Brandon Jacobs and Michael Turner: Waiting on Bench May Have Been the Key

Brandon Jacobs and Michael Turner are known to us as great running backs. They will both be key parts of their teams this season.

 

Both the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons need their running games to be good this season if they want to be successful.

 

Another thing both Jacobs and Turner have in common is that nobody really thought they would be anything special before they proved themselves in the NFL, as both were drafted very late.

 

 

Michael Turner was drafted 154th by San Diego and was not expected to do much for them.

 

Who was the starting running back for the Chargers at the time? None other than the great LaDainian Tomlinson. I think that a big part of Turner’s success in the NFL is his backing up of Tomlinson.

 

How does a player drafted in the fifth round become the next Tiki Barber?

 

I think the short time getting mentored by Tomlinson helped Turner be who he is today.

 

If Turner would have been drafted by a different team, he may not have been the great running back he is today.

 

As I wrote in the start of the article, Jacobs was also drafted very late.

 

He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL draft as the 100th overall pick.

 

He spent his first year warming the bench and watching the great Barber play his last year as an NFL running back.

 

Maybe that is why Jacobs is so great today.

 

Watching one of the game’s best running backs play every week is what I think helped  Jacobs become the great running back he is today.

 

This brings up the question, is it really true that watching and learning from a good player can make you a great running back?

 

Well, you can’t do it without talent. If you run like a you have a piano on your back and you can’t see without your glasses, then you may not be the right man for the job.

 

But if you are in good enough shape to be a running back and you really put your mind to it, you may be able to live your dream.

 

Just look at Derrick Ward, who is now a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

 

Ward was drafted in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL draft by the New York Jets, but is now the starting running back for the Buccaneers.

 

Last year, as a backup for Jacobs, he rushed for over 1,000 yards. I think he will be great this year for Tampa Bay.

 

So what does that mean for NFL teams?

 

Keep your veterans around for your young players and they may learn a thing or two.

 

Kudos to Jacobs and Turner for learning from the best. Everyone can see the best, but not everyone can learn from them.

Should the Giants Go After Brandon Marshall?

As the season is on it way, the Giants may need to find another Wide Receiver to back up Eli Manning.

 

I have written in the past that Eli Manning and Brandon Jacobs are all the Giants need to win football games, but having a good Wide Receiver to back up your quarterback is always a good thing to have.

 

I do not take much stock in the Pre-Season games, but watching the Giants get killed by the Bears this week was hard to watch.

 

It was looking like Eli Manning did not have who to throw to, maybe the receivers were having a hard time getting open against the Bears defense.

 

It looked like Eli Manning was missing a guy like 6-5 guy like Plaxico Burress. And that is why they should go after another guy who is 6-5 in Brandon Marshall.

 

The Giants are a team that tries to stay away from hard guys to deal with, like when they traded Jeremy Shockey because he was bossing around Eli Manning.

 

But Brandon Marshall is not the same story, he may want money (which the Giants have plenty of), but he is not known to boss his quarterback around.

 

Also, Brandon Marshall should know he does not have the right to boss around Eli Manning who is not the team leader.

 

Another thing Eli Manning has over Brandon Marshall is a ring, Brandon Marshall can’t boss around Eli Manning who has a ring more then Brandon Marshall.

 

Brandon Marshall is a young man, and it would be nice to watch Eli Manning and Brandon Marshall connect for touchdowns for years to come.

 

The Denver Broncos say they are not going to trade Brandon Marshall, but they said the same thing about Jay Cutler who we all saw beat up the Giants this week.

 

So what will it take the Giants to get Brandon Marshall?

 

First to make him happy you would need to give him money, he is going to get two million this year in his current contract.

 

Losing Plaxico Burress gives the Giants $7 million off there payroll, they can spend some of that on Brandon Marshall.

 

On the other part there is the actual trade that the Giants will need to give something up to get Brandon Marshall other then money.

 

ESPN’s columnist Chris Mortensen seams to think it will take a first round pick and a third round pick. Is that a good deal? Well it may be if you consider he is still young and a very good player.

 

But when you look at the injure past and the off-field issues the man has had in the past it does not look like a great deal for the Giants.

 

Well, I think there are two reasons the Giants should try to get Brandon Marshall even with all the dirt that comes with him.

 

Getting Brandon Marshall would make the Giants the clear cut best team in the NFC by far.

 

Another reason is that first and third round draft picks do not always turn out to be that great, we know Brandon Marshall is a good player.

 

Also, if the Giants have a good season there first round pick will be a late round one like it was last year and the third round pick will not mean much to them come draft. And Brandon Marshall can help make that happen.

 

Don’t get me wrong, the Giants are a good team even without Brandon Marshall, but this man would make them a over the top team. And that is what a New York team is supposed to be.

 

The New York Giants have money, and the New York Giants fans deserves to root for a dominant team

 

Who Will End Up To Be the Best Manning?

Many of you may think I am nuts for even thinking about it, others already know I am nuts.

But I would love to ask the question, who will end up to be the best Manning?

It’s easier to look at the ones who are done, so let’s take a look.

 

I think we can all agree that father Archie Manning is not really in the race. He was Ok. But he never won a Super Bowl and his QB rating is in the 60s.

Some may look at it as he has two great NFL QB sons that each won a Super Bowl, so he is the biggest winner.

Older brother Cooper Manning never actually played in the NFL, I think that takes him out of the race.

Now it comes down to the two that are still in the race, Eli and Peyton.

 

There are two things they have in common.

1. Both drafted in first pick of first round.

2. Both won Super Bowls

That makes them both great QB’s, not many NFL players can say they won a Super Bowl.

 

To look in to the Eli vs Peyton battle, I think it would be smart to look at where older brother Peyton was when he was Eli’s age.

Let’s go look at Peyton five years ago at age 28 vs Eli today.

Eli has won a Super Bowl, Peyton had not

That is a very big thing in football and winning the Super Bowl MVP award.

Taking your team to the Super Bowl at age 26 is not something we should underrate.

 

On the other side of the NFL, Peyton won his second MVP award at age 28, the Colts made the playoffs both times but did not go far in to them.

And Peyton would throw for at least 4000 yards for season before the age of 28; Eli has not done it even once.

I would give the edge to Peyton Manning. I think Eli is going to win at least one more Super Bowl, while I do not know about Peyton.

But I do not think Eli is going to win three MVP awards and throw for at least 4000 yards for nine seasons like Peyton—maybe six or seven but not as much as his older brother.

And let’s not forget that a career QB rating of 97.7 is hard to beat.

I love Eli, and this article is not to take anything away from him.

It’s just the opposite; he is in the race with one of the games best: Peyton Manning.

The one thing we can all agree on is that the Manning family is amazing.

Two star QB’s for two great teams.

The race is close, and I would love to know what you think.

Goodell vs Selig. Who’s Better?

Before we go deep into this article, I think both baseball and football are great sports. Considering the attendance and television ratings of each, I know I am not alone.

But, as we know, we all have to improve. Sports are no different.

Baseball is a great sport, but there is one very big thing that bothers me about the way the sport is managed: the way the commissioner handles the problems concerning the athletes.

You can never really know what a man would do in a different spot than he is in now, but I think that Roger Goodell would have handled the “Steroid Era” better than Bud Selig did.

Just look at the way he handled the Michael Vick situation.

Even after Vick spent two years in prison, Goodell suspended the former Falcons quarterback for four games.

Roger Goodell has shown that the game should be played right and by good people, doling out punishment for those who violate player conduct policies, no matter if it’s Adam “Pacman” Jones, Tank Johnson, Donte Stallworth, or Vick.

In stark contrast, Selig has not done much to punish the steroid abusers who tainted an entire era of baseball.

Why did Selig not suspend players like Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa after everyone knew what they did?

I will give him credit for suspending Manny Ramirez for 50 games after he tested positive for the female fertility drug hCG, but that is all he did.

NFL players are afraid to cross Goodell and break his policies; no one in baseball really fears Selig.

And it is a shame.

While Selig knows a great deal about his sport and is considered a great baseball man, being a commissioner is not only about loving the game; you must protect it, too.

That is where Goodell excels and Selig comes up short.

Who Will Win the AFC East?

The AFC East has seen much change in its teams’ rosters. With big names like Terrell Owens, Tom Brady, and Mark Sanchez being added this year to the AFC East.

Here is why I do not think the Dolphins are going to win the AFC East.

They won the division by only one game, other teams have gotten better as the Dolphins are the same team they were last year.

And I think Chad Pennington’s year last year was a fluke, no offense to him. I just do not think he is that good.

They will give the rest of the NFL a good fight, but I just don’t think they are so good.

The Bills have gotten much better this year, with the new Wide Receiver in Terrell Owns and a good running back in Marshawn Lynch the Bills have given Trent Edwards more time and room to play his game.

And with two very good wide receivers as TO joins Lee Evans, there will be a lot of options for the Bills offense.

The thing that will hold back the Bills is the defense.

Last year they allowed 342 points to there opponents. This year in the draft they picked up DE Aaron Maybin to help on that side.

I think this team will be better then the Jets and Dolphins, they have better Wide Receivers then both the Dolphins and the Jets.

It looks like the only thing the Jets have better then the Bills is a good running back and defense.

I do not see the Jets being better then the Bills since the offense does not have enough to go all the way.

So the only AFC East team that has not been written about in this article are the Pats. 

The Pats look like the easy pick. With Tom Brady back this team should be one of the best in the NFL.

But can we know if Tom Brady is really back?

And is he still the real Tom Brady?

I know some of you think I am crazy for even thinking that the man is not back to his old self that won 18 games two seasons ago.

But some times players with injures don’t come back as good as they left.

Just look at Tom Brady last year, he came back and was good until the first game of the season before he went down do to a injure that came back from the Super Bowl.

So the pick is harder then it looks.

But my pick is still the Pats.

Don’t get me wrong, I would not trade any good players for him in my fantasy team. But the risk is small and he is looking ok.

I think most of the race will be between the Bills and the Pats.

I do not see the Jets and Dolphins having very good seasons.

It’s hard for me to say since I root for both teams, but I write it as I see it.

So my AFC prediction is:

AFC East

Pats—With Tom Brady back, the team will be amazing and is one of the best in the NFL.

Bills—With TO on the team they have two very good WR and a good RB to give their QB more options on the field.

Jets—Sanchez has not proven himself yet, and with out any good WR on their team even if Sanchaz is good he can’t do it alone.

Dolphins—Does anyone really think Chad Pennington will be as good this year as he was last year? I think the answer is no. They have a good RB but they are not so strong on on WR’s and the QB is not to good.

Please tell me if you think I am right, I would love to get comments on this article

Can Brandon Jacobs and Eli Manning win it for the Giants?

The Giants are looking great on defense.

 

They have one of the best defensive teams in the NFL.

 

But the offense is not great.

 

You have a great running back and a good quarterback, but that is it.

 

All the rest of these guys are not more then Ok players.

 

So can Eli Manning and Brandon Jacobs make it work?

 

I think they can.

 

These guys are very good players, and good players make the players around them better.

 

Eli Manning can use both the passing and running game successfully, not many teams can say there quarterback can do that.

 

Jacobs makes that possible. With his great speed and the success he has in beating the defense he gives Eli more tools to work with on the offense.

 

And lets not forget, they may look like they are alone on the football field but they are not.

 

Rookie Hakeem Nicks can help this team on offense, he has great potential. And with good coaching he may end up to be the Giants top wide receiver.

 

And another good receiver is Sinorice Moss who is only 25 years old.

 

Eli Manning is only 28 years old and getting better and Brandon Jacobs is only 27 years old.

 

So these guys are still getting better.

 

And the Giants do not need to score over 21 points to win every game. All they need to do is score more then the defense gives up, and with the Giants defense that will not be to much to ask.

 

So get ready for are Giants, they will go a long way.

Should the NFL Expand to England?

Every year, the NFL has games in England, and they seam to be very successful. It looks like many fans in England are interested in the NFL, just look at the way they show up to the NFL games there.

From here comes the question, should the NFL expand to England?

 

There are a few reasons why some people will say NO to this idea, here are a five of them.

1. You cant ask players to fly back and forth to England every week, it is not fair to the players.

2. It will never catch up there, why take the risk?

3. Now is not the time to try new things with the economy’s fall.

4. There will be schedule problems due to not having an even number of teams.

5. The NFL is perfect, we do not need change.

 

I do not think that these are good reasons to let go of this idea when there are so many positives to doing this.

But before we go to why, let’s look for answers to the why not’s.

About the poor players flying back and forth between the US and England I think that it is not asking to much.

It’s not every day that they will be flying, just twice a week. It’s not baseball, you only have one game each week.

These players make a lot of money. It is not that bad to fly twice a week if you are making millions of dollars. We are not asking them to catch a Tiger.

About the risk of it not catching up in England, I do not agree. I think that this game has the potential to be big in England.

England has great people and great Soccer fans, why cant they be great Football fans? I know this sounds like kissing up to England, but we need to give their fans the respect they deserve.

And it is not that far away, its only about 2000 miles.

 

 

And what about the economy?

Is this a bad idea in this time?

I do not think so, it looks like things are slowly getting better with the economy. So the NFL does not need to expand to England right now. They can wait three four years before even announcing it.

What about the uneven number of teams? Well, the answer is easy.

You guys will say I am crazy, but why not add two team to England?

One in London, where the Population is 7,172,091 and one in Birmingham or Liverpool. As long as it is in the Metropolitan district where the Population is 2,284,093. (correct me if I am wrong, I am reading this in Wikipedia)

And with the people that say the NFL is perfect and that making change is a waste of time, I do not agree.

Yes, the NFL is great. The NFL is the most successful sport in the USA, but it can always get better.

Having a team in England means more fans, more games, more love of the game and at the end more fun. And that is why the NFL should do this, it has so much up-side.

Think about it, you can plan a summer vacation to England and match it up with when your teams is going to play there.

It would be amazing, let’s get this message to Roger Goodell.

Football to England!

Giants-Eagles: Get Ready for a Four-Team Race

Giants and Eagles fans, you think you are all alone? You guys think that the rest of the NFC East is no good? Well, I think you are wrong.

Yes, the Giants and Eagles are two very elite teams in the NFL. Then get ready for a four-team race. We know the Giants amazing defence with Osi coming back, and the Eagles amazing offence. And lets not forget two amazing QB’s.

So yes, the Giants and Eagles are great. But I dont think they are alone. I think the Cowboys and Redskins are good teams too, let’s take a look at them.

 

Cowboys

We all know that this team is great, but they keep on blowing it (it’s like the Mets). Last year at the start of the season all of the NFL writers picked them to win the Super Bowl even former Giant Michael Strahan picked them to win the Super Bowl, but they did not even make the playoffs.

So what went wrong? I think it was the chemistry. I know I am not a Cowboys fan, but from the outside it looked like there were three teams in there: TO, Tony Romo, and the Cowboys. There is no way you are going to win when not all the guys are on the same page.

That is one thing will really kill a team, when they don’t play as one (yes, I know it sounds cheese but I really think it is true).

I think that letting go of TO will help them; he was controlling Tony Romo. Tony Romo needs to be thew team leader if the Cowboys want to go far. And I think that now that TO is gone, Romo will be the leader.

 

Redskins

The Redskins were in it until the last few weeks, going 1-4 in there last five really did not help them. But they did finish .500.

And in the draft this year at pick 13 they picked DE Brian Orakpo from Texas. I think he will really help them out. 

I do not think the Redskins are better then the Cowboys, I do think they will finish last in the division. Maybe even under .500. But I do think that they are a hard team to beat that will give lots of teams a very hard time.

So Giants and Eagles fans, you are not alone. Respect the other teams in the NFC East. I know that it is hard to do that after the Cowboys fell on their face last year even thou the rest of the NFL thought that they were number 1. But this year they will be good, and the Redskins are not far behind.

It will be a great season in the NFC East, cant wait!

Giants Fans, We Can Win It This Year!

Giants fans, stop thinking the worst of the Giants. Lots of fans are saying that the team can’t go all the way, they have lots of reasons to what they are saying and here are three of them.

1. They don’t have Plax, they cant win without him.

2. The Giants did not get any good wide receiver yet like Boldin; without a guy like that, Manning is not worth much.

3. The Eagles are too good, and they are just getting better. We did not beat them last year, so we will not win this year.

I think all of these reasons to think the Giants can’t go all the way are wrong. The Giants are a good team, I think that the Giants will be the best team in the NFC.

The Cardinals QB is getting old, McNabb is shaky. Pittsburgh is good but not as good as the Giants, and the Saints and Panthers are a level under.

The Giants don’t need Plax any more, they got the great Hakeem Nicks in the draft. He may not be Plax, but I think that he and Dominik Hixon are all Manning needs out of the wide receivers, because he has the great running back in Brandon Jacobs.

And it is not too late for them to go after Braylon Edwards or Boldin.

I think the the Eagles will be great, but not as good as the Giants. Their QB is just not as good as Eli Manning. Don’t get me wrong; McNabb is a great player, I just think Eli Manning is on his way to being a elite QB.

McNabb is on his way out of his prime years, Manning is on his way in. And even if the Eagles are better than the Giants, they can both make the playoffs. And the best team  does not always win the Super Bowl.

Last year, Pittsburgh was not the best team in the NFL, it was the Titans. And if not the Titans, then the Giants or Eagles.

In 2007-2008, the Giants were not the best team in the NFL or the NFC, but they beat the best team in the NFL to win the Super Bowl.

And dont forget we have the No. 1 defence in the world, and defence wins championships. That is how we won the Super Bowl in 2007-2008.

So Giants fans, don’t worry be happy! We can go all the way again! Yes, it would be nice if the Giants would pick up Edwards or Boldin.

But if the Giants don’t get anyone this offseason they can still make the playoffs and go far. adding Chris Canty and Clint Sintum will really help, and having Osi Umenyiora back is cool.

I know it will take lots of work from the players, and they will need to stay healthy to win next season. But I think they can do it, and impress New York once again.

Go Giants!

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