Blog

Robert Griffin III Signs With The Ravens

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

RGIII is back.

The former Redskins and Browns quarterback has signed a one-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens.

“You look at the veteran quarterbacks out there,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said to ESPN, “where we’re at right now, I’m pretty excited about this player. I’m really feeling like we got a steal. I really feel that way.”

Griffin was the second-overall pick in the 2012 draft in hopes of him becoming the Washington Redskins’ franchise quarterback.

He shined in the 2012 season with 3,200 yards, 20 touchdowns and a 102.4 QB rating. He won Offensive Rookie of the Year and made both the Pro Bowl and All-Rookie team.

An ACL injury sidelined him at the end of the season, which was just the start of an injury-plagued career. He was benched for all of the 2015 season before being released by the Redskins in 2016.

The Cleveland Browns went on to sign Griffin to a two-year deal. However, injuries limited him to just five games with the Browns.

Baltimore has been in need of another backup to Joe Flacco with only Josh Woodrum as the other QB on the roster.

Griffin was initially brought in to throw to receivers, according to ESPN, which led to a meeting with team officials before making an agreement Tuesday.

“He came in last week, worked out,” Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. “He had a real good workout and we were able to come to an agreement late yesterday. He will probably be here early next week to sign the deal.”

 

Giants Improve Offensive Line With Nate Solder Signing

Jaclyn Marr1 Comment

In their first major move so far in free agency, the Giants have finally given their disastrous offensive line a boost with the signing of left tackle Nate Solder.

The former New England Patriot has been protecting Tom Brady’s blindside since being drafted in 2011. Now, the 6-foot-8, 325-pounder will be the blocker Eli Manning has been in desperate need of.

Solder has played in 98 career regular-season games, 95 starts, and 16 career playoff games. He has one Pro Bowl invitation in his career so far as an AFC alternate in 2017. He’s spent his whole career with the Patriots, which includes four Super Bowl appearances.

With the signing, it is unclear what will happen to current left tackle Ereck Flowers. To say Flowers has been inconsistent in his time at left tackle would be an understatement.  However, the Giants implied they have no plans of getting rid of him yet. He will likely move to right tackle or could become a backup.

New Giants’ general manager Dave Gettleman knew he needed to improve the offensive line – one of his team’s biggest weaknesses – as soon as possible.

After losing out on top guard Andrew Norwell to Tom Coughlin’s Jacksonville Jaguars, Gettleman landed the best left tackle on the market. Although he paid a big price to get it done, it was a move that needed to be accomplished.

Solder is now the highest paid offensive lineman in the league with a four-year, $62 million contract and a whopping $34.9 million guaranteed.

Get ready Giants fans, this is just the start of free agency.

 

 

 

 

The Giants Shouldn’t Draft a QB First

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

This will most likely qualify as the unpopular vote, but I really would love to see the Giants draft a running back first this offseason.

All of the talk has been about getting a new, young quarterback in this upcoming draft. Yes, that’d be great considering the candidates in this draft pool and that Eli Manning isn’t getting any younger.

But what about Davis Webb?

The rookie has been inactive on the sidelines all season… A season that went downhill quick and never recovered.
Looking at the horrendous offense, there came a time where it was pointless for Manning to continue to play, let alone start games at all. He was just risking an injury at that point. There was nothing left to play for.

Yes, after the whole start streak debacle with former head coach Ben Mcadoo, Manning deserved to be back at starting QB.

But…

Davis Webb deserved to see some play time – any kind of play time. Whether there was a potential to win or they were down by 20+ points, Webb deserved to see some pro action.

He was gaining knowledge while watching from the sideline and from one-on-ones with Manning, sure, but the Giants failed their rookie QB who could have grown and gained some valuable experience.

 

https://breakawaybutterfly.weebly.com/blog/the-giants-should-draft-a-running-back-first-not-a-quarterback

Deshaun Watson Out For The Season With a Torn ACL

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

Less than 24 hours after the city of Houston was celebrating their first World Series championship, they find out their star quarterback has a torn ACL.

Texans QB Deshaun Watson went down in practice on a non-contact drill, first reported by NFL Insider Ian Rapoport. The rookie had an MRI done to confirm the news no one wanted to be true.

Watson has had a stellar season so far and was coming off his best performance of his young career. In the Texans’ 41-38 loss to the Seattle Seahawks last week, he passed for 402 yards and four touchdowns.

His performance helped him earn AFC Offensive Player of the Month – the first rookie quarterback to ever do so. He was also named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Month for October.

In his six career games, Watson has passed for 1,699 yards and 19 touchdowns – tied for the NFL lead. He was even favored for the Rookie of the Year.

Watson has become just the fourth quarterback in history to throw at least three touchdowns in four separate outings during their rookie season, joining Peyton Manning, Marcus Mariota and Dak Prescott. He also surpassed Kurt Warner for the most passing touchdowns in a quarterback’s first seven games at 19.

The former Clemson QB took over for the Texans in Week 2 and has since led the NFL in points per game with 34.7, was sixth in passing yards per game with a 266.2 average, first in passing TDs and fourth in passer rating (108.4), according to NFL.com.

Tom Savage will take over for Watson. The four-year veteran has played in two games this season for the Texans. He has a 53.8 completion percentage, 62 passing yards and a 66.8 passer rating. The Texans have already signed former Raider Matt McGloin as a backup for Savage, according to Rapoport. McGloin previously played for head coach Bill O’Brien at Penn State.

 

 

Jets to Release WR Eric Decker

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

The New York Jets made headlines Tuesday as they announced the releases of two veterans.

Earlier in the day, the team let go of linebacker David Harris, who has spent his 10-year NFL career with Gang Green. A report by NFL Insider Adam Schefter was confirmed later in the day that the team will also part ways with wideout Eric Decker.

“We advised Eric that if a trade doesn’t happen, we’ll move forward without him,” Mike Maccagnan, Jets general manager, said.

In his three seasons with the Jets, Decker caught 163 passes for 2,183 yards and 19 touchdowns. However, he’s been hit with injuries over the years – being limited to three games last season due to hip and shoulder surgeries.

The moves come in the midst of a very busy offseason for New York. The team has been rebuilding their roster, saying goodbye to several veterans already – including Darrelle Revis, Nick Mangold, Brandon Marshall and Calvin Pryor.

With the cuts of Harris and Decker, who both practiced on Tuesday before being released, the Jets save a combined $13.75 million. The team now has only four players over the age of 30.

 

 

Brendan Smith Settling in as a Ranger

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

Defenseman Brendan Smith had his debut as a New York Ranger on Thursday night in a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins.

Overall, Smith played well and was pleased with his first game. In his postgame conference, head coach Alain Vigneault said he was also pleased with his new blueliner’s performance.

Smith was acquired Tuesday from Detroit in exchange for two draft picks. He was at Madison Square Garden for the Rangers’ game against Washington, practiced Wednesday with the team and participated Thursday in Boston. He had two blocked shots and one hit in 20:51 of ice time.

He said that although it’s a challenge to step into a new lineup with only one practice under his belt, his defensive partner Ryan McDonagh has helped him from the start.

“It is kind of tough to learn a system in a couple days,” Smith said Thursday after the game.”I think the big reason was [McDonagh] helped out so much. He’s a fantastic player. He was talking to me the whole time.”

Smith stated that there’s a few things he needs to fix in his game, but that he’s happy overall with his first outing and will build from it.

“He played a good game.” Vigneault said. “Coming in and playing against their top line, I thought he did a good job. The more he gets used to his new teammates, I’m sure the better he’s going to be.”

One aspect of being a Ranger that Smith stated he particularly enjoys is playing in front of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. As one of the best in the game, it is understandably different to play with Lundqvist rather than against him.

Assessing his new team as a whole, one thing that stood out to Smith is how fast New York plays. “I love the speed. You’ve got guys – and we’re even missing [Michael] Grabner who’s got lots of speed.”

“We can turn it on like that and I think our start wasn’t our best but we built from it and we got better,” Smith continued. “We found a way to get two points on the road. Sometimes it’s hard. That’s a good team but we found a way.”

With under 20 games left in the regular season, it’ll be fun to watch how the rest plays out.

Rangers Acquire Defenseman Brendan Smith From Detroit

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

In their only move before the trade deadline, the New York Rangers have acquired defenseman Brendan Smith from Detroit in exchange for two draft picks.

The trade includes the Rangers’ third round pick in this year’s Entry Draft and Ottawa’s second round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which the Rangers acquired after sending Derrick Brassard to Ottawa in the offseason for Mika Zibanejad.

Yes, the Rangers have a habit of trading away important draft picks but in this case, this was a good move.

Smith has skated in 291 career NHL games over a span of six seasons, spending his career so far with Detroit after being drafted 27th overall in 2007. He signed a three-year entry level contract in May 2010 and made his NHL debut on November 17, 2011. He’s tallied 67 career points, 15 goals and 52 assists, along with 281 penalty minutes.

In the 2013-14 season, Smith notched career-highs in goals (five), assists (14) and points (19). As a member of the Red Wings, he has played in the playoffs in each of the last four seasons, tallying six points (two goals and four assists) and a plus-one rating in 27 games.

This season, he has played in 33 games, registering two goals, three assists and 34 penalty minutes. He averages 18:44 of ice time, which was a career high and gave him the fourth rank among Detroit defensemen last season.

The Rangers have had various injuries on defense all season, so adding a veteran like Smith will only benefit the team overall. He could be one of the top defensive pairings and be a mentor for the younger players.

Smith will have some familiar faces on his new team. He played three seasons for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh and center Derek Stepan.

 

 

NBA Trade Deadline Passes, Melo and Rose Remain in New York

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

Like it or not Knicks fans, the team didn’t make any moves before the Feb. 23 trade deadline, which means Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose will still be wearing orange and blue.

While there were significantly more trade rumors surrounding Anthony for about six weeks, one rumor involving Rose was ignited in the final days before the deadline. Moving Rose would have been more likely considering how he’s played so far in his first season in New York.

The Minnesota Timberwolves reached out to the Knicks and expressed interest in acquiring Rose in exchange for their starting point guard Ricky Rubio.

However, the trade reportedly fell through at the last minute when the Knicks tried to gain a second piece in addition to Rubio. By the time they withdrew their request for another player, the 3pm deadline had passed.

“The sense I’ve gotten from talking to other teams who’ve talked to New York is they feel like the Knicks would almost give away [Rose] right now,” Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical said Wednesday.

Rose is averaging 17.7 points per game on 46% shooting from the field. He’s shooting 24% from deep and 4.5 assists and four rebounds. Defensively, he’s ranked fifth-worst in DRPM among 89 point guards.

On the other hand, Rubio is a playmaker that would have made a great difference in the Knicks’ lineup. Averaging eight assists and just two turnovers all season, he would have been beneficial to Kristaps Porzingis’ development.

While these players remain on their respective teams for now, we’ll just have to wait and see what the offseason brings.

 

 

 

Timberwolves Show Interest in Trading for Derrick Rose

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

With the NBA trade deadline coming Feb. 23, teams are racing to make final decisions.

While I don’t think we’ll see another move as crazy as the one between the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans, interesting rumors have been circling around New York Knicks point guard Derrick Rose and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

For those who don’t know, the Kings traded Cousins, their star player, and Omri Casspi to New Orleans for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway and the Pelicans’ 2017 first- and second-round picks in what people are calling one of the worst trades in NBA history.

 

Teams have their fair share of trade talks. New York Knicks fans know just how tiring it can be to hear non-stop trade rumors and scenarios.

Rumors have been swirling around Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks for weeks, but things have since calmed down and it doesn’t seem like Anthony will be leaving New York. His teammate, however, was just named in new trade rumors.

Derrick Rose, in his first season with the Knicks, is already sparking trade talks from various teams. The one that seems the most likely is the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Ian Begley of ESPN reported that the Timberwolves have reached out to the Knicks to discuss possible trades for Rose.

What makes Minnesota stand out from the other teams is that Rose played for Timberwolves president/coach Tom Thibodeau during his time with the Chicago Bulls.

While this is all just trade talks, it’ll be interesting to see what comes about.

 

Charles Oakley Banned From MSG

Jaclyn MarrLeave a comment

The craziness surrounding the Knicks organization continues following Charles Oakley’s outburst at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

It was reported Friday that the Knicks legend was banned from MSG after being ejected during Wednesday’s game and then arrested soon after.

Team owner James Dolan called for Oakley’s ban. During an interview on the Michael Kay Show on Friday, Dolan was quick to make accusations and showed no support for the former player.

“He has a problem with anger,” Dolan said. “He’s both physically and verbally abusive. He may have a problem with alcohol. We don’t know. But those behaviors of being physically and verbally abusive, those are personality problems.”

The team had released two statements following the incident but they were just to throw Oakley under the bus. The organization seemed to jump to conclusions without getting the former player’s point of view.

Oakley said afterward that he had “a couple drinks” but before entering the Garden.

When asked if the Knicks should be embarrassed for what has happened in the last 48 hours, Dolan responded: “I would say that Charles should be embarrassed.”

For the sake of the team and its reputation, let’s hope that this all gets resolved soon.