Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said that accuracy in a quarterback is overrated. Seriously.
– ShakintheSouthland on the hook and lateral.
– Promo in the Smart Football Shop: Use the code “SPRINGTIME” to get free shipping in the Smart Football Shop.
– College football’s best individual passing games since 2005. Also check out the best passing seasons since 2005.
– What was neoliberalism?
– How Disney bought Lucasfilm. I enjoyed this; Bloomberg Businessweek has turned into a surprisingly good magazine.
– Assembling the “billing block” as the bottom of movie posters.
– Matt Waldman on the disconnect between evaluating and drafting talent.
– Bruce Feldman always has interesting takes, this time on the low road many star NFL offensive linemen took to success:
[C]onsider this: of the six offensive tackles voted to the Pro Bowl, only one was considered a blue-chip tackle recruit — Joe Thomas of Wisconsin. The others: Duane Brown, the guy considered by many as the best tackle in football, arrived at Virginia Tech as a 3-star tight end; Ryan Clady to Boise State was a 2-star offensive tackle; Joe Staley was a 2-star tight end from Central Michigan; Russell Okung was a 250-pound offensive tackle ranked as a 3-star signed by Oklahoma State and Trent Williams was listed as a 3-star guard recruit for Oklahoma.
… Staley, an All-Pro the past two seasons for the 49ers, has provided quite an example for Fisher, other aspiring linemen and college recruiters, too. Jones says Fisher was a 225-pound tight end/track standout when they recruited him to CMU. But like Fisher, Staley had a great frame and a lot of grit. Staley actually caught 11 passes as a freshman at CMU before Jones told him they wanted to move him to the O-line.
“He went into a little depression for a couple of days,” Jones said, “but we told him down the road, you’ll thank us.”
Read the whole thing. I still think offensive line is a really difficult position for college coaches to evaluate and recruit, not least of all because the kids are still developing.
– The science of sleeplessness.