thependulumswings

We miss sports.  A week from tonight the NFL gives us a respite from the drudgery as their annual draft begins.  It’ll be different for sure in a virtual sort of way.  If you’ve kept your social distance from the NFL recently we have Ten Piece NFL Nuggets for you.  We are running low on vegetable oil at the virtual world headquarters, so we oven-fried them instead.

1.  No one has cleaned their house more this offseason than the Carolina Panthers.  Incoming head coach Matt Ruhle, OC Joe Brady, and QB Teddy Bridgewater are a change to the look and culture of the franchise.  BBR expects them to be bold and active in the draft as well.
2. Yesterday they tore up the old and wrote the new contract for Christian McCaffery.  It’s now an eye-popping 4 years for a total of 64 million Panther bucks.  Joe Brady will get him isolated on a linebacker much the same way he did with Clyde Edwards Hellaire at LSU and how Sean Payton does with Alvin Kamara at New Orleans.  Good luck stopping that.
3. Last year the Panthers went 5-11 in Ron Rivera’s last year.  It was also Cam Newton’s last year.  In the upside-down NFL they could reverse that W-L record if the ball even gets snapped in 2020.
4.  Who knew a QB that started 25 games in college, threw 30 TD’s against 17 interceptions would become the greatest QB in NFL history? Bill Belichick, we guess. That was Tom Brady’s resume coming out of Michigan in 1999.   Though even clairvoyant Bill B. would only invest a 6th round pick on him at the time.  What did Mel Kiper think then?  Kiper wrote, “He’s a straight dropback passer who stands tall in the pocket, doesn’t show nervous feet, and does a nice job working through his progressions.”  That was pretty accurate, just like the QB himself.  He had a fifth-round grade on him then.  His complete writeup from 1999 is here.
5.  The Patriots likely will be looking around the draft for a QB.  Jalen Hurts anyone?  Belichick is great at using the best of what someone has and building around them as opposed to the opposite.  No doubt he has looked around the league and seen what Westbrook, Mahomes, and Jackson have done.  If the shoe fits?
6.  The annual head faking is going on as teams jockey for position in the draft to get to the QB they may really covet.  Rumors abound and one has Justin Hebert (Oregon) now considered ahead of Tua Tagovailoa.  Doubtful, but you never know.  Miami has more draft pick capital than anyone in the draft and sits at #5.  They could move the board or move around the board if they so chose.
7. If/when Tua starts for the team that makes him their choice he’ll be the first lefty to do so since 2014.  The last one?  Michael Vick.  Who was he playing for then?  If you guessed the J-E-T-S you’re in midseason form in the offseason.
8.  Tom Brady’s new address in Tampa makes him an NFC South Division resident as well.   Vegas has the win total for the Bucs season at nine.  If New Orleans is the favorite to win the division again, and if the Panthers are poised to rebound it’ll be a tough division for sure.  Could the Atlanta Falcons be in for a long season?  There are only so many wins to go around when you play everyone twice inside the division.
9.  The Dirty Birds are but one of seven teams with new uniforms or tweaks of old ones for 2020.  It’s always a good day to obsolete old unis and sell new ones if you are in the apparel biz.  You can see a good bit of the changes or the hints at the yet to be revealed ones here.
10.  The draft will be very different this year for many reasons.  Scouts haven’t had the pro workout days they covet.  Individual interviews were kiboshed.  Team management will not huddle in the war rooms.  And, most of all, when Roger Goodell gets ready to announce the first pick of the entire draft he won’t be drowned out by the annual booing.  Too bad.

Cincinnati you’re on the clock.