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| | Forty Yard Dash 7/16/2010 |
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We're back for another exciting forty yards of football links. One thing I would like to clear up before we get started: Terrell Owns will under no circumstances be signing with the New England Patriots. The ESPN fueled rumor started from a Boston based hip-hop radio station's morning show interview with Owens, where he indicated that he would have no problem signing with the Pats. ESPN took the story and ran with it, so much so, that I was stuck listening to Tedy Brushci's analysis of the situation on SportsCenter last night. I suppose these are the type of far-fetched rumors happen during the dog days of the NFL summer. Now on to the Dash.
Every season players emerge from the depths of the depth chart to materialize into big time playmakers, or at least solid contributors. Players like Darrelle Revis jumped from an unheralded first-round rookie in 2008 to shutdown corner and landlord of "Revis Island" in 2009. Determining which players will break out presents quite a challenge, yet Bill Barnwell from Football Outsiders takes on that lofty task. The article requires insider status to read but a few names that seem to pop out as possible breakout players include Steelers wideout Mike Wallace, Ravens cornerback LarDarius Webb, and Saints backup quarterback Chase Daniel. Daniel is certainly an intriguing choice, seeing as most Saints fans would hope that he never sees the field as Brees's backup, but he does seem to fit the Brees mold rather well should the opportunity present itself. Daniel's height and lack of elite arm strength should be offset by the pinpoint accuracy he displayed in college.
The insane contracts that NFL rookies receive has been a hot topic for quite a while around the league. Sam Bradford's recent mega-deal only reiterates one of the main problems that the league will likely try to fix in the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement. Bradford received the most guaranteed money of any rookie ever, an intriguing idea considering Bradford comes into the league with a reputation for being injury prone. Smart Football's Chris Brown offers some of his thoughts on the idea of multi-million dollar contracts in the NFL.
Moving on to college football, Texas enters the 2010 season in an entirely unfamiliar position, without Colt McCoy behind center. While Garrett Gilbert is heralded as the next great Longhorn quarterback he certainly had his issues in the first half of the BCS National Championship Game last season. Nevertheless, Gilbert's solid second half has people in Austin hopeful for continued success in the soon to be revamped Big 12. The recent controversy in Big 12 country is Nebraska's promotional video that calls out Texas. While it seems rather harmless, the Nebraska administration has rescinded the "Beat Texas" section of the video after a bit of over the top criticism from some national media members. Burnt Orange Nation has the latest on this situation and all of the latest news surrounding Longhorn football.
The Big House is getting even bigger, with recent renovations to the Wolverines' stadium, the Maize and Blue will now be able to comfortably seat 109,901. Reclaiming its position as the largest stadium in college football, Michigan Stadium passes Penn State's Beaver Stadium by nearly 3,000 seats. MGOBlog has the most recent news on stadium expansion, recruiting tactics, and entirely inaccurate statements from the media. One enticing nugget from this story is that Corwin Brown, a Notre Dame assistant during the Charlie Weis era and current Patriots secondary coach, slept outside of a recruit's house until he would come to Notre Dame. Only problem was, the recruit never went to Notre Dame.
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