The AFC East

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Jeff

The final stop on the divisional needs tour and it is a division with a ton of potential.

New York Jets–The locker room is cancerous at this point, with anonymous players criticizing their starting quarterback, it has resulted in dividing a locker room for an underachieving team.  Their loud mouth Head Coach Rex Ryan continues to make things worse for them as players by making a yearly declaration that they will win the Super Bowl, and yet, they still have not played in one.  In my opinion, Mark Sanchez will never be able to lead this team to a Super Bowl.  I don’t think he is skilled enough and is a glorified game manager.  But, since he is only 25, the Jets will give him more time to develop, especially with a new offensive coordinator being hired this offseason.  Since such is the case, they need to get him a second wide receiver.  Plaxico Burress is not good enough anymore to draw any serious attention off Santonio Holmes, and quite frankly, Holmes might be traded this offseason because he was a giant head case this past year (classic buckeye mentality).  They need to add another defensive end to play along side Muhammad Wilkerson, and give him some support in the 3-4 defense.  Their final need that they will need to address is offensive guard.  They are strong on the offensive line at center and tackle, but they still gave up 39 sacks (espn.com stats).  If they want to give Sanchez a chance to develop and be successful, they must protect him. Continue reading →

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The NFC West

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Jeff

This division took a lot of flack for putting a 7-9 team in the playoffs last year as their division champion, but the emergence of the San Francisco 49ers in the new Jim Harbaugh era has almost assured the fact that something like that will never happen with this division ever again.  It is now up to the rest of the teams in the division to step it up and provide the 49ers with some competition.

Seattle Seahawks–First and foremost, this team needs a quarterback.  They will continue to go nowhere with Tavaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst at the helm.  They will either pick 11 or 12 in the draft based upon a coin flip that will be held later, and there will not be a viable quarterback option to draft at that time.  Ryan Tannehill out of Texas A&M is the 3rd rated quarterback in the upcoming draft according to Scouts Inc., but it would be asinine to draft him that high (Scouts Inc).  Marcus Trufant was only able to play in four games this past season, and if he cannot stay healthy, they need to look at getting a new cornerback to replace him.  The emergence of Brandon Browner has been crucial, but they need more than one cornerback to be successful.  They also need to acquire another defensive end who can help Chris Clemons out as a pass rusher, who led the team with 11 sacks (espn.com stats). Continue reading →

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The AFC West

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Jeff

Continuing on this long journey through the divisions lands us in the AFC West.  Contrary to what Sportscenter continually shows, there are actually 4 teams in this division, and no, one of them is not the Tim Tebow’s.

Kansas City Chiefs–This team had all sorts of potential after winning the division last year, but they experienced injuries to Eric Berry and Jamaal Charles early on, and that was all she wrote for them.  Todd Haley was fired during the season and Romeo Crennel was hired as his replacement.  After seeing what Crennel did (or didn’t do) in Cleveland, I do not have high expectations for this team, at least he has more talent to work with this time around.  I would expect the offense to stay completely the same, and just pray that they stay healthy.  They have talent at every position, and have a young offensive line (with the exception of Casey Weigmann) that should be able to protect Matt Cassel and open holes for Charles.  The major issues for this time lies in their run defense, which was 26th in the NFL (espn.com stats).  Since Crennel is a defensive minded head coach, look for him to address their defensive needs.  Once again as a team that runs the 3-4 defense, they need a space eating nose tackle.  Without a big nose tackle in the middle they will continue to get run over.  To further shore up the middle of the defense, they need to acquire a second middle linebacker that will help take some of the pressure off Derrick Johnson.  Finally, they should look to replace John McGraw, who is good but not great, and his contract is up at the end of the season.  Getting another young safety to play along side Eric Berry, Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr means this already dominant pass defense will cause more problems for opponents in the future. Continue reading →

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The NFC East

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Jeff

The NFC East had an extremely down year, particularly when you consider the fact that they had the Dream Team playing in it.

Philadelphia Eagles–Their initial game plan did not work out according to plan whatsoever.  I personally would have fired their coach Andy Reid this offseason.  Not that I think he is a bad coach, but I think it is time to get some new life in there to shake up the atmosphere.  The first offseason task that they have is signing DeSean Jackson.  They are going to be a bit strapped for cash with their abundance of talent, but they need to get one of their best playmakers back under contract.  If they want to go in a different direction, then they will need to find a new number one receiver, because I don’t think Jeremy Maclin can cut it as the number one guy.  On the defensive side of the ball, this team’s biggest needs are at middle linebacker, and outside linebacker.  They got very little production out of their linebackers and this killed them.  With an extremely young offensive line, they need them to grow up quickly to protect Michael Vick, but in case Vick gets hurt again, they need to invest in a backup quarterback.  Vince Young was dismal when he came in throwing only 4 tds opposite 9 ints (espn.com stats).  A backup quarterback will provide insurance for them in case their star quarterback takes one too many hits. Continue reading →

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Vegas? Vegas.

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Jeff

After a long weekend spent in fabulous Las Vegas, I have to say that I am sufficiently sleep deprived and definitely dehydrated.  I took an extra day to try to clear my mind, and from this point forward The Daily Traub will be putting out a post a day at the minimum.  I hope this satisfies my readers after what must have been a very stressful time without my writing.  Our next stop on the NFL Division team needs takes us to the AFC North.

Watch this, I think it makes for a good segue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSLlZh9yelk). Continue reading →

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The NFC South

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Jeff

I was starting to pack for Vegas but I decided I would much rather spend my time writing about football.  Packing is by far the worst part of going on trips, but the time spent in Vegas is going to be undoubtedly epic.  When looking at the NFC South, you immediately think of the New Orleans Saints.  New Orleans is an absolute powerhouse, and Atlanta is on the cusp of becoming a great team.  All the while, Cam Newton had a meteoric rise into the NFL and turned the Carolina Panthers around in a flash.  The Buccaneers took a huge back slide and fired their Head Coach Raheem Morris, who won Coach of the Year last year, leaving their future very much up in the air. Continue reading →

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The AFC South

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Jeff

You might be confused as to why I chose to do the AFC South after the NFC North….well you can thank my roommates for this.

Indianapolis Colts–This is a team that took about 1,000 steps in the wrong direction without Peyton Manning.  In my mind Manning should win the NFL MVP award this season, strictly because the Colts season proved just how important he is to them.  They won their division and went to the playoffs with him, and won two games without him. Because they posses the first overall pick, they MUST take Andrew Luck.  You don’t pass on one of the best quarterback prospects in the last 15 years.  The question is what to do with Manning after they’ve drafted Luck.  In my mind, even though Manning is due a $28 Million roster bonus, the Colts need to keep him.  This way Luck can learn from a Hall of Fame quarterback for at least one year.  Having a rookie quarterback wait and learn has worked far more often than throwing quarterbacks right into the fire with a horrible team.  Compare the career stat lines of Aaron Rodgers and Carson Palmer to David Carr and Joey Harrington and tell me I’m wrong.  The issue is, it’s not just Carr and Harrington that were busts, America is littered with the remains of quarterbacks that were first round busts.  This is not to say that if you start a rookie quarterback right away his career is completely over, but it appears that more often than not the team will struggle and his confidence will be shaken.  While it will be unfortunate for the Colts to have to pay $28 Million to a man who did absolutely nothing this past year, they must do it.  It will help them for the future and allow the Colts to have another draft class and offseason to improve their team for the young phenom.  The Colts then have a usable offensive line and a decent core of wide receivers (if they re-sign Reggie Wayne), but they have a brutal running game.  Unfortunately with two first round picks in the backfield in Joseph Addai and Donald Brown, I would expect them to try to make do with what they have.  This team is in dire need of a secondary.  With the exception of Antoine Bethea, they need help.  That’s the nicest way I can put it.  This team tied for last in the NFL with 8 interceptions on the season (NFL.com stats).  For those of you who are bad at math like myself, I calculated it out, that’s only ONE interception every TWO games…makes the Lions secondary look like a bunch of Pro Bowlers.  So what are the Colts biggest needs? Cornerback, Free Safety, Linebacker.  But Andrew Luck will be going to them #1 overall, you can take that one to the bank. Continue reading →

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What’s Next for the Lions? Free Agency and the NFL Draft

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Jeff

Over the course of the next few days, I will highlight each NFL team’s three greatest weaknesses that they need to address during free agency and through the draft.  As the Lions were eliminated this weekend, I feel that as a devout Lions fan, the best coping mechanism is to start with them and the rest of the NFC North.  From there I will make my way through the rest of the NFL, division by division.  So without further adieu, here are the NFC North team’s greatest needs for the offseason.

Detroit Lions:

That loss was a killer for me, particularly after the season that they had.  But it became evident throughout the year that the absolute lack of depth of defense was a killer.  The team needs a true #1 corner in order to allow themselves to make a deep run into the playoffs.  Eric Wright, Chris Houston and Alphonso Smith are all good corners, but none of them are a true #1.  It would be ideal for them to take a guy like Morris Claiborne out of LSU in the draft, but there is a 0% chance that Claiborne falls to the Lions at pick #23.  I’d look more towards Janoris Jenkins, a corner that started his career at Florida but was dismissed from the team and is now playing for North Alabama in the FCS.  The second biggest need for the Lions after corner is a left tackle.  Jeff Backus is getting older and while he had a pretty solid year in 2011, the team needs to start thinking of the future.  The offensive line gave up 36 sacks and 78 quarterback knockdowns good for 17th and 21st respectively in the NFL (nfl.com stats).  The organization must protect Matt Stafford and find a way to open up holes for Jahvid Best and keep him healthy, not to mention Mikel Leshoure, who spent the whole year on the IR.  The third and final need that must be addressed is a toss-up between strong-side linebacker and strong safety.  I thought that Justin Durant and Amari Spievey did decently throughout the year, but if the Lions want to become an elite team and stop the elite teams, they need to gain depth and get better at these positions.  The defense was absolutely shredded by New Orleans, and the team won’t be able to go anywhere until they can compete with the Big Boys of the NFC. Continue reading →

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The BCS Problem

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Jeff

The Bowl Championship Series has been one of the most contested issues in sports this year.  The idea of a rematch in the National Championship game has left many people that are outside the city of Tuscaloosa very unhappy.  The Alabama Crimson Tide finished second in the BCS Poll and received a bid to play against the undefeated LSU Tigers, despite the fact that Alabama did not even win their conference, let alone win their division.

Due to this fact, many journalists and prominent figures in the sports world–and in some cases politicians–have called to have the current system reformed.  In a society where money drives everything, there are many that do not wish to have the system reformed at all.  According to the BCS website, bcsfootball.org, the teams that qualify for the BCS Bowl games bring in $22 million for their respective conferences, and if a conference has more than two participants in the BCS games, then that conference is awarded an additional $6 million.  This is money that the conferences do not want to see disappear, and is a significant driving force to keep the BCS system in place. Continue reading →

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What’s Crackin?

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Jeff

The Daily Traub is going to be a daily sports blog where I offer my opinion on various aspects of different sports, and update the readers (if there are any) on sports articles or news that I find to be intriguing.  This blog will serve as a way to keep me from flooding my facebook status’s with hundreds of articles that most people don’t care about.  This way, if anyone wants my opinion on something, they can come here and see if it’s on the blog.  Keep in mind that this will be me through a filter, but I’m still here to say what I mean and mean what I say.  I am also highly unlikely to change my opinion on anything, but feel free to comment on anything that you wish, so long as you keep it classy.

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