Tag: NFL Draft

Boston Movies 101

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Braxton Berrios, the senior wide receiver out of Miami who the Patriots drafted last week, has been billed as the next Wes Welker, Julian Edelman or Danny Amendola. Whether or not the 210th pick in the 2018 NFL Draft will have that kind of impact on the Patriots, or even make the team this year, is anyone’s guess. His tweet from yesterday brings up a good point, though. If you knew a guy who was moving to Boston, which movies would you recommend he watch to get a feel for the place?

[For this discussion I’m only going to consider movies released since Berrios was born in 1995. The Friends of Eddie Coyle and The Brink’s Job may have been great movies 40 years ago, but they don’t really help explain Boston to a 23-year-old today.]

Good Will Hunting Quintessential Boston movie that put two Boston stars – Matt Damon and Ben Affleck – on the map. Robin Williams won an Academy Award for his performance in this film. Possibly responsible for a resurgence of Boston movies over the last 20 years.

21 Based on the book Bringing Down the House, 21 follows the exploits of the MIT blackjack team. I debated whether or not to include this one on the list as the college students aren’t necessarily from Boston and a lot of the action takes place outside of Boston, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to showcase the Hub as a beacon of higher education.

The Town Ben Affleck is back in Boston (Charlestown to be specific) as a career criminal bank robber. This movie makes this list instead of The Departed because it features better accents and because the city itself is a bigger part of this movie. I don’t remember Frank Costello trying to take down Fenway Park.

Ted  A Boston comedy for the Family Guy generation. Mark Wahlberg turns in a solid performance in another Boston movie (after The Perfect Storm, The Departed, and The Fighter). This movie always sucks me in when I see it on FX. Eminently quotable and rewatchable.

Manchester by the Sea Yeah, this one is definitely a downer, but I’ve never seen an actor portray a Bostonian better than Casey Affleck did in this film. Casey Affleck won an Oscar for his performance in this film. Subtle townie references, including  Affleck’s Dugout Cafe t-shirt, reinforce this film’s spot on this list.

And Braxton, if you don’t have time to choke down these five films fear not. Seth Meyers can catch you up on most of what you need to know about Boston in less than five minutes.

Drafting Georgia RB Sony Michel is the Most Patriots Move Ever

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The Patriots love to zig when everybody else zags. They absolutely love it, which is why drafting Georgia running back Sony Michel is the most Patriots move ever. Most teams these days seem to have all but agreed that the RB position is overvalued (except for the Giants). With absolute studs like Alvin Kamara and Kareem Hunt both drafted in the 3rd round, its no secret that you can find elite running backs after Day 1 so why waste the draft capital? So we’re all in agreement? Ok cool.

*Bill Belichick immediately drafts a running back in the first round*

Its the first time he’s even drafted a SKILL POSITION player in the first round since Laurence Maroney in 2006.

Zagging for days.

You saw it in recent years as the Patriots adopted the more commonly seen in college spread attack and hurry up offense, which all but eliminated the need for a fullback. Then most of the league gravitated towards a similar approach. Then the Pats shifted gears and started heavily utilizing a fullback in James Develin, who only made the Pro Bowl this past year. Or what about when the Patriots all of a sudden changed their offense on the fly and morphed into a two Tight End system? They proceed to wreak havoc on the league with a young Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Until one of them became a famous serial killer, but the point remains.

Sony was a beast at Georgia playing with the big boys in the SEC, where he averaged 7.9 yards per carry last year.

He’s also the guy that ended Baker Mayfield’s college career with the walkoff TD run in that epic Rose Bowl game earlier this year.

As Phil Perry points out, Sony’s ball control is a bit of a concern, fumbling 12 times in his career, but half of those came in his freshman year. The only thing Bill Belichick preaches more than Do Your Job is hold onto the football. Ball security is job security. So that’ll be something to watch. Perry also shed some light on another reason why the Pats may have fallen in love with Sony:

“But in the passing game is probably where Michel’s true value will be at the next level. He may be the best pass-protector at the position in this year’s class of backs (two hurries on 52 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus), and he’s a capable receiver (64 catches, 621 yards receiving in his career).”

The Pats love a guy that can play in pass protection. Thats your No. 1 priority. Then running the football, and if you can also catch the ball out of the backfield? Well now we’re cooking with gas. Too many times in recent years have teams been able to either stack the box or just sit back in coverage because the RB on the field was either a battering ram (Blount) or a receiver (James White). Dion Lewis was excellent as a runner and a receiver, but he’s gone so Belichick got someone who can do both.

The Patriots are the ultimate marketing arbitrage in the NFL, buying and selling where they identify the most value. Everybody devalues running back these days? Time for us to snatch up a potential stud while you’re all sleeping on him just because thats what the rest of the league says you should do.

They are the tastemakers of the NFL. They’re not trying to do business as business is done, no they’re setting the trends themselves and letting the rest of the league react. And thats why the Patriots will always be successful with Bill Belichick running the show.

Plus if you are a fan, not an NFL Draft Analyst that gets paid to scout and report on players, who gets genuinely angry about who your team does or doesn’t draft? Then you are lying to yourself because any rational human being realizes that the only thing we really know about the draft is that we don’t know shit. So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

An Open Letter to the Patriots and Patriots Nation: Baker Mayfield is About to Go #1 Overall to Cleveland and I am About to Become a Browns Fan

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Dear New England Patriots, Pats Nation, my colleagues here at The 300s, and anyone I’ve failed to recognize,

For almost three decades now I have been a dedicated fan of all four major Boston sports franchises without fail. The lows of the Bledsoe/(Dee)Brown/Bourque/…Valentin? slumps of the 90’s. The highs of breaking the curse, the Big 3, the Cup in 11′, and, of course, that slew of Super Bowls.

The Patriots obviously hold a special place among special places. They are our dynasty. They are our safety blanket. We worship at the Church of the Immaculate Hoodie and at the Statue of the Perfect Cheekbones. We were a down, downtrodden fan base and the Pats gave us hope.

With that said, Baker Mayfield is the balls. There is something about his chip-on-the-shoulder, “Fuck you I’m too small” self-confidence, electric style of play, and just pure competitiveness that is completely absorbing. He sometimes gets compared to Johnny Football, but Baker is a fucking mad dog QB1, a gunslinging sonofabitch who happens to be on the shorter side and can use his feet, as opposed to Manziel who always had a questions mark when it came to his arm and competitiveness.

So with that my dear, dear contemporaries I must confess that should the Cleveland Browns, the worst franchise in the history of anything – and I mean that, there were militias that were quite frankly paved by the Roman conquerors that looked better in comparison – draft Baker Mayfield, I must switch teams. I can’t root against Baker. His elusiveness as it pertains to law enforcement may not pass the sniff test, but he has the ability to drive the ball downfield and into my heart.

I hope you understand this is out of a love gained, not a love lost,

Best wishes,

-Joey Ballgame.

BREAKING: Patriots Trade Brandin Cooks to the Rams for a First Round Pick

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As per usual, I have no idea what the Patriots are planning here. On one hand, it really is great, great value to get the No. 23 overall pick for a guy with one year left on his contract. On the other hand, great value aside… Tom Brady might blow a goddamn gasket when he hears about this. First Danny Amendola walked, now Cooks is out, Gronk is still hemming and hawing about playing next year, and Julian Edelman is coming back from a shredded knee. Not exactly confidence inspiring for a QB in his 40s.

The real question here though is; what do the Patriots have up their sleeve? The Pats rarely trade up into the first round so I FULLY expect them to trade down again for five 4th round picks so they can fill out the team with more Rutgers and Navy guys. But, if we want to have a little fun for a minute; what could the Pats realistically do with this pick?

Well they could turn around and give it to New York in a trade for Odell Beckham Jr. It was rumored that it would take a 1st rounder to pry ODB from the Giants and the Rams were the team most commonly mentioned in those rumors. Now with their first round pick in hand, the Patriots could effectively trade Brandin Cooks for ODB straight up. That would be fine with me, but of course that would open up Pandora’s Box of yet another guy bitching about his contract in the locker room.

Or are the Patriots potentially looking to package No. 23 and their own No. 31 pick to move up in the draft and take say…a quarterback?

I’m still driving the Johnny Manziel hype train, but I was just listening to Felger and Mazz and they took a quick peak at the NFL Draft Value chart and according to them these two picks would, in theory, be enough ammo to move up to No. 9 overall in the Draft. Now that…that is interesting. Are the Pats looking to trade up and grab my boy Baker Mayfield?

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via GIPHY

Probably not, but Bill Belichick is nothing if not a sneaky and devious SOB so I fully expect this newly acquired draft capital to go to good use. So it sucks to see another one of Brady’s weapons, who I expected to improve in Year 2, leave the team but I’ll reserve judgement until we see what Bill does with the pick.

For what its worth Zolak seems to be thinking the same thing and I’d say and he’s *kind of* tapped into the team.

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Sam Darnold Wows Scouts by Throwing at His Pro Day in the Rain. Where Have I Seen This Before?

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ESPN – Given an out, USC quarterback Sam Darnold declined to move up his throwing session at his school’s pro day on Wednesday, choosing instead to throw under a steady rain in front of a throng of NFL decision-makers. “I don’t think it would have been fair to change the schedule with all of the other guys training for the pro day,” Darnold said. “So I just wanted my guys to be comfortable — my teammates — that was first and foremost. “But I also think it was a perfect opportunity to be able to throw in the rain and show these guys I could throw in the rain.”

Look I get it, Darnold has played in sunny and perfect Southern California for the past couple of years so he wants to show the scouts he’s not soft. But this is EXACTLY how the Buffalo Bills became infatuated with that bum EJ Manuel.

I remember it like it was yesterday. Scouts were going nuts because Manuel could grip it and rip it while water was falling from the sky, which is as we know a huge indicator of NFL success.

“Manuel set himself apart from other prospects after impressing coaches when he threw well during a thunderstorm at a private workout with the Bills’ brass in Tallahassee, Fla.”

The Bills play in Orchard Park, NY which is basically a hellhole with winters that would rival Winterfell. So the Bills saw a guy that could play in conditions less than 70 and sunny and thought, HAVE TO HAVE IT. Discounting the fact that he was highly mediocre at Florida State, but hey if he can throw in the rain at a Pro Day then he must be the next Montana.

Welp, in Buffalo he ended up throwing for 3500 yards and 19 TDs in the air with another 320 yards and 4 TDs on the ground…in 4 years.

Let this be a cautionary tale to the NFL scouts with a Top 5 pick in this year’s draft. Select Sam Darnold because you like his body of work, because you think he’s intelligent, hell do it because you think he’s less likely to get arrested than Baker Mayfield. But don’t be the Buffalo Bills and draft a guy because he can throw a tight spiral in a shower.

Johnny Manziel to Throw at University of San Diego Pro Day

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PFT– According to Bruce Feldman of Sports Illustrated, Manziel will be the quarterback throwing to receivers at the pro day workouts at the University of San Diego on Thursday morning.

One quick thing to address off the bat: please note the use of Mr. Manziel’s government name in this headline rather than his “Football” moniker. We here at The 300s are known to practice Journalism and I feel that is often forgotten.

Now that that is out of the way we can kind of sort through what is going on here.

It’s fairly important to first understand how a lot of these pre-draft showcases/work outs are structured and run before really looking at the opportunity Johnny Football (FUCK) has in front of him. In case you aren’t read up on your pageantry, have no fear friend, your pal Joey B has you covered. I used to be a draft nerd and I suppose I still am one to an extent as much like being a fan of anything pop culture or sports related, once you’re in, and it continues to exist, you’re always going to be sort of drawn to it. So let’s get down to brass tacks.

A Pro Day is sort of like an athletic program’s NFL Combine, the event where every player declared for the draft and deemed noteworthy by the league (they fuck that part up a lot) is, in front of a slew of pro scouts from every team and at a central location, run through both a standard set of drills and then another subset based on their position(s). At a pro day, in front of a group of scouts that choose to attend for specific players, players from the same football program can run through a very similar if not exact set of drills that they performed at the Combine but at their college athletic program’s facilities. This gives players a second chance to show what they can do but in a familiar environment (e.g they can run the 40 on the same track they always run on) while being directed by coaches they are comfortable with and working through the drills with fellow participants they know. There are exceptions of course. For instance, a lot of smaller schools’ players will work out at the Pro Day held by a larger school. I wish I could tell you how, for instance, Tuskegee players have the option to attend Troy’s pro day but I actually have no idea. Also, not all players involved in these drills are familiar with each other, both because of the aforementioned school inclusions and because of eligibility rules, which is where our Mr. Manziel (“J”) comes in.

For wide receivers, they obviously have to run routes and show off their speed, separation ability, change of direction, etc. They also need to show they can catch the ball, and so someone has to throw it to them. The problem is that their most recent starting QB might still have eligibility left, in which case he is not allowed to participate, the rest of his QBs might not yet be ready for the tasks and thus may make him look bad, or, in some cases, there simply may just not be anyone around. In the case of the University of San Diego in the year of our Lord 2018, they needed someone to toss the rock to the WRs participating in their pro day and have called in Johnny Manziel (::brushes shoulder off::) from the bullpen.

I personally think this is a great idea for the former first round pick. Why? Two big reasons in particular.

First, it’s a controlled environment. He is there for the receivers looking to enter the league so there will be nothing inhibiting what he is doing. There will be no pass rush, no motion or rolling out of any sort, and he will probably know the routes he will be throwing ahead of time. To elaborate on that last point, even if the routes aren’t disclosed to him it’s more than likely just the basic full WR route tree. He’s been through this before.

The second reason, and the reason I like this move the most and think it is sly and savvy as fuck, is that it shows humility. It’s humbling. Those two words would have not been within a paragraph of Johnny Manziel’s (I’m too respected by this point so I’m done with the jokes) name a few years or even months ago. At pro days, you never know who the QBs are. Their names are never mentioned. Once in awhile it will be a grad assistant or something from that school who was a starting QB a few years past so they bring it up for nostalgia sake (Hey! Look who’s tossin passes, it’s Tyler Palko!) but that’s about it. They’re the men behind the curtain. But in order to get out there and get seen and let it be known that he’ll do those two things by any means necessary, Manziel is willing to put on that cloak of anonymity and take on this fairly thankless role on Thursday. It’s brilliant.

Everyone loves a good comeback story. We’re seeing it with Tiger Woods this year. I think this is a legit step for Johnny Manziel to truly, surely prove he is serious about getting back in the league in any capacity. I’ll be waiting to hear how he looks Thursday, if we even do.

Former NFL Combine Athletic Freaks Julio Jones and Devin Hester Take Exception to NFL Hyping Up Saquon Barkley’s Athletic Freak Combine Performance. Huh?

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USA Today -As expected, Saquon Barkley put on a show at the 2018 NFL combine. His performance inspired NFL Media’s research department to send out this tweet… That didn’t sit well with Hester, who took to Instagram to point out that he was not 100% when he ran in Indy

“No disrespect to S Barkley But I ran in the combine with a pulled hamstring with sneakers on, just so I wouldn’t make it any worse. Was told by all the scouts that if I did bad that I could make it up at pro day. @nfl@nflnetwork@NFLResearch do you really think he was faster then me!!!!😂😂😂😂”

Julio Jones’ reaction wasn’t so polite

“They got me f#%* up! I’m 4.3 with a broken foot”

Jones was diagnosed with a broken foot immediately following his combine performance in 2011. But we should point out that NFL Research did not even mention Jones’ speed in the comparison. Joe Thomas could only laugh at the tweet…

For guys that were literally Pro Bowlers in the National Football League to freak out that the NFL is hyping up this rookie is preposterous. Be more insecure guys. Oh I ran with a bad hammy, oh I had a bum foot that day.

I’m the first guy to yell from the mountaintops that NFL Combine performance doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot when projecting successful NFL players. Remember Vernon Gholston?

How often does a player run 40 yards completely straight without interruption? The answer is basically never. So a lot of these drills aren’t super relevant, but that doesn’t mean its not goddamn impressive. Just look at this tweet.

He ran a faster 40 than Devin Hester, put up more reps on the bench than Joe Thomas (a Left TACKLE) and he had a higher Vertical than arguably the most athletic player in the NFL in Julio Jones. Does that mean he will be a better NFL player than any of those guys? Of course not, but let me repeat myself, its still goddamn impressive. So for these guys to come out of the woodworks to bitch and moan?

 

“Agents Are For Suckers” – Baker Mayfield, Probably

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ProFootballTalk – At a time when all the top incoming rookies are picking their agents, former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield’s choice may be none of the above.

Via Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Daily, the Heisman winner currently is trying to decide whether to hire an agent, and he possibly won’t.

This story flew sort of under the radar yesterday (as opposed to the subject of the story, who often flies too close to the sun, buh dun bshhh). Baker Mayfield, Heisman Trophy winner and hell-spawn amalgamation of Johnny Football and Phillip Rivers, may not sign with an agent. I know there are a number of NFL veterans out there that don’t work with an agent for reasons unto themselves, Russell Okung being possibly the biggest name among them, but a rookie flying solo is rare. The closest thing that comes to mind is when Ricky Williams allowed Master P to represent him in his rookie contract negotiations. It breaks my heart knowing I’m so old that a lot of people reading this have zero clue what that last sentence meant, or how bad of an idea it was both from the jump and upon seeing how said negotiations played out for Williams. Hint: It is often referred to as the worst deal for a player of all time. Baker Mayfield choosing to sign with no agent rather than a rapper is a little better than that arrangement but is still problematic for a couple of reasons.

I think the first thing of importance to note is that for rookies, which Baker Mayfield will be for approximately one year, an agent’s job can be seen from a high-level as administrative. They represent their client in the truest sense of the word – taking the calls and preparing the documents a professional athlete doesn’t want to deal with. This is because as of a couple years ago the NFL introduced a rookie wage scale that basically writes rookie deals themselves. With that said, a good agent can affect the rookie deal of a first round pick, which Mayfield very well may be, in a positive manner to some extent, exploiting what little wiggle room there is in terms of guaranteed money, etc. However, barring things like catastrophic injury, most of the money in rookie deals is what it is, and up to the player himself to earn.

The first of what I see as two major problems with Baker Mayfield not signing with an agent is the fact that, as I previously mentioned and as is widely known, you are a rookie for one year. Mayfield is entering the draft at the position of Quarterback, the most important position on a football field, and hopefully of the Franchise Quarterback variety as well. So, if all goes well and the Franchise Quarterback performs satisfactorily, on top of having bountiful endorsements to work out thanks to the player being the face of a franchise, a good agent could get to work pretty much right away on putting a bug in the team’s ear regarding an extension for more money over more years. Now, these extensions are rarely given before the 3rd year for 4 year rookie deals or the 4th year for 5 year deals, but the conversations could at least start taking place right? Will Baker Mayfield be taking time out of his, you know, professional football player schedule during week 3 of his 2nd year to discuss the future? Will his team really love him having to do that? That’s probably a no to both and thus bad business strategy for #6.

The 2nd, and definitely bigger problem for Baker Mayfield here, is that not signing with a professional agent, as every other rookie does and is advised to do, does not show, well, at least not emphatically good decision making in terms of the non-football playing part of his life. Poor decision making in terms of the non-football playing part of his life is sort of a major red flag in Mayfield’s file, really the most major one actually, so this really could bode poorly for his draft stock. To recap, he left Texas Tech due to a “miscommunication with coaches,” tried to drunkenly practice the 40 yard dash away from a cop, to no avail, and was booked for a drunk and disorderly thereafter, and then, in a passionate moment after throwing a TD against Kansas earlier this season, tugged at his crotch area and offered the Kansas sideline the opportunity to perform acts on said area. To decide that the fate of the millions of dollars coming his way would be best left to himself, Baker Mayfield, can arguably be seen as a not so great decision, which, given his height and perceived not-superior arm strength (I think that part is bullshit but w.e), he can’t afford going into the draft.

Agents serve their clients. There are no two ways around that. They are there for the athlete and the athlete is the boss. I know it probably chaps a lot of athlete’s asses that their agent takes 10% of the money the he/she earns from ravaging their body, but as a wise man once said, it’s the way of the road, Bubs. To that end, Baker Mayfield should, if nothing else, hire a mouthpiece, a certified NFLPA agent in a $1,000.00 dollar suit, to just “be his agent” under the conditions that Baker Mayfield is his own man. We already know that after all.

Bill Parcells Says New Patriots QB Jacoby Brissett is A-OK in His Book

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Courtesy of NY Daily News

Courtesy of NY Daily News

Boston Herald – “You never really know for sure until you see a player under the gun, so to speak, at the top level,” Parcells said. “But, that being said. I have a very high regard for this young man. He’s an awesome kid…..”He’s very bright. He has zero personal issues. He’s a very dedicated, committed guy, and I think he’s going to the absolute perfect place for him.”

I still have no idea what to make of Jacoby Brissett and we probably won’t really know for a couple of years, but as far as references go you could do a lot worse than Bill Parcells. Obviously I don’t know much about his relationship with Brissett, but this basically boils down to the Big Tuna wanting to let everyone know the Pats newest QB has his head screwed on straight. AKA Not an Asshole.

And that’s definitely good to hear from a hard ass like Parcells. A former coach who famously ripped players and wasn’t exactly known for lavishing praise on his guys. I hope this isn’t just Bill softening with age because as far as the comparisons to Troy Brown and Tedy Bruschi go that’s great, but QB is a different animal.

Backup QB is always the most popular guy in town too and this goes double for the third stringers. How else do you explain legit nicknames like The Yates of Hell? Or the stories of Rohan Davey throwing balls from his knees at midfield and hitting the uprights? Absolutely useless info, but the kind of cool stories that you hear about players that never see the field. So my point is, barring “24” style catastrophe, we won’t know much about Jacoby for a while, unless you lie through your teeth like Mel Kiper Jr, so it’s good to hear some high praise out of a Hall of Fame coach right out of the gates.

NFL No Longer Accepting Draft Prospects If They Can’t Cook

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Yahoo Sports – “A college prospect had to defend his cooking skills, which were criticized by an anonymous scout, the day before the NFL draft…”I worry about him because of off-the-field issues. The kid has no life skills. At all. Can’t cook. Just a baby. He’s not first round for me. He scares me to death.”

A college student who can’t cook. That’s what NFL scouts are concerned with these days? When I was a freshman in college I used to buy these little packages of tuna because I had no idea how to use a can opener.

Tunapack

Ride the shuttle to Wal-Mart and stock up on Red Barrons (bootleg Mama Celeste), popcorn chicken and any other food I could microwave. Sure Apple may need to upgrade his diet from Goldfish and Beers for dinner, but I think he’ll be fine playing some football without a degree from Cordon Bleu.