National Media Siding with Ravens

I'm in a journalism class where we have to set up a weekly blog. The purpose of said blog is to blog about something - anything - media-related. Naturally, my topic is how the media views the Ravens. I thought I would shamelessly promote the latest article here. http://tonyherman.org/

It's actually pretty interesting because the last time the Ravens played the Patriots in 2007, the Ravens had a lot to say about the officials then, too. After that game, everyone outside of Baltimore was just telling the Ravens to shut up. This time it's a different story.

Mock Draft: Picks 17-24

Here we go again, for the third part of the mock draft we had. I stress once again, these picks were the ones made on Monday. Here's how it went ...

17. New York Jets

Herman: Everette Brown (DE, Florida State)

Radecki: Darrius Heyward-Bey (WR, Maryland)

Kiper: Darrius Heyward-Bey

McShay: Darrius Heyward-Bey

Wright: Josh Freeman (QB, Kansas State)

- Notes: Heyward-Bey being the most common pick is not surprising here; the Jets need offensive firepower in the worst way. However, Rex Ryan knows how important pass rush is to a defense's success, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Brown go here instead. The Jets need a quarterback, and Wright thinks they will reach for Freeman.

18. Denver Broncos

Herman: Michael Oher (OT, Mississippi)

Radecki: Robert Ayers (DE, Tennessee)

Kiper: Everette Brown

McShay: Everette Brown

Wright: Robert Ayers

- Notes: All four besides me went with Denver picking up the best available defensive end. I didn't see them spending both of their first round picks on the same position, though, and I thought Oher's value was too good for them to pass up here. 

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Herman: Peria Jerry (DT, Mississippi)

Radecki: Rey Maualuga (ILB, USC)

Kiper: Josh Freeman

McShay: Peria Jerry

Wright: Michael Johnson (DE, Georgia Tech)

- Notes: Defensive line was the theme here, with three of the five selections being along that front. Kiper thinks the Bucs would reach for Freeman in this position, and Radecki thinks Maualuga would fill their hole at linebacker nicely. 

20. Detroit Lions

Herman: Rey Maualuga

Radecku: Michael Oher

Kiper: Michael Oher

McShay: Michael Oher

Wright: Michael Oher

- Notes: Everyone agrees that if Oher is still available in this spot, then the Lions would draft him. The problem is, I don't think he will be here. Because of that, I think they would go for the captain of their defense, like they got the captain of their offense with the first pick. 

21. Philadelphia Eagles

Herman: Knowshon Moreno (RB, Georgia)

Radecki: Chris "Beanie" Wells (RB, Ohio State)

Kiper: Knowshon Moreno

McShay: Knowshon Moreno

Wright: Knowshon Moreno

- Notes: Runningback is the obvious choice here for Philadelphia. Moreno is the perfect fit, but if Wells is still there (like in Tyler's draft), Philly may opt for him. 

22. Minnesota Vikings

Herman: Percy Harvin (WR, Florida)

Radecki: Josh Freeman

Kiper: Kenny Britt (WR, Rutgers)

McShay: Percy Harvin

Wright: Eben Britton (OT, Arizona)

- Notes: Offense was the obvious choice here. McShay and I, of course, didn't realize that Harvin had failed his drug test; if so, he wouldn't be the Vikings pick here. Freeman is a definite possibility at this point, but I think Britt is a bit of a reach. Britton would make sense, as well. 

23. New England Patriots

Herman: Beanie Wells

Radecki: Everette Brown 

Kiper: Donald Brown (RB, Connecticut)

McShay: Clay Matthews (OLB, USC)

Wright: Rey Maualuga

- Notes: A rare choice where everyone thought something different. With Wells on the board and New England not having a reliable runningback, I thought Beanie would be too hard to pass up. Kiper had the same thought, but Wells was not on his board. Despite adding Jerod Mayo, New England probably is looking to continue to get younger at linebacker, hence the Matthews and Maualuga picks. Tyler thought they would go for best available player. 

24. Atlanta Falcons

Herman: Vontae Davis (CB, Illinois)

Radecki: Evander Hood (DT, Missouri)

Kiper: Brandon Pettigrew (TE, Oklahoma State)

McShay: Brandon Pettigrew

Wright: Evander Hood

- Pettigrew would have been the choice for Tyler, Wright and I were he not long off our board. As it is, we went for defense: Davis for me because I thought they would need to replace Foxworth at cornerback, and Hood for Tyler and Wright to give them some defensive line stability

A Good Move, A Bad Move, and a Risky Move

It's NFL off-season time. More specifically, it's NFL franchising time. Before free agency begins at 12:01 AM on February 27th, teams across the league have been slapping the franchise tag on some of their best players. For those of you unfamiliar, placing the franchise tag on a player means:

1. The player gets a one year deal, valued at the average of the top 5 paid players at his position.

2. The player is forced to accept the deal.

3. Each team can only use one franchise deal per year.

4. If a player gets franchised two years in a row, his salary for the second year will be valued at 120% of his value the first year.

5. A player can not be franchised more than two years in a row. 

Players typically don't like it because they want long-term deals with fat signing bonuses at the beginning of them. Here's a look at three players who have recently had the franchise tag placed on them by their respective teams:

Darren Sproles - RB - San Diego Chargers - $6.62 million in 2009

For Sproles: Scary Move ...  Sproles knows now that he is "the guy" in San Diego - at least for one year. He is still sort of an unknown commodity; if you remember, he really only came on at the end of last season into the playoffs. Even if he plays well this year, his contract now won't increase, and unless his production is off-the-charts, his pay will likely decrease after this year. 

For Chargers: Bad Move ... I understand wanting to keep Sproles around, especially with the uncertainty surrounding LaDainian Tomlinson and his future in San Diego. Simply put, though, they overpaid him. These small, speedster-type guys are often injury-prone, and teams can scheme against him. Despite what we saw in the playoffs, I am very comfortable in telling you that Darren Sproles is not the third best running back in the NFL. 

Terrell Suggs - DE/LB - Baltimore Ravens - $10.20 million in 2009

For Suggs: Good Move ... Why wouldn't this be a good move for Suggs? Not only is he getting paid off the charts because of the 120% rule, but it guarantees that he is going to be given a long-term deal after this year. Even if he gets injured, he is completely proven. Every single team in the NFL would want to pay Terrell Suggs.

For Ravens: Good Move ... They may be overpaying him slightly, but it's a good move for the Ravens because it got Suggs out of the way. They can now focus their time and energy to resigning Ray Lewis and Jason Brown to multi-year deals. 

Matt Cassel - QB - New England Patriots - $14.65 million in 2009

For Cassel: Bad Move ... When the Patriots did this, they guaranteed Cassel that one of two things were going to happen. He now knows he either going to be traded before the season begins, or he's going to be Tom Brady's backup again in New England this year. Even if the latter is true, he knows he will be signing a long-term deal next year with someone. All this did for Cassel was put off the inevitable. 

For Patriots: Good Move ... They guaranteed themselves Cassel if Brady is not ready to start the season. It'll be a great move if they're sure Brady will be ready to go. Then, they can dump Cassel and his high number on some other team, and pick up boat-loads of draft picks so they can start a new dynasty. Leave it to New England.