Random thoughts from some of Week Two’s games

The second week showed the continued dominance of some units, while weaknesses became more glaring than the hot August sun for others:

Joey Harrington is still struggling, Vikings’ Adrian Peterson has some insane moves, Chad Pennington has Kellen Clemons hot on his tail, Vince Young still needs some work, Brady Quinn can throw touchdowns against the Lions’ 3rd string defense, the Panthers’ offense was completely inept against Philly, and the Jags have some wild running backs.

And now for some more organized thoughts on some of this week’s games.

Browns employ new strategy for arranging depth chart

It was announced today, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer, that head coach Romeo Crennel will decide his starting quarterback for tonight’s preseason opener by - you ready? - a coin flip.

For a team that’s expected by most to finish near the bottom of the league record-wise, it might not be the most intelligent idea for Crennel to openly voice his plans of picking a starter via this technique. Crennel is very much on the hot seat in Cleveland this year, and with Brady Quinn already rubbing fans the wrong way, this current regime isn’t winning anyone over.

Cincinnati dealt a huge blow to their running back depth

The Miami Herald is reporting (via the Sports Network) that the injury Kenny Irons endured during last night’s preseason game is a left knee ACL tear after all.

For Irons, an ‘07 second round pick out of Auburn, this quickly shuts the door on his assumed backup position behind Rudi Johnson.  How he returns from the injury remains to be seen.

The Bengals, however, now have a bigger problem.  Besides Rudi, their healthy backs do not instill any confidence: Kenny Watson, Quincy Wilson, and Curtis Brown.  Fourth year first-rounder turned bust Chris Perry, as a reminder, is out on the PUP list and the team expects him to miss at least six games.

Part two of the series I accidentally forgot about

Yeah, oops. Don’t cry though, because now that I’ve remembered, I’m going to finish what I started.

Last time, as a reminder, we revealed our picks ranked between ten and six.

10. Vince Young
9. Donovan McNabb
8. Steven Jackson
7. Matt Hasselbeck
6. Frank Gore

The final five candidates have been consistent performers in the NFL, and will continue to be so until they hang up their cleats. These are the stars of this era, but folks like Gore, Jackson and Young could soon push for their own spots among the league’s best of the best.

So now we can stop bitching about how immature he is and focus on how much he sucks.

We’d write more but we’re saving our Quinn hate-juice for another day.

Actual Editorial Cleveland Browns

Cornerbacks? Who needs ‘em?

For the second time in two weeks, the Chicago Bears have traded away a reserve defensive back. Cornerback Dante Wesley, who had been the teams’ projected dime back, has been moved to the New England Patriots. For the Pats, it’s a clear sign that they’re bracing for the Asante Samuel holdout to last well into the season.  For the Bears, who knows what the hell they are doing.

Hide your left tackles!

The sweltering August heat isn’t being especially kind to NFL players today. A couple of high profile injuries occurred this morning, and while it’ll take all day and possibly tomorrow to find out the severity, lets get you caught up on what info is available today.

Knee Twisting

The Kansas City Chiefs had their prized free agent acquisition, Damion McIntosh, go down in the summer heat with what looks to be a serious injury to his right knee. The left tackle was brought over from Miami (mmm, Dolphin o-line table scraps) in hopes of securing the left side. Kyle Turley was a disaster last year at LT, and despite being brought back, KC would probably rather prefer not to go through that same scenario again.

Thank God for Skins-Ravens scrimmages replays

I was fortunate enough to catch a replay of Baltimore and Washington’s yearly preseason warmup last night, and for those of you that neither live in the mid-Atlantic nor have access to the NFLN, read on. And if you are on NFLN and/or live in the mid-Atlantic but still want to read what we have to say, then read on too.

Let’s first start by saying that the Baltimore Ravens have the look of a Super Bowl contender.

The Washington Redskins, uh, not so much.

 Around the league in less than two minutes…

– The Pittsburgh Steelers laid a whooping on the New Orleans Saints from start to finish in the first preseason game of 2007, with the big surprise coming from Mike Tomlin’s passing game absolutely torching the Big Easy secondary. Ben Roethlisberger was perfect on his ceremonious one drive, connecting two times to Cedrick Wilson for a total of 73 yards.

The other story of note? The Saints’ passing game was rusty, with Drew Brees finishing 1/6 for 6 yards & backup Jamie Martin rounding out the first half with a 3/8 and 26 yard outing. Painful to watch, frankly. But I’m sure the ship will right itself.

All the major AFC news of the day.  Yes, all of it.  Don’t argue with me.

Can I make a suggestion?  Click the links.  They take you to the story we are referring to.  You will learn things.

– The biggest news of the day would have to be Denver Broncos’ linebacker Warrick Holdman going down with what NFL Live reported as a spinal cord concussion. The injury shook the teams and fans, which eventually led to Mike Shanahan cutting the day short.

All injuries, all the time…

– Chester Taylor looked like he could be done for the year after being carted off the practice field in writhing pain, the result of a blow delivered as Taylor attempted to catch a pass that was strung out in front of him.  Childress, though, downplayed the injury, calling it a right arm “contusion.” This, of course, is during a time when Adrian Peterson obviously needed a better opportunity to win the starting job.

Back to business

It’s been a few days since our last post, and both of us here at NGPF are either going through a move, or getting ready for one, so it’s made it a bit of a challenge to maintain the site. We still have big plans for Next Gen Pro Football, so we ask for everybody’s patience.

Now that we have that over with, let’s talk about some football.

There are seven rookies left who as of today are still yet unsigned.

First round signing extravaganza

Normally we’d give each first rounder his own piece, but considering it’s late and it’s two players that, truthfully, I don’t know a whole lot about, we’re gonna give the NGPF nation a two-fer.

First up, John Clayton of ESPN is reporting that the third pick in the draft, offensive lineman Joe Thomas out of Wisconsin, has come to an agreement with the Cleveland Browns. The terms are said to be for essentially five years with a total payout of $42.5 million dollars and up to $23 million being guaranteed.

– Much maligned second round pick Alan Branch has signed, leaving the Arizona Cardinals with just one draft choice left unsigned (first-rounder Levi Brown).

– Unsurprisingly, Michael Vick’s welcome seems to be worn out in the ATL.

– In other Vick news, the court house he attended today turned into a full blown nightmare. Good thing Vick has the support of three morons from Boston.

– Jonathan Ogden is being placed on the PUP list due to a lingering toe injury, meaning he probably won’t be seeing much action until week one of the regular season.  He will then play all 16 games.  Duh.

On the lighter side of the NFL (for us, anyway), Pittsburgh native Brian Jackson (left, courtesy of Pittsburgh Post Gazette) has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years of probation for impersonating uber-reserve tight end Jerame Tuman.

Says the Gazette:

The woman told police that a mutual friend introduced her to the man who said he was Tuman, and the man then convinced her to loan him the money over the course of a couple months on early 2006. Jackson was arrested after the woman sent a letter to Tuman through the Steelers asking for the money back. Tuman turned the letter over to Steelers security.

– Tarik Glenn has officially called it quits, and with that, the Colts’ chance of repeating takes a major hit. Peyton Manning’s blindside will now be protected by rookie second rounder Tony Ugoh. Little Trouble for Big Country.

– Dolphin’s rookie quarterback John Beck(also known as Not-Brady Quinn) was impressive in camp sessions today, and Ted Ginn was at home without a contract.

– Arthur Blank was allegedly on the verge of suspending Michael Vick for four games this season.

Steelers’ Troy Polamalu becomes highest paid safety in the NFL

The long awaited Troy Polamalu contract extension finally came to fruition today, and the five year deal includes just over $15 million in guaranteed money. The Pittsburgh Steelers were intent on locking up their superstar defensive back for the long term, and with camp just days away, they’ve managed to keep Polamalu away from the ‘08 free agent market.

Taz is viewed by many as the NFL’s best safety, and while that may be debatable, he’s now going to be paid like the top player at his position. Ed Reed had previously been the league’s highest paid safety.

Browns “Staph” Up

LeCharles Bentley has been cleared by his doctor to return to the playing field today, a positive step in a somewhat tragic story.  We’ve neglected this story over the past couple of weeks because, well, we didn’t think that this would happen.

But it did.

And so now here we are, covering it.

Bentley has stated that he plans on being at the start of the Browns’ training camp this Thursday.  Hopefully he doesn’t injure himself on the first drill again (see: last year).

First round pick Lawrence Timmons signed to a five year deal

There hadn’t been much noise on the draft pick signing front this weekend, but that all ended earlier today when the Pittsburgh Steelers came to an agreement with their first round choice. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting the deal to be for five years and worth between $12 and $15 million, depending on what incentives are reached.

It’s alright, everybody’s doing it…

With the salary cap having gone through the roof and many agents around the league clamoring in the ears of their talented clients, next week could see an abundance of holdouts and salary demands.

Agents for Asante Samuel and Lance Briggs have both come out and threatened to have their clients sit out not only training camp, but most of the regular season as well. These messy events take place every offseason thanks to the franchise tag, a tool used by teams to keep their star players from flying the coop. Of course, there’s a new salary cap in town now, and with it, a slew of new problems, disagreements, and ultimately greed.