NFL 2006 Preview

[BCWWF]

I made this post in the other topic, and that post wasn't at all about football, and I figured that this is just too damn good of a read to let sit alone. You guys can hold me to anything that I say in this thread, as I think it covers every little detail possible in the preseason.

1. The original No. 1 was not applicable to this thread, so I changed it.

2. The Vikings offense will definately be a lot different. I think there is way too much pressure being put on Nate Burleson, to be the No. 1 reciever, and I guess Marcus Robinson is supposed to have a big role too now. I have heard some good things about Williamson in mini-camp so far though, like one of the first days he burned Smoot down the sideline for an 80 yard catch, so hopefully he can add some spark. I'm not sure what to expect, I'd never heard of him until the draft coverage started up.

3. I don't know if anybody saw, but Onterrio Smith, aka Steal of the Draft 2003, was caught at an airport security site with a "Whizzinator". I am pretty sure this is the system where you put a sack of piss up your ass and a little tube goes under your dick so you can pass drug tests. Anyway, he had drug problems in college (which is why he fell to the third round to begin with) and already had at least one marijuana suspension in his two years in the NFL. He will be done for the season if he is convicted here. Personally, I think he should be sent out right now. We got rid of Moss, this guy is worse, and we don't need him. He is our No. 2 running back right now, behind Michael Bennett, but our RB situation is really messed up as it is.

Bennett is pretty much our main guy (first round 2002 I think). He went for 1200 yards his second year, but the last two have been injury prone. Onterrio played a big role last year, playing first string some games, and has potential to be a No. 1 somewhere, potentially here if he is kept. Mewelde Moore is Alphabeans hero, and the games where he saw a lot of action (Bennett injured, Onterrio suspended) he went over 100 yards and caught the ball well too, but there are concerns about his stability. Finally, we drafted a new running back (weird name, Florida, third or fourth round) who supposively has some talent.

So right now there are five running backs who are all good. Moe Williams will still be around, he is the third down back and can do his thing, but he's 31 now. Mewelde will probably still play in the reserve role, but that leaves us with two more guys who are about equal with him, and we need to move one. It used to be Bennett, but after this I think it will be SOD, so I don't care if its for a sixth round DP, Smith has to be gone. Our running backs couldn't get the groove going last year because Tice decided to start a new one each week. We need Bennett to be ready every week, and he will be good.

Our running game is going to have to be a much bigger part of the team this year without Moss, and it arguably should have been a bigger part last year. The backs we have are definately capable, but now we need to use them right, and its not going to work on a rotation.

4. Unfortunately for the Packers, this shouldn't be their year. All they did was lose in the offseason. Brett Favre loses another year and is drawn further away from football (wife has cancer), lose starting safety to what is already is weak defense (to Minnesota of all teams), Ahman Green had a bit of an off year last season, and now he is having trouble with the law, and now their pro bowl reciever is holding out for a bigger contract, and Favre is telling the Packers that he is a douche and that they can win without him so not to give in. He was a big part in last year, he made it OK for Ahman not to have the career year that he was expected to.

Personally, I think that the Lions could be the No. 2 and possibly a playoff team in the NFC North. I don't know where I heard it (might have been here), but somebody said "Portland passed on Michael Jordan because they wanted a big man" in reference to Detroit taking Mike Williams. I think that is a great analogy, and the offense could really turn out well for them, and it will give defenses fits if all three of them stay healthy this year. Then they got Shaun Cody in the second round, who was expected to go pretty high in the first. Then I'm not going to count out the Bears because I think Cedrid Benson could be huge over there, and now they definately have the weapons on offense to win some games, as well as a solid defense.

The Packers really just didn't do anything to make their team better this year, and frankly they won the NFC North last year because Moss' injury helped the Vikings choke away some easy wins. The Packers weren't that strong last year and Favre was showing his age, and this year they are even weaker. The whole Aaron Rodgers thing is two sided. In one way, you want the Packers to add somebody to impact things and help Favre in his last year, but in the other side here is a guy who potentially could have gone first overall, and you have a quarterback with one, maybe two years left. I think the Pack made the right decision there, but could have been smarter in the second and third as well as in free agency.

I won't completely count the Pack out this year though, I did last year before I was reminded just how good Brett Favre can really be. They started out horrible and then came roaring back, so until I see the L's piling up next year, I won't say there isn't a chance.

5. The Vikings are a legit Super Bowl contender this season, you're hearing it right now. They could have been last season, but the young players on defense (and some veterans) blew it all away for them (Hovan, Dontarrius, Kenichi, Mixon, Russell, etc). What makes me confident that they are at least the second best team, if not the first, in the NFC, is that they should have a top defense this year, and it isn't all based around young players growing up.

Last year while healthy, Winfield was one of the top CB's in the league and easilly a pro bowl caliber player if he was healthy. The rest of the secondary frankly stunk, but now that is different. Corey Chavous, one of the smartest players around, is back at safety, and then they added another lights out corner in Fred Smoot and a very good safety in Sharper. Our third down backs will be guys who started last year for us, so I think we should have one of the top secondaries in the league. Then, the defensive line should also be one of the top in the league. All-pro Kevin Williams is back, and this year he will have better help. Last season Hovan hit the wall and was benched so he was playing alongside a rookie, Kenichi was essentially playing with one arm, and Mixon was out with a DWI and bad for the rest of the year. It should have been a great line but instead was just average. This year, Kenichi should be healthy, and if so he has a lot of potential (fell to middle of first round in 2004 draft because of the injury questions though). Then you have the new addition of Pat Williams in the center. Williams may not be all that great, but he can do the same thing that Warren Sapp and Tony Siragussa did, take up space and let the other guys get through. Kevin Williams will be next to him in the DT position, and then on the outside will likely be first round DP Erasmus James. I wanted to Pollack, but like Erasmus too. There is also the speedy Lance Johnstone available for the outside too. Then you can't forget CJ Mosley, the Mizzou tackle they got in the sixth who was expected to go 2nd or 3rd.

The biggest question mark though, and maybe the most important, is in LB. This was by far our weakest area last year, and we lost our only good guy to the Rams (Chris Claiborne). In the Moss trade, we got former first rounder Napolean Harris, who besides having a sweet name sounds like he could be pretty good as well. He is real confident coming into camp and is the self-proclaimed hardest hitter in the league. He will be on the strong side, then new addition Sam Coward (from the Jets in the sixth) will take the place of EJ Henderson at MLB. EJ next panned out well, and I think Cowart will be an upgrade. He sounds like he is a smart player, and that is what we need on defense. We used to have Greg Biekert, arguably the smartest MLB in the league, but not the most talented, and he did well leading the troops. Hopefully Cowart can do the same. On the weak side is our only real question mark, and that is will Outlaws Dontarrius Thomas come through. Him and EJ are both young and have loads of potential, but to this point neither have delivered. In Dontarrius comes into the season with better awareness then last year, I see big things for him.

Then you add that much improved defense to the second best offense in the league last season, second only to the record breakers over in Indianapolis. Yes, I am aware that Moss is gone now, and like I said so much during the time of the trade, he shouldn't be traded because he has more impact then any other player in the game. In a way I still wish we had him, but after the improvements to our defense it really cancels part of that out. I haven't looked at the numbers, but if we could have kept Moss while still getting Smoot, Sharper, Williams, Cowart and resigned Claiborne But thats not the case so I will move on.

I think we will be alright without Moss. With him last season, we were arguably the best in the NFC behind Philly, without him we lost a bunch of bad games. The reason for that is because our defense sucked and I can think of at least three games where the other team won in the final drive. That will be different with the new defense, we won't be based on simply outscoring our opponents anymore.

With that said, I think Williamson will be a good pick. I don't expect him to have nearly the impact Moss had in his first year, but I think that he will make some plays and on occasion make a real good play, and that will do just enough to keep the running backs alive. Then we have Duante, a pro bowl quarterback who was unbelievable last year but was just overshadowed by Payton Manning for obvious reasons. Remember who it was that was supposed to break Marinos record after week three? It was Daunte. Then Moss got injured, yada yada yada, slump, crash bang, but Duante still had good numbers, which leads me to believe that he is capable of making things happen with the new No. 1 Burleson as well as Robinson and Williamson.

Finally, the running game is still there. The three guys combined last year were right up with the Tomlinson and Alexander last year, but because only one played per game none of them had impressive stat lines at all. This year, with one of them starting full time, I don't think they will be a Tomlinson or Alexander, but they will at least serve as a useful weapon in the now much more balanced offense.

There are still two big question marks left over from last year though, and at least one could provide for a dissapointment (which for me would be anything less then the NFC Title game). No. 1 is coaching. Mike Tice is back because he is the cheapest coach on the market, and nobody knows if he is capable of winning yet. He has shown some studder steps in his first two years. Then we had a good O-cordinator in Linnehan, but he moved away to the Dolphins and now our old O-Line coach took over (again cheapness). I worry about him for two reasons, 1. Tice was our former O-line coach and 2. his last name is Loney. That just sounds dangerous. I would say that I am scared because I've never heard of him, but then again I'd never heard of Tice Denny Green was on the rocks either. No. 2 is special teams. We let Gary Anderson retire a few years ago and suffered through Doug Brien (singlehandedly lost two games in 2002) and Aaron Elling. Morton Anderson is a great guy to fall back on, he did everything asked for last year, but as far as I know the Vikings are looking to bring in Elling instead of bringing Morten back. Dunno about that. Then its not just the kicking, the coverage was awful out there too. I am hoping that the new depth to the defense can help some of the guys replaced (Shaw, Henderson, Brian Williams, etc) get better out there. Don't know though. On the good side, apparently our punter has had a good NFL Europe season, so he should outdo the choke that was Darren Bennett last year.

I think that when all is said and done, the Vikings have less question marks then they did last year, and that they should easily be the second best team in the league, if not the best. Philly is completely up in the air with me right now, but I still expect them to be the top team right now. Atlanta is the other serious team in the NFC, but like I said so much last year I think they were a fluke. Their division turned out to be awful (Carolina sucked early on, same with New Orleans) and they had one of the biggest cupcake schedules in the league, even in the playoffs where they got St. Louis, who barely stumbled into the weak NFC tables. I'm not saying they were bad, but I think the Vikings could have beaten them in the playoffs, and I think there record was decieving. This year they got better with Roddy White, and I think they will be a legit top team now, but I'd assume that Carolina is back to normal and New Orleans finished hot too, so who knows.

NFC Predictions:
Philadelphia**
Minnesota**
Atlanta**
St. Louis**
Carolina*
Dallas*
Detroit
Seattle
NY Giants
Arizona
Green Bay
Chicago
New Orleans
Tampa Bay
San Francisco
Washington

** = Division Winner
* = Playoff team

5. Taste it