Borch’s Beat

Mock Draft – ROUND 1 –  (4/21/2010) St. Louis – Sam Bradford – Oklahoma QB Detroit – Ndamukong Suh – Nebraska DT Tampa Bay – Gerald McCoy – Oklahoma DT Washington – Russell Okung – Oklahoma St. OT Kansas City – Eric Berry – Tennessee S Seattle – Trent Williams – Oklahoma OT Cleveland – Earl Thomas  – Texas S Oakland – Bryan Bulaga – Iowa OT Buffalo – C. J. Spiller – Clemson RB Jacksonville – Dez Bryant – Oklahoma St. WR Denver – Rolando McClain – Alabama ILB Miami – Dan Williams – Tennessee DT San Francisco – Joe Haden – Florida CB Seattle – Derrick Morgan – Georgia Tech DE New York Giants – Sergio Kindle – Texas OLB/DE Tennessee – Jason Pierre-Paul – South Florida DE San Francisco – Anthony Davis  – Rutgers OT Pittsburgh – Mike Iupati – Iowa G Atlanta – Brandon Graham – Michigan OLB Houston – Kyle Wilson – Boise St. CB Cincinnati – Jermaine Gresham – Oklahoma TE New England – Everson Griffen – Southern Cal DE Green Bay – Kareem Jackson – Alabama CB Philadelphia – Charles Brown – Southern Cal OT Baltimore – Demaryius Thomas – Georgia Tech WR Arizona – Sean Weatherspoon – Missouri OLB Dallas – Taylor Mays – Southern Cal S San Diego – Ryan Mathews – Fresno St. RB New York Jets – Jerry Hughes – TCU OLB/DE Minnesota – Jimmy Clausen – Notre Dame QB Indianapolis – Jared Odrick – Penn St. DT New Orleans – Daryl Washington – TCU OLB ********************************************************** MOCK DRAFT -Round 1 - (4/13/2010) St. Louis – Sam Bradford – Oklahoma QB Detroit – Ndamukong Suh – Nebraska DT Tampa Bay – Gerald McCoy – Oklahoma DT Washington – Russell Okung – Oklahoma St. OT Kansas City – Eric Berry – Tennessee S Seattle – Bryan Bulaga – Iowa OT Cleveland – Dez Bryant – Oklahoma St. WR Oakland – Trent Williams – Oklahoma OT Buffalo – Anthony Davis – Rutgers OT Jacksonville – Earl Thomas – Texas S Denver – Rolando McClain – Alabama ILB Miami – Dan Williams – Tennessee DT San Francisco – Joe Haden – Florida CB Seattle – Derrick Morgan – Georgia Tech DE New York Giants – Mike Iupati – Idaho G Tennessee – Jason Pierre-Paul – South Florida DE San Francisco – C.J. Spiller – Clemson RB Pittsburgh – Maurkice Pouncey – Florida C/G Atlanta – Sergio Kindle – Texas OLB/DE Houston – Kyle Wilson – Boise St. CB Cincinnati – Jermaine Gresham – Oklahoma TE New England – Brandon Graham – Michigan DE Green Bay – Charles Brown – Southern Cal OT Philadelphia – Jared Odrick – Penn St. DT/DE Baltimore – Demaryius Thomas – Georgia Tech WR Arizona – Sean Weatherspoon – Missouri OLB Dallas – Taylor Mays – Southern Cal S San Diego – Ryan Mathews – Fresno St. RB New York Jets – Everson Griffen – Southern Cal DE Minnesota – Devin McCourty – Rutgers CB Indianapolis – Brian Price – UCLA DT New Orleans – Jerry Hughes – TCU OLB/DE Check back throughout the spring and summer for Borch’s opinions post-NFL draft and pre-fantasy football drafts.  Also, please head on over to Borch’s baseball page, his real specialty… http://www.sundaykickoff.com/kyleborchers.htm     *********************************************************************** "Opening Day In The 'Nati"  by KYLE BORCHERS I attended Opening Day in Cincinnati. For those of you who don’t know, it’s like a holiday there –many people call off work and some kids even play hooky from school (guilty as charged for several years throughout my elementary and junior high days; couldn’t do it in high school because I was playing varsity ball). Anyway, Cincinnati has a parade downtown and it used to host the first Major League game every season (because it was the first franchise) – until MLB decided to have Sunday night games with the Yankees facing the Red Sox and games in Japan a week before all other games (remember those?). Yep, it’s all about the money. We know, Bud Selig. Although the forecast originally called for 75 degrees with a 50-50 chance of rain, it ended up topping 80 without a single drop of the wet stuff. My friend and I were pretty ticked that we weren’t wearing shorts! It was that hot, truly amazing for early April. The atmosphere was great – the parade, swarms of people at bars, a packed house at the game, Johnny Bench catching the first pitch, the new Reds roster announced, a fly-over after the national anthem and so on. As for the game, I had high hopes, but I was also realistic. The Reds were facing a Cy Young contender in Chris Carpenter and of course, the best hitter in the world. Mr. Albert Pujols probably made the biggest splash of any player in the entire Majors on Opening Day, going 4-for-5 with 2 homers. His first jack was an absolute bomb to left-center (after Aaron Harang blew away the Cardinals’ first two hitters with 94 MPH fastballs); the second was a laser to right-center that probably didn’t get more than 12 feet off the ground, hit the top of the fence and went over. Apparently, Bench was in the broadcast booth at the time, and he said, “That looks like it should be caught.” Nope, not when it comes off Albert’s bat.

2/11/10

Let The Drafting Begin

BY: KYLE BORCHERS

SUNDAY KICKOFF

  Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for winning their first Super Bowl. Drew Brees should finally get the respect and recognition he deserves throughout the remainder of his career. Not only for his outstanding stats and leadership, but also because Brees just seems like a great guy. The picture of him holding his son will be a lasting memory of the 2010 Super Bowl.

  Also, props to coach Sean Payton, who sure looked how a coach is supposed to look when they win the big one – I hope Nick Saban was taking notes.

  Another note regarding the game, I thought linebacker Jonathan Vilma really stood out on defense. That dude was everywhere. Vilma is Haitian, so all the recent success has to be bittersweet. But the Lombardi Trophy is a wonderful present to the city of New Orleans.

  As for the Colts, I honestly was extremely close to picking the Saints as I wrote my first piece for Sunday Kickoff – but I just couldn’t do it because Peyton Manning’s prowess in the red zone.

  Yes, Manning threw a huge pick late in the game, but he didn’t lose the Super Bowl. It looked like Reggie Wayne slipped or something went wrong on that route. Plus, there was Garcon’s early drop, and Indy’s D just couldn’t get off the field. It almost looked like the Colts were in a prevent the entire second half. Brees seemed to have at least a dozen completions of 10 yards or so, just marching the Saints offense down the field. Dwight Freeney wasn’t right after halftime, either.

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  So, what do football fans do now? Get ready for the NFL draft, of course. It will be interesting to see where Jimmy Clausen, Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy go, as well as Ndamukong Suh and whoever your team will be taking.

  As for other players, I, for one, have always been in the camp that believes Timmy Tebow will not be a great NFL quarterback. His career probably won’t even be as “good” as Tim Couch’s.

  St. Louis and Detroit, you’ve got about 10 weeks before you’re On The Clock – don’t mess it up.

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  Other than the actual NFL draft, it’s never too early to start thinking about your fantasy football team (Please don’t tell my girlfriend that). Most of those drafts are only about SIX months away! But seriously, you can always think about your potential keeper or keepers if you’re a member of one of those leagues, as well as think about your draft position and how the first few rounds mind shape up. Did your strategy work or not during the ’09 season? If not, was it bad luck, bad drafting or bad management during the season?

  Personally, I won a money football league for the first time (I’ve been playing for about seven years). I had placed in the top three and finished in the money a few times, but never won the title. In this particular league, we only get one keeper, and we only get to keep that player for a total of two seasons (including the season you drafted him). I had a tough choice this season – Chris Johnson or Aaron Rodgers. This league weights quarterbacks a bit more than usual. I had never kept a QB, so I went with Rodgers. Turns out, I probably would’ve been golden with either. However, Rodgers was actually the highest scorer in this league, and since I finally won, I obviously have no regrets.

  I took Randy Moss with my first pick and he was huge. The Giants’ Steve Smith was a late-round gem, especially early in the season. The running backs I drafted didn’t really pan out, except for Beanie Wells in the second half. I picked up Laurence Maroney and Jamaal Charles, who was also a monster during the stretch run. A trade I pulled off almost backfired. I gave up Vernon Davis (a free agent pickup; I drafted Antonio Gates), Derrick Mason and Marshawn Lynch for Ronnie Brown and Anquan Boldin. Brown played two weeks for me before his season ended due to injury, but Boldin more than picked up the slack. Another key move was playing the matchups and nabbing Arizona’s defense for the fantasy playoffs. The Cardinals got to face softies Detroit and St. Louis our final two weeks. There was also some luck involved. I earned a bye by winning one of the two divisions. During the bye, Rodgers had his only stinker of the season (six points; he averaged 26). That’s one thing I’ve learned – fantasy football generally takes more luck than fantasy baseball.

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Borch’s Beat

2/1/10

Super QBs Face Off For Ultimate Prize

 

BY: KYLE BORCHERS

SUNDAY KICKOFF

So who’s it going to be – the Colts or the Saints? That’s the big question on every football fan’s mind.

As of now, the spread in Las Vegas says it’s Indy by 5.5 points. Many of the prognosticators are predicting a shootout, with the over-under currently at 56.5.

It’s hard to argue with the over-under especially. But when you give coaches two weeks to prepare for any game, it might take a quarter or so for both offenses to get into their usual turbo rhythm.

Sad to say, but the torn ligament in Dwight Freeney’s right ankle might be the biggest X-factor in Super Bowl XLIV.

Freeney’s impact on Drew Brees and New Orleans’ high-octane passing attack is obviously huge, and I would say a gimpy or no Freeney could cost the Colts defense about 10 points on the scoreboard, versus the usual speed-demon Freeney.

Not only that, but there’s always more of a chance of rain in Miami than many Super Bowl cities, which obviously could also slow down both scoring attacks. But the extended Sunday forecast looks pretty safe right now.

As far as Indianapolis being favored by almost a touchdown, go ahead and place your bets. In my opinion, that’s a risky proposition because of the above factors and a couple other reasons.

First, the New Orleans defense forced five turnovers versus Minnesota in the NFC Championship. Five. That’s a huge number. Cut that to three and the outcome is maybe drastically different and we’re talking Favre vs. Peyton Manning (and I think the Vikings win that game, but I digress).

My guess is the Saints are lucky to pick off Manning more than once. Now, getting a forced fumble on No. 18 – I could buy that, especially with the way the Saints have been getting after quarterbacks.

More likely, the Saints get their turnovers forcing Indy’s running backs, receivers or special teamers to cough it up.

I just have a tough time envisioning Manning losing the game – but I can see the Colts losing.

And personally, I think the Colts defense has been playing above their heads recently.

However, call me a wimp; I’m sticking with the four-time MVP. Prediction: Colts 31, Saints 27.

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Only managed to watch a few early minutes of the Pro Bowl, but from the final score, it appears to have been a pretty good game. But there were over 30 roster replacements. Wow.

Pluses and minuses, I guess. More fans were apparently interested in the game (ratings were up 39 percent and were the highest in 10 years), being unusually placed before the Super Bowl. But an all-star game should have the best players. There are replacements in the other major sports, too, but just not as many, it seems. The positives, though, outweigh the negatives.

 

**** Kyle Borchers has sports reporting experience in both newspapers and television.

Please check back in mid-February for post Super Bowl thoughts, mock drafts (both Fantasy and real-life) and the eventual launch of a Major League Baseball blog.

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