This, That, & Then Some

We've hit a lull in the NFL offseason. Up until now there had been some sort of story for us to follow and blow out of proportion. But now it seems like everything has been sewn up with one week before the first training camps open. Chris Johnson has reached an agreement with the Titans on his contract situation, Michael Vick had faded into the background once again, and the biggest holdout to speak of right now is Reggie Wayne, and that's not even a holdout yet. Albert Haynesworth is still a no show in Washington, but nobody really cares. And Favre watch is still going on, but I don't really care. Seeing as there is nothing big to talk about, here are a few things I've been thinking about:

• No first round draft picks have signed yet. This time last week I wouldn’t have been surprised, but camps are getting close. I doubt we'll see anything like the Michael Crabtree holdout of last year, but not all first round picks will be signed before they are supposed to report. Gerald McCoy recently said that he's waiting to see what happens with "King Sam [Bradford]" before he signs a deal. That's probably the case with many early picks. I'd really like to get inside some of these rookies' heads and learn just how much of a holdout is due to what their agent says or what the player really wants.
• Ray Rice recently said that he feels that he is an underrated running back. I'm a big fan of Rice and think he's going to have a very successful career, but to feel underrated after just two years of playing is ridiculous. In his first season he rushed for less than 500 yards as part of a running back by committee group. Last year was when he became a star, accounting for 2,041 yards from scrimmage. If you didn't know about him when the season ended you probably did after he ran over the Patriots for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. That said, how many times have we seen guys in the NFL have huge years and then never play at the same level again? Anybody remember Derek Anderson? Rice is the fourth rated player in NFL.com fantasy rankings, and I'd say that that's good enough for now.
• Speaking of Ray Rice I just drafted my first of two fantasy teams the other day. I do one before camp starts and the other right before the season starts. Here's Team Broken Buckhalter:
• Tom Brady - QB
• Kevin Kolb - QB
• Ray Rice - RB
• Maurice Jones-Drew - RB
• Ronnie Brown - RB
• Ladanian Tomlinson - RB
• Greg Jennings - WR
• DeSean Jackson - WR
• Santana Moss - WR
• Steve Breaston - WR
• Eddie Royal - WR
• Chris Cooley - TE
• Zach Miller - TE
• Lawrence Tynes - K
• Chargers - DEF

I took a flier on a few players, most notably Tomlinson and Miller. Breaston, Kolb, and Moss and also a little risky, but I'm more confident in them. Rice and MJD are strong running backs (ranked 3rd and 4th overall) and Brown is an above average bench guy. All in all I think I'm set for a good year.

Favre Skips Out on Press, Vikings Next?

Throwing passes at his usual summer high school camp, Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre went to extremes to avoid the press earlier today. After the day was over there were a few reporters waiting for Favre by his truck. Not wanting to talk to any of the reporters, Favre recruited a wheel man to jump in his truck and dart to the exit, allowing for a smooth and speedy getaway. This is just another episode on the ongoing ESPN original series, Welcome Back Favre. This season has featured less drama than previous years, as Favre has stayed out of the press for a majority of the summer. It helps that he is under contract with the Vikings so there are no Mississippi rendezvous between Favre and Brad Childress. And after last season with the Vikings, it would take a fool to bet against Favre coming back for another year. I'm no fool. But I'm wishful. Favre will go down as one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game, but enough is enough. Every off season that features this will he or won't he drama is another season that makes Favre, the NFL, and whatever teams are pursuing Favre look foolish. He got his childish revenge on the Packers last year. He may not have won the Super Bowl, but he's done that already. Walk away while you can still do it on your own terms, Brett. Don't wait for your skill to decline to the point where nobody wants you (look at Terrell Owens).

Until he realizes that I'll be waiting for him to present at the ESPYs and hopefully give us an answer one way or the other. Let's face it, NFL Live is running out of material.

My Top Five - Tight Ends

Tight end may be my favorite offensive position. These guys are some of the most underappreciated guys in the league. We know tight ends because of the receiving skills, but they are asked to do so much more. The best of the best have multiple tools. They can catch the ball, run block and pass block. A tight end that can't block might as well be an oversized wide receiver. Without further delay, my top five tight ends:

1. Dallas Clark
2. Tony Gonzalez
3. Brent Celek
4. Antonio Gates
5. Jason Witten

Clark is an obvious choice for the best TE in the league. Part of one of the best offenses in the league, Clark is the most reliable receiver for the Colts. That's right, I'll take Clark over Reggie Wayne any day. Wayne is an outstanding receiver, but Clark is the guy I'm looking for if I'm Peyton Manning and the game is on the line. Manning seems to trust Clark as much as (if not more than) he did Marvin Harrison. 2009 was the first season where he played in all sixteen games and set career highs in receptions (100) and yards (1,106) while his 10 touchdown receptions were one short of his career high, set in 2007. 2010 should be more of the same for Clark.

Having spent the first twelve seasons of his career in Kansas City, Gonzalez continued his dominance last season in Atlanta. Providing a boost to an emerging offense, he caught 83 balls for 867 yards and 6 touchdowns. That yardage total was his lowest since 2002. He's had four 1,000-yard seasons in his career and while he may only have a year or two left in the tank, he'll be a top TE until the day he retires.

My sleeper fantasy TE last season, Celek paid great dividends in his first full season as a starter in Philadelphia. He set career highs in all major categories, posting 76 receptions for 971 yards and 8 touchdowns. Some may say that Celek is a little high on this list, but I'd point you to two Eagles games early in the 2009 season. Kevin Kolb was starting in place of the injured Donovan McNabb in games against the Saints and Chiefs. In each of those games Celek caught 8 passes for 104 yards, with one touchdown coming against the Chiefs. Kolb relied heavily on Celek in those two games, and it was obvious that the two had already built a strong relationship, probably from their days together in 2007 and 2008 on the second-team offense. Expect even better numbers from Celek this year as Kolb steps in as the new starting QB in Philly.

Gates and Witten are nearly even on this list, but one had to go before the other. Each has played seven seasons, with Gates having more receiving yards to nab fourth on my list. Gates seemed to come out of nowhere in 2004, catching 81 balls for 964 yards and 13 touchdowns after a 24/389/2 season the year before. Since then he's had less than 900 receiving yards only once, in 2008. He rebounded quite well in 2009 posting a career high with 1,157 yards. Gates was part of a three-headed monster in San Diego with Ladanian Tomlinson and Vincent Jackson. Tomlinson is now in New York and Jackson is threatening a holdout, so Gates could play an even bigger role in San Diego this year. He may even be the deciding factor in who wins the AFC West. No pressure.

Witten seems to always be playing second fiddle in Dallas. First it was Terrell Owens, now its Miles Austin and maybe even Dez Bryant (I'll mention Roy Williams when he proves he can play). Even with that, Witten is always a threat on the field. He has an outstanding relationship with Tony Romo and is the only receiver to be catching his passes since he became the Cowboys' starting QB in 2006. He posted his second 1,000-yard season in 2009, but only caught two touchdown passes.

Tight ends have been growing in importance over the past few seasons, and there are many more deserving of honorable mention: Chris Cooley, Jeremy Shockey, Owen Daniels, Heath Miller, Todd Heap, and Jermichael Finley.

There's probably one more name in everyone's mind: Vernon Davis. He had an outstanding season with San Francisco in 2009, with 965 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. But I just can't figure out where to place him. Could he knock someone from my top five? Probably. But at the same time he may not even be as good as Cooley and Schockey. He hasn't given a clear indication of what direction he's headed. When he does, I'll know how to rank him.

My Top Five - Quarterbacks

Jamie Dukes of NFL Network recently revealed his top five QBs in the league, and seriously missed the mark on two of his five choices. Here is his list:

1. Peyton Manning
2. Drew Brees
3. Tom Brady

4. Ben Roethlisberger
5. Donovan McNabb

Nobody in their right mind can argue with Manning and Brees in the top two. Manning has been the most consistent QB of the past decade, starting every game of every season since he was drafted by the Colts. Since 2000 he has passed for less than 4,000 yards only once (2005) and has averaged just over 31 touchdowns/season in each of those years. Brees has been the mot prolific passer in recent memory. Since joining the Saints in 2006 Brees has thrown for 18,298 yards and 122 touchdowns.

Dukes mentioned his criteria when listing his top five and mentioned experience and wins as reasons for leaving off the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers. But at the same time, he left Brett Favre off the list. When I think about the top five QBs in the league, I think of the five best guys I would want to lead my team this year. Who can go out on the field and win games for me when the rest of the team is struggling? Drew Brees and Peyton Manning would be my first and second choices, respectively. Third on my list is Rodgers. He's only been a starter for two years, but has passed for over 4,000 yards in each of those years. His QB rating jumped from 93.8 to 103.2 in 2009 as he nearly cut his interceptions in half (from 13 to 7) and threw for an additional 400 yards. It's a small sample compared to the likes of Manning, Brady, and McNabb, but good enough for me to trust him.

Fourth on my list is Rivers. Like Rodgers, he has a relatively small amount of experience, but enough for me to want him on my team. Taking the reins from Brees in 2006, Rivers has been nothing but phenomenal for the Chargers in four seasons. He hit a bump in the road in 2007 throwing for 3,152 yards and 15 interceptions, but recovered in 2008 and got even better in 2009. Rivers will have to prove himself this year, having lost Ladanian Tomlinson and possibly losing Vincent Jackson for part or all of the season. His performance with a new supporting cast could make his time on this list short-lived.

Brady rounds out my top five, but just barely. I wanted to be able to say Matt Schaub, but he has yet to live up to his potential. We don't need to go over Brady's resume, everyone knows what he has done. But Brady worries me. He'll be 33 when the season opens, and his production looks to be slipping just a bit. Obviously he missed almost all of the 2008 season, and he doesn't seem to have the same swagger since. Maybe he's distracted by all of the other things going on in his life. To me it looks like he's lost his passion for the game. I'll take Jeff Garcia over a guy with no passion. Despite that thought, Brady can still win games and is more consistent than most. To recap, here is my top five:

1. Drew Brees

2. Peyton Manning
3. Aaron Rodgers
4. Philip Rivers

5. Tom Brady

I would follow this list with McNabb, Schaub, Carson Palmer, Joe Flacco, and then Roethlisberger. McNabb is a very good quarterback, but he has yet to prove that he can be the clutch player to lift his team up. If Schaub can play a full season in 2010 he'll be a likely candidate to move up to number five, replacing Brady. Palmer is a consistent performer, but his age and playoff history scare me off. Flacco had his sophomore slump last season, but the sky is the limit for this guy. Roethlisberger has too many character issues for me to trust him. No team can afford to lose their starting QB to a suspension. I also don't think he has the tools to lead a team unless he has a good supporting cast.

Watch Jamie Dukes present his top five here.

Peace Out, World Cup

Spain beat Holland, 1-0, in the World Cup final match today. I'm celebrating along with the rest of the world, but my celebration is a bit different. The World Cup is over! I am not a soccer fan by any stretch of the imagination. I just don't get it. The two teams run around for 45 uninterrupted minutes, kick the ball out of bounds quite often, and occasionally score a goal. It's not exciting enough for me. But I don't want to harp on the World Cup. Soccer players are incredible athletes and the fans are some of the most dedicated I've seen, but I can't begin to express how happy I am that the thing is over. Now we can focus on the better of the two footballs - American football. The offseason is virtually over, OTAs have all but been completed, and training camp is right around the corner. Living in South Jersey until I head back to Towson in August, I'm hoping to check out Eagles training camp and get a glimpse of how Kevin Kolb plays with the first team offense. But that's for later. For now, I write.