Under the Radar Heisman Candidates

What an interesting article in Today's(8/30/10)Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sports by Mr. Ron Cook in his discussion of the Heisman Trophy and the strong possibility that it could emulate from the Pittsburgh area. With two high profile candidates in Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor from Jeannette, PA and Pitt RB Dion Lewis, the Heisman Trophy could certainly be in either Pitt's or Ohio State's Trophy cases. But the following Four players are long shot candidates but I like their potential as college players and if everything falls in order, they may be invited for the Heisman festivities in New York City. The first player I like is Florida State QB Christian Ponder. Florida State's program has been down somewhat for the past 5 or so years but the Seminoles still have talented players. Ponder is one of them. He is a solid NFL QB prospect who can throw an array of passes across the entire field. He runs well, provides leadership, and when he gets on a roll, watch out. Next is a young Running Back from Virginia Tech named Ryan Williams. Williams is a very talented young back with explosion and acceleration. He has the potential to have a Heisman year for the Hokies. Next is another Running Back that we are all familiar with from West Virginia named Noel Devine. He has had a really productive career and if the Mountaineers and Devine have great seasons which could easily happen, then he could find himself sitting at Heisman Central. People may laugh at this one but this guy can flat out play and deserves recognition. He is Big Ben clone QB Nathan Enderle from U. of Idaho. He is very capable of putting up great numbers but Idaho must win most if not all of their games. You probably will not see Enderle sitting at the Heisman Awards Ceremony, but you may see him playing well for someone on Sundays in the Fall. Usually the Heisman winner comes from a powerhouse program, but as the old cliche goes "You never know."

Asset to the Bowl Games

Follow up to the NCAA Division 1A potential football schedule which would include the possibility of playing 13 games. With the number of 1A football programs being 120 and U of South Alabama coming into 1A in about 4 more years, there were 34 Bowl Games during the 2009/2010 Bowl Season. This means 68 Division 1A programs played in a Post-Season Game. There is a hidden reason why the programs enjoy playing in a Bowl Game even if a game is classified as a minor Bowl Game. Here is your hidden reason: Real Simple, additional practice time. It is like having another Spring Practice for the 68 programs. I know there are limitations on numbers of practices in preparation for a team's bowl game, but teams do practice a lot. For example, If Ohio State is in the Championship Game around January 8 through 10 and Ohio State's season ends around November 26th, that is about a 7 week layoff before the Championship Game. A team can get numerous practices in. They can work with the young player's not only preparing them for the Bowl Game but much preparation for the following season. This also allows many of the red shirts to get some valuable practice time and it gives many of the young players lots of work on fundamentals and technique. The player's have gone through a long season and are run down and get well deserved breaks before the Bowl Games especially during Finals Week, but the teams get those additional practices in which in turn is a valuable asset for fundamentals, technique, chemistry, and execution. Even though some of the Bowl Games are not of high quality, they are still a reward for a good season.

Why Not 13 Games

My next agenda is increasing NCAA Division 1A by one game to a 13 game season. Last Bowl Season, there were 34 bowl games which equates to 68 teams were bowl eligible and participated in bowl games. There were some teams that played in the post season that were 6 and 6. No winning record and still go to a bowl. Well with only 120 NCAA Division 1A programs out there, it is not hard to figure out why 6 and 6 teams go to bowls. My theory is to play 13 college games. Start the games right now, this weekend coming up when students are trickling onto most of the campuses across the USA. An extra game does not have an academic effect on the student-athletes in football. But what the extra game does is that it promotes having a winning record in order to play in the post season. Many of the 1A teams play 1AA teams and these count as victories to get teams to 6 and 6. It also gives a smaller 1A program a chance to get a guarantee if playing a bigger school. There are some teams that do play 13 games and they are the ones that take a trip to play Hawaii. Of course, the Presidents of certain schools will say 13 football games is too many but it is not too many if the schedule is set up to give the players some bye weeks during the season. It has not been that long ago that 1A schools played only 10 regular season games. This country has a love affair with college sports especially football. Having a thirteenth game just at the start of school is not going to diminish a football player's opportunities to function as a normal student. One final thing, without a playoff in place for the BCS Championship, a team that certainly goes 13 and 0 should deserve much consideration to play in the National Championship

Fast Forward

That is enough! Many fans forget that these guys are PROFESSIONALS. The pre-season should be over tonight after all the teams competed in 2 pre-season contests. There are numerous players across the entire league, veterans and rookies alike, that are banged up from practice since late July and participation in 2 pre-season games. The NFL Channel did a special report on how many players are injured just after 2 exhibition games. The scenario should be as such, exhibition season is over, give the players a few days off to rest there bones while the coaching staff and scouts evaluate their own players on who should be on the active roster and who should be on the practice squad, and allow the colleges to have center stage for one weekend. Take the next weekend off from playing(college football begins) and then get into the regular season which entails an 18 game stint with 2 equally distributed bye weeks for each team. So if the regular season goes into mid-January and the playoffs carry the NFL into early February, Who Cares! Then the Super Bowl will occur in mid to Late February or even into early March. The American people have a love affair with professional football. The NFL has carried over to an international basis. If all the logistics can be worked out with the owners, NFLPA, and the networks, then the owners should press forward with an 18 game schedule. Back when the schedule went from 14 to 16, many experts thought it would not work and the season would be too long. It worked out and so will an 18 game season.

As the World Turns

40 and 81, with 41 games to go. 18 straight seasons with a losing record, and people are still going to the Pirate games. Here is an unreal statistic from center fielder Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen has 11 home runs up to this point and all of them are solo shots. That has to be a major league record or close to it............This is an off the beaten sports path but when are the local municipalities, boroughs, and townships not going to allow their maintenance department backhoes to travel the 2 lane roads during rush hour traffic. These backhoes are travelling at rates of 5 to 10 MPH on 35 MPH roads and backing up traffic for miles. All the drivers have to do is pull over and allow traffic to go through on an occasion.........By the way what ever happened to Mr Five Year Plan Kevin McClatchy. Here is a quote from Mr.McClatchy about building PNC Park which opened in 2001. "I guarantee to the fans of the Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh region the we will have a winner with the Pirates within 5 years if a new baseball stadium is built." McClatchy forgot to add that he would not longer be around.......Just think if the Steelers vs Giants game on Saturday the 21st of August were a regular season contest! The Giants third string quarterback would be starting. Eli Manning has 12 stitches in his forehead and probably cannot wear his helmet and back-up QB Jim Sorgi injured his shoulder and is out at least 2 games and maybe longer. There is an epidemic of injuries this pre-season only after 17 NFL games were played.

Pre-Season too Long

After 17 pre-season football games, with 48 remaining, the NFL has been stricken with numerous injuries. In the Monday night Jets vs. Giants game, Giants QB Eli Manning is very fortunate he walked away with only a gash on his head. He was struck from behind by fast closing DE Calvin Pace from the Jets basically without his helmet on. Cardinals wide out Larry Fitzgerald suffered a knee injury in pre-season game 1 and fortunately it was not severe. Rookie RB Ben Tate broke his ankle and may be out for the season. On and on and there are still 3 weeks remaining in pre-season. What can be done with this? Probably nothing. You cannot expect the players to play touch football or flag football during pre-season games because many jobs are at stake. Guys are playing with high levels of intensity. Players are going to get hurt, some mild and some severe. Rational thinking tells me to re-structure the pre-season to 2 games and increase the regular season to 18 games with each team getting 2 bye weeks. Injuries are going to occur in football but to lose an outstanding player in pre-season is tough to handle. 53 man rosters are not large enough to meet the demands, the intensity, and the speed of the game. I like the 2 bye weeks concept. Players are so banged up come mid-season, they need a chance to rest their bodies to prepare for the balance of the season and possible playoff opportunities. 2 bye weeks spaced out properly would be a welcome sight for many players. The NFL needs to move forward and eliminate 2 pre-season games.

Emergence of Dennis Dixon

The emergence of Dennis Dixon is surely taking place. Dixon is not an athlete that just happens to play the Quarterback position, he is an athletic quarterback. After being a 5th round selection in the 2008 NFL draft, when given the opportunity, Dennis Dixon shows he belongs and has lots of upside. The 25 year Dixon can play under center and play in the shotgun. He has quick 3, 5, and 7 step drops and sets up well. His throwing motion is not bad and his accuracy is improving every time he steps on to the field. Against Detroit Saturday night, Dixon threw a nice pass rolling left throwing the ball across his body with accuracy. With time and experience, Dixon will adjust to the complex defensive schemes that will be thrown at him. Like any younger quarterback with limited NFL experience, Dennis Dixon is going to make a series of correctable mistakes. But Dixon has loads of potential and what I really like is his explosive ability to run the football. This gives the Steelers an added dimension. At any time, when Dixon leaves the pocket, he can carry the ball a long way, indicative of the explosive touchdown run he had vs. the Ravens in his only start during the 2009 season. Am I saying Dixon has leapfrogged Byron Leftwich? No. Am I saying that Dixon should be the starter vs. Atlanta in Game 1? No. What I am saying is that Dixon is a talented QB that Coach Tomlin and company should consider playing somewhere in the first 4 to 6 games in the absence of Ben Roethlisberger. The premise exists that quarterbacks that run the football can get hurt but I have seen many a quarterback get hurt when they never left the pocket

The Man in the Red Jacket

The man with the red jacket can change a football game's momentum. Who is this guy with the red jacket on? He is the person that walks onto the field, flags the referees down, and stays in his position until all the Television commercials are completed. For example, last night during the Detroit Lions-Pittsburgh Steelers pre-season game, just during the first quarter there were 2 stoppages of play that lasted between 3 and 5 minutes each. These are strictly for television timeouts. I have been to televised college football games that have been lengthened by 30 to 45 minutes to allow for the man in the red jacket to stop play and the networks to get in their commercial timeouts. This extended length of time between series of plays can be a momentum killer. For example, what if a team recovers a fumble inside the opponents 20 yard line. The offense wants to hurry onto the field and attempt to establish an offensive scheme and take advantage of the fumble recovery and team enthusiasm. But WAIT! Here comes the man in the red jacket, the man that can put the skids to a team's momentum, the commercial timeouts that can eat up close to 5 minutes of time. All of us football fans are not stupid. We know the networks need to get their commercials in and we know that this revenue from network advertising helps fund the football venues across are great country. But the networks need to study this and develop a better system on when to show the TV commercials. Like maybe at the end of the first and third quarter, 8 to 10 minutes of commercials. Like maybe after a kickoff or punt that is not returned, then use 5 minutes of commercials. I am not up on the logistics of placement of commercials during football games, but I know one thing, these TV timeouts can certainly be a momentum killer. They need to be re-evaluated.

Who is Better?

Upon interviewing Jerry Rice at halftime during the Dallas vs Cincinnati pre-season game, Cris Collinsworth told Jerry Rice that he was the greatest player in the history of the National Football League. Jerry Rice was an unreal wide out for the 49ers. He is a natural smooth athlete with super soft hands and could adjust to the ball as well as anyone. After the catch, Rice was tremendous with his unique ability to confuse Defensive backs with his acute running angles that placed him into open areas to pick up extra yardage. He was a first round selection coming out of Mississippi Valley State, a 1AA program. Is Rice the best ever? Is RB Jim Brown the best ever? Jim Brown ran with unreal power and acceleration and all on natural talent. Jim Brown played in the non strength training era. Just think if Jim Brown was in a high level strength training program. It seems that proponents of the best ever football player comes from the offensive side of the ball. How about these 2 players! Middle LB Dick Butkus was a man amongst boys. He totally dominated a game from the MLB slot. He was big at 6'3"/240 and could run. Another dominate guy from the LA Rams was DE Deacon Jones. Check out some clips on him. What an unreal pass rusher. He was nasty, had great speed for his size, and at times he was un-blockable. He was another graduate of Mississippi Valley State. It is rather difficult to figure out the best NFL player ever. The debate still lingers on in almost every wateringhole in this region, who was better: Willie Mays or Roberto Clemente.

Badgers Steal One

The Wisconsin Badgers came into the Pittsburgh region and got one of the better football players in this area to commit to them prior to the beginning of the season. He is all purpose player Mike Caputo from West Allegheny High School in Imperial. Coach Joe Rudolph recruits this region for the Badgers and this is back to back years he has pulled a prospect out of here. Last Year Rudolph got WR/FS Manessah Garner 6'2"/215 from Brashear to sign with Wisconsin. Garner is loaded with potential and what an athlete. Mike Caputo is a multi-faceted player who is very versatile. He can play tailback out of the spread, he can be a slot receiver, he can be a strong safety. Caputo is 6'1"/210 guy who has great instincts and toughness, Mike Caputo plays the game to win. By the way, Coach Joe Rudolph is a Belle Vernon product who was a stalwart offensive lineman for the Wisconsin Badgers 20 years ago. The West Virginia Mountaineers quietly got a commitment from this region in under the radar player Nick Kwiatkoski from Bethel Park High School. Nick is 6'2"/215 and fits into WVU's defensive scheme as a spur safety type that can also play a Will Linebacker. Kwiatkoski has similarities to Mike Caputo and he is what we call a "football player". He just gets it done and he runs well and is very well coached at Bethel Park as Caputo is at West Allegheny.

From Leavy to Woods

Super Bowl XL was back a few years that many fans do not remember what the Final Score was. But referee Bill Leavy comes out recently and mentions that some of the calls that were made were incorrect and could have changed the complexion of the game. Mr. Bill Leavy, So What! At that particular time, you made the calls and thought they were correct. If you start second guessing yourself, then you should not have become a referee. "Humans are born to make mistakes" as the old phrase goes and the Other phrase that sticks in people's minds is "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." The game is long gone and referees have different angles on the field than the cameras do and you made the calls. It is over!*****Lots of scuttlebutt about Eldrick "Tiger"Woods. This is just my humble opinion, but Tiger Woods is in a Slump. Golfers, like hitters in baseball, go through a series of slumps during their careers. His swing looks good but an educated guess may be the Tiger is a little quick with his swing. It is possible his hands may be out ahead of the ball far enough that he is pushing the ball right. Tiger has lost confidence but Tiger is like a cover corner in football who playing man-to-man coverage just got beat deep for a touchdown. Corner Backs in the NFL have to have very short memories. Tiger has a short memory, he will bounce right back and it may be sooner than later.

200 mile radius

Readers are saying, what is this 200 mile radius? Is this some new meteorological term being introduced on the weather channel. No, this is where you will find 3 of college football's best running backs. Everyone in Pittsburgh and across the Big East knows about Pitt running back Dion Lewis, 5'8"/185, hailing from Albany, NY. and attended Blair Academy in NJ. Definite Heisman candidate if he has similar or better season than 2009 season. Next back is 5'8"/177 explosive tailback at West Virginia named Noel Devine. Devine is from N. Fort Myers, FL HS and was thought to possibly be an undersized running back at a BCS school but he has proved the experts wrong. You give Noel Devine a small crease and he explodes through a hole like he was shot out of a cannon. In the NFL he should return kicks and punts and be solid on a team with a nice array of running backs. He runs downhill and is a tough guy who will throw a block. Comparison to Chargers Darren Sproles. If Noel Devine has a great year, he will be considered a Heisman candidate. And last is a local product from Pittsburgh Central Catholic Eugene Jarvis of Kent State. Kent State is 100 miles from Pittsburgh on 76 West toward Akron. Jarvis lacks recognition. Eugene Jarvis is 5'5"/170 but this guy can play. He was granted a 6th season by the NCAA due to a serious injury early in the 2009 campaign. He darts around the field in an orderly fashion changing direction with ease. He is hard to find behind Kent State's line. He also can catch the ball and is dangerous as a receiver out of the backfield. During the 2007 season, he led the entire nation in rushing for a 4 week period and ended up with 1669 yards on the ground. He is worth the trip to see. As you can observe all 3 of these backs are not big people but they play very big with their explosive style running game and their athletic skills and their football passion and toughness.

Mecca of Coaches

For a region of the United States from Erie over to Johnstown and down to Uniontown and inclusive of Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania has become a cradle of football coaches. This area has a population of approximately 4Million people. That is no comparison to the state of California which has 38Million+ people. Right now, This region has 3 Head Coaches in the NFL out of the possibility of 32. They are Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis who is from McDonald PA and played at Fort Cherry High School and went on to play collegiately at Idaho State U. Lewis worked his way up from Linebacker coach at Idaho State to Linebacker coach for the Steelers in the early 1990's to Defensive coordinator of the Redskins to Head Coach of the Bengals. Ironically, Coach Marty Schottenheimer was Head Coach of the Chargers when Marvin Lewis was head coach of the Bengals and they both are from McDonald, PA. The chances of 2 out of 32 Head NFL coaches being from McDonald, PA is almost unheard of but it happened and what a tribute to the town west of Pittsburgh. Next is K.C. Chiefs Head Coach Todd Haley who is from the Upper St. Clair part of Pittsburgh. Todd was a golfer at Upper St.Clair HS but was always around his father Dick Haley who was an NFL Player Personal guy and was director of Player Personal for the Steelers when Todd was growing up. An unbelievable irony to this is that Dick Haley was also born and raised in McDonald, PA. Haley worked his way up in the NFL rapidly and landed in Kansas City last season. Last is Green Bay's Head Coach Mike McCarthy who is from the Greenfield part of Pittsburgh. Mike McCarthy attended Bishop Boyle in Homestead which no longer is in existence. Later he went to an NAIA school in Kansas named Baker University where he played TE. Then followed along with super hard work a meteoric rise for home grown Mike McCarthy from Fort Hays State to Pitt to Offensive Coordinator of the Saints and 49ers then Head Coach of the Packers. What is it for a region of 4 million people to produce so many Head NFL Coaches. The list goes on and on with the likes of Mike Ditka, Jim Haslett, Bill Cowher, Frank Ganz, Dave Wannstedt, Chuck Knox, and I am sure there are many more. There is a great love of the game of football in the Western PA. region.

Early Signing Period

A couple of days ago, I discussed Pitt receiving early verbal commitments from 2 real good prospects from the Eastern Pennsylvania region. Pitt has received a multitude of verbal commitments up to this point. Some schools like Texas and even Ohio State are just about finished their recruiting on the Class of 2011 prior to the players even playing a single down during their senior campaigns. The recruitment is early and furious. The big time collegiate programs want to know who the top Sophomores are before they compete in their Junior year. Therefore, in my humble opinion, an early signing period should be instituted for college football. Basketball has it sometime in November and it lasts for one week. If the prospects signs during that period, it is a national letter of intent. The player is committed to that institution. The same should be done for football. An early signing period should be employed. I am not versed enough to choose the one week period, but it should fall somewhere prior to the beginning of high school football practice. If the high school player signs during that period, then he is bound to the institution he signed with. In football, there is a noticeable amount of high school players that verbally commit, then de-commit and verbally commit to another school. Signing early eliminates this and will actually open up more doors for the prospects that did not sign early. What I cannot figure out is how the rules and regulations of the NCAA allow basketball players to have an early signing period but this does not apply for football. There needs to be consistency.

50 Million Dollar Man

It is here! Football finally made it to the scene. The Pirates are 30 games under .500 and probably on the way to losing 100 games. What I am stunned at is the amount of guaranteed money the St. Louis Rams gave First pick in the 2010 draft QB Sam Bradford. Bradford received a whopping 50Million in guaranteed money. Sam Bradford 9 months ago injured his shoulder on his throwing arm and missed the balance of the season for the Oklahoma Sooners. To Bradford's credit, he worked hard to get back in throwing shape and he performed well at the Combine, his pro day, and in his personal workouts. But 50Million dollars for an untested rookie. This is getting totally out of hand. Look at the Bengals selection in the 2009 draft OT Andre Smith from Alabama who was the 6th overall choice. Smith has a weight clause with the Bengals but still ballooned up to 370 pounds with his 6'4" frame. Also, Smith has an ankle problem that is keeping him from camp participation. He received a large amount of guaranteed money. After watching Andre Smith play for the Crimson Tide, I felt he was more a Guard rather than a Tackle. Speed rushers were too quick for him in pass protection. Smith is a good run blocker, and has the strength and leverage in his body to turn defenders. Playing guard is where he belongs if he ever plays. Switching to Bradford, I like his release, I like his accuracy, his arm strength is nice, but Sam Bradford needs to build up his body. The quarterbacks in the NFL can really take a pounding. Look at Lions #1 overall selection Matt Stafford from Georgia. He really took a beating during the 2009 season. I am looking at the first choice in the 2011 draft to get upwards of 55Million guaranteed dollars. A rookie salary cap is needed and the NFL should start funneling the money to veterans that have had productive careers.