About that #2 pick in the 2012 Draft

Given my dearth of commentary on the Rams lately, you might conclude that I am not too particularly crazy about the coaching moves we've been making.  You would be right about that.

I got a text message from my apartment manager (who happens to be a 40 year Ram-fan) the other day.  It read: "Your silence speaks volumes."

Yep.

I like Gregg Williams.  That's the only positive thing I can say right now.  I think things would have been a lot better with Hugh Jackson at the helm offensively.

But this is not what I sat down to blog about today.  What I wanted to comment about is the up-coming 2012 NFL Draft.

If I understand things correctly, I take it that there will be three football teams engaged in a bidding war to acquire our #2 pick over-all in the up-coming 2012 NFL Draft.  Those three teams are the Redskins, the Dolphins and the Browns.  XM Radio combined with the Internet is pretty amazing stuff when it comes to intelligence collection.

The most fascinating rumblings of them all are radiating out of the Dolphins camp.  It would appear that Dolphin owner Stephen Ross has a massive man-crush on Baylor QB RGIII.  Scuttlebutt says that Ross believes Robert Griffin brings the talent and the star power necessary to make the Dolphins the talk of Miami again.  Rumor has it Ross is willing to give up a Roman Emperor's ransom to get him.  We're not talking about a King's ransom.  We're talking about a sum well north of that figure.

Many Dolphin fans seem to agree.  I am hearing outlandish talk about the potential offers.  I'm talking about the kind of offers that makes a season skeptic like your author salivate grotesquely...  all over the nice leather seats in my Hyundai Genesis.

Although I grimace as I write this...  We have to entertain those offers.  We have to be prepared to move down in the draft, even if it means losing Justin Blackmon.  You know I don't say that easily, or with a devil-may-care attitude.  I've wanted to draft this kid for a couple of years now.  It would hurt like hell to lose him now.

Nevertheless, the kind of loot they are talking about tossing in our direction is just too rich to pass up.  We have to be open to serious negotiations.

Do you remember when the Browns traded Quinn for Hillis?

The prince is advised to commit all his atrocities upfront. The people will forgive him for the early bloodletting over rest of his long and peaceful reign. So said Machiavelli.

I remember it all very well. I better remember it. It was just last year.

President Mike Holmgren walks in the door at Cleveland, and tosses Derek Anderson out on his ass. He then trades hometown hero and 1st round draft pick QB Brady Quinn for an unknown fullback who has been scrubbing for the Bronco special teams.

As you may imagine, this created quite a shockwave in Cleveland. Most Brown fans were very disappointed that Holmgren chose not to exercise his formitable QB coaching skills in developing Brady Quinn. They were disconsolate that Mike shredded a 1st round pick and got next to nothing for him. Many were pissed.

My, my, my, what a difference a year makes.

That unknown fullback was none other than Peyton Hillis. He played in all 16 games in 2010, carried 270 times, and rushed for 1,177 yards. He turned out to be half Mike Alstott and half Larry Czonka. The fans in Cleveland bonded with him immediately, and they love this guy to death.

Incidentally, EA Sports just put Hillis on the cover of John Madden's Football 2012. He beat out Mike Vick and Aaron Rodgers for that honor. Now he is an entertainer and an icon in addition to being a pretty good Aquarius kid for his Gemini boss.

Now Brown fans are laughing like hell about how badly Holmgren snookered the Broncos. I still wonder if the Peyton Hillis for Brady Quinn trade was the final nail in Josh McDaniels' coffin. When Hillis exploded in Cleveland, and Brady Quinn did nothing in Denver, I think Pat Bowlen detonated.

When you look at what Derek Anderson did for he Cardinals in 2010, and what Quinn did for the Broncos last year, I think it's pretty damn obvious that Holmgren made the right moves. There can be no doubt that he shed dead weight.

Hillis now has to face the jinx, but he seems unafraid. I think this guy is a 1,000 horse power bulldozer. If anybody can whup the jinx, he will.

Interesting news about our top two receivers in the 2011 draft

So, on today's Path to the Draft, Mike Mayock gave us a very interesting piece about B.J. Green and Julio Jones. You can see it here.

The upshot it this: The stocks are fluctuating, as draft stocks are wont to do. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly clear that Julio Jones may fit the needs of both the Bengals and Browns better than B.J. Green. This according to the theory that you need big, physical receivers if you want to run the West Coast Offensive with authority.

Incidentally, both Ohio teams will be running the WCO this season. As we all know, Mike Holmgren hired Pat Shurmur explicitly for this purpose. Jay Gruden, brother of Jon Gruden, is the new offensive coordinator of the Bengals. Like his brother, he is a major advocate of the WCO.

To paraphrase Mike Mayock: B.J. Green is the more gifted natural receiver and play maker, but if the draft were held today, Julio Jones would go first.

Right now, the Bengals are prominently displaying just two young Wide Receivers on the front page of their website. Those would be Julio Jones and Jon Baldwin; the two biggest and most physical receivers in the 2011 draft.

President Holmgren is being much more careful not to telegraph his punch in any obvious position on the Browns' website. I think he is the smarter guy.

So what does this mean to Ram-fans everywhere? A flip-flop of receiver positions is no tragedy. Rather, it is an opportunity. It will be less expensive to move up and catch our falling star now. As you know, I'm pretty sweet on Green. I think we need to go Green. I believe he will have the much sweeter chemistry with Sam Bradford.

Mind you, I will still be happy if we somehow manage to kidnap Julio Jones, but I still think B.J. is a bigger game-changer, play-maker. I think he can turn the tide of battle when the breaks are beating our boys.

The Rams, The Browns, Pat Shurmur and Josh McDaniels

If you are tracking the comings and goings of coaches in this early off-season {for teams not in the playoffs} you may be aware that Pat Shurmur is looking like the likely HC of the Cleveland Browns. The Dawg Pound doesn't seem to thrilled about it. I wish I could give you guys some cold comfort, but it would sound more like a cold slap.

Sheeesh... It used to be that only a Super Bowl winning OC/DC, or a national championship College Coach would qualify as a new HC in the NFL. That's how Coach Spags got his job. Whatever happened to that high-achievement requirement?

I fully understand why Mike Holmgren would be enamored with Shurmur's offensive game plan. It is the closest thing to Bill Walsh's original system currently flying in the NFL. Holmgren and Shurmur would be of one mind on many subjects. They are clearly from the same school of thought. Still... don't you consider this a reach, Mike?

Readers of this blog will know that I am thrilled to be done with Shurmur. I've been after his scalp for some time. I didn't get it, but this is next best thing to being there. I have never been a fan of the WCO. I like Gillman-Coryell. It's the replacement part of the equation that bothers me.

Unless you track the Rams, you probably won't know that the name Josh McDaniels is being circulated as the front-runner in the Rams' quest for a new OC. These are words that hit like a steel ax handle to the face. Do you want to talk about a massive disturbance in the force as if billions of souls suddenly cried out in terror and were silenced?

Josh McDaniels has been on my shit-list for some two years now. Recently he became a figure of some ambivalence.

How do I hate him? Let me count the ways. I hate the coaching tree he comes from. Bellichick has no coaching tree. He has a twig of failures. McDaniels replaced Shanahan. That in itself is a bad thing. He did an all-out systematic demolition job on the Denver Broncos, leaving the team in ruins. He traded away my favorite passing combo in Cutler-Marshall. He fired a great defensive coordinator in Dick Nolan for no better reason than the fact that he desired a "Patriot way" guy on his staff.

How do I love the guy? Well... love is a very strong word that really shouldn't... I let McDaniels off the hook (slightly) when he drafted Tim Tebow. Any guy who likes Tebow as a QB can't be all bad. Not all bad, but 90% bad. Well... maybe not 90%... 85%. McDaniels also loves the Spread offense, which happens to be a particular passion of mine. This also happens to be Sam Bradford's strong point. Also, when push comes to shove, you must admit that the little bastard calls a mean game. There is a quirky play-calling genius locked in there somewhere.

You are reading the blog of a man who is literally ripped to shreds at the moment. I am eaten up wih internal controversy.

On the one hand, I don't want any infection of the Patriot-way virus near my team. This absolute bullshit hasn't worked for anyone, anywhere other than Bellichick in New England. It has destroyed much more than it has created. I don't want a failed coach off the Bellichick coaching twig to enter our staff. I don't want the little bastard to subvert Coach Spagnuolo's position as HC either.

On the other hand, this is an opportunity for my Rams to move to the Spread offense. That's something I've been advocating for more than a year now. This is a way to make Sam more productive. This is a way to introduce aggressive play-calling back into our team's repertoire. I have some confidence that McDaniels would not call stupid plays in key situations, or put our offense to sleep with a conservative running game when we need to score and put it away.

They often say that you *_DO_* want to be the man who first a guy immediately after he gets fired. Usually, once a coach's Man-Card has been revoked, he gets up off the carpet fighting twice as hard as he did before. This means you get his very best shot. Witness the job Linehan has done in Detroit for good evidence. A wiser, double-motivated McDaniels could be good for us.

It may be GM Billy Devaney is considering a move to the spread, but he is unwilling to trust a disgraced college coach like Mike Leach with the job. I think this unfortunate, because Leach is a legit offensive genius. At the same time, I can understand why Devaney would gravitate to a version of the Spread that has been proven effective inside the NFL. This case does have some real merit.

Ultimately, I am very ambivalent about all of this.

Some quick thoughts about Ram-fan anger at Pat Shurmur

I've been doing some much focused reading on-line during the past 48 hours. The focus has been this: Just what precisely are Ram-fans saying about Pat Shurmur? I would generalize our conversations by saying the following:

• Pat Shurmur doesn't know how to call a game
• He's way to conservative.
• We ran too much
• We didn't run enough
• Way too much dink-n-dunk passing
• He has a tendency to call bad plays in key situations
• We could have scored more points.
• We need to unleash Sam and throw it deep.

9 out of 10 blogs and posts say these things over and over:

Before I analyze this, I want you to know my organizational politics. I hated Pat Shurmur last year. I was the leader of the Comanche scalping party during the off-season of 2010. I was going to personally scalp Shurmur and hang his hair on wigwam post. Needless to say, we did not get it done. I would still like to see a change here, and I am still calling for his scalp.

With that said, there seems to be a misplaced focus of anger among most Ram-fans. Specifically, they seem to think the problem is that Shurmur is not running the West Coast Offense (WCO) properly. In the year 2009, that was absolutely true. In the year 2010... well... let's just say that Shurmur is running a version of the WCO that is reasonably close to the one Walsh himself ran in SF back in 1981. Walsh ran slightly deeper routes than Shurmur did in 2010, but not that much deeper. Add 3 to 6 yards of depth to each pattern and there you have it: Walsh's offense in 1981.

For the record, we should do a quick review of 2009. In 2009 the Rams were a run-first and run-second team. We threw only as a matter of last resort. If you compare Marc Bulger's numbers last season with Sam Bradford's numbers this season, the difference is like night and day. For instance, Marc Bulger threw for a total 1469 yards and 5 touchdowns, finishing 29^th in the league. Sam threw for 3,512 and 18 touchdowns, finishing 12^th in the league. That isn't entire Marc's fault, as I have said many times.

In 2010, the Rams' ran a pass-first offense. Just about all the patterns were horizontal. Very few were vertical. The throws were short, not long. We played a dink-n-dunk, nickel & dime, ball-control short passing game. Small-ball was the name of the game in 2010. By the end of the season, Ram fans were fed up with it.

You and I may well be fed up with it, but one thing we can't say (with truth) is that Shurmur is running the WCO incorrectly. No, he is indeed running the scheme. The WCO is a horizontal, ball-control passing offense. The name of the game is dink-n-dunk, nickle & dime, small-ball. It can be run better, but he is certainly running a version of the system. This is what you get when you run the WCO. When you order a taco, you get a taco. You shouldn't expect a T-Bone.

Young folks today are under the misapprehension that the big-play circus Andy Reid is running with the Eagles is the ultimate example of the West Coast Offense. Perish the thought! Reid may be using WCO terminology in his playbook, but the big-play circus he is running has little or nothing to do with the offense Bill Walsh invented for the Bengals and perfected with the 49ers. The Eagles do not run the WCO. The Rams do.

As you well know, our results in 2010 were far better than in 2009. We scored 289 points vis-a-vis 175 points. We won 7 games, not 1. This is why I shut up for most of the season and stopped swinging on Shurmur's nuts like Tarzan. I started again when Shurmur made key strategic blunders in crucial moments down the stretch. I am not talking about Bradford errors. I'm speaking of putting the offense to sleep with a conservative running game in key moments when we could have slain our enemy by putting points on the board. This happened several times down the stretch.

Two points have to be made clearly:

1. We can fire Shurmur, or let him move to Cleveland (whichever comes first), but unless we take advantage of this critical moment to dump the WCO, we are going to continue to dink-n-dunk. This is what you get with the WCO. When you order a taco, you get a taco. Don't expect a Porterhouse T-Bone.

2. Sam was clearly more effective in the shotgun with receivers spread wide. He was even more effective in a quick-time offense with 3 receivers, a tight end, and a running back next to him. This is what we call the NFL-Spread. It is a version of the College Spread, modified for better protection and support of a better running game in the NFL environment. Most of us were calling for this scheme by the end of the season. I want to remind you that before the 2010 season began, I was advocating a move to this system. Anyone who has watched Oklahoma football over the past 5 or 6 years knows why Sam is more effective in this scheme. Its home for him.

This is why I continue to say that we need to reach out to Mike Leach, one of the few legit Spread-Geniuses currently unemployed on the open market. He's ready to interview tomorrow. Let's get him in and hire him.

Just to give Shurmur and even break, I should say the following things:

• It’s tough to call for vertical shots down field when you have two poor guards and no vertical-threat receivers. You have neither the pass protection nor the hands down field necessary to make the play work.
• If Shurmur had called for more vertical shots, our sack & hit totals would have been higher. Sam might not have finished the season healthy, and we are all very happy that Sam finished the season healthy. Keeping Sam healthy through all 16 games this season was substantial achievement.
• Shurmur called two key vertical shots downfield during the game in Seattle, and Denario Alexander dropped both passes. This happened many other times during 2010 with many other receivers. Basically, none of our guys proved they could go downfield and catch the deep ball in 2010. Alexander is actually the best of our deep receivers right now.
• There are allegations that our offensive conservatism comes from the top. Some think HC Steve Spagnuolo set a “go slow, go safe” policy at the start of the season. Ostensibly, his policy never changed. While this is plausible, I do not know if it is true or not. I never heard any official source proclaim that Spagnuolo wanted a 'go safe go slow' policy at any point during the 2010 season. If you know of such a report, drop me a line with a URL.
• The ball-control nature of the WCO did help our defense quite substantially. The WCO usually produces good time of possession numbers. 12 play drives give your own defense time to reorganize and adjust as well as rest. WCO offenses usually help out their defenses. If we had taken hard vertical shots all the time, we might have scored a bit more, but we would have put our defense on the field quite a bit faster.

Ultimately, I am really pulling for the hiring of Mike Leach in 2011. Those who fear that it will set Sam Back should remember that the Leach’s spread isn’t all that different from the Bob Stoops spread Sam ran in Oklahoma. It will be more like a return home than a new scheme.

Take my Offensive Coordinator… Please!!!!

Mike Sando

Mike Sando, ESPN Blogger for the NFC West, claims that President Mike Holmgren of the Cleveland Browns is very interested in acquiring Pat Shurmur, offensive coordinator of the Rams. Jim Thomas says the same thing. It is unclear whether this would be for the head coaching vacancy or for the offensive coordinator post in Cleveland. Ultimately, I just don’t care.

I have only one response to that story: OH THANK YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST!!! Take him Mike! Take him! We’ll release Pat from his contract effectively immediately. Oh happy day!!! We’ll owe you a big one if you do us the favor. I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear it.

Congratulations to Pat Shurmur on his new post!

No need for a fight now

Just as I was sitting down to hash out my attack strategy, just as I was working on my apologetics for firing Pat Shurmur, this joyous news came down from the heavens. Let us hope is true. This will prevent many a fight online. Now I don’t have to swing on Pat Shurmur’s nuts like Tarzan. This is a great relief.

Many of us are still not happy with Shurmur’s play-calling ability, or lack thereof. He got better this year, and he might be better still next season with a good receiver like A.J. Green to work with, but I don’t want to take that risk. I honestly don’t think we can make it to a Super Bowl with play calling like this. You just don’t go from where Shurmur is now to a chess grandmaster is a couple of seasons. He is pretty far off the mark right now.

Why not let him go?

Those who object to ditching Shurmur do so for two reasons: (1) It will adversely affect Sam Bradford’s development, (2) Some suspect that Steve Spagnuolo is the culprit behind our extremely conservative offensive play calling. I take both of those objections seriously, but I don’t ultimately find cause for keeping him in these arguments.

First, none of us want to do to Sam Bradford what the 49ers did to Alex Smith. Certainly, the 49ers massive inconsistency at OC has something to do with the failure of Alex Smith. However, if we are going to make a long-term commitment to an OC and an offensive philosophy, I would rather make that commitment to Mike Leach, former coach of Texas Tech.

Second, I too harbor fears that Steve Spagnuolo just might have a bit of the old Marty Schottenheimer inside his skull. Let’s hope not. For those who don’t remember. Marty was a very detail-oriented Virgo HC, with a tremendous defensive resume, who always shut down his offense after scoring 10-17 points. Marty ball is synonymous with shutting down your offense once you have a 4 point or greater lead. This was a dude notorious for trying to ride a 4 point lead to victory in playoff games. The results were terrible. He always made the playoffs, and he always lost. Virgos hate gambling and taking risks, and this was the most risk-averse Virgo I ever saw.

Of course, we all hope that head coach Steve Spagnuolo is no such figure. I would like to exonerate him on this charge, just because he is doing such a fantastic job with the defense, and motivating the troops, but I know my logic is fallacious. Let’s just say I am keeping an eye on Steve, watching for signs. Sagittarians are not supposed to be risk-averse folks. Rather, they have a strong tendency to get a wild-hair up and take massive unwarranted risks. Right now, I am blaming Shurmur’s lack of talent for our lack of good offensive strategy.

Quick-time spread baby!

Many a Ram observer commented during this season about how slow we were to adopt spread formations and move to a hurry-up offense. It became clear early on that Sam could not only run a quick-time spread in the NFL, but that he looked more comfortable doing it. We got great results when we ran the quick-time spread. We should have used it early, middle and late. It should have been a frequently seen component of our offense, not a once-in-a-while thing.

Anyone who watched Oklahoma football in the past three seasons knows perfectly well why Sam is comfortable and productive in the quick-time spread. Anybody who has watched the New England Patriots play this season knows that this system works well in the NFL… if you have a good QB. We do. Let’s move on with the program.

Mike Leach is the one and only clear-cut Spread-Genius, currently unemployed, and ready to walk in the door for an interview. Let’s get him. Incidentally, he is a Pisces just like GM Billy Devaney. Pisces goes pretty well with Scorpio. He should work well with Sam Bradford.

Sam Bradford's 2010 season; the over/under number is 3

Las Vegas is not yet taking over/under action on Sam Bradford, but they should be. The over/under number should be 3. Three is a magic number, yes it is.

1. With what pick will Sam Bradford be selected in the 2010 draft? The over/under number is 3.
2. The week of the 2010 season where Sam Bradford gets his first NFL start: The over/under number is 3.
3. The number NFL starts before Sam Bradford suffers a season ending injury? The over/under number is 3.
4. The number of touchdown passes Sam Bradford throws before his season ending injury in 2010? The over/under number is 3.
5. The number of sacks Sam Bradford will suffer before taking his season ending injury? The over/under number is 3.

Those should be your 5 magic over/under bets on Sam Bradford, oh ye Las Vegas lines. How would I be them?

1. Under: Whether he is taken by the Rams or the Browns, Bradford will probably be the top pick.
2. Under: The Rams will throw Sam in the shark tank immediately. The Browns will start Del Homme twice and after 14 turnovers, Sam goes in.
3. Under: If the Rams select Bradford, he's going to have a tough time making it to week 3 before suffering his season ending injury in 2010. If the Browns take him, he'll have a tough time making it to week 5 before the Steelers or Ravens kill him.
4. Under: If the Rams select Bradford, he's going to have to find a little target named Donnie Avery for legit TD passes. It will be hard to squeeze off 3 of those before Sam suffers his season ending injury of 2010.
5. Over: I think Sam will be sacked more than 3 times before suffering his season ending injury of 2010. This is true regardless of whether the Rams or Browns select him.

It sucks to be Sam. I feel bad for you man. The stars are poorly configured for your near-term future. I wish you the best. I hope I am wrong. I hope you turn out to be the A.P. Offensive Rookie of the year, but I certainly cannot bet on it.

Sam Bradford's Pro-Day. See you in St. Louis?

So by now we have all heard that Sam Bradford lit everyone's fire at his ProDay in Norman Oklahoma. He shot 62 for 63, and a good pass was dropped. He executed 50 scripted plays and threw 13 passes from a fixed stance. Gil Brandt commented that it was the best performance by a QB candidate since Troy Aikman. That is powerful praise.

Congratulations are in order, and I still think it is a bad fit. You can't throw this kid in the shark tank behind our offensive line and expect good things. The order of operations we must go through is critical, just as in calculus. We need to build our offensive line first, and then draft a QB. The Jets were successful last season with Mark Sanchez because they went through precisely this order of operations. They built the best line in football, and then they drafted their rookie. Guess what? He did okay, even prospering a bit towards the end.

If we are haunted by the spectre of QBs we passed up, we need not be. Neither Matt Ryan nor Mark Sanchez would been successful behind our offensive line. Arguing that we should not have passed on them is rank foolishness.

When we acquired Jim Everett we had the best offensive line in professional football. We three guys who routinely started in the Pro-Bowl. I'm speaking of Jackie Slater, Dennis Harrah, and Dough Smith. We lost Kent Hill in the deal we made with the Oilers. Irv Panky wasn't bad either. We had a line that drove Eric Dickerson to 2,105 yards. When Kurt Warner blew up in 1999, we had a very good offensive line. Good enough to win the Super Bowl.

The only reason Steven Jackson hasn't rushed for 2153 yards is that he doesn't have a line.

Drafting Bradford is just not the right move right now. This is no reflection of Sam. Sam is worth the pick. If we had a quality line, I would draft Sam immediately. We do not have a quality line. A young QB needs an OL like a fish needs water. A rookie QB and our offensive line will go together like Basketball and a Vasectomy.

From my perspective, the real value of what happened yesterday is this: We now have three interested parties buzzing about doing a deal to acquire Bradford. Those parties are the Washington Redskins, the Cleveland Browns, and now the Seattle Seahawks. I hope Devaney is a man of his word, and hope he is in contact with these parties,

Our best deal is probably with Cleveland, if we can swing it. We can probably swap 1sts, get a 2nd and a 3rd. We probably would probably swap 1sts and acquire a 2nd from Washington. Whilst I am not delighted by the prospect of dealing Bradford to the Seahawks, I do covet Coach Carroll's two 1st rounders. He better know it is going to cost him if he wants do do business within the NFC West.

In any of these cases, we can put together the picks to fix our terrible offensive line, and we can add 'skilled players' as well. I still think this is the way we should go.

Sam Bradford & Todd McShay
Sam Bradford & Mike Mayock

NFL Total Access Debate
Sam Bradford on Path to the Draft
Pete Carroll on Sam Bradford
Mike Holmgren on Sam Bradford
D'Marco Farr predicts Sam Bradford

Mike Holmgren and Tim Tebow

The echos of the Brady Quinn-dump are echoing and reverberating around the league. Mike Holmgren effectively told the league he couldn't work with Brady Quinn. That is saying an awful lot. Holmgren suffered Brett Favre for awhile before he became a good QB. As Jamie Dukes put it, Mike Holmgren is known as one of the premier QB developers in this league. Yet Holmgren has effectively told the league he sees no value in Quinn at all.

This is a guy who knows QB-flesh when he sees it. Holmgren's reputation is well earned. In fact he may be under-rated. Consider this:

1. He learned his craft under Bill Walsh, perhaps the most revered QB developer ever.
2. He had a hand in Joe Montana's development.
3. He developed Steve Young
4. He developed Steve Bono
5. He developed Brett Favre
6. He developed Mark Brunell
7. He developed Matt Hasselbeck

Bono is the only guy on that list who didn't make it to the ProBowl. He had a rep for being a super-sub though, so he wasn't bad. Note the fact that he has 2 guys in the Hall of Fame, and one more headed for the Hall of Fame. That is three Hall of Fame QBs on one resume. That is shocking.

Oh yeah! Kurt Warner also passed through town in Green Bay back in 1995. Do you remember that? He couldn't get a slot on that near-championship team because Favre and Brunell were already there. Wow...

When you consider Holmgren's credentials carefully, you have to acknowledge that this probably the best QB man alive in the world today. What is Holmgren thinking about Jimmy Clausen? well you can read about it in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. Here are a couple of plain interpretations of this statement:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/nfl-draft/mike-holmgren-is-latest-to-say.html

http://www.uhnd.com/articles/nfl-irish/mike-holmgren-isnt-jimmy-clausen-6419/

I concur with the summary given in both of those pieces. Holmgren is saying that Clausen in not worth the high pick he is likely to become. He would not take him that high. Why should he? Quinn and Clausen are two peas from the same pod. They came out the same school, the same coaching, and the same offensive system. Unfortunately for Clausen, Quinn seemed to have a better athletic endowment, and a better TD/INT ratio. Quinn looked like the better candidate coming out of college. Having just flushed the better looking bowl of water, why go back to the same well for more?

So what does Holmgren intend to do? He is not going to select a QB in the first couple of rounds. He will draft in the 3rd round or later. He also plans to host Tim Tebow in Cleveland, and he is admitting that he likes Tebow. A simple inference from these facts is as follows: Holmgren will take Tebow in the 3rd if he can get him.

Now wouldn't this just fit the pattern? A mobile, athletic, strong armed competitor who is raw as hell. Isn't that what Holmgren likes? Does that sound like Steve Young, Brett Favre, Mark Brunell and Matt Hasselbeck? Yes it does. Like Young and Brunell, Tebow is a southpaw.

There has already been talk about this on the NFL Network's Path to the Draft. Jamie Dukes was the only guy to cast doubt on the scenario, as it would force Holmgren to come out of his President's booth and do some coaching. Now do you think that is really a problem? Don't you think Holmgren would love do it again? Just one more time? Especially given a dazzling candidate like Tim Tebow, arguably the best college football player of all time? I don't believe Holmgren is a guy who wants to take his hand out of the soil.

Suppose Holmgren knows championship metal when he sees it. What would developing Tim Tebow into an All-Pro QB do for his reputation? Here is a kid labeled as a non-NFL QB by many. Turning 'lead' into 'gold' one more time would pretty well cement Holmgren's reputation as a Hall of Fame caliber QB developer. Yet Holmgren may well know the facts ain't that bad. He probably knows the job isn't that big, especially give a driven student. Of course, it's easier when the kid is made out of gold in the first place.

Suppose this scenario comes to pass? Don't you think this would validate everything I have been telling you about the false system of QB evaluation we are currently using in the NFL draft? Suppose Tebow were to hit big under Homgren's tutelage? What would this tell you about how we evaluate and develop QBs?

So if Mike Holmgren is smart enough to figure all this out by his lonesome, why aren't my Rams?

So Cleveland might want to make a deal?

Today on NFL Full Access Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer gave us the State of the Franchise on the Cleveland Browns. She said a number of things that should interest the Rams.

Specifically, Mike Holmgren is not done overhauling the QB position in Cleveland. Mary Kay asked him directly if he would use the #7 pick to select Sam Bradford or Clausen. He said he would absolutely consider using the #7 pick on a QB. She asked him if he would trade up to select Sam Bradford or Jimmy Clausen. Holmgren said is definitely considering a trade. When pressed a little further, Holmgren stated he likes Sam Bradford a hell of a lot. No comment on Clausen. Mary Kay Cabot declared that she believes that the Browns have stockpiled picks so that they have the ammo to make such a trade on draft day.

Setting aside the Rams' goals and objectives, and considering this from the Browns' viewpoint only, this makes a lot of sense. Right now, Cleveland a veteran QB who really cannot play anymore. Yet he is a tremendous guy, and he would make a nice mentor/wet-nurse for an excellent rookie QB. The Browns also have a deep third stringer who knows your offense. The former moves make sense if you get Sam Bradford.

How can Cleveland select Bradford when they select #7? Rod Woodson declared what should be obvious to all: If Holmgren wants Bradford, he has to trade up to #1. The risk of the Rams selecting him is too great, if you are Holmgren. You know my position on this subject, but I sense that the organization's mindset has been turning since the results of the Wonderlic were released. Bill Devaney talked draft for two hours with the fans this very night at J Bucks in Clayton. Early leaks from the meet-n-greet indicate that he said nice things about Bradford.

Fans can have distorted and selective hearing. I wish we had audio tape. Before we assume that Ram fans are crying out for Bradford, I should state that most of the Ram fans I am talking to are crying out for Ndamukong Suh. Regrettably, I don't sense a strong vote for Suh inside the org. Rumor has it that coach Spags prefers McCoy. Before we shoot coach Spags, we should recognize that he knows a lot about defensive linemen. If we don't select Bradford, it will probably be Gerald McCoy. Most Ram fans will choke on that one, if it comes to pass.

Should we make a deal with the Browns? Not unless we stick a gun in their ribs and make them pay a premium. I would even be inclined to select Bradford and see if Holmgren can stand the temptation of us dangling Sam in front of his face. The problem is that Cleveland doesn't really have a lot to give us. They have #7 in the 1st. They have the #6 in the 2nd. They have 3 picks in the 3rd. Unless we get a 1-2-3 for swapping down with them, I would not do it. Isn't that a little steep? I said I want to stick a gun in their ribs.

What if we get the #7? What should we do with it? There are two names on my list Trent Williams OT Oklahoma, and Dez Bryant WR Oklahoma State. Either might be available at #7. Both would fill tremendous, dire needs.

What do we do if we get Cleveland's #6 pick in the 2nd round. This is quite conditional upon what Tim Tebow does tomorrow at Florida's ProDay. Many if not all experts seem settled on the notion that Tebow will be going in the 3rd round. Many think he should go later, but he won't. If this consensus continues up to draft day, we might be able to use both 2nd rounders to get help we need. Maurkice Pouncy of Florida looks damn good to me. Many think he will slide to #33.

What do with pick #39? if Tebow's going to go in the 3rd, we have the luxury of dealing that pick for Vick, or using it for another player. I would prefer not to give it to Philly. Who then would I draft? Of course, you could go after Colt McCoy. According to CBS Sport's Draft Central, there is a certain fellow from Cal Berkeley named Javid Best who is ranked at exactly #39. I find it difficult to believe Javid will fall to #39. I believe somebody will reach for him in the 1st, because that ranking is clearly low. However, if Javid were to fall to us at #39, we would be stupid not to take him. This is one dude with a clear shot at replacing Marshall Faulk in our lineup.

What do we do in the 3rd? You know what I would do with the first pick. How about the second? This the Dexter McCluster point for me.

How about the 4th? There is a guard from Alabama I covet named Mike Johnson. Some have him in the 3rd round. Some have him in the 4th. If he is there, I would take him with our own pick in the 4th round.

The end product of this draft pattern would look like this:

1. #7 Dez Bryant WR Oklahoma State.
2. #33 Maurkice Pounce C/G Florida
3. #39 Javid Best RB Cal Berkeley
4. #65 Tim Tebow QB Florida
5. #71 Dexter McCluster RB/WR Ole Miss
6. #97 Mike Johnson OG Alabama

It would take some luck to line up that draft. There are assumptions that everybody on that list slides a bit. There are reasons to believe they will. Centers and guards are not valued well in the draft. Even Jamie Dukes, who played center, says he doesn't like selecting them in the 1st round. Javid Best may be overlooked because of his injury. Tebow is getting raped by the press. McCuster is labeled as small and slow. Nobody even knows who Mike Johnson is... except me and his family members.

If we could nail that draft, we could fix almost everything that is wrong with our offense. We would have playmakers all over the place. Adding Dez Bryant and Dexter McCluster to our receiver corp would give us some threatening weapons. Javid Best is the serious lightning compared to Steve Jackson's thunder. We would still need a veteran QB to take us through 2010. This is why I would trade a conditional pick in 2011 for Michael Vick, after the 2010 draft.

Anyhow... this is all just theory. There is no guarantee that there will be a trade.

Mike Holmgren is showing you why they took the GM power away from him in Seattle

Things are spinning out of control in Cleveland rapidly. The Browns have made a series of 4 moves at the QB position, all of which are questionable individually, but more so when you put them together.

First Derek Andersen is released, then Seneca Wallace is acquired from Seattle. Does that constitute an upgrade? I am not sure. Then the Browns sign Jake Del Homme, and pay him starter money. For a guy with an organic deformity in his throwing elbow, post-Tommy John surgery, Del Homme sure is swimming in cash. I guess nice guys do finish first after all. Then the Browns dump Brady Quinn for next to nothing. A former first-round QB has been cashed out for an unknown Fullback (now an extinct position in the NFL) and a couple of late choices, one in 2011, and another in 2012. That is an all-out purgative dump.

So now you have the interception/sack/fumble machine as your starting QB in Cleveland, or at least he is getting starter money. You also have Seneca Wallace backing him up. I see a net gain of 0 points on the score board. These are pointless, fruitless, upgrade-less moves. These are just moves to make moves. You could have lost just as many games in 2010 without making any of these moves. Why the effort? To "send a message"? That's pointless. The point of flushing two worthless QBs is nullified by the point of adding two more worthless QBs. Stupid!

This is just dreadful. If Bill Devaney had done this in St. Louis, I would be dropping napalm on his head. You see! This is why they wouldn't give Holmgren the GM power in Green Bay, and this is why they took it away from him in Seattle. He is not good with personnel. He makes bad moves.

Whilst we are on this subject, let's talk about great young prospects who come out of Notre Dame, coached by 'the great' Charlie Weis, who have experiance in a true pro system, who have all the physical tools, and who can do the 3-5-7.

Brady Quinn was a Mel Kiper Jr. favorite. He was given all kinds of great press by Kiper. Now he is an absolute certified bust. Nobody wanted to trade anything for him, then Cleveland accepts something close to nothing for him. Will Quinn start in Denver? Not unless lightning strikes. Jason La Canfora was fairly adamant that this is strictly a depth-move for Denver. Quinn is now a certified bust.

Now how in the hell can that be? How could this have happened? He came out of Notre Dame! This is the #3 football factory in the land according to NFL Films! He was coached by Charlie Weis! He played in a Pro System in college! He looked so good doing the 3-5-7! He had all the tools!

What this points out is that your biases are bullshit. Your methods for evaluation are tremendously flawed. Your criteria are fucked up. Everyone who is listening to this sort of rubbish in 2010 had better beware of Jimmy Clausen. The arguments made in his favor don't add up to a hill of beans. Buyer beware!

So Cleveland just blew the 2010 Draft Order

No sooner to I publish a prophecy of the NFL 2010 draft than do the Browns pull off an improbable victory over the world champs, and blow their spot sky-high. It really doesn't matter that much. We have several more games to go. Anything could happen. Both the Rams and the Bucs could garner a victory... maybe. Anyhow, here we are. Now what?

Honestly, I don't see a lot of change to the profile. I still see the Browns worried about Shaun Rogers, and in need of a serious NT prospect. Ergo, Mount Cody. I still see the Rams in despirate need of a franchise (if not Hall of Fame) QB. Ergo, Snead. I still find the Bucs in need of a rebuilt Tampa-2. Ergo, Suh. There may be some jostling there, but I see all of these teams being able to get precisely what they need out of this draft

The Browns victory and the Great Marketing Conspiracy of the NFL

So, everyone is shocked this morning by the Browns' amazing upset victory over the defending world champion Steelers last night. Most experts believe that this constitutes the death blow to the Steelers' title defense. At this point, it would be very difficult for the Steelers to make it into the playoffs. It should be noted that they said the same thing about Philadelphia last year.

All day long, the NFL played odes of love to the Steelers' illustrious history. We saw all 6 (count 'em 6) America's Game episodes on the Steelers: 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2005, 2008. You would never have known that this team was skidding on a 4 game loosing streak.

The Steelers showed their love for that mighty send-off by allowing the Browns to lay a Cleveland Steamer on their Super Bowl Rings. The Steeler OL couldn't block, the receivers dropped passes, and the defense couldn't tackle. Wow... 5th loss in a row.

Ad meanwhile the NFL network and ESPN were broadcasting evidence of player-coach divisions in New England. At the same time we still had fools claiming (on HDTV) that the Patriots are in the hunt for the championship.

So, here we have two teams that have won 5 of the 8 Super Bowls played so far this decade. Both are either in danger of getting out, in disarray, and in the midst of loosing streaks. At this very moment in time, the NFL and ESPN are throwing roses and chocolate coins at them. I wonder why this would be? Is this a clear cut case of dynastanalingus? Is this something else?

A friend of mine proposed the following theory: When you have spoiled fans, and a bad season, it is difficult to keep the fans engaged and watching. As a spoiled fan, you can tune out during a botched season real early. God knows I couldn't bear to watch my Rams in the latter stages of 2000 or 2002. It was too painful.

Certainly, with all the bad news in New England, it is difficult to keep the fans engaged. I know a friend of mine from Boston, Joe Morais, has stopped watching NFL football entirely. It hurts him too much. Certainly, now that the Steelers are out of the running, Pittsburgh and that entire region will have less reasons to tune in for the on-going NFL season.

I suspect the NFL network and ESPN both know this. I suspect their marketing data told them this a decade ago. I suspect neither the NFL network nor ESPN would like a reduction in viewership in these two regions. Ergo, you have your paid schills declare that the Patriots are still in the hunt. It is pretty clear that the Steelers are out, so you have to be honest about that. However, the more you can prevaricate about the Patriots, the better for ratings.

Whoa!!! Hold on there David! Are you suggesting that the sports journalists at ESPN and the NFL network are lacking in journalistic integrity? Are you saying that they don't dispassionately seek the truth?

Hell nah! I am saying that they are a bunch of fork-tongued lying assholes who telling wild yarns to keep the audience watching... for money. "Lacking journalistic integrity" or "failing to dispassionately seek the truth" doesn't quite hit the nail on the head. Journalistic integrity? They ain't got none!