More NFL free agency

Back with another blog post, as a couple of big pro football signings have happened plus I will make a correction on something.

First thing's first, the correction. I said last night the Texans still have Garrett Graham; I guess that may end up being true, but I would like to point out he is an unrestricted free agent. So, with them cutting Owen Daniels, and Garrett Graham being a free agent, the Texans depth chart has thinned out at that position considerably. Ryan Griffin is probably the leader of that group at this point.

As far as other pro football news, the big free agent signing since I last posted is Aqib Talib becoming a Denver Bronco. Obviously, the Patriots still have Brady and Belichick but that is a crushing blow. And it's a crushing blow to the Patriots because they not only lost a key player to the team they are competing with to get to the Super Bowl for the second straight year. No, this was crucial also because Talib, much like Ware was in Dallas, was a leader for that defensive unit.

The other big signing since I last posted is Jairus Byrd going from Buffalo to New Orleans. What strikes me about this one is that the Saints really, really needed that free agent signing and not just because the NFL is q quarterback/passing driven league now. No, more than that to me it's that the Saints have been losing key players, especially on defense. Will Smith, Jabari Greer, Roman Harper, Malcolm Jenkins...all gone and that doesn't include Lance Moore and Darren Sproles on offense.

They seem to be looking for a younger, faster group and Byrd is only 27. Now the one thing I will say; he's only 5'10 which will make it interesting when he goes up against some of the bigger wide receivers in that division like Julio Jones, for example who is 6'3. Granted, it's not like it will be the first time he's giving up a height advantage, but still to me it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Until next time....

Erich

Nebrasketball, NFL free agency, The Saban Rule and other Husker notes

It’s a great time for Husker athletics, and it’s the start of NFL free agency, so I think with that going on plus the Super Bowl having been contested a while ago, I think it’s time for a blog post. For the Huskers fans who are reading this, I’ll get to Nebrasketball in a minute. That said, I’m a football guy, so I have to start with NFL free agency plus talk about “The Saban Rule.”

Quick thought on the Super Bowl rout; let’s be real, the best team won it all. I remember on this blog saying it would be 34-20 Seattle, that the defense and running game would take over but I never dreamed they would shut down Peyton Manning’s offense like they did. I remember one thing Boomer Esiason said on the Westwood One broadcast that really stuck out; the speed of the Seattle defense was what really gave Denver’s offense issues. Denver’s offense is used to utilizing their speed offensively but they couldn’t do that against Seattle because Seattle could run with them.

Also, Seattle did a great job of playing physical. The one play that stuck out; early in the game, Denver’s second offensive possession (I think it was the one after the safety on the botched snap), they did a typical Denver play by running about a five yard slant to Demaryius Thomas I think it was. He got blasted right as he came across the middle. The second I saw that play I knew Denver was in for a long evening.

One final thought about the Super Bowl; the NFC West is the new NFC East. Does anyone remember in the early 90s when the NFC East won four straight Super Bowls and five of six? The NFC West is the new version of it. You had a Super Bowl champ in Seattle, a team in San Francisco that would have won it all had they won the NFC title game (my opinion but I think they would have), and even Arizona finished 10-6 but missed the playoffs. Even St. Louis gave a lot of teams issues.

Free agency in the NFL started today and the big news obviously around here in Texas is that the Cowboys cut DeMarcus Ware. Look, I get that it saves them money against the salary cap (I think I heard tonight that it saves them about seven million) but in this case, I really think you have to pay the man his money. He’s only the all-time sack leader in franchise history. He has been the linchpin of that defense for quite some time and they are going to miss him greatly. I admit, I’m a defensive guy. I think defense wins championships. You do not cut the leader of your defense even if he saves you money against the cap.

Here in town, the Texans released Owen Daniels and Brice McCain. I’m really not surprised about the Daniels release; the Texans also have Garrett Graham who is pretty solid and it saves them some money against the cap as well. For those reading this blog who aren't Texans fans and wondering when Matt Schaub will be cut (and in my opinion he almost certainly will be), the Texans save money against the cap if they cut him after June 1 so I expect him to be released this summer.

Quick thought on the Saban Rule (as Steve Spurrier called it). For those who don't follow college ball, it was a rule proposal advocated by Nick Saban and Bret Bielema that was tabled which would have kept notable hurry up no huddle offenses such as Auburn, Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and others from snapping the ball within the first 10 seconds of college football's 40 second play clock. I'm not real sure anyone is fooled by Saban's backing of this rule; in my view was almost predictable considering what happened to Bama against Auburn and Oklahoma's hurry up offenses. And Saban has been complaining about hurry up no huddle offenses since 2012. 

His attempts at backing this rule were rather hilarious also. To wit, when confronted with there being no direct evidence that hurry up offenses are more dangerous for the sport (Saban was talking about player safety a lot with this proposal, he says that, "I guess you have to use some logic...If you smoke one cigarette, do you have the same chance of getting cancer if you smoke 20? I guess there’s no study that specifically says that."

Really, Nick? His ridiculous attempt of trying to compare no huddle offenses to smoking cigarettes was laughable. Thank goodness this rule got tabled; there needs to be a serious discussion about this rule before it even has a chance to be enacted. I personally think coaches should run whatever kind of offenses they want to run.

Now, as far as this winter in Nebraska athletics, it’s been a hell of a ride. It’s March 11, spring football is underway and I’m friends with many Husker fans on Facebook…and most of us are talking NCAA tournament instead of spring football. It really is remarkable. Connie Yori’s women’s hoops program has been a consistent winner over the last several years and just won the Big 10 women’s conference tournament for the first time ever; their success is not surprising.

But what Tim Miles has done in Lincoln has been nothing short of remarkable and shocking all at once. It really is a Cinderella, fairy tale season because at one point the team was 0-4 and then 3-6 in conference play and we all thought we’d have to wait another year to contend.

But they started playing better, gathered some momentum and now here they are at 11-7 and on the verge of an unlikely journey to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998. The new arena the team has in the Haymarket district of Lincoln has helped and the crowd definitely helped them win the game against Wisconsin Sunday, but I knew Miles would make them a contender eventually having watched the team last year. With him at the helm they are just a fundamentally sound team. I just didn't think it would happen so fast, especially when they started 0-4 in conference play.

The future is very bright for Tim Miles’ team as all three of Terran Petteway, Shavon Shields and Walter Pitchford are just sophomores and the team has a defense that can frustrate anybody. I want to see how they do in Indianapolis but I think this team can make some noise in the Big Dance. I feel especially wonderful for all those people who went to the old Devaney Sports Center and saw some miserable basketball over the past 15-some odd years and now are getting the chance to see this remarkable run.

Couple of other Husker notes before I end this blog post; I like what Darin Erstad’s baseball program has this year. They struggled a bit out of the gate as Kyle Kubat, considered the ace of the pitching staff, was dealing with injury but they still beat Oregon State in a preseason tournament down in Arizona when the Beavers were No. 1 in the country and the team is starting to hit its stride a bit with UC-Irvine coming to town.

Also, I find it curious that Bo Pelini’s squad has Jamal Turner taking snaps…at QUARTERBACK…in spring football. This is a three year wide receiver that is now making a transition to quarterback. I question this; why would they make the switch so late in Jamal Turner’s career?

I'll get to the Rockets in a future blog post although they have been playing very well until tonight also. Until next time....

Erich