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As always, CocktailSports.Com offers you its talking point from the recent football weekend:
1.) Denver Broncos – Few teams experienced as much off-season turmoil as the Denver Broncos. After the Broncos failed to make the playoffs last season, they fired their long time head coach Mike Shanahan and hired 33-year old Josh McDaniels, a former offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots. McDaniels wasted no time in attempting to put his stamp on the team, beginning with former quarterback Jay Cutler. The two never saw eye to eye and the Broncos ended up trading Cutler to the Chicago Bears for Kyle Orton and draft picks, a move many criticized the Broncos for making. McDaniels new style didn’t mesh with temperamental wide-receiver Brandon Marshall, who spent most of the off-season complaining about his contract and became an even bigger problem during training camp in a series of incidents that have been forever memorialized in YouTube clips. The first year in any career is always a difficult one, especially as a NFL coach, especially taking over a team in as much turmoil as the Broncos. The undefeated Broncos are the biggest surprise story in the NFL right now. Indeed, their 5-0 record already matches the season win total predicted by Sports Illustrated in their NFL preview.
2.) Terrell “T.O.” Owens – Every sport features a select few athletes that transcend the sport, names recognizable even to non-sports fans. Buffalo Bills mercurial wide receiver, Terrell “T.O.” Owens, is one of those players. Cut by the Dallas Cowboys in the off season, the Bills brought T.O. in expecting him to be a huge weapon on the offensive side of the ball. Currently, Owens ranks tied for 103rd in the league in receptions with 12, which is actually one more than Roy E. Williams, who replaced Owens on the Cowboys’ roster (although Williams has more receiving yardage at 214 to Owens’ 202). Fortunately, the Cowboys found another replacement for Owens in Miles Austin, who had more receiving yardage in one game, 250 yards, than Owens has on the entire season. The Bills expected more, much more, from Owens than what he has produced on the field and with the team struggling, you know every one in the organization is waiting for Owens to have one of his trademark sideline or locker room tirades.
3.) Ryan Mallett – Entering the 2009 college football season, much of the talk centered around three quarterbacks–Tim Tebow (Florida), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) and Colt McCoy (Texas). Tebow and Bradford had won the past two Heisman Trophy Awards respectfully and McCoy was the runner up for the prize in 2008. All three chose to return to school instead of entering the NFL draft early and all three were set to lead teams expected to challenge for the national championship. While none of the three have looked quite as sharp as years past, they continue to dominate the national talk at the position.
If you really want to impress your clients or colleagues, throw the name Ryan Mallett into the top college quarterback discussion. Mallett began his college career at the University of Michigan, but transferred when the school made a coaching change. This marks his first year playing at the University of Arkansas. He probably won’t get invited to the end of the year awards shows and his team won’t be playing for a national title at the end of the season, but Mallett may be the quarterback with the brightest future ahead of him. While some question the role McCoy and Tebow will play in the NFL, there’s no doubt what NFL scouts see in Mallett. His game fits perfectly into the mold of the traditional NFL drop back pocket passer. He has the size and skills to succeed on the next level.