get cuts from 20 years ago by simply clicking a button. The amount of work he does is astounding. And I respect that.
It was there, in the wee hours of the morning, that Mayock, more conservative, and Gruden, more aggressive, tried to find a common philosophical ground. There and …
The national championship game. A week after being hired, Mayock made her first public appearance at work wearing a Raiders parka during the national title game in Santa Clara, in the surrounding area. That night, he saw two of his three first-round picks [Ferrell and Jacobs]and his second [Mullen] and fifth round [Hunter Renfrow] live. And as you might have guessed, this night was important.
"I felt it on the field before the game, the two best college programs in the country for several years," said Mayock. "And when you walk on the field before the game and you watch these guys warm up, and you change your figure, you take notes – they look like two NFL teams. I told someone, I do not remember who, and I remember being told, "Dude, if you're just recruiting these two teams, you're going to get out of it, forget the rest of the country. "
"I did not consciously decide to do it. But we were more and more impressed by these Clemson children, meeting them as people. We loved the Alabama tailback. And it worked quite well from our point of view. "
Mayock said in our speech an underlying factor: if you're trying to create a certain championship atmosphere, it's not a problem to have kids like Alabama and Clemson.
Scouts It's there that Mayock has a little raised voice. The Raiders dismissed head of testing Joey Clinkscales and Vandernat shortly after the season and knew that further changes would be made after the session. And yes, Mayock sent scouts home a week before the draft to close the circle. But he told me that only three of these guys had been released. A group of them are back to work now.
"I have never fired any of them. I did not do it. I sent them home, "said Mayock. "Listen to me, I sent them home and I shot zero until the day after the repechage. And then I warned some guys [that they were let go]. End of the story. Nobody follows the story. Everyone does not care. Everyone just wanted to report that Mayock had sent everyone home.
And although the idea that Mayock is banned has a totalitarian meaning, the GM was very quick in our conversation to pay tribute to the work of Assistant Director of Player Personnel Trey Scott and the Screening Coordinator. Teddy Atlas. The latter, in fact, was "directly responsible" for the team's seventh round pick, the Prairie View smuggler, Quinton Bell, according to Mayock.
"When the rest of the league was hoping to sign him as a free agent, Teddy was at his professional day," said Mayock. "He was a wide converted catcher who went to the defensive post at Prairie View. And Teddy kept this kid alive for me. And he ends up being 6'4 ", 240, ran 4.44, played a year at the defensive end. In the end, these two guys have helped me tremendously throughout this process. "
The coolest part of the project. I'll let Mayock take this one.
"There were two things," he said. "One is the absolute joy that Jon Gruden had to talk to the players during this phone call. I mean, I tell you, he could not wait to be on the phone. And his joy and his enthusiasm to welcome these players in the team were impressive. I got excited and almost emotional just watching him do it.
"It's one, and I think the other is that we dropped a few times in the second round. We went from 35 to 38 to 40. We made two more choices and were able to keep our guy, Trayvon Mullen. , which we have always wanted. Jon and I were connected to this topic. We sweated with each choice, and it ended up getting better. I think we both really appreciated this process.
So now, his first draft is in the books, and Mayock has turned the page and is working to find some people hired to supplement his staff. But allowing himself a last look in the rearview mirror, the TV guy turned GM remembered sitting on the North Team bus en route to the Senior Bowl on January 26th.
"It's just for the Senior Bowl match, and I'm sitting in front of Jon [who was coaching the North], go, 'OK! It's real, we're about to play a game, "said Mayock. "Even though it was Senior Bowl, we feel a little skin in the game."
And they made have some skin in this game, in the end. The Raiders (Abram, Renfrow, Isaiah Johnson and Foster Moreau) hired four players who played. The other three players were recruited by the team as independent agents (Te'von Coney, Alec Ingold and Keelan Doss).
As was the case for the national title, Mayock has had the opportunity to see these children closely, and this is really important to him, for the same reason that he considers that it is vital to recruit future hires, and value what he's got. in Ferrell and company in the project. He has not worked for teams in the last 20 years, but he has seen enough of them to know what is needed, beyond what a stopwatch can tell him.
"My goal, my belief, is that people change circumstances," said Mayock. "Not buildings, nothing else, it's people. That's the draft you bring, it's your coaching staff, it's your screening staff. And I am excited about the direction we are taking. I am excited about the people we bring to this building. And I think everyone sees the opportunity and the energy of the Raiders. "
By everyone, I think he did not mean the rest of us – those people who were sitting there just a little stunned by what he had done with his first choice. And by the way, in another year, we might have gotten a little better at it.
How would the last three QB classes rank?
Over the past two months, we have spent a lot of time looking at this year's shifts from the exceptional harvest for 2020, and I thought it was time to get an overview of the bigger picture. . I thought the best way to do that would be to compare this year's class with the previous two, to see how the quarterbacks of 2017, 2018 and 2019 would have been superimposed.
Some remarks before we get to the heart of the matter: First, the promotion of 2018 was really above the others from the point of view of perception. The group of 2017 was considered full of risks and this year was considered a year in decline for the quarters. Secondly, what we are trying to determine is not where these players are, but where they were in the minds of scouts when they went out.
Nick Cammett / Diamond Images / Getty Images
Once that was established, I sent out texts late Friday to ask the scouts and coaches who had rated the quarterbacks each of those years to rank their top five of the last three, based on their league table rankings. middle School. I then took each of these lists and awarded points: five for a vote in the first place, four for a vote in the second place, and so on.
We had 11 ballots from 11 different teams. The results:
1T: Baker Mayfield, Browns 2017, 35 points (4 first-place votes)
1T: Sam Darnold, Jets 2017, 35 points (4 first-place votes)
3: Deshaun Watson, Texans 2016, 33 points (1 first-place vote)
4: Patrick Mahomes, Heads 2016, 26.5 points (1 first-place vote)
5: Kyler Murray, Cardinals 2019, 18 points (1 first-place vote)
6: Josh Rosen, Cardinals 2018, 8.5 points
7: Mitch Trubisky, 2017 Bears, 6 points
8: Daniel Jones, Giants 2019, 2 points
9: Dwayne Haskins, Redskins 2019, 1 point
A little more about the vote …
• Josh Allen of Buffalo (2018) and Lamar Jackson of Baltimore (2018) were the only first-round picks not to receive mentions. Jones and Haskins appeared on a ballot each. Rosen and Trubisky appeared on three each.
• Mayfield was the only quarterback to run for each vote. Darnold and Watson were both 10 out of 11. Mahomes missed the cup on two ballots (appreciate the honesty of these guys!) Remember, this is how the scouts ranked these QBs in the repechage ) and got a half-fifth place on.
• An NFC leader – who is not a Cardinals – had Murray No. 1. His explanation: "On tape, he was the best – the best combination of arm talents and dynamic athletic abilities. Obviously, you have to consider the size. But on tape, he was the best. "Quite simple. Murray was in the top three on three ballots and did not appear on four ballots.
• One choice name not chosen in the first round: Drew Lock (Denver, 2019). Another officer told me that he would have had Lock sixth on his list.
It was not supposed to be scientific. It was 11 evaluators in a league with hundreds of them. So take it as a fun exercise that reflects how a group of NFL guys who study quarterbacks for a living would have accumulated the prospects of the last three years if they were grouped together.
YES, YOUR ROOKIE QB WILL PLAY THIS YEAR
On quarterbacks, Cardinals Chief Executive Steve Keim told my friend Rich Eisen this week. Rich asked him if Kyer Murray would start the first week against the Lions.
Keim: "Yes."
Eisen: "You did not stammer."
Keim: "We did not select it in general to mount the pine. I know it's a lot to put on his back, but that's why we wrote it. He is a fierce competitor, and that's what he did in Oklahoma. [last] year. He put the team on his back. They did not have an excellent defense and he knew he had to score almost every playoff for a chance to win. I like a little the chances there. "
Coach Kliff Kingsbury picked up on these comments later in the week. This would be the first time since 2012 that a team named a rookie quarter as fast as it started (this happened to Andrew Luck at Indy and Robert Griffin in Washington writing 1-2 this year). But Kingsbury probably did not have to do it. Because history tells us, one way or another, that Murray will be the starter, and as soon as possible.
I keep a chart of the date on which the first quarter shifts made their respective first starts. A dramatic change came in 2008 when the Falcons (Matt Ryan) and Ravens (Joe Flacco) qualified for the playoffs. . To note:
• From 2008 to last year, 32 quarters went to the first round. Fifteen of them started Week 1 of their rookie year.
• Seven more started in the first four weeks, bringing the number of shifts to 22 shifts to 32. Another two more started in week 5, bringing the number to 24, or three-quarters of the group. Some of these types (Blake Bortles, Mitch Trubisky) participated in the campaign despite strong statements that they would be sentenced.
• Only six quarter-first-rounders had not started mid-year rookies: Tim Tebow, Jake Locker, Johnny Manziel, Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.
• Only two were really redshirted. One of them was Locker, who sat behind Matt Hasselbeck with the Titans and got his first start in the opening game of his second season. The other was Mahomes, who oversaw Alex Smith from the sidelines for most of 2017 before starting the Chiefs' meaningless final for the regular season. The common denominator between the two? Both were on suitors, which made sitting the youngest quarterback a problem.
Thank you, Steve Keim, for your honesty. And take what everyone says about not starting a recruit with a grain of salt. Maybe that's not the plan now. But the story says that it will happen.
TEN TRAVEL
1. We wrote a lot here in the period before This year's project would be unstable as soon as a handful of elite defensive players are out of the picture, and it was almost right away. Ed Oliver was the last DL of this top group, placing ninth in Buffalo. The Steelers then traded to get LB Devin Bush at 10. Cincinnati was therefore able to take Alabama tackle Jonah Williams, who was not expecting to go to the Bengals at 11. Now, suppose the Giants took the advantage against Josh Allen at 6. If that happened, Williams would have been a serious consideration for Jacksonville at 7 (although I think it would probably have been Iowa TE TJ Hockenson ). Let's say Williams goes there. I am then told that the Bengals would choose between Oklahoma G Cody Ford and B.C. G Chris Lindstrom. In short, Ford had a real chance to rank 11th. He did not do it. And he slid up to the second round, where Buffalo traded to give him the 38th pick. The cost of that? Last year's 11th pick, Minkah Fitzpatrick of the Dolphins, secured $ 16.45 million. The choice of 38th place, the Bucs half-back, Ronald Jones, got $ 4.50 million guaranteed. The good news for Ford is that if he knows how to play, he will get his second contract faster.
2. What do you say about this: Lions only spoke to T.J. Hockenson once during the pre-drafting process. It was at the combine. They did not settle it privately. They did not visit it on campus. They had not invited him for a "30" visit. And Detroit still wins the eighth place in the overall ranking, without tipping the scales of his interest, is the power of relationships at work. There is a clear link between Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and any Patriot-centered operation. But it's deeper than that. After the Hawkeyes offensive coordinator, Brian Ferentz, finished playing, he went to work with the Patriots and made his scouting debut alongside Bob Quinn, then assistant director of the assistant professional scout, who is now the executive director. Lions. He worked with Quinn for a few months, then worked as a coach, where he was part of Matt Patricia's staff, eventually coaching the tight ends of young Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. So, to sum up, the young Ferentz has intimate relationships with Quinn and Patricia, and These guys probably see Hockenson's position through a terribly similar lens. This means that the tire kick on Hockenson does not have to be too big.
3. The Ravens had their rookie minicamp this weekend and the name I was always asked to watch in Eric DeCosta's first draft class was Jaylon Ferguson from Louisiana Tech. And it's coming out of the last days too. Ferguson showed some rigidity in the pre-draft exercises, and a bad three-cone period raised doubts about his cap. But his university output was at its height: he ended his university career with 45 bags. And with Terrell Suggs and Za'Darius Smith missing, Ferguson should have the opportunity to quickly intervene in the rotation of the defenders.
4. Here Another third-round pick to watch: Colts LB Bobby Okereke. Coaches are already excited about the potential of Minicamp. And the team considered it a priority to find an athlete who would pair with Darius Leonard at the position. That's why C.J. Mosley was one of two free first wave agents that Chris Ballard, the general manager, was successful at. Okereke can not be expected to repeat Leonard's exploits as a rookie – he was the first All-Pro team in 2018 – but the Colts saw many things identical to those that drew him to Leonard last April, including instincts, intelligence and long weapons. Indy scored Okereke on Cody Barton, Utah, behind Devin White and Devin Bush. And although Okereke (4.59 out of 40) is not as sporty as White or Bush, he is taller and longer than them. Which, in fact, was what Leonard chose from Roquan Smith 's top 10 picks last year. So keep an eye on Okereke.
5. I asked Bowl leader Jim Nagy to share his first impression of the 2020 promotion after his team's first study, and he came back with this: "The line of attack will be slim." It would help to understand. the RO land rush in this year's project12 of the top 48 were offensive linemen. The logic, of course, is simple. If you know that next year will be an uncontrolled land, it's better that you recruit your guys this year, and the teams acted aggressively. Half of the aforementioned dozen was the subject of exchanges. On the other hand, it seems that many other teams have had a poor harvest of receivers this year, waiting for a banner year WR expected in 2020 (Alabama's Jerry Jeudy, Clemson's Tee Higgins, Laviska Shenault of Colorado). And this appeared in another Senior Bowl metric – Nagy said that eight receivers who played in his game this year have not been changed, which is by far the largest number of all positions.
6. I really like what the Bears coach Matt Nagy did with his rookie kickers the other day at minicamp. In case you missed it, he asked each of the eight guest types to score goals on a 43-yard field – a shot – in front of all their teammates, in front of the media. The distance was not an error. Cody Parkey missed his victorious attempt in last year's playoffs, and Nagy later claimed that each contender at the old Parkey post was aware. The result was not great. Only two of the eight kicks have passed. But the effect, I think, is good. Whoever wins this job will have a decisive failure in Chicago last year. So, you'd better find someone who can handle it. A member of the team, I sent a text to Sunday, explained: "We all need of thirst for pressure. Not only kickers. Every player, every coach. We are not running next to this goal. We adopt it. And I think they are doing the right thing.
7. It has now been 11 days since Tyreek Hill audio has surfaced. He is still on the list of leaders. The league, which investigates, did not comment. And it will certainly be interesting to see what happens next. Nous en avons déjà parlé la semaine dernière, mais il est plutôt juste de penser qu’un joueur moins expérimenté aurait été présenté à la porte des semaines auparavant. Il est également juste de penser que les chefs présument qu’une autre équipe (et probablement plusieurs équipes) ferait une réclamation à Hill (qui n’avait que 2,03 millions de dollars) s’il obtenait des dérogations, ce qui fait également partie de l’équation. Je ne pense pas qu'il soit injuste de maintenir Kansas City à un niveau plus élevé, basé sur le fait qu'ils assumaient le risque avec Hill en premier lieu, prenaient juste un autre risque dans le négoce pour Frank Clark, et sont à moins de sept mois de le fiasco de Kareem Hunt. Oui, il y a une zone grise dans la situation de Hill. Mais je ne vois pas cela comme une autorisation pour les chefs d’essayer de trouver un moyen de garder Hill.
8. Mardi est un grand jour et vous ne vous en rendrez peut-être pas compte, c’est quand les signatures d’agents libres cessent de compter avec la formule de compensation compensatoire, ce qui pourrait générer des offres pour certains des plus âgés du marché (comme Ndamukong Suh, Ziggy Ansah et Eric Berry). Historiquement, les Corbeaux, les Cowboys, les Packers, les Patriots et les Rams ont été les équipes les plus conscientes du choix de la ligue. Et compte tenu des défaites de certaines de ces équipes en attaque libre (Trent Brown, Tre Flowers, Za’Darius Smith, CJ Mosley, Rodger Saffold, Lamarcus Joyner), il est logique qu’ils attendent que le délai imparti soit dépassé. voulait se déplacer sur l'un des meilleurs gars disponibles. Rappelez-vous que la formule de composition par choix est basée sur le gain / perte net, de sorte que chaque ajout nuit à vos chances d'être récompensé en avril prochain.
9. Tom Brady a répété cette semaine à Jimmy Kimmel ce qu’il avait dit dans le passé sur la façon dont les Patriotes le compensaient: «Je me suis toujours senti, pour moi dans ma vie, gagner a été une priorité. Et ma femme gagne beaucoup d'argent. Je suis un peu plus intelligent que vous ne le pensez. En fait, c’est un plafond salarial. Vous ne pouvez dépenser que trop, et plus un gars en a, c'est moins pour d'autres. Et d’un point de vue compétitif, j’aime beaucoup de bons joueurs autour de moi. "C’est bien, bien sûr. Voici ce qui est intéressant: En fait, Brady n’a rien à faire pour entrer dans la tranche supérieure de la rémunération du quart. S'il joue l'année, à moins que Jarrett Stidham ne soit la réincarnation de 2019, eh bien, Brady lui-même, les Patriots devront franchiser leur quarterback en 2020. Et nous savons déjà, en raison de son nombre de capital haut de gamme pour 2019, ce que son numéro de franchise sera l'année prochaine: 32,4 millions de dollars. Brady pourrait donc simplement jouer sur cette étiquette et forcer l’équipe à la marquer à nouveau en 2021, pour un montant de 38,88 millions de dollars, ou conclure un accord à long terme sur ces points de levier. Soit dit en passant, additionnez les deux numéros et vous obtenez 71,28 millions de dollars, ce qui est mieux que les 35 millions de dollars que Russell Wilson vient de signer.
ten. Écoutez Bobby Wagner lorsqu'il dit que cela pourrait être sa dernière saison à Seattleparce que c’est certainement possible. Et ce n’est pas que les Seahawks acceptent de le laisser marcher ou que Wagner veuille y aller. C’est toutes les conditions du marché. Il a toujours été difficile de marquer les secondeurs off-ball, car le numéro de franchise est basé sur ce que reçoivent une poignée de types hybrides d’extrémité hybride. Et les accords conclus par C.J. Mosley et Kwon Alexander ont rapproché le marché des premiers. Ajoutez à cela le fait que Seattle vient de recevoir son autre secondeur de longue date, K.J. Wright a coûté 7 millions de dollars, et l’accord de Wagner est bien plus compliqué qu’il ya six mois, ce qui est toujours le risque d’attendre une équipe.
… DE LA SEMAINE
CITATION
«Vous essayez toujours de trouver une réponse à la position de quarterback. Vous ne pouvez pas attendre de ne pas en avoir un. Nous y travaillons et vous y travaillez toujours. Nous sommes heureux de ce que nous avons chez Drew et de sa capacité, au cours des deux prochaines années, à continuer de croître et à progresser. J'espère que c'est ce gars-là pour l'avenir.
– Le directeur général des Broncos, John Elway, à propos de la rédaction de Drew Lock.
Ce que j'aime dans la façon dont Denver a abordé la position de quart cette saison, c’est qu’il n’a pas abandonné une grande partie de la flexibilité future, tout en prenant deux virages pour bien faire les choses. Joe Flacco a signé un contrat de quarterback non garanti de taille moyenne pour les trois prochaines années (à 21 millions de dollars par personne), à partir duquel les Broncos peuvent renflouer à tout moment. Et ils ont pris Lock au deuxième tour cette année, ce qui ne les empêche pas vraiment de prendre un quart au premier tour l’année prochaine ou dans les deux prochaines années. Alors peut-être que Flacco ou Lock frappe gros. Sinon, Denver peut toujours être dans les affaires Tua Tagovialoa ou Justin Herbert l'année prochaine, ou dans les affaires Trevor Lawrence l'année suivante.
«Ce que je veux faire ici, c’est apporter de la valeur à tout ce dont le personnel des entraîneurs a besoin de moi. Partout où je peux m'adapter et aider cette équipe à gagner des matchs, c'est ma mentalité. "
Trace McSorley, sixième tour des Ravens.
C'était la réponse de l'ancien État de Penn State, lorsqu'on lui a demandé de jouer un autre poste, et je dois dire qu'il est rafraîchissant d'entendre un enfant qui a été quart-quart toute sa vie et qui a commencé pendant trois ans au poste de blueblood de football universitaire. de cette façon. C’est peut-être parce qu’en tant que choix de sixième tour, il doit parler de cette façon. Je m'en fous. There are a lot of kids who wouldn’t say that. And it affirms what you’ve heard about McSorley as a competitor. I can tell you first-hand that, like John Harbaugh said, rooting against him (as an alum of a rival school) could make you hate him. But he absolutely sounds like the kind of kid you’d love if he were on your side.
TWEET
This was pretty good, even if Rashan Gary cooked up some decent reasoning for wanting 52 (reverence for Matthews, and 5 minus 2 equaling his college number, 3). And it’s actually true that teams will take numbers of great players out of rotation for a couple years to honor them, with the acknowledgment that actually retiring numbers in football is logistically tougher than in other sports. So Clay actually could have a little bit of a legit beef on this one.
CLIP
Not sure how you wouldn’t love seeing this—Steelers LB Ryan Shazier, still just 18 months out from spinal surgery, dancing at his wedding this weekend. Seeing what he’s done, it’s hard to rule anything out for his future.
I’m guessing this is a six-figure play off Brady breaking Matt Damon’s window in a stunt for Kimmel’s show, and Danny Amendola actually wasn’t this far off from making this happen. Would’ve been cooler if he did.
This was really good to see all the way around, from Jamaal Charles and the Chiefs. Charles, by the way, finished his career 56th on the all-time rushing list, just behind Terrell Davis. And there absolutely was a period (2009-13) where he was a top-five guy at his position. I don’t think he’s a Hall of Famer. But he was a damn good player.
MEME
This is not real. But it’s kind of funny anyway.
Credit where it’s due—Brady’s getting better at tweeting. And by the way, there are five of his ex-backups in that picture, including one who went on to become his current backup (Brian Hoyer). Also, two of the former teammates of his in this crew now happen to be NFL head coaches, which is kind of crazy. While we’re there …
That’s Tom Brady’s body man. And I actually got confirmation on Sunday that he wasn’t joking here. It’s true. He did what a lot of us would’ve done in that situation, and tossed a winning ticket away. At 65-to-1. Ouch.
S/O to …
Rams CB Nickell Robey-Coleman, who’ll probably always be known for this play in the Superdome, for finishing his degree at USC. Great seeing these sorts of stories, especially when they’re about fulfilling a promise to a family member, as this one is.
SIX FROM THE SIDELINES
1. Saw this absurd stat on Sunday morning, from an April 24 story on 24/7: Nick Saban has more first-round picks than losses in his 12 seasons at Alabama. It was 26 first-rounders and 21 losses when that story went up. It’s 29 first-rounders and 21 losses now.
2. Given that, I figured I’d look up other coaches who’ve won national titles this decade and how they compare. It turns out only Urban Meyer does. He had 14 first-rounders and nine losses in seven years at Ohio State. Dabo Swinney has had 11 first-rounders and 30 losses in 10 years at Clemson. Jimbo Fisher had nine first-rounders and 23 losses in eight years at Florida State. And Gene Chizik had two first-rounders and 19 losses in four years at Auburn. Swinney, of course, has gotten stronger over the course of his decade, and is rolling now. But Saban is just ridiculous.
3. Is it me, or did Country House actually advantage from Maximum Security’s interference? It sure looked that way to me.
4. The end of the Bruins/Blue Jackets game on Saturday night was the best of what playoff hockey can be. Big stakes, and big turns through the last 10 minutes. Game 6 is Monday night at 7 p.m., which is interesting for people up here in my corner of the country, because Game 4 of Bucks/Celtics tips an hour later. Tough spot for us, I know.
5. I know it’s probably not going to happen, but man, it would be cool to see Kawhi Leonard keep going with that Raptors team, no matter what happens in these playoffs.
6. I’m all for these sorts of confrontations before football games.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
This week, the deadline to exercise fifth-year options on the 2016 rookie class for 2020 came and went, and a new standard was set. This year’s group had the lowest number picked up of any since the current rookie salary system went into effect back in 2011. Thus far, six sets of first-round picks have been subject to fifth-year option decisions. Here’s the tally, by year, of options picked up:
Class of 2011 (’14 decisions): 19
Class of 2012 (’15 decisions): 21
Class of 2013 (’16 decisions): 18
Class of 2014 (’17 decisions): 23
Class of 2015 (’18 decisions): 20
Class of 2016 (’19 decisions): 17
What does that tell us? Well, some this year were easy one way (Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, Zeke Elliott, Joey Bosa) or the other (Darron Lee, Laquon Treadwell, Josh Doctson), and some weren’t even decisions at all (Corey Coleman, Paxton Lynch, both already gone from their drafting team). But it did seem like fewer teams were willing to take fliers on guys they may hold out hope for (Karl Joseph, Germain Ifedi), or gamble on injured guys (Jack Conklin).
These options hadn’t been seen over the years as particularly high risk. They’re guaranteed only for injury—meaning so long as the guy can pass a physical the following March, the team still held the right to walk away from him without financial penalty. That’s why, in the past, teams have picked up options only to cut guys a year later (Robert Griffin, Eric Ebron and D.J. Fluker are three examples).
Now, as we said, that’s less common. Here are a few reasons why:
The rise of the comp pick: More teams are valuing compensatory picks, and taking a flier means risking losing out on one of those. If you decline an option on a player, you can collect a comp pick for him if he walks the next year. If you pick up his option and then cut him, you don’t get credit for him. So if you’re a team that’s playing the comp-pick game (again, more are now), that adds a real element of risk in exercising an option.
L & # 39; s history: There simply aren’t many examples of a team declining an option and a player making out like a bandit because of it. Usually, in that circumstance, the player winds up on a one-year deal the following year, or on a multiyear deal below the value of the option. With more guys in that spot, maybe things will change. But as teams see it now, the option numbers aren’t a value for guys they’re iffy on.
The franchise and transition tags as an option: Take Conklin as an example, and let’s imagine that the numbers are the same next year as this year. The option would be $12.52 million on him. His franchise tag number would be $14.07 million. So for the $1.5 million difference, the team won’t have to worry about injury, and have the option to take the comp pick the next year. More teams believe that’s worth it.
Premium positions v. other spots: Conklin’s option number for next year would, on its own, make him the highest-paid right tackle in football. And the Titans would be negotiating a long-term deal off that number. Ifedi would be, as an outside-the-top-10 lineman, in line for more than $10 million, putting him near the top of the guard market. It’s one thing to go to those lengths for a quarterback or a corner or a pass rusher or a left tackle. Short of that, it’s harder to justify.
So what you need to know is that the NFL’s thinking is evolving, and it’s showing in this area, as it has in a number of others. As is the case with a lot of league trends, analytics seep into the equation (importance of cap space, com picks), as does job turnover (new GM/coach means less attachment to old picks).
The result? There are a bunch of good, talented players now playing for contracts in 2019, and the 2020 free-agent crop could be better for it in the end.
Question or comment? Email us at [email protected].
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