14 comments Someone Teach Gregg Easterbrook About Economics In The NFL Please

Gregg Easterbrook has done his annual "unwanted players" column for TMQ. This is by far my least favorite TMQ of the year because Gregg doesn't understand the ramifications of the salary cap in the NFL. He doesn't get that some teams want to keep a player but can not because the player makes too much money and he won't take a pay cut. He doesn't get how a player may get cut for salary cap reasons because the team wants to use a less expensive player in his place or the team realizes the player has talent but there are other players on the team they want to spend their money on. He fails to see all of this. Obviously this isn't the case for all of these players, but for a quite a few it is.

Yes, there are players who are having good years who weren't wanted by prior teams but Gregg includes Drew Brees on this list for God's sake. He was a fucking free agent when the Chargers didn't re-sign him because they had Philip Rivers. The same Philip Rivers who is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL at this very moment. I hate this column.

My All-Unwanted roster celebrates those who got where they are based on hard work and determination. In most of life, hard work and determination are more important than social status or God-given talent.

I hate this column.

Is this opposed to the actual All-Pro players who didn't work hard and weren't determined. How did Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and all of the other players who were voted into the Pro Bowl get there if they didn't use hard work or determination? Pure luck?

Consider: This season's NFL leading rusher, Arian Foster, was undrafted, and he has outperformed dozens of high-choice, big-bonus glory boys.

This year. He hasn't outperformed these guys for even two years, but for one year. I feel like I need to point that out. Foster had a great year, but he outperformed the "glory boys" for exactly one year.

Consider: The New England Patriots, with the league's best record and highest-scoring offense, start seven undrafted players. When undrafted guard Stephen Neal went down injured, undrafted guard Ryan Wendell stepped in to replace him. Ten of the 22 Patriots' starters were undrafted or let go by other teams, or both.

In this day of free agency in the NFL many, many players are going to be let go by a team. It is not often a quality player spends his entire career with one team. So the odds of a good player being on the same team for his entire career aren't always high, so being let go doesn't mean that much nowadays.

As far as Gregg's claim here, reader Tom emailed me that Gregg is wrong about this. Neal went down and was replaced by undrafted free agent Dan Connolly, then Connolly got injured and was replaced by Wendell. Since Gregg is fascinated with undrafted players I would think he would know this.

And now, the Tuesday Morning Quarterback All-Unwanted Players of the Year.

Winners: Brent Grimes, cornerback, Atlanta, and Danny Woodhead, tailback, New England.

Was there ever any doubt that Woodhead would win this award from Gregg? What about Grimes though? Let's see Gregg's reasoning...as if it really matters I guess.

This season, he leads Atlanta in interceptions and is the team's No. 2 tackler; it's rare for a cornerback to be a top tackler.

A lesser football mind, not someone as knowledgeable as Gregg, would mention that the reason Grimes has so many interceptions is because teams are throwing the ball at him a lot. Possibly because he is seen as not as good of a cornerback as Dunta Robinson by other teams. So Gregg's criteria for making Grimes the unwanted player of the year is that he gets a lot of interceptions, possibly because teams aren't afraid to test him. Interceptions aren't always a sign of a great cornerback. Now in the case of Grimes, he is turning into a really good cornerback, so Gregg is coming to the correct conclusion, just through somewhat shaky reasoning.

Also, the fact Grimes is the second best tackler for Atlanta possibly means he has had to tackle a lot of players that have had the ball thrown in his direction. This is another sign that perhaps having a lot of a certain statistic isn't always a good thing. Grimes is a good player and a fine cornerback, but in general, simply because he has a lot of interceptions and tackles means teams throw the ball his direction or run his direction a lot. Gregg doesn't think about this in his "analysis."

Atlanta, at 12-3, holds the inside track for the top NFC seed in no small part because of the performance of an undrafted small-school cornerback whose name many football enthusiasts don't even know.

Not true at all. Football enthusiasts know Grimes' name.

Woodhead was the all-time, all-division NCAA rushing leader, but he was not drafted. He spent two seasons with the Jets, mostly on the practice squad, then was waived. This season, he has gained 907 yards rushing and receiving for the Patriots -- his rushing average is 5.6 yards per carry -- and, though "too small," has become one of the NFL's best blitz-blocking backs.

Whoa, whoa. I thought we learned a few weeks ago that the Patriots fooled a team by having Woodhead block? How about we take a look at a direct Gregg Easterbrook contradiction...from four weeks ago when he was criticizing the Jets:

On a very amusing play, Woodhead at 5-foot-8, 189 pounds and Welker, at 5-9, 185 pounds, lined up as blitz-blocking backs! The Jets believed this, ignoring Woodhead as he snuck through the offensive line for a 35-yard reception.

How hilarious the Jets believed Woodhead would line up as a blitz-blocking back! That would never happen according to Gregg Easterbrook, those Jets are such fools!

This would make sense for Gregg to believe this except in his "unwanted player" column, Gregg Easterbrook says Woodhead is one of the best blitz-blocking backs in the NFL, so possibly it makes sense why the Jets believed he would block on a blitz a few weeks ago. I need no further proof than this that Gregg Easterbrook just makes up shit as he goes along. One week he goes out of his way to talk about the Jets should never have believed he would block on a blitz and a few weeks later he talks about how good at blitz pick-up Woodhead is.

Although the loss dropped the Seahawks to 6-9, the team knew, before kickoff, that it would play for the division title the next week regardless of the outcome. Seattle coach Pete Carroll seemed to call lots of mega-blitzes against Tampa hoping to fall behind quickly so he'd have a respectable reason to pull starters and let them rest.

I am sure that is exactly what Seattle did. They laid down and blitzed (which ALWAYS is a bad idea) so they could fall behind early and pull their starters. All of this in an effort to help them win the division next week...because resting starters immediately leads to wins the very next week (even though they did win).

Most important, a seeded format would ensure better playoff matchups. Isn't this what every NFL viewer and spectator wants? And yes, a seeded format could result in an all-NFC or all-AFC Super Bowl. If the pairing is the two best teams, their conferences shouldn't matter. Do you know, or care, which conference currently leads the NFC-AFC Super Bowl results rivalry? Neither do I.

I have to admit a seeded playoff is an interesting idea. I don't know if I like the idea of an All-AFC or All-NFC Super Bowl though. This just seems like an excuse to see the Colts-Patriots play in the Super Bowl. It is an interesting idea, but I think it would be a better idea to seed the teams in each conference and stick to an NFC-AFC Super Bowl.

Stats of the Week No. 2: The San Diego Chargers, ranked first on defense and second on offense, were eliminated from the playoffs.

That's amazing! Those are the only two elements of a football game too! Offense and defense. Oh wait, that's right there are special teams too, but they don't count for anything do they? I am sure they can't make a difference in a game.

Sour Coach's Play of the Week No. 1: With Cincinnati leading San Diego 20-13 -- the Bolts needing a victory to stave off elimination despite fabulous stats, Carson Palmer having his best game of the season with the T.Ocho sideshow out of the lineup -- the Bengals faced third-and-7 on their 41 with six minutes remaining. Palmer threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to backup receiver Jerome Simpson, and TMQ wrote the words "season over" for San Diego in his notebook.

How bold! Six minutes left in a game a team is down 14 points. No shit the game is over at this point.

San Diego corner Antoine Cason was out of position at the snap and burned badly. Sportstalk has analyzed this play all wrong, placing the blame on Cason. Many touts have accused him of a busted coverage; on "Mike & Mike in the Morning," former NFL receiver Cris Carter said Cason must have been "tired" or lost focus. The Chargers' coaching staff was to blame!

Oh, do tell why.

As Cincinnati approached the line of scrimmage, Bolts defensive coordinator Ron Rivera hadn't called the defense.

Gregg knows this for sure................how?

Rivera did not radio in the defensive call to San Diego green-dot linebacker Kevin Burnett until the Bengals were starting their cadence. At the snap, Cason was looking back at Burnett, trying to get the defensive call. Blame this touchdown on the coaches!

I can not believe this is true. Maybe it is, but there had to be something else going on. Maybe Cason had the play and was just asking Burnett what he was having for dinner that night? It seems about as likely as a play call not getting to the defense when the offense is milking the clock.

From my own modest experience as a middle-school head coach, I can relate that you get 10 seconds, max, to decide on your call because you must allow time for the call to go in and then be relayed to the players.

I want to play Gregg's middle school team. Talk about an easy win.

Middle linebackers typically are coached: If you don't get the call or are confused, then the call is Cover 2, every team's staple defense. The San Diego defense did not seem to have a default call to compensate for the coach's error.

This is EVERY team's staple defense. EVERY team. There are no exceptions.

It also bears mentioning that Cason was trying to get the call and if he is the only one on the defense without the call, which I find hard to believe, going to Cover 2 may leave the wide receiver wide open with no safety help once the receiver passes Cason. So Cason played the defense he thought Rivera had intended to call. You know, there's that too.

This issue is not the cleanliness of streets or the environmental benefits of recycling -- it's control of money. The New York City Sanitation Department pays a company called Sims Municipal Recycling about $65 million annually to pick up and recycle metal, glass and aluminum. Notice what's happening here? Recycling is supposed to make economic sense. If it did, the recycling company would be paying the city. Instead, the city is paying the company.

So a company would go into business and pay the city to pick up the recycling. They would pay to do work...but why would they do this? Recycling does make economic sense but that doesn't mean a company or the city should pay someone to recycle.

But let's not forget the Crabtree Curse, which TMQ sees as all too real. In 2008, Singletary fought to make his players buy into the notion that no one is bigger than the team. It worked, and San Francisco began to win. Then the 49ers used a high first-round draft choice on me-first Crabtree, watched him stage a prolonged holdout, then rewarded him with a $15 million bonus for going me-first. So much for the team commitment business.

The Crabtree Curse strikes again! I still can't believe the 49ers dared to draft a wide receiver at #10 in the draft and then pay him the amount of money a player drafted at that slot would typically earn even after he held out. It's egregious and most likely the reason the entire season went to hell. The 49ers struggles had nothing to do with the bad coaching on the part of Mike Singletary that Gregg talked about every week.

Sunday, the Niners had lazy play after lazy play. In the first quarter, Smith was sacked in his end zone for a safety, putting Les Mouflons ahead 9-0, though San Francisco had six linemen to block four rushers.

Where was Michael Crabtree on this play? Probably on the bench counting his millions instead of playing the offensive line position he wasn't drafted to play.

Trailing 15-14 at the start of the fourth quarter, San Francisco coaches called a pass on third-and-1. Although the Niners had six to block four, tailback Brian Westbrook was the sole San Francisco player to attempt to block much larger defensive end James Hall: sack, punt.

If Michael Crabtree would call better plays as the offensive coordinator this would never happen.

The 2010 All-Unwanted All-Pros: Here are the qualifications for the All-Unwanted All-Pros: A player must have been undrafted, or been waived, or been let go in free agency when his original club made no bona fide attempt to retain him.

Here is another qualification. Gregg will completely ignore this rule at his own discretion.

Free agents whom their original teams wanted to retain, but could not for salary-cap reasons, are not eligible.

Except we need to remember that Gregg doesn't understand the NFL salary cap at all. He thinks a quality player would never get let go for salary cap reasons.

Wide receivers: Brandon Lloyd*, Denver (waived by Washington and Chicago, started only seven games from 2007 to 2009, leads NFL in receiving yards);

During the season of 2006, no receiver in NFL history started more games (12) while producing less (365 yards). This was a guy the Redskins gave up 2 draft picks to get. Can you blame them for waiving him?

Quarterback: Michael Vick, Philadelphia (waived by Atlanta; when released from prison, most NFL teams would not even talk to him).

Vick was waived by Atlanta based on the little problem that he was going to jail, but other than that they really fucked up didn't they? That Matt Ryan guy stinks. Mike Vick would have secured the Falcons homefield advantage through these upcoming playoffs and the next two playoffs. He's that good.

For Gregg to talk about Vick not being wanted by NFL teams on a purely football standpoint is just ridiculous. There was so much more that went into it than just his football skill. The team that signed him had to deal with all the baggage he had, and it worked out for the Eagles. It took a season, but it worked out.

Jim Leonhard*, Jersey/B (undrafted after being a college walk-on, let go by Buffalo and Baltimore, 2009 TMQ Unwanted Player of the Year);

He wasn't "let go" by the Ravens. He chose to follow Rex Ryan to the Jets team. He signed on March 3, which is pretty early in the free agency period, so the Ravens didn't get a huge chance to re-sign him because he was gone already.

Flozell Adams, Pittsburgh (waived by the Cowboys; since that moment, the Cowboys have been losing and the Steelers winning);

Because the Steelers didn't win six Super Bowls, including two of them over the last decade without Flozell Adams in the lineup. Everyone pretty much who has watched Adams agrees he has lost a step or two. Him being waived by the Cowboys because he would have been owed $7.5 million for the next season and isn't worth that much money definitely qualifies as a salary cap move.

Brian Waters, Kansas City (undrafted, decent chance of making Hall of Fame).

Waters has played for the Chiefs for his entire career. I don't know how he can even somewhat qualify as an unwanted player. Yes, he was undrafted, so I guess he fits Gregg's criteria.

Mike Williams*, Seattle (former higher first-round pick was waived by Detroit, Oakland and Tennessee, was out of football in 2008 and 2009).

I think it is ridiculous to criticize any team that gave up on Mike Williams. He was one of the biggest busts in the NFL Draft in recent memory. He came out of college as a wide receiver and he had such terrible conditioning habits that one of the teams that waived him tried to see if he would stick as a tight end while he was on their roster. There is a very good reason that Mike Williams was unwanted and that's because he was lazy and out of shape.

Tight end: Ben Watson & Evan Moore*, Cleveland (Moore was undrafted and waived twice, has a master's in sociology from Stanford; Watson was let go by New England -- combined, they form one of the NFL's top pairs of tight ends).

The Patriots let Watson go because they didn't want to re-sign him. That's true, but he really wasn't unwanted by the Patriots because they didn't want to pay his price in free agency. The Patriots just drafted two other tight ends who have equaled the production of Moore and Watson. So the Patriots have essentially gotten an equally great pair of tight ends that are younger and cheaper than the Browns' tight ends. Also, the fact Moore has a master's in Sociology is incredibly irrelevant.

Quarterback: Drew Brees, New Orleans (let go by San Diego, rejected by Miami when he offered to sign there because "too short," has won the Super Bowl and is on track for numerous passing records).

Let's do this one by one...I am going to have a heart attack if I hear this bullshit one more time about the Chargers not wanting Drew Brees. Here's a whole rundown of the story.

Perhaps Gregg could read the very site he works for, ESPN.com, and see the Chargers offered him a contract. BREES WANTED MORE GUARANTEED MONEY!

Brees was not rejected by Miami. I hate revisionist history. Miami offered him a contract but it didn't contain enough guaranteed money like the Saints contract did, so Brees took MORE FUCKING MONEY. Yeah, he went to the team that offered him the most money. You don't hear Gregg mentioning that much do you?

Also, the Dolphins were scared off by the fact Brees underwent major shoulder surgery just a few months prior. The Dolphins didn't reject him because he was too short, Gregg just absolutely makes that up, but because they didn't want to pay a shit-ton of money for a quarterback who had a shoulder that could never heal properly.

I get so tired of telling the same Brees story over and over. It's an absolute nightmare that Gregg won't do actual research and just makes assumptions. It's even worse that ESPN just lets him do it when he is clearly wrong, which he would know if he did some research.

Charles Woodson, Green Bay (future Hall of Famer cast off by Oakland as "washed up" five years ago);

No one on the Raiders called Woodson washed up. He wanted to be paid like the best cornerback in the NFL and the Raiders didn't want to pay him like he was. It's as simple as that. He wasn't unwanted, he just didn't want to be franchised anymore and the Raiders didn't want to give him a long-term deal because they are the Raiders.

Unwanted players to keep an eye on

Jason Babin*, defensive end, Tennessee (waived by Texans, Seahawks, Chiefs and Eagles).

Gregg goes out of his way constantly to talk about how terrible highly drafted, highly paid 1st round draft choices are in the NFL. He calls them lazy and thinks they don't work hard enough. Yet for some reason when a first round underachiever has one great year Gregg is very quick to call that player "unwanted." Babin was a first round underachiever his entire time in the NFL. He fits Gregg's constant description of a first round pick that doesn't work hard enough (at least in Gregg's perception), yet Gregg is very quick to call him "unwanted" like the four teams who had him before made a mistake. Gregg's TMQ involves no analysis, but merely relies on judgments based on the result, even if it contradicts one of Gregg's edicts.

Really, I could argue with quite a few of Gregg's "unwanted" players but this would end up being a three part column and no one wants to read something that long. If I miss one that is egregious, feel free to tell me in the comments.

Bernard Pollard, safety, Houston (cut by Kansas City, plays well though Texans' secondary is awful).

Sure, even though the Texans secondary is absolutely terrible I am sure Bernard Pollard is a great player. Gregg is probably basing his analysis on how many tackles Pollard has.

Pat Williams*, defensive tackle, Minnesota (undrafted, let go by Buffalo as "washed up" six years ago, three Pro Bowl appearances since).

Isn't someone supposed to use quotes when they are actually quoting what someone said or were referring to? No one affiliated with the Bills ever called Williams "washed up," yet Gregg acts as if they did. If Gregg would do some research he could see that the Bills barely got a chance to try and re-sign Pat Williams because the Vikings had made him a priority in free agency and signed him very quickly in the free agency period. He had zero Pro Bowl appearances with Buffalo, so it is not like the Bills let a Pro Bowl player go because they supposedly thought he was "washed up."

George Wilson*, safety, Buffalo (undrafted, waived by Detroit, played the boyfriend of Mary J. Blige in a music video).

Next year when George Wilson has a bad year Gregg Easterbrook will accuse Wilson of not being focused on football and being too focused on an entertainment career.

Michael Kessler of Chicago reports that the issue of GQ he received on Dec. 15 features a spring style guide.

This makes sense. Spring clothes are out in stores before spring and for a person to wear the clothes in the style guide they should go purchase the clothes before spring actually begins. The point of the guide is to start spring already in style.

Why am I even talking about this?

The Patriots ran a delayed draw to Danny Woodhead, with the center and right guard double-teaming Bills nose tackle Kyle Williams while tight end Rob Gronkowski trap-blocked confused rookie defensive lineman Terrell Troup. Usually, only guards trap-block; at New England, tight ends do.

How does Easterbrook even get away with writing this stuff? Usually only guards trap block? What type of proof does he have this is even partially close to true...other than his constant insistence on misleading his audience?

On the Packers' 80-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson, Jersey/A had three safeties on the field -- the G-Men have been playing a TCU-style 4-2-5 much of the season --

Is this really true Giants fans? I know the Giants have had some injuries at linebacker but I can't help but wonder if this statement is true.

Michael Vick's comeback the previous week was enabled largely by too much Jersey/A blitzing. So, did Giants coaches learn their lesson? With Green Bay leading 24-17 in the second half, the Giants blitzed six; the result was a 36-yard completion to Greg Jennings to set up a touchdown.

Yes, because the clear solution in this situation is to never blitz again. That certainly won't pose any defensive problems in the future.

Hidden plays are ones that never make highlight reels but that stop or sustain drives. With Indianapolis needing a win to keep alive its playoff hopes, the Colts, at Oakland, led 24-16 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Raiders faced third-and-9 on the Lucky Charms' 19. Indianapolis rushed five, and middle linebacker Gary Brackett got a sack, forcing the home team to settle for the field goal. The contest ended with Indianapolis winning 31-26; had Oakland recorded a touchdown on this possession, the outcome might have been very different.

I really don't enjoy these hidden plays. A sack on third down is always a big play for a defense. Simply because a 30 second highlight doesn't include this sack doesn't mean it wasn't important or hidden in any fashion. If highlight reels are the standard for determining whether a play was important or not, then we are all screwed.

Next Week: The coveted "longest award in sports" -- the Tuesday Morning Quarterback Non-Quarterback Non-Running Back NFL MVP.

I am on the edge of my seat. Any guesses on who it will be readers? We have 24 hours to get it right. I say it will be Troy Polamalu or Gregg will try to cheat and give the award to Danny Woodhead by saying he has played some wide receiver. Ok, Wes Welker is my final answer.