NFL SneakerReporter NFL Top 30: #20 Jalen Ramsey

NFL SneakerReporter NFL Top 30: #20 Jalen Ramsey

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by | Aug 15, 2019 | Featured, NFL

20. Jalen Ramsey

Team: Jacksonville Jaguars

Position: CB

Experience: 3 Years

In this league, confidence goes a long way. Despite his youth, Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey might be the most confident player in the entire NFL. The assuredness that he is the best player at his position didn’t just begin in the league, it’s a belief that’s fueled Ramsey through every level of football he’s ever played. It’s not a quiet confidence either, he will let anyone within hearing distance know how he feels about his skills. In an era of subtweets and burner accounts, Ramsey isn’t afraid to attach his name to anything he says. He also goes out on the field and backs up every single word.

Although he hasn’t been in the NFL for long, Ramsey has quickly made an impact. Much like Darrelle Revis and Richard Sherman before him, Ramsey’s skillset allows for him to completely shutdown one side of the football field. He’s not just a great football player, he’s also a freak athletically. At the 2016 NFL Combine he ran a 4.41 40-yard dash, jumped 41.5 inches on his vertical leap, and recorded a broad jump of 135 inches. Combined with physical measurements (6’1” and 208 pounds) and you have the makings of a perfect corner in the modern NFL.

In three seasons Ramsey has started every single game. 2017 was his breakout year. He was part of the reason that the Jaguars had the best defense in the league that year. He pulled in a career-high four interceptions and was named First-Team All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl. Though Jacksonville was unable to repeat their success record-wise a year ago, Ramsey’s play stayed at a high level. He had three interceptions, a career-high 62 solo tackles and was named to the Pro Bowl for a second consecutive season.

With another year of seasoning under his belt it stands to reason that Ramsey will only be better. He’s shown the versatility to defend speedy wide receivers like Tyreek Hill and T.Y. Hilton, big receivers like A.J. Green and tight ends Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski. Jacksonville knows that they have a defender who is capable of handling the best receiving option on the opposing team week in and week out. While he’s made his mark mostly on the left side of the defense he’s not afraid of moving around the formation depending on who he’s matched up against. In the secondary, Ramsey is the ultimate weapon.

Unlike in 2018 when he made headlines with his honest breakdown of the opposing quarterbacks on the Jaguars’ schedule, he has been relatively silent—or should we say measured, because Ramsey is never silent—this offseason. While it’s possible that the star cornerback has turned over a new leaf, it’s more likely that if Jacksonville finds itself as a contender and playoff team in the AFC that we will hear plenty from him this year. Having a player this special and this sure of himself isn’t something that every team has. Letting Jalen Ramsey be Jalen Ramsey is the key to the Jaguars regaining their swagger on the field this season.

Aug 15, 2019 No Comments
Is it Time to Worry About Andrew Luck?

Is it Time to Worry About Andrew Luck?

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by | Aug 14, 2019 | Featured, NFL

Last season, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had arguably the best year of his NFL career. He threw for 4,593 yards, 39 touchdowns, 67.3 completion percentage, and set career highs in completions (430) and attempts (639). The team went 10-6 and lost in the Divisional Round to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a comeback season for the former number one overall pick who missed all of 2017 with a shoulder injury.

The shoulder injury was a curious one as it was an injury and surgery that was supposed to only sideline the signal-caller through the offseason, Luck wasn’t even ready to throw a real football in training camp. In the end, he sat the entire season to make sure that he would be perfectly healthy in the future.

Well, we’re in the future and Luck is not healthy. The Colts had spent money and draft capital to try and fortify their roster so that their season wouldn’t live or die on the play of Luck. Pundits were highlighting Indianapolis as a team capable of making a run to Miami for Super Bowl LIV in February 2020.

All the progress and good feelings came to a screeching halt when it was first announced that Luck was dealing with another injury. However, it wasn’t an upper-body injury but instead discomfort in his calf that sidelined him. In March, an MRI revealed that he was dealing with a calf strain in his right leg. During organized team activities (OTAs) and training camp in May and June, the Colts opted to hold out Luck for some practices. By July, head coach Frank Reich was referencing the calf strain and resulting Achilles tear of NBA superstar, Kevin Durant when discussing the precautions the team was taking with the face of their franchise.

Then on Monday, Colts owner Jim Irsay provided us with an update that the team believed that it was a small bone—the os trigonum—that was responsible for the persistent pain that the quarterback was dealing with.

Yet, one day later, general manager Chris Ballard refuted that report (it turns out only 5-10 percent of the population even has an os trigonum) and said that it has become more of an ankle injury. “From the start we’ve been dealing with a calf injury,” Ballard said, via ESPN’s Mike Wells article. “In March through camp, dealing with a calf and then little area below his calf, which Andrew kind of referred to as a lower leg where he was dealing with some pain, almost in the ankle area. The injury wasn’t getting better and hadn’t been practicing, so in the course of dealing with the calf injury, it appears that now we have an ankle issue.”

The NFL season gets underway in less than a month and the Colts aren’t ready to comment on what Luck’s status will be to begin the year. Compare that to 2017, when Irsay was on record saying he didn’t believe the quarterback would miss any time and it’s easy to make an assumption that the current injury situation is worse than the shoulder injury that kept him off the field for an entire season.

When he’s healthy, Luck is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. However, in the last four seasons, including 2019, he’s only been 100 percent healthy for one of them. If he is able to return to the field this year then all eyes will be on how he looks. If not, he will likely get brandished with the tag of being injury prone.

Over the course of five months, this injury has not only worsened but moved to a completely different part of the body. It is surely time for this franchise to panic.

Aug 14, 2019 No Comments
Jay-Z and NFL to Collaborate on Social Justice

Jay-Z and NFL to Collaborate on Social Justice

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by | Aug 13, 2019 | Featured, NFL

It was announced today that Jay-Z’s entertainment and sports company, Roc Nation, and the NFL would be teaming up to help fortify the league’s Inspire Change social justice campaign. With players kneeling during the national anthem, Colin Kapernick’s alleged blackballing, and current Miami Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills calling out the team’s owner for a pro-Donald Trump event, being in ties with one of the largest celebrities in the African-American community is a huge deal for the NFL.

The deal also gives Roc Nation the title of “live music entertainment strategist” for the NFL which will allow them to have a say in which artists perform at NFL-sanctioned events including the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Last year, the show received some pushback after selecting pop band Maroon 5 to headline the show instead of an Atlanta-based act.

This isn’t Roc Nation’s lone connection to the sport. Their sports agency, Roc Nation Sports, reps such high-caliber NFL players as Saquon Barkley, Leonard Fournette, Todd Gurley, Melvin Ingram, Juju Smith-Schuster, and Ndamukong Suh as well as former players Dez Bryant and Victor Cruz.

For his part, Jay-Z famously rapped, “I said no to the Super Bowl, you need me, I don’t need you” on the song APESH*T. The rapper has been vocal in his support of Kapernick, calling him an “iconic figure” and wearing a custom Kapernick jersey in 2017 during his performance on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Of this new joint-venture, Jay-Z had the following to say, “The N.F.L. has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive. They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good.”

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said of the two sides working together, “We don’t want people to come in and necessarily agree with us; we want people to come in and tell us what we can do better. I think that’s a core element of our relationship between the two organizations, and with Jay and I personally.”

Aug 13, 2019 No Comments
SneakerReporter NFL Top 30: #22 Ezekiel Elliott

SneakerReporter NFL Top 30: #22 Ezekiel Elliott

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by | Aug 13, 2019 | Featured, NFL

22. Ezekiel Elliott

Team: Dallas Cowboys

Position: RB

Experience: 3 Years

In his first NFL season, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott set the league ablaze. He was selected to the Pro Bowl and named First-Team All-Pro off the strength of his league-leading 1,631 rushing yards in 15 games. Elliott’s combination of speed and strength was maximized by the quality of the Cowboys offensive line. The end result was a bull in a china shop style of smashmouth football that helped catapult to the top of the NFC with a 13-3 record. The running back restored Dallas back to its once glorious standing in the league in a short time.

However, with all the great things that Elliott was doing on the field, he kept running into trouble with his actions off the field. In his second season, Elliott served a six-game suspension after being accused of domestic violence against his former girlfriend. He tried to fight against the suspensions with appeals and court junctions, but in the end, he served the suspension for the last six weeks of the Cowboys season. Though he hasn’t been suspended again since he’s managed to get caught up in some type of scandal or confrontation that lands him in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

So far he’s managed to stay off the field this year of his own accord. Elliott is still under terms of his rookie contract which gives the Cowboys a guaranteed two-years of control over him (fifth-year option and franchise tag) but the running back wants to get paid like the top-tier back that he is. Over the years, the running back position has become a place where teams tend not to invest big money financially. Yet, Elliott has been so good for Dallas that he is in a bind. If he plays out his rookie deal it is unlikely he will ever capitalize on his skills monetarily. He’s been a hold out for all of Dallas’ training camp and has made it known that he doesn’t intend to play a single down without a new contract.

According to Forbes, the Cowboys are the sports franchise with the highest value in 2019 ($5 billion). It would stand to rest that Jerry Jones has enough to give Elliott a contract that would make him the highest-paid player at his position—currently, that resides with Todd Gurley (four-year, $57 million). When Dallas opted to select Elliott fourth overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, the team seemingly married themselves with him for the long haul. Other teams have found their star backs in later rounds (see: Alvin Kamara) which cheapens the initial contract of the player.

The money is on the two sides figuring something out. As great as Dallas has been since 2016, along with the improvements made by Dak Prescott, and the additions to their defense, this is still a team that will go as far as Elliott carries them. Without him they are barely a playoff team, with him they are talented enough to end their 23-year Super Bowl drought. For this team, Elliott is worth every penny he’s asking for.

Aug 13, 2019 No Comments
NFL Community Mourns the Passing of Pittsburgh Steelers Assistant Coach Daryl Drake

NFL Community Mourns the Passing of Pittsburgh Steelers Assistant Coach Daryl Drake

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by | Aug 12, 2019 | Featured, NFL

Early Sunday morning the NFL lost one of its most respected figures. Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers coach, Darryl Drake passed away at the age of 62. Drake has been coaching football in college and the NFL for more than three decades spending time with the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, and Steelers during his time in the league.

Steelers president Art Rooney released a statement in which he said Darryl “was a passionate coach and had a tremendous spirit toward life, his family, his faith, and the game of football.” Head coach, Mike Tomlin also released a statement about Drake saying, “Darryl was a close friend and had a tremendous impact on my coaching career. He was an amazing husband, father and grandfather, and it is difficult to put into words the grief our entire team is going through right now. Darryl loves the game of football and every player he ever coached.”

Other members of the Pittsburgh community posted on their social media channel, paying respect to a man who was more than just a coach them:

The condolences didn’t stop there, many other players (current and former) and coaches also shared stories of the man they knew.

Fellow AFC North coaches Freddie Kitchens (Cleveland Browns head coach) and Wink Martindale (Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinators) also said their condolences to the Drake family and the Steelers organization.

The Steelers announced that they would be canceling practice at Saint Vincent College for Sunday and Monday in response to Drake’s passing.

Drake is survived by his wife, Sheila, daughters Shanice, Felisha, and Marian as well as two grandchildren.

Aug 12, 2019 No Comments