Best or Spiller

April 2nd, 2010 | By boadurichard

Per Colin Cowherd, name the third best running back in the league? …..it shouldn’t take you more than 10 seconds. Yeah, the first two are easy Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson. The third, not so much. The NFL has changed. I mean when the Pittsburgh Steelers are throwing the ball to setup the run you know something is “wrong”. Is wrong the right word? Depends on who you ask. I’d rather say evolved. Either way, the days of the bruising back has come and gone and the league now employs the two back system. Running backs that were once considered only 3rd down back quality are now starters because of the running back by committee system.

This year’s draft has plenty of running backs waiting to proclaim their place and play the game like it used to be played. This year’s class will undoubtedly start the re-emergence of the running back. The top two backs this year are Clemson’s C.J. Spiller and Cal’s Jahvid Best. Who would you pick?
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“No Quarterbacks, No Problem” 2010 NFL Combine: Offense

March 1st, 2010 | By boadurichard

When I wasn’t out interviewing people this weekend, I had on an adhesive white t-shirt on so that I could stick to my couch and watch the NFL combine but be able to take bathroom and snack breaks and still be able to return to my spot. I love this time of year, NFL Draft time is always cool. You see the future stars of tomorrow, some names you’ve heard of others, you have no clue who they are but they certainly gained your attention after you saw them workout.

Here are my quick cuts and jukes from the offensive workouts at the 2010 combine.

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Wednesday Football Wonderings….

November 18th, 2009 | By boadurichard

Yo what’s good. I’m going to run down a list of things that are still on my mind two days after the last week of football was played. Don’t worry next article will be about upcoming games this weekend.

First things is this, please get off of Bill Belichick’s back. He made the call point blank, bottom line. This man has three Super Bowl rings and should have had a fourth. He’s made countless risks before that have worked out just fine. In reality, he got a really bad spot. The only two bad decisions he made was calling a timeout before deciding to go for it on 4th and 2 giving the Colts a chance to get prepared for the play. The second mistake was not blitzing Peyton Manning after they didn’t get the didn’t get the conversion. I’d rather him blitz Manning and get burned early for the TD so they’ll have time to score rather than later with virtually no time left on the clock.

Maurice Jones-Drew’s coach influenced decision to not score the touchdown at the end of the game was a bad decision. They were down. Please stop saying it was a smart decision like Brian Westbrook made a few weeks ago. It was not, the Eagles were winning that game, the Jaguars were not winning. It is too big of a risk. The only reason Belichick gets a pass because he’s won three out of four Super Bowls in one decade.

Bob Stoops to Notre Dame? I don’t see it happening. I really don’t. He’s damn near a legend in Oklahoma. Granted, he’s not being fully appreciated as he once was, but he’s been in this position before in 2005 when they went 8-4. He’ll bounce back, I mean hell, look at all the injuries he’s had to deal with this season.

Now, these Mike Shanahan to the Chicago Bears rumors sound legit. They signed Jay Cutler to way too much money and gave up too much to get him last Summer, so Cutler is not going anywhere. Someone will be punished for all these loses the Bears are suffering. If it’s not the GM then it’s going to be head coach, Lovie Smith. Shanahan makes sense. Cutler played his best football for Shanahan in Denver last season throwing for over 4,500 yards and 25 TDs.

Why does this college football season suck so much? I knew something was up when highly touted true freshman Andre DeBose wasn’t going to play this year for Florida because of a hamstring injury, that was my omen. There are no clear cut stars. Jahvid Best was on his way, but his offensive line stopped blocking for him. Colt McCoy’s thrown too many interceptions. Jevan Snead is not who we thought he was. Tim Tebow has no one to throw the ball too. Jimmy Clausen plays for a Notre Dame team that has no defense, and Sam Bradford was done the first game. Cincinnati is undefeated and Mardy Gilyard is playing his ass off, why is he not getting any love. Yes C.J. Spiller is playing on a mediocre Clemson team, but he is by far the best player in the country and he should get some Heisman love as well. If only TCU or Boise State had a star, or Cincinnati marketing Mardy Gilyard.

LaGarrette Blount was reinstated to Oregon last week. Although he didn’t play, it was nice for his coach Chip Kelly to reinstate Blount. Now my confusion is this, Lane Kiffin boots Michael Edwards and Nu’Keese Richardson off the team for their role in an alleged attempted robbery with a pellet gun. It is similar to the Maurice Clarrett situation a few years back. Kelly didn’t ban Blount from the program and kick him off the team, he rehabilitated him. I wonder how Clarrett would have turned out if he had been given the opportunity to be rehabilitated and not left virtually naked in Columbus by Ohio State. I’m not condoning Clarrett’s actions, but you wonder how he would have turned out to be honest. I wonder what will happen with Richardson and Edwards. Both are only true freshman. Someone in the country will pick these two kids up. Kiffin’s reasons were that it would be hard for him to go into homes on recruiting trips and tell parents that their sons would be safe at Tennessee when he has players on the team robbing people. It is a very true statement from Kiffin, but I wonder what the coach that signs these two kids will say when he visits potential recruits. Do these kids get any slack for it only being a pellet gun? I’m not saying give them any, I’m just wondering because I am not a lawyer. Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts on what you think.

Last thing on my mind is the BCS rankings. Are they even necessary. BCS comes out in Week 7. I think we should push it back to Week 9, and start letting the AP and Coaches start voting at week 6. It usually takes about six weeks for a team’s true character to show. We can’t do away with the BCS anytime soon, so why not control the most important thing which is the rankings. Where a team starts in the preseason rankings is the most vital component of the BCS rankings if you ask me. Let’s be honest, say TCU didn’t start out #17 in the preseason polls, and they were not going to be ranked until week 6, I am positive that some voter would rank TCU better than Florida right now. Honestly, the BCS doesn’t screw teams, (please don’t say Texas got screwed by the BCS, Texas got screwed by its own conference three way division tie breaker rules) the voters and polls screw teams. So we might as well do away with the polls until mid-season. Sound good? Great. Thanks for listening.

That’s All I got,

Richard Boadu

Big games this weekend and other thoughts

September 30th, 2009 | By boadurichard

College

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Miami Hurricanes

Welcome back to the 80’s. I wonder if Barry and Jimmy will be on the sidelines for this one. These two had so many memorable battles in the past that all of the former warriors come out when these two hook up. They should have got together in the 2000 National Championship game, but the BCS reared it’s stupid head and got in the way. They last met in 2007, OU put a tornado of a whipping to the Canes 51-13 in Norman.

Things are different this time around. Is Bradford going to play or not? How mad are the Canes from being embarrassed in Blacksburg last weekend? The Canes looked be to be “back” to their old ways until VA Tech and the rain calmed the Hurricanes.

The game will come down to what it does in most cases, the trenches. Can Miami’s offensive line stop the Sooners great defensive line? Can the Sooners young offensive line stop Marcus Fortson, Sean Spence and Colin McCarthy all three of which have been playing outstanding.

Jacory Harris will find holes in the Sooners zone as did BYU. I don’t expect Javarris James and Graig Cooper to do much against OU’s front seven. The Canes defense has been a bit inconsistent, outside of their linebackers. They got lit up against Florida State, but came out with a win and Georgia Tech was able to put up 17 points against them. VA Tech’s offense only had 24 points.

OU’ defense is coming off of two straight shut out games. Although they were to Idaho State and Tulsa. Tulsa isn’t too shabby, they averaged 45.7 points going into their game against the Sooners. This will definitely be the most athletic team the Sooners will face this year other than Texas, and Miami’s receivers and tight ends are tall and explosive.

Oklahoma’s offense is looking good, but once again it’s coming against sub par competition, and I quite personally think this defense will be faster than the Texas defense they will face later in the year. Landry Jones has looked good when he gets a millisecond to throw the ball and makes a quick decision. Vigrinia Tech showed the Miami is leaving a lot of running lanes open and their secondary showed that they don’t like to tackle.

The X factor will be whether or not Demarco Muarry and Chris Brown can make a big play and whether or not Miami’s offensive line will give Jacory enough time to sustain 3rd down conversions. I give the advantage to Demarco and Chris.

If Sam plays, it’s a two touchdown win. Yes, after being out three weeks and having a less than 100% shoulder, Sam Bradford makes that much of a difference. But if Landry plays as I am expecting I give the advantage to the Sooners because of their defense, 31-28 in a close one.

USC vs. California

Both teams are still good, but they caught looking ahead of the schedule this past weekend. As USC didn’t win as impressively as they should have against Washington State and well you know Oregon throttled Cal last weekend.

USC is going to have to cope with losing their emotional leader, Stafon Johnson, this past Monday in a freak weightlifting incident. Let’s face it, this is not the most dominating USC team we’ve seen in recent years and they struggled with a Washington Husky team that is not as bad as advertised. I’m not sure if Taylor Mays is going to play or not, but he will make a big difference impacting the 8-man boxes that the Trojans will give the Bears on Saturday.

For Cal it’s simple. Their defense is not bad, and just happened to get Oregon as they hit their stride offensively. I do worry about their struggle with Minnesota a few weeks ago. Kevin Riley has to step up and make big plays, that’s the bottom line. The box will be stacked and the game will be on him. He didn’t show he can win a game last week, maybe this one will be different.

I don’t trust Coach Tedford in big games or in the middle of a season where his teams always fold. I’m taking USC 35-24 in this one. Jahvid Best will go off though even if the Men of Troy stack 8 and 9 men in the box.

PS – Watch out for the match up between Damien Williams and Syd’Quan Thompson. I can’t call who is going to have the better night, but it will be fun to watch.

LSU vs. Georgia

I’ll take LSU. I just don’t think Georgia has the firepower to overcome the LSU defense. Not saying LSU is going to light up the scoreboard, but look for Richard Jefferson to have a solid night and Brandon Lafell to go off in this low scoring affair. Heck, I could be wrong and this could turn into an air war like the UGA and South Carolina game a few weeks back.

Auburn vs. Tennessee

I don’t care who wins.  I just want to watch Onterrio McCalebb, next season’s most exciting player(Andre Debose might have something to say about that though) run all over the Vols. If you have not seen this kid run, go to your nearest YouTube address, grab a seat, butterless popcorn, and a profanity sensor!

NFL

There is only one game you need to worry about.

Packers vs. Vikings

Brett faces his old team and excels. Aaron Rodgers presses and nutts up. Adrian Peterson plays like Adrian Peterson.

The Pack will not be able to stop Peterson which will open up Favre’s game.I don’t think the Vikings will be able to stop Rodger though either, who has been balling lately. Antoine Winfield and Charles Woodson will both show their asses (meaning play very well). Look for a shootout between predecessor and successor. Bright lights and big stages are normally kind to Brett Favre and I don’t see this one being any different.

High School

Byrnes (S.C.) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

I don’t know too much about high school football other than 3+ star recruits and the ESPN top 50 teams. I do know that Aquinas is #1 in the country and Byrnes is #2 so this should be a great game. For more info, I called on the powers that be, ESPN/Scout Inc for more info.

By JC Shurburtt
Scouts Inc.
Archive

St. Thomas Aquinas

[+] Enlarge

Tom Hauck for ESPN.comIt would be an upset if Lamarcus Joyner doesn’t end up at FSU.

Lamarcus Joyner, CB: Florida State, Ohio State and Florida are Joyner’s top three — and the three schools with a shot at him. The Seminoles are the heavy favorite and have been the team to beat for some time. Unless there is a serious collapse in Tallahassee, expect him to end up there. The Buckeyes would be right behind the Noles, however. And you can never count out the Gators.

Cody Riggs, CB: Riggs is expected to end up at either Florida or Georgia. The Gators have the inside track on the ESPNU 150 prospect, but the Bulldogs have done an excellent job, as well.

Keion Payne, CB: Look out for Miami in the race for Payne’s services. The Hurricanes always sign their share of prospects out of Broward. If they land Payne, he’s just another talented player to add to Randy Shannon’s program.

Brandon Linder, OL: Miami also is the team to beat for Linder, who is sort of under-the-radar given his talented skill-position teammates. The Hurricanes have had the inside track for some time.

Giovanni Bernard, RB: If I had to guess the school that has the best shot at landing Bernard, it would have to be Florida State, just looking at the running back recruiting boards of all the schools. But the reality is, Bernard could end up anywhere. His brother played at Oregon State.

St. Thomas Aquinas’ committed players: Kicker Michael Palardy (Tennessee)

Byrnes

Marcus Lattimore, RB: South Carolina has a great shot here, but Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, North Carolina, Oregon and Penn State also are in the mix. Lattimore has had great things to say about every school he has shown interest in.

Nick Jones, WR: The in-state Gamecocks and Michigan have made offers to the speedy Jones. Penn State, Auburn and North Carolina all have shown interest. Chances are Jones will stay in-state when all is said and done.

Torian Richardson, WR: Richardson holds scholarship offers from Mississippi State, Syracuse, Tulane, East Carolina, Kansas State, Rutgers and Louisville. Right now, the Bulldogs, who signed Rico Sanders out of Byrnes last year, and the Scarlet Knights, who have quarterback Chas Dodd committed, seem to make the most sense.

Jazz King, WR: King claims offers from Ole Miss, Kansas and Central Florida. Of the three, the Rebels make the most sense in terms of his fitting into their scheme and using his speed to make plays in that system.

Byrnes’ committed players: ESPNU 150 prospects DE Corey Miller and DT Brandon Willis (both Tennessee).

PS – This is super random. But Chad Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald are two of my favorite receivers but I cant stand their face masks. I just cant.

That’s All I got,

Ricky Writer, out signing.

Monday Morning Cornerback: Week 2

September 21st, 2009 | By boadurichard

Yo what up! It’s call full circle. Pop Warner, High School, College, and Professional football is under way. Shout out to the UFL starting up in October, but for now, my life is complete. This is the 2nd week of the Monday Morning Cornerback where we get you covered on all angles. Let’s go in.

Best Games

Michigan defeats # 18 Notre Dame

Thank God. This is how a Michigan vs. Notre Dame game is supposed to look. Michigan won the game on the heels and poise of their Frosh QB, Tate Forcier, who played phenomenal. Jimmy Clausen of the Golden Domers played great as well. He is finally living up to his potential. They lost the game not because of their play but their defense started to wear down and get tired.

The main reason they wore down was Charlie Weiss’ need to throw the football. I have no clue why, but Armando Allen, Jr. was totting the rock for the Irish very well all game long. The Irish’s second to last offensive series, Weiss threw the ball way too much. Allen started the drive off with 13 yards for a 1st down, but turned an ankle. Nevertheless, Weiss bailed on his running game, and ran two straight pass plays which fell incomplete and took no time off the clock. The rest is history. Michigan marched down the field and won the game.

Bills vs. Patriots

The start of the game was very slow and sloppy. You expected that sort of thing from the Bills but not the Pats. Brady was off target most of the game and there were several times he was gun shy about throwing the ball to Randy Moss in tight spots. Instead he chose to toss the pill to Ben Watson, twice in the final minutes of the game for two touchdowns.

The Bills simply self-destructed. The played great defense all night long. They scored points. They also have several bullet wounds in their own feet. Trent Edwards looks like young Jedi Knight that has no control over his own brilliance. The second to last series he looks like a Pro Bowl QB and the last series he takes two sacks when his team only has one timeout. Now that I think about it, he looked like an Pro Bowl QB, because Bills were gashing them with great interior runs and Edwards used and abused the play action. I don’t know T.O., I wouldn’t stand for this sloppy QB play if I were you.

The 6Magazine brass was expecting a great wr duel between Randy and T.O. but we got nothing. Thanks Tom and Trent!

Biggest Surprise

Did Colorado get beat 38 – 54 by Toledo? Let’s be honest Coach Hawkins, you can’t recruit a better QB than your own son? I know Colorado isn’t what it once was, but you have tons of talent in Cali, Texas and Colorado to pull from. This isn’t intramural brother, it’s D-1 football, get a real QB!

Eh, nothing really jumped out at me NFL wise to be honest.

Quick Cuts and Jukes

- Matt Barklely looked good. Terrelle Pryor looked….ugh. I love TP though and I’m pulling for him.

- The Georgia Tech offense is bringing sexy back, aka, the Option. Expect the Nebraska Cornhuskers of old to be back in two years.

- Greg Paulus is good and I don’t care what anyone else says.

- Forget what you heard, the Heisman is Jahvid Best’s to lose.

- I am Sooner born and Sooner bred, which means I don’t care when OSU loses, I wish people would stop associating the OSU Cowboys with the entire state of Oklahoma’s football.

- The ‘Ol Ball Coach is an old ball coach.

- Did you say something Lane Kiffin, I couldn’t hear you.

- Thank God for Onterrio McCalebb, because after Andre Debose went out, I didn’t know which Freshman stud I’d develop my man crush for.

- The Eagles look really good, and Mike Vick didn’t even play.

- Google Adrian Peterson + Eric Wright, as soon as possible.

- Why the hell didn’t I take Drew Brees as my QB in my fantasy league.

- Mark Sanchez ‘09 = Matt Ryan ‘08?

- Damn…not B. Lach…not this soon! Why?

- No T.O., the offensive explosion of Tony Romo and late season meltdowns must go on!

Yo…that’s all I got,

Ricky Writer