NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

After being let go by the St. Louis Rams earlier in the year, quarterback Marc Bulger has been signed by the Baltimore Ravens to a one-year $3.8 million dollar deal to backup franchise quarterback Joe Flacco. The signing of Bulger makes the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner, Troy Smith, expendable.

While Smith's career numbers in the NFL are anything but impressive, one can argue that the QB just hasn't found the right system to show off his skill set. So now that the backfield in Baltimore is all but set in stone, Peter Schmuck of ‘The Baltimore Sun’ believes that it could help all parties involved if Troy Smith was traded to the Bills for a chance to win the starting job.

With Chan Gailey remaining quiet on the current quarterback situation in Buffalo, why not add this mobile Heisman Trophy winner to the roster? If Chan Gailey plans on running the spread offense as many believe, wouldn't it be a good idea to add a QB that doesn't need to rely on an unproven offensive line to throw the ball down the field?

We've all seen what Trent Edwards, and Ryan Fitzpatrick can do on the field, and with Brian Brohm and Levi Brown looking more and more like practice squad material, will the Bills pull the trigger and add another quarterback to their roster before training camp? At this point with all the uncertainly in the Bills future, I say why not?

There’s still plenty of talk about the Eagles releasing QB Michael Vick, but for now at least, no one will be charged in the shooting that has him on thin ice with the team.

The AP reports “at this time” no charges will be filed in the late-night shooting outside of a nightclub that was hosting Vick’s birthday party last week, police announced Tuesday.

Vick has denied involvement in the shooting, which came shortly after Vick had left the club. Police said that because of reluctance to cooperate from the victim and witnesses, no charges will be filed.

“Investigators were able to determine the identity of the shooter,” the statement said. “Unfortunately because of the lack of cooperation from the victim, coupled with the reluctance of witnesses, the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, upon reviewing all of the evidence, has determined that no charges will be filed in this case at this time. Because the suspect will not be charged, his identity cannot be released by police. There are no other suspects in this case, including Michael Vick.”

The victim has not be identified by the police, but Vick’s attorney Larry Woodward says it was Quanis Phillips — a co-defendant in Vick’s dogfighting case.

Offense

QB: Drew Brees – Needs no introduction.  So let’s take a quick peak at his competition: Matt Ryan – quite average, easily overrated.  Jimmy Clausen – promising, yet outside of Steve Smith, who else is there?  Josh Freeman – reminds me of a more talented, athletic version of Byron Leftwich, but who is at his disposal beyond Kellen Winslow?

RB: Jonathan Stewart – This is the year.  Move over DeAngelo Williams.  Impressive performances against Minnesota (25-109, 2 total TD’s) and New York (28-206, TD) in December.  While doing this, his partner missed three contests and failed to reach the century mark the final six weeks.  The writing is on the wall.  Stewart is the back of the future —and the future is now for him in Carolina.

FB: Heath Evans – Decent all-purpose man.  Solid receiver.  Excels around the goal line when given the opportunity.

WR: Roddy White – Ryan to White.  Roddy will continue to be the main beneficiary of the Atlanta aerial plan.  Excellent deep-threat who has a knack for big-plays and picking up real estate after the reception.  Has yet to miss a game in his five-year NFL career.  One of the reasons why he’s ahead of Steve Smith.

WR: Robert Meachem – 16 yards a grab.  Finally is healthy.  Produced a five-game touchdown streak.  Steadily becoming  Brees’ favorite go-to guy.  Flourishes in the open field, cherishes red zone opportunities.  Big target with speed to burn.  Essentially this is his third year, which begs to say and dare —Sidney Rice-like third year numbers?

TE: Kellen Winslow – Once Josh Freeman was given the keys to run the Tampa offense, Kellen was on the receiving end of at least four passes every Sunday.  Not a bad start for this dynamic duo.  And despite Winslow’s baggage and injury history, it wouldn’t be outrageous to make a case for the former Hurricane being the most talented tight end in the NFL.  Keep in mind coming out of the “U” he was the 6th player chosen in the 2004 Draft!   There is no question or debate who is Josh’s #1 target, so imagine what the tantalizing tandem will accomplish with half a campaign under their belt and a full season ahead…

OL: Jordan Gross, Jahri Evans, Ryan Kalil, Davin Joseph, Jeff Otah.

Defense

DE: Will Smith – Motor of New Orleans defensive unit.  Played up to his contract and ability last year.  Will pick up where he left off.  Capable of outdoing his ‘09 performance.  Really turned it on second half of season.  Addition of Alex Brown and healthy Sedrick Ellis will help.

DE: Greg Hardy – Ole Miss 6th round draft pick.  Fell way too far.  Will overtake Everette Brown or Charles Johnson at one of the starting end positions.  Overachiever who will help make up for loss of Julius Peppers.

DT: Jonathan Babineaux – Extremely active undersized tackle who can really get after the QB.  Spark plug for Atlanta’s defense.  Good barometer to their success.

DT: Sedrick Ellis – Say the former Southern Cal Trojan re-entered the Draft this past April, would he have been selected ahead of Oklahoma’s Gerald McCoy?  I clearly believe so.  I say this former USC standout will truly play the part show the defending Super Bowl champs why they drafted him so high in 2008.  Redemption.  The “bust” label and health concerns will quickly vanish.   He will redeem his old disappearing self and impact more games than the two Tampa rookies McCoy and Brian Price.

LB: Jon Beason – 2nd best LB next to Patrick Willis.  Heart and soul of the Carolina Panthers.  He’s everywhere on the field.  Coach’s dream.

LB: Curtis Lofton – Another middle linebacker who’s always in aggressive pursuit.  QB’s have to pay attention to this rapidly improving force to be reckoned with.  Also keep an eye on his fellow outside ‘backers, Stephen Nicholas and rookie from Mizzou, Sean Weatherspoon.

LB: Thomas Davis – Tough call.  Wanted to go Vilma.  He means so much to the Saints turnaround and their game plan on D.  The deciding factor: Davis will have his hand in more game-changing plays.  Not that Vilma isn’t a consistent playmaker, I just see Davis returning to form from injury to make his presence felt even louder.

CB: Aqib Talib – Despite the ageless Ronde Barber doin’ work at a high level, there’s a new sheriff in town.  Nowadays, QB’s think twice before testing Talib’s side of the turf.  He is a rising star on Raheem Morris’ ridiculously young defense in Tampa.  Learning from one of the best playmaking corners to every play the game.  Will make it to elite status by season’s end.

CB: Chris Gamble – Flip a coin.  50/50.  Heads or Tails.  Dunta Robinson is right there, neck and neck at the finish line.  Will we even know who’s the better choice before 2010 concludes?  It’s that close.  I’ll side with the more daring, adventurous risk taker of the two.  I’ll take either DB you give me on my squad any day of the week.

S: Tanard Jackson – Why doesn’t he get talked about enough?  Would likely be considered and probably included in more discussions among the best safeties in the game if he was on a better team.  Ball hawk, intimidating hitter, and tough player.  Really impressed by the fourth year pro out of Syracuse.

S: Charles Godfrey – Chris Harris is gone.  Godfrey is ready to step up and fill his shoes, becoming the new enforcer over the middle for John Fox’s D.  You will hear his name a lot in 2010.  NFC South has two other young, up and coming safeties to watch: Sherrod Martin, Carolina and William Moore, Atlanta.  Darren Sharper’s time has come.

Wins and losses will determine success in Cleveland in 2010. At least that will be the criteria the media and fans base their evaluation of the Browns over the course of the coming season.

While that seems fair, especially in sports, if we look a little closer, there might be better ways to gauge the team's success. Ways that prove to be much more reliable indicators of just how far the Browns have come since 2009.

1) The Complexity of the Defense: Year Two in any defense, regardless of added personnel, should provide a great measure of how far the players have come and how good the coaching staff on this side of the ball is. The complexity of schemes, the coverage's and the overall understanding of responsibilities of each player in the system should be visible to the most fair weather of fans.

Sacks and opportunities for interceptions should be up; yardage from scrimmage should be down. Most importantly, the players should look fluid and in control. Confusion should not exist and there should be a high level of trust between the staff and players. Two players to keep our eyes on here are Eric Wright and Abe Elam. Their play can tell us a lot about just how far this defense has come.

2) Ball Movement on Offense: Scoring is the goal. But, sustaining drives and execution of plays within the offense are key indicators of the growth of the team. However, what I am talking about here is much different from the Romeo Crennel era where field goals were the norm. No.

What I am talking about is the ability to eat up the clock, run the ball and keep the chains moving at times when it might seem impossible. Evidence will be found on the fourth, fifth and sixth drives. It will be seen when the other team's defense think they have us against the wall and we still run off ten minutes from the clock and fifty plus yards, putting pressure on the their defense and giving our defense a rest.

Daboll's offense will have come a long way when this is a consistent part of the Browns identity and would show us a great deal of the maturation of this program. Our ability to block and open holes will be a key indicator here.

3) Final Drive on Offense or Defense: Here is the kicker. When the game clock is winding down; when our guys are either driving on offense or making a last stand on defense, what do those final possessions mean? Are we on offense driving down for the win? Are we on defense holding on to a victory?

These moments will say a lot more about our team in 2010 than the actual final score. It will let us know if we are competing. It's been too long since we have. As fans we all want to see the Browns beat the Cowboys or Ravens, but win or lose, are we competing against them?

Are these the kind of games that we can feel justified owning a ticket for? If we can answer yes, that we fought hard, that we pulled it out or maybe came up just a bit short, in 2010 we should be able to live with that. When that is the case, week in and week out, we'll know the decisions being made by the organization are correct. The ship has been righted. Our time and theirs has been spent positively.

Fortunately, this will be easy to know, as the spin doctors in the media and blogosphere will let us know how far we've come in this area. Their slant on the news will go a long way towards defining how this team is perceived.

Wins and losses are great. We all want the Cleveland Browns to hold up that Super Bowl trophy in victory. But this year, 2010, if we can play a style of defense that stifles our opponent with its complexity, move the ball on offense after the other team has figured us out and arrive at the end of each game with our destiny in our hands, than we have taken the next step towards becoming a relevant franchise.

The Browns organization has fought for that, and the fans deserve it. So, when the coming year is all over, I hope we don't judge our team by wins and losses but by things that with time mean so much more.

I suppose it is good to have Oshiomogho Atogwe back.  Of course no one else wanted him (the Bears decided they'd rather have Chris Harris), but he is one of the best defensive players in the Rams secondary.  

And he does have some good individual numbers.  In the 2007 season, Atogwe had a team and NFC-high 8 interceptions along with 75 tackles and one touchdown and forced two fumbles.  Why then were the Rams only willing to offer him a 1 year contract (and then another 1 year contract for 2009)?

Atogwe came to the Rams in 2005.  Here are some of the Rams defensive rankings over that period:

Year                             Interceptions                 Passing Yards Allowed

2009                            31^st 25^th

2008                            21^st 19^th

2007                            10^th 21^st

2006                            13^th 8^th

2005                            24^th 23^rd

I wouldn't think about taking a swipe at his individual performance, but he really has not had a huge impact on the defense as a whole. The Rams defense made dramatic improvement in passing yards allowed in 2006, but the rankings have slipped perilously since.

I am glad to have Atogwe back, but I will have my eyes on him.  For $7M a year for 5 years I think he really needs to grow in his leadership skills and in the intangibles that a make a player great.

The associated press first reported that JaFumble was arrested on Monday morning for possession of a controlled substance…

Click HERE to read the AP Story

This now officially puts him in the same pantheon of Ryan Leaf, a great potential that never materialized on the field and now has come to a low off the field.

More than likely JaFumble won’t care, we’ve all seen his conference calls and his typical indifference. And with this episode, hard to see how any team would want to even take a flyer on him other than he would be cheap or a major injury.