|
The one-week hiatus of NFL games might provide Carolina Panthers starting tailback Tshimanga Biakabutuka one last opportunity to save his job, or at least a few days to literally come to grips with the problem that is threatening his security.
A disappointment for much of his career, the sixth-year veteran and 1996 first-round pick is working his way into coach George Seifert's doghouse with his propensity for turning the ball over. Biakabutuka had a near-disastrous fumble in last week's upset victory over the Minnesota Vikings and certainly is skating on thin ice.
|  | | Fumbling has been a problem for Carolina's Tshimanga Biakabutuka, who may lose his starting job. |
Seifert likes Biakabutuka as a person and a player but the Panthers, playing with untested starting quarterback Chris Weinke, are trying to keep things as fundamental as possible. It doesn't help the rookie quarterback to have a key player coughing up the ball in critical game situations. Exacerbating the problem now for Biakabutuka is that the Panthers seem to have some alternatives at tailback.
Rookie Nick Goings, an undrafted free agent, rushed for 86 yards on 25 carries in his regular-season debut last week. Team officials told ESPN.com this week that, if the Week 2 games had been played, tailback Richard Huntley has sufficiently recovered from a lingering hamstring injury that cost him much of the preseason and would've suited up and likely contributed.
If Huntley can stay healthy -- and, admittedly, that's a big "if" given his track record -- he will eventually challenge Biakabutuka for the starting job. And no one should rule out the possibility that Goings will see his playing time increased. Personnel boss Jack Bushofsky likes Goings a lot, considers him a steal and admires his toughness.
"He can be a player in this league," Bushofsky said of the former University of Pittsburgh backup. "We were pretty fortunate to get him as a free agent, believe me."
Very fortunate, in fact. Bushofsky had intended early last September to catch two college games on a weekend scouting trip, one at Pittsburgh and the other at West Virginia. Pitt moved its kickoff time and Bushofsky was forced to visit the campus a couple days before the game so he could observe practice. It was a fortuitous twist of fate, since Goings was working with the second unit and didn't play much during the season, with Kevan Barlow assuming the lead-back spot.
"If we hadn't seen him in a practice situation, we might not have identified Goings as a prospect," Bushofsky said. "He didn't get many carries behind (Barlow) and he wasn't a guy who jumped out at you on tape."
The Panthers had Goings even on their draft board with Barlow, who was selected by San Francisco in the third round. As the rounds continued to go by and no one chose Goings, the Panthers gambled they could sign him as a free agent. Now he could turn out to be the team's go-to tailback and Biakabutuka could be an afterthought if he doesn't hang on to the football better in coming weeks.
Around the league
| |  | |
| Glenn |
Just because arbiter Richard Bloch overturned Terry Glenn's season-long suspension this week doesn't mean his New England teammates and coaches will
welcome back the inconsistent wide receiver with open arms. Nor does it mean
that coach Bill Belichick has to put the five-year veteran on the field,
although the Patriots' anemic offense needs all the help it can get. Players
and coaches weren't terribly upset when the club suspended Glenn last month
and they appear lukewarm to his return. Said one veteran offensive player:
"He basically abandoned us this summer, you know? There are a lot of guys
who get (upset) around here at some of the way things are done, but that
doesn't mean you just walk out on your teammates, no matter what your
personal agenda might be." There also is the delicate matter of Glenn's
signing bonus, a situation that might only be resolved in a court of law.
The Patriots stopped making installment payments on the bonus and there is
very specific language, team vice president Andy Wasynczuk reminded, that
permits the club to withhold signing bonus installments and even seek to
recover some of the money already paid. Glenn and agent Jim Gould have made
it clear they want the money and the battle could be even more nasty than
the one waged over whether the wideout should have been allowed to return
after he serves his four-game NFL suspension for a repeat violation of the
league's substance abuse policy.
Look for the configuration of the Atlanta Falcons ownership model to change
within the next year or two. There have been plenty of whispers that the
Falcons are for sale, but most of the rumormongers don't realize that no
deal can be made until the estate of late franchise founder Rankin Smith Sr.
is settled and until the IRS decides on the value of the club at the time of
his death in 1997. There is no word yet on when the IRS will sign off on the
valuation. What is fact is this: Team president Taylor Smith has been
quietly counseling with other NFL owners about how they sold off stock in
their clubs, and also huddled with Art Modell regarding his sale of the
Ravens. Remember, Modell sold 49 percent of the team to Steve Bisciotti last
year and the minority owner will exercise an option to purchase the balance
in 2004. The three daughters of Rankin Smith Sr., who have never collected a
salary or earned a stock dividend, would like to get some tangible equity
from the club, so there eventually will be some kind of ownership
alteration. It's doubtful, though, that the Smith Family would ever abdicate
controlling interest. Two minority stockholders in the club, John Imlay Jr.
and Tom Watson Brown, each own 6 percent. More important, each has a right
of first refusal on any future stock sales and Imlay at least would have the
wherewithal to put together an ownership group if the Smith family ever
decided to sell the entire franchise.
There's been plenty written and spoken the last two days about how the
league was prepared to move the New York Giants' home game this Sunday to
Green Bay. That became moot, of course, when commissioner Paul Tagliabue
postponed the schedule. But even while Packers president Bob Harlan was
detailing for the media the plans his team had made for hosting an extra
intraconference game, league officials told ESPN.com that it was never going
to happen. Early in the week, in the wake of the terrorist attacks, there
was some discussion of moving the game. But as the week wore on, it was
obvious that Giants owner Wellington Mara was not going to agree to such a
drastic move. Mara was adamant in his position that the game either wouldn't
be played at all, or would be made up at a later date. Sacrificing a home
game was not an option as far as he and his players were concerned. In fact,
the Giants were one of four teams that voted not to play their Week 2 game,
even if the NFL moved forward with the schedule. Mara is too respected in
the league offices to have been ignored and he was one of the most vocal
owners pushing for a postponement of the games.
| |  | |
| Darius |
The Jacksonville Jaguars seem to be overly optimistic, and perhaps a bit
out of touch, in suggesting that strong safety Donovin Darius might be able
to return from a posterior fracture of his left hip in a month. A similar
injury ended the season of Rams defensive end Cedric Jones and, frankly,
likely ended his career. One has to wonder, too, just how much the injury
will affect Darius when he does return. Never noted for his speed or his
range, even losing a half-step could significantly alter Darius' skill
level. The Jaguars, who already were starting seventh-round pick Marlon
McCree at free safety, probably will replace Darius with fourth-rounder
James Boyd. With two rookies in the middle of the secondary, the Jaguars
likely will play even more zone. Players are already upset at the
conservative schemes of defensive coordinator Gary Moeller, and if he's
forced to cut back even more, it won't help matters any.
It's not likely the Denver Broncos will deal tailback Mike Anderson before
the NFL's Oct. 16 trading deadline. But just because the team signed the
second-year veteran to a four-year contract extension last Saturday doesn't
mean he won't be swapped to a team that needs to upgrade its running game.
In fact, the new deal might actually make it a lot easier to trade him.
Anderson is now under contract through the '06 season at fairly palatable
salary cap numbers, at least for the next few years. Any team that trades
for him assumes only the base salaries, and not the prorated share of the
$1.5 million signing bonus Anderson received last week. In essence, you'd be
getting a player whose base salaries for the next six seasons total only
about $9 million. The Broncos would have to absorb the impact of the signing
bonus in any deal. But the Denver staff isn't quite convinced yet that
Terrell Davis, who certainly had an uneven performance on Monday night, will
make it through the season injury-free. And a hard-running Anderson, who
some Broncos players feel is the best back on the team, is a nice (and
fairly inexpensive) insurance policy for the club. And any team seeking to
trade for him should remember that Anderson, who served a stint in the Army
before entering college, will turn 28 years old next Friday, so there is a
slight "buyer beware" element involved. The more plausible trade bait is
Olandis Gary, who has sunk to No. 3 on the depth chart, but there seems to
be little interest in the third-year veteran who rushed for over 1,000 yards
in just 12 starts in 1999 after Davis suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Indianapolis officials haven't done a very good job the past few seasons of
hiding their disappointment at the performance of wide receiver Jerome
Pathon, a second-round pick in the '98 draft. Despite 50-plus catches in two
of his first three seasons, the Colts felt Pathon should do more to take
some of the heat, and double-coverage schemes, off star receiver Marvin
Harrison. The Colts kept hoping that another '98 selection, E.G. Green would
step up and challenge Pathon. But the former Florida State star simply
couldn't stay healthy and Indianapolis finally released him two weeks ago.
This year's first-round pick, Reggie Wayne, has been laid up by an injury as
well. It looks, however, like Pathon might finally be ready to fulfill his
promise. Coach Jim Mora termed him "probably the most improved" player on
the team in training camp. In last week's victory over the Jets, he caught
eight passes for 93 yards as the New York secondary concentrated on stopping
Harrison. Pathon isn't a pure burner, but he has good size and enough speed
and body control to make plays. And if this is his breakout season, a year
in which he catches 60-70 balls, it will have come at an opportune time.
Pathon is eligible for unrestricted free agency next spring and Indianapolis
probably won't be able to afford his asking price.
| |  | |
| George |
Perhaps one of the elements that went into Washington coach Marty
Schottenheimer's decision to stick with Jeff George as his starting
quarterback for now is that Tony Banks isn't totally familiar yet with the
Redskins playbook. In last Sunday's season-opening defeat at San Diego, the
backup had problems calling some of the plays sent in over his headset. On
at least one occasion, Banks was sufficiently confused that tight end
Stephen Alexander had to interpret the verbiage for him and, in essence,
call the play and break the huddle. Banks can be forgiven, of course, for
not immediately assimilating his third different playbook in a year. George
always makes a good point of noting how many different head coaches,
coordinators and offensive systems he's had to learn during his itinerant
career. But Banks can legitimately make a similar claim, dating back to his
days at Michigan State, where they changed offenses like most people change
underwear.
You've got to wonder what some of the Detroit Lions players are thinking
about the franchise's new front office regime, especially in the wake of the
dubious treatment of defensive tackle James Jones last week. One of the
classiest guys around, Jones agreed to slash his base salary both this
season and next during the spring to help Detroit address a dire cap crunch.
And then last Saturday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the season
opener, the Lions released him. Talk about gratitude, huh? The reasons for
the move: From a football standpoint, the Lions felt they had plenty of
tackles, with Luther Elliss, Travis Kirschke, recently acquired free agent
Alonzo Spellman and second-round steal Shaun Rogers, and that Jones'
production was lagging. But from the financial side, the Lions would have
been forced to pay Jones his entire salary of $1.6 million had he been on
the roster Saturday at 4 p.m. Jones is a "vested" veteran and, by rule,
would have been guaranteed his entire salary if on the roster for the
opening game. Anyone who thinks money wasn't a factor is being naïve. Beyond
still being a solid player, Jones, 32, was a leader in the Detroit locker
room. And his dignity under trying conditions, with a wife who was severely
ill two years ago, was an inspiration to younger players. The good news for
Jones is that, when he restructured his contract, the Lions had to guarantee
him $1 million. So he can afford to be choosey, and already has been. Green
Bay phoned him this week and asked if he would sign for the minimum $477,000
salary, and he declined the offer to be a Packers backup. "Until somebody
makes it worth my while now to leave my wife and family again, I'm going to
stay at home," he said.
Ask most coaches and they will agree that one of the truly deteriorating
arts in the NFL over the past five or six years has been open-field
tackling. You couldn't tell it, though, by the performance of the St. Louis
Rams secondary last week. In the team's victory over the Philadelphia
Eagles, the St. Louis defensive backfield missed just two tackles by
unofficial count. Against a passing game like that of Philadelphia, which
rarely tests a secondary vertically and relies on receivers to add yards
after the catch, sure tackling is a huge factor. "It's kind of a lost art,
really," said Rams cornerback Aeneas Williams. "Then again, if you can't
tackle, should you even be playing this game?" Uh, maybe not. But coaches
are so preoccupied by not getting players injured, and thus impacting their
salary cap, that they rarely practice any "live" tackling in camp. "And it's
hard," said St. Louis safety Kim Herring, "to simulate tackling when you
haven't done it full-speed." It should be no surprise, though, that the Rams
have placed a new emphasis on open-field tackling, especially in the
secondary. First-year coordinator Lovie Smith is a former Tampa Bay
linebackers coach, and he learned from one of the best, Bucs defensive boss
Monte Kiffin, about the importance of having competent tacklers. Kiffin has
created a series of videotapes, some of them breaking down tacking to its
most rudimentary elements, and Smith made sure he had a copy of them when he
departed for St. Louis. He also made sure the Rams players watched the tapes
and St. Louis spent an incredible amount of time in camp practicing
tackling.
| |  | |
| Collins |
Several teams in need of offensive line help have been checking out the
Oakland Raiders who, arguably at least, have the league's deepest blocking
unit. How well-stocked are the Raiders at a position where other teams are
desperate for help? The club has one first-round pick, tackle Matt
Stinchcomb (1999), as a backup right now. Another No. 1 choice, Mo Collins
(1998), barely won the starting job at left guard and, if the Raiders wanted
to trade him, they've got plenty of options as far as filling his position.
Amazingly, the Raiders led the NFL in rushing last season and were No. 3 in
1999, but no one ever rates their line unit among the league's best. No one,
that is, except personnel men around the league. ESPN.com asked seven
personnel chiefs who had the best line and four of them identified the
Oakland unit as the premier group.
Here's the breakdown on rookie starters in last weekend's opening games:
Excluding kickers and punters, there were 28 rookies in the starting lineups
of the 31 teams, less than one per franchise. Of that group, 16 were
offensive players and 12 were defensive players. There were 10
first-rounders, eight second-round players, four from the third round, one
each from the fourth and fifth rounds and three seventh-round selections.
The lone undrafted rookie free agent to start was right guard David Brandt
of the Washington Redskins. He was, in fact, one of four former University
of Michigan offensive linemen to earn starting jobs on opening day, joining
first-round picks Steve Hutchison (Seattle) and Jeff Backus (Detroit) and
second-rounder Maurice Williams (Jacksonville). The Skins and Cleveland
Browns tied for the league lead with three rookie starters each. Besides
Brandt, the Redskins started wide receiver Rod Gardner (No. 1) and corner
Fred Smoot (No. 2). The Browns started defensive tackle Gerard Warren (No.
1), wideout Quincy Morgan (No. 2) and tailback James Jackson (No. 3).
Look for defensive end Justin Smith, the fourth overall player selected in
the draft, to get some playing time next Sunday when the Cincinnati Bengals
face the Baltimore Ravens. In fact, the former Missouri standout would have
played this weekend against Tennessee had the game not been postponed. For
openers, the Bengals staff felt Smith was in pretty decent shape for a
player who missed all of training camp and preseason. And then, of course,
there are money matters involved. The normally penurious Bengals are paying
Smith about $8.5 million this year in signing bonus and base salary and this
is a club that wants to get its money's worth out of him. Reinard Wilson,
regarded as a first-round bust, played well for the Bengals last week,
notching four tackles, a sack and three quarterback pressures. But even
Wilson, who hasn't done much in four previous seasons, knows he is only
keeping the right end position warm until Smith is ready to start.
While most Dallas players feel rookie Quincy Carter will develop into a
solid starting quarterback in time, some veterans weren't exactly upset when
the former Georgia star injured the thumb on his throwing hand this week.
Had the NFL played games this week, Carter probably would have been
sidelined. That would have thrust Anthony Wright into the starting lineup,
and players seem to have more faith in the third-year pro. As noted in this
space last week, don't assume Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is finished
collecting quarterbacks. He'd still consider signing Ryan Leaf if surgery
corrects a wrist problem, has his eye on Seattle's Brock Huard and took note
this week when Detroit benched Charlie Batch in favor of Ty Detmer. The
salary cap ramifications all but preclude the Lions from trading or
releasing Batch right now but, if he became available at some point next
spring, Jones would be interested.
In the wake of the season-ending broken leg suffered by Ed McCaffrey on
Monday night, the Denver Broncos will elevate veteran Eddie Kennison to the
starting lineup. The team also re-signed Keith Poole, released two weeks
ago, and hope his hamstring is sufficiently recovered to permit him to soon
make a contribution. But the player who might see his playing time
dramatically increased eventually is sixth-round draft pick Kevin Kasper.
The former Iowa standout isn't as tall as McCaffrey, but he's similarly
angular, is fearless going over the middle, and catches everything near him.
Were he about three inches taller, he'd be a McCaffrey clone, in fact.
Kasper started off strong in training camp, hit the wall after a couple
weeks of preseason play, but is coming on again now. It might take him until
the midpoint of the season, but Denver coaches tell us that Kasper will be a
factor for them before the year is out.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
| |
|
