Posts by @Mason Thompson

This week, a multitude of high-profile sporting events were postponed or canceled due to the coronavirus. Events like March Madness and the Big Ten and SEC basketball championship brackets have been canceled and a couple of NBA players have tested positive for the virus since the league’s announcement of the league being suspended. The NFL is in its offseason but is now approaching the time where the teams address their needs by flying in players from all over the country for visits with free agents and draft-eligible players. I’ll take a look at how the virus has affected the league already as well as events in the near future it could affect.

Earlier this week, the Jaguars agreed to trade starting cornerback, A.J. Bouye to the Denver Broncos for a fourth-round draft pick. This trade continues the trend of Jacksonville shipping off veteran players on expensive contracts. The Jaguars have now traded two starting cornerbacks this year after they shipped off Jalen Ramsey to the Rams for two first-round draft picks. This trade didn’t garner as much attention as I think it should’ve and I’ll explain why giving details of the trade, what it means for each team, how it affects each team’s strategies this offseason, and how each team’s future looks.

The Indianapolis Colts have been a team that has drafted great the last few years with Malik Hooker, Quenton Nelson, Darius Leonard, and Rock Ya-Sin carving out roles as starters. Chris Ballard has built this team from the bottom up and it showed before the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck before the beginning of the regular season. Jacoby Brissett had some solid moments but the team will look to add another quarterback via free agency or the draft if not both.

The Texans were knocked out in the divisional round by the eventual Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. They finished the year without a general manager and are looking to go into the draft with Bill O’Brien in that de facto role. O’Brien made significant moves during the season, sending Jadeveon Clowney to the Seahawks for a bag of chips, but sending two first-round picks to bring in Laremy Tunsil. Without a first-round pick, the team will have a lot of trouble finding players in the draft to fill their needs. I listed the Texans’ biggest needs as interior defensive line, edge rusher, and cornerback.

The first year of the Kliff Kingsbury/Kyler Murray experience went about as well as you could expect. There were some flashes but there was an abundance of growing pains as well. The Cardinals were dreadful on defense and their offensive line was still abysmal. The team has the eighth pick in the first round and six picks overall.

The Packers were destroyed in the NFC Championship by the San Francisco 49ers. They got behind early and never looked competitive in a game that would’ve sent them to the Super Bowl. The team’s top needs were evident in the loss as the receivers couldn’t get open and the linebackers were a liability in every facet.

Mason Thompson | January 25th, 2020  The Green Bay Packers were dismantled in the NFC Championship game, meaning all four of the NFC North teams

We are almost done with the NFL season. In three weeks we will know which team is at the top of the mountain in the league. Last April, all 32 teams looked to address some of their weaknesses during the draft. The draft is the offseason Super Bowl as all seven rounds are televised live with in-depth analysis of each player and what they bring to their new teams.

Today, I take a look at how the NFC East did with their draft selections. The NFC East had six selections in the first round with the Giants having three, Washington having two, and Philadelphia having one. Two teams took their quarterbacks of the future, while another took their new franchise tackle. Let’s take a look at how the Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, and Redskins rookies did this year.

Following a trip to the Super Bowl in 2018, the Rams were set to make another deep playoff push in 2019, or so they thought. The Rams have tried milking all the opportunity they have out of the team that took them to the Super Bowl, while also pushing them against the salary cap barrier.

Many thought that the Raiders got a steal when they traded for Steelers receiver, Antonio Brown for third and fifth-round picks. Well, we all know how that turned around. Not only has Brown’s playing career turned completely upside down, but his whole life has as well. After his last blunder which showed him live-streaming a profane outburst against his ex-girlfriend in front of multiple police officers, he has lost all but any chance he had at returning to the NFL.