NFL Team Sites Review - Denver Broncos

Photo courtesy of Flickr

 

I must admit right up front that I'm a football junkie who cruises NFL team websites top to bottom to get as much information about them as I can to win all my sports bar arguments.  I also learn their blog site information to get a pulse from not just their websites but the people in their area who are a little more objective about the team even as fans of that team. The 49ers started out the cruise and now we travel to Denver to look at the mighty Broncos who are really popular in the west and because of their Super Bowls they have a national following.  We'll start the off the Broncos cruise by going to their NFL Home site to see how their represented.

The Broncos NFL Home site is a mess and doesn't load entirely when you enter.  That as a first impression is terrible because you're left to wonder what is trying to load instead of enjoying what else the page has to offer. They have some videos, some galleries, and the ticket center which is smack dab in the middle centered in the page.  It looks like a rookie setup and I'
m amazed this organization is represented like this.

Denver NFL Home page scores a 60 on a rating scale of 100 ------------------->NFL.com Denver Page

The SB Nation Page Mile High Report is pretty well done with loads of multimedia content. SB Nation does a real good job of mixing reporter content with fan posts and fan shots which gives a voice to the fan who of course pays all the bills.

Denver Mile High Report blog scores a 90 on a rating scale of 100 ------------------>Mile High Report

Fansided offers the Predominantly Orange blog as a voice of the fan with editorials, team news, rumors, and opinion. The Fansided Network, which is a subsidiary of Sports Illustrated, does a really good job of putting links together to form a view of a team from various sources in addition to the aforementioned editorials, news, and opinions. 

The Predominantly Orange blog scores a 90 on a rating scale of 100 ------------Predominantly Orange

We'll close out this review and cruise with the juggernaut media leader ESPN who offers a team page through their NFL Nation link.  Jeff Legwold is the Broncos' reporter who covers the team and he does a pretty good job of reporting what's happening with the team.  ESPN has done a great job of hiring a beat reporter that has already established a base and supporting them with their resources.

Denver ESPN NFL Nation scores a 93 on a rating scale of 100-----------------------Denver NFL Nation

HBO Ballers Review

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The anticipated HBO pilot Ballers aired Sunday night starring Dwayne Johnson used the glitz and glamour of  Miami and of course, the cache of the NFL.  The concept is the life NFL Ballers lead off the field and how hectic it is with balancing financials and lifestyles with athletics. The opening scene jumps you in with a star athlete speeding in his Bentley with his love crazed "girlfriend" who tells him she loves him so much she would kill herself and shortly afterward kills the both of them when she loses her mind over his infidelity right there in the car and starts to fight him making him crash at high speed. The next scene is the funeral and the news from the grieving wife that the star athlete left his family unsecured and penniless. This is where Dwayne Johnson's character, who is a newly retired former NFL player but connected, comes in and gets the brainchild through some prodding to "broker" and handle his connected baller friend's financials.

 

Spencer is that dude who's there for his ballers and we see already that John David Washington, who's the hothead baller, needs him to work his magic and get him out of a mess and back into the NFL on a team.  The plot lines are already formed as Spencer is "kinged" using his connections and it makes him a trusted information man and connector and from the looks of his circle they will need him to look out for them. 

 

It's a good start for the show and I'm looking forward to watching if HBO picks up the season.  I'd give it two thumbs up!

NFL Team Sites Review - San Francisco 49ers

Photo courtesy of Flickr

I must admit right up front that I'm a football junkie who cruises NFL team websites top to bottom to get as much information about them as I can to win all my sports bar arguments.  I also learn their blog site information to get a pulse from not just their websites but the people in their area who are a little more objective about the team even as fans of that team.  We'll start off this 32 team review and cruise with the 49ers and as you enter the team site on NFL.COM the first thing you notice is the mixing of noir and red on the photos which brings out that 49er red really nice. The site has a good mix of video and photos which are fan favorites and will curb some of the fanatics appetites until Training Camp starts back up.  The site also has a great mix of headlines, articles, and galleries to click into which makes this almost more than a team site and makes it into a 49ers content meeting space.  The producers of this site are doing a fantastic job and I leave out of the site impressed every time I visit.

49ers nfl.com site grades out as 95 on a 100 scale --------------------------------> 49ERS NFL Team site

The next stop on the 49er review is SB Nation and I was introduced to these blogs two years ago and I have been going back ever since. The 49ers site on SB Nation is called Niners Nation and they do a pretty good job of keeping fans up to date with stories, videos, and fanposts surrounding the 49ers that give it a unique flavor.

Niners Nation blog site grades out as 90 on a 100 scale ------------------------------------> Niners Nation

Bleacher Report is a good follow as well as they have 23,084 following them on Facebook which indicates a few things to me and it's they have work to do and how competitive it is to get views because the 49ers are a national team with 5 Super Bowls in their cabinet.  They have a lot of content on their page but it's not well organized and it's a lot of white space on the page. This is not a knock on the writers and contributors as they have plenty of updated features and content but the site looks disorganized when compared to their competitors.

Bleacher Report media site grades out as a 80 on a 100 scale --------------> 49ers Bleacher Report Site

Fansided, which is a Sports Illustrated subsidiary, keeps 49ers fans updated with their Niner Noise page which is a mix of editorials, news, and web links to information about the 49ers.  It's a well put together page with great information about the team.

FanSided media site grades out as a 90 on a 100 scale ----------------------------------------->Niner Noise

We'll close out this review and cruise with the juggernaut media leader ESPN who offers a team page through their NFL Nation link.  Paul Gutierrez is the 49er reporter who covers the team and through the sheer size of their network and the resources they just cover the team from top to bottom and add content through writing and reporting that dominates the others on this page.

ESPN NFL Nation 49er team site grades out as a 96 on a 100 scale ------------> 49er NFL Nation Site

Mini Camp Is Over, Training Camp Awaits

Players, prospects, coaches and scouts have all just finished mini camp which honestly is the start of the new football year for 2015. The scouts and coaches worked hard adding prospects to the roster and mini camp was the time to add them in with the players and see how they process instructions and perform. What amazed me was the business of football during this time with writers clamoring for stories and Philly's media is renowned for chomping for stories. Here's some of the storylines we've seen so far at the start of the 2015:

• Can Sam Bradford stay healthy and flourish in Chip Kelly's offense.
• Is this year's version of the Eagles a rebuild (5 new starters of offense, 5 new starters on defense) or a reload?
• Can Nelson Agholor and Eric Rowe contribute as 2015 high round draft picks?
• Will Marcus Smith erase last year's unremarkable year as the team's 1st round draft pick?
• Is Chip Kelly a genius or a clown? 

The last question is really why everyone is captivated by Kelly as they are intrigued with his unique methods of football management. It's the only way you can explain the 101 reporters showing up for Kelly's opening Organized Training Activities press conference. The national media can't get enough of Kelly and while he appears disinterested, something tells me his ego loves it. As an Eagle fan I'm kind of in the middle because I appreciate that the team is getting coverage but honestly I just want to win and if Kelly wants to flip the roster and he's confident that the team can jell then I'm onboard. Time will tell but training camp is next up and I want to see how this rebuild or reload comes together!

What storylines do you expect or are hopeful of coming out of training camp?

Physical, Tough, Blue Collar Football

I saw this coaching clinic excerpt from Chip Kelly, provided here by Matt Lombardo, where he talked about his running back getting into the line and getting yards because we play blue collar football and we dont want the back tinkle footing it to try for a homerun. I like that approach for Philadelphia which is as blue collar as it gets. I must admit that at first I was "shook" with all the changes as Kelly literally replaced proven players like DeSean, Mike Vick, LeSean, and Maclin and not all the players brought in were proven replacements. The players he brought in all had common traits though and that's they are hard nosed physical players. Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff, Ryan Mathews, and the hardest of them all DeMarco Murray all play a physical brand of football and that's a style of football that's radically different from past years in Philadelphia. 

 

DeMarco Murray, who I didn't start looking at until Michael Irvin said on 97.5 the Fan that the Eagles were favorites because of DeMarco, is downright physical and nasty as a running back. I watched Dallas' games from the 2014 season and just wanted to view DeMarco (in my head from Chip's viewpoint) and I honestly came away saying Chip is going for a hard nosed team starting in the run game.  I wont call out players but I can see where Chip said I have to deconstruct this thing if we're going to really compete for a Super Bowl while I'm here because we're not going to compete with the top teams with this finesse brand of players that Andy Reid built in his time here.

Andy Reid, who liked to outsmart you with a 1000 page playbook, built a small fast team that was a reflection of his philosophy and those teams could not compete with the physical teams in the tournament. There was still a faction of those types of players still on the team and the result was the same. The old saying is "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" and that's what the Front office was doing. It was the lets "hope" we get hot in the tournament and let's see what happens, problem is what's happened for this team is it cant get off the field defensively or get that clutch play offensively when everything is on the line. Are we insane or is it time for a new way?

We are bound to find out in 2015 and Im not insane!

Evan Mathis Is Out As An Eagle

Chipoleon, as some have dubbed Chip Kelly, has decided to waive Evan Mathis thus ending the standoff about Mathis and his contract demands. Mathis was scheduled to make 5.5 million dollars this season and had three years remaining on his contract but was unhappy about being underpaid. Chip Kelly to his credit had acquiesced to Mathis and his agent and allowed them to shop for a trade but nothing materialized from those efforts. Mathis did not attend any of the offseason workouts or organized team activities (OTAs) and had been largely absent since the end of the 2014 season as him and his agent continued to shop for a deal. Chipoleon had made it clear how he felt about Mathis non-attendance in OTA press conferences and one got the feeling it was a matter of time. That time came as the team decided to move on from their 2 Time Pro-Bowler after they completed their last OTA practice and waived him so he could seek the contract he wants. How does this affect the team?

 

The team has to replace two starters on the offensive line with Mathis and also Todd Herremans who is no longer on the team after being waived earlier this offseason. Allen Barbe and Matt Tobin are the two players in line but there is a bit of inexperience with these players with only 11 starts between them going into this season.  The team is younger with Allen Barbe and Matt Tobin as Mathis and Herremans were 33 and 32, respectively.

 

I could fill in this whole paragraph with superlatives about Mathis and say things like this is a risk for the Eagles but I want to run with the Chipoleon theme.  Mathis missed the offseason team workouts and the OTAs and hasn't been seen or heard from since the end of the 2014 season.  Out of sight, out of mind is what all professionals are subject to any job and Chipoleon has made it clear you earn your job and compete every chance you get or you're gone.  Mathis tested Chipoleon and he's now on the street.

Chip Kelly Draft Philosophy - Scheme, Fit, and Talent In That Order

Chip Kelly has shown us his draft philosophy through his movements of the last three years.  Chip Kelly and his personnel men starting with Ed Marynowitz employ a draft philosophy of position specifics for each position on the field.  Position specifics aren't new to the NFL as Bill Parcells and Nick Saban employ very similar position specifics for their teams and it's why they always fielded big teams. Chip goes a little further though and is interested in what kind of person he's going to bring into his locker room. The NFL allows 30 draft visits to your facility to "interview" draft prospects and per Beau Allen, Kelly is very interested in your off-field pursuits. College graduates as you've read (you do read the links I hope) are most likely to be successful in their chosen profession and why should it be different in football.  The interview at the Eagles' facility gives the Eagles coaches a viewpoint into what kind of person the prospect is and how hard the prospect will work if they are selected to be a member of the Eagles. Kelly mentioned that Nelson Agholor, who was drafted in the first round of 2015, had a growth mindset and not a fixed mindset and it's exactly the type of players he wants on the Eagles. 

Kelly as we've seen is all about bringing the right people on his team and I've discussed position specifics, college graduates, and growth mindsets but there is one last topic that brings the philosophy home is he involves the whole team of scouts and coaches in the pursuit of adding prospects to the team. This philosophy is not new as Pittsburgh has employed this system with Bill Cowher, Kevin Colbert and the Rooney's. It's a winning philosophy as the prospect when drafted will have by that time met the scouts, Czar (Kelly), position coaches, and executives. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this dive into Chip Kelly and his draft philosophy, hopefully there is more of an understanding of the process and less blind faith.

"Educated fans are the best fans and destroy blind faith fans!"

Eagles Have Completely Overhauled Under Chip Kelly

Jeff Lurie wanted a coach who was a program builder and innovator who would not only give him a chance to win the Super Bowl but would help keep the team at the top of the league in cache. Chip Kelly has done that and more if we are to review his popularity and the national prime time games that feature the Philadelphia Eagles. So what is Chip Kelly doing in reconstructing the Philadelphia Eagles?

 

The first thing that everyone noticed when Chip Kelly was hired was the creation of a Sports Science Coordinator and this indicated that conditioning and training was going to be different and we have found out that it's certainly different and intriguing. The second thing is the out of box mindset Kelly brings to training and developing his team. Kelly is innovative and has motivated the old-timers in the league to try new approaches like getting mental reps using Axon Sports technology. This approach is exactly what Jeff Lurie wanted when he lured Kelly to Philly and is also why he gave Kelly Czar status of the Football Operations. The third thing was Lurie crowning Kelly the Czar of Football Operations which gives him complete control to add and subtract players from the team which makes sense since he has the blueprint. The blueprint, by the way, after 3 years is becoming clearer with Kelly's complete overhaul of the team which was small and fast on offense and defense in Andy Reid's final years and now is becoming a power football team. 

 

The next step for Kelly is getting the correct Quarterback to run his offense and he has gambled that Sam Bradford is that guy as he traded Nick Foles and a second round draft pick for him.  It's a risk that shocked the football world because it was bold and a gamble on greatness but if it works it can be on par with New Orleans' move for Drew Brees who has won a Super Bowl for the Saints.  Everyone is watching and waiting to see how this turns out and in the NFL he's become must see TV as his every move is analyzed and dissected. 

 

 

 

Statistical Analysis Coordinators

Statistical Analysis Coordinators....yeah that's a new term that I just ran across but after looking at it and then laughing a little what teams have them titled as are Defensive and Offensive Quality Control coaches. This job is starting to get some shine as future coaches have used this position to spring board their careers and some of them are now famous. 

The actual origin of Stat Analysis Coordinators is traced back to Tom Landry who along with Gil Brandt of the Dallas Cowboys were the first organization to use analysis in the fashion they did for game analysis and the draft.  Mike Holmgren was the first to actually assign a person to a Quality Control coaching position and in the link above we saw that it was John Gruden, who went on to fame as a Super Bowl winning coach and now is the game analyst of Monday Night Football on ESPN.

The position is really akin to an apprenticeship for coaching at the NFL level as most of these coaches are hired after performing as graduate assistants at college and have been recognized as talented young "football guys". It's an intern position and we all know what happens in that position, you do all the work and get none of the credit. It's not as bad as it sounds though because if you're a football guy you know you have a chance to break in if you bust your tail.  Busting tail is exactly what they do with studying game film to uncover tendencies, scout players, and help coaches develop game plans for Sundays.  An example of this was on display last year in the Green Bay vs. Seattle NFC Championship game when Seattle went for the fake field goal.  The coach (I'll bet 1000 dollars it was a Quality Control coach) discovered that the end rusher on field goal tries always cut inside to try to block the field goal. Seattle waited for an opportunity to present itself and sure enough, it came so Quality control coaches can make a difference.

I do like the name of Statistical Analysis Coordinator as it gives it more depth although I wonder if a coach would want to remain in this position full time especially considering the hours put in breaking down film.