Birmingham and Orlando improved to 3-0 over the weekend."Nick Novak’s Birmingham Iron and Akeem Hunt’s Orlando Apollos stayed unbeaten over
the weekend with wins.Yesterday
Jadeveon Clowney Jersey , the Iron went into Georgia State Stadium in Atlanta and took down the Legends by a score of 28-12. Former No. 3 overall pick
Trent Richardson pounded the ball in the end zone three times with 46 yards and
17 carries.On the opposing side, QB Matt Simms threw three interceptions while
managing just a single touchdown.Also on Sunday, the San Diego Fleet made easy
work of the San Antonio Commanders, winning by a score of 31-11.Former Rams
“Hard Knocks” star Nelson Spruce caught a pair of touchdowns with 50 receiving
yards.On Saturday, the Apollos pushed out a win over the winless Memphis Express
21-17.League-leading passer Garrett Gilbert launched a touchdown in the end zone
and ran for one himself, making him the first AAF player with a passing, rushing
and receiving touchdown.Former Titans QB Zach Mettenberger relieved the
struggling Christian Hackenberg, connecting on nine of 12 passes for 120
yards.The Salt Lake Stallions handed the Arizona Hotshots their first loss of
the season on Saturday 23-15.Former Texans safety Rahim Moore recorded two
tackles in the loss.BRB, chime off all your AAF thoughts in the comments below.
Hear me out."Don’t get me wrong.Watching Le’Veon Bell run all over the Jaguars,
Colts, and Titans twice a year would be a great thing. And the scary flip side
of Houston not signing Bell is him landing with the Colts.But good leadership is
never motivated by fear. While Bell is one of, if not the hottest names on the
free agent market right now, throwing crazy money at him as ESPN’s Sarah Barshop
suggests is plain insane. Throwing that sort of cash at a pair of offensive
tackles will go much farther in fixing what ails the Houston Texans’roster than
any single running back ever could. In fact
Johnathan Joseph Jersey , there’s no guarantee a prime Arian Foster or Earl Campbell could run behind Houston’s current offensive line, so committing nearly
a third of Houston’s available cap space to a tailback who may or may not have
character issues, may or may not ever “try to be the best teammate” he can be,
and may or may not stay healthy for an entire season is an all splash no
substance move for sure.Nevertheless, here’s what Barshop wrote:What about the
O-Line? Cornerbacks? Kareem Jackson? Wide receiver? Putting all that cash into
one facet of the game, just to watch him tilt at the windmill of the O’Brien
A-Gap behind the worst line in the NFL—a line Houston can’t upgrade solely in
the 2019 NFL Draft—would simply be gross mismanagement. Thankfully, Brian Gaine,
not Sarah, is the general manager (nothing against Ms. Barshop, I’m sure she’s
an awesome human being, just not a cap guru). In another piece, Barshop
continued to stump for Bell:The mention of Deshaun Watson is highlighted for
effect: As if Watson suddenly won’t add to Houston’s run game next season? While
re-signing Jadeveon Clowney is a must/no-brainer, only focusing on
skill-position players is what creates losers. Committing well over half of the
available cap space to two players
Whitney Mercilus Jersey , on a team with needs at o-line, cornerback, d-line, wide receiver, running back, and tight end, makes no sense. How can you
address all those other positions with $32 million, which is roughly what would
be left after signing Clowney and Bell? With Pro Bowl offensive linemen cashing
$10 million or more per year paychecks and cornerbacks making slightly more, you
could eat up all the rest of the cap space with an LT, RT and CB with nothing
left to sign the impending crop of draft picks...much less offensive guards,
defensive tackles, wide receivers, or anything else. With very
Justin Reid Jersey , very few exceptions, NFL champions are built in the trenches. Teams with the ability to block in the run and passing game, and teams
able to stop those facets of their opponents, are the teams that win. When was
the last time you saw the Patriots, Steelers, Cowboys or 49ers advance to the
Super Bowl with bad line play? In fact, with the exception of the Peyton Manning
led Broncos, none of the top five teams to appear in the Super Bowl did so with
a below average o-line. Sure, having Le’veon Bell on the Texans would be great
if this was Madden and we turned the salary cap off, but bringing him to town in
lieu of so many other pieces this team needs is wasteful and short-sighted.
There are plenty of quality running backs Houston can choose from for far less
money. If it were a guarantee that Bell would rack up 2,000+ yards, 20+
touchdowns and help Houston hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of next season,
throw the check book at him and let him write in whatever crazy number he wants.
Reality and history show that signing a big name free agent to a giant contract
is seldom a guarantee of postseason success.Not to detract from Bell’s abilities
in any way
Martinas Rankin Jersey , but his success with the Steelers is no guarantee he’ll succeed anywhere else, especially in Houston. If Houston wanted to throw
money at an ex-Steeler, they’d be better off going after Antonio Brown, who
could be had for far less than Barshop’s proposed $26 mil a year, wouldn’t need
to have the offensive line fixed to contribute immediately, and would
essentially be plug-and-play in H-Town’s offense. Odds are, neither will
happen.Keep your eyes peeled for Trent Brown, Ju’Wuan James, and a possible a
draft day trade for Patrick Peterson long before any of the Iron City
(un)faithful end up in Houston.
