By Guest Blogger Stephen Kersey of Hoops Fantasy and Knuckle Curve

5. Drew Brees will have a huge season.
Last season, Drew Brees was amazingly cold to begin the season for the Saints. In his first four games, Brees had one touchdown pass and nine interceptions. However, from then on, Brees was very good. In his final 12 games, Brees had 27 touchdowns and nine interceptions. With the addition of Jeremy Shockey and a healthy Deuce McAllister, Brees should have a great season in 2008.

4. The Cowboys will implode.
Not only is Terrell Owens always a ticking time bomb, Dallas has decided to add Pacman Jones to the mix (or Adam Jones, if he prefers). Having one potential volatile player such as T.O. is one thing. Adding a second volatile player is just asking for trouble. In 2008, look for the Cowboys’ team chemistry to erode and the squad not to be able to live up to their expectations.

3. The Dolphins will surprise.
Bill Parcells is the master at turning around organizations. With the recent addition of Chad Pennington, the Dolphins now have a legitimate quarterback. Pennington, along with a number of other offseason acquisitions, has heart and will help the team exceed expectations. Miami won’t make the playoffs but they will be close to a .500 team – which will be a major surprise who expect the Dolphins to be the worst team in the NFL.

2. Brett Favre will struggle.
Lost in all of the Brett Favre hype is the fact that 2007 was likely a fluke season for Favre. Prior to last year, Favre had two sub par seasons in a row. And now at 38, Favre can’t be expected to evade father time for much longer. Expect Favre to have a few magical moments but he’ll likely end the season with more interceptions than touchdowns. The New York Jets will be improved but not improved enough to make the playoffs.

1. The Patriots will win the Super Bowl.
Last season, the Patriots almost had a perfect season on their way to a championship. But, as we all know, the New York Giants ruined the shot at perfection in the Super Bowl. This year, New England will actually save some juice for the postseason. Don’t be surprised if you see the Patriots struggle a little bit out of the gate. As the season goes along, expect the Patriots to improve and then go into the playoffs and take home another Super Bowl title.

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Jason Taylor can still dance. Can he still play defensive end?

Image details: New York Jets v Miami Dolphins served by picapp.com

It is official. The Miami Dolphins have sent Jason Taylor to the Washington Redskins.

The Redskins gave the Dolphins a second-round pick in 2009 and a sixth-round choice in 2010 for Taylor.

The six-time Pro Bowl defensive end — who was the 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year — fell out of favor in Miami after spending his offseason on the TV show “Dancing With the Stars” rather than working out with teammates.

The deal came about nine hours after starting defensive end Phillip Daniels was carted away from the practice field at Redskins Park with a season-ending left knee injury on Day 1 of training camp.

source

Jason Taylor is 33 years old and the Miami Dolphins were looking to get younger. After 11 seasons in the NFL, Jason has maybe 1 or 2 seasons left. Even he admits as much.

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It was such a strange and long Saturday.

2008 NFL Draft day

Only 3 hours for round 1. Last year the NFL draft was over in 6 hours. No receivers taken in the first round. How odd. The fast guys must slow the draft down.

Jake Long

Jake Long officially became a Miami Dolphin. The first draft pick in 2008 for the NFL by Bill Parcells. Big Tuna could not get rid of the pick, so he overpaid a very good young tackle to the tune of 58 million bucks for 6 years. 30 mill guaranteed. 6 years of no playoffs for the Dolphins, but at least they have a tackle.

Jake Long - an even bigger Tuna

Image details: 2008 NFL Draft served by picapp.com

Pacman - Ride ‘em Cowboy

Pacman is a Cowboy. It is official. Will Pacman even make the field is another question. The trade itself was very complicated.

The deal was agreed to in principle Wednesday. Then came all a convoluted series of talks between both teams, Pacman, the league and the union, a back-and-forth, forth-and-back series that team vice president Stephen Jones called the most complicated in his nearly 20 years in the league.

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Brett Favre is gone

Brett Favre was placed on the Packer reserved retired list and no longer counts as part of their roster. It is so hard to imagine playing the Packers and not seeing Brett Favre slinging the ball around.

Detroit Lions had to pull something

Too gun shy Read more

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
More power to Jake Long. Power, as in 58 million bucks.

That is right. 58 million smackaroonies for an offensive lineman. That is a lot of dough. That is way too much dough. Jake Long will most likely be a great left tackle, but that is too much money to spend to find that out.

Jake Long can now afford those Gucci football shoes

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The draft needs to be fixed. It is a joke to pay a football player that has not even arrived in his first camp and make him the highest paid player at his position. It is an even bigger joke to make Jake Long the highest paid lineman and make him play for Miami, a team that does not expect to win a whole lot of games.

You realize that you just punished Miami. Now a fistful of dollars are tied up in an inexperienced rookie lineman.

Hey, give credit to Miami. They knew the fix they were in and put on their best face.

Long’s total contract package is for $57.75 million, said a person familiar with the negotiations who didn’t want to be identified because the Dolphins declined to reveal terms. Last year’s top pick, JaMarcus Russell, signed for $61 million with the Oakland Raiders but missed all of training camp before reaching a deal.

Long becomes the highest-paid lineman in the NFL and a 6-foot-7, 315-pound cornerstone in a rebuilding project for the new Dolphins regime led by Bill Parcells. Last season Miami went 1-15, and the offensive line has been a chronic problem in recent years.

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As a big football fan, maybe this would have been easier to digest if it was a unique skill player like JaMarcus Russell and Calvin Johnson were last year. It would have been easier to take if Matt Ryan or Darren McFadden had been a little higher rated, but this is a left tackle.

So take heart out there all of you left tackles that Read more

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
Hey, it is a true story. Dan Campbell plays TE for the Detroit Lions and has had three surgeries on his elbow.

It had been his Achilles’ heel. Twice he had surgery. Twice he tried to come back early. Both times he had trouble.

Now the elbow has an actual Achilles tendon in it.

Campbell had surgery a third time Sept. 21. An elbow specialist reattached the triceps tendon — what was left of it, anyway. Then he reinforced it with an Achilles tendon from a cadaver.

source

Now surgery is a way of life in the NFL, but this is a little unusual.

It didn’t bother Dan Campbell at all.

“I said, ‘Get it fixed. I don’t care what it takes,’ ” Campbell said. “I did have some questions about, ‘Well, how does that work?’ You hear about transplants, different organs or stuff like that.

“Actually, that’s what he said. He said, ‘This isn’t organs, man. You don’t have to worry about it. It’s not like your body’s going to reject it or something.’ ”

How is Coach Marinelli doing?

Dan was asked to compare current Coach Rod Marinelli and he came up with a comparison to a former coach, Bill Parcells, the Big Tuna himself.

He talked about how Big Tuna broke you down and Rod Marinelli builds you up and says have fun.

Dan went on to say how the Lions have rebuilt the team in Rod’s image and that it was going to be a special year, especially with the help of the dead guy.

NFL Football special comment The Lions have a pretty easy looking schedule and could be poised for a big year. It remains to be seen how the changes brought on by Marinelli pan out.

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As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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If you could draft any player in any sport in the NFL Draft, who would it be?

That is the way Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports goes at it.

In that case, the Big Tuna would take Tom Brady.

The Rams would take Peyton Manning and Atlanta would take Carson Palmer.

But enough about easy picks. How about the Lions? Remember it would be Matt Millen picking.

15. Detroit Lions – Larry Fitzgerald, WR. Matt Millen can’t help himself. Just as he must habitually hire coaches with “M” names, the Detroit president is inextricably bound to select a wide receiver with his top pick. This time he lands the NFL’s highest-paid wideout, a 24-year-old rising star who caught 100 passes in ‘07. source

Even Matt Millen can’t be this far gone, can he?

Larry Fitzgerald - Uhh, Matt Millen, you have got to be kidding me

Image details: Pro Bowl Press Conference served by picapp.com

Actually, Michael Silver has a lot of fun with his picks, like Indianapolis taking 30 year old Brian Urlacher or Oakland at number four taking Devin Hester.

By the way, no Lions are drafted!

NFL Football special comment This is a fun draft, but can’t the Lions get a break anywhere?

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As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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Jason Taylor is on Dancing with the Stars and doing quite good.

Jason Taylor nailed it again Monday night on “Dancing With The Stars,” impressing the judges with his passable rendition of The Jive, a swing dance originated among African-Americans in the 1940s. He and partner Edyta Sliwinska received a score of 23 from the three judges, one of whom expressed amazement that someone as tall as the 6-foot-6 Taylor can move the way he does.

source

Meanwhile, for a host of reasons, the NFL has barely taken notice. One would think a positive event like Dancing with the Stars would be given some positive publicity.

That is not the way the NFL sees it.

Who cares what the NFL thinks. Let’s watch Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska doing the mambo!

NFL Football comment Man, would you have the Jason Taylor guts to do that?

Be sure to check out my companion blog at NBA Obsessed.

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

More blogs about football.

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
Today we examine the Top Ten draft picks.

Michael Pitzer at USAToday will be our guide.

The Squibster will comment in italics.

Matt Ryan - The new face of the Dolphins?

1. Miami Dolphins -

Expect plenty of subterfuge from the Dolphins during the next two months; you’re better off not believing anything you hear from them. General manager Jeff Ireland threw open the door for a trade when he told the NFL Network at the Senior Bowl, “We’re open for business.” The Dolphins, who drafted John Beck in the second round a year ago, need to make a decision at quarterback. If they don’t like Beck or their options in free agency, then Boston College’s Matt Ryan would make sense. If not, look for Miami to go for defense. source

Isn’t it odd how Miami football and basketball have fallen on hard times. You can read about NBA Basketball at NBAObsessed, my other blog, but suffice it to say that Pat Riley has a plan to rebuild the team in 1 year after losing the Shaq. Does Bill Parcells have a plan? Well, most likely, but he has not told me in person, yet.

My guess is they go for Matt Ryan, even though that would go against conventional logic for building a team. (You build the lines first) Miami needs a new face and QB Matt Ryan could provide that face. Add in the fact that Bill Parcells believes in the quick turnaround. He has pulled it off himself, before. Logic still dictates trading down.

2. St. Louis Rams - Michael says no to the QB, and uses the level of health to determine whether they go for Jake Long, Virginia defensive end Chris Long, or LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.

Make it Jake Long, you can’t go wrong.

3-5 (order to be determined by coin flip). Atlanta Falcons - Ryan or Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.

McFadden, with no QB, Atlanta will need some kind of run game.

3-5. Kansas City Chiefs - The Chiefs Read more