My NFL mock draft, take these top 10 picks to the bank

 

Some five hours before the start of the NFL draft and the fog of misdirection is beginning to clear to the extent that clubs picking at the top of the draft are beginning to show their hands.

Hence my first and only mock draft for 2014.

1. Houston: Jadeveon Clowney, DE South Carolina

The Texans would like to deal down but and get some extra picks but they don’t want to give the pick away either. Clowney is the draft’s top talent but it’s doubtful a team will part with extra first rounders.

2. St. Louis: Greg Robinson, T Auburn

He may not be the most polished tackle in the draft but he has the most upside. The Rams will hope he turns into another Orlando Pace. He may never get to that Hall of Fame and still be a pretty good consolation prize.

3. Jacksonville: Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo

  The best all-round linebacker in the draft and at this point in time, its best pass rusher, is a nice cornerstone for the Jaguars to once again rebuild on.

4. Cleveland: Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson

 The Browns won’t be able to pass up on the best playmaker in the draft, especially with another first-round in their back pocket. Watkins is the complete package in terms of route-running, hands, explosiveness and the ability to break tackles after the catch.

5. Oakland: Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M

 Even with Al Davis gone, the Raiders remain the draft's wild card. They will think long and hard about quarterback Derek Carr here but Evans’ combination of size, speed and jumping ability make it a no brainer.

6. Atlanta: Jake Matthews, T, Texas A&M

 Though the Falcons will take a flyer on moving up for either Clowney or Mack, they’ll find the price too costly for what they’re potentially giving up. Matthews, a solid blocker with Hall of Fame bloodlines, will solve a good part of the Atlanta’s offensive line woes.

7. Tampa Bay: Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M

  Make it three Aggies in a row. Who thought Johnny Football would last this long? If the Bucs don’t pick him, he could be this year’s Aaron Rodgers. The Bucs have enjoyed a bountiful offseason and with Evans gone, they come away with the draft’s biggest name.

8. Minnesota: Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida

 The Vikings need a quarterback and Bortles has the body type new offensive co-ordinator Norv Turner prefers in his passers. The Matt Cassel era will be short in the Twin Cities, and it all depends on how fast Bortles develops. He has all the tools.

9. Buffalo: Odell Beckham Jr., WR, LSU

 The consensus all along has been for the Bills to draft tight end Eric Ebron but whispers out of Buffalo give the speedy and explosive Beckham Jr. the inside track. He’s the draft’s late riser.

10. Detroit: Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State

 The Lions need coverage help terribly and Gilbert, of the top corners in the draft, has the size to match up with the Bears’ big wide receivers and speed to deal with the Pack’s three-pronged attack as well.  

Cloudy at the top of the NFL Draft with a high chance of Johnny Manziel

It’s a little more than a week before the NFL draft and who will be chosen with the top 10 picks remains an unsolved puzzle for the mock draft community.

There’s uncertainty unlike any in recent years. Twitter feeds are rife with wild rumours and anonymous reports, talk radio is full of idle chatter, mock draft versions 10.0 and higher have been posted and still, who will be drafted and by whom at the top of the deck remains very much a mystery.

NFL.com lists five players with a pre-draft grade of 7 or higher: South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, 7.5, Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson, 7.4, Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins, 7.3, Texas A&M offensive tackle Jake Matthews, 7.2, and Buffalo linebacker Khalil Mack, 7.2.

Expect those five to be among the top eight picks of the draft. The flies in the ointment this year are the quarterbacks, none of whom have shown the promise of franchise passers but are solid enough to warrant consideration in the first half of the draft.

Where will A&M's Johnny Manziel land? Will he even be the first quarterback taken?

Before the season, Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater was the presumptive favourite but he started to slide during the season and was downgraded by a poor Pro Day workout.

Central Florida’s Blake Bortles then became the talk of the draft. He looks the part – height, arm strength, accuracy - and may yet be the first passer taken but questionable decisions during the season show that he may not be ready for prime time right away.

And on Monday, ESPN’s Adam Caplan tweeted that Cleveland would take Fresno State’s Derek Carr with its fourth overall pick. No ifs, and or buts.

This following the chatter that the Dallas Cowboys, with the 16^th pick, could trade up to catch a falling Manziel, who could be drafted anywhere from No. 1 to No. 11.

Throw in next-tier talent like receiver Mike Evans, tight end Eric Ebron, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, offensive tackle Taylor Lewan, linebacker Anthony Barr, safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and there are a lot of wild cards at the top of the table, more so than usual.

But the draft machine, like the league, will focus on the quarterbacks. And there isn’t a bigger name than Johnny Football.

If Manziel slides past quarterback-needy teams like Jacksonville, Cleveland, Oakland, Tampa and Buffalo at No. 9 and turns out to be the star many predict, those GMs will have a lot of answering to do, especially if their picks turn out to be less productive.

Adding to the high stakes: Those teams, save for the Bucs, who made a big splash in free agency, could use the celebrity buzz that Manziel possesses to refresh excitement levels with their fan bases.

But those teams, read management, also can’t afford another miss at the position and with the added cushion of up to four other quarterbacks who could be had in later rounds with similar strengths and weaknesses, they could wait or gain extra picks by trading down. 

And there's also the distractions that come with Manziel. Which brings us to the Cowboys.

They need Mack but should be happy to end up with Barr, the UCLA linebacker who could develop into a legitimate pass rusher. Donald and Clinton-Dix would also be great choices at need positions but their recent market valuations seem to place them above the Cowboys price. Unless they trade up.

But what if Manziel is available?

The acknowledgement that Manziel would warrant the investment should be received as great news for Cowboys Nation. Not because Manziel is destined for greatness, that remains up for debate. But because the Jones brain trust may be finally, finally realizing that the Romo era is nearing its conclusion and that hey, big changes are needed.

Manziel’s slide could push the Jones boys into action. At this point, it’s the only way the Cowboys can shake their salary cap predicament and even that may be two years down the line but it could represent a start. 

Is Johnny Manziel the anti-Tim Tebow or Michael Vick-lite?

Johnny Manziel is about to strut into the NFL saloon with a reputation for living large, playing fast and loose and seemingly eager to wear the black hat that goes with notoriety.

In other words, he’s the anti-Tim Tebow.

Where Tebow preached unabashedly about his cleanliness and piety, and may have rubbed some fans the wrong way with his weekday sermons, Manziel makes no apologies for his brashness, his collection of Twitter party photos or his larger-than-life me-me-me profile. He relishes it.

Currently out of football, Tebow, the son of missionaries, is building a hospital to help children in the Philippines. His mark on the NFL remains that one playoff win, Tebowing, the meme where he dropped on a knee and rested his fist on his head in glory to God, and as a draft-day cautionary tale.

In comparison, Manziel, an heir to an oil business fortune, is reportedly trying to trademark the phrase The House That Johnny Built, in reference to the $450-million renovation of Texas A&M’s home field where Johnny Football (another pending trademark) made his name. His draft day tale remains unwritten.

Tebow, who trademarked Tebowing to make sure it’s used in The Right Way, was often photographed shirtless yet claimed to still have his virginity. He is now a roving minister.

Manziel was suspended half a game for an alleged autograph scandal, lit up Twitter with various racy party photos and was allegedly told to leave the Manning Passing Academy as a counselor for reportedly being hung over and/or being late to sessions. 

Both quarterbacks enjoyed tremendous success in the college game and have Heisman Trophies on their shelves. They embraced different running styles, Tebow like a bruising fullback, Manziel like a scatback, but both used the same skill to lift their names to the NCAA marquee.

Coming out of college, Tebow was as wholesome as pure milk on campus but had plenty of questions about his accuracy and throwing ability. Questions that should not have been overlooked by the Broncos when they drafted Tebow late in the first round or else Josh McDaniels would still be in Denver. Tebow simply couldn’t complete a mid-level pass consistently.

Manziel, on the other hand, is a double shot of Texas whiskey, no ice. He too comes with questions about arm strength and throwing mechanics. His lack of height (not quite 6 feet) is another issue of concern, as is his penchant for improvisation as a passer.

The biggest link between Tebow and Manziel coming out of college however, is in Q rating. Like the former Gator, Manziel has the PR sizzle to lift a QB-needy franchise out of any malaise. At least in the short term.

Every move photographed. Every nuance interpreted. Every outing papparazzied. If there’s a media superstar waiting to break out of this draft, Manziel is it. He’s a walking one-man version of Hard Knocks.

With some on-field success, Manziel could help build a stadium in Buffalo, put Jacksonville back on the NFL map, end the QB suffering in Cleveland, transform the Twin Cities' offence or restore the roar in Oakland’s Black Hole.  

Just the same, he could party his way out of the league or earn enough suspensions to permanently retard his development as a quarterback.

It’s a proposition teams at the top of the draft and teams looking to trade up for a quarterback have to consider. And given the similar quality of passers in the draft class, it’s a risk that not many teams are willing to take, which is why, along with the other concerns, Manziel isn’t the slam dunk No. 1 overall choice.

He’s not a Troy Aikman, a Peyton Manning, or even an Andrew Luck.

The player Manziel resembles most coming out of college is Michael Vick. Manziel is not as quick or as fast as Vick and also doesn’t measure up in terms of arm strength. But he is a bit more accurate with the ball and has a better sense of anticipation in terms of when a receiver is about to come open. Their freakish abilities to avoid defenders is roughly the same. 

Will their career arcs mirror each other as well? I don’t know but either way, it will be must-see TV.

Is Jadeveon Clowney lazy or an LT clone? Neither, it's just the NFL Draft's silly season

 The pre-draft silly season is here. How can you tell? Just read the Jadeveon Clowney headlines.

He's spoiled and lazy, charges one anonymous scout identified only as belonging to the National Football Conference. At the same time, some mock drafters compare some of his skills to Lawrence Taylor’s.

As the consensus top talent in the draft, the Southern Carolina defensive end is undergoing the relentless scrutiny that comes when the NFL's annual player selection meeting is held in May instead of its previous late April launch.

Clowney has become the main target because no quarterbacks have risen to challenge his throne. Ask the draft experts who the top pivot in this class is and you're likely to get two answers: Blake Bortles and Johnny Manziel.

Both of those QBs have enough questions on their resumes that they're having a tough time knocking off Clowney from the top perch. Further clouding the quarterback debate is that there are four or five other passers who could be drafted in the first three rounds and could eventually lay claim to the best quarterback drafted in 2014: Teddy Bridgewater, Zach Mettenberger, Derek Carr, A.J. McCarron and Jimmy Garoppolo. Even Pittsburgh’s Tom Savage is moving up the charts.

The gap between Bortles and Mettenberger or between Manziel and Bridgewater, depending on which type of passer you prefer, may not be worth making the leap to the top of the draft, if similar options can be had at the middle or bottom of the first round.

That's not to say some team, say Buffalo or Cleveland, may be enamoured to trade up and draft Johnny Football, as he would bring added pizzazz to either franchise, but thus far, Clowney has remained at the top of the charts.

So, is he lazy or LT? As usual with hyperbole, he’s somewhere in between. His stats from last season are rather pedestrian, 41 tackles, 3 sacks; compared to 40 tackles and 13 sacks in 2012.

 There’s no question his productivity was disappointing for someone with his athletic abilities but take a closer look at South Carolina games. There aren’t a lot of double teams. But which way are the plays going?

The majority of plays directed the football away from Clowney. They occasionally went at him to keep the defence honest but mostly they didn’t need to double team because game plans directed the flow away from him. It’s hard to rack up defensive stats when most of the game is on the other side of the field.

There’s no questioning his first step. It is stunningly quick and allowed him to be a tremendous disruptor in the run game as offensive tackles often flailed in reaching for him. His speed, 4.53, at 266 lbs. at the combine, speaks for itself.

But before we crown him as the next LT, realize that his pass rushing skills need a lot of polishing. Those bullrushes that wreaked havoc in the SEC are unlikely to make a dent in the NFL. He plays too upright and seems too stiff in the upper body as a rusher.

What do I mean by that?

The late Derrick Thomas had perhaps the quickest first step next to LT but he combined that with a rare ability to rush the passer at unbelievable angles, where his body would be nearly parallel with the ground yet still be able to generate enough power and speed to allow him to shoulder through linemen. It was freakish, like Taylor.

Clowney plays a more like LaVar Arrington than Taylor or Thomas. A penetrator who will shoot the gap and who is athletic enough to make a difference but one who may not be a great factor on the pass rush.

At the top of the board, he remains a safer pick than either of the quarterbacks but those pivots tend to rise in the weeks leading up to the draft as teams start to jostle for draft position.

In 2010, Ndamukong Suh graded out as the most talented player on the board but Sam Bradford rose to the top of the charts after he put up a Troy Aikman-like pro-day workout and was selected by the Rams.

With three weeks to go, Clowney remains the top mock pick but as you can see, the misdirection plays are just beginning.

Chris Johnson looks for a free agent deal in an era when kickers are better paid than running backs

A nightmarish offseason for free agent running backs continues with free agent Chris Johnson shopping his wares, hoping to land a deal that his brethren can be proud of.

So far, demand for the speedy running back seems to be limited to a few teams, with little of the fervour seen when wide receiverDeSean Jackson suddenly hit the market.  

Jackson signed a 3-year, $24-million deal with the Redskins days after being released by the Eagles and then continued on his merry way to vacation on a private villa in the Caribbean while his new teammates hit OTAs.

Jackson, at 27, is a year younger than Johnson and coming off a career-best season while CJ2K is not, but the discrepancy in the demand for the players shows the new cold, hard reality in the NFL: Momma, don’t let your sons grow up to be running backs.

That’s because NFL’s transition from a running league to a passing league is now complete. Not just on the field but in the way players are paid and drafted.

There are exceptions: Adrian Pederson in Minnesota, and Seattle and San Francisco employ run-first offences; but the rest of the league clearly values quarterbacks and receivers far more than backs.

How else can you explain the fact that kickers are now in the same pay scale as running backs, and, for the most part, received longer-term contracts.

Don’t believe me? Compare the top deals of 2014:

Kickers

Graham Gano, 4 years, $12.4 million

Nick Folk, 4 years, $12 million

Steven Hauschka, 3 years, $9.15 million

Phil Dawson, 2 years, $6.1 million

Dan Carpenter, 4 years, $10 million

Adam Vinateri, 2 years, $5 million

Running backs

Ben Tate, 2 years, $6.2 million

Toby Gerhart, 3 years, $10.5 million

Donald Brown 3 years, $10.5 million

Rashad Jennings, 4 years, $10 million

Knowshon Moreno 1 year, $3 million

Maurice Jones-Drew 3 years, $7.5 million

Where have you gone, Walter Payton.

The league was built on the legs of runners like Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson, Payton, Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson. Super Bowls and playoff battles were won with 3 yards and a cloud of dust, the ability to keep the chains and clock moving with power football.

But today’s game features three- and four-wide receiver sets, running back by committees, where the passing game sets up the run and not the other way around, and the difference between a running back getting 3.8 versus 4.5 yards per carry doesn’t mean that much because a swing pass or a quick hitch is just as effective.

When did it all change?

I blame The Catch. For a lot of things.

Frozen in time, Dwight Clark's arms stretch skywards for a ball that should've been beyond his reach while Everson Walls trails feverishly behind. Ed 'Too Tall' Jones and two other Dallas defenders jump prematurely at a Joe Montana fake and watch as the upstart quarterback locates the ball exactly where his savvy coach wanted it during the previous timeout. All under heavy duress and a Super Bowl bid on the line.

What's forgotten is that the Cowboys got the ball back with 51 seconds left and if not for an Eric Wright game-saving tackle on a streaking Drew Pearson AND an ensuing Danny White fumble, Rafael Septien would've likely kicked the game-winning field goal. But I digress.

Over the ensuing decade San Francisco would establish itself as the team of the '80s while Dallas would slowly descend into the waiting hands of Jerry Jones.

Bill Walsh would be hailed as an offensive genius and his West Coast offence would become an integral part of the NFL. Tom Landry, and his 4-3 Flex defence, a league staple, would be overtaken by the 3-4 alignment and for a time, Buddy Ryan's 4-6.

Montana became a first-ballot Hall of Famer. White would give way to Steve Pelluer and Gary Hogeboom.

But it was the rise of Walsh's offensive system that forever altered the league. Not just in the way the game was played but also the way players were drafted and eventually, the way players got paid.
Up until that point, teams needed a superstar running back to win. Period. Needed a first down, you ran for it.

Now here came the 49ers in the championship game with Lenvil Elliott leading the charge -- Dallas was protecting against the pass and Walsh, with time winding down, ran the ball with Elliott to march down the field to set up The Catch.

Don't remember Elliott? Not many do. Elliott was filling in for the similarly unremarkable Ricky Patton. But people do remember Tony Dorsett on the other sideline.

Over time, coaches figured out that three or four Pattons or Elliotts could do a serviceable job instead of paying big money to the Dorsetts of the world, especially when you need to fork out $20 million for a franchise quarterback and $10 million for alpha receivers.

So there’s Chris Johnson, Dorsett-lite, hoping to snag a big paycheque in a league that just doesn’t hand them out any more, especially to older backs.

Yes, he’s a couple of years away from the age of 30, the so-called end of the running back’s productive years, but have a look at Dorsett. From the ages of 29 to 31 he ran 896 times for 3,817 yards, which matched the most productive years of his Hall of Fame career.

Can Johnson help a team? Absolutely. Will he get paid what he deserves? No, and like me, he can “thank” Walsh for that. 

Seven Draft Day plot lines that are difficult to swallow

The movie Draft Day, as a concept, is enticing enough. The plot follows the roller coaster of the day endured by the protagonist, Cleveland Browns GM Sonny Weaver Jr., played by Kevin Costner.

Not only does Sonny find out he’s about to become a dad, thanks to his secret romance with the team’s salary capologist, played by Jennifer Garner; he has to deal with an oblivious owner who threatens his dismissal unless he makes a big splash at the draft; a recalcitrant head coach who sets a fire in his office when he discovers he wasn’t included in the discussion of the team’s massive trade; and a temperamental quarterback who trashes his office when he suspects the trade will likely bring his replacement. To top it off, Weaver has barely had time to mourn the recent passing of his father, the Browns’ franchise coach whom he fired, when his overbearing mother demands an impromptu, immediate memorial on the practice field.

Yes it’s Hollywood and all these storylines are plausible, if somewhat farfetched to all occur in a window smaller than 24 hours. It's like 24 (the TV series) meets Any Given Sunday.

For Dallas Cowboys fans, Dennis Leary plays the coach who sounds a lot like Barry Switzer, only younger and with a desire to create a semblance of an NFL legacy.

The movie loses all credibility with NFL fans when it goes rogue with the draft day wheeling dealing and preposterous timelines. For all its foibles, lack of chemistry between any of the actors, clichéd jokes that centre around a browbeaten intern, the movie really falls apart in its plot’s inherent improbability.

Here are five samples.

No.1

It begins early in the morning when Seattle calls and offers to trade the No. 1 overall pick for Cleveland’s No. 7 selection. The asking price: Next’s year’s No. 1 and a third rounder. And there’s a franchise quarterback on the draft table.

No contest. Make the trade. Even if you don’t want the quarterback, the value makes the trade worthwhile. You can always trade down again. Plus who makes this offer?

But no. Costner, who’s in the pantheon of the sports movie greats for Field of Dreams, Bull Durham and Tin Cup alone, fumbles the offer and most of the movie as well. The shifty-eyed, overwhelmed executive can’t see the value in the deal and turns it down…

Only to call back a couple of hours later in the day, and find that the trade demand now includes another Browns No. 1 pick…. Which Costner accepts because…

No 2.

On draft day, team owner and water park impresario (Frank Langella) threatens his GM to make a big splash or be fired. The fan base demands it. Needs it.

There’s no doubt this scenario has played out in the NFL. It just doesn’t happen on the day of the NFL’s player selection meeting, hours before the team’s top-10 pick is about to come off the board.

Months ahead, maybe.

No. 3

Having made the ill-conceived trade, Costner orders his football staff to find faults with the franchise quarterback, Bo Callahan (Josh Pence).

Again, there’s no doubt this scenario has played out in the NFL. It just doesn’t happen on the day of the NFL’s player selection meeting, hours before the pick is about to be made.

Months ahead, yes.

As it turns out, golden boy Callahan has one rather large wart. He has one personality trait that matches that of one of the greatest draft busts ever, Ryan Leaf.

No. 4

The draft begins and Costner, having endured a nuclear day of emotions, goes back to his sticky note ‘big board’ and goes with his gut pick, linebacker Vontae Mack, who’s exactly the player Langella, who flies to New York for the draft with a Callahan jersey, did not want to see selected.

Doesn’t try to trade back down. Doesn’t field any offers for the No.1, doesn’t reach out for any. At this point, even Costner quips that he traded three first rounders and a third for a player he could’ve had at No. 7.

NFL fans have seen ridiculous trades and draft picks, never would they be combined like this.

No. 5

Then Callahan begins to slide. All the way to No. 6. The rookie Jacksonville Jaguars GM who has the pick is so inept, he doesn’t know why Callahan is suddenly available. Good thing Costner, who suddenly discovers that he can deal his way out his mess, is there with an offer of three No. 2s. Which is what? Accepted. Really.

Never happens. Ever. Three No. 2s for the No. 6 pick, with a franchise quarterback, Leaf-like rumours and all, on the board. And there are no other suitors for the pick either. Right.

No. 6

Langella, who’s irate in New York, leaves the draft, boards his private plane at an airport, lands in Cleveland and arrives at the Browns facility before the No. 6 pick is made. Or less than 50 minutes of real time. That’s a real trick.

No. 7

And this one is the biggest one to gulp down. Armed with the No. 6 pick, Costner manages to get his picks back from Seattle, and gets an ace punt returner thrown in the package.

For those trying to keep track, the pick that was dealt for three No. 2s minutes ago, suddenly lands three No. 1s, a third and a special teams ace.

Only in Hollywood you say? That would seem to be the case.

There are a number of cameos in the movie, including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the usual cast of NFL draft day talking heads, all of whom should’ve advised the screenwriters to rewrite the script, given its lack of reality.

With its seventh pick back, the Browns end up taking the son of the Browns’ all-time great running back. Not Jim Brown, who appears in the movie, but by former NFL journeyman Terry Crews. The running back? Played Arian Foster.

Splash.

Confessions of an NFL draft addict and revisiting the Dallas Cowboys 2010 draft

Confession time: I am an NFL draft addict.

I’m not sure how this obsession came to be. It started slowly, with Paul Zimmerman’s annual draft previews in Sports Illustrated, then graduating to Mel Kiper’s mail-order draft guides before the World Wide Web turned this craving into a 24-hour, 365-day free-for-all.

I really can’t get enough. While critics initially panned the NFL Network for broadcasting the draft combine from Indianapolis, I watched breathlessly as future stars competed in 40-times, lifts, shuttle runs, vertical jumps. I took notes. PVRd what I missed.

Underwear Olympics? These were final exams for those graduating to the NFL and for many players, it was their initial national exposure. I was riveted. I still am.

Add the intrigue of the NFL player selection process – the clashing of egos between owners, general managers, coaches, prospective players and their families – the checkered draft history of some franchises or their GMs, the millions of dollars and jobs at stake, and I can’t get past this event being the greatest reality show on TV.

Watching Donovan McNabb getting booed onstage by stunned face-painted Philly fans wearing Ricky Williams Eagles jerseys, watching the Gallery Gods mock the Jets annual selections, Jeff Lageman and Kyle Brady come to mind, or watching prospects in the Green Room waiting and waiting to get drafted, Aaron Rodgers, Geno Smith.

It’s no wonder Hollywood finally found a way to turn it into a movie. Draft Day with Kevin Costner. Getcha popcorn ready indeed.

The draft became a statutory holiday in my household, Mel Kiper Day. Then the NFL turned into a three-day festival and thus it is now dubbed (Mike) Mayockpalooza.

The Good Wife knows I am emotionally unstable during this time period, prone to bursts of incoherent shouting, laughter and … rage. Controlled. Most of the time. 

Better to be left alone. It’s like watching a game on Sunday, only with much, much more at stake.

Teams that win the draft end up in bed with the Lombardi trophy. Those precious picks make or break the fortunes of a franchise. Teams can add complimentary free agent players or even trade for a superstar to get over the proverbial hump, but title seeds are sowed in spring.

Which is why as a Cowboys fan, the past few years have been particularly painful.

Without having direct access to the draft room – I object to it being called a War Room, it’s not even a close metaphor – it’s difficult to explain why Jerry Jones and company have fared so poorly without the guiding hands of Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson.

There are so many variables involved in any draft choice that unless you’re there, in the room, and witness to trade offers, rumours and the team’s reams of evaluations, it’s hard to pinpoint where Dallas consistently goes wrong.

Is it scouting? Is it assessment? Is it Jones? He is the easy target and the team’s draft record shows there has to be a communication breakdown within the franchise but you wonder how much bad luck has played a factor in the team’s woes.

Thanks to Jones’ marketing wizardry, there have been two “leaks” of the Cowboys’ draft strategy, in 2010 and 2013. Images of Jones standing in front of the team’s big board allowed sharp-eyed draftniks to make out the team’s “cheat sheet.”

In 2010, the Cowboys’ first-round grades were as follows:

1. Sam Bradford
2. Gerald McCoy
3. Ndamukong Suh
4. Russell Okung
5. Trent Williams
6. Eric Berry
7. Rolando McClain
8. Joe Haden
9. CJ Spiller
10. Mike Iupati
11.  Blocked by Jerry’s arm, but likely Earl Thomas or Dez Bryant
12.  Blocked by Jerry’s arm, but likely Earl Thomas or Dez Bryant
13. Bryan Bulaga
14. Sean Lee
15. Jared Odrick
16. Jason Pierre-Paul
17. Derrick Morgan
18. Kyle Wilson
19. Maurkice Pouncey
20. Navarro Bowman
21. Jahvid Best
22. Tyson Alualu
23. Jermaine Gresham

The list was surprising because it was unsurprising. Most mocks heading into the draft had similar first-round values save for three players: Lee, Bowman and Alualu.

Alualu drew gasps when he was taken by the Jaguars with the 10^th pick overall and time has shown that the gasps were an appropriate reaction.

The Cowboys got a falling Dez Bryant with their first pick and then made a prescient choice by taking Lee with their second rounder, the 55^th pick.

If Lee was unavailable, would they have still traded up from the 59th pick? Or do they take Bowman and still have an extra fourth in their pocket? Given Lee’s injury history and Bowman’s prodigious production with the 49ers, Cowboys fans would have been even more overjoyed.

This was easily the best draft the Cowboys had since Parcells left but you wonder what would’ve happened had both Lee and Bowman been selected before their pick. Would Alualu be our defensive end?

These variables show some of the factors at play with each selection. The Cowboys could have hit gold – Bowman, silver – Lee or copper – Alualu, depending on the other teams’ needs and assessments.

Is it all luck?

The Cowboys traded up to get Lee in what would turn out to be a very deep draft, with few busts. Their next pick was Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, in the fourth round.

To draftniks, it was a slight overvaluation, like Lee and Bowman, and this time, the Cowboys turned out to be dead wrong. They had a fourth-round grade on Owusu-Ansah, just a few notches above Kam Chancellor, who was the next defensive back taken.

Owusu-Ansah was waived by the Saints, didn’t play last season and is now on the Lions’ practice squad. Chancellor is coming off a Super Bowl win and has a Pro Bowl on his resume.

What if another team had taken Owusu-Ansah? What if a Cowboys scout had seen more from Chancellor and bumped his grade up a notch?

What ifs play a great factor at the draft so when you see the myriad of players that the Cowboys could’ve selected with each draft, consider the hindsight factor.

Where were these lists after the selections were made. Do they have the stones, like a young Kiper did, to say picking players like Trev Alberts is why the Colts “draft second every year.”

Or is it really a mug’s game?

Why DeSean Jackson should definitely not sign with the Washington Redskins

Here’s the thing about mercurial receivers.

Yes, they tend to wear out their welcome after a few short seasons. They’re a public relations nuisance. They create unnecessary drama for a team. They usually create a wedge in the dressing room. They’re polarizing figures.

But they’re also asked to move the chains and get little of the glory. Most of that goes to the man throwing the ball.

They get an inch and try to take a yard. That’s what they’re asked to do on the field and so if they’re really good at it there, why would it not translate off the field.

They want more money, more of the spotlight, more acclaim.

Of the best receivers in recent times, only a handful are not considered to be prime-time divas.

Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, Steve Smith, Brandon Marshall. Check. Divas.

Charles Johnson, Reggie Wayne and Andre Johnson are notable exceptions.

Josh Gordon, Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas. They’re young and still forming their NFL personas.

Which brings us to DeSean Jackson. The former Eagle definitely flies with the first group, not in accomplishments, but certainly in attitude. Even his teammate, Jeremy Maclin, classified his sudden divorce from the Philadelphia Eagles as a “T.O.” type situation.

Until Eagles coach Chip Kelly speaks on the matter, we won’t know what made the club decide that Jackson was not worth holding on to, even as a trading chip.

Whether it’s off-the field issues, team issues, a frosty relationship with the coach, or even Jackson’s alleged ties to L.A. gangs, allegations which the receiver denied.

What we do know is that he wouldn’t be lining up for the Eagles and as a Cowboys fan with little to cheer about, that was about as good a news as we were going to receive ahead of the draft.

If we can’t make our team stronger, we can certainly revel in the misery of our opponents. Especially Philly.

I’m talking to you Eagle fans, the ones who cheered Michael Irvin’s career-ending injury.

But now we get word that Jackson is set to sign as a free agent with Washington. Yes, the Redskins are a mess and Robert Griffin III has his own self-gratifying issues to deal with but the mere presence of Jackson on that offence would take it to another level.

Kelly may be right and Jackson may be headed down a dark, ugly tunnel, the kind of dark path taken by Aaron Hernandez and Rae Carruth.

Or Kelly may have done Jackson a favour by giving him the wakeup call he needed at the cost of his franchise.

Whatever the reasoning, it’s hard not to think that Jackson should have his helmet strapped on tight for the next couple of seasons.

Remember Owens? He caught 166 balls for more than 2,500 yards and 28 TDs in his first two seasons with the Cowboys – after getting dumped by Philly.

Jackson has a different skill set than Owens and is not of the same Hall of Fame calibre receiver but he is one of the league’s best at the moment. He’s also young and has a lot to prove.

Motivated receivers usually fare well in the short-term, which is why if he signs with Washington, the Skins will be a lot less fun to play against.

Aside from a having a terrible offensive line and a defence that gave the Cowboys a run for their money as the league’s worst, the Redskins were dying for a receiver who could get separation from defenders.

They found one during the season in tight end Jordan Reed, only to have him suffer a concussion. Pierre Garcon is better suited as a No. 2 receiver, which is where he would land should Jackson sign, thereby transforming the Redskins offence from plodding to dangerous.

The attitude may grate of teammates but you can't argue with performance. Which is why Bill Belichick dealt for Randy Moss and held him in check for a couple of seasons. Look at Marshall in Chicago after he took his talents to South Beach. 

As long as he stays on the straight and narrow, Jackson has a chance to be a playmaker. Here's hoping he doesn't do it in Washington.

How 'bout them Cowboys? It's been a while

How ’bout them Cowboys?

When’s the last time someone has said that with any conviction?

The NFL Network’s Dynasty Week team this week is your Dallas Cowboys, which means Jimmy J. should be on at some point, holding a crumpled up a white NFC champions T-shirt and uttering those famous words.

Seems like such a long time ago.

Because it is.

More than 22 years ago.

There’s now a generation of Cowboys fans who haven’t seen America’s Team in the Super Bowl. I can drop the mike here, can’t I?

In the first X games, there were 3 appearances.

From XI to XX, 2 more.

From XXI to XXX, the final 3.

 Now there are Cowboys fans, just like fans of other teams – I’m talking to you Melo, of the Giants – that think their club can win the Super Bowl on any given year.

Their presumptuously positive outlook blinds them to any warts on their roster, any gaps that could be exploited. Up until about October or so, these bandwagons are full of easy riders, people who think their quarterback can pull out any miracle finish or their defence make that definitive stand.

Unfortunately that’s because it has happened. We’ve seen it.

And for whatever reason, this phenomena seems to only happen with despised Cowboys rivals, like the Steelers and Giants. They’re two franchises to win a championship in recent times after seasons in which they weren’t even close to being the best team, only to be smiled on by the fickle football gods, with special appearances by Santonio Holmes, David Tyree, Mario Manningham.  

This golden glow extends to NFL front offices, the ones that think that by getting a ticket to the big dance, the playoffs, that they’ll end up with the Belle of the Ball, the Lombardi Trophy.

The question then is do you hitch your wagon to a longshot or ride out the rough times until your ticket turns into a favourite.

Unfortunately, the owner and general manager of the Cowboys, Jerry Jones, who made his fortunes on discovering pockets of oil miles below the surface, isn’t going to shy away from long odds.

Just as unfortunately for Cowboys fans, long odds don’t pay off very often, which is why we’re in this stretch of 14 seasons and four playoff appearances.

This generation of fans may not be able to wrap their head around the fact that over a 20-year stretch under the troika of Tom Landry, Gild Brandt and Tex Schramm, the Cowboys missed the playoff just twice. Twice.

And most of those years, only four teams made the post-season, not six.

So when Jones announces that the team doesn’t rebuild when they have a Tony Romo, the older generation winces. Romo has the best passing stats any Cowboys quarterback has compiled but wins and losses tell a different story.

Three playoff appearances, one playoff win tells a different story.

So hitch away Jerry. Another season of mediocrity awaits.

How ’bout them Cowboys indeed.  

Philadelphia Eagles release DeSean Jackson, best news for Dallas Cowboys fans this offseason

“After careful consideration this offseason, Eagles decide to part ways with DeSean Jackson. The team informed him of his release today.”

Clearly there’s more to this story than the tweet above posted by the Philadelphia Eagles today. Whatever the reasons, Jackson, 27, coming off the best season of a six-year career that includes two Pro Bowl nods, is now a free agent.

Salary wise, Jackson was the costliest Eagle, with a $10.5 million contract, a $12.75 million cap hit. By releasing him, Philadelphia saves $6.5 million in cap space but that’s not the main consideration as the club was already $16 million under the cap.

Jackson’s release brings the end to his Eagles career but also to a strange couple of weeks where trade rumours involving Philadelphia’s No. 1 receiver were rampant, then silenced after Jackson proclaimed that he would remain an Eagle.

 Jackson’s announcement came following a meeting with head coach Chip Kelly, who saw the situation from a different perspective. While clearly specifying that the club would not trade Jackson, Kelly also clearly said he would do what was best for the team.

Nobody thought that would be this.

Whether the issue is Jackson’s relationship with Kelly, or as has been reported, his lack of commitment in the offseason or his links to gang members in his native Los Angeles, the Eagles didn’t think the speedy receiver was worth the trouble. 

Any trouble. 

The Eagles didn't even want to entertain more offers and get a draft pick in return.

Fellow receiver Jeremy Maclin compared the situation with that of Terrell Owens when he was in Philadelphia. And that was before Jackson was released.

“Whatever happens in the organization happens in the organization,” Maclin told CSNPhilly.com on Thursday.  “This was a similar situation when the Eagles decided to part ways with T.O. That’s just how the game goes sometimes. So I guess we’ll see.”

What we have seen may be the best bit of offseason news for Cowboys fans, as long he doesn’t re-sign within the division.

Jackson may be a bit of a diva and may have angled too hard for a new contract but there’s no denying he’s a playmaker. His blazing speed created a lot of space for Kelly’s offence last season, opening a lot of holes for receivers, tight ends and backs.  

The Eagles get Maclin back and though he may have surer hands, he is not the threat Jackson is. And Maclin is coming off a season-ending knee injury. Instead of lining up Jackson with Maclin and Riley Cooper, Jason Avant will step in.

Philadelphia will miss the 25 catches of 20 yards or more that Jackson hauled in last season. To compare, Dez Bryant had 14 such big plays in 2013. Jackson caught 82 balls for 1,332 yards and 9 touchdowns. If Avant comes close to those totals, I'll eat my shorts.

The Eagles dealt for Darren Sproles and he will help stretch the field horizontally but unless Philadelphia drafts a Jackson clone, the vertical threat is gone.

And for a Dallas secondary that’s coming off some serious wind burn last season, that’s welcome news after seeing Jason Hatcher and DeMarcus Ware leave. Signing defensive tackle Henry Melton was nice but much more was needed to shore up the league’s worst unit.      

No, Cowboys fans are left cheering the demise of division rivals. And this is as good as it gets these days.

The Buffalo Bills lose their greatest defender, Ralph Wilson

 Ralph Wilson was an easy target for Buffalo Bills fans.

They could pin most of the team's misfortune, freakishly somewhat more than any franchise should bear, on its one and only owner: Too cheap. Too controlling. Too old. Uninterested. Uncaring. Absentee.

Like children who often take their nurturing parents for granted, Bills fans were roused from their bleary innocence with the announcement Tuesday that Wilson passed away at the age of 95.

They came to the realization that they probably never knew what they had in Wilson.

The Bills' greatest defender was gone.

It was suddenly time to recognize and appreciate the man who afforded western New York a lifetime of professional football memories, who gave them a chance to watch Cookie Gilchrist, O.J. Simpson and the K-Gun offence, and follow the early success of two AFL championships and four soul-crushing Super Bowl defeats.

Is it better to have played in the Big Game and lost? Or not play at all. After missing the playoffs for more than a decade, that argument has been put to rest by Bills fans.

What was often unsaid was what a bittersweet experience it must have been for Wilson, one of the founding fathers of the American Football League, to see his NFL venture succeed so wildly elsewhere while the fortunes of the city where he staked his flag continued to flounder.

The man who founded his team with $25,000 and famously bailed out other owners to keep the AFL afloat watched as his team slowly became a small-market concern for a league that grew into a corporate colossus.

It would have been easy for the Michigan native to pull an Irsay or a Modell. To cash out or watch the Bills move to Jacksonville or Los Angeles, or heaven forbid, Toronto.

You can rarely blame a man for being too loyal. For Wilson, a World War II navy vet, it was a badge of honour. It's why, perhaps to the detriment of the team, management promotions were mostly handled internally. The one time in recent years when an outsider was brought in, Tom Donahoe from the Steelers, it didn't end well.

The hirings were also low cost, a fact rarely lost on the team's fans, who watched in recent years as other franchises spent lavishly on free agents while Bills players often left or were dealt away ahead of max contracts.

But the team wasn't operating on a level playing field.

It's safe to say that ancillary revenues for the Bills have been near the bottom of the league for the past 15 years, which is why the team signed a deal to play some home games in Toronto for extra cash, a poorly planned and poorly executed endeavour.

It did lead the team to flush out some signings, like Mario Williams, but further escalated fan discontent, which is why the Toronto venture was suspended for the upcoming season.

Now that Wilson's gone, the team will be run by a trust formed under his estate. Inheritance laws make it unwieldy for his heirs to pay taxes on the $870 million franchise so the team will be sold at some point in the future but a quick sale is not expected.

Bills fans have worried for years at what would happen next. Now that point is here and they realize what a magnificent provider they had in their Hall of Fame owner.

The pursuit of Jared Allen shows the difference between the champs and the Cowboys

The pursuit of free agent Jared Allen shows the distance between the Seattle Seahawks, the Dallas Cowboys and their expectations for the coming year.

The sack master defensive end, who’s coming off an 11.5 sack season in 2013, is reportedly considering three NFL teams to sign with, the champs, the Cowboys and an unnamed club. He could also pack up his ten-gallon hat and ride off into the sunset of retirement.

Seattle’s offer is reportedly for 2-years and $12 million, while no leaks have surfaced out of Dallas since the club signed Henry Melton to a one-year, $5 million deal with a club option for 3 more years for $24 million.

The Cowboys may be silent because they don’t have a free agent dime left to spend. Yes, they could mess around with their salary cap some more but it’s not like signing Allen at this stage in his career is going to turn the team into a Super Bowl contender. Even Jerry Jones has to see that.

Still. Likea wise man once said, youneverknow.

Allen was supposed to take the weekend to decide which team to sign with (Seattle would be the big favourite) but has this far remained silent. Even on his Twitter account.

But really there’s no competition, even if the Cowboys could make a competitive bid.

Here’s what Seattle offers: A quality rotation that allows Allen to rest his nearly 32-year-old legs, pass-rushing balance up and down the line that allows him to face one-on-one situations more often, more three and outs than a Mariners game with King Felix on the mound, space shuttle-launching like noise for opposing linemen during the home campaign, and oh, yeah, a chance at a ring.

Dallas? Well he was born there. More playing time. More double teams. A more natural setting for his rodeo sack dance, the pink Cadillac with the longhorns. Plus his nickname is the Rhinestone Cowboy, not the Rhinestone Seahawk. Did I mention he was born there?

And that’s without taking the monetary equation into account.

Even after signing Melton, the pressing urgency for Dallas and its 32^nd ranked defence will be generating a pass rush.

The Cowboys’ 34 sacks left them in a three-way tie for 25^th in the NFL a year ago. And 17 of those, or exactly 50 per cent, went out the door when Jason Hatcher and DeMarcus Ware left town.  

Many believe Ware was a diminished player last season and point to his career-low 6-sack total.

Yet despite elbow and quad injuries, missing three games, playing out of position at defensive end and being the lone focal point for double-teams and game planning by offensive co-ordinators, Ware, according to sportingcharts.comhttp://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/defensive-hurries/2013/ finished tied for seventh in the league in quarterback hurries with 16.

Jaren Allen tallied 9 hurries, same as Hatcher. George Selvie, who will undoubtedly have a harder time repeating his 7-sack campaign without Ware, was second on the club with 11.

Long-yardage sacks can be game changers, especially if forced fumbles are involved, but hurries often present a bigger picture of a pass rusher’s ability.

That’s because sacks is a fickle statistic.

Is a one-yard sack where a quarterback runs out of bounds the same as 15-yard loss on 3^rd down? How about when a teammate pressures the quarterback, who then takes a few steps into the unsuspecting arms of another?

Many will know that Robert Mathis led the league with 19. 5 sacks but few will realize that the Vikings’ Brian Robison led the NFL with 27 hurries. Fellow Viking DE Everson Griffen added 13 (14^th in the league), which is why Minnesota is somewhat comfortable letting Allen (tied for 40^th) go as a free agent.

If Allen is considering playing for another contract or adding to his career sack totals, then the Cowboys could offer this edge: Substantial more opportunities. The Cowboys played more than 100 defensive snaps than the Seahawks last season, and there’s little chance Dallas will be getting off the field much faster in the upcoming campaign.

 

I know where I would go if I were Allen. It rhymes with cattle. 

The Seahawks are reloading, picking and choosing their gems while the Cowboys are at the Dollar store, hoping to scape enough funds to find a bargain.