By Lisa Johnson //@LJ1303
It’s that time of year again. The 2021 NFL Draft is just weeks away. Pro-Days are wrapping up, draft boards are being built, and of course, rumors are flying.
Final preparations are well underway, especially for the top 5 teams. All of which (with the exception of the Cincinnati Bengals) could be in the market for a franchise quarterback.
Here are my top 5 quarterbacks going into the NFL.
By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG
Every few weeks during the regular season, and every month or so during the offseason, I chat with a group of fans from all around the NFL to ask them a question. This month’s edition focused on free agency as that is the hot topic of the month.
Fans often have a very different perspective regarding moves their team makes than the general media does. Fans look at their team with emotion and heart. The media, or more cynical fans, tend to focus more on statistics and grades given by random websites.
By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303
Miami Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier wasted little time shaking up the top 10 picks going into the 2021 NFL draft. The Dolphins held the third overall pick (which they acquired from the Houston Texans) followed by the 18th pick in the first round.
In a trade that rocked the football world, Grier traded the 3rd overall pick to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for their 12th pick, a 2021 third-round pick, and first-round picks in 2022 and 2013. Fans were left reeling at the master craftsmanship Grier was pulling off.
Continue reading “The Miami Dolphins shake up 2021 NFL Draft”
By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303
Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores addressed the South Florida media Thursday, March 11th to finally discuss the up-and-coming 2021 NFL season.
The season is set to begin on March 17th, highlighted by the start of free agency.
Head Coach Brian Flores
(Opening statement) – “It’s good to see everyone. I hope you and your families are doing well, safe, healthy. Just kind of want to start with a little kind of, let’s call it ‘state of the union’ since we didn’t speak at the Combine this year. A couple quick updates the last couple months – the last time we talked, I want to say at the Senior Bowl and really at the end of the season, I talked about us kind of doing a full evaluation of our team and really, the entire operation – the 2020 season.
Continue reading “Dolphin Fans and Coaches ready themselves for the start of a new NFL year”
By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303
As we prepare for the new NFL league year, which officially starts March 17, the league will continue to follow the current Covid-19 protocols put into place in 2020, holding all NFL team meetings and press conferences virtually. Beat writers and major network journalists are limited to virtual interviews only, bringing the importance of social media platforms to a whole new level.
As we continue to face challenges due to the 2020 pandemic, the one thing that has become crystal clear is every sports super fan has started a sports podcast and sports page. So what (if any) impact does this have on those that spent their lives working and earning sports journalist degrees? I reached out to two sports journalists and asked them each the same question. One is from the good old print-only days, while the other is a little younger but can still remember newspapers.
Continue reading “The impact of social media on sports journalism”
By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG
We’ve heard about it all season. The 2021 NFL Cap was going down. Way down. Teams who were going to be in cap trouble are now in REAL cap trouble, and teams who thought they had the room to go get every free agent they wanted are now having to reevaluate.
I went straight to the source to try to help us figure out how teams were going to manage this difficult cap year. Miguel Benzan, also known as @PatsCap on Twitter, is one of the most respected NFL cap space minds out there. While he mostly focuses on the New England Patriots cap, he is extremely well versed in intricate details of the NFL cap. Go follow him. Now. I’ll wait. Continue reading “The impact of the 2021 NFL Cap”
By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG
For two weeks we heard nothing but Mahomes vs Brady. New kid vs GOAT. New legacies vs old legacies. But what we soon discovered, and were not all that surprised by, is that it was more than just the quarterbacks who made an impact on the field. In the crazy world of Super Bowl mania, no matter how the media spins it, it’s still a team sport.
It’s not like I don’t understand the reason for the hype. Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is, almost without question, the greatest QB to play the game versus Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the fantastically talented, young superstar of the league. A possible changing of the guard right before our eyes.
Continue reading “Super Bowl LV: Buccaneers surprise many in blowout against the Chiefs”
By Kate Arhar // @ClvlndK8
With the conclusion of the AFC Championship Game, we now know who will play in Super Bowl LV: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC) and the Kansas City Chiefs (AFC).
As the defending champion, it shouldn’t have surprised me that the Chiefs moved on again, and yet, it very much did. The Buffalo Bills are a young, up-and-coming team that, frankly, may have been the biggest winner in the “Tom Brady leaves the AFC East” game.
Let’s take a look back at how the Chiefs defeated the Bills to punch their ticket to the Big Game and a chance for a repeat championship…
Continue reading “The AFC Championship Game: Not a surprise, yet surprising”
By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303
To say that Senior Bowl Executive director Jim Nagy pulled this year’s Reese’s Senior Bowl off is amazing would be an understatement. With all the covid-19 restrictions and adversities we have all had to face, it was a near miracle.
A great amount of gratitude has to be given to the Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers who had to put their entire staff through Covid testing and strict quarantine rules. Many of the coaches were telling me days on the field was the first time anyone had left the team hotel.
As we wrap up the senior bowl practice, there is one question that is always asked. Which player took the most of this opportunity to showcase their talents?
By Lisa Johnson // @LJ1303
As I am wrapping up the final day of the senior bowls practices, some NFL news broke which included the Miami Dolphins.
Rumors have been circulating for weeks about Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson‘s unhappiness with the Texans front office and possibly wanting out. He’s named the Miami Dolphins team as one of the teams he would like to play for.
No big surprise there. Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores is very well respected around the league. And Dolphins GM Chris Grier has started to build a solid future for this team.
