My defensive rookie of the year award went solely to William Moore. I’m going out on a limb here but I think the rookie is going to play like a vengeful beast. With that vengence, I expect him to bring home the award. Please adjust my submission to defensive rookie of the year.

Also (its not that important, considering I dislike our divisional foes), I didn’t mean to give Carolina Panthers an “A”. I’m not certain if the tone of my entry dictated that; nonetheless, I grade them with a “B-”. Tampa Bay made a “C+”; and New Orleans made a flat out “D”.

Thanks, in advance, for the corrections.

My Def should read:
1 Curry
2 william Moore
3 Orakpo

TB-C+
CA-B+
NO-D
FA-B+

Sorry for the confusion.

Good to see the Bird-Cage gettin’ cranked up again, albeit a little slower.

Rookie of the Year Competitions
D3
OFF – 1)Beanie Wells, 2)Jeremy Maclin, 3)Mark Sanchez
DEF – 1)Brian Orakpo, 2)Aaron Curry, 3)Larry English

Reno911
OFF – 1)Mark Sanchez, 2)Beanie Wells, 3)Pat White
DEF – 1)Aaron Curry, 2)William Moore, 3)BJ Raji

Unca’ Bob
OFF – 1)Mark Sanchez, 2)Beanie Wells, 3)Hakeem Nicks
DEF – 1)Aaron Curry, 2)Brian Orakpo, 3)Jarron Gilbert

Stirg(tentative)
OFF – 1)Donald Brown, 2)Jeremy Maclin, 3)Jason Smith
DEF – more research

NFC South Draft Grades
D3
Tampa Bay – C+, Carolina – B, New Orleans – D, ‘Birds – B+

Stirg
Tampa Bay – C+, Carolina – A-?, New Orleans – C-

Unca’ Bob
Got analysis, need letter grades

Alright Gents, lets get those Rookie of the Year Competition in and NFC South Draft Analysis before we move on to another division. Final ROY predictions and Draft Grades will posted at end of the week before we start in analyzing divisions.

LBennett was betrayed by team ownership, the SNUFFY SMITH FAMILY, who refused to spend the money to keep the GRITS BLITZ together.

DReeves shot himself in the foot by making boneheaded decisions as GM and HC, and released too many key players that made the DIRTY BIRDS FLY SO HIGH. Losing RB JAnderson to a season ending injury was the final nail in the coffin. He had another strong sesson in 02, QB MVIck’s 1st season as a starter. A season ending injury to Vick caused a team collapse in 03.

JMora had an outstanding introductory season in 04. But injuries and poor coaching caught up to the team the following yr.

MSmith’s Falcons had as many, if not more, injuries as any of his predessors teams. He had no fewer that 11 players go on IR and all but 1, OT SBaker, suffered season ending injuries(OT RFoster, WR LRobinson, RB TBrown, LB RJames, CB’s BGrimes, VHutchins, DIrons, SS AHarris, DT TLewis, TE BHartsock and OT SBaker).

Imagine what this yrs team will do if it avoids serious injuries. Last yr we saw our unbelievably talented coaching staff overcome limited talent, a lot of holes, especially on DEF, a host of injuries and a spirit and franchise crushing scandal. Imagine what they will accomplish with an infusion of talent, those holes filled and no scandal to cotend with.

I think of how DEF’s will have to contend with Probowl QB MRyan handing off to Probowl RB MTurner or throwing to Probowl WR RWhite and Probowl TE TGonzalez, or rapidly improving WR MJenkins. I guarantee you our passing OFF will be expanded to include the addition of TE TGonzalez. I find it hard to believe this yrs OFF will have the same Redzone, short yardage and TD scoring problems as last yr.

THIS YRS TEAM WILL NOT BE DERAILED BY INJURIES, GREEDY/STINGY OWNERSHIP, AN INCOMPETENT GM, HC, ASSISTANT COACHES OR A FRAGILE OFF SYSTEM BASED ON GIMMICKS AND/OR THE ABILITY OF ONE PLAYER.

How in the hell did we get into exchanging recipes? Who started that one? Well, just so I don’t get left out, I’m going to stay in sync and submit my GrandMa’s recipe for Oyster Stew. Its simple, delicious and serves well during winter months. The problem is, you got to wait until September to eat them. I don’t know if there are any seafood enthusiasts out there but you can only eat oysters when there’s an “R” in the month (i.e., October, November, December, etc.). Just heat butter, pepper and milk (do NOT let the milk boil). Add fresh, raw oysters. Remove from heat and serve with crackers and a Red Stripe (of course).

On to football (or the lack of)…This rookie of the year thing (good work, D3), is going to take some time for me to evaluate; but just looking at paper, I’m going to toss it up between Donald Brown (RB, Colts), Jeremy Maclin (WR, Eagles) and Jason Smith (OT, Rams), depending how many yards the Rams produce on the ground, to bring home the offensive ROY. I beg to differ with the suggestions that Mark Sanchez will take home the award. I watched him in primetime last season and he could never get past the spotlight jitters. Once he’s comfortable (another two years, at least), however, he’ll turn out to be a great QB; but not right now. Again, I like Brown and Maclin because of their situations and the teams they’ve gone to. They’re respective teams needed only to fill minimal holes and they both, Eagles and Colts, produced winning records last season. Brown is running behind an all-pro line and Maclin is receiving catches from an all-pro passer. Look for both players to produce 1000 all-purpose yards.

I’ll have to research it but I don’t ever recall a defensive ROY that was drafted outside of the first round. If its never been done, expect William Moore to make history. I strongly believe that Moore has a chip on his shoulder (did y’all see his draft day pics?) and he has a lot to prove. With this vengeful attitude, I expect him to be a monster at safety and bring home the defensive ROY award.

Our divisional foes and their respective draft class:

Tampa Bay made some deep veteran cuts but I don’t think that they have Dimitroff’s “Matrix” formula to replace the significant losses. Winslow, Jr., although a very good TE, is not an immediate answer (he is definitely not stuntin’ like his daddy). They made a very good pick in taking Roy Miller. That pick is going to make Gaines Adams blossom. I don’t think Freeman will make an impact this season because of the arrival of Byron Leftout. All in all, Tampa’s draft class receives a C+ from me.

New Orleans Aints are certainly in a rebuilding mode. Jenkins and Vaughn is definitely a good start, in the right direction; but that’s it. Their draft class was short and their free agency pick up is questionable. We coveted Vaughn for a long time (he was in my final mock). We must avoid him in our passing games. I think we can play with Jenkins a little bit, though. He gambles alot and will make rookie mistakes. Expect White and Jenkins to take him to school.

Finally, the Carolina Panthers’ class may turn out to be the stongest in the division (including the Falcons). Everette Brown is going to be silent trouble because of the attention given to Julius Peppers; but expect the rookie to cause havoc. The Panthers followed a great pick with another great pick in Sherrod Martin. The safety was on alot of our mock draft boards and, this season, he will prove why. He’ll only make Carolina’s defense better. Someone must have taken a long lunch break after their second pick because they didn’t pick up another impact player until the fifth round with Duke Robinson. Although the Panthers may have been going for the best player left on the board, they’ve struck gold with the Robinson pick. He’s another player that is playing with a chip on his shoulder and also playing close to home. Both of those factors will contribute to his elite play this season. Those factors will also enable Captain to play well. He’s a hometown favorite that will have a lot to show, when he plays. Its going to take injury and luck to get him onto the field; but, he will get there.

I am purposely avoiding the Atlanta Falcons’ draft class because I’m not going to be fair. I’ll sit here and find all the positives in every single one of our picks and we’ll all know their attributes. Just know that I firmly believe that Jerry will be disruptive and Moore will contend for rookie of the year. Owens will replace Jackson at nickel because of his aggressive play (Jackson and Houston will start at corners). Sidbury will be situational, for right now (at least until Abraham retires). Last season, we drafted three starters; this year, we’ll match that with two. Ownes and Sidbury should contribute, defensively, like Douglass contributed on offense. I look forward to a great season.

Now, I’m ’bout to go and do something the devil aint never did before. Rest!

TB’s Winslow also has some knee issues. Considering the TE we got in trade, TB took the hose.

Panthers Everette Brown was a shocker b/c of the #1 pick trade. I still feel if EBrown pans out for them, they trade Peppers and get their 1st pick back. I do like Duke Robinson. He will help to address the OL and at a bargain basement price. CMunnerly. Good people but I don’t see him lasting very long. Living where I do I watched a lot of THE USC games.

NO SArnoux- I think they like the way his name will look on their roster…It’s a Cajun’ thing.

Falcons Jerry, Williams, Owens, Sidbury will have a huge impact. The pick up of TG and udfa Aaron Kelly is very solid. I like what the Falcons have done.

I got up this morning and put my list together for Rookies of the year. I logged on here and started reading your picks. I like ‘em. Then I read Reno 911 comments and got the feeling ya’ll had access to my notepad. I’m going with Mark Sanchez from the other USC. I feel Reno is dead on the money about the market he plays in. He is a plug-in player on a team that is clearly established. I like Wells too. He is going to put up some solid numbers but he will split time at RB and the Cards will air it out. Another player I really like is WR Hakeem Nicks. Toomer retired and Plax with his self-inflicted gun shot wound/prison time will no longer be in play. Nicks is a football magnet. He could catch 70 balls, gain 1100 yards and throw his name into the mix. Maclin could certainly come into play depending on how many touches he gets. These are my picks in that order.

Defence: This side of the ball is tough(no pun intd). I like Aaron Curry. Hes going to a pretty good team and will have LB’s Lofa Tatupa and Leroy Hill as runnin’ mates. He will replace Julian Peterson who was traded to Detroit in March of this year. Peterson’s numbers last year were good. 86 tackles, 5 sacks, 4ff. Curry will at least match them. I like William Moore here. He will not only start for the Falcons but before the season is over people will use his name along side Reed’s. Brian Orakpo is just killer. Has it all! Last but not least…Jarron “everybody outta’the pool” Gilbert.

That’s it. As always, time will be the teller.

New Orlean Saints
1 14 Malcolm Jenkins CB Ohio State
4 116 Chip Vaughn S Wake Forest
4 118 Stanley Arnoux LB Wake Forest
5 164 Thomas Morstead P SMU
Where did all their draft picks go? Good lord. They drafted four players. Gotta give them props for taking Jenkins, while probably being tempted on Beanie Wells as a perfect complement to Reggie “Kardashian” Bush. Jenkins the best overall packaged CB that may turn into a S. I like their pick of Chip Vaughn in the fourth. Great value, IMO. This pretty much precludes Jenkins playing safety, otherwise this is a wasted pick. The next two picks were insane. Never heard of Arnoux and reaching for the punter page……THE PUNTER PAGE? Wow. Not saying punters are a dime a dozen, especially since we franchise tagged ours, but spending a 5th round pick on one? Good god. Overall, good pick in Jenkins and good value in Vaughn, but the next 2 picks are a joke. Taking a P in the fifth. Jenkins saves them from an F. Final: D

Finally, our Beloved ‘Birds
Atlanta Falcons
1 24 Peria Jerry DT Mississippi
2 55 William Moore S Missouri
3 90 Christopher Owens CB San Jose State
4 125 Lawrence Sidbury Jr. DE Richmond
5 138 William Middleton CB Furman
5 165 Garrett Reynolds OT North Carolina
6 176 Spencer Adkins LB Miami
7 210 Vance Walker DT Georgia Tech
Trying to be as objective as possible here. Absolutley love the Jerry pick. Not only does it address a glaring need, but also subscribes to best player available. William Moore may very well turn out to be one of the great steals of the draft. Has Pro Bowl potential. Sidbury was one of the great snags of the entire draft, period. Love the Garrett Reynolds pick for depth, nasty streak, and starting potential. Vance Walker pick adds great depth and amazing value in the 7th. To the “cons.” Personally, I really like the drafting of CB’s CO & Dub-Mid. They are a little under-sized and relatively unheard of, particularly with more well-known guys like DJ Moore and bigger CB’s like Keenan Lewis out there. Give the critics their due. Even though I give TD full support and benefit of the doubt on Adkins, I’m not real sold on a guy that couldn’t start for an overall pretty weak team. They must see something they can mine out. Emotionally, I’d love to give our ‘boys an A, b/c of the CB picks, gotta be objective. Final: B+

There you have it gents. Let’s get it cranked up again. Don’t make me resort to writing and posting to myself.