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1) If the early reports out of camp are to be believed, then Josh McCown could be in for a career year. The journeyman quarterback that played his best football in his 11th pro season under QB guru Marc Trestman for the Chicago Bears, has already established himself as a leader with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now he has a teammate comparing him to Drew Brees.
I'll be rooting for McCown just about every week of the 2014 season.
2) One of the best offensive lines in the NFL will take a hit as starting right tackle Lane Johnson got popped for taking PEDs and will miss the first four games of the season.
I'm sure we'll see the same lame-ass excuse trotted out about not knowing what was in his over the counter vitamins. When will these players ever learn?
3) The NFL has finally banned the use of the non-standard facemasks. When the facemasks first debuted, I did think they looked neat, but I didn't see the point. Then the more I thought about them, I was surprised no one got a finger caught in the smaller spaces between the bars. Usually I'm all over criticizing the No Fun League for things like this, but this is all about safety.
A study conducted by the University of New Hampshire for the NFL states that the added weight of the masks negatively affects the structure of the helmet, can cause neck fatigue that could lead to a more head-down posture during contact and can provide a false sense of security during tackling.
The whole thing kind of reminds me of the Opti-Grab.
4) Johnny Manziel parties with Justin Beiber.
I think this one will get even the staunchest Manziel supporters to think twice.
5) New Jacksonville Jaguars running back Toby Gerhart has been getting a lot of press this off season as a player with break out potential, and I tend to agree. He's a big powerful runner that is relatively fresh for a 27 year old with four years of service in the NFL. He will be receiving plenty of touches in the Jags offensive attack.
6) Did you know that the Minnesota Vikings have had 44 players arrested since 2000? The Cincinnati Bengals are hot on their heels with 41, and in third place the Denver Broncos with 27. The fewest is 9 from both the St. Louis Rams and the Houston Texans. The Chicago Bears checked in 12th with 25.
7) Speaking of arrests, the Dallas police department was quick to announce that they arrested Denver's Aqib Talib for public intoxication. Only they really arrested his brother Yaqub. After being arrested at 1:45 Sunday morning, the DPD not only tweeted out details of the arrest, but they failed to send out the correct info until 10 hours later. Oops.
8) After Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson picked his duo of Andy Dalton and A.J. Green as the top quarterback / wide receiver duo in the game today, NFL Total Access ranked the best QB/WR duos in the NFL like this.
5 - Jay Cutler - Brandon Marshall
4 - Tony Romo - Dez Bryant
3 - Drew Brees - Jimmy Graham
2 - Peyton Manning - Demaryius Thomas
1 - Matt Stafford - Calvin Johnson
I think anyone throwing to Calvin Johnson would be #1.
9) Patrick Peterson is wrong in picking Atlanta's Julio Jones and Roddy White as the best wide out 1-2 punch in the NFL. If he doesn't change his mind this year, I'm guessing he'll change his tune in 2015.
10) CBS Sports' Rob Rang, who is their NFL Draft insider, is taking a look at each team's draft class and pinpointing that one surprise schematic fit. For the Bears he picked defensive tackle Will Sutton.
If dedicated, Sutton's initial quickness could make him an immediate difference-maker for the Bears, perhaps even putting him in position to add to his trophy closet again as a dark horse Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate.
When Rang talks about dedication, he's talking about Sutton getting back in his 2012 shape. Sutton wasn't as effective in 2013 playing over 300 pounds, and cutting some weight will do him well.