Archives
These are all the pro football transactions involving for Miami Dolphins players in June 2011: June 7 — The Virginia Destroyers (UFL) signed running back Clifton Smith to a contract. Smith appeared in two games for the Dolphins in September 201…
The Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets are two teams going in different directions. Pittsburgh has won four in a row, vaulting to the top of the AFC North while New York has only scored nine points in the last two weeks in losses to New England and …
After watching the game against the New York Giants on Sunday night, I couldn’t help but sit there and say, “Wow, what a game!” While it was nowhere near a perfect game, the Eagles stayed on the grind and busted out a win.
I will be honest; I didn…
The NFL season is only three weeks away, and all 32 teams are making strides in during NFL training camps and pre-Season.
Aside from the Cincinati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys, every team has begun preparation for its second pre-season match up.
The point? Well, it should be all about the rookies and veteran backups looking to climb up on the depth chart, and in some cases, making a roster.
It should not be for the starters playing a full half, and risking injury.
Unless it is a rookie starter taking the field, head coaches everywhere should be extra cautious to play their starters more than a few series.
Apparently Tom Coughlin and the New York Giants didn’t get the memo. Yes, maybe the Giants were opening the new stadium against the rival Jets, and wanted to bring some excitement.
Giants starting quarterback Eli Manning took a gushing blow to the head on Monday night.
Yes, there might have been a mix up between Manning and Brandon Jacobs on the play selection. However, it was a few minutes into the second quarter, when the injury occurred. This injury surely put all Giants fans in panic.
In the end, Manning got multiple stitches to the head, and is out of action for this week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This action should have never happened. It wasn’t necessary. Manning doesn’t need all of the playing time this early in the pre-season. With training camp in full force, plus three more pre-season games, starters have plenty of time to get chemistry down in live action.
Putting starters out for more than a quarter, especially in the first pre season game, is a big red flag. Though the injury isn’t anything major, anything could have happened on that play, and would have made it much worse.
We have seen starters in this league already receive serious injuries. Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth and Denver Broncos pass rusher Elvis Dumervil are both going to likely miss the entire season ( Dumervil isn’t officially ruled out).
And I can promise you, more devastating injuries will be coming. Though the pre-season has it’s positive moments, it can also be detrimental to your team for the entire season.
There is a reason players ask every year to slim down on the amount of pre-season games. They don’t want to waste their bodies in meaningless games, especially when they are giving it their all with teammates in training camp.
But the starters don’t have to make that happen. We saw undrafted wide receiver Victor Cruz put on a show throughout the game for all Giants fans to see. And that is what you want to see, an undrafted player such as Cruz making his statement to the staff about making the team.
Fans of all 32 teams watch the pre-season to find the hidden games that are within the organization.
The 2010 season will be filled with Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and more analysis of today’s stars.
Let the pre-season be a time for other players to shine, and most importantly, don’t risk starting players and receive a scare like the Giants did with Eli Manning.
Matt Miselis is an NFL Featured Columnist for BleacherReport.com.
Follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/MattMiselis
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
Many ridiculed the Oakland Raiders for selecting Darrius Heyward Bey over Michael Crabtree, a much safer pick. I, however, predicted in 2009, that the Raiders would draft offensive tackle Michael Oher from the University of Mississippi.
At the start of the 2008-2009 College season many scouts, myself included, rated Oher the top tackle in college. By season’s end, Oher had dropped several slots, which mostly was by consequence of the NFL combine, and in his place resided Baylor’s Jason Smith.
Smith, like Bey, struggled mightily his rookie season—and like Bey, Smith earned his job, primarily, on the fact that he was a master of the NFL combine—and not solely based on his on-field production.
To start the 2010 NFL Season, Oher is the starting left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens, after unseating 2009 starter Jared Gaither. Bey and Smith are bigger question marks now than they were coming out of college.
The last and 256th overall pick in the NFL Draft has been coined Mr. Irrelevant. And in 2009, that title went to Ryan Succop of the Kansas City Chiefs. Succop’s responded: “I didn’t choose to be Mr. Irrelevant. It just worked out that way. I’m just trying not to get caught up in it and focus more on the task at hand, which is trying to come in here and help the team.”
In return, Succop kicked a 22-yard field goal in overtime to give Kansas City a 27–24 win over the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Succop finished the season scoring (104) more than any other rookie in the NFL last year, which placed him second in Chiefs history in scoring by a rookie—which refuted the title of Mr. Irrelevant. But can Bey, in his second year, disprove his Mr. Irrelevant title?
There has been much news during the offseason of Bey working hard preparing for his sophomore year with the Raiders. Bey, however, has missed his fourth straight day of practice—not by fault of injury, but fatigue—he’s just a bit tired. Cable responded, “He is fatigued.”
So was the Little Engine that could! But the Little Engine couldn’t have if fatigue had overcome its desire to achieve. Nor would the Little Engine be a household name—if fatigue had hampered its will.
Does DHB have the “Eyes of the Tiger”? Or is he the next JaMarcus Russell?
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
