NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Here is Bruce Allen answering some media questions about the Redskins meeting with Brian Westbrook that occurred Wednesday.  The All-Pro and former Eagle left Washington without a contract.  Via The Post:

"We had a good meeting with him," Allen said. "It was an exploratory meeting, and we'll probably have some meetings down the road."

Allen declined to address Westbrook's health or possible contributions to an NFL roster. He said that he's talked with McNabb about his former teammate, but that the quarterback was not part of Wednesday's meeting. He also discussed Westbrook with McGregor before Wednesday's event began, but with the veteran running back already off to visit Denver, it certainly doesn't sound like anything is imminent with the Redskins.

"He does have good character, and we think he would fit in with a lot of the great characters we have on the team," Allen said. "I talked [to the students] about London Fletcher and Donovan McNabb and the type of leadership that we have with the Redskins. And those are the type of players we want to add to our roster."

With the Redskins backfield stacked the way they have it right now — Portis, Johnson, Parker…. the last thing I'd expect is for them to sign Westbrook.  The biggest upside to Westbrook is his screen abilities, and the way the Eagles have consistently used their backs (essentially as the fourth receiver) is in no way consistent with reports on what Shanahan is looking to exploit with his scheme and the priorities of the running backs involvement.

The Jets and Giants had a Send-off Ceremony for their 2014 Super Bowl bid, and our friend Bobby Blackjack at Talking Football LIVE was there and sent us a few pics!

Tag line: "Make Some History"

Regional Economic Impact: $550 million (est.)

82,500 seats- 65,000 general seating, 10,000 club seating, 3,900 suite seating

For the week of SB events, the NY/NJ area provides unparalleled choices of landmarks for events:

NFL Experience @ the James A. Farley Post Office Building and/or Jacob Javits Center

NFL Tailgate @ the Meadowlands Racetrack & Izod Center

NFL Super Bowl Party @ the American Museum of Natural History or Ellis Island

Super Bowl Saturday Night Concerts @ Liberty State Park

Plus plenty of hotel accommodations (275 world-class hotels with over 100,000 rooms), 40 Broadway theaters, 60 off-Broadway theaters, 100+ museums, 1700 public parks and the ease of transportation with the new Meadowlands Rail Line which drops off fans right at the "front door"

Only stadium in the NFL to provide inherent home field advantage to both teams as its design

BOTH Super Bowl participants have state of the art facilities to practice in (Timex Performance Center & Atlantic Health Training Center i.e. Jets Complex in Florham Park)

According to Joe Reedy, who attended the practice, Pacman Jones looked good in his first OTA as a member of the Bengals.  Reedy reported that he had, "a couple nice pass break-ups" during the session.  In case you are wondering, he wore jersey number 24.

He did not take questions from the media, but did issue the following statement (check out video on Bengals.com here):

"First of all, I want to thank God for putting me in this situation. I want to thank the fans, the media for y'all attention today. I think I still have the skill set that I've had that made me a high draft choice.

"I know I have a ton, ton of work to do. It would be a dream come true to come in and help the Bengals in any way I can, also help win a championship. Like I said, I  know I have a ton of work to do. To gain you guys' trust is not going to come overnight, it's going to take time. So all I can do is take it one day at a time, focus in on the things I've been focusing on, and come play football, man.

"Like I said, I'm happy to be here. I want to thank the city of Cincinnati for giving me and my family a fresh start. I want to thank the guys upstairs, Mr. Brown, I want to thank coach (Marvin Lewis), I want to thank coach (Mike) Zimmer, I want to thank the whole organization. I'm happy to be here and I look forward to talking to you all real soon"

Like him or not, whether you think it was staged and coerced or not, he said all the right things.  Marvin Lewis acknowledged that signing Pacman was a risk, but one he (and the organization) are willing to take:

"So we made a decision to do it. We know the downside of it, but I trust he will resurrect his career with this opportunity and get himself going and have an opportunity to be a productive player here or somewhere else."

Coach Lewis then proceeded to make two points that I had mentioned the other day :

I said: "There is a precedent."

Lewis said: "We heard the same thing with Cedric. We heard the same thing with Larry Johnson," and things worked out. They made the turn and I think in this guy's case the same thing is imminent. I'm excited about that for him."

I said: "Pacman may not even make the roster."

Lewis said: "I don't know that he'll make this football team. But he'll get a good shot at it.  The only way to do it is to put him on the team right now and see."

Thus, in summation, the team has brought in a hungry, motivated, and humbled young man ready to redeem himself.  A young man that was a first round pick and who has signed for the veteran minimum.  He is guaranteed nothing from the team except for what he earns. In short: A very smart investment.

All that's left is for Pacman to prove himself on the field.  Should be fun to watch.

In the past 3 drafts and offseasons, the Rams have failed in one objective that we as Rams fans and all talking heads thought that they must solve: get a "number 1 receiver".  They have picked up a lot of receivers in the past 3 years, just none of them are the prototypical "number 1?.  The Rams have picked up Donnie Avery, Keenan Burton, Laurent Robinson, Mardy Gilyard, Brandon Gibson, Danny Amendola and etc.  In fact, all their WRs have been added in the past 3 years.

However, the more I think about this approach, the more it compares to the Philadelphia Eagles, the exact offensive system the Rams have put in place in St. Louis.  The Eagles have had a true number 1 wide receiver for only 2 years, in the person of Terrell Owens who talked himself out of town.

The Philadelphia Eagles were 10th in offensive DVOA in 2009 and 13th the previous year despite having Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson as their primary wide receivers.  Both Maclin and Jackson are extremely talents wide receivers and Jackson had an outrageously successful 2009 catching long passes from McNabb.  However, neither wide receiver would be classified as a prototypical "number 1?.  Both are similar in that they are smaller, speedier receivers.

Similarly, the Rams have an abundance of smaller, speedier receivers in Donnie Avery, Mardy Gilyard, Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson.  Are the Rams modeling not only their offense, but their offensive personnel after the Philadelphia Eagles?

On the surface, this seems to make sense.  The Eagles are successful in the same offense as the Rams using a certain type of personnel, shouldn't the Rams use that same type of personnel?