Monthly Archives: May 2018

Marcus Johansson’s first season in New Jersey went far from planned.

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Two concussions and a bruised ankle limited Johansson to 29 games after the Devils traded for the left winger on July 2, 2017, and his second concussion kept him out for nearly three months.

First thing we were looking for was culture fit, Beane said in a statement. I was in Carolina when we drafted Dan as a player and he would be a ‘ Bills blue’ as our kind of guy. As a player he was always prepared, worked hard, did everything. He worked his way up from the bottom [with the Seahawks]. He didn’t get placed into a seat because of his status as a former player. Sometimes that’s warranted, but Dan was a scouting intern with the Seattle Seahawks in 2010 and worked his way up to a director of pro scouting. That’s not an easy transition to go from the field to a grunt in our business. It’s humbling and he did it and he’s risen to director of pro [scouting].

The great thing about Seattle is they allowed him to get out on the road some. So even though he was doing pro, he was on the road doing college stuff. His main background is on the pro side, but he’s touched college as well and that makes him a good fit for the role.

The Lions, meanwhile, completely handcuffed their primary asset, Stafford, with the worst running game in football. It wasn’t just bad, it was awful when it was needed the most, near the goal-line and in short-yardage situations.

In our Vikings and Titans draft rooms, access was limited to our team president, general manager, head coach, college and pro personnel directors, area scouts, team trainer and lead doctor. Offensive and defensive coordinators would be allowed in the room occasionally, but the rest of the coaching staff was parked in their meeting rooms — they had given their input in pre-draft meetings. On rare occasions, the team owner would pop in, usually for just the first-round pick.

We organized our draft board by position, with a separate listing of top players regardless of position based on grades that had been finalized in the weeks leading up to the draft. The decision maker (usually the GM) would pull five player tabs over to a separate part of the draft board. That became our ready list through all seven rounds.

The order of the players on the ready list Cheap Indiana Pacers Jerseys was based on a combination of overall grade and team needs. For example, if we Cheap Ireland Soccer Jerseys already had a solid starting quarterback who was not near the end of his career, a QB would not appear on the ready list until the later rounds.

Mets’ Sandy Alderson takes dig at Matt Harvey after’partying’ report

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Another day, another embarrassing chapter in the relationship between the Mets and Matt Harvey.

After a report surfaced that placed Harvey out partying in Los Angeles the night before a poor performance out of the bullpen vs. the San Diego Padres, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson didn’t mince words when asked to comment.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say no head coaches or general managers are going to be fired out of the blue in June or July this year. That, plus the schedule having been released, means we finally know what we’re dealing with when it comes to NFL teams. Every club has a few quarterbacks on the roster now.

With safety in mind, potential changes include the likely elimination of the two-man wedge and running start for the kicking team, while allowing only three deep players on the receiving team, NFL Network’s Judy Battista reported Wednesday from the league’s player safety meeting in New York.

Rich McKay, who serves as the chair of the competition committee, strongly believes the changes when combined with the league’s new rule focusing on helmet hits will reduce the risk of concussions during kickoffs, Battista reported.

Battista further points out that the committee hopes the proposed changes will remove the high-impact and dangerous hits out of the game.

The meeting drew input from special teams coaches, some head coaches and league officials.

The competition committee still has to finalize writing the changes to the kickoff rule, but it should be accomplished in time for the owners to Cheap Hats And Jerseys vote on the proposal during the Spring League Meeting, which will be held in Atlanta on May 21-23.

Here come Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers Cheap Hockey Jerseys Custom. 

Titans agree to terms with veteran DB Kendrick Lewis

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Tennessee tweaked its defensive backfield Wednesday morning.

The Titans agreed to terms with veteran free safety Kendrick Lewis and waived Denzel Johnson, the team announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 6-foot, 205-pound Lewis entered the league in 2010 out of Ole Miss as a fifth-round pick (136th overall) with the Chiefs, where he spent four seasons (2010-13). He also played for the Texans (2014) and spent two seasons with the Ravens (2015-16).

If he’s lucky, Cousins will have it better in Minnesota’s system. It’s easy to forget about Dalvin Cook, last year’s No. 41 pick, who ripped off 354 yards and two scores on a 4.8 per-carry average before going down with an ACL tear. 

Cook returns to prop up a passing game led by 91-catch man Adam Thielen, as do wideout Stefon Diggs and tight end Kyle Rudolph, who both scored eight times a year ago.

Paired with a strong defense, the Cousins-led offense should put up good numbers, though there may be an adjustment period. The Vikings will go as far as their new franchise quarterback can take them—in offensive ranks and the win column. 

Ash then responded by asking Pikiell, what do you call sad coffee?… Despresso.

And on and on, as you can see by watching.

The football team didn’t come away with any hardware at the R Awards, but the hoops team did. Its upset of Seton Hall was named Rutgers’ top game in 2017-18, and guard Geo Baker was named freshman male athlete of the year.

We are incredibly proud of the young men and women who represent our University and the State of New Jersey as Scarlet Knights, athletics director Pat Hobbs said. Their contributions academically, competitively and socially are the driving force behind all that we aspire to achieve as a department. This is what we celebrate tonight. We wish our seniors all the best as they embark on the next phase of theirs lives. And of course, they remain Scarlet Knights forever.

The man with the best name in sports, Jim Bob Cooter, surprisingly Cheap Football Jerseys Xxl returns as coordinator for the Detroit Lions despite head coaching Cheap Giants Jerseys interest in him. He’ll have a new first-round center in Frank Ragnow, who should reinforce a line that let Matthew Stafford take 47 sacks last year. 

Denver Broncos decline to pick up Shane Ray’s option

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Loaded with pass rushers, the Broncos are preparing for life beyond Shane Ray.

The team is not expected to pick up the outside linebacker’s fifth-year option, a source told NFL Network’s James Palmer.

A 2015 first-round draft pick, Ray finds himself buried in a crowded position group after Denver used the fifth-overall pick in last week’s draft to nab celebrated pass-rushing prospect Bradley Chubb.

Now would be where we mention tight end Rob Gronkowski missed two games and didn’t lead the team in targets, and receiver Julian Edelman missed the entire season with a torn ACL. 

Gronkowski caught eight touchdowns a year ago on 105 targets, and the departed Cooks landed right behind at seven scores on 114 targets. It hurts to lose the latter, but not terribly—Edelman is back, and the 25-year-old Jordan Matthews just arrived and has tremendous upside in the offense. 

Why stop there? Lewis, the team’s leading rusher, is gone, but first-round rookie Sony Michel shouldn’t have a problem filling the void right away—especially while running behind instant-starter material Isaiah Wynn, another of the team’s first-round picks. New England rounded out the running back committee in free agency, grabbing between-the-tackles sledgehammer Jeremy Hill. 

This is a transitional year for the Jets, and it’s going to look like it. 

Is new arrival Norv Turner the right mind to figure it all out for the Carolina Panthers? 

That’s hard to say. Quarterback Cam Newton took 35 sacks last year trying to air it out, throwing for 3,302 yards with 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. His lack of help has become an internet meme, something his team-leading 754 rushing yards and six ground scores reinforced. 

The Panthers are insistent on giving Christian McCaffrey, 2017’s No. 8 pick, a bigger workload, but he’ll still get close to 113 targets again and partake in a rotation. 

On paper, first-round rookie D.J. Moore Cheap Eagles Jerseys might be able to help right away, provided he can buck the brutal pro learning curve for first-year wideouts. He Cheap Euro Jerseys might end up being redundant with Curtis Samuel, last year’s second-round pick, as they’re each potential slot guys at 6’0 or shorter. There could also be an over-reliance on primary receivers Torrey Smith and Devin Funchess, which isn’t guaranteed to work. 

Russ Brandon resigns from Bills, Sabres after internal investigation

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Russ Brandon has resigned as managing partner and president of the Pegula sports empire.

Kim Pegula has taken over as president.

The move comes after Pegula Sports and Entertainment conducted an internal investigation into Brandon’s workplace behavior and allegations of personal misconduct, two sources told The Buffalo News.

We are not kicking him to the curb, Elway said, via Mike Klis of KUSA in Denver. He can still develop. When we drafted him two years ago, as I said, we knew it was going to take some time.

The coaching staff is running out of development time, however, as Elway has just one more year to decide whether to pick up the fifth-year option on Lynch’s rookie contract.

Entering his third season since the Broncos thwarted the Cowboys’ attempt to trade up for his services, the rocket-armed former Memphis star has no shot to unseat Case Keenum for Denver’s starting job. In fact, Lynch must hold off Chad Kelly the final pick in the 2017 NFL Draft just to earn the visor and clipboard this year.

In my final draft as Vikings GM, in 1999, there was intense discussion around pick No. 11 and whether to select the head coach’s pick, quarterback Daunte Culpepper, or the choice of our scouts, defensive end Jevon Kearse. The ultimate call was Culpepper since our starting quarterback, Randall Cunningham, was 36. Culpepper became a six-year starter and three-time Pro Bowler, so it turned out to be a solid pick.

All that happens while the president, GM Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys and head coach work the phones as they talk with teams about the possibility of moving up or down.

For example, after we selected Culpepper, I immediately got on the phone and tried to acquire another first-round pick so we could draft Kearse. But I couldn’t Cheap Orioles Jerseys get it done, and he was grabbed by Tennessee at No. 16.

Burleson, Tulloch to announce Lions’ Friday draft picks

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Two familiar faces will announce the Detroit Lions’ second- and third-round picks on Friday.

The NFL announced 32 NFL legends will represent the league’s franchises in Round 2. In previous years, players such as Barry Sanders, Herman Moore, Lem Barney have announced Detroit’s selections. This year, it will be wide receiver Nate Burleson.

A four-star recruit, Walton decided to stay close to home and sign with the Hurricanes after helping lead Booker T. Washington to a state title. He led Miami with 10 total touchdowns as a true freshman and took over the starting job in 2016 and rushed for 1,117 yards and 14 touchdowns to earn third-team All-ACC honors. Walton got off to a blazing start in 2017, averaging 7.6 yards per carry and scoring three touchdowns before suffering an ankle injury in the fifth game that required season-ending surgery. Walton decided to forgo his senior year and declare for the draft, finishing his Miami career with 2,630 total yards and 28 touchdowns.

The ankle was strong enough for Walton to participate at the Scouting Combine, where he ran a mediocre 4.60 40-yard dash. Pro day timings typically favor the athlete, but some scouts had him around 4.5 at Miami’s March 28 workout. ANALYSIS Walton lacks size, but he does possess a strong lower body and runs with good balance.

Before these quarterbacks become the greatest of all-time, the next starter out of the gate like Manning or the next savior in waiting like Rodgers, they have to clear up concerns teams have about them.

For Allen, it’s his spotty accuracy: I don’t think I’m an inaccurate QB. Obviously the 56 percent completion percentage was not where it needs to be, but when my feet are set and I’m throwing on platform, I’m as accurate as anyone out there.

For Jackson, it’s his supposed closed-off approach to the draft process, not hiring an agent and using his mother as his manager. The Heisman Trophy winner out of Louisville, who reportedly took part in a private workout with the Patriots, defended his philosophy Wednesday. You can fire your agent. You can fire your manager. I guess’cause it’s my mother doing it, it’s a problem, like she wants my money or something like that, Jackson said. It’s not been like that. She’s been with me all my life. That’s my manager for life. She ain’t going nowhere. Even in the pros.

For Rosen, it’s his brazen, confident outspokenness: I don’t really listen to anything. ��� In terms of picking apart my personality, that’s your Best Place For Cheap Jerseys job. You guys are standing there talking about all this stuff. My job is on that grass on that Blue Jays Cheap Jerseys field.