McCown is inj prone & old. Darnold will see action soon. C
RB
Isaiah Crowell
Crow is a good RB but never got a chance to run in CL. He will do well here. B
WR
Robby Anderson & Jermaine Kearse & Terrelle Pryor
Anderson & Kearse are OK but Pryor needs to step up his production. B
TE
Eric Tomlinson
He is nothing special. C-
OL
lt Kelvin Beachum lg James Carpenter c Spencer Long rg Brian Winters rt Brandon Shell
Beachum is solid but the rest are below average. D
DL
le Leonard Williams nt Steve McLendon re Henry Anderson
Very average DL C
lb
lolb Josh Martin liob Avery Williamson rilb Darron Lee rolb Jordan Jenkins
Except for Lee this group is below average. D
db
lc Trumaine Johnson rc Morris Claiborne fs Jamal Adams ss Marcus Maye
This group under preformed last season. C-
News, Notes & Rumors on Fridays is about the games coming up and Monday on the results of the weekend. My co-host is Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports. Podcasts can be heard on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/. Thanks for your support.
Note: Join Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports and me for the Browns and NFL week recap show every Monday at 6 PM Eastern time live on http://www.justin.tv/papaburl or the archives on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.
10. Which AFC team will get the first pick in the 2014 draft. The choices are Oakland, Jacksonville and Buffalo.
9. Will the new system of HC Rob Chudzinski make QB Brandon Weeden an NFL quality starter?
8. Will QB Ryan Tannehill improve enough to help the Dolphins challenge for a playoff spot?
7. How much will HC Andy Reid and QB Alex Smith improve the Chiefs’ record?
6. Will the Colts get back into the playoffs?
5. Can the Bengals get enough out of QB Andy Dalton to do deep in the playoffs?
4. Will the Steelers be able to run the ball? The top back Le’Veon Bell has a Lisfranc injury the line is below average.
3. How effective with the Ravens be on offense? Most are more concerned about the Ravens’ defense but it will be fine.
2. How much will the loss of his key targets hurt QB Tom Brady and the Pats offense?
1. Will the Broncos get enough pass rush to go deep in the playoffs?
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 has also published several novels on.
To keep up with the News, Notes & Rumors podcasts, follow me on twitter @NNRonDSN.
Fred Greetham editor of the Orange & Brown Report joins us to talk about the Browns OTAs.
Tony Williams, beat writer on the Giants and Knicks for Metro New York Paper, joins us to talk about the NBA Lottery and the Giants OTAs.
Stephen Brotherston, correspondent for Hoopsworld.com joins us to talk about the NBA Draft.
Eric Frenz, AFC East featured writer for the Bleacher Report joins us to talk about NFL News.
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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 onand a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/.
In college ball last week I went 5-3 bring my total to 17-9. Before you laugh at that remember I pick the toughest games not the best bets.
In the pros I went 1 and 1 with a push and the Giants/Cowboys to be determined.
College football:
#1 Oklahoma 27 #11 Missouri 36 – Missu put up 16 points in the 4th quarter to beat the Sooners for the first time since Moses was a teenager. The Sooners were the third team in 3 weeks to be knocked off after becoming #1. Missu is not a super power type team and could well lose against Nebraska next week.
UCLA 13 #2 Oregon 60 – The Ducks totally dominated a very up and down UCLA team. This past Thursday they were down–way down. If the Ducks can get a win next week at USC, they could well end up in the BCS Championship game. The only other tough teams they will face will be #15 Arizona and Oregon State.
#6 LSU 17 #4 Auburn 24 – Auburn got by one of the two toughest games they will face this year. They have won 3 games over ranked teams in the last 5 weeks. The one roadblock they have on their schedule is at Alabama in the last game of the regular season. The SEC West has crushed the East all year so the SEC Championship game probably against South Carolina should not be a problem. I believe at this point Alabama wins at home against the Tigers.
#13 Wisconsin 31 #15 Iowa 30 – The Iowa coaching staff had a brain cramp that cost them the win. They were in field-goal range but after a time out QB Stanzi scrambled for a first down on 4th and 1. Rather than setting up a spike in the time out, the coaching staff called their final TO. Then rather than throwing the ball away, Stanzi got rushed and flipped it to his RB who was caught in bounds as the clock ran out. Had they spiked the ball after the scramble, they would have had a shot at a FG. Wisconsin probably will not lose again and must hope the Hawkeyes beat Michigan State to get a share of the Big 10 title.
#16 Nebraska 51 #14 Oklahoma State 41 – Like Alabama, Nebraska looks like the team to beat in the Big 12 North if they can beat Missouri next week at home. The OSU Cowboys put up a good fight but just did not have the speed to keep up with the Huskers.
Washington 14 #18 Arizona 44 – The Arizona D was solid against Washington. Husky QB Locker struggled to find anyone open and was 17-29 for just 183 and 1 TD. In my opinion Locker is not a top QB prospect. Arizona has a tough schedule ahead that includes Oregon, USC, and Stanford.
NFL:
The Browns came up with a great win. Check out my column on NFLDraftDog.com on the team page.
Check out the NFL News, Notes and Rumors on NFLDraftDog.com.
TOP 5 NFL TEAMS
1 Jets – They are 5-0 since a 1 point loss to the Ravens. They are #4 in both scoring and points against.
2 Steelers – They are also 4-1 and survived the suspension of Roethlisberger losing only to the Ravens.
3 Ravens – Only the Pats beat them. They beat themselves against the Bengals.
4 Patriots – They are playing better than their talent. When the young guys on D get more experience they will move up.
5 Falcons – I had to have at least 1 NFC team.
BOTTOM 5
5 Broncos – When you give up 59 points to the Raiders, what do you expect?
4 Lions – This team is going in the right direction. They have talent and need to get it up to speed.
3 49ers – This team just is a mess. Nobody could get them to play much better.
2 Panthers – This team has nothing except a good coach and they will let him go at the end of the year.
1 Bills – “With the first pick in the 2011 NFL draft the Bills select…”
That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.
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 is a senior writer for and edits https://fryingpansports.com. His first non-fiction work is at the publisher now and he has also published several novels on and edits.
Frederic Bernotas on What did we learn from week 2 in College Football?
After all this it is possible that the Wolverines will get into the Big 10 season with 4 wins, although subsequently, exactly what after that? Conference competition breaks along with The Hoosier’s formidable offense. Subsequently Michigan visits Michigan State, Iowa and visits to State College Pa. to face the Nittany Lions. Multiple issues in between these days and the finish of the season, so you’ll forgive me if I’m a little more cautious about making proclamations about this team and this year.
Frederic, your caution is wise. The Blue were 4-0 last year going into the Big 10 season and won only 1 more game the rest of the way.
Updates on previous columns:
Pro Football Niblets and Fantasy tips
I would like to thank my readers for not skewering me on my Pro Best bets. We will try to do a little better from now on. At least the Fantasy pickups were good. The Eagles have named Vick as their starter from now on, Ram WR Clayton remains hot and Packer RB Jackson has a nice upside.
In Dallas, things are continuing to heat up. After the interstate rivalry against the Texans this week, the team has a bye. If the Boys don’t win this week, it will almost certainly be bye-bye to HC Phillips.
What did we learn from week 2 in College Football?
Texas, Penn State, Wisconsin and Florida continue to struggle. What we saw last week was not a fluke.
Niblets fresh from the cob:
Announcement: Starting in October, the Digital Sport Network will debut on Cleveland.com.
This will be the best sports programing on the Internet and the list of personalities includes Chuck Booms who had the top show on Fox Sports Radio, Bud Shaw from the Plain Dealer, and Harry Petsanis from SportsTalk radio. I will be appearing on the broadcast talking about the Browns and the NFL 2011 draft. I will let you know when I will be on.
The NFL QB carrousel continues to spin.
Beside Vick, 7 QBs that rode the bench in Game 1 will start for their teams. The most notable is the Panthers deciding to bench QB Moore in favor of rookie Jimmy Clausen. Not that it makes any difference but Buffalo has benched QB Edwards in favor of Fitzpatrick. In another insignificant move, the Raiders will start Gradkowski over Campbell for whom they traded.
Best Bets in the Pros:
3 Colts -3 vs Broncos – The Colt O is too much for the Broncos.
2 Falcons +5.5 vs. Saints The Saints are on a short week and traveling again.
1 Pats -12.5 vs Bills – Fitzpatrick will be begging the coach to put Edwards back in at half time.
That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.
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 is a senior writer for and edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on
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