The first weekend of the bowl games is here! I know some of you cannot wait to get that big bag of popcorn and watch these games until you pass out which should not take too long.
Right now I am hoping for a Oklahoma vs Clemson final just because I like the underdogs.
Here is your schedule of games and players to watch ...
Friday, Dec 20, 2019
Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl
Buffalo vs. Charlotte 2:00pm ET
Evin Ksiezarczyk - Buffalo - OT - 6’6” - 315 - RSR
Alex Highsmith - Charlotte - EDGE - 6’3” - 244 - RSR
Benny LeMay - Charlotte - RBF - 6’0” - 218 - SR
Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl
Utah State vs. Kent State 7:30pm ET
Jordan Love - Utah State - QB - 6’4” - 225 - JR
Dominik Eberle - Utah State - PK - 6’2” - 195 - SR
Tipa Galeai - Utah State - EDGE - 6’5” - 230 - SR
Gerold Bright - Utah State - RBC - 5’9” - 195 - SR
Saturday, Dec 21, 2019
Celebration Bowl
Alcorn State vs. North Carolina A&T 12:00pm ET
Noah Johnson - Alcorn State - QB - 6’0” - 195 - RSR
De’Shawn Waller - Alcorn State - RB - 5’11” - 210 - SR
Javen Morrison - Alcorn State - CB - 5’10” - 160 - SR
Solomon Muhammad - Alcorn State - LB - 6’1” - 235 - SR
Jah-Maine Martin - North Carolina A&T - RB - 5’10” - 214 - RJR
Marcus Pettiford - North Carolina A&T - OT - 6’4” - 286 - RSR
Franklin “Mac” McCain III - North Carolina A&T - CB - 6’0” - 175 - RJR
“The one thing that I’ve learned is that you can’t overlook those schools,” said Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman. “There is talent down there, and every year someone is coming up through the ranks in those schools.”
...
“I think it [HBCU talent] is extremely important. We are trying to find talent no matter what level, whether it’s Division III, HBCU, Division I or NAIA,” said Spielman. “That’s our job as talent evaluators, to go out and find that talent, and it doesn’t matter who they are or where they come from.”
New Mexico Bowl
Central Michigan vs. San Diego State 2:00pm ET
Sean Adesanya - Central Michigan - EDGE - 6’3” - 240 - SR
Luq Barcoo - San Diego State - CB - 6’1” - 175 - SR
Kyahva Tezino - San Diego State - OLB - 6’0” - 230 - SR
Keith Ismael - San Diego State - OC - 6’3” - 311 - JR
FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl
Liberty vs. Georgia Southern 2:30pm ET
Antonio Gandy-Golden - Liberty - WRF - 6’4” - 216 - SR
Jessie Lemonier - Liberty - EDGE - 6’3” - 240 - SR
Kindle Vildor - Georgia Southern - CB - 5’11” - 190 - SR
Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl
SMU vs. Florida Atlantic 3:30pm ET
James Proche - SMU - WRS - 5’11” - 190 - RSR
Shane Buechele - SMU - QB - 6’1’’ - 207 - JR
Delontae Scott - SMU - EDGE - 6’5” - 250 - SR
Xavier Jones - SMU - RBF - 5’11” - 208 - SR
Harrison Bryant - Florida Atlantic - TE - 6’5” - 240 - SR
Camellia Bowl
FIU vs. Arkansas State 5:30pm ET
Sage Lewis - FIU - ILB - 6’1” - 240 - SR
William Bradley-King - Arkansas State - EDGE - 6’4” - 248 - JR
Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl
19 Boise State vs. Washington 7:30pm ET
Curtis Weaver - Boise State - EDGE - 6’3” - 266 - RJR
John Hightower - Boise State - WRF - 6’2” - 184 - SR
John Molchon - Boise State - OG - 6’5” - 322 - RSR
Trey Adams - Washington - OT - 6’7” - 315 - SR
Jacob Eason - Washington - QB - 6’6” - 228 - JR
Nick Harris - Washington - OC - 6’1” - 302 - SR
Aaron Fuller - Washington - WRS - 5’11” - 186 - SR
Salvon Ahmed - Washington - RBC - 5’11” - 196 - RJR
Benning Potoae - Washington - DL5T - 6’3” - 285 - SR
Myles Bryant - Washington - CB - 5’9” - 184 - SR
Hunter Bryant - Washington - TE - 6’2” - 241 - RJR
Keith Taylor - Washington - CB - 6’3” - 200 - JR
Levi Onwuzurike - Washington - DL3T - 6’3” - 282 - JR
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
20 Appalachian State vs. UAB 9:00pm ET
Akeem Davis- Gaither - Appalachian State - OLB - 6’2” - 210 - SR
Spencer Brown - UAB - FB - 6’0” - 230 - JR
Garrett Marino - UAB - DL3T - 6’2” - 290 - SR
Jordan Smith - UAB - EDGE - 6’7” - 250 - RSO
Monday, Dec 23, 2019
Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl
UCF vs. Marshall 2:30pm ET
Gabriel Davis - UCF - WRF - 6’3’’ - 212 - JR
Adrian Killins Jr. - UCF - RBC - 5’8” - 164 - SR
Levi Brown - Marshall - OT - 6’4” - 280 - RSR
Tuesday, Dec 24, 2019
SoFi Hawai’i Bowl
Hawaii vs. BYU 8:00pm ET
Cedric Byrd II - Hawaii - WRS - 5’9” - 175 - SR
Cole McDonald - Hawaii - QB - 6’4” - 220 - JR
Matt Bushman - BYU - TE - 6’5” - 245 - JR
As usual, I am going to do a mock but now am inclined to include a quick and dirty offseason plan which will inform the mock.
In my last mock I detailed a little more about key decisions. In this one I will be brief.
overthecap has the Vikings with -4.5 mil
Griffen’s deal will void because he has met the necessary goals and this frees up 13.1 mil.
Rhodes is not likely going to remain and this frees up 8.8 mil.
Reiff gets a 2 year 22 mil extension which will free up 1 mil.
This takes the cap space to 18.4 mil.
Extend Cousins with a 4 year 134 mil deal which takes the cap space to 31.2 mil
Extend Hunter with a 2 year 61 mil deal which takes the cap space to 30.2 mil.
Re-sign Alexander with a 4 year 24 mil deal which takes the cap space to 27.3 mil.
Re-sign Harris with a 3 year 18 mil deal which takes the cap space to 24.4 mil.
Re-sign Bailey with a 2 year 4 mil deal which takes the cap space to 22.4 mil.
Re-sign Colquitt with a 2 year 4 mil deal which takes the cap space to 20.4 mil.
Re-sign Ham with a 2 year 4 mil deal which takes the cap space to 18.4 mil.
Re-sign Wilson with a 1 year 820k mil deal which takes the cap space to 17.6 mil.
So who could they sign in free agency with 17.6 mil available?
In this scenario, trying to re-sign Griffen might be a move but I think he tests free agency and will get close to 10 mil per year if not more.
Trying to re-sign Weatherly is another possibility but his market is unknown right now and it may take only 1 mil to 1.5 mil for one or two years.
Can they get Kearse to come back after extending Harris? What will his role be? Will another team see more of a role for him in their defense? Ideally you would like to bring him back because he knows the defense and plays in different roles when necessary. It probably will take close to 2 mil per year to keep him here. I think he should test the market to see if a starting role is available for competition.
The rest of the in-house free agents are considerations but should test the market first.
I do not see any other significant free agents out there worth targeting unless it is Brandon Scherff who I firmly believe will re-sign with the Redskins or get tagged.
So no free agents.
Heading into the draft, the offensive line will return all 5 starters with many people believing left guard needs to be upgraded. I could see bringing in competition for sure.
Bringing back Alexander and not Waynes plus letting Rhodes go (via trade - for now) makes corner a position with very little depth.
Griffen and/or Weatherly leaving would create some depth concerns at defensive end unless Odenigbo is a strong consideration for starting (I think he should be).
Depth at WR and a backup QB are also needed.
https://fanspeak.com/ontheclock/sharedraft.php?d=tpeexy
PRE-DRAFT TRADES
MIAMI DOLPHINS
SENT: XAVIER RHODES
RECEIVED: ROUND: 5 PICK: 21
24: R1P24 WR HENRY RUGGS III ALABAMA 6’0” 183 JR
56: R2P24 CB JAYLON JOHNSON UTAH 6’0” 190 JR
88: R3P24 G SHANE LEMIEUX OREGON 6’4” 317 SR
104: R3P40 EDGE ALTON ROBINSON SYRACUSE 6’4” 257 SR
132: R4P24 S ASHTYN DAVIS CALIFORNIA 6’1” 201 RSR
168: R5P21 DL DARRION DANIELS NEBRASKA 6’3” 320 RSR
205: R6P24 OT COLTON MCKIVITZ WEST VIRGINIA 6’7” 312 RSR
219: R7P3 S ANTOINE BROOKS JR. MARYLAND 5’11” 210 SR
240: R7P24 LB KAMAL MARTIN MINNESOTA 6’3” 235 SR
250: R7P34 QB ANTHONY GORDON WASHINGTON STATE 6’3” 210 RSR
253: R7P37 WR BRYAN EDWARDS SOUTH CAROLINA 6’3” 215 SR
I know that taking a receiver in the first round is not going to be very popular. But 4 offensive tackles had gone and 5 CBs had gone already. Since in this mock/plan Reiff was extended it pushed OT down the list.
This draft is very strong for receivers especially at the top. Ruggs is likely going to be the fastest or one of the fastest receivers in the draft. I think the Vikings need a true speed demon to take the top off the defense and free up Diggs and Thielen even more. I also think they need to let Cousins throw more.
In the 2nd round I had to go for a corner because in this mock/plan Rhodes and Waynes are both gone. Not sure if that is how it will actually play out but Jaylon Johnson is pretty good. In my last mock some thought I had him to low so hopefully this rectifies those concerns.
I had to go for competition for Elflein at left guard in the 3rd and Lemieux may last that long.
I like Robinson as another mid round defensive end project.
Davis brings depth to the safety position and is also a punt returner.
The remaining players would battle for depth spots.
Here is an alternate mock just for the heck of it.
https://fanspeak.com/ontheclock/sharedraft.php?d=xyvpov
TRADES
CLEVELAND BROWNS
SENT: ROUND: 2 PICK: 24 & ROUND: 3 PICK: 40
RECEIVED: ROUND: 2 PICK: 15
BALTIMORE RAVENS
SENT: ROUND: 3 PICK: 24
RECEIVED: ROUND: 3 PICK: 32 7 ROUND: 5 PICK: 23
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
SENT: ROUND: 3 PICK: 32
RECEIVED: ROUND: 3 PICK: 35 & ROUND: 6 PICK: 35
24: R1P24 CB TREVON DIGGS ALABAMA
47: R2P15 EDGE CURTIS WEAVER BOISE STATE
99: R3P35 OT CALVIN THROCKMORTON OREGON
132: R4P24 S BRANDON JONES TEXAS
170: R5P23 WR DEVIN DUVERNAY TEXAS
205: R6P24 G LOGAN STENBERG KENTUCKY
216: R6P35 S JULIAN BLACKMON UTAH
219: R7P3 DL BENITO JONES MISSISSIPPI
240: R7P24 CB TROY PRIDE JR. NOTRE DAME
250: R7P34 QB ANTHONY GORDON WASHINGTON STATE
253: R7P37 RB KESHAWN VAUGHN VANDERBILT
Well, there you have it. Enjoy the games if you watch any.