Did you notice the University of South Panola kid made mid season All American.

 Darrel Henderson is a Junior at Memphis from Batesville, Miss (3 Star) is averaging a cool 10.1 yards per carry.  
The truly remarkable part is this kid averaged 8.9 yards a carry as a sophomore for 1154 yards in 2017 and I missed it somehow.  He led the nations RB's in per carry with over a 1000 yards last year. 


He has averaged about 15 carries a game and had 31 for 199 in one point loss to the UCF team.  I wanted to watch  him against Missouri but he went down with injury in 1st qtr.  He should be back for the next few games. 

He isn't a huge guy at 5 9 200lb and is built like a bowling ball and they cannot catch him.  The strangest thing is if you watch him, is that people just miss him and arm tackles are a waste of time.   Very strange to watch the way people just miss him.. Sacrilege statement coming.. Think Emmitt. 

No I am not saying he is that quality, I honestly have only seen highlights.


j. 

I recommend watching N'Keal Harry at Ariz State a former 5star WR that is 6 4 and evidently faster than he looks with an ability to make grabs in coverage. 

RK	PLAYER	TEAM	ATT	YDS	YDS/A	LONG	TD
1	Jonathan Taylor, RB	WIS	181	1155	6.4	88	8
2	Darrell Henderson, RB	MEM	114	1148	10.1	78	13
3	Jermar Jefferson, RB	ORST	162	1034	6.4	62	12
4	J.J. Taylor, RB	ARIZ	167	1029	6.2	64	6
5	Nico Evans, RB	WYO	149	979	6.6	75	6
6	Zack Moss, RB	UTAH	161	964	6.0	86	10
7	Eno Benjamin, RB	ASU	166	938	5.7	49	9
8	Benny Snell Jr., RB	UK	179	935	5.2	52	9
9	Jordan Cronkrite, RB	USF	130	933	7.2	80	7
10	LeVante Bellamy, RB	WMU	131	865	6.6	64	5

What a mess in College football.

The play-off poll comes out again this week, and I will be prepared to be irritated.
I am still shocked pissed the whiners won the debate and removed the computer analytics out of the seeds.  The BCS finally seemed to have it correct before politics took over.

I regress,  Alabama and Clemson seem to be the best two teams again.
Long story short.  Take the playoff from the last 3 years shuffle it and here we go again.

Early Prediction
Bama
Clemson
Oklahoma
Notre Dame.

Ohio State and Okla fight it out again for last spot.

I want Mike Leach to win every game!! Leach went off on only 4 teams in play-off.

"I think the minimum should be 16 teams, but they could easily go with more than that ... in other words, I want to see more football. Everybody from rec league softball on down can figure out how to put together a tournament and yet Division I can't."

J.

Throwing a football

Shocking Stat

It caused me to do some research.
(Not all prospects throw for velocity at the combine, but you know if you are different you would.)
It is worth noting that Stafford did not throw and neither did Josh Allen.

Only 3 players have reached 60 MPH at the combine, Baker Mayfield and Logan Thomas, formerly a Hokie.
  Then last year Josh Allen went in at 62MPH.  This is the fastest velocity recorded in NFL history that I have found.
(It is worth noting that Stafford did not throw at combine and is known for the ball that is hardest to catch in the NFL due to velocity.)

This 18 year old at Clemson posted a 61.4MPH during a game play.

 Ridiculous.

J.

***  Addendum  .. Lawrence reported had 3 balls over 63 MPH at Fla State after this post.


https://www.ourlads.com/story/default/Quarterback-Ball-Velocity-at-NFL-Combine-2008-2017/10243/dh/

Kershaw

I appreciated your post on Kershaw and I agree it's hard for me to watch him lose also.  It's a great mystery how he cannot produce in the playoffs what he does in the regular season.  I can't think of an example of a player at that level have such an extended failure in the post season, maybe A-Rod.  Let's be clear that Kershaw is the greatest regular season pitcher we've seen in like 100 years.  No one since then has produced an ERA on his level 2,000 innings into a career.  I'm also guessing that his back troubles have sapped his velocity since he's only about 30.  Hoping that he can continue to win games with his command and get to 200 wins.

S

Surprising Tigers

As we pause at the two-thirds point of the season, and before we have to tee it up with Bama again, thought I would take the time to appreciate the pleasant surprise of this season so far.  Ranked #4 in the polls, and with probably with best 4 wins of any team in America: Miami, Auburn, Georgia, and Miss St.  I had low expectations as did most experts, and I feared our brand could take a catastrophic downturn this season given the schedule we faced and the youth and inexperience of the team.  I guess we're forced to give some credit to the coaching staff, but I'll hold off on that until after the final 4 games, one of which we're not equipped to win.  But, it's been really nice to actually think we've over-achieved for once.

S

The Elite of Young Wide Receivers

With Amari Cooper coming to the Star in a trade for first round pick, I wonder why the media immediately thought Dallas overpaid.

Cooper is 1 of only 10 players with 1000 yards receiving as a rookie since the turn of the century.
Rare air indeed. 

(Weird fact  LSU has 2 of the 10 and Jarvis Landry is not one with his 84 for 758yds.  Also Dewayne Bowe came up 5 yards short with 995.    Michael Clayton and OBJ. )  LSU and FLA ST had 2 players (Bouldin and Benjamin)  As you would expect the SEC has 5 of the 10 players since 2000.

Supposedly on about 55% of drafted WR in First Round ever have 1 season of 800 yards and around 20% never get to 1000 career yards.

Getting Cooper maybe the steal of Stephen Jones short career.

J

Dodgers and Red Sox

Having a favorite player like Kershaw has all but ruined watching the series for me.  As bad as it sounds, I feel horrible when I watch him pitch these days. 

I need to remember that I should always have favorite teams, not players.

You were the first to tell me about this career in his second year.

There is a lot of bold font in this chart. 

J. 

Our Dreaded Cowboy Expectations.

They have added a 24 year old Pro Bowl WR and I think the team needed to do this.

But how many more chances will Red have under Jerry, before Jerry realizes that Red and his staff cannot develop players on offense. It hurts me to watch Dak miss reads and players that have broken free on a route. 

Is it the player or the staff?  Considering the Romo has stated numerous times that his development was watching others while QB and never once does he say the staff  (Except Big Bill and Lee ) were a big help.

So here is the next gen report on the Cowboys Scheme. Proof ????

Just 36.4 percent of Prescott’s passes have gone to open receivers (3-plus yards away from a defender) this season, the lowest rate in the league among quarterbacks with 200 or more attempts. The league average is 45 percent. Prescott’s average pass goes to a receiver with 2.9 yards of separation. Again, that’s last among the 22 qualifying passers. Just 43.9 percent of Prescott’s pass yards have been generated by receivers after the catch, which ranks 21st out of 22 passers.

• j

NBA The Rookies

I will address the guards and Big Men separately. As you know, I liked Bagley more than Ayton before the draft and still think he is a better overall player.

Bagley is coming off the bench for some reason with the Kings so he is playing with some of the second unit.

Ayton looked great two of his 3 games, he rough go against the Nuggets.
Jaren Jackson looks good also at 15pts and 6 Reb.

As you know I think +/- is the most inane stat, so I will save you the the time.
I expect by year end, if they play Bagley he will have 22pts and 10 Reb.  Ayton around 18 and 13 Reb. 

Trae Young exploded last night and Doncic looks like he is the real deal.
Both players look like keepers.

I expect Doncic to improve through out the year and I still don't think Young will be able to handle the physical beating for the entire year.

j

New Book, We need to consider

Quote from new book by Ian O'Connor called Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time 

The Brain was not interviewed for this book and asked his friends not to contribute. 

The media is missing the true story lines and discussing whiny Brady wanting a Divorce.  Boring.  They will continue to promote the false narrative about Brady being the GOAT.  

A few things that made me laugh:

1.  “Belichick was angry at Brady, according to people in the Patriots organization. He was angry at Brady because he had serious doubts about the quarterback’s denial and because this crisis was the last thing the coach needed. Belichick had taken the full hit on Spygate, even though Brady and others benefitted from the information gained through the illegal videotaping. The coach knew his legacy couldn’t weather another damaging ‘gate.’ If Spygate belonged to Belichick, Deflategate was going to belong to Brady.’’

Another Quote.
“ ‘I was really unhappy with Robert [Kraft]’s statement after the Deflategate case was settled,’ said one high-ranking executive with a rival team. ‘He went too far questioning the integrity of people in the league office . . . Of course they deflated the footballs. They’re drinking the Kool-Aid [in New England], but there’s nobody outside of New England who believes they didn’t do it. I think some people have been sent to the electric chair on less circumstantial evidence than there was in this case. You’re telling me that two equipment guys did this to the balls, with a Super Bowl trip on the line, without one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time being aware of it?’’

Someone please tell Butthurt Brady and his legion of drones that every QB that discussed it said you would have known immediately if balls were flat. Not to mention that TB12 sends hundreds of text to the two equipment employees involved then trashes the phone.  
Guilty! and like Serena the other day you were caught cheating


2. This quote speaks for itself.  Again Belichick was not interviewed. 

 “A number of [Patriot] coaches thought Belichick’s system elevated Brady, not the other way around. The general feeling among staff members, said one assistant, wasn’t that the Patriots Way would make Super Bowl quarterbacks out of all 32 starters. ‘But if you gave us any of the top 15, we could do it,’ he said. ‘I don’t think the coaches view Tom as special as everyone else in football does. Mr. Kraft thinks Tom is the greatest gift, but the coaches don’t.’ ’’

3. Bill's college Lacrosse teammate discussed how the Brain devised a way to alter his stick illegally and fix it immediately if the refs asked to check it.  

“He told me how to use an illegal lacrosse stick. If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t trying. It doesn’t surprise me, or wouldn’t at all, if he tried every advantage he could to win an athletic contest.’’

1975 Quote from Colts secretary.
“Billy had the responsibility of sending game film to that week’s opposing team. And if the films were supposed to be delivered by Tuesday, sometimes they didn’t arrive until Wednesday. Kilcullen was the one fielding phone calls from angry, shouting coaches who demanded to know where their game films were. ‘It drove me freakin’ nuts,’ she said. Kilcullen would try to get Billy on the phone, but he dodged her calls.

4.  Bill the Brain
He reported gave his assistants film of draft prospect named Rodney Spinks, of course it was the wrong name and school listed. All of the Cleveland coaches barring one didn't like the kid.  One was quoted as saying he liked him and he looked like Leon Lett. 
It was Leon Lett.

5. Bill the Bully  Kraft made the Brain keep Troy Brown in 2007

The Brain Did Not play him in 18 of the 19 games that year.

6. Bill the person

$100.00 handshakes to his assistants in Cleveland.


j