NFL Draft

 

I hope the Packers trade Aaron Rodgers. That would be exciting. I hope he goes to San Francisco, and then I hope it's Green Bay vs. San Francisco in the NFC Championship.

Check back for more #hottakes like that one in the comments over the weekend ...

U.S. Open, Day Three

The two big stories yesterday were:  (1) Matthew Wolff, a 21-year-old who grew up in Southern California and played for Oklahoma State, shot a 65(!) to move to 5-under-par, and (2) Patrick Reed, who was 5-under at the turn, played the back nine in 8-over par to fall all the way back to 11th place.

A victory by Wolff would be stunning event, but as you can see, he has some big names on his trail:

1.  M. Wolff:  -5 (66+74+65=205)

2.  B. DeChambeau:  -3 (69+69+70=207)

3.  L. Oosthuizen (RSA):  -1 (67+74+68=209)

T4.  H. English:  Even (68+70+72=210)

T4.  H. Matsuyama (JPN):  Even (71+69+70=210)

T4.  X. Schauffele:  Even (68+72+70=210)

7.  R. McIlroy (NIR):  +1 (67+76+68=211)

T8.  R. Cabrera-Bello (ESP):  +2 (68+70+74=212)

T8.  V. Hovland (NOR):  +2 (71+71+70=212)

T8.  Z. Johnson:  +2 (70+74+68=212)

Of course, there's never been a time where they played the last round of the U.S. Open opposite a full day of NFL football.  Here's my plan -- I'm going to watch the noon NFL games, and then switch over to golf at around 3:30 Central Time.

NFL Poll Update: Week 2

The AP's NFL Poll is back!  Last year, Baltimore finished number one in the poll, before getting pounded in the playoffs by Tennessee.  Let's see what happens this year.  Here is your top 10:

1.  Kansas City:  1-0

2.  Baltimore:  1-0

3.  New Orleans:  1-0

4.  Seattle:  1-0

5.  Green Bay:  1-0

6.  Pittsburgh:  1-0

7.  Buffalo:  1-0

8.  New England:  1-0

9.  Los Angeles:  1-0

10.  Arizona:  1-0

The Football Team moved from a tie for 30 into a tie for 19 with a 27-17 win over the Eagles.  The Dolphins fell from 25 to 29 after a loss to the Pats.

The Game of the Week is the Sunday Night game, with the Cam Newton-led Patriots traveling to Seattle to take on the number-4 Seahawks.  Seattle needs to win this game, but the Pats will want to show what they can do in their first nationally televised game without Tom Brady since the Clinton years.

Personally, I'm interested in the Ravens' trip to Houston.  The Texans are not in the top 10 because they were hammered to open the season.  But they were hammered by the Chiefs, who are a pretty good team.  Houston reached the quarterfinals last year, and they will be frantic to avoid going 0-2 to start the season.  This will be a very good win for whichever team gets it.

NFL20 Update

 GO, DOLPHINS! GO!!!

NFL20 Update

Live sports! Comments flow ...

NFL20 Update

More on Pro Football Reference's AVs, which as previously noted, I don't know that much about ...

Of the 12 NFL19 playoff teams, three had a starting quarterback with an AV of less than 14, and none had a starting QB with an AV below 11. Of the 20 teams that did not make the NFL19 playoffs, three had starting quarterbacks with AV of 14 or greater, and 11 had starting QBs of sub-11 AVs.

Furthermore, nine of the 12 playoff teams had at least four players (of any position) with AVs of four or more. Three of the 20 non-playoff teams had that many.

So this morning, with the all four of the females in my house still gloriously asleep, I'm prepared to announce two findings from my analysis:

-- You've got to have a handful of very good players.
-- One of them better be your quarterback.

The NFL19 Dolphins didn't really have either of these attributes. They won five games, and I think they actually overachieved. Thirty-seven-year-old Ryan Fitzpatrick was their only player with an AV in the double digits, and his was a 10. It was only the fourth time in his 15-year career (and first time since 2015) to reach such heights. I love Ryan Fitzpatrick. I'm not sure if it was him or Brian Flores who is primarily responsible for the NFL19 Dolphins having even as little success as they had, but it sure looks to me like it had to be one of them, and, so, I'm glad they are both back to be part of the NFL20 team.

Speaking of which, ...

The Dolphins have picked up a 29-year-old linebacker in the offseason, Kyle Van Noy, and this appears to be a really great move. He immediately has the best NFL19 AV (13) among the NFL20 Dolphins; plus, it took one away from the Patriots' NFL19-leading pile of 10 of those guys (Tom Brady is gone, too, leaving New England with eight, which still would've finished second in the league). 

Van Noy was a second-round draft pick in NFL14. His AVs with Detroit were ones in both of his first two seasons, and then he became a starter at linebacker in the first seven games of NFL16. His AV with the Lions that season bumped up to a three. In October of that year, he was traded to New England.

Van Noy started at linebacker each of the three seasons with the Patriots, and here went his AVs: seven, 10 and 13. Flores, of course, was part of the coaching staff with New England in each of Van Noy's first seasons there.

So, anyway, he's a great add for Miami, and I am hopeful that Flores targeted him because he knows precisely how to use him ...

Oh,wait ... ladies are up ... continued in the comments ...

NFL20 Update

Updated final prediction: Super-bowl champions.

NFL20 Update

The Dolphins just signed a guard in free agency. His name is Ereck Flowers; he's 25, and he apparently played pretty well for Washington last season after not living up to the Giants' expectations for him after they drafted him in the first round as a tackle a few seasons ago. I think I'm going to try to go over the top for the upcoming NFL draft and season, maybe with team-by-team analysis. I'll start with Miami ...

Projected Dolphins depth chart for NFL20 (developing):

QB1-Ryan Fitzpatrick (WHOM I LOVE!)
QB2-Josh Rosen (he's fine--happy to have him)
G1 or G2-Ereck Flowers (I'd never heard of him until 10 minutes ago)

Final prediction (developing): Super-bowl champions.