What has it been, seven days since the season ended? Well, I'm still sick thinking about that game, so let's all summon our inner Bill Belichick...we're onto next season. Now, as you may know, I LOVE the NFL Draft. Reading about the prospects, making my own mock drafts, all of it. It is one of my favorite events of the year. So, in my opinion, it is never too early to start doing mock drafts. For this mock draft, I am using Fanspeak.com's On the Clock draft tool. It's an awesome application that I would highly suggest checking out. (And those are actually my thoughts on it...I am not on their payroll or anything.) I used Bleacher Report's Matt Miller's big board for this one. You'll see me use the On the Clock draft tool a lot during draft season. Ok, here we go... Pick 2:29 - Tyler Boyd, WR, Pittsburgh We all know the Patriots lost their first round pick after the league took it away because they do not understand science. Had there been a first round pick to play with, I would have taken a look at OT Shon Coleman, WRs Will Fuller, Josh Doctson, and Corey Coleman, and even an OLB in Noah Spence. Well, there wasn't. No need to cry over spilled air, time to move on. The Patriots take a 6'2" receiver. There's a lot to like about Boyd. He has good speed, is very versatile as he can line up anywhere, and he catches with his hands, not his body, which is a huge plus in my book. There are some negatives...he was charged with a DUI last year and, a football negative, at least for the Patriots, he is not a proven downfield threat. However, with his speed and athleticism, that could be something that he learns in New England. Pick 3:29 - Kyle Murphy, OT, Stanford The Patriots need another tackle. Sebastian Vollmer is no spring chicken, Marcus Cannon and Cam Fleming will likely soon be unemployed, and LaAdrian Waddle is a free agent, although I expect them to retain him. Murphy has very good size, played at one of the best teams in the country, and is very good in pass protection, which is what the Patriots would be looking for out of the tackle position. The interior line looks like it could be pretty good for many years to come, but tackle needs some work. Murphy would step in as the third tackle, and might even work his way up the depth chart to further the youth movement on the line. Pick 4:29 - Max Tuerk, C, USC Yes, I know I just said that the interior line looks like it is pretty good. However, you can never have enough offensive line help, as we saw this year. Plus, Ryan Wendell is a free agent and will be 30 for the 2016 season. Offensive linemen don't play forever. Tuerk can come in as depth help on the interior line, but has the size to play tackle as well. Can he play tackle? Who knows, but it's not like you're wasting a first round pick on a guy that might be able to play tackle. End of the fourth round seems like a good time to take a very good center, and perhaps another tackle if the Patriots would like to try him out there. Pick 6:21 - Cyrus Jones, CB, Alabama The biggest knock against Jones is his size. Can he play at the next level at 5'9"? Well, Chris Harris is 5'10" and is a great cornerback. If Jones can make the transition, he is exactly what the Patriots need on defense. A slot cornerback is really all they are missing. Justin Coleman played well at times, but did not stand out. Jones was the best cornerback on one of the best defenses in the country. If he drops because of his size, the Patriots should absolutely scoop him up and work him in as their third corner. If Logan Ryan can carry his exceptional play over to next season, they will have a very good secondary with those two, and clear number one corner Malcolm Butler. Pick 7:22 - Glenn Gronkowski, FB, Kansas St. Don't you want to see this again? I do. Pick 7:29 - Antonio Morrison, OLB, Florida Morrison is an interesting prospect. CBS Sports' scouting report has him projected to go in the sixth round, but says he is top 40 talent if he is healthy and his medical records are positive. He suffered a knee injury that had a timetable of 10-12 months for recovery. He came back in six months. That's insane. So he clearly is a physical freak and has the work ethic that every team desires. If he could come into Foxboro and remain healthy, he would be a great replacement for Mayo and add to an already impressive linebacking team with Jamie Collins and Dont'a Hightower. But if he is healthy, he won't make it this far. However, if he's still available, he's well worth the risk late in the seventh round. Click here to view the entire mock draft. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest sports talk and news
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The AFC Championship Game did not go as many believed it would. That is not to say that nobody expected the Denver Broncos to win the game; I believed they had a legit shot at beating the New England Patriots. It is the way that it happened. The fact that the offense was suffocated by the Broncos' defense and barely able to move the ball past midfield until desperation time set in. There were a lot of mistakes made by a team that very rarely makes many mistakes. I'm going to start before the ball was even teed up. The Patriots won the toss (obviously), and elected to receive. Wait what?? The Patriots never want the ball. They didn't even want the ball to start overtime against the New York Jets!! Deferring is what Bill Belichick and the Patriots do. Not this time. They took the ball. That was their first mistake. They knew how good the Denver defense was. They also knew that the Denver offense was not that good and they could stop them with a top defense of their own. That being the case, they should have deferred and let their defense set the tone, instead of allowing the Denver defense to set the tone and get the crowd into the game. Oh, and by the way...before yesterday's game, they had won the toss and elected to receive only twice since 2008. Both were losses. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Defer. Next in the long list of what the Patriots did wrong, falls on Stephen Gostkowski. Gostkowski was one of the best kickers in the league this season. He was one of six kickers to not miss an extra point. In fact, he had not missed an extra point in NINE SEASONS. He had made a record 523 extra points. Dude, of all the times to miss an extra point you choose the AFC Championship Game?? Great, now we have to listen to Tony Massarotti ramble on about how he's not worth the money. Can't wait for that. If he hit that point after, they would not have had to attempt a two point conversion to tie the game. An extra point would have been enough. Now is as good a time as any to get into the offensive line. That was painful to watch, I can only imagine how physically painful it actually was for Brady. Brady got hit 20 times. TWENTY TIMES. That is the most any quarterback has been hit since 2006. TWO THOUSAND AND SIX. Brady wasn't good, but the offensive line is the real reason he wasn't good. How can you expect him to be good when he's getting hit half the times he drops back? Nice job, offensive line. Way to step up in the big game. Yes, I know that is a nasty pass rush that the Broncos have, but there were multiple occasions when Von Miller went literally untouched. There was one play when Cam Fleming was in as an extra blocker on the right side. Extra blockers usually have one job, as their position indicates, and that is to block. Fleming did not lay a finger on Miller as he flew past him to drill Brady. Needless to say, I think Fleming is going to be cut. I had a big problem with the play calling on Sunday. I've said for years that Josh McDaniels is a wildly overrated offensive coordinator and I would love for a team to hire him as their head coach. Good luck to that team. He reaffirmed my belief on Sunday afternoon. The Patriots have faced great front sevens in the past. The Detroit Lions last season. The Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Hell, they faced one last week when the Kansas City Chiefs came to Foxboro. The game plan in those games were all pretty similar...have Brady in the shotgun and get rid of the ball within two seconds of him receiving the snap. They didn't even try to run in those games. All three of those games were victories. The Broncos may have the best defense out of that group of teams, but no matter how good the defense is, if you're getting rid of the ball in under two seconds, nobody is going to get to you. Instead, Brady was forced to hold the ball longer than desired and got hit a record number of times. Some of that could be the fact that the receivers weren't getting open, but I have a tough time believing that nobody was open that quickly so often. What bothered me even more than that, though, was the attempt to run the ball. I know, I know. They only handed the ball off 14 times. However, those are 14 wasted plays. You are not going to be able to run on Denver. If I can tell you that, I'm sure Pink Stripes knows it and relayed the message to Belichick and McDaniels. Not only are they tough to run on, but you don't have the personnel to run! Your offensive line was a disgrace, and your running backs are just not good. Keep the ball in the hands of your best player. With 6:03 left in the game, the Patriots decided to go for it on 4th and 1at the Denver 16. A lot of people that I've talked to had a problem with the play call, which was a play action rollout to then find Julian Edelman on the opposite side. I didn't hate that play. In that situation, it may not have been the best call. However, it is a play that the Patriots never run, so it makes sense to think that the defense would be caught off guard. That being said, it was play action. The Broncos knew they were not going to run the ball. However, the play is not the biggest problem I had with that series of events. I had a problem with not taking the points. And, yes, I said that at the time. This is not me second guessing based on hindsight. I understand going for it. They had not been down in that territory all day, and had a legit concern that they would not be back there. But Brady in desperation mode is something special. If he needs to get down there, he will probably get down there. So if they took the points, all they would need is a touchdown to win the game. Instead, they needed a touchdown and extra point to tie the game. Ryan Allen was horrible. He, like Gostkowski, had been so good all year, but just did not show up when they needed him to yesterday. Britton Colquitt, on the other hand, was very good. When the Broncos were backed up, he booted it deep so the Patriots wouldn't be starting at midfield. He also pinned them inside the 20 in four out of his nine punts. And they were actually starting a lot of those drives backed up to their own endzone. Tough to go 98 yards on that defense. Just for fun, if that's what you want to call it, let's go back a little ways and take a look at one more mistake the Patriots made. They needed to win one game down the stretch. One. If they won, they would have been at home for the AFC Championship Game, and may not even have had to face the Broncos. Their three losses that should've been wins were at home against the Philadelphia Eagles, and on the road against the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. All three games should have been wins, but all they needed was one. If they did not do that stupid mortar kick with Nate Ebner they probably win the game against the Eagles. If they cared in the final two games, they probably win one of those games. Now, he could have believed that the Broncos were going to lose in the first round and the AFC Championship would be at home, but that clearly was not the case, and you can't bank on something like that. The Miami game is the one you really have to question. Not only did they not try, they trotted their A team out there. Either play your starters and play to win, or don't play them and basically forfeit. Instead, Belichick was arrogant enough to believe that he could win no matter where he played. All this being said, the Patriots should be one of the favorites, if not the favorite to win the Super Bowl next year. This team will compete for sure. It is a very good team. It is a better team than the Broncos. Despite playing so poorly yesterday, they showed heart. They showed grit to fight back and almost tie a game that they had absolutely no business still being in it. They just have to do their job and they'll be right back in the AFC Championship Game, hopefully at home next time. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest sports talk and news The AFC Championship game will mark the 17th time that Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will have faced each other in their careers. While the argument of who the better quarterback is, no matter the outcome of tomorrow's game, has been put to rest (come on people, you know it's Brady), the AFC representative in the Super Bowl has not yet been decided. You can use the eye test, in which case the New England Patriots look like a far superior team to the Denver Broncos. However, anything can happen. Who will win can be debated. What can't be debated? Statistics. If you know me at all, you know that I value the eye test over statistics as much as anybody you will meet. I don't care if Mike Mussina's numbers are similar to the statistics of those who are already in Cooperstown, but did anybody ever think "that's a Hall of Famer" while watching him pitch? Nope. Stats do not tell the whole story. That being said, we're going to look at statistics and only statistics today to determine who will win the AFC Championship game. So without further ado... Why Denver Will Win
Why the Patriots Will Win
So, there you have it. Still have no idea who will win on Sunday? Yeah, me either. We'll see what happens on Sunday!
I know hockey pretty well. I know football very well. I know baseball better than John Farrell does. I know basketball, but nowhere near as well as the other three sports. (Yes, three sports. Soccer is not a sport, or at least a sport that I have any interest in whatsoever.) Yet it is basketball that I am about to talk about. Why is that so? Because it’s time to have some fun with the NBA Trade Machine and you don’t need to know jack about the NBA to have fun with that!
These trades will benefit the Celtics. They're the hometown team, obviously I'm going to try to make them better. (And hopefully not get them in trouble with the law for grand larceny...) How about we start big and bring arguably the three best players, at least at their respective positions, to the green. Trade #1: The Big 3
Alright, so LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Anthony Davis are all in Boston now, and the only player
Starting 5: Curry, Isaiah Thomas, James, Kelly Olynyk, Davis
Trade #2: The Big 4
Alright, now let's try to get crazy. Time to bring FOUR of the best players in the league to Boston! This trade is slightly more unrealistic than the previous trade, because the Celtics would never agree to it. Look at all the green that is being spread throughout the league! They'd lose more than half of their roster! Oh well, their starting five would be pretty solid.
Starting 5: Wesbrook, James Young, Durant, Griffin, Cousins Team #3: NBA All-Defense
We all know that the two previous teams will be able to score. I mean, come on. Curry on team number one and Durant and Westbrook on team number two. BUT, can they play defense?? This team sure as hell can. These five players were either first or second team All-Defense in 2014. (But somehow the Celtics become a far worse team than they were before, while the Grizzlies, who traded Allen for Jerebko, are the only team that technically improves after this deal.) Actually, Duncan is the only player who was second team All-Defense. What a slob.
Starting 5: Paul, Allen, Leonard, Duncan, Jordan Team #4: Austin's Favorite Players
How about we bring some of our favorite players to our favorite team! As a proper host, I will allow my guest to bring his favorite ballers to Boston before I bring mine here. Now, if any of you know Austin, you know his infatuation with Russell Westbrook. I recently asked him if he could choose any player in the NBA to start a franchise with who it would be, and HE TOOK RUSS OVER STEPH. Yeah, I know, this guy claims to know basketball. Whatever helps you sleet at night, buddy. Anyway, his "dream team" we'll call it, was SO EASY to bring together. You want Russ? Ok, bye David Lee. Leonard? See ya, Amir. McCollum? Adios, Turner.
Starting 5: Wesbrook, McCollum, Leonard, Jae Crowder*, Olynyk *Or in Austin's case, Bae Crowder. Crowder moves from the three to the four for this team. Yes, I could start Sullinger in that spot, but Austin, in addition to Westbrook, Leonard, and McCollum, listed Crowder and Olynyk as his favorite players (he didn't know why I was asking for his favorite players). I aim to please, so here you go, Austin. Your five favorite players all starting on the Celtics. Team #5: My Favorite Players
Alright, now that I got that pain in the ass out of the way and he's probably stopped reading since I've already done his dream team, it's time for what really matters. My favorite players. This deal was just as easy as Austin's. Obviously, Amir and Lee are gone. That's a given. Jerebko is the final piece that is sent packing to bring some of my favorite players together. Parker did an amazing thing. He made me not hate Duke. Yeah, I know, crazy. Anybody who can do that belongs on my team of favs.
Starting 5: Curry, Thomas, Hayward, Parker, Olynyk Team #6: My Favorite Players Part 2
Hey, this is my article. My website. If I want to have two trades that are all about me, I'm going to. I, like Austin, love Leonard. How do you not? And since I was already dealing with the Spurs, why not bring in Duncan. Nobody doesn't like Duncan. Chandler Parsons was fun to watch at Florida. I haven't seen much of him in the NBA, but I liked him in college so he makes the cut. Finally, Manimal is going to be wearing green too. Another guy I loved in college. Actually, if you look at my favorite players, I like most of them because I loved watching them in college. Except Duncan. There are few people still alive that remember watching Duncan play at Wake Forest.
Starting 5: Thomas, Parsons*, Leonard, Faried, Duncan *Yes, I know Parsons is a small forward and not a shooting guard. How many times do I have to tell you this is my thing and I can do as I please?
If you were looking to see a trade that made somebody other than the Celtics an absolute powerhouse,
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Mike McCarthy and the Green Bay Packers have had some of the most talented teams in the NFL over the past decade or so. Aaron Rodgers took over as the starting quarterback in 2008 and has been considered one of the best in the game since then. He has had many weapons over that time including four-time Pro-Bowler Donald Driver, two-time Pro-Bowler Greg Jennings and All-Pro Jordy Nelson to name a few. However, they have seriously underperformed over that time period and, no matter what their record in the regular season is, should not be considered a real threat in the playoffs, at least for the time being. Let’s start with the head coach. McCarthy is one of the most overrated coaches in football. He has benefited from the talent around him but has in no way, shape or form gotten the most out of his players. A baboon could coach an Aaron Rodgers led team to a winning record. McCarthy is still stuck in the archaic philosophy of establishing the run. Some teams absolutely need to establish the run. However, those are not championship teams. Teams that need to run the ball to have success are not going to win a Super Bowl. You need to a quarterback who can pass to have success in this league. Yes, a great running back can help you win a Super Bowl (see Marshawn Lynch), but you still need that star quarterback (see Russell Wilson and a stud defense (see Legion of Boom). The Packers have that star quarterback! Use him! Do you see the New England Patriots trying to establish the run with Tom Brady under center? Hell no! They handed the ball of seven times last week against the Chiefs. They knew that their best chance to win was to have the ball in the hands of the best player on the field: Tom Brady. Since McCarthy is so stuck in the establishing the run philosophy, he very rarely changes the game plan. It does not matter if the team is facing the top rated Seahawks rush defense or the bottom of the barrel Eagles rushing defense, McCarthy would still feed his running back the ball. If he game planned week by week, he would realize that when you are playing a team that cannot defend the run, you shove it down their throats (see Patriots vs. Colts, Jonas Gray/LeGarrette Blount), but if you are playing a team that is very good against the run and you have one of the best quarterbacks in the league, you spread it out and throw the ball 60 times (see Patriots vs. Bills, Week 2). Who cares if you are not balanced, the goal is to win the game, not be balanced. McCarthy also needs to give up play calling again, I do not care how good everybody think he is at it. Yes, I just went on a rant about how he game plans too many runs, but there is a big difference between game planning, and play calling. The coach game plans. The coordinators then make the actual play calls based on that game plan. The head coach needs to be in control of the entire team, all three phases of the game. He cannot be bogged down in offensive play calling. He needs to hire an offensive coordinator that he trusts. If you cannot trust the current offensive coordinator to call the plays, he should not be on your staff. Ok, that turned into whey McCarthy is stupid more so than the Packers are stupid. What comes next is not stupidity by the Packers, but a quick rant about the media and why the Packers have not won another Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers. People argue that Rodgers is the best quarterback in the game. I have even heard Stephen A. Smith say that he is the best quarterback in history. Both of those statements are wildly inaccurate. Tom Brady is the best quarterback in the game and is the best quarterback in history. It is not a debate. However, that is not why they have not won another Super Bowl. It is because of Rodgers’ clutch gene, or lack thereof. Now if you read that and say “what about all those last second Hail Mary passes that were completed to tie or win the game?!” That is not clutch. That is using your absolute cannon of an arm to throw the ball into a crowd of people and hoping your guy comes down with it. Rodgers has not proven the ability to drive his team down the field to get his team in field goal range or drive down for a touchdown that is not heaving the ball as far as he can on the last play. Now to settle down those who may come at me for hypocrisy, if Tom Brady had completed that Hail Mary at the end of the Super Bowl in 2011 to Rob Gronkowski, I would not have called that clutch on Brady’s part. I would have called it one of the single greatest plays in the history of sports, but launching the ball as far as you can into a crowd is not clutch. Rodgers, outside of the Super Bowl run, is 2-7. He is closer to Peyton Manning when it comes to playoff success than he is Tom Brady. Take 2011 for example. The Packers were 15-1. They were the best regular season team that season. Rodgers was great. They were the number one seed. And then the New York Giants came into Lambeau Field and beat the Packers in what was not even a close game. It is unacceptable to lose that game. Yes, the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl. But do not try to tell me they were a better team than the Packers. The Packers choked. Ok, I think I am done. I have been thinking these thoughts for a very long time. Completely random article from a New Englander who is not affected by the Packers at all? Yup. But as a football fan, I see a lot of stuff throughout the league that I just view as downright stupid and I need to let it all out. Today, the Packers were the victim. Tomorrow could be the referees. Could be the media. Could be Roger Goodell. Could be anything. It is a very stupid league that is highly addictive so we keep coming back. Follow @SamPericolo for the latest sports talk and news |
SAMUEL PERICOLOSam is a graduate of Assumption College where he studied History, Marketing, and Political Science and was a Co-Producer on a weekly sports talk television show. Archives
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