Three Questions heading into week 1 for the Patriots

1. How will Jimmy Garoppolo look in his first regular season game?

The short answer to this question is nobody knows the answer and I’m not going to pretend I do. He didn’t look that impressive during the preseason but that doesn’t tell us much. Questions have surrounded Garoppolo ever since being by the Patriots out of Eastern Illinois. Could he make the jump from an FCS-school to the NFL and is he the guy that will eventually take over for Tom Brady, were some of the most asked questions. The Cardinals defense was 2nd in the league in takeaways, behind Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson and Tyron Matheiu so he has to be aware of those guys all game. . No matter what Garoppolo does in these four games he’s not going to start over Brady in week 5 vs Cleveland but these games will determine his future value. The most likely scenario if Garopollo performs well, is to use him as a chip to leverage another team to give up draft picks by either attempting to trade him for him in the offseason or something I haven’t heard any one talk about; trading him after week 4 but before November 1^st to a team that thinks they’re in playoff contention this this season to a team that thinks they’re one quarterback away from making a run in the playoffs.

2. Will Martellus Bennett step up without Rob Gronkowski?

Martellus Bennett has the talent to be one of the best tight ends in the league. I didn’t believe the rumors that he could have been on the cutting block at the end of the preseason. Traded from the Bears during the offseason, Bennett is a Pro Bowl tight end who stands 6’6, 275 pounds and has the power to run block, the quickness to pass block, and the size & agility to beat a lighter defensive back on a pass route. He only played in eleven games last year coming off a career year the year before racking up 916 yards on 90 receptions and 6 touchdowns. I think Garoppolo will look to Bennett often to help advance the offense down the field tonight and I think Patriots fans are going to be impressed with his athleticism.

3. Can the offensive line keep Chandler Jones in check?

During the off season the patriots traded Pro Bowl defensive end Chandler Jones to the Craidnals  for former 1^st round draft pick and often injured guard Jonathan Cooper, a 2^nd round pick who they turned  into a third-rounder guard Joe Thuney and a fourth-rounder, receiver Malcolm Mitchell who had a good preseason before injuring his elbow and who I believe is going to be a deep threat for the Patriots once he is healthy again. Back to Jones and the offensive line, speculation around the league was that he was traded because of his 2015 incident with synthetic marijuana; but I believe that wasn’t the only reason. Jones will become a free agent at the end of this year and even though the Patriots have the most salary cap space in the NFL. They also have a lot of big names entering the last year of their contracts and may not be able to pay everyone which is a topic I will dive into in another blog. I expect Jones to have a big game because he has something to prove tonight on the field and throughout the season being in a contract year. Jones will face Pats tackles Cameron Flemming and Marcus Cannon, who’s filling in for injured tackle Sebastian Vollmer. These are former teammates he’s gone up against for years in practice and I think Jones gets to the quarterback at least once tonight.

Update: Wr Malcom Mitchell is active for tonight’s game

Scottyd
@Dpo12s

MPT’s 2016 NFL Draft Sleepers

With the Senior Bowl complete and the NFL combine fast approaching, here are my sleepers for the 2016 class:

MPT’s 2016 NFL Draft Position Rankings: Defense

After going over the position rankings on offense yesterday, here are my rankings for the prospects on defense in the 2016 draft class:

MPT’s 2016 NFL Draft Position Rankings: Offense

With 2016 NFL Draft process underway, here are my rankings for the prospects on offense in the 2016 draft class:

Counting down the top 10 TV sports themes of all-time

Personally, I relate certain sports and big games with different themes like entrance music you would find at a bigtime boxing bout or UFC fight. So I decided to compile a list of what I think to be the top 10 list of all-time. Without further adue lets get to the list.

10. Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN

9. NBA on TNT theme

8. NFL on NBC theme

7. NFL Monday Night Football on ESPN

6. NHL on NBC theme

5. NFL on Fox

4. 1990’s NHL on ESPN theme

3. SEC football on CBS theme

2. ESPN NFL Primetime song

1. 1990’s NBA on NBC theme

Scottyd

@dpo12s

MPT’s 2015 NFL Mock Draft

Here is my 2015 NFL Mock Draft for tonight’s draft with no trades included:

MPT’s Post Combine 2015 NFL Draft Position Rankings: Defense

Following the combine, here are my position rankings for the defensive players of the 2015 NFL Draft:

MPT’s Post Combine 2015 NFL Draft Position Rankings: Offense

Following the combine, here are my position rankings for the offensive players of the 2015 NFL Draft:

MPT’s Post-Combine 1st Round Mock Draft

With the combine now over, here is a quick 1st round mock to kick off the draft season following the event:

Chiefs Safety Eric Berry Focusing on a new opponent

Reports coming out of Kansas City say Safety Eric Berry, 25, was placed on the non-football injury list and that his season is over. Devastating news for Chiefs fans hopeful of a playoff run this season; but more importantly for Eric Berry himself. Following last weeks Thursday night football game against the Oakland Raiders Berry experienced pains in his chest, he was examined by team doctors and they recommended further tests. A series of those tests found what appears to be a mass in his chest. Berry then underwent more tests including a CT scan and blood work, over the weekend, then flew to Emory University in Atlanta, near where he grew up, this morning to see specialists “This mass appears to be cancerous; and possibly lymphoma” according to a team trainer. “They may do further scans. In all likelihood, they’ll do a biopsy of one of the lymph nodes or the mass” said the same team specialist, according to ESPN reports.

Berry issued a statement saying he was “in shock”. “I understand right now I have to concentrate on a new opponent, I have great confidence in the doctors and the plan they are going to put in place for me to win this fight. I believe that I am in God’s hands and I have great peace in that.” Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid said Berry insisted on addressing the team himself, before leaving for Atlanta, which speaks to his courage and leadership. “When you get in these situations, you hunker down and battle for your life, which is what you do. You have to be in a certain frame of mind, have certain support to back you up, and Eric has that with his family and also the Chiefs” said Reid.

Berry was an All-American at The University of Tennessee, winning 19 awards during his time there! Berry decided to declare for the NFL draft after his junior year. He was selected 5th overall in the 2010 NFL draft, and made an immediate impact, being selected to the Pro Bowl his rookie season. Berry, tore a ligament in his knee the following season, rehabbed, and was voted All-Pro at the conclusion of his 3rd season.

This is without a doubt the scariest time of Berry’s young life, if you don’t personally know someone who has been affected by cancer, you should consider yourself extremely lucky, because I feel we all have. I went through a very similar process when I, myself, was 20. The chest pains, CT scans, blood work, and seeing doctors after doctors after doctors. I then had a biopsy on my own lung before starting chemotherapy a week later because there were multiple malignant masses in my stomach and lungs. Every time I hear the word cancer, it brings me back to when I was 20 years old. Through it all, I was fortunate enough to have arguably the best doctors in the world, because I lived in a city that had the best hospitals in the world. Like Berry and Reid said, I hunkered down, focused on a new opponent, put my faith in God, and gave it everything I had. But I was also lucky. Not all cancer is curable, and some people think because of the amazing strides doctors have made with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, that everyone survives. That’s simply not the case. So I’m taking this time and story to remind people that your donations to legitimate cancer research programs are still badly needed, and above all greatly appreciated; we’ve made so much progress as a society, but we’re not there yet.

With that being said, take a minute, say a prayer for Eric Berry; and watch him light up this diagnosis, and “make em pay” as if it was an NFL wide receiver running a crossing pattern over the middle. Berry has been one of my favorite players to watch going all the way back to his days at UT. NFL scouts were comparing him to Ed Reed and Sean Taylor, two of my all time favorite players. It wouldn’t shock me one bit to see him back on the field, ball hawking and following quarterbacks eyes come next fall. Concentrate on what’s important right now Eric, put the rest on the back burner, and things will fall back into place. I know one thing for sure; you have a fan in Boston that’s praying for you.

ScottyD

@Dpo12S