The Daily Briefing Monday, April 11, 2022

On Saturday morning, around 6:30 a.m., the life of QB DWAYNE HASKINS came to an end a few weeks before his 25^th birthday.  The Florida Highway Patrol reported that he “tried to cross” the westbound lanes of I-595 which runs across the north boundary of Ft. Lauderdale Airport.  He was struck by a dump truck.

Ryan Hawkins of NBC6 in Miami found an eyewitness:

NBC 6 spoke to a man who says he believes he saw Haskins on I-595 westbound just minutes before the crash.

“I was dropping off my daughter to an airline at the Fort Lauderdale Airport in the morning,” said Chris Stanley.

Stanley says he was on the way home after leaving the airport, and heading towards the off-ramp to I-95 North when he noticed vehicles veering into his lane.

“And what I noticed was a Mack truck, or a big tractor-trailer, with also another vehicle that started moving a little bit to the left,” said Stanley. “I was in the left lane and then there was the right lane. And then I noticed an individual there starting to make their way onto the road.”

Stanley says he saw the man’s arms raised up a little bit as he appeared to be drifting into the major highway.

“He was about halfway, to a quarter way in the right lane already onto the highway and I was already concerned that somebody was going to strike him right there at that moment,” he said.

Stanley says he was so concerned that he dialed 911 and shared a screenshot of his call log with NBC 6 with a call to 911 at 6:31 a.m. — six minutes before FHP says the crash was reported at 6:37 a.m.

Stanley says he did not notice a vehicle along I-595 Westbound that may have belonged to Haskins.

“I did not see any vehicle nearby,” said Stanley. “I was more concerned with him because he was already making his way onto the road system.”

NBC 6 Reporter Ryan Nelson asked Stanley if there were any conclusions he could draw about what the person he believes to be Haskins was attempting to do along I-595.

“I could not,” said Stanley. “That’s why it’s just very disturbing. I just didn’t understand the situation.”

Haskins was in South Florida and had been working out with some of his teammates.

On Saturday night, Steelers star wideout CHASE CLAYPOOL shared a tweet:

“I spent your final moments with you and I can’t help but think about how selfless you were in those moments,” Claypool said. “All you cared about was making sure that everyone around you was okay and I can’t thank you enough for that. You are what I strive to be.”

Also eloquent was WR TERRY McLAURIN.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Terry McLaurin caught passes from Dwayne Haskins when the two were teammates at Ohio State, and then McLaurin and Haskins were both drafted by Washington in 2019. McLaurin shared some reflections on their friendship after Haskins died on Saturday morning.

“Devastated is the only word I can come up with right now,” McLaurin wrote. “Dwayne always had a smile on his face and had a personality that was 1 of 1. We talked the night we both were drafted about how hopeful we were for our futures and how excited we were to be able to play and compete together again. I thank God for the memories we shared and the conversations we had. I’ll miss those so much.”

Although the two were no longer teammates, McLaurin said Haskins, who was 24, was excited about his future in Pittsburgh.

“He was a man trying to become the best version of himself, just like we all are,” McLaurin wrote. “He was excited to continue to compete for his dream and I know as well as those closest to him that his best years on and off the field were ahead of him. He was more than a phenomenal football player, who could spin it like I have never seen to this day. He was a guy who wanted to see the ones around him win and have success. He was a man of God and spoke of his faith quite often. A beloved son, brother, husband, friend and teammate. I’m heartbroken and pray he knew ho much he was loved. How much I loved him. I woulda given anything to see him win. His legacy on this earth will forever be felt because of the way he lived life and the way he impacted everyone he came in contact with. Until we meet again brother. Save a spot for me in that big end zone in the sky where we will celebrate again one day.”

Peter King:

When someone dies so young and so tragically (Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins was killed when struck by a vehicle on a Florida highway Saturday morning), the outpouring of sorrow is going to be emotional. The Haskins death prompted so much more, it seemed. Love from the Steelers teammates he’d known for just a year; love from Washington bosses and players from his time there; and love from his Ohio State family. The tears from Chase Claypool on Twitter were real, as were the feelings from Mike Tomlin, Cam Heyward, Urban Meyer, T.J. Watt and so many others. Collectively, it showed how many people had connected with Haskins the person, not just the quarterback trying to fight his way back into a starting role in the league. You got the feeling that whatever happened to Haskins on the field, he was going to have a rich and fulfilling life off it.

“You are what I strive to be,” Claypool tweeted, as if talking to Haskins.

“A young man that didn’t ever seem to have a bad day,” Ben Roethlisberger wrote on social media, and so many others had similar feelings.

As a player, Haskins had a real chance to make something of his post-Washington career. The first chance in Pittsburgh this year, clearly, is going to Mitchell Trubisky, but he’s not a lock to take the job long-term. So Haskins was part of a group of players, including Trubisky, throwing to Steeler receivers in Florida, working to get better. I was told over the weekend the Steelers were happy with Haskins the player and person, and he certainly was going to get a legitimate chance to play there.

So much went wrong in his 19-month trial in Washington, but when a team like Pittsburgh picks up a player, it’s for one reason: Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert thought he had a legitimate chance to play in the league. When claimed, Haskins was two-and-a-half years removed from the best passing season in Big Ten history—five 400-yard passing games, a record 4,831 passing yards, and 50 TD passes, breaking Drew Brees’ conference record by 11. I believe at some point this year, he’d have pressed Trubisky hard for playing time as the Steelers plotted their post-Roethlisberger future.

“I’ll say it again just like I told you to your face,” Ben Roethlisberger said in his social post. “I still wish I could throw the ball like you!”

It’s impossible to make sense of this. The best tribute to him would be for all who knew him, and even those who didn’t, to take some of his goodness and positivity and make it part of their lives.

BRIAN FLORES ADDS PLAINTIFFS

Two other coaches have added their names to the Brian Flores lawsuit.  Steve Wilks is upset he was fired after one year with the Cardinals, while Ray Horton is miffed about going through a sham interview with the Titans:

As expected, former Dolphins coach Brian Flores has added two plaintiffs to his landmark lawsuit against the NFL.

Former Cardinals coach Steve Wilks and former NFL assistant coach Ray Horton have joined the action, with claims against the NFL generally and allegations against the Cardinals and Titans, respectively.

Wilks alleges that the Cardinals hired him as a “bridge coach” without giving him a meaningful chance to succeed. Wilks points out that he had to operate without a General Manager “during a critical time of the preseason” (Steve Keim had been suspended following a DUI) and Wilks was “stuck with an unready rookie quarterback drafted by [Keim] contrary to Mr. Wilks’ suggestion.” (Wilks says that he wanted to trade up to draft Josh Allen in 2018, not Josh Rosen.)

Wilks also alleges that he was fired after one year, “even though [he was] dealt a difficult hand.” Wilks points out that Keim “had personal responsibility for the team’s performance” and “had engaged in fireable conduct,” but wasn’t terminated. Wilks notes that the Cardinals had to buy out three years of his contract, while Keim had only one year remaining on his deal. The team chose to pay Wilks to not work, and to extend Keim’s contract.

Wilks further alleges that he was replaced by a white coach, Kliff Kingsbury, who “has been given a much longer leash than Mr. Wilks and, to his credit, has succeeded.” Wilks doesn’t point out that the Cardinals have regressed during each of Kingsbury’s three seasons, capped by a 10-2 start in 2021 followed by a dramatic collapse and a one-and-out playoff appearance.

Among his allegations, Wilks contends that Keim was involved in negotiations on a new contract with running back David Johnson, and that “there is evidence of Mr. Keim’s input and participation during his so-called suspension.”

Wilks also alleges that Keim and owner Michael Bidwill were “pissed” that the Cardinals won a late-season game in 2018 against the Packers, given that it may have compromised the team’s ability to secure the first overall pick in the 2019 draft.

Wilks is currently the defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach of the Panthers.

Horton claims that, in 2016, he received a “sham interview” with the Titans. The team hired Mike Mularkey instead, and he later said during a podcast interview that the Titans told him he would be the coach, “before they went through the Rooney Rule.”

“And so I sat there knowing I was the head coach in 2016, as they went through this fake hiring process knowing . . . a lot of the coaches that they were interviewing, knowing how much they prepared to go through those interviews, knowing that everything they could do and they had no chance to go that job,” Mularkey said, via the amended complaint. “And actually, the GM Jon Robinson, he was in an interview with me. He had no idea why he is interviewing me, that I have a job already. I regret it. . . . and I regretted it since then. I am sorry I did that, but it was not the way to do that. Should have been interviewed like everybody else and got hired ’cause of the interview not early on.”

Horton, who most recently worked for Washington in 2019, is not currently employed by any NFL team.

The league surely will have a response to these allegations. Hopefully, it won’t provide a statement that the claims are “without merit” before later saying things that contradict the knee-jerk effort to disclaim liability.

Wilks was paid a head coaches’ salary for three years not to coach.

DALLAS

Former Cowboys running backs coach Gary Brown has passed away.  Todd Archer of ESPN.com:

Gary Brown, who spent seven seasons as the Dallas Cowboys’ running backs coach, died Sunday after being treated for cancer. He was 52.

“Gary Brown had a big heart partnered with a big smile and a big personality. His energy and spirit were infectious,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement. “He lit up every room he walked into and touched the lives of those who knew him in such a positive way. Everyone who knew him, loved him. He meant so much to the players he coached and the coaches he coached with.

“His love for his family, football and life was evident each day. He continued to fight, and he never gave up.”

Brown was with the Cowboys from 2013 to 2019 and had three different running backs reach 1,000 yards, including DeMarco Murray, Darren McFadden and Ezekiel Elliott. Murray (2014) and Elliott (2016, 2018) won NFL rushing titles under Brown’s tutelage.

“Great Father, Husband, Coach, and Mentor. Appreciate you and your family more than anything GB,” Murray tweeted. “Thank you for teaching me the way on the field and in life. Appreciate you Gary Brown.”

Brown most recently served as the running backs coach at Wisconsin during the 2021 season. He was unable to travel with the team to the Las Vegas Bowl in December while undergoing cancer treatment.

DENVER

Comfort is key for the Broncos as they scheme on how to exploit QB RUSSELL WILSON.  Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com:

The Denver Broncos have a new coach, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and, you may have heard, a new quarterback, so installing a new offense is far more than a let’s-just-tweak-it affair.

The Broncos will open their offseason program Monday and while they won’t get down to the real business of 11-on-11 on-field work for a month or so, the creation, and distribution, of the playbook is at the top of the to-do list. And coach Nathaniel Hackett has made it clear, no matter what the Broncos call, quarterback Russell Wilson is going to be a big part of the decision.

“It’s so important to make sure he’s comfortable in everything that he does,” Hackett said at the recent league meetings. “From the cadence to the way that you just call a play is so important because when you go out there and all 80,000 people are screaming at you, you want it to be natural. … We do so much of the same stuff [as Wilson did with the Seattle Seahawks]. It’s just about getting that language to be able to cross over.”

Wilson spent 10 seasons with the Seahawks before his trade to the Broncos in March. An unshakable familiarity with how the team played on the field to how things were done inside the team’s complex was just a part of his day.

He knew his teammates, the team’s staff, everything from the cleats on his feet to the food in the cafeteria. It’s all new now and it’s also all been part of the conversations Wilson has had with Peyton Manning about Manning’s arrival in Denver in 2012.

“Peyton is one of the best minds in the game and one of the best throwers in the game,” Wilson said earlier this offseason. “From going through that experience of being in Indy, a place that he was at for almost 16-plus years, or whatever it was, to come here. … I’ve always known that what I believe about great players, the best in the world and everything else, is that you’ve got to be really, really great at being consistent. But also, you’ve got to be really, really great at adjusting. This is a time to adjust.”

When Manning signed with the Broncos in March 2012, he was healing after missed the previous season due to his fourth neck surgery. While he was quick to cocoon himself inside the Broncos’ complex during those early weeks — going through hours of game video as well as an arduous regimen with the strength and conditioning staff to recover from his surgery — he still had some limitations on the field until the offseason program got underway.

Wilson has had no such physical constraints and has already had extended throwing sessions in California with several teammates. Wilson can work through general concepts that figure to be in the offense, improve timing with the receivers and build a rapport with teammates even if all involved don’t have the terminology Hackett may use for specific plays.

For his part, Hackett has said he will use some of what he saw Matt LaFleur do as the first-year coach with the Green Bay Packers, installing an offense for a proven Pro Bowl quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. Hackett spent three seasons as LaFleur’s offensive coordinator before he was hired by the Broncos.

“I would say a lot of the stuff that Matt and I did when we first got there, has been a lot like that,” Hackett said. “It’s kind of that whole process of evaluation of what I want to do as a coach compared to what the quarterback wants. It’s the same thing we did with Aaron. There were a lot of great meetings that we had between the three of us on what’s the right thing to do, what’s better for us, and what’s better for him. I think going through that process with a veteran quarterback and Matt and watching that whole thing happen was awesome.”

BALTIMORE

The Ravens have re-signed DE CALAIS CAMPBELL.  Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com:

Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell is returning to the Baltimore Ravens on a two-year deal, the team announced Saturday.

Campbell’s contract is worth $12.5 million but could be as much as $16.5 million with incentives, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Campbell, 35, decided to return for his 15th NFL season after briefly contemplating retirement, saying he still has a desire to play after watching the Los Angeles Rams celebrate their championship. He now will get to finish his career in Baltimore after spending the past two seasons there and will try to get that elusive Super Bowl ring.

Over the past two days, the Ravens addressed two areas of need while bolstering their leadership on defense, bringing back middle linebacker Josh Bynes on Friday and then keeping Campbell on Saturday.

A six-time Pro Bowler, Campbell has long been known for his ability to get to the quarterback. But he was more of a run-stopper than a pass-rush force in his two seasons with Baltimore, where he managed 4.5 sacks, including 1.5 last season.

Durability has been a problem for Campbell with the Ravens. After his streak of 98 straight starts ended, Campbell missed six of his past 25 games with Baltimore.

He is one of four NFL defenders since 2000 to record at least 700 tackles and 85 sacks. Among all active players, his 93.5 career sacks rank 10th and his 773 career tackles are 12th.

Campbell is still in search of that first Super Bowl championship after six trips to the playoffs. He played nine seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, who selected him in the second round of the 2008 draft, and three with the Jacksonville Jaguars before being traded to the Ravens in March 2020 for a fifth-round pick.

TENNESSEE

Former Titans coach Mike Mularkey had this to say about his 2016 hiring.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Former Titans head coach Mike Mularkey admitted that when he was hired in 2016, the team delayed an official announcement of his hiring solely so they could conduct interviews with minority coaches to satisfy the Rooney Rule.

In a 2020 podcast interview that got little attention at the time but has now come up in Ray Horton’s lawsuit, Mularkey confessed that he has always regretted agreeing to go along with the Titans’ sham.

 “I allowed myself, at one point, when I was in Tennessee, to get caught up in something that I regret,” Mularkey said on the Steelers Realm Podcast. “I still regret it. The ownership there, Amy Adams Strunk and her family, came in and told me I was going to be the head coach in 2016 before they went through the Rooney Rule. And so I sat there knowing I was the head coach in ’16, as they went through this fake hiring process knowing a lot of the coaches that they were interviewing, knowing how much they prepared to go through those interviews, knowing that everything they could do and they had no chance to go that job. And actually, the GM Jon Robinson, he was in an interview with me. He had no idea why he is interviewing me, that I have a job already. I regret it. . . . and I’ve regretted that since then. It was the wrong thing to do and I’m sorry I did that, but it was not the way to do that. Should have been interviewed like everybody else and got hired because of the interview, not early on. So that’s probably my biggest regret. . . . It’s not hard to do the right thing. It’s really not. But you can get caught up in this business.”

Horton, who is Black, was interviewed after Mularkey had already been told he was getting the job, and Horton has now joined the lawsuit filed by Brian Flores accusing the NFL and its teams of racial discrimination in hiring.

The audio of Mularkey describing what went down in Tennessee is incredibly damning to the Titans and to the NFL.

Teams are apparently now required to NOT have an in-house succession plan (unless as the Buccaneers twice did when they promoted Black coaches Raheem Morris and Todd Bowles).

MIAMI

Mike Florio on what the Dolphins were up to with QB TOM BRADY and Sean Payton (which sounds a lot like tampering):

Buccaneers and Dolphins fans have something in common. They both hate the ongoing reports regarding the fact that Tom Brady would have been Miami bound, but for the Brian Flores lawsuit.

We’ve posted several items on the topic. Starting with the news that the Dolphins were planning a Tom Brady/Sean Payton package deal. We added more details this week, including the plan to make Brady a minority owner before he would have unretired to play for the team.

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe has reported on another interesting wrinkle in this saga. Via Volin, Brady would have gotten a “position high in the Miami front office,” similar to the job Derek Jeter previously held with the Miami Marlins.

The Flores lawsuit, filed the same day Brady announced his retirement, stopped that from happening. All of it. No Payton. No Brady, at least not in 2022.

It would be interesting to know whether Flores timed his filing to blow up the Brady-Miami boondoggle. Many think that Flores decided to pull the pin on his civil complaint as a reaction to the accidental text he received from Patriots coach Bill Belichick congratulating the wrong Brian for landing the Giants’ head-coaching job. Maybe Flores sued when he did to stick it to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, keeping him from getting the outcome he coveted. (The Patriots also benefited from this move, since it kept Brady out of the division. When he became a free agent in 2020, some with the Patriots were convinced he’d end up in Miami.)

Whatever the reasons or motivations, the Flores lawsuit kept Brady from becoming a part owner, and apparently a key executive, in Miami. The plan would have become more delicate after that. There’s confidence in some circles that the Saints would have cut a deal to trade Payton’s coaching rights to the Dolphins, and that the Bucs eventually would have cut a deal to trade Brady’s playing rights to Miami.

Regardless, nothing was stopping Brady going to Miami as a minority owner and/or executive. Except the landmark lawsuit filed by Brian Flores.

Look at it this way. If Brady was simply going to Miami to be an executive, why did the Flores lawsuit keep it from happening? Because that wasn’t the ending point, only the beginning, for Brady’s broader business dealings in Miami.

NEW ENGLAND

Peter King, who apparently couldn’t get Bill Belichick on the phone, notes the 70^thbirthday of the Patriots coach with help from Coach K.

Bill Belichick turns 70 on Saturday, with no end in sight to his transcendent coaching tenure in New England. It’s so hard today to figure out how big a deal that is, because modern life has changed what age means.

Most of the greatest coaches of all time, in all sports, have been gone long before 70. Red Auerbach coached his last Celtics game at 48, shocking as that might seem. Curly Lambeau was done at 55, Chuck Noll at 59, Tom Landry at 64, John Wooden at 64, Don Shula at 65, Scotty Bowman at 68. I don’t know what to make of Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, who seemed to be figureheads more than coaches as they held head-coach titles past age 80.

Belichick’s no figurehead. He’s the head coach, GM, controller of the coaching staff, prime culture-builder of a six-time Super Bowl champion, orchestrating the construction of a post-Brady franchise. If only there was a comparable person, someone in today’s player-power sports scene, who could understand what Belichick will face now, in his 48th year of coaching in the NFL, in his 28th year as a head coach.

There is.

“I can’t get into his head,” Mike Krzyzewski said from North Carolina the other day. “But watching him, it’s incredibly interesting. When somebody says, ‘You’ve been doing this the same way—it’s the same job,’ no, it’s not the same job. I’m adapting; it’s exciting. Like, I’m 75. That happened with USA Basketball later in my life, and I wanted to use what I learned. That’s what I see in Bill from afar. I really admire him and like him. Because really it’s not about him, it’s about them [the players]. There’s nobody who’s built a better culture in pro sports than him. Right?”

“Quite a statement,” I said. “You built a pretty good culture yourself.”

“Yeah,” Krzyzewski said, quietly scoffing. “But that’s collegiate. Pro football’s a big business, man. There can be a lot of selfishness. He’s been able to manage all that. Culture should not be assumed. It needs Miracle-Gro every year, and he’s been able to keep that culture going. There’s a Patriot Way. I totally admire that.”

The Lead: Coach K

One NFL coach among the 15 winningest ever has coached a game past the age of 70. That’s Chicago’s George Halas, who retired at 72. He was a pedestrian 21-18-3 in his seventies, never making the postseason.

Halas looked 80 when he retired. Belichick looks 55 today. He once said you wouldn’t catch him coaching in his seventies like Marv Levy, but in this age-is-just-a-number world today, grandiose statements like that look almost naïve in retrospect. If a man can be president at 79, a man should be able to coach a football game against the Jets at 70.

Belichick loves football history, and his collection of books about football, now on loan to the U.S. Naval Academy, is the biggest in the world. With 321 NFL victories (including postseason games), he needs four wins to pass Halas for second place all-time and 27 to eclipse Don Shula’s NFL record of 347 wins. I’ve not heard anyone say he’s still in coaching to pass Shula. It would certainly be a point of pride for him, but I’m sure he doesn’t think when he wakes up in the morning, “One day closer to being the winningest coach ever.”

Krzyzewski, who coached his last game two weeks ago, won 139 games in his seventies. Part of the reason, he said, was because he expanded authority for his coaching staff. This year, for instance, he gave recruiting authority almost entirely to the coach who would replace him, Jon Scheyer. That kept Krzyzewski fresh and allowed him more time to prepare for games than in any season he remembered.

 “As I got older,” Krzyzewski said, “I allowed more input of expression of teaching from my staff, from the people around me. I was able to see and feel their hunger. I allowed them more opportunity but the person who got more was me. Because I got more of them. … Their ownership of what you’re doing is deepened. The best way to get ownership is to use someone’s ideas or give them the ability, the responsibility. Like in talking to my team and how you, before a game, set up a scout. As I got older, I allowed more and more, more and more. I learned more. It’s a different music, a little bit different music that occurs.

“I’ve always felt Bill had a curiosity about the game. It wasn’t what he already knew. It was what he was still going to learn and how he was going to use what he knew in the ever-changing environment that he’s in. He’s very adaptive. He’s probably learned to use the talents of the people around him even better. Like, the former Detroit Lions head coach …”

Matt Patricia?

“Yeah. And how he’s using him. It’s different than his past, right?”

Likely yes. Belichick will probably deploy two recently fired head coaches—Patricia and Joe Judge—to have major offensive coaching roles. Belichick’s theory is, if you’re a good coach, you should be able to coach anything. We’ll see if he’s right; the future of second-year quarterback Mac Jones hangs in the balance. The Patriots are 17-17 post-Brady, and in a division with two formidable teams, Buffalo and Miami, Belichick’s future success will depend on the jobs coaches in new positions can do, and how good Jones can be over the long haul.

Krzyzewski sounded certain the freshness could be good for the staff and good for the team—but the brain drain on the coaching staff is a major question mark for the Patriots. I have my doubts the offensive shuffle will work three years after Brady and one year after departed offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, but that’s why they play the games.

Belichick will coach mostly against men at least a generation younger than he is—average age of the three other AFC East coaches: 43—and the age gap didn’t faze Krzyzewski as he got into his seventies. “I never had to beat them,” Krzyzewski said. “I had to beat their teams. I had 18- to 23-year-olds trying to beat their 20- to 24-year-olds. I’m not saying I’m better. But I’ve never lost my edge in competition. I anally prepare. I never felt age in coaching. Ever. Ever. The other thing is, by being with these guys, you stay young. You gotta be able to relate to them. I’m proud of the fact that in five different decades, we made the Final Four.

“Bill trusts his work. He’s doing what he loves to do. He doesn’t get out of character. I’m here. I’m working. I’m prepared. I never get out of character. I love that about him.”

One other challenge for Belichick, of course, is proving he can win consistently without Brady. In 18 of his 27 coaching seasons, Brady was his partner in greatness, and New England got to nine Super Bowls. In nine non-Brady seasons, Belichick teams have gone 73-79, including just one playoff win. (That includes a 3-1 mark in Brady’s four-game suspension to start 2016.) He certainly knows that. So the challenge for him is not just maintaining his edge in his seventies, it’s rebuilding a franchise to compete against one premier rival (Buffalo), one rising one (Miami) and one total question mark (the Jets).

I asked a man who worked with Belichick every day for 18 of the last 21 years what he expects of Belichick’s future coaching life.

“If he’s there 10 years from now, it wouldn’t surprise me to see that,” said McDaniels, who left this year to take the Raiders head-coaching job.

“He still attacks the job the same now that I saw him attack it when I first started in 2001. Doesn’t matter what part of the year it is. The big thing that Bill has going for him and has always done is he loves all the facets of the football season, whether it’s scouting, preparation for a game, roster evaluation, team-building, developmental parts of the year for the young players. All of those things get weighted the same for him,” McDaniels said.

Of the storylines on the horizon in the NFL, Belichick in the twilight is an underrated one. It starts Saturday, on his 70th birthday.

THIS AND THAT

USFL FIRST DOWN DETERMINATIONS

The USFL has done away with chains – at least as a measuring device for first downs.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com is skeptical:

When it’s time to measure for a first down in the USFL, the officials will call for a high-tech solution in place of the decidedly low-tech 10-yard chains that have been used in football for a century.

The USFL played a preseason game on Friday night that included the debut of its new first down measuring system, which combines a chip in every football and the yellow first-down line that fans are accustomed to seeing on TV. Video of its use during the preseason game was accompanied by a claim from the USFL that the upstart league has “First down measurements that are more accurate than ever.”

That, however, may not be accurate. Although it undeniably looks cool on TV to see an image of the football and an image of the line to gain — reminiscent of the way replay is used in tennis — the reality is that this kind of ball tracking technology isn’t precise enough to guarantee that first down calls will be correct.

The NFL already has a chip in every football, but it uses those chips only for its Next Gen Stats tracking data, and not for officiating. That’s because the chips in the middle of every ball just aren’t accurate enough to locate where a football is to the inch. The data works fine as a good approximation of where the ball is, give or take the length of one football. But it doesn’t tell you whether a third down play just barely picked up the first down, or whether the offense should be facing fourth-and-inches.

Replay technology works so well in tennis because tennis is a sport fundamentally conducive to it: The smaller size of the ball, the spherical shape of the ball, and the ability to always have camera angles with unobstructed views of the ball and the lines on the court make tennis well suited to its replay system. Football just doesn’t work that way. It’s not always possible to tell precisely where the ball was when the ball carrier’s knee touched the ground, especially when huge men are surrounding the ball carrier and blocking any view of his knee or the ball.

So TV viewers will probably enjoy watching the USFL’s solution to first downs, but no one should expect the actual spotting of the ball to be any more accurate than it is in the NFL.

Are we talking about two different things here?

Where we think it should work okay is the determination if 10 yards has been gained if that is only used to measure the distance after a human being has made an imperfect “spot”.

Such as “The technology measured the spot after third down put the ball 10 yards and five inches forward from the initial spot on first down.  Team A has achieved a first down.”

The current chain system actually probably does a pretty good job of this, although the initial first down spot of the chain is a guess.  Rodger Sherman of The Ringer did a pretty good job of explaining the system back in 2017.

They (the chain gang members) fill the same role every game. There are two “rod men,” who hold the big orange poles 10 yards apart, one at the original line of scrimmage and one at the first down marker. (You need one at each end because when there is a turnover or punt, the crew reverses direction instead of changing places.) There is a “box man,” who holds the Dial-a-Down, which indicates the number of the down and marks off the line of scrimmage. (Really? “Rod man” and “box man?”) There is also an auxiliary crew that works the opposite sideline — their markings are unofficial, which is why the chains from the same sideline always get called in to make rulings, even if the spot in question is closer to the other side of the field. You can identify all of these roles from watching at home, as everyone is holding very large implements.

But I don’t think the average fan has any idea about the clip, the small item that makes the whole crew function. When the chains are brought out onto the field, the crew is not just trying to approximate the location they had on the sideline; they use the clip as their guide. When the crew resets for a new first down, the clip is placed on the chain at the point where it intersects with the closest 5-yard stripe to the original line of scrimmage — specifically, on the back side of the stripe, which is several inches thick. When the chain is moved onto the field — or, if the chain members have to drop their poles to avoid contact with a player, or if the chain moves for a first down that is later overturned — the crew uses the clip as a frame of reference to ensure the chains are placed in the exact same spot they were before. This allows the chains to always remain consistent.

But “consistent” does not mean “accurate.” The entire placement of the chains depends on an estimation — when a first down happens, the crew quickly estimates the spot for the next first down based off of where officials spot the football on the field. And of course, the very spot of the football is an estimation — a split-second judgment call made by an official’s guess of where a ball was when a player’s forward progress was stopped. To expect that officials accurately make this determination to within an inch, or even a foot, would be absurd.

The purpose of the chain gang is not to provide perfection. The reason the chain gang is still in use is because it has two jobs and does both of them well.

Its first job is to let the two teams on the field know where the line to gain is and never deviate from that initial judgment. The clip ensures this is the case. It doesn’t matter that the initial spot of the chain gang might be iffy; once the chains are down, the offense knows where it needs to get to.

The second is superficial. Whenever people propose solutions to the chain gang — perhaps, often better solutions, ones that are less clunky, require fewer people to operate, make faster decisions, and are more accurate — somebody says “yeah, but … people like the chain gang.” In a Los Angeles Times article from 1970 about the Dicker-rod that was sleuthed out by Paul Lukas of Uni Watch, the commissioner of a local Division II conference asked, “What happens when the public misses the drama of the chain gang measurement?” In 2008, Giants owner John Mara told The New York Times that while the chain crew was “subject to human error … there’s a certain amount of drama that is involved with the chains.”

Watching Steratore bust out the index card, you can see how the dramatic ritual succeeds. “Look at this … look at this!”, Al Michaels exclaims, more excited than he has been about any football play in decades. The officials frantically clear players away from the TV cameras, so that the shot can be perfect — something Pereira said they are instructed to do in The New York Times article. When Steratore makes his ruling, he has a notable grin.

But as Cork Gaines of Business Insider and Ben Austro of officiating blog Football Zebras noted, there is a trick officials use to basically eliminate the need for chains — one that Steratore likely used before taking the index card out of his pocket. On first downs, officials can spot the ball not where the last play ended, but on top of a yard marker. This way, the line to gain for the next first down will also be on top of a yard marker, and officials can determine the next first down spot by seeing whether the ball’s tip crosses the yard line in question. The trick gives or takes up to a half-yard from teams, but the spot of the ball is an estimation anyway, and the team still has to go exactly 10 yards from the approximate spot. On the Raiders-Cowboys play, the initial line of scrimmage was the 30, meaning Steratore knew the Cowboys had a first down when the ball’s tip passed the plane of the 40-yard line. But the drama was excellent.

Lasers haven’t been tested yet, and chips in footballs don’t provide down-to-the-inch data, but I suspect there is a more precise way to demarcate the line to gain than using a chain gang. Except, sometimes, trying to be too precise can lead to more problems — just look at the catch rule. And besides, the process starts with an official’s educated guess at a spot. Adding any precision to the chain gang’s operation without coming up with a perfect method of spotting footballs would be a half-measure.

As the DB understands it, the ability to get a “clean start” right on a yard line only applies to the initial first down of a series, usually after a punt.  Sequential first downs do not start right on the line.

But, back to what Michael David Smith is complaining about, the spotting of the ball prior to the measurement.  That is dependent on timing with a whistle as a knee hits the ground and a player fall forward.  A spotting that is often made from many yards away to an action occurring in real time.  And this new technology cannot achieve anything better – or at least it can’t within a reasonable period of time.

2022 DRAFT

Here is what Peter King hears about the draft:

At first glance, you don’t know what to make of the fact that one-third of the top-50 picks have been traded this far before the draft. But consider this factoid about 17 days before the draft: 17 picks have been traded so far this year, and 17 picks had been dealt by this point in 2020 and ’21 combined. Three reasons I see more to come:

1) As mentioned above, the GMs in the heart of the first round, picks 7 through 22, are aggressive and unafraid of big moves. Joe Schoen of the Giants (7), Seattle’s John Schneider (9), Houston’s Nick Caserio (13), Baltimore’s Eric DeCosta (14), Philly’s Howie Roseman (15, 18), New Orleans’ Mickey Loomis (16, 19), L.A.’s Tom Telesco (17) and Green Bay’s Brian Gutekunst (22) have the picks and motivation to move.

2) Look at the aggressive teams without choices in the top 35, including three (Vegas, Rams, Dolphins) without a pick in the top 85. “That’s why I think you see teams with needs trading next year’s ones and twos to move up this year,” one GM told me Sunday.

3) I’ve heard this from a couple of draft rooms: Because of wide variety of opinions on board-stacking throughout the league, some team drafting in the fifties could see its 12th-rated player still alive at 30 and be motivated to jump up there. “We could sit where we are right now and get three of the top 20 or 25 on our board,” Loomis of the Saints told me. With the 16th, 19th and 49th picks, Loomis is counting on the disparity of draft boards around the league to drop a player the Saints grade in their top 20 or so into their laps at 49.

When a team trades five picks for a 28-year-old receiver (albeit an explosive one) as Miami did for Tyreek Hill, you know we’re in a different time in the NFL. If there’s a player you love, go get him. I see a lot of deals happening between now and the end of the third round of this draft.

“It’s going to be a wild first round,” one agent predicted Sunday. “A lot of teams think Friday night, rounds two and three, is the sweet spot of this draft, so you’re going to see teams in the middle of the first motivated to deal down.”

Finally: Different teams have different motivations. I believe Schoen of the Giants, for instance, wants to come out of this draft with an extra first-round pick next year, even if it costs him this year’s seventh overall pick. So maybe he makes a deal for slightly less than the market rate, just to be in a pole position to take a quarterback if he needs to in 2023. Philadelphia, too, recalibrated with its trade of two first-rounders this year to the Saints. Makes good sense too—the Eagles are left with three picks in the first two rounds of the next three drafts, including extra first-rounders in ’22 and ’23. No team is set up better in the near future with draft capital than the Eagles.

QB Desperation

Truest words of the week, from draft maven Greg Cosell of NFL Films: “You can make the argument that every year there are two drafts: the quarterback draft, and the draft for the rest of the players. This year’s no different. It would not surprise me if we saw five quarterbacks go in the first round.”

One GM told me he sees three in the top 20, though there appear to be no sure things among the passers set to be taken. Those three are likely Kenny Pickett of Pitt, Malik Willis of Liberty and Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder. I’ve heard very good things about Ridder’s exchanges with teams over the past month, but each QB has his critics. Has Pickett hit his ceiling already? Can Willis develop the pocket presence teams want to see? Ridder has run NFL style concepts at Cincinnati, but he misses throws he should make and isn’t strong throwing on the run.

One of the issues is when a team picks a quarterback in the first round, there are expectations he’ll play as a rookie. Play some, at least. What if, say, a Willis would be best served with a redshirt year? Will his team feel fan, media and owner pressure to play him before his time? That’s an inescapable issue when a guy drafted to be the future at the most important position in the game comes onto the scene. Sometimes, pressure foils the best-laid plans.

Chris Simms, the QB maven for NBC Sports, likes Ole Miss’ Matt Corral as his QB1, for his quick release, strong arm and quick feet. But Simms predicts only two in the first round: Pickett and Willis. He thinks Detroit should take Corral late in the first or early second (the Lions have the 32nd and 34th overall picks, last in the first round and second in the second round). “Corral really excites me,” Simms said. “He’s got the quickest release I’ve seen in a while.”

– – –

Chad Reuter of NFL.com has submitted a four-round Mock Draft.  He has sees lots of value for first round QBs, but surprisingly the Panthers pass at number 6.  Here is Round 1:

Sean Payton might no longer coach the Saints, but GM Mickey Loomis and new coach Dennis Allen continue to make aggressive moves with the team’s draft picks. They pulled off the first big picks-only trade in this year’s cycle, sending first- (18th overall), third- (101) and seventh-rounders (237) in 2022, as well as a 2023 first-round pick and 2024 second-rounder to Philadelphia for two of the Eagles’ three first-round picks (Nos. 16, 19) this year, as well as a sixth-rounder (194).

While the trade appears somewhat lop-sided in a vacuum, New Orleans might be banking on recouping some or all of that lost value via compensation from another franchise interested down the line in hiring Payton, who is still under contract with the Saints.

This mock draft rolls with the idea the Saints are packaging their newly acquired first-rounders to move into the top five for a future signal-caller. They could wait for a quarterback to fall to them at No. 16 or trade into a lower spot in the top 10 for the apple of their eye, but that approach invites competition from other teams looking at those same prospects.

Interestingly, the last time a “two-for-one” trade of current-year first-round selections happened was 2003, when the Jets and Saints both pulled off the feat to move up to No. 4 (Dewayne Robertson) and No. 6 (Johnathan Sullivan), respectively.

This mock follows the script from 19 years ago, with another team joining the Saints in sending its two first-rounders to climb up the draft board.

1  Jacksonville Jaguars

Aidan Hutchinson     Michigan · Edge · Senior

The Jaguars have a tough choice in front of them, but for now, I’ll stick with the athletic, determined Hutchinson over fellow pass rushers Travon Walker and Kayvon Thibodeaux, as well as offensive lineman Ickey Ekwonu.

2  Detroit Lions

Malik Willis     Liberty · QB · Senior (RS)

Detroit could take Travon Walker or Kayvon Thibodeaux with this pick, but Willis is the player who would make the biggest impact on the future of the franchise. His playmaking ability and personality will allow him to lead the Lions to a playoff win during his career, something missing from their résumé for the past 30 years.

3  Houston Texans

Ickey Ekwonu     N.C. State · OT · Junior

Ickey will be a dominant guard or could step in at right tackle this year with a potential move to the left side when Laremy Tunsil is no longer in Houston.

4  Seattle Seahawks (PROJECTED TRADE WITH NY JETS)

Matt Corral     Mississippi · QB · Junior (RS)

The Seahawks trade ahead of Carolina and New Orleans, giving up their 2023 first-round pick and a 2022 fifth-rounder for one of the Jets’ two fourth-rounders (No. 111). Corral’s toughness and quick release might be more enticing to NFL teams than they are to those who cover the league.

5  New Orleans Saints (PROJECTED TRADE WITH NY GIANTS)

Kenny Pickett     Pittsburgh · QB · Senior

The Saints move up to take whichever of the top three passers are available in a deal similar to the one San Francisco made last year to select Trey Lance at No. 3 overall. Pickett’s experience, athleticism and accuracy from the pocket should allow him to have at least a Derek Carr-level NFL career. Veteran passer Andy Dalton, the team’s current QB2, gets bitten again, just one year after signing with the Bears to be their starter only to see them trade up for Justin Fields one month later.

6  Carolina Panthers

Evan Neal     Alabama · OT · Junior

If the Panthers don’t jump to Houston’s pick (No. 3), then a trade for veteran Jimmy Garoppolo or Baker Mayfield seems likely (which might have been the team’s plan all along). Neal’s huge frame bolsters Carolina’s left tackle spot for whomever takes over QB1 duties.

7  New York Giants (from Chicago)

Kayvon Thibodeaux     Oregon · Edge · Junior

Imagine Thibodeaux’s strength and bend coming off the same side of the line as Leonard Williams or crashing inside on a twist with Dexter Lawrence. … Offensive linemen won’t know what to do.

8  Atlanta Falcons

Travon Walker    Georgia · Edge · Junior

It will be interesting to see if Atlanta goes with a receiver or Walker in this situation, as the team’s depth chart is severely lacking at both positions. Walker’s strength, length and inside-out versatility might win out, though, with the Falcons more likely to find good value at receiver in the second round.

9  New York Jets (from Denver) PROJECTED TRADE WITH SEATTLE

Sauce Gardner     Cincinnati · CB · Junior

Gardner’s tape was very good (even though he wasn’t tested often because of his talent) and his combine workout sealed the top-10 deal. The Jets need playmakers in the secondary, so his length and tenacity should be coveted.

10 Philadelphia Eagles (from Seattle) PROJECTED TRADE WITH NY JETS

Jordan Davis     Georgia · DT · Senior

The Eagles had one of the worst run defenses in the NFL last year. Davis immediately rectifies that issue with his block-out-the-sun build. GM Howie Roseman continues his wheeling-and-dealing ways, giving up third- and fifth-round picks to move up five spots for Davis.

11  Washington Commanders

Garrett Wilson     Ohio State · WR · Junior

Whether it’s the lean, speedy Wilson or the tall, agile Drake London, Commanders lead receiver Terry McLaurin applauds the addition of anyone who can free him up downfield. Don’t think he’d mind having another former Buckeye as a running mate.

12  Pittsburgh Steelers  PROJECTED TRADE WITH MINNESOTA

Desmond Ridder     Cincinnati · QB · Senior (RS)

GM Kevin Colbert was willing to give up second- and third-round picks to move up 10 spots to No. 10 overall for linebacker Devin Bush in 2019. So it’s not a stretch to think he would give up a future first- and third-rounder (equivalent value to those aforementioned current-year selections) for a quarterback with maturity, poise and striding open-field speed like Ridder.

13  Houston Texans (from Cleveland)

Jermaine Johnson II     Florida State · Edge · Senior (RS)

Getting offensive line help with the third overall pick means new coach Lovie Smith can find a pass rusher here. Johnson’s transfer from Georgia to Florida State last summer helped him showcase his power and hustle on the edge.

14  Kansas City Chiefs PROJECTED TRADE WITH BALTIMORE

Jameson Williams    Alabama · WR · Junior

The Chiefs package the 29th and 30th overall selections and send them to the Ravens for the right to draft Williams. (They also receive one of Baltimore’s five fourth-rounders in the trade.) The Alabama receiver would likely have been a top-10 pick if healthy and, when back at 100 percent, will be a terror catching passes from Patrick Mahomes.

15  New York Jets (from Miami) PROJECTED TRADE WITH PHILADELPHIA

Drake London     USC · WR · Junior

London’s combination of size and agility makes him a bargain at this spot. The Jets would likely take him if they stayed at No. 10, as his tools complement Braxton Berrios and Elijah Moore quite well.

16  NY Giants (from IND through PHI) PROJECTED TRADE WITH NEW ORLEANS

Derek Stingley Jr.     LSU · CB · Junior

With the first of the two mid-first-round picks gained in the Saints trade (sending their fourth-round pick back to New Orleans to equalize value), the Giants land an excellent corner in Stingley — if he’s able to return to his 2019 form. This assumes James Bradberry will be dealt before or during the draft.

17  Los Angeles Chargers

Trevor Penning     Northern Iowa · OT · Senior (RS)

The Chargers need to shore up the right side of the offensive line. Even if they think Trey Pipkins or Storm Norton can be the answer at right tackle, Penning’s athleticism and nasty streak could make him a very good right guard (where he played about 100 snaps at Northern Iowa in his career). Or he could play right tackle if given the chance to compete for that role. Another possibility would be picking Zion Johnson and plugging him in at guard.

18  Philadelphia Eagles (from New Orleans)

Kyle Hamilton     Notre Dame · S · Junior

The Eagles take advantage of teams’ “positional value” knock on safeties, much like the Chargers did when landing Derwin James at No. 17 overall four years ago. Hamilton’s athleticism is not as impressive as James’, but his intelligence and big range in the back half will make him an excellent addition to Philadelphia’s secondary.

19 New York Giants (from PHI) PROJECTED TRADE WITH NEW ORLEANS

Charles Cross

Mississippi State · OT · Sophomore (RS)

Draft analysts are split on Cross: Some believe he is a top-10 pick while others think he would be a better value in the lower-third of the round. I think he’ll fall somewhere in the middle. In this scenario, the Giants nab him and install him on the right side of the line to start his career.

20  Minnesota Vikings PROJECTED TRADE WITH PITTSBURGH

Devin Lloyd     Utah · LB · Senior (RS)

If the Vikings stayed at No. 12, they’d probably still take Lloyd because he fits a strong need inside as they transition to a 3-4 system. He can do a bit of everything, even though he doesn’t test off the charts athletically.

21  Green Bay Packers PROJECTED TRADE WITH NEW ENGLAND

George Karlaftis    Purdue · Edge · Junior

There will be many suitors for the Patriots’ pick, and the Packers understand they can’t just sit back at No. 22 and wait for the top players on their board to fall into their laps. Whether they pick a receiver at No. 21 or a strong edge rusher like Karlaftis, moving into this spot prevents others from jumping ahead of them.

22  Green Bay Packers (from Las Vegas)

Chris Olave    Ohio State · WR · Senior

Trading Davante Adams and failing to re-sign Marquez Valdes-Scantling means there’s a big hole on the Packers’ roster. Olave’s smooth speed fills part of that need, as will any acquired veteran free agents, pass-catchers selected later in this draft and, as I’m sure Green Bay hopes, last year’s third-rounder, Amari Rodgers.

23  Arizona Cardinals

Treylon Burks     Arkansas · WR · Junior

Adding Burks to a receiver room that already includes DeAndre Hopkins and Rondale Moore makes the Cardinals much more dangerous over the next couple of seasons.

24  Dallas Cowboys

Zion Johnson    Boston College · IOL · Senior

Johnson’s a nice fit as a strong left guard for Dallas, possessing the versatility to play tackle or center in a pinch.

25  Buffalo Bills

Trent McDuffie     Washington · CB · Junior

McDuffie is not the tallest (5-foot-10 3/4 at the combine) or longest (29 3/4-inch arms) corner in the draft. In fact, no corner with that lack of length has been drafted in the first round the past 20 years. Teams should upend that trend, though, and pick him in the top 25 because of his strong play in coverage and against the run.

26  Tennessee Titans

Sam Howell     North Carolina · QB · Junior

Forget the comparisons to Baker Mayfield and Mitch Trubisky — they’re not representative of Howell’s ability. Tennessee could be the next team to select a quarterback with a veteran already in place (Patrick Mahomes/Alex Smith in Kansas City; Jordan Love/Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay; Trey Lance/Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco), as Ryan Tannehill’s up-and-down 2021 performance might very well still be weighing on their minds.

27  New York Jets PROJECTED TRADE WITH TAMPA BAY

Nakobe Dean     Georgia · LB · Junior

The Jets’ extra draft capital allows them to move back into the first round to find their defensive leader in Dean. New York gives up second-, fourth- and fifth-round picks in this trade, which the Buccaneers happily accept knowing they can get similar cornerback or edge rusher value with the 35th overall selection.

28  New England Patriots  PROJECTED TRADE WITH GREEN BAY

Jalen Pitre     Baylor · S · Senior (RS)

The deal with Miami for receiver DeVante Parker makes it even more likely the Pats trade out of their scheduled pick. Bill Belichick will gladly accept a third- and fourth-round pick from Green Bay to move down seven spots. New England could select Daxton Hill at this spot but Belichick might appreciate Pitre’s strength against the run and ability as a blitzer, as well as his movement in coverage.

29  Baltimore Ravens (from SF thru MIA)  PROJECTED TRADE WITH KANSAS CITY

Tyler Linderbaum     Iowa · C · Junior (RS

Baltimore needs a new center after letting Bradley Bozeman walk, and Linderbaum’s a much better value here than at No. 14. The team hit a home run with Iowa lineman Marshal Yanda years ago, so picking up this Hawkeye seems like a natural fit.

30  Baltimore Ravens PROJECTED TRADE WITH KANSAS CITY

Andrew Booth      Clemson · CB · Junior

Booth’s a top-20 talent who is still available because of injuries. The Ravens simply need more bodies at cornerback, so they take a shot on his athleticism and nasty attitude outside.

31  Cincinnati Bengals

Devonte Wyatt    Georgia · DT · Senior

Wyatt could go much higher come April 28, but in this scenario, the Bengals would pinch themselves if a stud three-technique was available to take over for free agent Larry Ogunjobi.

32  Detroit Lions (from LA Rams)

Drake Jackson     USC · Edge · Senior

Head coach Dan Campbell spoke at the NFL Scouting Combine about the Lions’ defense becoming more multiple in its fronts next year. Jackson can rush the passer and play the run both with his hand down or in a two-point stance, giving him the versatility required for such a scheme change.