Brady & Manning vs. Otto Graham and Bart Star

HOF

NOTE: Check out the live News, Notes and Rumors show on Monday, Thursday and Friday at 6 PM Eastern on or the archive of the shows on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/. On Monday Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports and I discuss the results of the weekend. Thursday shows alternate between NFL Draft and basketball. On Friday Tony Williams Giants beat writer for Metro New York joins Samantha and me to preview the upcoming games.

 

With the AFC Championship between the Patriots and the Broncos, we saw the 15th game between Tom Brady and Payton Manning. Because of that we heard from every sports talk show the ranking of the “5 greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL.” Nearly every one was filled with quarterbacks that have played in the last 15 years. There is a MAJOR issue with that. The game has changed more than any other professional sport over the last 60 years. This is not comparing apples to oranges. It is closer to comparing apples to atom bombs.

 

Forget looking at passer ratings or touchdowns thrown. When Otto Graham and Bart Star played, the head slap of an offensive lineman by a defender was legal and … Read more at FryingPanSports

My interview with former Browns QB Kelly Holcomb

KHolcomb One of my favorite Browns and favorite people Kelly Holcomb joined me to talk about the pistol offense now being used in the NFL, the risks of a running QB and Middle Tennessee football for whom he does color on the radio broadcast.

 NNR072413 Kelly Holcomb

You can listen to the podcasts at https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro football teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com.  He has also published several novels on and a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/.

He also edits .

Read more at FryingPanSports

Tonight on the radio version of News, Notes and Rumors

 

Tony Williams of Metro New York paper joins me to talk about the NFL from a national perspective.

Special guest Jake Query of WNDE home of the Colts radio coverage and I will discuss the recent moves by the Colts and the decisions about QB Payton Manning and the first pick in the 2012 NFL draft.

Join us.

Also be sure to join Dactar for his Browns Pre-game show 45 minutes before kickoff.  Then for in game chat, join Mr. Moohead and me on and stay tuned for his half time and post-game analysis (and rant if the team loses or plays poorly which is too often the case).

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com and was a senior writer for .  He has also published several novels on and a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/.

He edits .  

 

Read more at FryingPanSports

Bill Smith’s College Player Rating System

nflDraft

By Bill Smith

To see more analysis like this 6 days a week, visit my site https://fryingpansports.com/

We all like to evaluate how badly our favorite teams have screwed up the draft. I though you might like to see how I evaluate players. I will be doing a draft rap up here on the Browns and other teams after the draft.

This outlines the system I have used for more than 40 years in evaluating college players for the NFL draft. The system is based on a point system. A number of years ago, I was in Indy the week of the Combine. I ran into a couple of Colt scouts in the hotel lobby. I suggested that they look at a C that I really liked but would probably not be drafted. He wasn’t drafted but the Colts signed him as a rookie undrafted free agent. The player was Jeff Saturday. All he has done is become an all pro for many years and the captain of the O line for Payton Manning. I found him using this system.

To use it, there are a few rules that must be followed.

Rules:

Only use the first half of games … Read more at FryingPanSports

Should the Browns trade up for Bradford?

Browns

The latest rumor on the draft boards is that the Browns are negotiating with the Rams to get the #1 pick. It seems that GM Tom Heckard and his team were reportedly suggesting the deal to management. Holmgren put a wet towel on the talk and said today that the cost is just too high. But that doesn’t mean it is totally off the table but may be just under the table cloth. There are several issues here and we will look at all of them.

The Browns considerations for doing the deal:

  1. There is no question that the team needs a QB. Delhomme is not the long term answer and may not be a short term answer unless he quits throwing the ball to the other team. There are not any NFL starting quality QBs on the roster now. They could use Bradford.
  2. The deal would give the fans some hope. That is something that they have not had in a long time. There was a small percentage of the fans that were excited about the hire of Mangini but that did not turn out well. Most were more excited about the signing of Holmgren. He at least had
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Tuesday morning QB. Analysis: Sanchez has all the tools except experience in the NFL.

 

New York Jets 2009 Football Headshots

Note: I am considering making this a regular feature during the NFL season. Let me know what you think.

When the first all out blitz came from the Ravens, Jet QB Mark Sanchez put the ball up for grabs. Ray Lewis came in untouched and caused the Int. The Raven D linemen Haloti Ngata caught it and ran it 25 yards for a TD. I was thinking about John Madden. As he said in the movie The Replacements, he loved to see a big guy score.

There was almost a second interception when IB Lewis caught Sanchez staring down his receiver. In part because he had been so rattled by the blitzes he never took his eyes off his intended target. Again, the ball never got there because it ended up in Lewis’ hands. Lewis dropped it or it would have been the second D TD for the Ravens. At that point, Sanchez was probably wondering where the red no tackle jersey was.

The problem is in part the same increase in speed that every rookie QB goes through coming into the NFL from college. But with Sanchez there is another issue at work as well—He just doesn’t have … Read more at FryingPanSports