HarleyQuinn

An interesting study I did last night... Of the Top 20 leaders in Career Rushing Yardage, the range of BMI ranges from: 28.26 as a low to 32.92 as a high. I also looked at 24 current "stud" RBs and their range of BMI was similar too: 29.69 as a low to 32.97 as a high. The following college players currently fit that range... Rashard Mendenhall (Illinois): 6'1" and 224 lbs. 32.44 Thomas Brown (Georgia): 5'8" and 200 lbs. 31.57 Ray Rice (Rutgers): 5'9" and 205 lbs. 31.43 Mike Hart (Michigan): 5'9" and 202 lbs. 30.97 Tony Temple (Missouri): 5'9" and 200 lbs. 30.67 James Davis (Clemson): 5'11" and 205 lbs. 29.69 The following RBs are on the outskirts. Kevin Smith (UCF): 6'1" and 211 lbs. 28.90 Steve Slaton (West Virginia): 5'10" and 190 lbs. 28.31 Felix Jones (Arkansas): 6'0" and 200 lbs. 28.16 Jamaal Charles (Texas): 6'1" and 205 lbs. 28.08 Tashard Choice (Georgia Tech): 6'1" and 205 lbs. 28.08 The outlier Darren McFadden (Arkansas): 6'2" and 205 lbs. 27.33. Reggie Bush currently has a 28.16 BMI for those who are curious. Adrian Peterson (Mr. Viking) is at 29.73. Barry Sanders was 32.05. LaDainian Tomlinson is 32.92.

I'm really growing on the WR class in this year's draft as well. While there are (right now) relatively few "star" names outside of Adarius Bowman, James Hardy, and Early Doucet... there are a lot of guys who could turn out to be solid pros if taken in the 2nd to 4th round. Guys I'm keeping an eye on... Todd Blythe (Iowa State): Has good size if not a little thin at 6'6" and 209 lbs. Also has the highest career YPC among the WRs in the draft (excluding Taj from Syracuse) with 17.59 off 176 catches. If he can flash 4.45 speed, I could see him going in the late 1st/early 2nd round. Donnie Avery (Houston): Great career with 210 catches and 3,289 yards. Doubles as a return threat but size will be a question as he's only 5'11" and 190 lbs. according to ESPN. I see him as a 3rd or 4th round draft pick at the moment. Ernie Wheelwright (Minnesota): Really got helped with the addition of the spread offense. Has great size at 6'5" and 215 lbs. but the question is whether he has the speed to make an impact. I could see him going in the 3rd round, late 2nd if he can flash a 4.45 or higher. DJ Hall (Alabama): A somewhat forgotten player with the emergence of Prothero there. 6'2" and 195 lbs. with over 2,900 yards receiving in his college career. I could see him going in the 2nd round if he has a strong Combine. My true sleeper: Jabari Arthur (Akron): A converted QB, he has great size at 6'4" and 224 lbs. Speed is the big question and he could turn out to be another Matt Jones or another Vincent Jackson if he gets drafted by a team that can utilize his size well. He could be converted into a TE but will likely stick as a WR and a possible 5th-6th round pick unless his speed can bump him into the late 4th/early 5th. He had 2,653 yards receiving in his career but also had a 14.42 YPC (better than Jordy Nelson, Andre Caldwell, and Keenan Burton) but that was playing against weaker competition.

Damn... I placed in the Top 4 in both PF and PA.

For the above mentioned question about Flacco... I kinda compare him to Jay Cutler, actually. Decent mobility to avoid the rush, a rocket arm and ability to make plays, but a bit iffy when it comes to accuracy and decision making.

I was surprised at the playcalling by June Jones for Hawaii. I know you're a run and shoot team and you basically pass like 70% of the game... but they're constantly putting on pressure! Try some more draw plays or go to three wide and bring the 4th WR into the backfield to help with pass protection. They didn't change anything at all and when they did run, they had brief success. If they had even tried to develop the run briefly, they could've turned to a play action pass or two to keep the defense on their heels again. I'm surprised also that they didn't try to change the routes from the 10+ yard variety. Tell the receivers to cut their normal routes off by 3-4 yards to allow Brennan a shorter period of time to stay in the pocket. Of course, it didn't help that the tackles for Hawaii were atrocious in pass protection. I saw one play, where Georgia's #97 did the most basic swim move and it was like the Hawaii offensive player wasn't even there before the defender was in the backfield and in Brennan's face.

The one thing I did like about the game (even when the calls were ticky tacky by the referees against the Giants... Pats homer here too) was... Belichick asks the referee who the unsportsmanlike conduct call was on, saw it was Rodney Harrison, and instantly sent him to the bench for a play or two. A nice way of not only admonishing Rodney for a dumb penalty, but also again telling the rest of the team that nobody is above anybody else.

Philadelphia: 17 (14.5) New England @ N.Y. Giants Buffalo @ Philadelphia (7.5) (2.5) Carolina @ Tampa Bay (2.5) Cincinnati @ Miami Dallas @ Washington (8.5) Detroit @ Green Bay (3.5) Jacksonville @ Houston (6.5) (2.5) New Orleans @ Chicago (3.5) Pittsburgh @ Baltimore Seattle @ Atlanta (2.5) San Francisco @ Cleveland (9.5) (6.5) Tennessee @ Indianapolis (3.5) Minnesota @ Denver (7.5) San Diego @ Oakland St. Louis @ Arizona (6.5) Kansas City @ N.Y. Jets (6.5)

Some of these early bowl games have been rather exciting finish wise... The Boise State/ECU game last night as well as the BYU/UCLA game. Even Utah/Navy was good.

So much for making the playoffs in back to back years

So... How about Kyle Orton, huh? 8/14 for 101 yards with 1 TD (and a 2 point conversion!) Question for ya, Czech. If you were GM, would you go for the "game managing" QB ala Kyle Orton given the idea of the offense is built around a smashmouth running game and strong defense (& return game) or would you rather take a QB like Rex Grossman, knowing that he can win ballgames but just as easily lose them? I keep thinking of guys like Trent Dilfer, Jim McMahon, or Bart Starr in the old days and their success in terms of "game managers"

Looks like the spread offense is coming to Auburn with the hiring of OC Tony Franklin from Troy. It'll be interesting if Auburn runs any spread formations during their Chick-Fil-A Bowl game. http://blog.al.com/breaking/2007/12/its_of...n_brings_s.html

When mentioning the Browns, the aspect that scares me the most is, surprisingly, kick returner Josh Cribbs. The guy's been averaging 30.9 yards per kick return and has 43 returns of 20+ yards and 7 returns of 40+ yards! He also averages 10.1 yards per punt return and has 3 runs of 20+ yards there too. In the playoffs, field position can make or break a game and that's what makes the Browns the most dangerous team in regards to beating the Patriots, IMO (and possibly going deep into the playoffs).

Clemson leading tackler LB Nick Watkins has been declared ineligible for the Chick-Fil-A Bowl against Auburn (led the team with 116 tackles in 2006 and had 118 this year). http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c.../AFN4118055.htm

Philadelphia Eagles: 24 (7.5) Pittsburgh @ St. Louis (10.5) Dallas @ Carolina (3.5) Cleveland @ Cincinnati (9.5) Green Bay @ Chicago Houston @ Indianapolis (7.5) Kansas City @ Detroit (4.5) Miami @ New England (100) (22.5) (3.5) N.Y. Giants @ Buffalo Oakland @ Jacksonville (13.5) Philadelphia @ New Orleans (3.5) Washington @ Minnesota (6.5) Atlanta @ Arizona (10.5) Baltimore @ Seattle (10.5) N.Y. Jets @ Tennessee (8.5) (6.5) Tampa Bay @ San Francisco Denver @ San Diego (8.5)

Here's another coaching change that could hurt Southern Illinois in I-AA. Northern Illinois hired Jerry Kill as their head coach. Kill went 50-14 at Southern Illinois between 2003-2007. "Kill, who played football for former Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione at Southwestern (Kansas) College where he was a double major in education and biology, began his coaching career under Franchione as the defensive coordinator at Pittsburg State in 1985." From his press conference... "When I was at Southern Illinois, we were always trying to get the best players that we could possibly get. We battled and understood our restrictions. People ask me why I wanted to go to division-I and I tell them that I have always wanted to know what I could do with about 23 more scholarships. I know what we've done with 63 and we have been pretty good, but I'd like to see what we can do with that extra amount. "Defensively, philosophies are similar to what has been here in the past. Offensively, we've expanded more and more. You have to adapt to the talent that you have. We threw the ball this year more than we ever had and led the conference, but it was because of the quarterback that we had. You still have to run the football though, or you won't have a chance. I'm a big believer in special teams." "When you take a job like this you have to watch film and get to know the kids and personnel. It's certainly a good situation to come in to and to have kids that are young. It gives us an advantage in recruiting because we only have 10 scholarships available."

Thanks for the support I know that most of the posters here couldn't care less about the FCS/I-AA but at the same time, there are several posters who attend/attended I-AA schools and I find the whole division interesting. Not only are I-AA players making an impact in the NFL but many I-AA schools have made the jump to I-A in the past sixteen years including: Arkansas State (1992), Nevada (1992), North Texas (1995), Boise State (1996), Central Florida (1996), UAB (1996), Marshall (1997), Middle Tennessee State (1999), Connecticut (2000), South Florida (2001), and Troy (2002). While most of these schools haven't experienced a ton of success, they have had some successes throughout the years. Even head coaches at the I-AA level are making the jump to I-A. Washington State just hired Paul Wulff, formerly the head coach at Eastern Washington where he went 53-40.

A coaching hire at the FCS level... Alcorn State - Ernest Jones has been hired. He was the RB Coach at the University of Cincinnati prior to accepting the gig.

Huge win this week, toppling division leader Dallas yet again. As with the real life Eagles, I'm keeping my head in the division race without an outside chance while being good enough to cause some upsets along the way.

My tail gets saved as I beat Random Hero (#3 seed) by less than .20 even without Sidney Rice's contribution tonight. Picking up Elam and Miami D really saved me this week.

credit Great Blue North Draft Report. Louisville WR Mario Urrutia has declared for the NFL Draft. Louisville RB Anthony Allen will be transferring. He can't transfer to a Big East school or Arkansas.

Shame how wasted the lightweights were in 1997. Taka was getting solid pops here too. 1997-09-15: Steve Austin Promo. Taka Michinoku vs. El Pantera Watch for Pantera's somersault tope. Also Taka busts out his insane running springboard plancha all the way to the bottom of the steel ramp. 1997-10-20: Taka Michinoku vs. Tajiri Tajiri was clearly made the "star" of the match with a nice Asai Moonsault and a sick snap German. Imagine if Vince had actually signed Tajiri and Kaientai to contracts for a serious lightheavyweight division *sigh*

Snagged F Reggie Evans solely for the Rebound boost. I've given up on 3 pointers and am starting to concentrate on being competitive in points/boards/assists/steals/blocks instead as a 5-3 week is better than trying to win hit or miss categories like FG%, FT%, and 3 pointers. Missing Duncan really hurts though

Denver @ Houston (0.5) (8.5) Cincinnati @ San Francisco Arizona @ New Orleans (4.5) Atlanta @ Tampa Bay (3.5) (3.5) Baltimore @ Miami Buffalo @ Cleveland (5.5) (9.5) Green Bay @ St. Louis Jacksonville @ Pittsburgh (3.5) N.Y. Jets @ New England (23.5) (7.5) Seattle @ Carolina (4.5) Tennessee @ Kansas City (10.5) Indianapolis @ Oakland Detroit @ San Diego (10.5) Philadelphia @ Dallas (10.5) Washington @ N.Y. Giants (5.5) Chicago @ Minnesota (9.5) Philadelphia: 17

Terry Funk vs. Mick Foley Falls Count Anywhere from 1998

Booyah!