Alumni Football Blog

Week two of the preseason allows for more opportunities for starters, and a bigger separation between the locks to make the team, and those who are seeing their NFL dreams come to a halt.

The rookie class of 2012 continued to prove its worth, as more and more rookies made plays in the second week of the preseason. Aside from the obvious choices of talking quarterbacks again, Jaguars rookie wide receiver Justin Blackmon caught four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown in week two, helping to solidify his spot as the top wide receiver target in the Jaguars system.

Getting back on the quarterback bandwagon, Seahawks rookie signal-caller Russell Wilson may be getting close to wrapping up the starting job in Seattle, as the first-year player has thrown for 279 yards and three touchdowns in his first two preseason games. Wilson could beat out free agent signee Matt Flynn for that starting job.

Who would you pick to be best performer from week two of the preseason? Is it a quarterback? Or are other players stepping up?

You often hear about linebackers or big defensive tackles being the most feared players on an NFL field. What about on the offensive side of the ball?

Receiver is the one position where a one-on-one matchup with a talented wide receiver could leave the defensive backfield searching for answers. So the question is, if you were a defensive back in the NFL, who would be your most feared receiver of all time?

Could it be Jerry Rice, the man who owns nearly every receiving record in the NFL? Rice played from 1984-2004, amassing over 22,800 yards receiving in his career. Rice also went over 23,500 all-purpose yards, benefitting from playing with quarterbacks like Joe Montana and Steve Young.

Could it be a current player? Like a Randy Moss, who by some, is considered to be the greatest deep threat the game of football has ever seen?

What do you think? Who is the most feared receiver of all time?

No one ever said that having replacement officials during the preseason would be a pretty sight to see. But most people probably didn’t expect it to be this bad, either. With the NFL officials in a lockout as the 2012 season nears, replacement officials from all over the football landscape have entered into the NFL ranks, and into the spotlight.

In a sport where officials are constantly being ridiculed and questioned, the replacement officials of 2012 may be getting it even worse. The officials have made headlines for announcing the wrong team, missing obvious calls and awarding a touchback to a team when the ball was downed at the five yard line.

In the Baltimore vs. Atlanta preseason game in week one, the head referee announced on two separate occasions that “Arizona” will not be charged a timeout, which is great, especially since Arizona wasn’t playing that night.

The cases in week one of the preseason piled up, as calls were missed, such as Bills receiver Stevie Johnson being tackled while attempting to catch a pass down the field in the Redskins-Bills preseason opener. Of course, no penalty was called.

What was your favorite referee blunder of week one of the preseason?

Matt Barkley has USC football back among college football’s elite. The Trojans, ranked third in the first USA Today preseason poll, will likely benefit from Barkley returning for his senior season, despite being rumored as one of the top picks in the 2012 NFL Draft.

Barkley has been the cover boy for USC football, especially after a stellar 2011 season. Barkley was recently on the cover of both Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for Kids according to Michael Lev of the Orange County Register. The senior quarterback looks to be the Heisman favorite in 2012, especially with a plethora of talent surrounding him at USC. Barkley is also on pace to become USC’s all-time leading passer, after becoming the Trojans starting quarterback in his freshman season.

Outside of Matt Barkley, other college players will look to sneak up and snag the top individual prize in college football. Players like quarterback Denard Robinson from Michigan, quarterback Tyler Wilson from Arkansas and running back Montee Ball from Wisconsin could all challenge Barkley for the Heisman in 2012.

What do you think? Who would you give the preseason Heisman to right now?

It seems to be the common theme in the NFL these days: walk away from coaching or playing and go straight to the broadcasting booth. Many coaches and even players are taking that route, as the television screen on Sunday’s – and throughout the week – is filled with some form of NFL experience – whether they wore a headset or wore a helmet.

But if you’re an NFL team right now, which analyst could come in and fill a coaching void right now?

The obvious choices could be proven veteran coaches like John Gruden or Tony Dungy, who hold two of the more prestigious NFL broadcasting gigs in Monday Night Football and Sunday Night Football, respectively.

But what about guys like an Emmitt Smith, or a Troy Aikman, or even a Kurt Warner? Could those former players come in and make a difference as a coach? Obviously they had success as a player, so who’s to say they couldn’t carry that success over to the coaching realm?

What do you think? Which current NFL analyst would make the best head coach right now?

Football season is back. It may just be the preseason, but just having football back on the television says a lot, especially in the dog days of summer.

With a week of NFL preseason games officially in the rear-view mirror, it’s a great time to start pinpointing the rookies that could make a significant impact this season, judging by their performances in week one.

The obvious answer right off the bat would be Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts. Luck threw for 186 yards on 10-of-16 passing, including a touchdown pass on his first pass as an Indianapolis Colt. The rookie was extremely poised, and more importantly did not turn the football over.

One could also make the argument for Robert Griffin III, who threw for 70 yards on 4-of-6 passing, leading the Redskins to their only scoring drive of the game. Rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill was also impressive, going 7-of-8 in his Dolphins debut.

Was it Luck, Griffin III, Tannehill or another rookie? Who would you pick for the breakout rookie of the preseason to this point?

While the most important player on the offensive side of the football has always been considered the quarterback, the most important player on any defense has to be the middle linebacker. The middle linebacker is typically the captain of the defense and has the ability to control the entire flow of a game. During the NFLs long history there have been many great linebackers, three of which could make an argument as being the best ever.

One of the most imposing players in NFL history was Dick Butkus. Butkus played for the Chicago Bears for nine seasons. While the Bears never had a great team in that time period, Butkus was always the best player on the field and he made eight Pro Bowl rosters and was the Defensive Player of the year twice.

Mike Singletary also played his entire career with the Chicago Bears. From 1981 to 1992, Singletary was the starting middle linebacker for Chicago defenses that were always among the best in the league. He starred on the 1985 Chicago Bears defense, which is considered the best defense ever and led the Bears to a Super Bowl victory.

During the 1970s, the most dominating team in the NFL was the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their extremely strong defense was led by Jack Lambert, who was named to nine Pro Bowl teams and was on four Super Bowl winning teams.

Clearly, Butkus, Singletary, and Lambert all had great careers and were extremely dominant. Among those, or any other linebacker, who do you think was the best middle linebacker ever?

We gave our Gridiron Alumni football Facebook page a new look.  We not only changed the cover photo, but we changed the profile pic.

Heading into the 2012 NFL season, one of the biggest storylines of the year will be about whether Peyton Manning can come back from a career-threatening injury to lead his new team, the Denver Broncos, to the Super Bowl.

Since Manning officially joined the team, the Broncos have jumped to be one of this year’s Super Bowl favorites and for good reason too. During his 12 years as the starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, Manning was always one of the most dominating players in the league and the Colts were consistently in the running for the Super Bowl.

Last season, the Broncos managed to sneak into the playoffs, even though they never had a strong offense. With Manning, the Broncos should surely start putting up more points. When matched with their defense, which is one of the best in the league, the Broncos will be a tough team to beat.

On the other hand, Manning does come with a lot of risks. While he was always a great quarterback, Manning has not played in over a year and his serious neck injury will definitely come with plenty of physical and mental hurdles to overcome. Because of this, leading a team through the long NFL season and to the Super Bowl will be very tough.

What do you think?