Month: August 2012

Eric Steinbach retires with Dolphins

stevenlourie Dolphins, News

Eric Steinbach once signed one of the largest contracts ever for an interior offensive lineman, signing for 6 years, 49.5 million with 17 million guaranteed during the 2006 offseason with the Cleveland Browns. However, Steinbach missed all of last season with back surgery and was cut by the Browns for financial reasons this offseason before he could finish that monster contract. After a long wait, Steinbach was eventually snatched up by the interior offensive line needy Miami Dolphins in July.

However, it looks like Steinbach will never play a snap for them or for anyone for that matter, as Steinbach retired as a member of the Miami Dolphins earlier this week, a situation that his back surgery likely he something to do with. Let’s hope he can live a normal life after football. Steinbach turned 32 in April.

As for the Dolphins, this pretty much clinches the starting right guard job for Artis Hicks as Steinbach is retired, the incumbent Vernon Carey also retired, and John Jerry, who was supposed to be the starter, has lost his job because he’s struggled and because he’s way overweight at 360 pounds. A poor fit for the Dolphins’ new zone blocking scheme anyway, Jerry could be a final cut. Hicks, meanwhile, is heading into his age 34 season and struggled in limited action as a reserve for the Browns last season. It’s obviously a position of weakness.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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King Dunlap to be Eagles’ left tackle?

stevenlourie Eagles, News

When the Eagles lost left tackle Jason Peters, presumably for the season, with a torn Achilles in March, they immediately went out and signed Demetress Bell, formerly Demetrius Bell of the Buffalo Bills. They took a risk by signing Bell to a 5 year, 34.5 million dollar deal, but only 3.25 million of that, his 2012 salary, was guaranteed and they got that money by taking it from Jason Peters, who was in violation of his contract when he injured himself. Bell, however, has only played more than 8 games once in his 4 year career.

Bell played very well when healthy for the Bills last year, as the 2008 7th round pick allowed just 1 sack, 1 quarterback hits, and 7 quarterback pressures, while not committing a penalty in essentially 6 starts protecting the blindside of Ryan Fitzpatrick. However, despite his big guaranteed salary for the 2012 season and his strong play last season, it appears that Bell has lost the starting left tackle job to King Dunlap in Philadelphia. Dunlap has been working with the 1st team all throughout Training Camp and the preseason and probably will start there week 1, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

It’s definitely a head scratching move, but the Eagles made it clear earlier this offseason that Bell was being brought in to compete with former Peters backup Dunlap for Peters’ old job and he seems to have lost. Maybe he wasn’t a good fit for Howard Mudd’s scheme. Maybe he’s not fully healthy. Maybe Dunlap just impressed and beat him out. I don’t know. What I do know is that Dunlap is inexperienced as the 2008 7th round pick has started just 7 career games (3 at left tackle, 3 at right tackle, and 1 at left guard), though he hasn’t played badly.

The Eagles will obviously be hoping that continues. Left tackle might not be the blindside for Michael Vick, a left handed quarterback, but it is for backup Nick Foles, who figures to see a few starts this season because of how injury prone Vick is. They’ll need good play from that spot, but I trust Howard Mudd to coach him up and he definitely had something to do with the decision for Dunlap to start. As for Bell, he’ll almost definitely be one and done with the Eagles. He won’t see his 9.5 million dollar salary in 2013. He likely wouldn’t have seen it either way, unless Peters couldn’t bounce back, but this pretty much seals it.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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Titans turn attention to Jared Cook after extending Jason McCourty

stevenlourie News, Titans

The Titans made a big move today, giving cornerback Jason McCourty a 5 year, 43 million dollar extension with 20 million guaranteed. With him taken care of, the Titans have turned their attention to tight end Jared Cook, according to noted Titans beat writer Jim Wyatt of the Nashville Tennessean. Cook, a 2009 3rd round pick, is heading into a contract year.

Jared Cook had a breakout year in 2011, catching 49 passes for 759 yards and 3 touchdowns and was even better in his final 3 games, catching 21 passes for 335 yards and a score. He can definitely reproduce those numbers or exceed them in his 4th season in the league in 2012. If the Titans can’t extend him before the season, they could definitely franchise tag him in 202, especially since the franchise tag value for tight ends was the lowest of the non-special teamers in 2012, just 5.4 million. They’ll have the franchise tag freed up now after the McCourty deal.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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Steelers’ Isaac Redman to be bothered by hip injury all year?

stevenlourie News, Steelers

The Steelers activated Rashard Mendenhall from the PUP last week, a surprising move because everyone, including even Steelers’ GM Kevin Colbert, believed he’d begin the season on the PUP, which would have cost him the first 6 weeks of the season at least. Mendenhall is not expected to be ready to go until after the Steelers’ week 4 bye, but it’s obviously bad news for Isaac Redman, as his window to prove to the coaching staff that he’s a legitimate lead back was at least cut in half.

More bad news for Redman is the fact that he is also battling his own injuries, specifically injuries to his hip and groin, which may be related. Redman is expected to see significant action in the Steelers’ 3rd preseason game this week, in a dress rehearsal for a week 1 start, but Redman didn’t sound encouraging when he said, about his injury, “it might nag me throughout the year” in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Redman said he won’t need surgery and that “it’s pretty much a pain-tolerance thing,” but, even for as talented as Redman is, the arrow is definitely pointing down for him. He’ll probably get another fantasy stock down from me this week.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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Browns’ Trent Richardson expected back week 1

stevenlourie Browns, News

ESPN’s Adam Schefter expects the Browns’ Trent Richardson to be back for week 1, despite having a 2nd knee surgery earlier this month. Both surgeries were about as minor as they come as the 3rd overall pick in the NFL Draft and it doesn’t look like they’ll cost him any games yet. However, it’s hardly a good sign that he’s had two surgeries and rookie running backs have trouble adjusting to the 16 game workload of the NFL historically anyway. 1st round pick running backs have averaged just 165 carries as rookies since 2007. Richardson will probably exceed that number, but his ADP in the 3rd round right now is a little rich. Meanwhile, backup Montario Hardesty, who is finally healthy, makes for an interesting handcuff late, especially in deeper leagues.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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Vikings’ Adrian Peterson on pace to play week 1

stevenlourie News, Vikings

Adrian Peterson will not see any preseason action this year. However, he still remains on pace to play week 1, less than 9 months after he tore his ACL last December. Peterson, obviously one of the league’s fastest healers, has been activated off the PUP and practicing for over a week now, after months of looking impressing doing side work, and has had no swelling in the surgical repaired knee. He’s expected to be cleared for contact next week.

There is precedent for this type of recovery from injury as Wes Welker recovered from a torn ACL in roughly 8 months for the 2010 season. However, Welker was pretty bad in 2010, especially by his standards, catching 86 passes for 848 yards and 7 touchdowns. Aside from that year, his worst season in a Patriots uniform was 2008, when Matt Cassel was the quarterback and Welker caught 111 passes for 1165 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Peterson also won’t see nearly as many carries as he normally does, even if he does play week 1. Peterson has carried the ball 19.3 times per game in his career, 308 times per 16 games. However, the Vikings will want to be cautious with him, especially early in the season. They aren’t legitimate contenders this season so the emphasis will obviously be more on getting the old Peterson back for 2013, rather than getting all they can get out of him in 2012. Backup Toby Gerhart will see a good amount of carries behind him for the first 4-8 games of the season and may even begin the season as the starter. At his current ADP of 13th overall, Peterson is really being overdrafted in fantasy leagues.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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Bears unsure Brian Urlacher will be ready for the opener

stevenlourie Bears, News

Brian Urlacher is the most recognizable Bears defender, maybe even the most recognizable Bears player, after how long he’s been there. However, the Bears are reportedly pessimistic about his availability for the opener, according to NFL.com, after two knee surgeries this offseason. Urlacher also got what’s colloquially known as “Kobe surgery” in Europe this offseason, referring to the platelet rich injection that Kobe Bryant famously started getting over the past couple of years.

It’s doesn’t sound like, either way, that Urlacher will miss that many games with this injury and may even be ready to go week 1. However, it’s definitely a concerning situation for a player who is entering his age 34 season. Urlacher was ProFootballFocus’ 12th rated middle linebacker last season, but if his body is breaking down, his days of being that kind of player might be over.

Still, the Bears should be able to have one of the best defenses in the league again this season. Urlacher is hardly their only good player and linebackers are not quite as important of a position as guys who rush the passer or cover receivers. The Bears have a great pass rusher in Julius Peppers, a budding star at defensive tackle in Henry Melton, two young, talented defensive lineman in Shea McClellin and Stephen Paea, and, a strong secondary that allowed just 6.8 YPA last season, 8th best in the NFL, on top of, of course Lance Briggs and Urlacher when healthy.

They ranked 14th in the league, allowing 21.3 points per game last year, but were less than a point per game out of the top-10. They could have a top-10 defense to compliment what was a top-10 offense last year before injuries to Jay Cutler and Matt Forte, averaging 26.8 points per game in 10 games and going 7-3. That points per game figure would have ranked 5th in the league last year, had they maintained it over a season. The Bears also added Brandon Marshall this offseason and did some addition by subtraction by getting rid of Mike Martz, whose scheme their personnel never fit. They’re one of the league’s best teams and could be Super Bowl contenders.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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Colts’ Austin Collie has no plans to retire

stevenlourie Colts, News

Austin Collie suffered his 4th concussion in 21 months last week, leading many to call for him to retire. However, the concussion is seemingly as minor as they come and with concussions, there’s a greater importance on severity of concussions than number of concussions. He’s reportedly felt “really good” since and the Colts are calling him just “day-to-day” and have not ruled him out for the opener yet. Collie said today, and confirmed by his father, that he will continue to play “so long as the Colts will have him,” which it seems like they will.

I think anyone calling for Collie to retire is ridiculous. Yes, concussions are serious matters, but people seem to like to pretend to be a doctor and pretend they know what’s best for Collie. This is a matter that should be decided between Collie, his doctors, and no one else. If he wants to continue playing and gets cleared medically to do so, why shouldn’t he be allowed to decide to do that? Football is obviously very important to him and he should be allowed to spend his life the way he chooses to live it.

In fantasy leagues, Collie remains a major fantasy sleeper. He’s a very talented football player who has great chemistry with quarterback Andrew Luck. In 2010, he caught 58 passes for 649 yards and 8 touchdowns in only 9 games because of injuries. Injuries also knocked him out of several games, so he didn’t play 9 full games. In fact, Collie managed just 286 routes run in 2010 because of injuries and yet still had good production. Collie ranked 9th in the NFL in yards per route run with 2.27.

In 2011, he didn’t mesh with any of the new quarterbacks and lost his starting job and ended up being the Colts’ 3rd receiver on a poor passing offense and his stats showed that as he caught just 54 passes for 514 yards and a touchdown, though he did play all 16 games. However, Pierre Garcon is gone so the starting job is Collie’s so long as he’s healthy and he’ll mesh much better with Andrew Luck than any of their quarterbacks last year because Luck is a similar style quarterback to Peyton Manning.

Their only other non-rookie receivers are Donnie Avery, who has caught just 3 passes in the last 2 seasons because of injuries, and Reggie Wayne, who is heading into his age 34 season, which is right around when even elite wide receivers see their abilities fall off a cliff. At his current ADP in the 11th round, he’s definitely worth the risk as a sleeper and will be worth that pick assuming he plays most of the Colts’ games.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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Colts going to make big trade?

stevenlourie Colts, News

Colts’ Owner Jim Irsay is an avid Twitter user and the Colts’ new regime is known for making bold moves, especially this offseason as they’ve committed themselves fully to the rebuilding project, cutting several well known veterans. Irsay made waves with a series of tweets today, tweeting “TRADE WINDS BLOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SERIOUS TRADE WINDS Swirling! We’re talking given up high pick for SERIOUS Vet/Starter!.. these deals often crumble n don’t reach completion. Colts Fans..Your GM Mr Grigson isn’t afraid to roll the dice n aggressively improve YOUR Indianapolis Colts..n my check book stands ready!, 9 times out of 10 these deals fizzle out like a faulty Roman Candle;any other info at this time is proprietary,must move behind the curtain!”

The obvious names that people speculated were Mike Wallace and Maurice Jones-Drew, but those two are very unlikely, especially since neither of those player’s teams are willing to trade those players. The Colts could really use an upgrade at any position as they haven’t drafted a Pro-Bowler since 2006, so a number of other players could be in the running, specifically players who are looking for long term contracts who are not getting them from their current teams.

NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora believes it will be an offensive lineman, leading to some floating the name of Broncos’ left tackle Ryan Clady out there. Clady rejected a 5 year, 50 million dollar extension from the Broncos earlier this month, as he heads into a contract year. The Broncos don’t seem to be willing to pay him what he’s worth. Clady would play left tackle for the Colts and move 2011 1st round pick Anthony Castonzo to right tackle, where the Colts have a huge hole right now. However, it’s unlikely that the Broncos, who feel they are built to win now with a 36 year old quarterback, trade Clady, especially this close to the season, even if they feel they can’t keep him after the season.

Meanwhile, Phil Richards of the Indianapolis Star, one of the Colts’ best beat writers, predicts it will be a cornerback. The names of the Ravens’ Cary Williams and the Dolphins’ Vontae Davis have been floated around. Williams is heading into the final year of his deal and could lose his job to 2011 1st round pick Jimmy Smith after a rough preseason. Williams reportedly rejected a 3 year, 15 million dollar extension earlier this offseason and may now be regretting it after getting torched by Julio Jones, Calvin Johnson, and Justin Blackmon so far in the preseason. The definition of a marginal cornerback, Williams allowed 61 completions on 116 attempts (52.6%) for 863 yards (7.4 YPA), 4 touchdowns and no interceptions, while deflecting 14 passes and committing 5 penalties in 2011, his first year as a starter.

Davis, meanwhile, actually has two more years left on his deal. However, despite playing very well last season, he reportedly showed up out of shape for Training Camp and has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff, who has moved him to the 2nd string on the depth chart and forced him to win back his starting job against Sean Smith and Richard Marshall. Davis allowed 36 completions on 66 attempts (54.5%) for 496 yards (7.5 YPA), 3 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions, while deflecting 6 passes and committing 4 penalties last year.

Sean Smith has reportedly done the opposite of Davis this offseason, showing up to camp slimmed down 24 pounds to 6-3 190, making a strong impression, and looking poised to bounce back from a down season. In 2011 he allowed 61 completions on 104 attempts (58.7%) for 793 yards (7.6 YPA), 5 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, while deflecting 5 passes and committing 2 penalties. In 2010, he allowed 24 completions on 45 attempts (53.3%) for 325 yards (7.2 YPA), 1 touchdown and 1 interception, while deflecting 8 passes and committing 1 penalty in 11 starts at cornerback.

Richard Marshall, meanwhile, is looking continue his strong play from 2011. He allowed 28 completions on 54 attempts (51.9%) for 394 yards (7.3 YPA), 2 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions, while deflecting 5 passes and committing 6 penalties last season. He ranked 3rd in the league in receptions per coverage snap, 7th in yards per coverage snap, and 2nd in targets per coverage snap. Davis might be an option for a trade if he hasn’t done enough to earn back his starting job. I think it’s probably more likely that no trade happens, but it’s fun to speculate and a trade certainly seems possible.

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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Tennessee Titans extend CB Jason McCourty

stevenlourie 2012 NFL Off-Season, Offseason Moves 2012, Titans

The Titans are taking a risk giving McCourty this 5 year, 43 million dollar deal with 20 million guaranteed. McCourty was actually thrown on more frequently than any cornerback in the league last year, being thrown on once every 4.6 coverage snaps. However, this was because opposing quarterbacks feared throwing on Cortland Finnegan, the opposite cornerback and the Titans’ #1 cornerback. Finnegan was thrown on once every 7.6 coverage snaps, which was the 8th best rate in the NFL.

However, McCourty held up very well being thrown on that much. He allowed 71 completions on 117 attempts (60.7%) for 802 yards (6.9 YPA), 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions, while deflecting 10 passes and committing 2 penalties. He also graded out as ProFootballFocus’ best cornerback against the run because he ranked 4th at his position with a run stop rate of 3.9% and 4th at his position in run snap tackles, while missing only 1.

For his total efforts, he was ProFootballFocus’ 7th ranked cornerback. Having an elite cornerback like Cortland Finnegan is obviously very valuable, but he would have been less valuable if opposing quarterbacks could just had success picking on the other cornerback. McCourty was picked on often, but did not allow quarterbacks to have a lot of success and was a big part of a Titans pass defense that ranked 4th in the league in YPA allowed (6.4 YPA), despite a pass rush that ranked 31st in the league in sacks (28) and 31st in the league in pass rush productivity (sacks + .75 quarterback hits + .75 quarterback pressures/total pass rush snaps).

McCourty also played pretty well in 2010 in a more limited role as the 2009 6th round pick, allowing 31 completions on 52 attempts (59.6%) for 287 yards (5.5 YPA), 4 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, while deflecting 8 passes and committing 3 penalties. However, McCourty is still only a one year wonder as he’s only been a full time starter for 1 season (he made just 6 starts in 2010) and he’s never been a full-time #1 cornerback and covered opponent’s #1 receivers because the Titans always had Cortland Finnegan to take care of that (I say full-time because Finnegan also functioned as the Titans’ slot cornerback last year and would move inside in 3-cornerback sets, often leaving McCourty to cover the opponent’s #1 wide receiver, assuming that receiver didn’t move into the slot as well).

For that reason, in a normal scenario, he wouldn’t seem to deserve this kind of money as someone as a 1 year wonder above average #2 cornerback. This is elite #1 cornerback money. He only got 7 million over 5 years less in maximum money than Cortland Finnegan got from the Rams this offseason and 4 million less in guaranteed money (Finnegan’s deal was 5 years, 50 million with 24 million guaranteed).

However, this isn’t quite a normal scenario. With Finnegan gone, McCourty will become the #1 cornerback this year. He’s talented enough and has some experience covering #1 cornerbacks (albeit only in certain scenarios) so he definitely could break out as an elite #1 cornerback this year and shed the one year wonder label at the same time.

If he had done that, he would have commanded upwards of 50 million dollars over 5 years on the open market. The cornerback franchise tag is one of the most expensive in the league (tied for 2nd highest at 10.6 million this season) so that wouldn’t have been much of a cheaper option for the Titans and they can’t really afford to lose their #1 cornerback two offseasons in a row. The Titans are taking a chance that McCourty can emerge into that type of player this season, but they really believe in him and he definitely could make this deal look like a relative bargain.

Grade: B

If you’re interested in doing a fantasy football league with me, here’s the link (no draft date set yet, currently standard, with the option to become PPR with group vote). http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/football/commissioner/Registration/Private.aspx?league=55086&password=FanSpot2

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