Pro Pigskin Thoughts: The Football Roundtable is back. With the hottest names in free-agency off the board, our attention turns to the NFL draft, and beyond as we pose several football related questions to our panel of life-long NFL fans for their candid opinions. We invite anyone to participate by answering the same questions in the “Comments” section at the bottom of this article. In this edition, our panel consists of our LWOS football experts Al Preziosi (@alprez96), Jason Deans (@Deansontoast_), Nick DiGiovanni (@LWOSNick), Robert Mitchell (@Costofwinning) and myself, Ben Kerr (@LastwordBKerr)
NFL Best Off-Season
1) Now that the major part of the Off-season is over with all the big name moves of free-agency done and the draft in the books, what team has improved the most this spring, and why?
Al Preziosi: Some teams signed many quality free agents while others drafted wisely, but the New York Giants did both. On offense, they added wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Mario Manningham, who will join Victor Cruz, Reuben Randle, and Jerrel Jernigan. Eli Manning should have plenty of targets to throw to, unlike last year. They also bolstered their pitiful offensive line, adding center Weston Richburg, guard Geoff Schwartz, center JD Walton, and guard John Jerry. Richburg and Schwartz will likely become immediate starters, while Walton and Jerry will provide depth, something the team had little of last season. They also restructured the contract of starting guard Chris Snee for much cheaper, who was injured last season. While the Giants formed a formidable offensive line, they also greatly increased their running game, which was miserable last season and forced Eli to throw the ball too frequently. The additions of Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams should allow Tom Coughlin to return to a run-heavy offensive game and take the pressure off of Eli. On defense, the Giants will welcome the return of their best defensive player, Jason Pierre-Paul. They also added defensive end Robert Ayers, defensive tackle Jay Bromley, and defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles. At linebacker, the Giants re-signed middle linebacker Jon Beason, signed linebacker Jameel McClain, and drafted linebacker Devon Kennard. They also formed one of the best secondaries in the league, as they notably signed cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and cornerback Walter Thurmond. They will welcome safety Stevie Brown back from injury and start him next to Antrel Rolle. The Giants added many quality players, bolstering basically every position.
Robert Mitchell: The Miami Dolphins have improved a lot this offseason. Ryan Tannehill was sacked 58 times in 2013 and key free agents Brandon Albert and Shelley Smith, in addition to Ja’Wuan James their first round pick, should go a long way to reducing that number in 2014. The addition of running back Knowshon Moreno should also provide an upgrade on the misfiring duo of Lamar Miller and Daniel Thomas.
Ben Kerr: The Denver Broncos really upgraded their team and spent a lot of money to do it. They are all-in with Peyton Manning not getting any younger. Aqib Talib, DeMarcus Ware, TJ Ward are all upgrades on their defence, while I think that Emmanuel Sanders fills the hole that Erik Decker leaves, and Montee Ball was ready to take over as the number one running back, so the loss or Moreno doesn’t really hurt. They also had a solid draft, and should be back in the AFC Championship game again. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.
Jason Deans: Give me the Bucs for most improved, but its conditional as their coaches and system are very old with Lovie Smith and Leslie Frazer there now, they must show they can adapt to the offenses we are seeing now which are so different than even two or three years ago. They also made a number of good free agent acquisitions.
NFL Worst Off-Season
2) What team has regressed the most and why?
Al: The Carolina Panthers regressed terribly during the offseason. They lost key pieces along the offensive line and wide receiver, including left tackle Jordan Gross and wide receiver Steve Smith. They don’t know who will play left tackle and while they drafted wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, his production alone can’t nearly match the production of Steve Smith, Brandon LaFell, and Ted Ginn Jr., and Domenik Hixon. To top it off, quarterback Cam Newton had ankle surgery, Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy was arrested, and defensive end Frank Alexander was suspended for four games. The Panthers severely hurt their chances of repeating as NFC South champions.
Robert: The Kansas City Chiefs, have regressed the most in my opinion. With Key offensive lineman being lost in free agency, tackle Branden Albert and offensive guards Geoff Schwartz and Jon Asamoah, I think they will struggle. Jamal Charles is by far the Chiefs most potent offensive weapon and a big reason for the chief’s success last year but if they can’t block for him effectively he will struggle to put up the numbers he did a year ago and the Chiefs offense will struggle with him.
Ben: I really don’t like what the Jets have done this off-season. Decker was a good add, but they needed a lot more weapons for their offense. The loss of Antonio Cromartie in the secondary, just one year after losing Darrelle Revis will not be easy to paper over. The biggest problem I have with the Jets is that they aren’t adding vets like Michael Vick, and trying to re-build at the same time. I don’t know if they are coming or going and John Idzik’s strategy is puzzling. Either rebuild with Geno Smith, and dump high paid vets like Cromartie and Revis, or sign a QB like vet and keep a strong defense together and go for it. Trying to do both column A and column B is the recipe for 7-9 and 8-8 style seasons and NFL irrelevancy.
Jason Deans: The least improved category is tough. Give me the Dallas Cowboys though, who lost some big players, especially on defense as salary cap casualties. I also felt that they didn’t draft well in terms of filling all the holes on the team. Lastly add an injury to their best defensive player in Sean Lee, and you have a recipe for disaster.
OTA/Mini-Camp Injuries
3) We have seen some serious injuries in OTAs, Mini-Camps, Etc… What can teams do to avoid things that have happened to Sean Lee (SIA), Jon Beason (SIA), and Sean Weatherspoon (SIA)?
Al: Teams can do nothing to prevent injuries. Football is a physically demanding sport, and players will naturally get injured. Every sport experiences injuries, especially football.
Jason: I am always hugely surprised at the amount of acl/mcl and achilles tears that happen in the NFL during mini-camps and early in training camp. I have a funny feeling that there is something inherently wrong with the way training is done versus the period of time the players have off. In comparison to other sports and other contact sports it seems to be a lot more common (note I could be hugely wrong) I think they may need to look to other sports and conditioning to solve some of theses problems.
Robert Mitchell: The fact is Football is a contact sport and much like other contact sports like Rugby you will never eliminate injuries. You can limit them by limiting the amount of contact the players do but you then start to run the risk of players getting injured once the season starts due to not being in the right condition.
Substance Abuse Suspensions
4) Is it time for the NFL to re-evaluate the use of marijuana under the substance abuse policy, considering all the suspensions this off-season?
Al: I’m not a huge supporter of the legalization of marijuana, but the NFL must be realistic. Eventually, marijuana will become legal nationwide and even more people will smoke it. A player missing significant portions of the season due to marijuana smoking is outrageous. Even a talented player like Will Hill lost his starting job on the Giants because he smoked marijuana. One of the best wide receivers in the NFL, Josh Gordon, will likely miss significant time because he smoked marijuana. These kind of suspensions are unacceptable.
Jason: If marijuana becomes legal in the country then the NFL will have to follow, it is not a performance enhancing substance, more of a pain killer so in that regard you can not say that it gives a player an unfair advantage which is the main reason for banned substances. Most players have painkilling injections so, the NFL can follow the example of other sports that exist in countries that have legalized marijuana.
Nick Digiovanni: Yes of course, considering that some states are starting to legalize marijuana, the NFL should do the same. However, go with the States’ laws. So if a Seahawks player is caught, there should be no problem because weed is legal in Washington. But if a Jets or Giants player is caught, because in the State of New York its illegal, they should be punished.
Robert: No Marijuana’s legal status is irrelevant in this conversation. Other substances on the banned substances list are actually legal if prescribed by a Doctor for legitimate medical reasons, as opposed to being used as performance enhancers. Players have to accept it as a fact of their professional life that smoking marijuana is not an option for them, much like getting drunk every Saturday night and eating a greasy kebab. They are paid to be an athlete and as such need to follow the rules set out. If they want to spend their time getting high with their friends the change in law make it their prerogative but they need to find a different profession.
Ben: Nick’s proposition sounds good in theory, but tough to implement. If a player is caught in possession of the drugs then great we know who to suspend and who not to. But what about the Giants player who smokes weed on a Friday Night in Seattle before a Sunday game and gets caught with it in his system in New York on a Monday? Yes he failed an NFL drug-test but did nothing illegal. It would be a nightmare to implement. You either have to get rid of testing for it and say you will only be suspended if the police arrest you for possession, or you have to keep it on the banned list. There is no way of doing it where the team you play for makes a difference.
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