Tweets and QBs
We are 10 hours from the draft. Boss, right?
Who else is stoked?
OK, maybe it's just me.
Still, the overnight ripples from Josh Allen's stupid (and/or racist) high school social media posts have consumed the draft narrative.
Let's repeat our standard refrain on matters like this:
First, man, who else is tickled that Twitter and the like were not around when we were in high school?
Second, we try like the dickens not to judge anyone on their worst day or their overall best day. Sure there are some things at each of the spectrum that are a large swath of the fabric of who people are, good and bad.
But in terms of Allen and his racially offensive Tweets - and make no mistake this is offensive more than insensitive - this feels more like monster miscue than monster character flaw. Gang, of the Tweets in question, the "If you're not white, you're not right" is the only one that can be printed in a family-oriented, interweb-based sports rant.
We'll get to more of our questions about this in a moment - and we have a few - but it also takes us to one more place in which we discuss the quarterbacks.
This leads us to quarterbacks pros and cons of the big five and where we think they land (and this is my ranking of them):
Sam Darnold, USC
Strengths: All the skills; has the highest floor of all the quarterbacks listed; confidence in his arm, almost to a fault
Weakness: Turnovers (but that was the same knock on Watson and Winston, and each has flashed looks of being franchise dudes)
Location: New York Jets at 3
Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
Strengths: Amazing accurate; undeniable leadership skills on the field
Weaknesses: Questionable decision-making off the field; history and whether he is Russell Wilson-esque or Johnny Manziel-like; scheme questions exist
Location: Cleveland at 1
Lamar Jackson, Louisville
Strengths: Amazing athlete, who produced against the best competition any of the big five faced; arm strength and speed that can not be taught
Weakness: Run-first mentality does not translate to Sundays; scheme questions exist
Location: Miami at 11
Josh Rosen, UCLA
Strengths: Praised for his intelligence; throws a strong deep ball; good accuracy; experienced
Weakness: Motivation; slight build could be cause for injury concerns
Location: Buffalo at 4 or 5 (yes we think the Bills trade up)
Josh Allen, Wyoming
Strengths: Big-time build and arm; clear QB champ in the underwear Olympics
Weakness: Accuracy; Only one quarterback in the last 10-plus years taken in the top half of round 1 has had a worse completion percentage; and that dude was Jake Locker, who lasted about three cups of coffee in the league; experience against top-flight competition is lacking
Location: Arizona at 15
Thoughts?
Southern California quarterback Sam Darnold could cause a lot of trouble for the Texas Longhorns this weekend.Covering social media
The Twitter news of Josh Allen left several questions and talking points in the aftermath of the story and the hours before the draft.
First, how in the world did none of the NFL teams - who you would think would spare no expense in learning about a potential franchise quarterback - know of this?
Secondly, how will this alter Allen's draft spot?
Third, how much of a divide in the social media "cuts both ways" narrative is there when Allen is leading newscasts and Baker Mayfield's mimic photo of the famous pre-draft Brett Favre shot? In one quick snapshot, Mayfield changed the talking points between comparing him to first-round bust Johnny Mayfield and Hall of Famer Favre with a photo.
Fourth, how different would Brett Favre's career had been if he Twitter was around when he came through college and was a young NFL player? I think he could have flamed out and never made a meaningful moment in the league. Think of it this way: We all know that Favre allegedly sent some inappropriate pictures late in his career. I also know he pretty much party-ed his way out of Atlanta as a young player. (Let's just say he was a regular at a few Buckhead establishments and was likely not super aware at early morning QB meetings on just about any day of the week.) And those are the things we know. Imagine what we don't.
Then there is this. We have seen the ESPN backlash from several directions saying, "This is not news" and "Left-leaning ESPN going all socially soft" or whatever else. In almost every way, those are being generated by folks who have made a lot of money and their reputation by bashing ESPN.
Hey, ESPN does plenty to open itself open to legitimate criticism. And we've been among those who have handed out that criticism. But to say "High School Tweets are not news" is simply silly and nonsensical.
This is the NFL, where everything is covered on all the sports outlets.
And this is not you, me to some fifth-round potential guard. This is a top-five quarterback that some team is looking to pay him eight figures. This would be news for candidates, for potential CEOs, for everyone looking to land $20-plus million guaranteed.
In fact, this is the double-edged, Catch-22, no-win sword.
Maybe ESPN covered the Allen talking points a touch too much - and comparing Allen to the Kaepernick situation is disingenuous and just factually flawed - and that's a discussion. Heck a lot of sports shows look for ways to connect sports talking points to the hot-button issues of society.
The whole "shut-up and dribble" mentality is foolish for the players, just as the "shut-up and talking about the dribbling" is for the folks covering the players.
As for the no-win situation, for all the professional ESPN bashers out there who are saying, "ESPN going to ESPN" and "the left-leaning ESPN is losing viewers because of its politics" well maybe some times and for some viewers.
But if they had not mentioned Allen's Tweets at all, the backlash would have been just harsh and maybe harsher. Both from the folks claiming racism and those of us who could have made a hard argument that the lack of discussing Allen was an effort to financially protect the NFL Draft broadcast and the NFL, ESPN's most important league partner.
Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James celebrates after scoring the game-winning shot in the second half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, Wednesday, April 25, 2018, in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 98-95. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)NBA playoffs
Now that was fun. Did it rob us of a lot of sleep?
Yes. Yes it did. Let's review what we know of each NBA playoff series.
The Rockets are hard to guard and if they make shots like they did last night, well, just look at the math. In Wednesday's clinching Game 5, the Minnesota Timberwolves were really good. They shot 50.6 percent from the field, and made 9-of-19 3s and made 75 percent from the line. Minnesota had just eight turnovers. That stat line looks pretty stout.
The T-Wolves lost by 18 in a game that never felt that close. Why? Because the metrics for the Rockets are overwhelming. Houston was 18-of-44 from depth and 27-of-44 from 2. If you are scoring at home - or if you are by yourself - that's 54 points inside and 54 outside the arc and an efficiency that is going to be hard to match.
The Pelicans are playing really well and if Steph Curry is not 100 percent, that series could be more competitive than most expect. (Side note: While the NBA game - Hi Houston - with stretch 4s and 3s by the bundle has changed the regular season approach, we think the most difficult match-up for a healthy Warriors bunch would be a healthy Pelicans flock with Boogie Cousins on the floor. The matches are as good as could be expected against a team as talented as the Warriors. Holiday has the size and speed to guard either Steph or Klay. Anthony Davis is the perfect defender for KD. Cousins is a bigger version of Draymond.)
The Thunder rallied off the deck with an amazing comeback from 25-points down in the third because Russell Westbrook went nuts in the final 20 minutes. Westbrook went 45-15-7 and took and elbow-numbing 39 shots. (Side note: Wow, how two-man-dominated were the Thunder? Westbrook and Paul George took 65 of the team's 89 shots and scored 79 of their 107 points. One more side question: Is Carmelo Anthony's exit from the game detracting from his legacy? He took six shots in 25 minutes last night.)
In the East, Toronto's immediate and long-term future is in the balance in its first-round series against Washington. The Raptors being the Raptors is the NBA version of what "Clemsoning" used to mean. And if they can't get to the conference finals with home-court advantage, then there must be tough questions answered.
Boston-Milwaukee goes to a very interesting Game 6 back in the Bucks. Also, the 76ers are licking their chops at the match-ups with either of those teams.
And finally, there is the man. Rather, shall we say the King.
Wow, that was an amazing finish for LeBron James and the Cavaliers. In a must-win Game 5, James went for 44-10-8, shooting 14-of-24 from the floor and a much-needed 15-of-15 from the line. (Side note: We have said multiple times that there is no way the NBA was going to let LeBron lose in round one. Think of the potential TV viewers that would be lost through the spring without James. And his game-changing block/goaltending, well, just add that to the file.)
Speaking of the block, as James was capping his 21st 40-point playoff game (second-most ever behind some dude named Jordan) he became the first player in at least 20 postseasons with a blocked shot and a game-winning bucket in the final five seconds of a game.
Good times.
Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. follows through on a single off Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Kevin Shackelford during the eighth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 25, 2018, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)This and that
- Ronald Acuna Jr. went 1-for-5 in his MLB debut. At this point he'll finish the season with a slash line of .200/.200/.200. That would feel a little disappointing.
- Jonny Venters returned to the big leagues with the Rays last night. Comparatively, not a big deal. The fact that Venters has overcome three Tommy John surgeries in six years is a big deal though. Kudos.
- Want to see a pretty cool exchange of ideas and points - with respect - between a national columnist and a U.S. Senator? Well here it is between Leonard Pitts and Marco Rubio, and, amazingly it happened on Twitter.
- Here is Weeds sounding off on the new suggestions from the Rice Committee on College Basketball. Hey you know what? The next time that committee gets together, we nominate Weeds to be invited. Yep, we said it.
Today's question
Shall we toss out some of the questions. (Hey, did you hear the draft is tonight?)
True or false, Baker Mayfield goes No. 1 overall.
True or false, at least six quarterbacks will go tonight.
True or false, you are watching more NBA playoffs this year than before.
On this day 32 years ago, Chernobyl happened.
On this day in 1859, Dan Sickles was acquitted of murder using a temporary insanity defense, the first time it was successfully used in the U.S. It has been tried a million times since on all the "Law & Order" shows.
Lucille Ball died on this day in 1989. John Wilkes Booth died on this day in 1865.
Melania Trump is 48 today.
Let's do a Rushmore of the best No. 1 overall picks, non-quarterback division.