The Bubble Bursts: Notable NFL Roster Cuts

Today, all NFL teams must find a way to reduce their roster to 53 men. It is no surprise that it is also one of the most painful and frustrating days in the life of an NFL player. Established veterans, journeymen, failed draft prospects and rookies alike all face the prospect of having to find employment with - and prove themselves to - new teams. Some will be retained on practice squads, some may be traded to other teams, but for many, today will mark the end of their careers.
This article will take a look at some of the most notable cuts around the league, as players on the roster bubble find out whether they'll be playing for their current teams this season.

Michael Sam

Despite his success at Missouri (including a 2013 season in which he was a unanimous All-American, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-SEC pick), there were always questions about whether Sam could succeed at the professional level. Sam was considered too small to play defensive end in the NFL, and was unable to make the transition to outside linebacker (he was trialled at the position at the 2014 Senior Bowl). Jeff Fisher is correct when he says Sam can play in the NFL - he showed during the preseason that he could rush the passer effectively. Unfortunately, undrafted rookie Ethan Westbrook played superbly and the numbers game forced the Rams to cut Sam. Although there is a perceived risk to Sam from a media standpoint, don't be surprised to see him find work soon.

Champ Bailey

After a quiet preseason that saw him battle with an ankle injury, the Saints cut Champ Bailey a matter of minutes prior to the roster cut deadline. The former Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos All-Pro cornerback was released in favour of undrafted rookie Brian Dixon. A team desperate for defensive backs may come calling, but one has to assume that this is the end of Bailey's prolific career.

Stephen Hill

To say that Stephen Hill has been a bit of a flop is an understatement. The Jets selected Hill with the 43rd pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, two places ahead of 2013 Pro Bowl receiver Alshon Jeffrey. Jeffrey has emerged as one of the best receivers in the game, while Hill has emerged as a major disappointment and finds himself without a team. Despite the presence of Eric Decker, Hill's release casts further uncertainty on the Jets' receiving corps this season.

Daniel Thomas

Yet another unemployed recent second round pick (alongside Hill, Mikel Leshoure, Jerel Worthy and Devon Still), Thomas arrived in Miami in 2011 with expectations that he was unable to live up to. The Dolphins traded up 17 spots to take the Kansas State back, and his 6' 1", 255 lbs frame suggested he would be a bruising presence in their backfield. This wasn't to be the case; Thomas started just three games in three seasons, and ends his time in Miami with 365 carries for 1,312 yards and eight touchdowns. Thomas also caught 42 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns. A pair of undrafted rookies - Damien Williams and Orleans Darkwa - round out the Dolphins' running backs unit.

NFL Monday Morning Review - Top Performers From Preseason Week Three

Week three of the NFL preseason is usually regarded as the most important one. Teams generally leave their starters on the field for longer to iron out any remaining creases, and it is the final week before the first round of roster cuts take place, therefore serving as the final opportunity for many roster bubble players to impress their coaches. As usual, big performances came from established players. Philip Rivers (nine-of-ten for 85 yards and one touchdown), Drew Brees (9-of-15 for 128 yards and two touchdowns), Marshawn Lynch and Julio Jones (both with one touchdown each) all delivered expectedly strong performances, and recent featured players such as Blake Bortles and John Brown impressed yet again.

This week I'll be taking yet another look at five outstanding performances from this pivotal week of preseason action.

Mark Sanchez

Seriously. He of 'Buttfumble' fame finds himself in my top performers list after posting a solid, and comical mishap-free, performance against the Steelers. Sanchez appears to be revitalised in Philadelphia; on Thursday he completed seven of nine passes for 85 yards and led the Eagles to two touchdowns. While Nick Foles is firmly entrenched as the Eagles' starter, but Sanchez's strong preseason showings have seen him emerge as a viable option for the St. Louis Rams. The Rams have lost Sam Bradford to a torn ACL (again) and Sanchez could be a starter in the NFL sooner than anyone anticipated.

Corey Washington

A few seasons ago, the Giants watched in awe as an undrafted rookie wide receiver, ominously wearing a single-digit jersey number, lit up the preseason. Victor Cruz torched the Jets for 145 yards and three touchdowns, and would finish the preseason with 297 yards and led the league with four touchdowns. Flash forward to 2014, and Corey Washington is turning heads in a similar fashion. After being cut by the Arizona Cardinals, Washington has amassed 152 receiving yards and four touchdowns. His 31 yard touchdown against the Jets on Saturday was his third game-winning effort this year.

Jace Amaro

The annual 'Snoopy Bowl' provided a glimpse of the Jets' offensive future. Tight end Jace Amaro has reportedly struggled since being drafted, and has seen his first NFL offseason plagued by drops. Reassuringly for the Jets, their second round draft choice reeled in four catches for 37 yards and a touchdown in the absence of the injured Jeff Cumberland. His blocking also showed signs of improvement, making it a good night for the Texas Tech product.

Knowshon Moreno

Knowshon Moreno experienced a career renaissance in Denver last season, but wasn't set to even start in Miami following a tumultuous offseason that has seen the running back miss extended time with the team. Lamar Miller has practiced well and was listed as the incumbent starter on a recent Dolphins depth chart, with Moreno positioned fourth. The status quo changed on Saturday when Moreno, splitting carries with Miller in the first-team offense, rushed for 64 yards on ten carries. Against Dallas he showed good decisiveness, vision, burst and a finishing ability that Miller has lacked so far.

Larry Fitzgerald

He's back. Normally someone like Larry Fitzgerald wouldn't need to prove himself heading into a new season, but after a down year in 2012 (with Kevin Kolb, John Skelton and Brian Hoyer throwing him passes) and a 2013 that saw him battle injuries, Fitzgerald finds himself in such a situation. He appears to be in good health and enjoying the presence of Carson Palmer under centre, and posted hauled in three catches for 71 yards, including a diving 23 yard circus grab and an emphatic 43 yard catch-and-run. In the highly-competitive NFC West, the Arizona Cardinals will need all the offensive firepower they can muster to successfully challenge the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers.

Throwback Player Profile #7 - Bernie Kosar

Long before Johnny Manziel and LeBron James, the real star of Cleveland sports was Number 19. Bernie Kosar.

Stats and accolades are irrelevant when analysing Kosar's career. He retired in 1996 after twelve seasons in the NFL with barely a .500 record (53-51-1), one Pro Bowl appearance and a Super Bowl ring earned as a backup with the Dallas Cowboys. He accumulated 23,301 passing yards (80th all time), 124 touchdowns and 87 interceptions for a passer rating of 81.8. Yet Kosar is revered - still - by members of the infamous dawg pound.

The love affair with Bernie Kosar started in 1985. John Elway and Eli Manning would both later engineer draft day shenanigans to avoid playing for undesirable franchises (the Colts and the Chargers, respectively), but neither did so quite like Kosar, and neither forced their way into playing for their boyhood team.

A star for the Miami Hurricanes, Kosar did the opposite of LeBron James (well, before this year) and took his talents from South Beach to Cleveland. After he completed a double major with two years of college eligibility remaining, Kosar decided that he would trade college football for an NFL career. What unfolded next remains one of the NFL's most fascinating draft stories.

The Minnesota Vikings traded up to the number two spot in the 1985 - because the Buffalo Bills had already agreed terms with eventual Hall of Fame defensive lineman Bruce Smith - in order to take Kosar, but the Browns still engineered a trade with Buffalo that gave the Bills a first round pick in both 1985 and 1986. In exchange, the Browns received a first round pick in 1986 and the first pick in the 1985 supplemental draft, one that was subsequently used to draft Kosar.

Want to win over the fans? Engineer a trade to your childhood team. Part of Kosar's appeal came in his being the opposite of a prototypical NFL passer. He was 6' 5", but was awkward, slow (but still managed to accumulate five rushing touchdowns) and possessed an unconventional sidearm passing motion not dissimilar from Philip Rivers. He knew where to put the football though; Kosar made smart plays and made the most of the considerable talent that surrounded him.

The Browns still had Ozzie Newsome, a trio of talented wideouts in Brian Brennan, Reggie Langhorne and Webster Slaughter, and two running backs - Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack - who both rushed for 1,000 yards in Kosar's rookie season. It was a prolific group, and they came to lead the league in points scored multiple times over the next few years.

The unit transformed the image of the forever-boring Cleveland Browns, and galvanised a fanbase that had become accustomed to losing ever since Otto Graham hung up his boots in 1955. In 1985, the Kosar-led Browns posted an 8-8 record and reached the playoffs. In 1986, they went 12-4, toppled the Jets in double overtime in the divisional round of the playoffs (a game in which Kosar posted a record 489 yards), before falling a John Elway 'Drive' short of reaching the Super Bowl.
They would reach two more AFC Championship games, losing to the Broncos again in both 1987 and 1989, and their final playoff appearance in 1989 would be the Browns' last until 1994. If there's a silver lining, it's that the Broncos got creamed in those Super Bowls - and the Browns probably would have too.

Another tip for rookie quarterbacks looking to cement their legacy and win the eternal gratitude of an NFL fanbase: take a previously forlorn team to three AFC Championship games and almost win them.
The Browns have been so inept since this period of fleeting success that 2014 first round pick Johnny Manziel is in a great position to be the next big Cleveland sports hero.

Since his retirement, Browns fans have clamoured for 'The Next Bernie Kosar'. They have lived in hope that the team will one day scale the heights that Kosar and co. took them to in the mid and late eighties. But the team have never quite been bad enough in years with strong draft classes to land their elusive franchise quarterback. Many have been through the revolving door - Tim Couch, Ty Detmer, Spurgon Wynn, Charlie Frye, Brady Quinn, Colt McCoy and Brandon Weeden, to name a few - but none have possessed the talent and charisma of Johnny Manziel.

Manziel may not come from a rundown, working-class Ohio town, and he may not have forced his way out of college to play for his childhood team via the supplemental draft, but he does possess the talent necessary to win. Kosar - by virtue of being the guy to lead the Browns during a period of unexpected and unquestionable success - will likely never be supplanted in the minds of current Browns fans, but if Manziel uses the offensive weapons that surround him, he will be able to rekindle the magic that so endeared Kosar to the Browns' faithful.

NFL Monday Morning Review - Top Performers From Preseason Week Two

Week two of the 2014 NFL preseason was laced with big performances. Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall rekindled their prolific relationship on Thursday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars; all of the New England Patriots' quarterbacks ran riot over the Philadelphia Eagles, Jimmy Graham looked to be in mid-season form as he caught two touchdowns on Friday night; and Andy Dalton took some steps towards easing concerns about his new contract when he went eight-of-eight for 144 yards and a touchdown against the New York Jets.

This week I will once again be taking a look at players who impressed this week and look set to have big 2014 seasons.

Blake Bortles

Many people were surprised that the Jaguars took Bortles, and not a certain J. Football, with the third overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft. Chad Henne had played well last season and the Jaguars were going to bide their time with the 6' 5" quarterback out of UCF. Through the first two weeks of preseason, Bortles has made a more-than-convincing case to be the starter in week one against the Philadelphia Eagles. Against Chicago Bortles went 12 of 17 for 130 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and led the team to scores on all three drives. He'll need some reps with the first team, but the future could be now for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Justin Hunter

The Tennessee Titans may have fallen short (31-24) against the New Orleans saints on Friday, but their first team enjoyed a stellar outing against the Saints' first team defence. Sophomore wide receiver Justin Hunter was a huge part of that success, and shredded the much-vaunted Saints secondary. Hunter has impressed all training camp, and hauled in four passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Most alarmingly for defences playing the Titans this season, he made it look frighteningly easy.

Ryan Shazier

The first-round linebacker has seen a slow start to his career in the Steel City, but was omnipresent on his debut against the Buffalo Bills. Shazier showcased his impressive range as he racked up nine tackles on defense, two on special teams and a freakishly athletic interception that saw him use his sub-4.4 speed to return it 27 yards. Pittsburgh's defence needs an injection of youth, and Shazier could very well be the man to lead the ageing unit's resurgence.

Kyle Rudolph

Since being drafted in 2011, Rudolph has been an almost peripheral figure in a Minnesota Vikings' offense that has largely - and understandably - been 'The Adrian Peterson Show'. He enjoyed a breakout year in 2012, in which he caught nine touchdowns and made his way to the Pro Bowl, but cooled off last season. Injuries limited him to only eight games, but made an emphatic return to form against the Arizona Cardinals as he caught four passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. Tight ends traditionally thrive under Norv Turner (see: Gates, Antonio and Cameron, Jordan) and Rudolph could be a far bigger component this season than at any point previously in his career.

Jadaveon Clowney

Through two preseason games, Jadaveon Clowney has been reminding fans exactly why he was the first overall pick. In pass rushing situations, Clowney has been exactly as advertised: breathtakingly fast, powerful and a ferociously hard-hitter. He is already emerging as a human highlight reel, and in Houston's 32-7 win over the Falcons he viciously de-cleated running back Antoine Smith, and sacked Matt Ryan in two brief series. It's noteworthy that J.J. Watt was rested for this game, potentially putting to bed any doubts about Clowney's effectiveness when not playing alongside the reigning league defensive MVP.

Throwback Uniform Gallery # 6: 1990's Jacksonville Jaguars

In August 2013, before they had even taken to the field for a regular season game, ESPN ranked Nike's latest Jacksonville Jaguars uniforms as the worst in the NFL. They were also ranked at the bottom of the list of all 122 NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB uniforms.

Paul Lukas, of www.uni-watch.com, said:

“Worthy of the bottom spot simply by virtue of having what's bound to go down as the worst helmet in NFL history. Like, did they run out of spray paint or what? As for the rest of the design, it's risky to come up with a superhero outfit for a bad team, because superheroes don't look very superheroic when they're on the wrong end of a 37-10 score every week. Or, to put it another way, the Jags are about to learn the same hard lesson that Maryland has learned: If you dress like a clown and win, you look like a winner. But if you dress like a clown and lose, you just look like a clown.”

I don't necessarily agree that it is the worst ever (and hey, the new logo looks great), but if there has ever been a case of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', this was it. The Jaguars' uniform change in 2009 was another unnecessary one, because the Jags should still be wearing the jersey, pants and helmet combination they wore in their inaugural season in 1995.

They were onto a modern classic, but as of 2001 started tweaking and watered down one of the most visually pleasing uniforms in the league at the time (I'll even go as far as saying one of the best ever). So, as usual, I will be cramming the rest of this article with glorious photos from around the web of this once-stunning uniform. Here's hoping they return to it one day.

NFL Monday Morning Review - Top Performers From Preseason Week One

Once the first players run out onto the field for the first regular season game in September, the preseason will become all but an afterthought - but for now we can all celebrate the return of competitive (ish) football.

Over the course of three days, NFL teams went head-to-head in a collection of games that were more glorified training sessions than actual meaningful match-ups, but they still provided a great opportunity for coaches to test new schemes and assess the performance of new signings, players returning from injury and rookies fighting for a starring role this season.
A few established names stood out (Carson Palmer and Philip Rivers to name two) but this weekly feature will take a look at the performances of players in new surroundings or those in a position to light up the league this season.

Michael Vick

Unfortunately for Michael Vick, it would seem that the Jets are set on naming Geno Smith as their starter this season, and any talk of a 'competition' is a lie. Of course, abandoning him would spell a second failed quarterback project in as many seasons. Smith flashed brilliance in college and showed plenty of the opposite last season, so Vick can keep up the pressure with a strong preseason. Neither quarterback had a stellar outing in week 1, but the 34-year-old Vick looked comfortable running the offense and broke off a spectacular 15 yard run to keep the drive alive and set the Jets up to score their only touchdown of the game.

Carlos Hyde

Already someone I had pegged to have a big 2014, Carlos Hyde was given ample opportunity on Thursday to show the 49ers coaches and fans exactly what he could do. The 6ft, 230 lbs running back displayed plenty of his uncanny speed and burst, and accumulated 39 yards on just five carries (7.3 yards per carry) against the Ravens' starting defence. Frank Gore has been resilient and largely injury-free throughout his career, but the older running backs get, the more likely they are to pick up injuries. The 49ers are now getting a glimpse at the future.

Jimmy Garappolo

It's still early days so we shouldn't crown Garappolo the heir apparent to Tom Brady's throne just yet, but he was undeniably impressive against the Redskins on Thursday. Garappolo outshone Ryan Mallett, showed good poise and decisiveness, looked comfortable throwing the deep ball and completed nine of 13 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown. He has plenty to improve upon, and Mallett is likely to improve in future weeks, but for now the Patriots can be safe knowing that they have two solid options to turn to should Brady get hurt this season.

Brandin Cooks

Despite being the toast of Saints training camp, it could be argued that Friday night's match between the Saints and the Rams was the moment when Brandin Cooks caught the eye of fans around the league. NFC south opponents will be concerned by his prominence within the offense, as well as his production. He was held in check on special teams, but he caught five passes for 55 yards, including using his ferocious speed to turn a short pass into an impressive 25 yard touchdown.


John Brown

The Arizona Cardinals were an unlikely candidate to put up the most points this week, but they managed to put 32 on Houston with the help of a new offensive weapon - John Brown. Brown has been turning heads in training camp and managed to bring that calibre of performance to an actual game. Against the starting Texans defence, the third-round draft pick caught five passes for 87 yards, drew a 39-yard interference penalty and was a persistent thorn in Houston's side whenever he was on the field. It was an impressive individual performance that underlines the depth Arizona have at receiver, and the potential potency of their offense this season.

Throwback Thursday: 2014 Hall Of Famers

A little bit late, but this week's throwback photo post is centred around the 2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

Last weekend saw Derrick Brooks, Ray Guy, Andre Reed, Walter Jones, Claude Humphrey, Aenas Williams and Michael Strahan enter the hall, so let's take a look at their careers using the best photos from around the internet.