Tennessee had the best record in the league last season but bowed out early in the playoffs. They were led by QB Kerry Collins who played basically mistake free football and produced wins. Where does that leave Vince Young for this season?

You remember Vince from last year. He played bad, got hurt and when he came back it was too late. It was already Collins’ team. To make matters worse for Young, Collins signed a 2 year 15 million dollar contract of which 8.5 is guaranteed. Young is still looking at 3 more years with the Titans who are still reluctant to let the guy go. Young is very talented and has won at every level but he’s struggled with the passing game in the NFL and it has shown. However, the Titans don’t want to give up on him too early and have him go somewhere else and beat them.

Head Coach Jeff Fisher came out and said that Young would have to win the job back but he’s not going into the battle as the favorite and that makes it even tougher for him. If Vince Young comes in and has a good camp and can show what he can do then it only partially repairs what has been done in the past. I’ve talked about it before and the QB is a very fickle position. The QB is the team leader and the face of the franchise. Young was the face before being removed and it’s tough to get that back…from the fans….from the players and from the coaches. I just don’t think it will happen.

The best thing that can happen to Vince is a great camp with a great attitude and then have him get dealt while his value is somewhat high and is salary is manageable at only 4.5 million. If they don’t deal him this year they’ll be on the hook next year for 7.5 mill and if he isn’t starting then he’s going to get cut. By then Collins will be in the last year of his contract and he’s no spring chicken. Just when the Titans thought they had their QB of the future they probably didn’t. Vince is gone.

I’m all over the hype leading up the NFL draft and it always gets me hopeful for my favorite team…THE Chicago Bears. I love the Bears but they have 2 positions that they never seem to be able to really fill and not worry about for 10 years…QB and Wide Receiver.

They’ve tried and tried for both but it’s never worked. They drafted McMahon and he got them a title but he’s not close to a hall of famer. Eric Kramer had a miracle year once for them. Super REx Grossman wasn’t the answer and who knows what happens with Kyle Orton. They grasped at Cade McNown 10 years ago and he didn’t last 2 seasons in the league. They struggle at the position. This year they won’t really try to get a QB early and I’m ok with it.

As for Wide Receiver they’ve tried with Curtis Conway, Tyrell and others and it hasn’t worked out at all. It doens’t help that they never have a QB who can really throw the ball consistently. So what will the Bears do this draft?

I think the Bears take a wide receiver again. I think they go after Derius Heyward Bey or Jeremy Maclin. Maclin may not make it that far but that guy is as close to Devin Hester as it gets because he’s a polished return man who is still working on becoming a top notch receiver. Bey is a good receiver, not great, but runs a 4.3 40. Teams love speed and the Bears will go that route.

Now the great question will come back again…who’s going to throw it to him? I don’t know and I don’t care as long as they win some games for me.

Who do you want your favorite team to take?

What is the most important position to draft? Are teams taking players based on needs or talents more often? Why are punters rarely drafted?

Ok, maybe nobody really wonders why a punter isn’t drafted but I wanted to throw it out there. The draft is only 7 rounds which makes each pick absolutely critical to a team’s success. If they were to waste a pick on a punter instead of a lineback or running back it could really be costly for a team. The Bears drafted Todd Sauerbrun years ago and had to eat that pick as he just didn’t punt the ball well for Chicago and they were really paying him well. Punters are usually left to be found as free agents.

We usually see a decent mix of offensive and defensive talent early in each draft but I would say the most important position to draft is the offensive line. Rarely does a top 10 offensive lineman not pan out in the NFL. I’m not talking Tony Mandarich here, but a really highly rated lineman. Jake Long went first last year and lived up to expectations. This year there is a lot of talk around Jason Smith from Baylor being a top 3 selection and it will be spot on. The lineman usually play from day 1 while it may take a quarterback 2-3 years to develop. Same with the defensive line. Defensive lineman can start from day 1 and that makes a big difference to a lot of teams.

We may see the Lions take Matthew Stafford, qb from Georgia, with the top pick in the coming draft but if they want to build for long term success they will do that with the offensive line. The LIons drafted top quality wide receivers for years and they are horrible. Try to build the foundation with the line and go from there.

I’m of a strong opinion never to take a wide receiver in the top part of the draft because they are a dime a dozen. How often do we see a good wideout who was undrafted or taken in the 6th or 7th round? Plus, quarterbacks make wide receivers and unless you have a good qb then don’t waste your time and money on a wide receiver. Randy Moss went to Oakland and floundered for 2 years because they had nobody to throw him the ball. He goes to New England and is reborn but that isn’t the case. He just had someone good to play catch with.

Is anyone else tired of hearing about these guys? Owens is getting publicity for not showing up to the Bills conditioning session. The guy is notorious for being in better shape than 99% of the league yet this is drawing attention. Owens isn’t slacking because he has too much pride. Let’s not give him his due by talking about it. The only reason I am is because it makes me mad. The guy wants some publicity and we constantly feed into him. I’m guilty of it but I’m all for a ban.

While I’m banning T.O I’m also banning Jay Cutler. I am so sick of the cry baby whining about the team trying to trade him but then not doing it. Jay then puts his house up for sale and requests a trade. Trade him to Chicago. PLEASE. Then he’ll wish he was in Denver. He’ll have nobody to throw to and it will be cold and miserable. Give him wish and trade him to a team with limited fan support so he can feel what it would be like. He’s a good quarterback but man up and join your team and be there 100% for them until you are dealt. Do it because it’s the right thing to do, not the fair thing to do. If you are upset about how you got treated then show them how a professional acts, not a cry baby. This is something that I have to teach my 12 year old daughter and shouldn’t have to teach a grown man getting paid millions to throw a football. I’m done talking about both and I wish we all would.

Word has come out that Jay Cutler has requested that the Broncos deal him and soon. I don’t blame the guy for his request after what happened with him earlier in the year. Cutler was rumored to be involved in trade talks with the Patriots/Bucs before the Chiefs stepped in and made a deal. The Patriots leaked that the Broncos were in talks with them and the rest is history. Cutler wants out.

What do the Broncos do? Trade him and get something for him while his value is so high. Cutler threw for 4500 yards last season but didn’t lead the team to the playoffs. They could get a decent qb back and possibly some picks. By trading Cutler it will also stem the expectations on rookie coach Josh McDaniels. Besides, why keep him? Qb’s are an ego driven bunch and Jay’s is bruised. Let him walk before he becomes a team cancer and distraction.

It appears that the Lions are close to making their selection for the top pick in next month’s draft and that they will select Matthew Stafford who was the quarterback from the University of Georgia.

Stafford volunteered for the position by talking very highly of the Lions but it was also a great p.r. move. If Stafford is taken #1 overall he is basically set for life financially unless he gets involved with dogfighting. When a player is selected at the top he has some serious power and Stafford will be the player brought in to bring this franchise back to life in a city that desperately needs it. He’ll more than likely get to play right away and we’ll learn very quickly if the Lions made the right choice.

Who else would they take? The consensus is that Jason Smith from Baylor is the best lineman available in this draft and will go #2. Smith would be a good fit for Detroit and would play immediately there as well. Detroit needs to be more aggressive with this pick however and that’s why they take the glitz of the quarterback.

#3 is presumably going to be Aaron Curry, the linebacker from Wake Forest. Curry grades out very highly and will be the first linebacker off the board. He’ll be able to start from day 1 and be a great player for years barring injury.

#4 Eugene Monroe from Virginia. Another giant offensive lineman that grades out well. He’s projected to not slip past 6 for whatever reason but a lot depends on team needs.

#5 Michael Crabtree from Texas Tech. Crabtree had an amazing college career and is the best receiver prospect in this draft. He is used to be double teamed and defended by the opposing team’s best while playing in a great college football conference. If he lands with the right team he’ll be a great pick from day 1 but if he ends up in a running offense in an offense that runs from the I formation then it will take him some time.

Trent Edwards admitted that he pitched the idea of getting Terrell Owens to his gm. This is a nightmare waiting to happen. Trent Edwards is a young quarterback coming off a decent season. He has a highly talented wide out in Lee Evans and getting T.O should make the Bills better, right? It won’t. T.O can’t handle other players getting spotlight and Evans is a better player at this stage of their careers. Evans didn’t need a great 2nd receiver to get his 1000 yards this year. T.O. is going to sabotage this team. Like I’ve said before he is the Stephon Marbury of football. His teams haven’t been good for years despite his play yet all we ever hear is about how T.O doesn’t get the ball enough about how T.O feels like other people have favorites, we hear excuses and whining and it’s gets tiresome.

The ONLY way this works is if he shuts his mouth and just goes to play football because he’s a hall of famer on talent and stats, but he has to shut his mouth and be about the team if he wants this to work. The guy will want to prove he can still play and that Dallas and the other teams made a mistake but we’ll see if he can maintain his behavior. I don’t think he can and I think Trent Edwards is in for a long long season and Coach Dick Jauron is going to get canned as a result. Hope it was worth it guys.

This has been a long time coming. We’ve all seen clip after clip of Terrell Owens showing up his teammates and coaches. We’ve all watched time and again about how teams need to get him the ball and it would solve all the problems of the world. Well I think one team finally did something about it.

Terrell Owens is a supremely talented athlete and player who had a major flaw in that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Instead of letting his talent do the talking and being a leader that people would follow he kept talking and demeaning and it caught up with him. He’s not too crushed, after all he got to keep his 12 million dollar bonus from a year ago but what does that tell you? Jerry Jones wanted TO gone so bad that he ate 12 million dollars from it. He’s the football version of Marbury but more of a winner. At least the guy played on some winning teams with the 49ers and Eagles. People assume that Dallas was winning but they never did anything with TO. They still haven’t even won a playoff game with the guy.

Jerry Jones just gained the respect of his team and it is going to pay off. I predict Dallas makes the playoffs and turns a corner in the coming season. Mentally it’s a big deal for this team and while Romo will miss TO as a receiver he won’t miss him as a teammate.

This isn’t going too well for the CArds. They aren’t willing to allow Kurt Warner to take the hometown discount and come back which he clearly wants to do. They aren’t aggressively going after Anquan Boldin and they let the offensive coordinator walk with nothing more than a ’see ya later’. The latest news is that Edgerrin James wants to leave and the Cards should be ok with that. Edge is done as a top tier back and needs to accept a lesser role if he wants to stick in the league.

What should the Cards do? At the end of the season, the Cards were the best team in the NFC and nearly won the Super Bowl. Kurt WArner isn’t slowing down at all and showed that if is given weapons he can be deadly. Larry got his money and now Anquan wants his and why not give it to him. For once, the Cards need to show a team and a city that they have faith and believe in them. Warner needs to come back and it would be wise to bring Boldin back with him. We’ll see, but with Tim Hightower taking on a featured role as the running back they will be better there and with the playoff experience it seems natural this team would take a step forward.

Right now, they are like me on the dance floor in not knowing at all where to step and that doesn’t work.

Jay Cutler got wind of the recent trade talks involving himself going to the Tampa Bay Bucs and isn’t happy about it one bit and if I was a Broncos fan I’d be a littler worried about the direction this could go.

Word got out that the Bucs, Broncos and Patriots were having trade talks involving draft picks, Matt Cassell and Jay Cutler. Cassell would’ve ended up in Denver playing for his offensive coordinator turned head coach Josh McDaniels. Cutler would’ve wound up in Tampa and draft picks would’ve been exchanged. The deal was squashed when Cassell and Mike Vrabel were dealt to Kansas City for the 34th pick in the coming draft. Apparently the leak of the Denver deal came from the New England side of things.

Why should this worry Broncos fans?

1. Cutler is an above average NFL Qb but athletes are or can be fragile in the area of pride. They want 2 things and that is stability and a feeling of being wanted. Cutler lost both of those in one failed deal and he’s fragile right now. Cutler now feels the team doesn’t want him and that if he isn’t dealt they still tried to or had serious talks to deal him. That’s a big blow for the player.

2. This is a big blow for the entire team. The QB is the team leader and the new coach just showed how much confidence he has in his existing QB by talking trade about him and trying to backpedal now about it. The team sees this and has to wonder how stable the position is and if they are on the block. Each player will come to camp trying to prove themselves to the new staff and Cutler was the player that this franchise was supposedly going to grow with for years and instead the franchise is immediately in a sense of wonder.

3. Young coach: When a situation like this arises you want a Belichick type how acts like nothing is a big deal and keeps his mouth shut in most cases. The Broncos have the youngest coach in the league and he’s never been through this before. His city loves football and just fired a veteran coach who got them 2 rings so he has some shoes to fill. Losing the confidence of this teams leader isn’t the best way to get off on the right foot.

This needs to get addressed and put behind them or the Broncos will be in a position that they’ll have to deal Cutler and they don’t want to do that.