Today the NFL handed down its long anticipated punishments of Saints players involved in “bountygate.” As was widely believed, Jonathan Vilma was the player hit heaviest, getting a one year suspension. Here’s exactly how the suspensions break down. LB Jonathan Vilma is suspended for 2012 NFL season, effective immediately. LB Scott Fujita (now with the […]

Chicago Bears: C+ The Bears met one of their most important needs before the draft began by reuniting Jay Cutler with wideout Brandon Marshall thanks to a trade with the Miami Dolphins. With Marshall in the fold, wide receiver went from a near “must have” to a “would be nice to have,” especially if Johnny […]

Carolina Panthers – Overall grade B+ After getting their franchise pivot last year, it was time to build around Cam and get him some guys to protect him, some weapons to work with and some stability on the other side of the ball to give him a chance to win. Value Pick – 2nd round […]

John Harbaugh has never been one to mince words, but his latest statement is harsh even by a straight shooter’s standards. In an interview with 97.9 FM, a Baltimore area radio station, Harbaugh was asked about Bountygate and the Saints. To answer the question, Harbaugh quickly answered by addressing the Patriots previous scandal, Spygate, saying, […]

They say grading a draft only days after its completion is fruitless and absurd. But we do it anyway, mainly because there’s a demand for the analysis, but also because I believe there’s a way to evaluate a draft based on needs addressed and related circumstances that have little to do with the unpredictable futures […]

The Ravens kicked off their 2012 draft by trading out of the 29th overall pick and the first round altogether. Their first selection came with the 3rd pick of the 2nd round, and they selected Courtney Upshaw, a guy that some analysts had going in the top 10 earlier in the postseason, but Upshaw slid […]

Every year, the NFL draft provides a springboard for some teams while others simply fall flat on their faces. It’s nice to talk about which teams made the biggest leaps forward, but it’s a lot more fun to talk about teams that stumbled right before the jump, causing them to wipe out in an epic […]

Back to school, here are some draft grades from the AFC East. Buffalo Bills: B+ The Bills did a good job of marrying need and BPA with their first pick. Gilmore stormed up the draft board a couple of weeks before the draft being rumored to the Jags or Bucs but once he fell to […]

The Cleveland Browns turned some heads during the NFL draft, especially in the first round. Some of their critics think they’ve taken a big step in the right direction while others think they buried themselves for years to come with another poor draft. The Browns’ draft class is centered around their first round selections of […]