Game Day Thoughts

I sure hope that the Minnesota Vikings come out of this season with either Christian Ponder or Josh Freeman firmly established as the quarterback of the present and future. The Vikings are a running team in a passing league but even a running team needs an effective, reliable quarterback to succeed. Beyond that, I would love for the Vikings to be able to go into the 2014 NFL Draft with an opportunity to draft one of the top linebackers. It looks to be the best linebacker draft that I can recall. UCLA's Anthony Barr is my #1 choice, but I really like Alabama's C.J. Mosley and Buffalo's Khalil Mack as well. If either Ponder or Freeman establishes himself as the Vikings franchise quarterback the team likely won't be in position to draft Barr. They may not even be in position to draft Mosley or Mack. Success of the quarterback likely means success of the team . Maybe, they can get Ohio St.'s Ryan Shazier or BYU's Kyle Van Noy. I really like the linebackers in this draft. The Vikings could really use one of them.

If the Vikings don't find their quarterback from their current quarterbacks, they'll likely have one of the first few picks in May's (May!) draft. They'll likely have to use that pick on a quarterback. Fortunately, as with linebackers, it looks like this draft has a bunch of nice quarterbacks. I like Oregon's Marcus Mariota. It would suck having to take a quarterback in the first round after taking one in the first round in 2011 but you have to find that quarterback.

Actually, there might be enough promising quarterbacks in this draft that the Vikings could draft Barr in the first and a quarterback in the second (Jimmy Garoppolo?). Man, it sucks thinking about the draft in week 8. The Vikings have to turn this season around. That starts tonight against the Green Bay Packers. Ponder with the start. Freeman has a concussion.

Speaking of Freeman's concussion, some have questioned the existence of this concussion. This is a pretty irresponsible notion. Head trauma is a serious issue in today's game. Everyone, at all levels of football, is trying to get better at preventing head trauma, recognizing the signs when it happens, dealing with the issues, and being responsible with an injured player's return. To second guess the reporting of a concussion is simply ridiculous and just shoots to shit all that people are trying to do to make the game safer for the players. No one outside of the Vikings medical decision makers and the player is in a place to question the concussion of that player.

Parity. It seems that the games are more evenly matched than ever before. Each week I look through the games and see most potentially going either way. This week, however, it looks like there are more games than usual with the potential for blowouts. That started last Thursday with the Panthers-Buccaneers game. Today, we have potential one-sided games with 49ers-Jaguars in London, Chiefs-Browns, and then Seahawks-Rams on Monday. Dolphins-Patriots and Bills-Saints could be but the Dolphins and Bills have shown that they can surprise more often than fold. Even the Browns and Rams could shock their opponents if there weren't some serious issues with their quarterbacks. I expect the Broncos to bounce back in a serious way after their first loss. So, the Redskins could be in serious trouble. This game could get ugly but Robert Griffin III seems to be getting more healthy and more difficult for defenses each week. Some might consider the Packers-Vikings a one-sided possibility. If that happens, I say it's the Vikings putting up all of the points. Ha! That's right. Go Vikings!

With the Vikings playing tonight, I have my day free for other games. That AJ Green-Calvin Johnson show last week has me thirsty for more receiver fireworks. I think that I'll settle in for Cowboys-Lions in the morning. Dez Bryant and more Calvin Johnson sounds promising. I like that Redskins-Broncos game in the afternoon.

College stuff:

I'm not sure why I ever landed on the opinion that former Ohio St., Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, and Washington Redskins receiver Joey Galloway was something of a knucklehead but I did. It was wrong of me to jump to this opinion for no reason. Galloway now does color commentary for ESPN college football games. I've been impressed with his work. He does a good job. He's not a knucklehead.

Yes, I'm sold on Florida St. quarterback Jameis Winston. I'll be saying this a bunch. I'd have him over Mariota but that's not a decision that anyone has to make. It's simply stunning that he played his 7th(!) college football game yesterday. He's got another year of throwing darts over and through college defenses before he's even eligible for the NFL Draft.

Winston didn't see much defense against NC State yesterday. At times it looked like he was playing against air. 35-0 at the end of the first quarter. 49-27 final score. He played little in the second half. Unless he plays Alabama at the end of the season, he likely sees a better defense during the week than he ever will on gameday. He's got an impressive group of receivers. A few of which might join in him in the first round whenever that might be. Kelvin Benjamin has the physical gifts to join him among the top 10 choices of that draft. There have been so many college quarterbacks that look amazing because of the offense that they lead, the talent around them, the defenses that they play against. Basically, they surf on manufactured stats and performances that should be viewed rather than read. They are great college quarterbacks in the right place. Tim Couch comes to mind. Matt Leinart too. I watched Leinart take apart a Cal defense in 2005. I had a fantastic view of his view from my end zone seats. Leinart had excellent receivers in Steve Smith, Dwayne Jarrett, Patrick Turner, and tight end Dominique Byrd that year. He had future top NFL picks Reggie Bush and LenDale White in the backfield. This was an incredibly talented USC team in the middle of Pete Carroll's reign. Offensive coaches Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian had a layered receiver route tree that put targets right in front of their quarterback. Leinart didn't have to scan the field. His targets were right in front of him. It was pitch and catch. It looked real easy. Flawed quarterbacks were at the top of the 2006 NFL Draft. Texas quarterback Vince Young was taken #3 by the Tennessee Titans. Leinart went to the Arizona Cardinals at #10. Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler was selected at #11 by the Denver Broncos. Out of those three, it should be no surprise that the true thrower is the only one that remains at the next level. Cutler was the best NFL quarterback in that draft. He may not have been the best college quarterback. He played at Vanderbilt!, but he was the best quarterback.

Several college quarterbacks have been amazing in singular games. Vince Young-Championship game. Joe Montana-Cotton Bowl. Jim McMahon-Holiday Bowl. Aaron Rodgers was as amazing in a regular season game against USC in 2004. The year before I watched Leinart pick apart Cal's suspect defense in layered precision. Rodgers showed then and many other times that he was an NFL quarterback. It's a mystery as to how many NFL personnel people missed that talent. The ability, the talent, the poise, the leadership. Everything that you need in an NFL quarterback was so frickin' obvious in Aaron Rodgers. I've never understood how so many missed it. Jameis Winston looks like an NFL quarterback toying with college players even though he's only two years removed from high school. Like Rodgers, Winston has elite NFL quarterback written all over him.

After his performance last Sunday night and thinking about college quarterbacks in general, I can't help but think of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. The Colts have to be the Luckiest team in the`league. Manning to Luck is one of the smoothest quarterback transitions in NFL history. You'd have to leave the planet to not be aware that Luck was an outstanding college quarterback. As a Cal fan, I learned of Luck's talent before he'd even set foot on "the Farm." He was a top recruit but he wasn't this universal 5-star prospect. I heard all that I needed to hear when I heard from a fellow Cal fellow that attended a passing camp attended by Luck saying simply, "we're in trouble." Sometimes it takes the people with the least to gain to say the most about a football player.

How about that? Oregon's Mariota and UCLA's Barr played in the same game.

Oregon's De'Anthony Thomas has been something of a gadget player for most of his college career. An itty-bitty guy with terrifying speed and quickness. For the past couple of years, I've debated his professional future. It's tough to defend that speed and quickness but the kid is so tiny. Supposedly 5-10 and 175 lbs.
He looks much smaller. He plays much bigger. His NFL future likely begins with returns but he can do much more. He could be 125 lbs and a hard-to-tackle-smurf-of-a-human but few have his get-away skills. He's in the NFL before NFL people leave the second day of the draft.

Maty Mauk. My goodness, has there ever been a better name for a quarterback? Chuck Long? Taken. I wanted to see this Mauk kid but his Missouri team is playing South Carolina opposite the UCLA-Oregon game. Mauk was butsing up Ohio and national records in his school boy days and he's barely recruited. Ohio football is serious football. How do you miss this guy. Maty Mauk is a fighter like Doug Flutie and Drew Brees. How do you miss a guy that can throw the pea like Maty Mauk. Maty Mauk. Here we go.

If a team can play Oregon for 60 minutes, they can beat Oregon. Cal has given them fits in the past. That alone says more than Oregon ever wants to admit. Cal's defense now stops no one. Stanford can beat Oregon. No matter how the Pac-12 shakes out, I think that Stanford or UCLA can take out Oregon. But the Ducks will remain the target until they aren't the target no more.

Watching Cal play defense is simply depressing. All season, no matter how close a Cal defender is to making a play, the opponent walks away with the play in hand. Injuries have been a serious issue but Cal's defense is a real problem. The offense started the season on fire. Now, freshman quarterback Jared Goff is playing like the freshman that he is. Coach Sonny Dykes has clearly cut out the bottom of the team to see what stays at the top.

The Cal offense is no dream but Chris Harper and Bryce Treggs are receivers that are going to play at the next level. The pro scouts hacked up the scouting of former Cal and current Cincinnati Bengals receiver Marvin Jones. Hopefully, those decision-makers will open their eyes when it comes to looking at Berkeley.