WTF Mike Silver says we are the 28th best team in the NFL

[Mr. Arrowhead]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--po...GVzdAM-;_ylv=3

1. New York Giants: Is general manager Jerry Reese trying to get disgruntled defensive end Osi Umenyiora to snap?

2. New England Patriots: If Bill Belichick pulled off a trade in which he managed to swap picks with himself, would his reputation for masterful maneuvering reach an unprecedented plateau?

[ Dan Wetzel: Pats move up twice during first round in a dramatic shift in strategy ]

3. Green Bay Packers: Yo, Ted Thompson, feeling a bit defensive – and does having a 28-year-old superstar quarterback impact your thinking much?

4. Baltimore Ravens: When second-round draft pick Courtney Upshaw lines up across from new teammate Michael Oher in training camp, will their biological and surrogate parents be there to cheer them on?

5. San Francisco 49ers: How happy is Jim Harbaugh that the Niners drafted a receiver whose high school nickname was "E.T." and not "Edward Scissorhands"?

6. Houston Texans: With the drafting of Wade Phillips' newest pass-rushing toy, will the Texans' defense be Mercilus in 2012?

7. Pittsburgh Steelers: Got beef?

[ Les Carpenter: Draft picks spend more time in Radio City than anticipated ]

8. Detroit Lions: If the decision-makers in the Lions' war room "listened to our board" and started speaking in Matt Millen's voice, would the team's medical staff pass out handfuls of clozapine?

9. Atlanta Falcons: Hey, Thomas Dimitroff – if second-round pick Peter Konz could play guard and center at the same time, would you have made another Julio Jones-style trade to get him sixth overall?

10. Philadelphia Eagles: After assuring offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg that Philly's plan to use a third-round pick on former Arizona quarterback Nick Foles was "a great one", was Michael Vick tempted to add, "By the way – who's Nick Foles?"

11. New Orleans Saints: When Saints general manager Mickey Loomis called in his third-round pick of Regina defensive tackle Akiem Hicks Friday night, was NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tempted to grab the phone and interject, "Yeah, we know – we've got your war room wiretapped …"

[ Fantasy: A dozen draftees bound to make an immediate fantasy impact ]

12. Denver Broncos: Will Brock Osweiler become the tallest-ever teammate to bend down and polish Peyton Manning's dress shoes before a Quarterbacks' Night Out at training camp?

13. Dallas Cowboys: What was the Wonderlic score of the Dallas Morning News website editor who posted this headline about first-round draft pick "Morrris" Claiborne?

14. New York Jets: Am I the only one who wonders whether, based on their 2011 performance, the Jets should have drafted an offensive lineman before the sixth round?

15. Cincinnati Bengals: After Rutgers receiver Mohamed Sanu got a prank call telling him the Bengals were taking him in the first round Thursday night, shouldn't Redskins tight end Chris Cooley have been considered the prime suspect?

Notre Dame WR Michael Floyd is headed to Arizona. (AP)

16. Arizona Cardinals: If I'd been at Larry Fitzgerald's house for the first round of this year's draft, would he have reacted to the selection of Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd by racing jubilantly through his open-air living room and jumping into the pool?

[Yahoo! Sports Shop: Buy NFL player T-shirts and team gear]

17. San Diego Chargers: After learning that Chargers GM A.J. Smith had called him a "mean, nasty man", shouldn't first-round pick Melvin Ingram have extended his hand and retorted, "Pot, meet kettle"?

18. Carolina Panthers: How crazy is it that this year's No. 1 pick, Boston College middle linebacker Luke Kuechly, is smaller than last year's No. 1, quarterback Cam Newton?

19. Buffalo Bills: When general manager Buddy Nix described the Bills as "riverboat gamblers" after trading up to get North Carolina State wideout T.J. Graham in the third round, why did I immediately picture this body of water?

20. Chicago Bears: Will the new receiving tandem of Brandon Marshall and second-round pick Alshon Jeffery cause more havoc in opposing secondaries, or in the Bears' locker room?

21. Washington Redskins: When the 'Skins released quarterback John Beck on Saturday, was he humming my altered-lyric version of this iconic '90s tune from his alt-rock namesake?

22. St. Louis Rams: In an effort to help veteran Cortland Finnegan mentor newly drafted cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson, will coach Jeff Fisher provide the former Titans standout with a Taser gun?

[ Rams' war room: Roll dice on Janoris Jenkin | Select next T.O. ]

23. Tennessee Titans: After NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock described second-round pick Zach Brown as "allergic to contact", how awesome would it have been to see Brown fly across the set at Radio City Music Hall, slam Mayock into the orchestra pit and yell "Gesundheit"?

24. Seattle Seahawks: What's more surprising – that Pete Carroll and Jon Schneider drafted a quarterback in the third round, or that Wisconsin's Russell Wilson is the team's highest-drafted passer in nearly two decades?

25. Oakland Raiders: How disconcerting is it that post-Al Davis Raiders are resolutely boring on draft day, and can't new GM Reggie McKenzie just indulge us with one ultra-swift, lowly regarded "reach" pick per year?

26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: If the Muscle Hamster runs wild at Raymond James Stadium, will they put a large, spinning wheel next to the pirate ship in Doug Martin's honor?

27. Cleveland Browns: As of Thursday night, is Colt McCoy nostalgic for a little one-on-one time with Brian Daboll?

28. Kansas City Chiefs: Do Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel seem overly optimistic in their assessment of the Chiefs' talent level – or am I just so pessimistic about K.C.'s quarterback situation that it completely clouds my thinking?

29. Jacksonville Jaguars: To realize value as the 70th overall pick, would Bryan Anger have to figure out a way to get footballs to explode upon making contact with a punt returner?

30. Minnesota Vikings: Yo, Matt Kalil – while proclaiming how much more Minnesota than California you are, were you neglecting to account for the possibility that the team which drafted you might soon be West Coast-bound?

31. Miami Dolphins: Does Jeff Irleand's latest rebuilding project involve replacing his best player – and, if so, why do I sense another protest brewing?

[ Jason Cole: Colts use Day 2 of draft to get Andrew Luck weapons in form of 2 TEs and a WR ]

32. Indianapolis Colts: Now that former Stanford tight end Coby Fleener has successfully convinced an NFL team he was worthy of being selected with the 34th overall pick, will he grow his hair out and lose the whole Rob Gronkowski impersonation bit?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Dead wrong. He's developed it.

Carr, Flowers, Dorsey -- all took massive steps forward under the coaches that Pioli's hired.

If you want to take one of those players away from me, claiming they were already going to be that good, I'll give you Flowers, and that's it.

Carr became a #1 corner, and Dorsey became an elite run stopper at the DE position. And we took several players who were underperforming for multiple years before Pioli arrived -- Bowe, Hali, Johnson -- and turned them into All Pros and Pro Bowlers.

Either everybody just coincidentally hit their stride at the same exact moment, or Herm and Carl's talent development was somewhere near terrible, whereas Pioli's has been adequate to great.

Carr and Flowers were developing extremely well as rookies. And Carr damn near got demolished by Haley when he arrived; he got knocked backwards by the coaching staff, IMO. Dorsey's skill-set is nowhere near worth the #5 overall pick yet many were arguing we got the steal of the first round when he slipped to us in the 1st the year we took him. Dorsey was an elite talent coming out of school that has become nothing more than a throw-away lunch-pail player that absolutely needs to be upgraded.

Bowe, and Johnson were all well on their way to being good players until Haley came in and shit all over them in 2009. So yeah, compared to what Haley turned them into in 2009, they were gangbusters in 2010. They'd have been just as well off under adequate coaching from damn near anyone. Pioli gets credit for Bowe....that just cracks me up.

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by Guru

Hell, thats optimistic.

How is 8 wins optimistic when they won 7 last season with all the injuries?

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

You can't blame Pioli when prospects don't turn out -- then refuse to credit him when they do.

His coaches, his successes and failures.



You're wrong, bud.

Berry, McCluster, Arenas, Asamoah, Moeaki, Lewis?

You can quibble about the values each was taken at, and I'm on record agreeing with you. But we got solid starters at RG and FS and NCB, added a potential Pro Bowler in Moeaki, an All Pro in Berry, and McCluster, whom nobody really has any idea what to do with him.

I understand the hate on the value of some of the players, as well as McCluster. But we got a haul from that draft, which is better than something like 95% of the teams do in every draft.

Potential Pro Bowler in Moeaki...

Holy shit, that's rich.

I guess it's possible there's a year in which Gronkowski, Hernandez, Gates and Keller all die...

And Moeaki actually stays healthy.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by Dave

How is 8 wins optimistic when they won 7 last season with all the injuries?

[BigMeatballDave]

My only beef with Pioli is the QB position.

You can't keep failing at that position.

It sickens me to think how good this team could be with a solid QB.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Potential Pro Bowler in Moeaki...

Holy shit, that's rich.

I guess it's possible there's a year in which Gradkowski, Hernandez, Gates and Keller all die...

And Moeaki actually stays healthy.

Bruce Gradkowski is NOT going to make the Pro Bowl.

[keg in kc]

Pioli actually should get some credit for Dorsey and Hali. He could have looked at the two of them and said "they don't fit what I want to do" and sent them packing. Lord knows a lot of people here wanted (and some still want in Dorsey's case) to do it.

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Well done, Capt. Obvious

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Dave

Haters gotta hate.

You cant be so blind in your hate to say this team would not compete for SB with a good QB.

Originally Posted by Dave

I mentioned the hate in an earlier post, tongue-in-cheek.

Of course he ran with it like a 12 yr old. LOL

Wow, how could I possibly have missed how this was a "tongue in cheek" comment?

Nice backpedal.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Bruce Gradkowski is NOT going to make the Pro Bowl.

Well played, sir.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Potential Pro Bowler in Moeaki...

Holy shit, that's rich.

I guess it's possible there's a year in which Gradkowski, Hernandez, Gates and Keller all die...

And Moeaki actually stays healthy.

When you want to dive back into discussion, rather than fire off drive-bys, we've got a thread here you can use.

Moeaki has Pro Bowl upside, with a really good quarterback a 70-80 catch season isn't terribly unlikely.

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Wow, how could I possibly have missed how this was a "tongue in cheek" comment?

Nice backpedal.

LOL When is the phrase "Haters gotta hate" a serious comment?

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

When you want to dive back into discussion, rather than fire off drive-bys, we've got a thread here you can use.

Moeaki has Pro Bowl upside, with a really good quarterback a 70-80 catch season isn't terribly unlikely.

Say stupid shit, get called on it.

He's the 4th best TE in his draft class, much less the league.

When he's actually playing, that is.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

When you want to dive back into discussion, rather than fire off drive-bys, we've got a thread here you can use.

Moeaki has Pro Bowl upside, with a really good quarterback a 70-80 catch season isn't terribly unlikely.

You can't keep saying "possible" while ignoring the fact that the only reason anyone worried about that pick was his injury risk.

He's injury prone - period. He was injury prone in college and now he's straining his body even harder to compete with larger, faster men then ever before. He's being hit by guys that hit harder than ever. He's not going to suddenly escape the injury issues.

He's always going to be an injury risk. Even if he gives you a healthy season, can you truly count on him for the following season? Can you ever truly build an offense with him identified as a critical contributor?

I just don't see it. He's an injury risk that's been injured as a professional. He has the potential to do great things in this league...just as he did going into the draft. But alas, the dude can't stay on the field and if you can't rely on the guy, what good is he?

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Dave

LOL When is the phrase "Haters gotta hate" a serious comment?

Since when is the phrase, "you cant be so blind in your hate to say this team would not compete for SB with a good QB" not a serious comment?