17 years after the Jets traded up to draft QB Brett Favre (and watched him go one pick earlier) … Broadway Brett.
Snakes In My Pants
Cause, you know, we need more people talking ’bout sports.
Category Archives: NFL
More fun football stats
More fun stats from Football Prospectus:
- The New York Jets threw to the left more often than any other team in 2007.
- The New England Patriots lined up five-wide more than twice as often as any other team in 2007.
- The New York Giants threw one third of their passes to the left, one third to the middle and one third to the right in 2007.
The Packers get some professional help, are preparing to invade Iraq
The Packers have signed a high-profile free agent.
Yes, that Ari Fleischer.
He’s a Middlebury graduate by the way.
So what’s up with that? What could Green Bay possibly need PR help with?
Football sabermetrics: New York, New York — catching (and not) passes from Manning and Pennington
I picked up the Pro Football Prospectus 2008 a couple of weeks ago and have been nibbling from it since. It’s great fun, especially if you enjoy the notion of bringing baseball-style statistical weed-diving to the pro football game. If stats like Defense-Adjusted Yards Above Replacement (DYAR) appeal, this book is for you.
But even if that doesn’t appeal, it’s got an appendix chock full of more digestible but still interesting statistics. I’ll endeavor to share a few over the next few weeks.
For a start how about the quarterbacks who suffered the worst and best rates of dropped passes in 2007:
* Eli Manning’s receivers dropped 49 passes last year, a clip of 9.3 percent, putting him atop the list (minimum 200 passes thrown). Chad Pennington’s receivers dropped eight passes for a clip of 3.1 percent.
More to come.
Patriots add LaMont Jordan to backfield mix
Looks like the Raiders’ actions have resulted in the Patriots getting yet another potential steal. Jordan started out last year with a bang, but his back gave out yet again. This gives the Patriots a talented stable of three very productive, but somewhat brittle, running backs. I like the move.
Posada, Shockey — big moves for NY teams
Jorge Posada is going back on the DL — possibly for the season. Who on the Yankees hasn’t been on the DL this season?
And:
Fantasy football disappointment Jeremy Shockey takes his weird act to a place where they dig weird acts: New Orleans. (Oh and the Jets’ disgruntled Chris Baker is on the physically unable to perform list.) Apparently the Giants also tried to swap him for Jason Taylor.
Coup for the Skins
Looks like the loss of Phillip Daniels caused the Skins to act quickly: Jason Taylor is now a Redskin and all it cost the Washington was a second-round pick in 2009 and a sixth-rounder in 2010. Taylor may be on the downside of a Hall of Fame career, but talk about adding an impact player at little to no cost to the franchise. Looks like Snyder and company have finally traded picks wisely.
Pacman Praying for Imus
On the opposite sites of the intelligence and situational awareness continuum:
Don Imus puts his foot in his mouth again with inappropriate race comments. You can judge this from Imus being a racist to his provided explination. Regardless of what you believe, he handled it poorly.
On the opposite side of the continuum, “Pacman” Adam Bernard Jones has somehow taken the high ground and has said, referring to Imus, “I will pray for him.”
Two years ago The Onion probably could have written the article Jones to pray for Imus. Now its surprisingly real.
And, yes, I am still calling him Pacman. While I’m assuming his new jersey will say A. Jones, his P. Jones jersey and Team Pacman pro wrestling team still are top of mind for me…
Random Helpful Coolness
The Grammar Bitches on this blog (we know who we are!) should enjoy this one: There’s really no nexus here, but I stumbled across this site tonight while trying to find out exactly how many syllables are in Ronnie Belliard’s last name (according to the AP Sports pronunciation guide, 3. according to Mary Stuart Mackey in 1922, only two).
Heh.
When football players are stupid
So the Jets starting tight end, Chris Baker, is holding out from the team’s off-season workouts or somesu
ch; and he might skip mandatory minicamp. Why? Because, he says, the Jets promised him a new contract if he played well. The mind reels at this player’s stupidity.
To be clear, Baker’s 2007 — 41 recs for 409 yards and three TDs, along with solid blocking — was perfectly respectable for a solid tight end. Tony Gonzalez he wasn’t, but he was fine. But holdout-worthy? Baker’s best years came when I was at the controls on Madden football.
The NY Daily News’ Jets blog has a good rundown of the Baker situation in terms of contract history. The notion that the Jets made him any promises seems unlikely — why would they? More likely he saw that Pete Kendall whined and was traded (and got a new contract) and that Lav Coles whined and got a new contract. So he figures if he bellyaches …
But there’s a serious difference between a top-notch offensive lineman or a top wide receiver and a solid-but-unspectacular tight end. (Especially since the Jets wasted a first round pick on a tight end.) Seriously — a mediocre tight end holding out?
I guess it’s not bad work if you can get it.