Gridiron Seasonal

The year is 1928.

• Charles Lindbergh was presented with the Medal of Honor for his first transatlantic flight.
• Joseph Stalin announces the first ‘five-year plan’ resulting in the average non-farm  wage (for soviets) dropping by about half.
• Fats Domino, Ariel Sharon, Jim Lovell, Ennio Morricone, Bo Diddley, Adam West, Eddie Fisher and several other celebrities were born.)
• British inventor John Logie Baird demonstrates the world’s first colour television transmission.(All copied and pasted directly from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1928)

Who is the best team in American Professional Football in 1928? Why the Providence Steam Roller of course, finishing with an 8-1-2 record, only losing to the Frankford Yellow Jackets.

Established by writers for the Providence Journal, the Steam Roller were an independent team until the ’30s when they became part of the National Football league.

Although the logo may look like the prince of darkness, the Steam Roller mascot was a husky.

The Steam Roller finished the season 8-1-2, whose first three games came against the New York Yankees, the Frankford Yellow Jackets, and the Dayton Triangles.

After 1928, the Steam Roller was never the same. Key players departed for pursuits in wrestling, insurance, and coaching football.

Wikipedia claims the lack of interest coupled with the debilitating effects of the great depression caused the owners of the team to turn it over to the NFL.

The Providence Huskies,  a ‘successor’ to the Steam Roller (after it’s demise) went undefeated in 1933 and is the only pro football team to ever not allow a single point scored by an opponent during an entire season.

The 1928 Steam Roller perfectly embodied what makes New England special. Enduring challenging circumstances (the great depression), winning (they finished the season as the top team in the country), and beating the Yankees (the Steam Roller played the New York Yankees twice in ’28 and won both times).

Your music video for this post is Pearl Jam’s Sirens . The music video is just them performing the song. Which is one of the reasons I respect Pearl Jam so much. They don’t do pretentious horse-shiz, they just play rock music.

The Cardinals have an explosive offense mostly known for their passing offense: QB Carson Palmer, WR’s Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, and small-school burner John Brown.  What football fans outside of Arizona are beginning to see is their rushing attack come to life. The Cardinals were the 8th-ranked running attack in 2015 with new free agent hires OG Mike Iupati, LT Jared Veldheer, and RB Chris Johnson chipping in. All those guys are still there, and so is OG Evan Mathis, the former Bronco and Eagle who ranked as the third ranked guard in football last year, as well as the number one run-blocking guard (according to profootballfocus.com.)

The Cardinals bevy of running backs (David Johnson, Andre Ellington, Chris Johnson) will give Arizona plenty of opportunity to run all over defenses. January’s contests between Arizona and Seattle and Arizona and Carolina might look very different had Arians’ offense been able to get more of a push at the line of scrimmage. The addition of the best run-blocking guard in football should change that. In their playoff game against eventual NFC champs Carolina, the Cardinals top-10 rushing attack was limited to 60 yards rushing, forcing Carson Palmer to turn to the passing game and eventually throw four interceptions.

Arizona faces Carolina again this coming October 30th, where the Panthers will no longer have literally the easiest schedule in football and l̶o̶u̶d̶m̶o̶u̶t̶h̶ talented cornerback Josh Norman to help them build momentum.

The Cardinals were a very strong roster before this offseason. They should compete again among the NFC heavyweights, among which I expect Green Bay and New York will resurface.

The addition of Mathis also means drafting David Johnson in fantasy is now a viable option. He was a viable option in fantasy last year as well, when he collected over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and 12 total touchdowns (8 rushing, 4 receiving).

The music video for the day is Andra Day’s Rise Up. It may not make you feel manly, but the video was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, the man behind Sixth Sense and the confusing but hilarious(ly bad) The Happening.

These are the guys on the Jets roster listed at the QB position:

• Geno Smith,
• Bryce Petty,
• Christian Hackenberg.

Geno Smith has played 31 games of NFL football. He played so well the Jets brought in journeyman QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to replace the former 2nd round pick. Fitzpatrick is a free agent and doesn’t want to play for New York at the 8 million he was offered.

Bryce Petty is a 2nd year player and has zero games of NFL experience.

Christian Hackenberg is a rookie who completed 53.5% (that’s bad) of his passes in 2015 for Penn State. NFL pundits predicted Houston could draft Hackenberg because O’Brien worked with the passer at Penn State. The Jets drafted him because Mike Maccagnan had downed enough whisky by pick 19 (round 2) that doing so seemed like a good idea (probably).

The Colts had (entering the NFL draft) a pressing need for a running back. The team hasn’t had a 1,000 yard runner since 2007. So GM Ryan Grigson responded by not drafting a running back at all. To be fair to the Colts, they did invest heavily in offensive linemen, blocking being a major issue for the team in 2015. Instead they’re relying on 32 year old Frank  Gore and former Marshawn Lynch backup Robert Turbin to accept fake hand-offs from Andrew Luck.

The Colts made the playoffs in the past without a strong run game, but the AFC South is more competitive now. They’ll face stiff competition with a vastly improved Houston and Jacksonville clubs.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted a kicker in the second round. In the 2000 NFL Draft, NFL legend Al Davis drafted kicker Sebastian Janikowski in the first round. That’s something Al Davis can get away with because of his reputation. Aguayo will need to have a career like Janikowski for this pick not to look silly in years to come.

Special teams is a big part of the game, the Buccaneers could have gotten a replacement kicker later in the draft. The Bucs could really use an upgrade at the safety position, Ohio State standout safety Vonn Bell was available at pick 59 when Tampa picked Aguayo.

The San Francisco 49ers traded back up into the first round to draft….a guard. *Cue the Keegan-Michael Key voice* “Why? But I ask again. Why?” Josh Garnett is one of the top rated linemen in the draft. Trading up into round 1 would make sense to get QB Paxton Lynch, or even a game-changing wide receiver like Laquon Treadwell. The move implies Kelly wants to emphasize defense and the run game, a recipe the 49ers relied upon heavily prior to 2014.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, Radiohead’s new single: “Burn the Witch” was just released. It’s wicked. The music video is a stop-motion, claymation 3 and a half minute remake of The Wicker Man. You can find it on youtube.

Remember to call your mom this Sunday and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day.

If you don’t know who Paul DePodesta is, he’s the guy played by Jonah Hill in Moneyball. After his work with the San Diego Padres, DePodesta was eventually recruited by the Cleveland Browns to be their “Chief Strategy Officer.” I’ve personally never heard of a coach or front office person switching sports before. Which attests to Cleveland’s faith in DePodesta’s abilities. (Or my complete lack of sports knowledge).

There is no guarantee that DePodesta had a say in each and every player drafted in 2016, but the changes Paul made to the Padres organization would have been during events like the draft.

I see the draft as DePodesta’s imprint on the organization. His attempt to take the team to the next level like he did for the Padres.

For the third year in a row, the Cleveland Browns finished NFL draft sunday looking and feeling good.

Big Names

Corey Coleman, WR Baylor – Round: 1 – Average sized but blazing fast. I can’t help but think Coleman was drafted with Robert Griffin in mind as bigger targets like Laquon Treadwell or Josh Doctson were available at this point. Coleman was an endzone hog with 20 touchdowns in 2015 for Baylor.

Emmanuel Ogbah, DE OK. State. – Round: 2 – Great on paper at 6’4”. 275, and a 40 in the 4.5 range. Ogbah created 12.5 sacks in 2015, batted down 4 passes, and forced 3 fumbles. Looks to be a beast lining up next to Danny Shelton.

Carl Nassib, DE Penn State – Round: 3 – A 6’ 6” walk-on who earned a playing scholarship at Penn State, Nassib led the country in sacks and forced fumbles in 2015. Doesn’t have the speed of Ogbah, but Nassib’s size and work ethic showed up on the field.

Lots of potential

Jordan Payton, WR UCLA – Round: 5 – UCLA’s career receptions record holder posted solid senior numbers against top level Pac-12 competition.

Spencer Drango, OG Baylor – Round 5 – Four-year starter at left tackle at Baylor. CBS Sports’ Dane Brugler compares Drango to Dallas stud OG Zack Martin.

Rashard Higgins, WR Colorado St. – Round 5 – Higgins produced video game numbers in 2014 (96 catches, 1750 yards, 17 TDs). Reminds me of Green Bay’s Davante Adams.

Scooby Wright III, ILB Arizona – Round: 7 – Wright isn’t really tall, fast, or strong. He was a force to be reckoned with at Arizona. His sophomore year he totalled twenty-nine stops for a loss, six forced fumbles, and fourteen and a half sacks, All at inside linebacker. Reminds me of Zach Thomas, former Miami Dolphin. Wright also made profootballfocus.com’s 16 best picks of the 2016 draft. That’s high praise from the guys that really know football.

Everyone else

Shon Coleman, OT Auburn – Round 3

Cody Kessler, QB USC – Round 3 – Seen as a reach when guys like Connor Cook were still available. Cleveland management clearly sees something unique in Kessler. I’m a huge USC fan but USC QB’s haven’t been truly successful in the NFL since Carson Palmer. Kessler’s best season came in 2014, with 39 TDs and only 5 INTs.

Joe Schobert, OLB Wisconsin – Round 4 – Another player on profootballfocus.com’s 16 best picks in the 2016 draft.

Ricardo Louis, WR Auburn – Round 4

Derrick Kindred, FS TCU – Round 4

Seth Devalve, TE Princeton – Round 4 I did not know Princeton had a football team.

Trey Caldwell, DB Louisana-Monroe – Round 5