Lions to Draft Jason Smith at No. 1?
Amid comments from Detroit Lions president Tom Lewand indicating that the team will talk to multiple possible candidates for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft before making a final decision, the folks at KFFL are reporting, with Salisbury-esque certainty, that Baylor tackle Jason Smith will be the pick.
There’s no ambiguity in the one-sentence report: “KFFL has learned the Detroit Lions will take Baylor OT Jason Smith with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.”
If the Lions already have made that decision, and if Smith is the only person with whom they plan to negotiate, then the Lions deserve to go 0-16 for sixteen more years. Frankly, we don’t think that even the Lions are quite that stupid. Our guess is that someone at KFFL has at best caught wind of the fact that the Lions are negotiating with Smith’s agent.
But this hardly means that Smith is the pick.
Full Story: ProFootballTalk.com
QB Competition at Notre Dame?
Photo by Getty Images
While Jimmy Clausen “absolutely” remains the starter at quarterback, Charlie Weis hopes and expects sophomore Dayne Crist to push Clausen in what Weis termed a “pedal-to-the-metal” spring for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback position.
“I don’t think Dayne wants to sit there and wait until Jimmy graduates to say, OK, time for me to play,” Weis said. “Dayne is coming into spring to try and make it tough on Jimmy. That’s what he should be doing. He understands if he intends to beat (Clausen) out, he will have to play better than him. That would be a nice problem to have to deal with.”
Full Story: Chicago Tribune
Could Jay Cutler Land in Washington?
Photo from Reuters Pictures
That’s the hot rumor/assumption/falsehood of the day in the continuing saga of whether the Denver Broncos will grant quarterback Jay Cutler’s trade request.
Washington is allegedly trying to put together a three-team quarterback merry-go-round in which Cutler would end up in Washington, Matt Cassel in Denver and Jason Campbell in Kansas City.
The ‘Skins are denying they have any intention of dumping Campbell, which shows they were paying attention when the Broncos got themselves into this mess to begin with. New coach Josh McDaniels, formerly QB coach and offensive coordinator for the Patriots, actively tried to trade Cutler for Cassel last month, didn’t succeed, then lied about it.
Full Story: Philly.com
What’s In a Name?
Photo from Reuters Pictures
It has been suggested in the past that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has opted not to fire coach Wade Phillips and/or offensive coordinator Jason Garrett in part because Jones, like most rich people who own millions in stocks, took a bath last year when the market imploded.
As a result, Jones likely wasn’t interested in buying out their respective contracts in excess of $3 million per year, and then pay more millions per year to hire a new coach.
According to WFAA.com (via SportsBusiness Daily), a mega-dollar naming rights deal for the Cowboys’ new stadium is a pipe dream in the present economy. As a result, Jones is “scrambling for a name — and the extra revenue it would bring.”
Full Story: ProFootballTalk.com
Is Wade Phillips On His Way Out?
Photo from AP Photo
It was right there in front of Jerry Jones‘ eyes. And he missed it.
There is no more shining example of how the radical move of an in-season head coaching change can work than the one being offered by the St. Louis Rams. Dead in the water at 0-4, the Rams fired Scott Linehan during their bye week and promoted Jim Haslett.
Last week’s two-point win over Washington seemed a bit of a fluke, predicated as it was on gathering in three Redskins fumbles. There was nothing remotely lucky about the Rams’ thorough 34-14 destruction of the Cowboys at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday.
What has been gathering steam for a month reached something of a crescendo as the Cowboys played by far their worst game of the Wade Phillips era. And frankly, it should be the last game of the Phillips era, but Jones made it clear afterward that there will be no coaching changes made.
“It really isn’t about changes people-wise as much as it is changes within the people, within the coaches and players,” Jones said.
No, Jerry, it really is about changing the people. This team is 1-3 over the last four weeks, a win over winless Cincinnati the only highlight.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
Pacman Speechless After Suspension
Adam Jones, who got into a fight at The Joule with a team-issued bodyguard, was at his Prosper home when he was notified of the indefinite suspension. In a letter sent to the player, Goodell said the “alcohol-related physical altercation” was part of “a disturbing pattern of behavior and clearly inconsistent with the conditions I set for your continued participation in the NFL.”
The suspension will cost Adam Jones $41,176 a week.
“He was certainly disappointed,” said his Nashville-based agent, Warrick Robinson. “He was in a very somber mood about the commissioner’s decision. In a lot of ways, he was a lot more speechless than at any time I’ve ever seen him.”
Jerry Jones and Goodell met privately after a break at the NFL owners’ fall meetings in St. Petersburg, Fla., before the suspension was announced.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
Five Candidates for Clemson Job
Here are the five most likely candidates to replace Tommy Bowden at Clemson:
- Jim Grobe (Wake Forest) - If you cannot beat them, have them join you. Few coaches in the country can claim they do more with less.
- Bobby Johnson (Vanderbilt) - He’s a Clemson alum (1973) who has rebuilt the Commodores from the ashes. Would not be the splashy hire, but his academic track record fits president James Barker’s mold.
- Will Muschamp (Texas) - An intense, vocal figure — in other words, the anti-Bowden — who has generated top-notch, physical defenses at Auburn and now Texas. Figures to be the most sought-after assistant in the college ranks this offseason.
- Gary Patterson (Texas Christian) - Clemson AD Terry Don Phillips likes his southwestern guys, and Patterson has built a reputation as a consistent winner with a physical, hard-nosed style.
- Dabo Swinney (Clemson) - The current interim coach has more potential staying power than your average interim guy. Gained a ton of respect from administration as the football team liaison during last year’s rift with an academic review board.
Full Story: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Is This the Real Tony Romo?
Photo from Getty Images
His right hand packed in ice afterward, Tony Romo hid the famous dimples behind a mask. Nothing to smile about anyway, right? Not after you lose a sloppy overtime game to the Cardinals, 30-24, in front of a schizoid crowd of 64,389, half Cards, half Cowboys, polar opposites forced by wayward allegiances to sit side by side, cheek to cheek.
And if that scene wasn’t weird enough, you witnessed the Cowboys quarterback’s continued retreat into a shell.
The numbers say he completed 61 percent of his passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns. The body language? This is not the quarterback we thought we knew.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
