Adrian Peterson is one year removed from a 2,000-yard season. But he’s isn’t currently the best running back in the NFL. That’s just the reality of this league and that position. Peterson is coming off another stellar season, but in 2013 11 qualifying backs averaged more yards per carry and eight had more total yards […]

You’ll remember I posted a top 10 of each round of the draft over the last 10 years, but while the draft is the most obvious way to score the next best young talent, it’s not the only way. Being an undrafted rookie free agent may not be the blueprint way to a successful NFL […]

The Bottom Line: “Baseball is what we were. Football is what we have become.” ~ Washington Post columnist Mary McGrory The overnight ratings are in and the NFL was as dominant as the Seahawks in a title game. Nearly 10 million viewers watched the 2014 NFL Draft on ESPN last night according to a story […]

The jury’s still out on Johnny Manziel’s future, of course. Same rule applies to the Cleveland Browns’ short- and long-term future as a franchise. But take a look at the Browns’ pre-draft roster and then add 2014 first-round picks Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel. Then add the extra first- and fourth-round pick Cleveland now has […]

Now that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has made it clear that the only real long-term solution to keeping the Buffalo Bills in Western New York is by building a new venue to replace 40-year-old Ralph Wilson Stadium, Buffalo, Toronto, Los Angeles and anyone else in contention are essentially on even ground as a trust works […]

The Buffalo Bills are the only NFL team that hasn’t made the playoffs this century. I wrote this back in 2010, and it still stands: It doesn’t take long for an NFL team to go from good to bad and from bad to good, which is why it’s so unbelievable that the Bills have been […]

Three years ago, Richard Sherman was one week into his NFL career. He was a fifth-round pick who had only played cornerback one season at Stanford and was expected to be nothing more than a depth guy in Seattle. Some snippets from a breakdown in the News Tribune: Sherman has the ball skills to be […]

I want to thank NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for that uproarious #AskCommish thing on Twitter yesterday. That was 30 minutes of the best social media entertainment you will ever see. But, did Goodell use the event to lever Los Angeles to pony-up for a new stadium by dropping hints about a NFL franchise in London? […]

Mock drafts leading up to the opening of round one are always interesting, but more often than not, they leave out the fact that teams are constantly shuffling picks. In doing so, those teams change the list of priorities teams at the top of the draft order are picking for, which naturally changes where and […]

Remember the infamous Detroit Lions from a decade ago? They were a laughingstock for a lot of reasons, but few will forget the fact that Matt Millen-led squad of shame actually selected a wide receiver in the first round of three consecutive drafts. Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams are all out of football […]

“Upon further review” is a new recurring segment in which This Given Sunday analyzes quirks and fascinating tidbits from the NFL’s history books.  Because prospects can sign with teams as undrafted free agents the moment the NFL draft concludes, the final player selected each year is known as “Mr. Irrelevant.” On Saturday at Radio City […]

In the next few days, you’ll be hearing more and more references to recent draft busts such as Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder and Jake Locker when analysts discuss the possibility of a team taking Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater or Blake Bortles in the first round of the 2014 draft. Those critics will say that teams […]