Football

While there has been no shortage of instant impact rookies in the NFL in recent seasons, there are others who take time to transition into the pro game from the college level. To that point, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has said in the past that many players experience the greatest development during their NFL careers between their rookie and sophomore seasons. In 2012, the Patriots drafted seven rookies in total, six of whom remain on the active roster (Jeremy Ebert, a seventh-round receiver from Northwestern, recently signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars).

1. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: Eric Fisher, T, Central Michigan

Based on talent alone, some personnel men and special-teams coaches say Louisiana State's Brad Wing should be the first punter selected in the National Football League draft.

Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Titus Young, now facing 11 charges after being arrested three times in one week, refused to speak at a pretrial hearing on Friday.

Just six weeks after re-signing Julian Edelman, the Patriots and the receiver have made a slight alteration to the deal. Since Edelman is missing time during the offseason workout program and organized team activities due to a reaggravation of the injury he suffered to his right foot at the end of last season, the team converted the majority of his workout bonus to a roster bonus.

A switch-over in the way the state collects e-gambling taxes to help fund the Vikings stadium may lead to losses for some charities.

This is one of our daily threads. One is posted each week day and then another one to cover Sat/Sun. We provide this as a place for Dolphins fans and even our friends from other blogs to come and talk all things football or otherwise. This is an open thread so if you see someone not talking football do not get offended but also do not be afraid to throw out your HSO's (hot sports opinions) out on the latest Dolphins move or non move. As this is a day time thread and not a night time CKC please keep the conversation PG. Also I do not care if you post picks during these thread's but try and keep them at or below the maximum of three per person and as always place something in the subject line so that people may close them. Also please to not post very large images or GIF's. These rules are to keep the thread load time from slowing down for those on slower connections. We invite you to follow The Phinsider on Twitter, like The Phinsider on Facebook, add The Phinsider to your Google+ Circles, and follow our podcast on BlogTalkRadio. This is one of our daily threads. One is posted each week day and then another one to cover Sat/Sun. We provide this as a place for Dolphins fans and even our friends from other blogs to come and talk all things football or otherwise. This is an open thread so if you see someone not talking football do not get offended but also do not be afraid to throw out your HSO's (hot sports opinions) out on the latest Dolphins move or non move. As this is a day time thread and not a night time CKC please keep the conversation PG. Also I do not care if you post picks during these thread's but try and keep them at or below the maximum of three per person and as always place something in the subject line so that people may close them. Also please to not post very large images or GIF's. These rules are to keep the thread load time from slowing down for those on slower connections. We invite you to follow The Phinsider on Twitter, like The Phinsider on Facebook, add The Phinsider to your Google+ Circles, and follow our podcast on BlogTalkRadio.

We still haven't reached pre-season yet so any predictions are almost certain to be wrong. So hey, why not have some fun with it. We can update it before the season officially starts anyway. I want to hear some bold predictions for the season. It can be anything. Make them good and stand by them. I'll start off with a few of my own. The only one I made this time last season that came true was Andy Reid getting fired in Philly. So here goes. Seattle will surprise everyone around the world, by not making the playoffs. Fresh off their success last year, and their moves this offseason, Seattle is ranked as one of, if not, the best team in the NFL. Unfortunately, their season ends in disappointment. Wilson is unable to recreate his magical rookie season. Harvin missing multiple games with injury doesn't help. Neither does the team's continued road woes. Not only does the team not make the playoffs, but they finish third in the division behind the 49'ers and the Rams. Adrian Peterson tops 2000 again No running back has ever ran for 2000 yards twice in their career. Peterson becomes the first by reaching the 2k mark, not only again, but for the second straight season. That is only one record Peterson sets this year, as he also breaks the single season record at the same time. Meanwhile, Chris Johnson has another mediocre season behind his improved offensive line. He blames the refs and the coaches this time. The 3 AFC powerhouses crash to earth New England, Denver, and Houston are considered the class of the AFC. All three take a big stumble in 2013 as the top seeds go to the Colts and Bengals respectfully. New England's offense which has carried the team for some time now, struggles to sustain drives without Welker's free completions and several key injuries. The defense, poor again, means NE finds themselves clawing for a victory each week. Unfortunately Miami's early continuity struggles allow them to win the division. Denver has one of the most impressive wide receiver cores in the NFL. Unfortunately for them, father time catches up to Manning who struggles to get the ball to them on a consistent basis. A strong running attack and Welker always being open for a 5 yard throw provides enough to allow them to scrape a division win. Meanwhile, Houston takes the biggest fall by handing the division back to the Colts for the first time without Manning. Andre Johnson continues to decline and no one else really steps up on offense. Meanwhile, the defense, which was so strong, takes a surprising step backward thanks mostly to the offense's constant struggles. We still haven't reached pre-season yet so any predictions are almost certain to be wrong. So hey, why not have some fun with it. We can update it before the season officially starts anyway. I want to hear some bold predictions for the season. It can be anything. Make them good and stand by them. I'll start off with a few of my own. The only one I made this time last season that came true was Andy Reid getting fired in Philly. So here goes. Seattle will surprise everyone around the world, by not making the playoffs. Fresh off their success last year, and their moves this offseason, Seattle is ranked as one of, if not, the best team in the NFL. Unfortunately, their season ends in disappointment. Wilson is unable to recreate his magical rookie season. Harvin missing multiple games with injury doesn't help. Neither does the team's continued road woes. Not only does the team not make the playoffs, but they finish third in the division behind the 49'ers and the Rams. Adrian Peterson tops 2000 again No running back has ever ran for 2000 yards twice in their career. Peterson becomes the first by reaching the 2k mark, not only again, but for the second straight season. That is only one record Peterson sets this year, as he also breaks the single season record at the same time. Meanwhile, Chris Johnson has another mediocre season behind his improved offensive line. He blame

Speedy Faith describes it as a picturesque day in Albuquerque, N.M., five or six years ago. He and longtime Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher had just finished dinner — on Urlacher, of course — after running a football camp and stepped outside. “It was beautiful. With the mountains. Everything,” Faith said. But Urlacher had a beef to settle with his high school coach from Lovington, N.M. “He said, ‘Coach, I think I’m mad at you,’ and I looked at him and said, ‘Brian, you’re mad at me? You’re an NFL superstar,’?” Faith explained. “He said, ‘But, yeah, if you had played …

via dy.snimg.com First off lets end this make or break year, crap. When Fisher got the job he said two things about Bradford. The top reason he took this job was because of Bradford and his potential and the belief around the league in the coaching circles that he could be one of the great ones. Last year (2011) has been erased and to him its like he is coming off his rookie season (now second season). Meaning in Fisher's eyes no regression has taken place. So in a nutshell what I am saying is Sam Bradford is not going anywhere for a long time. Now without further ado, lets begin. Sam Bradford has only "SEEMED" average, but the truth is he has not even been close to average. He was playing with scraps and seemed pretty good (average). Let me list some guys who are/were also considered average by a lot of analyst: Joe Flacco Andy Dalton Matt Schabb Eli Manning In Bradford’s 3 NFL season’s I have heard average come right before these players name countless times. Being average (also known as game managers) is not such a bad thing. Before I continue here is the list of elite’s: Tom Brady Aaron Rogers Peyton Manning Drew Brees Now, in Bradford’s 3 seasons the average QB’s may not have the eye popping numbers during the regular season but they are winning when it counts. The 4 average QB’s have a combined 9 playoff appearances out of a possible 11. And in those playoffs they have accumulated more playoff victories than the elites, as well as more Super Bowl rings (2-1). These are the QB’s Sam is being compared to??? That’s fine with me. BUT, no one wants to be average, everyone wants to be elite and win rings, which is what all 4 elite QB’s have done, just not all since Sam has been around. Here’s why I Believe Sam is elite. These average QB’s are being called average with much more to work with than Bradord. The talent around Sam has easily been in the bottom 5-7 teams since he got here. But yet he has still been "average" (average guys get rings). They say elite QB's can make an inferior supporting cast seem a lot better than they really are. Well correct me if I am wrong, but did his top two targets both just leave after getting two contracts, and both contracts were much more than originally projected for them? Both Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson were really short on talent. Go back and watch the Cowboys Hard Knocks from 2008. All the coaches kept talking about was how Danny is small, and if you're going to be small you have to have something to stand out. Albeit speed, routes, hands, DURABILITY, something!!! But, he had nothing. Aside from one game against the Texans that preseason he made no plays and ended up being apart of the final cuts. He was tough and worked hard but physically was not a pro, and made a ton of mental mistakes. It was the same exact scenario when he was with the Eagles. Speaking of the Eagles, that's also where Gibson came from. While he could make a really nice catch look easy at times, Gibson had skillet-hands. He also had zero YAC ability. He was not overly strong or quick, to make plays from brute force (Anquan Bolden), or just being quicker than fast (Mario Manningham). And that's not to say Amendola was some YAC master himself. His 8.81 yards per reception is the lowest average in NFL history by a wide receiver with at least 100 receptions. Meaning the more hyped WR between the two, and the one who got more money, happens to be the lesser talented one. But because Sam made him his go to guy and elevated his game it didn't appear that way. Amendola was on his last leg before Bradford, thanks in large part for being on Hard Knocks and the world seeing his flaws. And Gibson was viewed as nothing more around the league than a special teams and/or a 4th option at best. Now because Bradford elevated their play they have just signed two contracts with a combined worth over $40mil, and a combine