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Tag Archives: Sammy Watkins
BROWNS 2014 FIRST ROUND DRAFT DISASTERS
Browns general manager Ray Farmer has made some good decisions this season on acquiring talent, but when it mattered most, the first round of the draft, he dropped the ball big time!
Knowing he had a wide receiver who was going to be suspended for maybe the entire year and in a receiver rich draft, he bypassed highly rated wide outs for a cornerback and a quarterback that will make us all wonder about his grading system when the 2015 NFL draft comes around.
Who would have helped the Browns more this year and in the future, the two players Farmer selected in the first round in Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel, or any one of these four wide receivers Sammy Watkins, Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans or Kelvin Benjamin?
Justin Gilbert – 29 tackles – 1 interception – 1 td – 8 passes defensed
Johnny Manziel – 18-35-175 yards – 0 td passes – 2 interceptions/29 yards rushing – 1 td
Sammy Watkins – 62 receptions – 925 yards – 6 td’s
Odell Beckham Jr. – 79 receptions – 1,120 yards – 11 td’s
Mike Evans – 63 receptions – 997 yards – 11 td’s
Kelvin Benjamin – 72 receptions – 999 yards – 9 td’s
Plus there is one more game to play which gives all four wide receivers the opportunity to go over 1,000 yards receiving in their rookie year.
Ask yourself, who would have helped the Browns more this year and beyond?
THINKING OUT LOUD ON LEBRON, JOSH GORDON, WORLD CUP AND MORE
Not only has Dwyane Wade’s on-court game diminished, so has his endorsement game. When the only commercial we see you in now is for the “Endura Cool Towel” which you can buy at Lowes, you know your superstar status is in question. Think about that LeBron!
The longer this free agency period goes in the NBA without a legit free agent willing to take less money to play in Miami, the Cavs chances, as well as all the other teams in on the LeBron James sweepstakes increase daily. I had the Cavs chances at 30 percent yesterday. I’ll improve that to 35 percent today.
So yes, Cleveland has a decent shot at getting LeBron James back if he doesn’t retrun to the Heat. If that happens thank yous need to be sent to the Spurs, Endura Cool Towels, Kyle Lowery and others.
The Indians off season moves, or lack thereof, are hurting their chances to win the Central Division, as they trail first place Detroit by seven games and second place Kansas city by three games. Here are the moves that hurt the most.
They elected not to resign starting pitcher Scott Kazmir who is now (10-3, 2.53era) with the first place Oakland A’s.
Aaron Harang was a spring training invite for the Indians, but was told he didn’t make the Indians opening day roster, so he used a clause in his contract to opt out and become a free agent. Soon after, he was picked up by the Atlanta Braves where he has posted an 8-6 record so far with a 3.67era.
They passed on adding a power bat, which they so desperately needed like Nelson Cruz in free agency and all he’s done so far for the Baltimore Orioles is hit 27 home runs, while driving in 70 with a .286 batting average. How good would he look in the middle of the Tribe’s order?
I will give the Indians credit for not re-upping Ubaldo Jimenez (3-8, 4.52), saying so long to Chris Perez and not caving in to Justin Masterson’s ridiculous demands for a huge contract, but the earlier mentioned moves that they didn’t make have really hurt.
There’s still time to do something before the trading deadline of July 31st, but they better act quickly if they not only want to still challenge for the division title, but also the two A.L. Wild Card spots. With 76 games to go the Indians are 5½ games out of the second Wild Card spot.
On a positive note, let me be the first to say congratulations to Michael Brantley for representing the Indians at this year’s MLB All Star Game. It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but this is a no-brainer. If he doesn’t make it, an investigation should be done by the FBI and the CIA with Major Legaue Baseball. Brantley is the Tribe’s best all-around player and he has the numbers to back that up (.319-13HR-56RBI) through 86 games.
I can remember saying it on the radio, TV and on KennyRoda.com over the last two years. I never worried about wide receiver Josh Gordon during the season, but when he’s away from the Browns in the off season is when you should be very worried about him, and how accurate have those statements been? Wow, you talk about throwing away a chance at stardom, that’s exactly what Gordon is doing. He’s soaking wet with talent, but prefers partying and allegedly breaking the law over a successful career in the NFL. He needs some serious help to get his life together as former teammate D’Qwell Jackson pointed out on Twitter yesterday.
If Gordon is suspended for a full season, and reports suggest that we should find that out here in the next week or so, the Browns will have 14 other wide receivers on the roster that combined for one touchdown catch last season. Yes that’s right, one TD grab! Nate Burleson caught one in Detroit in the 9 games he played for the Lions.
I said it then and I’ll say it again; not drafting a wide receiver somewhere in the draft was a big mistake by Ray Farmer and the Browns. I wanted Sammy Watkins in the first round, but I can understand the trade down to select Justin Gilbert and get Buffalo’s number one pick next year. But to ignore the WR position the rest of the draft was a bad decision by Farmer.
Thank you Jurgen Klinsmann, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and the rest of the U.S. soccer team for an exciting run in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
I thought I’d never say this, but I’ve become a full-fledged soccer fan! Yeah that’s right, the guy who used to rip the sport on the radio many years ago, now has fallen in love with the sport! I think I’ve missed two World Cup games. I watched every minute of every game played by the United States and was thoroughly depressed when the U.S. Men’s National Team was knocked out in the round of 16 by Belgium.
I’m hopeful that other new U.S. fans like me will stay with the sport and help it grow in notoriety over the next four years leading up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
I Believe!
KENNY RODA 2014 NFL MOCK DRAFT 2.0
One of the craziest years in trying to figure out who will do what and who’s going where. If I get six of these right I will be thrilled. So with that said, here’ my final Mock Draft for the 2014 NFL Draft.
1 Houston Jadeveon Clowney DE South Carolina
2 St. Louis Greg Robinson OT Auburn
3 Atlanta Khalil Mack LB Buffalo (In a Trade w/Jags)
4 Cleveland Sammy Watkins WR Clemson
5 Oakland Jake Matthews OT Texas A&M
6 Jacksonville Mike Evans WR Texas A&M (In a Trade w/Atlanta)
7 Tampa Bay Johnny Manziel QB Texas A&M
8 Minnesota Blake Bortles QB UCF
9 Buffalo Taylor Lewan OT Michigan
10 Detroit Darqueze Dennnard CB Michigan State
11 Tennessee Justin Gilbert CB Oklahoma State
12 NY Giants Zack Martin OT Notre Dame
13 St. Louis Calvin Pryor SS Louisville
14 Chicago Aaron Donald DT Pitt
15 Pittsburgh Odell Beckham Jr. WR LSU
16 Dallas Ha Ha Clinton-Dix FS Alabama
17 Baltimore Eric Ebron TE North Carolina
18 NY Jets Brandin Cooks WR Oregon State
19 Miami Cyrus Kouandjio OT Alabama
20 Arizona Derek Carr QB Fresno State
21 Green Bay Timmy Jernigan DT Florida St.
22 Philadelphia Anthony Barr LB UCLA
23 Kansas City Marqise Lee WR USC
24 Cincinnati Kyle Fuller CB Virginia Tech
25 San Diego Jason Verrett CB TCU
26 Cleveland Teddy Bridgewater QB Louisville
27 New Orleans Marcus Martin C USC
28 Carolina Moses Morgan OT Virginia
29 New England Stephen Tuitt DL Notre Dame
30 San Francisco Ryan Shazier LB Ohio State
31 Denver Trent Murphy LB Stanford
32 Seattle Louis Nix III DT Notre Dame
PICKING APART THE NFL DRAFT PROSPECTS
The negatives. Areas of concern. The warts. Must improve these parts of his game. Aw yes, as teams and media members prepare for the NFL draft we’re always looking for a player’s weakness and how that may affect the decision to draft him if you’re a team, or where to rank him if you’re a media member. So today I figured I’d share with you some of the negatives I’ve heard from talent evaluators that I’ve talked to about some of the top players in this draft.
DE – Jadeveon Clowney – Takes plays off. Injury issues. Plays to stiff and upright. Can be pushed up field. Maturity issues on and off field. Is he discipline enough and can he set the edge?
WR – Sammy Watkins – Only 6 foot. Caught a lot of balls at or behind the line of scrimmage. Occasional concentration issues. Arrested for drug possession as a sophomore. Needs to stay in shape.
LB – Khalil Mack – Didn’t play against elite talent. Got in a fight with a teammate. Needs to use his arms better.
OT – Greg Robinson – Not a good pass blocker. Needs better balance. Speed rushers gave him problems.
OT – Jake Matthews – Needs to get stronger and add a few pounds. Has trouble at times with the bull or power rush. Run blocking isn’t as good as his pass blocking.
WR – Mike Evans – Has trouble getting off press coverage. Must improve his route running. Not a guy with that burst of speed at the line or downfield.
QB – Blake Bortles – Played against few elite teams. Lack of pin-point accuracy. Not enough juice on the ball at this time for NFL throws. Doesn’t lead receivers with his throw. Will try and force the ball. Overall fundlamentals need fine tuning. Footwork needs work.
QB – Johnny Manziel – Too short. Durability will be a factor. Is a system guy. Bad weather could affect him so he needs to play in a dome or in a warm weather city. Wants to escape the pocket too soon. When he stays in the pocket will he be able to see the receivers. Fundamentals are not good. Off the field issues, will they follow him to the NFL? Can he takes snaps from under center and read a defense?
TE – Eric Ebron – A wide receiver playing tight end. Bad blocker. Route running is suspect. Must get stronger in upper and lower body to play tight end in the NFL. Too many drops.
CB – Justin Gilbert – Needs to improve his technique. Relies too much on just his athletic ability. Doesn’t tackle well at all. Plays too far off receivers and not physical enough when at the line of scrimmage.
CB – Darqueze Dennard – His size is a factor at only 5’10 and some change. Has trouble playing zone coverage. Because of his size he grabs a lot and in the NFL he’ll get caught.
QB – Teddy Bridgewater – Has a funny build and his bone frame is a concern. Numerous injuries throughout his career going back to high school. Small hands. Deep ball accuracy is not good. Competition level he played against was suspect. Horrible pro day. To glove or not to glove on his throwing hand?
QB – Derek Carr – Didn’t play against enough elite competition and when he did, he didn’t perform well. Struggles when under pressure and will try and force the ball. Isn’t very mobile and doesn’t make many pass rushers miss. Throws off his back foot at times. A lot of completions were short and quick. Can he play under center?
OT – Taylor Lewan – Needs better knee bend and balance. Gets beat inside. A hot head or a dirty player. Grabs too much. Needs to be more powerful to play left tackle at the NFL level. Is he going to have off the field issues like he did at Michiagn?
MY AFC NORTH 1ST ROUND ONLY 2014 MOCK DRAFT 2.0
1ST ROUND
4 CLEVELAND BROWNS Sammy Watkins WR Clemson
15 PITTSBURGH STEELERS Darqueze Dennard CB Michigan State
17 BALTIMORE RAVENS Zack Martin OT Notre Dame
24 CINCINNATI BENGALS Kyle Fuller CB Virginia Tech
26 CLEVELAND BROWNS Derek Carr QB Fresno St.
2ND ROUND – *Bonus Pick
35 CLEVELAND BROWNS Cyrus Kouandjio OT Alabama