NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Donovan McNabb's situation is an interesting one. After helping coach Andy Reid deliver the best decade of professional football the city has ever seen, McNabb is currently viewed by many to be "on the wrong side of 30,"  "inconsistent," and in a situation where the backup QB's Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick can step in and do his job just fine.  Rumor has it that everyone from the Oakland Raiders to the Carolina Panthers to the St Louis Rams are interested in acquiring McNabb from the Eagles, and why wouldn't they be?

Look at the man's resume with Philly: [via]

The Eagles have made the playoffs in eight of his 10 years as a starter.

The Eagles, under McNabb, have won six NFC East titles since 2000.

The Eagles, under McNabb, have played in five NFC Championship games with one Super Bowl berth since 2001.

McNabb has a career record of 101-56-1, good enough for a .643 winning percentage. He's third behind Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in the last ten years.

The Eagles have suffered only two losing seasons since 1999, the year McNabb was drafted.

When was there a time in Eagles history when they won like this?

Never. Not even back in the days of Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren.

Donny's stock is currently at a premium, there is no doubt that other teams around the league that need a steadier hand at QB should be panting at the thought of McNabb joining their offense.  The Rams, Raiders, Panthers — yes. But what about Washington? The great Deion Sanders who played one season with the Redskins earlier last decade always said that if you're going to change teams, why not head to your former rivals'?  That's exactly what he did when he jumped ship in Dallas and was swept up by Dan Snyder.  Sanders had a few interceptions that year, but chose to retire after that one season.

Back to McNabb now — it's interesting to think that the only team in the NFC East that would be able to offer McNabb a starting position out of the gate would be Washington.  Eli Manning is the franchise player in NY, Tony Romo isn't going anywhere in Dallas, and if the Philly front office chooses to deal McNabb anywhere you can be damn sure they would NOT want him coming to DC.  Why not?

Because Donovan McNabb is the only reason the Eagles have been able to stay out of the bottom of the NFC East, that's why. His mobility, his downfield vision — the past few seasons McNabb has truly been able to elude the type of pressure that other teams and other quarterbacks have not been able to avoid.   The Eagles offense in fact is built on McNabb's ability to step up in the pocket while keeping his eyes fixed downfield, and if there's nothing setup in the flats or out deep he can take off and pickup significant yardage that way.  McNabb is as elusive and dangerous a weapon as he has ever been — and his touch seems to have only improved with age.

In 2008 it was the reason the Eagles advanced past the Giants in the second round of the playoffs, even before Arizona.  And the next week – it was McNabb's comeback that made up for Philadelphia's highly touted but blown apart defense led by Brain Dawkins at the hands of Arizona.

In 2009 – McNabb is the reason Philadelphia didn't succumb to the Redskins and the Giants. But he clearly was off his game against Dallas. In fact — this may be the very reason he is rumored to be on the block — those 3 losses to Dallas and a sub par offensive performance may just be the leading reason these rumors abound… especially when Michael Vick was able to come in for one play and drop a bomb to Jeremy Maclin for a touchdown when McNabb couldn't.  Yes – in 2009 down the stretch when it mattered — McNabb's play should and does come under fire. After 10 years of stellar play, a shutout at the hands of Dallas followed by another playoff loss to their most hated NFC East rival leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

That right there may be what's really behind this mess. NOT the wrong side of 30 stuff, NOT the lack of Superbowl victories – the two back to back ass handlings delivered by Dallas to close out the season.

On the other hand, I think what's truly keeping McNabb in Philadelphia these past couple of seasons is the thought that if the Eagles lose McNabb — they would find themselves at the bottom of the NFC East and you CAN NOT make the playoffs that way.   Dallas, Washington, and New York all look that more dangerous if McNabb the wild card is out of the picture. Are you willing to gamble away your divisional wins by trading the player that most accounts for them? Especially when it comes to the Redskins?

And there it is, the final glimmer of truth. The dread of accumulating 6 losses — all to division rivals… because you traded the guy who knew what it took to win those games, and consistently delivered over the past decade. That above all else is what's really keeping McNabb in an Eagles uniform… fear.

Somehow, the Redskins' dire situation at running back just turned into a major strength built on the shoulders of tried and true veterans.  Yes, former Steeler Willie Parker just inked a deal with the Redskins worth upwards of $3 Million for one year.

Via the Post:

Parker is a six-year veteran who topped 1,000 yards from 2005-07, twice reaching the Pro Bowl. He began last season as the Steelers' starting running back but lost his job to Rashard Mendenhall after suffering a case of turf toe. Parker visited the Redskins last month but didn't agree to a deal until Friday.

The Redskins won't be lacking in experience in the backfield. Parker is 29 years old, Portis 28 and Johnson 30.

I almost can't believe this move.  The Redskins are all of a sudden vying for the premier 3-headed rushing attack in the NFC East with the likes of Portis, Johnson, and Parker. There goes the prospect of Washington drafting a star running back — and clearly the Offensive Line is going to need to be the main focus of the draft if Shanahan's zone blocking scheme is expected to take any sort of shape.  With this kind of depth in the backfield — I wouldn't be surprised if the Redskins ended up with dual 1,000 yard rushers in 2010.

Say what you want about the Johnson signing — now that Parker is on board there is no denying the Redskins are going to try and completely dominate the line of scrimmage and cram the ball down their opponents throats and wear out the defense. Hear that sound?  It's the unmistakable sound of the train getting back on track.

All aboard!

Finally Josh McDaniels has done something that makes sense, and while the jury remains out on whether Brady Quinn is a bust or not, I have to admit I love this move. McDaniels, seeing the glaring weakness the Broncos had this past season at backup quarterback, has brought in the smart and athletic yet unproven and often shaky looking Quinn.

Quinn, although thought to be picked much higher, was drafted 22nd overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2007 NFL Draft. In what seemed to be a perfect fit for the Ohio native Quinn, the Browns would never really hand the keys to Quinn and let him lead them, and while looking good at times he found himself in a constant starting battle with QB Derick Anderson. Last season was especially hard for Quinn as the Browns traded TE Kellen Winslow prior to the start of the season and then traded WR Braylon Edwards as the trade deadline approached mid-season. With no receiving threats and a poor pass blocking offensive line, Quinn knew he was doomed to fail.

Quinn will enter training camp as the clear #2 behind incumbent Kyle Orton, who played solid yet unspectacular in '09 and is no stranger to battle for the starting position himself. At only 25 years old and a talented offensive group to play with, Quinn has to be excited about this opportunity ahead of him in Denver.

Some fans were a little miffed that McDaniels let go of RB Peyton Hillis but it became quite obvious that this new offensive system has no use for Hillis's skills and there was also obvious friction between the two ever since the start of last year's training camp. If you're a real Peyton Hillis fan, which I am, you have to be happy that he's going to a place where he will be valued.

Per Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel, the Dolphins and ex Oklahoma State star wide receiver Dez Bryant are set to meet this weekend in a "get to know you" meet and greet.

The Miami Dolphins met with Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant on Thursday night in "a get to know you session" that will carry over until Friday, according to league sources…

…Bryant's sit-down with the Dolphins allowed him to state his case. He has a meeting with Parcells scheduled for Friday. Last season, the Dolphins sat down with Patrick Turner and Brian Hartline in a similar setting before selecting those two receivers in the 2009 draft.

The Dolphins have been known to stand clear of "diva" receivers like Bryant, but they are apparently allowing him to come in and state his case, and let him make a good first impression.

Could Bryant be the Dolphins #1 overall pick in this years draft?

I would love to learn more on how this visit is going, and whether or not the Dolphins are actually interested in taking Bryant or not.

Bryant does show some appeal to the Fins, especially since he has been coming out and talking to the media the past couple of days, and him completing his Pro-Day this week. The Dolphins like a player to have a chip on his shoulder, and that is something that Bryant has at this point. Dez has already foreseen himself dropping in the draft, and with a non-eye-popping Pro-Day in the books, Bryant is going to have to show something special to the Dolphins to make them want to take him at #12.

In the past couple of weeks, I was almost certain that the Fins would go defense with their #1 pick, but do they feel that their offense is only a true #1 receiver away from being one of the more explosive offenses in the NFL?

With some of the prospects that the Dolphins are taking a look at, not really being true #12 overall caliber, perhaps the Fins trade down a few spots, and still nab their guy. If Bryant is indeed sliding down teams draft boards, the Dolphins could see some potential in trading down to garner more picks, to fill up all of the holes that still remain on the team.

While there are as many as a dozen positions on the roster that can be considered positions of need on some level, the Bengals go into the 2010 draft with no one glaring hole on their roster.

This frees the Bengals up to go a number of directions on draft day and makes mock drafts frustrating to map out, especially for someone like me who has correctly projected the position Cincinnati would draft in round one four of the last five years and correctly guessed the player they would take in three of those years.

To help clear things up and break down what the board may look like when the 21^st pick comes up, I looked at all of the mocks listed on Bengals.com's draft central, including the Bengals.com mock, and saw that I'm not the only one having trouble deciding which way the Bengals will go. As of April 1, the 15 mock drafts had the Bengals selecting 10 different players at six different positions – not exactly numbers that give a definitive direction.

You can, however, see what the board may look like when the Bengals come up. There were 13 players that at least 85 percent of the mocks had gone before the Bengals selected. Noting this, we can assume Eric Berry, Sam Bradford, Bryan Bulaga, Jimmy Clausen, Joe Haden, Rolando McClain, Gerald McCoy, Derrick Morgan, Jason Pierre-Paul, Russell Okung, Ndamukong Suh, Dan Williams and Trent Williams will all be long gone before the Bengals pick.

Four others – Dez Bryant, Brandon Graham, Mike Iupati and CJ Spiller – were each selected before No. 21 in more than half of the mock drafts.  All but Spiller would be options for the Bengals at No. 21 if they were to fall.

That gives a total of 17 players who should be gone by No. 21 meaning the Bengals' first round big board will need a maximum of four players not mentioned above go guarantee they (and us mocksters) are ready for their pick.  Their board may look like this:

1. Earl Thomas, S, Texas. Thomas gives the Bengals the safety with cornerback skills they covet. With his draft stock shooting upward, however, it would be a surprise to see him available when the Bengals turn comes.

2. Sergio Kindle, LB, Texas. While the Bengals have a solid four-man rotation at linebacker right now with Rivers, Jones, Maualuga and Johnson, Kindle brings the blitzing ability Marvin Lewis and Mike Zimmer covet. If Earl Thomas is gone and Kindle is available, don't be surprised to see the Bengals take this falling top-15 talent.

3. Taylor Mays, S, USC. Mays would have been Top 10 pick had he come out a year ago. This year's safety class is more talented, and Mays hurt his cause with some poor showings in pass coverage last year.

4. Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma. Cincinnati has not had an effective target at the tight end position in nearly two decades. While durability is a concern with Gresham, and other tight end prospects, the window for success won't be open forever and even help for a few years could be huge for the Bengals.

Other names like receivers Demaryius Thomas and Golden Tate or d-lineman Carlos Dunlap and Brian Price may come into the discussion. But if the draft were today, one of the 21 players listed above would probably be the Bengals' pick.

In a move about as climactic as the ending of a romantic comedy starring Matthew McConaughey, the Bears jettisoned DE Alex Brown after 8 years. The move means Brown is a free agent able to sign with any team he chooses. The Bears attempted to trade him in the hopes of getting something in return for the former Pro Bowl alternate; but with the $10+ million he was due over the next 2 years, it was unlikely any team would agree to those terms AND part with a draft pick or player.

Brown finishes his Bears career as the 4th leading sack artist in franchise history, behind Dent, McMichael and Hampton. (On a side note, how crazy is it that the top 3 sackmen in Bears history all played on the same defensive line? How the mid '80s Bears didn't manage to win another Lombardi Trophy is beyond me. But that's another post for another time…).

Brown bid sayonara to Bears fans via Twitter earlier this week when he proclaimed "I am extremely grateful for my time as a Chicago Bear and I wish the Bears the best. I am glad that they gave me an opportunity to realize a dream I had [as] a child. I appreciate the fans but as we all know this is the nature of the business. Bear down!"

In homage to Brown, here are 3 of my all-time favorite, game-changing plays courtesy of #96…

1. 2008 – With the Bears up 24-20 and the Eagles threatening to take the lead late in the game, Brown flew around the end to stop RB Correll Buckhalter on 4^th and 1 from the Bears 1-yard line to help preserve a "W."
2. 2008 –Green Bay lined up for an apparent game-winning 38-yard field goal with only 17 seconds left in the 4^th quarter of a 17-17 game. But Brown blocked Mason Crosby's gimme attempt, sending the game into OT. The Bears eventually won, keeping their playoff hopes alive. Brown also intercepted Aaron Rodgers earlier in the game.
3. 2004 – Brown was part of NFL history in another overtime win, this time against the Titans. For only the 2^nd time in league history, an overtime game ended with a safety. Brown sacked Titans QB Billy Volek in the end zone causing a fumble that was recovered by a Titans lineman in the end zone. Final score: Bears 19, Titans 17.