Not watching the game. Having a bud.

Damn it!!! You'll find out why in a bit. First, Joe Flacco has spoken out now about the firing of QB coach Jim Zorn. Basically he's not happy and considers the firing an attack on himself, basically along the lines of "if you're firing the QB coach, then there must be a problem with the QB". Which is a fair point. What's even fairer to point out is that Flacco has had a statistically very good year by his standards. He finished 7th for regular season passer rating. Tied at 10th for completion percentage. Tied 9th for yards per pass. Tied 10th for touchdowns. He threw less interceptions than Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. All this behind an O-line that gave up the second most sacks in the league. The Ravens as a team won 12 games this year in the regular season. Only the Falcons and Patriots won more, with the Steelers being the only other team that tied that record. That's 3 teams out of the remaining 31 that finished equal or better. That hardly sounds like a team that is in dire need of a new QB Coach. But at least The Ravens had the courtesy of finishing the season before they began to pull themselves apart at the seams. The Packers are attempting it while headed into the Super Bowl. The fiasco over the team photo is gradually starting to build up to epic proportions. For those not in the know, this basically started with a moan from LB Nick Barnett that players on injured reserve would be left out of the teams official Super Bowl photo. The team said tough. Then TE Jermichael Finley decided to join the argument along with Barnett, and after a while the team relented. Then Head Coach Mike McCarthy said that it was a whole lot of fuss about nothing, that as usual the press had stoked the fire unnecessarily, and that is was really a non-issue for the team. Then Aaron Rodgers did a Rex Ryan by putting his foot in his mouth and saying that the players on IR should rehab with the team instead of down in Arizona, then maybe they would be considered a part of it. He's right, but that's not the point. When your Head Coach says let's be quiet and move on, then do so. Barnett and Finley are still yapping it up on Twitter. All in all, the whole thing is silly. What the Packers should be worrying about, and hoping doesn't happen, is the fact that it could distract the team away from it's bigger mission, namely winning the Super Bowl. Now, back to my opening remark. Basically I have been studiously (learning long words) watching game clips and the like to get a feel for this years rookie class ahead of the 2011 draft. One person that caught my eye was QB Christian Ponder, in particular for his smooth and flowing footwork. My plan was to write a post tonight (this one) extolling the virtues of Mr. Ponder, in the hope that his performance at the Senior Bowl would leave me looking rather smug and incredibly insightful. Except of course that the Senior Bowl was played today and for some inexplicable reason I missed that fact (and subsequently the game). Turns out Ponder was the games MVP and my praise for him would have looked exceptionally far sighted and left me in a sickening state of smugness. Ah well. You'll just have to take my word for it, I think highly of Ponder. But who else? Early candidates for my 2011 rookie watch list (bearing in mind I've got a ton of players still to look at): - Cameron Jordan, DE, - DeMarco Murray, RB, - Drake Nevis, DT, - Gabe Carimi, OT, - Jeff Maehl, WR, - Kellen Moore, QB, - Mike Hartline, QB, - Randall Cobb, WR, - Rodney Hudson, OG, - Ryan Kerrigan, DE, - Jabaal Sheard, DE, - Christian Ponder, QB, - Adrian Clayborn, DE, - DeAndre McDaniel, S, - Mark Herzlich, LB, - Johnny Patrick, CB, - Titus Young, WR, - Prince Amukamara, CB, - Ryan Mallet, QB, As you've probably guessed by now, I've studied various defensive linemen and quarterbacks and been a little slow elsewhere, but it's picking up. I have a bit more free time in the next week to really get cracking with this, although on the downside I can see, peering as I am into my crystal ball, that I'm probably not going to have sufficient time to sit down and watch all the coverage of the 2011 combine. That for me is a huge blow because it was through that coverage that people like Kendrick Lewis along with many others came to shine in 2010. Boo hoo. Anyway. That's your lot for today. Obviously at some point in the coming week I'll be taking a look at the Super Bowl match up, hopefully before it's actually played. I'm also planning on beginning the review of all the 2010 teams and looking ahead to where they might be in 2011. Till next time.... I dunno. Find some way to amuse yourselves. Read a book. Watch a bit of TV. Have a bud.