I typically detest drafting operating backs who don’t catch passes, but I’d make an exception for Alfred Morris (and Stevan Ridley) this 12 months. Everyone knows Morris’ unlikely story final season, when the sixth round draft choose entered behind the likes of Roy Helu, Evan Royster and even the immortal Tim Hightower on Washington’s depth chart, not solely to safe the workforce’s No. 1 job from the start, however his 1,613 speeding yards had been the third-most by a rookie in NFL history. Any concerns about Mike Shanahan messing along with his backfield have been immediately thrown out the window. Morris was impressive in doing so, racking up the third-most damaged tackles in the NFL (fifty seven) while getting an elite 3.0 YPC after contact. The truth is, greater than 1,000 of his dashing yards final season came after contact. Morris obtained better because the yr went on too, as he ran for 981 yards (5.10 YPC) with eight touchdowns over the final six games. Although he dropped only one pass (on 15 targets), Professional Soccer Focus did grade him as a poor receiver, however apparently, PFF also graded Morris because the league’s second best blocking again (behind solely Ahmad Bradshaw), so it’s not like he must come off the field during third downs (though it does seem we might even see more Helu during these situations this season). It’s also completely attainable Morris improves his pass-catching skills as a sophomore, and he’s going to once once more dominate early down work and get all of the pink-zone carries he can handle in a Shanahan system that’s returning all five members of its offensive line and with Robert Griffin at quarterback. At this level, Morris certain appears to be like like a safer choose than Arian Foster.
Apparently Andrew Luck’s skill of manufacturing dropped interceptions is going to carry over from last season.
Sticking with Colts’ QBs, right here’s Pam Oliver taking a football to the face.
Here’s Skip Bayless dropping information about NFL conferences.
Tom Brady likes what he sees.
I get that most people contemplate Tony Romo overrated (and in addition overpaid after he signed a six-yr, $108 million extension throughout the offseason that included $fifty five million guaranteed, which wasn’t that far off Drew Brees’ record-setting $60). Romo is 17-21 over the previous three seasons and hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2009, and his one career postseason win (the only time he is ever played with a prime-10 protection, I’d add) is much much less memorable than this epic failure. He also had a bachelor party during which no alcohol was allowed and featured a recreation of disguise-and-search. This also exists (I most well-liked the unique version, which featured “Coldplay”). And finally, this go during the most crucial second of Dallas’ season final year also resonates. Ron Jaworski just recently ranked Romo as the fifteenth greatest quarterback within the NFL, as in, there are 14 better.
So right here’s the place I take the contrarian view and defend Romo, who led the league with 5 fourth-quarter comebacks final season. A sixth from 14 factors down with five minutes left pressured additional time in New Orleans, and a seventh comeback towards the Ravens in Baltimore fell short when Dan Bailey missed a would-be game-successful field goal. His 18 profession fourth-quarter comeback wins are a Cowboys document, surpassing Troy Aikman (16) and Roger Staubach (15). As Scott Kacsmar factors out, Romo’s 100.7 career passer rating in the fourth quarter and overtime (playoffs included) is the very best amongst all quarterbacks since 2000 (minimum one hundred fifty attempts). Romo holds the third-highest adjusted YPA, the sixth-highest completion share and the fifth-best QB Score of all time. And but, he laughably wasn’t ranked among the many prime-a hundred players in the NFL by his peers just lately. If you wish to focus extra in fantasy terms, Dallas has struggled to run the ball of late (DeMarco Murray’s lack of ability to remain wholesome is an efficient factor for Romo’s fantasy value), and there needs to be a number of shootouts in the NFC East this season. Romo has by no means not been a top-10 fantasy QB throughout a healthy season, and this was earlier than Dez Bryant developed into an absolute monster of an choice at WR. Romo just handed for the ninth-most yards in a season in NFL historical past final yr, and but based on Y! ADP, eleven QBs are being taken ahead of him in fantasy leagues.
Here’s the Car Wash Prank.
Here’s the section that’s being referred to as one of the best ever on “The Colbert Report.”
Here’s the World’s Greatest Yo-Yo Champion.
Here’s a decapitated snake biting its own body after dropping its head.
I’d like to discuss two latest fantasy drafts I participated in. Figuring out full nicely nobody cares about my particular staff, I’ll use the outcomes just as a guide for more basic speak. The first being the annual Yahoo! Pals & Family draft, which consists of 14 groups, 2RBs, 2WRs, 2FLEX, 0.75 PPR and an especially small bench (4 spots). I had the sixth pick and solely passed on Jamaal Charles as a result of information of his foot harm was murky on the time (props to Andy Behrens for having the stones to tug the trigger). I had a robust internal debate whether or not to take Chris Johnson or Reggie Bush within the second round, as I believe the latter goes to be a beast in PPR codecs. However finally I decided on Johnson, who ran for 1,033 yards and got 5.09 YPC over his final eleven games last season. Tennessee added RG Chance Warmack with the tenth total decide in the draft and LG Andy Levitre by means of free agency, so the offensive line appears to be like much improved (incumbent Michael Roos was graded because the third best LT in the NFL final season by Professional Football Focus). Johnson could lose aim-line carries to Shonn Greene, but it certain helps dealing with the Jaguars and Colts (both ranked within the backside five in run defense last 12 months) in 25% of his video games.
I instantly regretted taking Denarius Moore over Reuben Randle, and that was solely exasperated with the information of Oakland’s LT (and probably finest player) Jared Veldheer out for the season with a torn triceps. Moore has proven flashes earlier than, however he’s regressed since his rookie season and relies on downfield throws, which isn’t exactly a great match for a team with a poor (and that’s being beneficiant) offensive line and a quarterback in Matt Flynn who might need the weakest arm among all projected starters. Randle is presently a WR3 on his own group, but he’s in a vastly superior setting, and if Victor Cruz (who left Sunday night’s game with a heel injury) or Hakeem Nicks (who’s one of the most injury prone WRs in soccer) goes down, he has the upside to be a top-20 fantasy WR, easy…There wasn’t a quarterback taken on this league till the 45th choose of the draft, and whereas I understand this means the results aren’t going to characterize most leagues, I’d argue that is what needs to be the norm, assuming you can solely start one. I hate the time period “experts,” however this technique is commonplace in most “industry” leagues for a motive.
Headlines of the Week: Drunk Chinese language Man Nearly Shipped to US…Man With “Micropenis” Discovers He’s Actually a Woman At Age sixty six…Teacher Shoots Pupil In Ohio Gun Security Class…Chinese Zoo Underneath Hearth For Disguising Bushy Dog as Lion…BMW Drivers Actually Are Jerks, Research Find…“Pull-Out” Methodology Tied to Unintended Pregnancies…Florida Seashore Flasher Leaves Notes Offering $200 if Girls Let Him “Kiss Their Butt”…British Youths Escape Compelled Marriage With Spoons in Underwear…CIA Acknowledges Existence of Area fifty one however Makes no Point out of UFOs…Roadkill Good points Traction as a Home Menu Merchandise…Romanian Princess Among 18 Charged in Oregon Over Cockfighting.
The other league I needed to talk about was the Stopa Regulation Firm league, which is a 12-workforce public sale (0.5 PPR) with large beginning rosters (QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, TE, W/R/T, Q/W/R/T). This makes it basically a 2-QB league, as you’d be crazy to not use a quarterback in a league by which they are flex eligible. I prefer to “spread the wealth” in these kind of codecs, but I ended up shopping for LeSean McCoy (whom I own both on this league and F&F). He’s 25 years old and one season removed from main the NFL in touchdowns and will probably be enjoying alongside a really underrated offensive line in a Philly offense that tasks to steer the NFL in carries. Whereas I love McCoy, it’s not like he came at a great discount price, however what I don’t get is Stevan Ridley at $24 (22 other RBs went for more, together with Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, Lamar Miller, Darren McFadden and DeMarco Murray). And whereas auction values can look silly after the actual fact, this wasn’t a sequencing effect. In New England’s uptempo offense with a terrific line that tried the second-most dashing makes an attempt last season, Ridley (who had the second-most aim-line carries in the NFL final season) has an argument to be drafted within the first spherical (although I’m not overly thrilled to have two backs who suffered critical concussions at the end of last year)…I proceed to be amazed just how low cost Golden Tate and Chris Givens are (I got them for a total of $8). But this also illustrates simply how deep the extensive receiver position is that this yr, as the following players went for $three or less: T.Y. Hilton, Miles Austin, Josh Gordon, Rueben Randle, Kenny Britt, Chris Givens, Anquan Boldin, Denarius Moore, Vincent Brown and Mike Williams, among many others.
Longread of the Week: “Homicide by Craiglist.”
(Not so) Longread of the Week Half 2: “What’s With Rich Folks Hating Vaccines?”
Quick Hits: Matthew Stafford was the tenth most respected fantasy QB last season despite trying 36 more passes in a season than every other quarterback in NFL historical past whereas taking part in in a dome and having one of the greatest vast receivers ever at his disposal. Pointing to the numerous instances his receivers were tackled contained in the 5-yard line is actually a nasty argument, as that helped Stafford in some way run for 4 touchdowns. He’s nonetheless simply 24 years old, so there’s room for progress, however he has a 6.9 career YPA. Just think about what a disaster he’d be if Calvin Johnson suffered a major harm…The Chiefs have by some means despatched essentially the most offensive gamers to the Professional Bowl (33) since 2002…Solely A.J. Green and Heath Miller had more targets than Darren Sproles inside the ten-yard line last season, and the RB missed three games…A.J. Jenkins has been targeted five occasions this preseason, which has resulted in three turnovers…Tim Tebow went 1-for-7 for minus-1 yard Friday against the backups of a Tampa Bay team that allowed the fourth highest YPA (7.9) within the NFL final season. Tebow is the only Heisman profitable QB to win a playoff sport over the last 25 years…If Danny Amendola stays totally healthy (and he suspiciously was held out of shape Monday), my over/under for his receptions this season is 124.5. Wes Welker dropped 9.4% of his passes from 2010-2012. Over that same span, Amdendola dropped three.7%. I’d be extra surprised if Russell Wilson isn’t a prime-3 fantasy QB this season than if he’s not top-10…At this level, Arian Foster is outside my top-12 operating backs…Larry Fitzgerald completed final in yards per target among all huge receivers last yr, but potential fantasy homeowners need not worry, as this stat has little predictive value…Tony Gonzalez has one fumble over the previous thirteen years (H/T Invoice Barnwell). WOW…In regards to Le’Veon Bell struggling one more damage Monday, here’s an inventory of working backs with 380+ carries in a school season since 2000.
Talking Alfred Morris, Tony Romo and a look around the league
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